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From the first time decades ago he was lampooned as a quirky upstart until now, the final stretch of his unprecedented fourth term as California’s governor, Jerry Brown has reveled in his reputation as a cheapskate.

“Nobody is tougher with a buck than I am,” he boasted during the 2010 campaign that sent him back to Sacramento.

Eight years later, Brown is poised to earn a place in the history books as the leader who helped right the ship of state. His mantra of measured spending could be a standard by which future governors are judged.

“We’re well positioned, but if the next governor doesn’t say ‘no’ at critical moments, things will get worse,” Brown said in an interview with The Times.

His promise of similar straight talk about California’s budget prevailed in the 2010 election, held in the shadow of financial collapse. The projected budget deficit he inherited — even after two years of cuts under Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger — stood at $27 billion.

All of which seemed a distant memory Wednesday as Brown signed a budget creating a $13.8-billion cash reserve, the largest in state history. “I think people in California can be proud that we’re making progress,” the 80-year old Democrat said standing beside legislative leaders — the oldest of whom was only 12 when Brown was first elected governor in 1974.

Gov. Jerry Brown displays a playing card with his dog, Sutter, on it during his State of the State speech in 2014. The cards, handed out to legislators, urged them to save — not spend — all of the growing tax revenues.

(Rich Pedroncelli / AP )

While supporters tout his record on combating climate change or raising the minimum wage, the through line of Brown’s second chance as governor has always been the budget, a topic that demanded a fiscal reckoning just days after he took office.

“What surprised me was how deep the deficit became during Schwarzenegger’s last few years,” he said. “We had to get in there and cut, and find some new revenue and work it out the best way we could.”

Brown’s first moves in 2011 were to cancel new cell phones and government vehicles for state workers, political symbolism not unlike the bland Plymouth sedan he chose in the 1970s from the state vehicle pool. By spring, he convinced lawmakers to cut $8.2 billion from programs like higher education, daytime elderly care services and doctor visits for the poor.

When substantive efforts to solve the rest of the problem stalled that June, the governor did something his predecessors had never done: He vetoed the budget ratified by lawmakers.

“For a decade, the can has been kicked down the road and debt has piled up,” Brown said as he signed the veto message. “California is facing a fiscal crisis, and very strong medicine must be taken.”

The veto was a shot across the bow to the Legislature. “It communicated very clearly that there was going to be a minimum standard for the legislative budget, and they just couldn’t slap anything together and put the name ‘budget’ on it,” Brown says now.

“We were frustrated,” remembers John A. Pérez, who was Assembly speaker at the time. “But it laid the foundation for what has become eight years of on-time, balanced budgets.”

Deeper cuts ultimately were made. Within months, ratings agencies moved California’s credit outlook to positive, the beginning of a trend that has driven down interest rates for government borrowing, one way the state has saved money.

Gov. Jerry Brown’s wall of debt crumbles, but more walls are behind it »

He later turned his attention to the short-term obligations that piled up during the financial crisis, from raided school funds to Wall Street-backed deficit bonds. Branded by Brown as the state’s “wall of debt” and once towering at nearly $35 billion, today the balance is less than $5 billion.

“I tell my friends that Jerry Brown is one of the most fiscally conservative Democrats that I know,” said Connie Conway, a Tulare County Republican who served as Assembly GOP leader from 2010 to 2014. She recalls saying at one point that Brown “is the adult in the room because at least he’s admitting we have debt.”

Still, it was Republicans who handed Brown his first real budget setback in 2011, refusing to support a special statewide election to extend temporary taxes. The governor, never a back-slapping kind of politician, nonetheless mounted an intense charm offensive. He hosted private dinners for legislative Republicans where California wine flowed freely. He brought along his affable Corgi, Sutter, for visits. GOP lawmakers wouldn’t budge.

In hindsight, it was a lucky break. Special elections have historically had a disproportionately high turnout of conservative voters who likely would have rejected the plan. When Republicans balked, Brown and a coalition of business and labor leaders qualified a tax increase for the ballot in 2012, a presidential election year with strong turnout from Democrats.

Gov. Jerry Brown holds up a sign in support of Proposition 30 while visiting a San Diego school on Oct. 23, 2012, in San Diego. The ballot measure passed with 55% of the vote.

(Lenny Ignelzi / AP )

The resulting Proposition 30, a surcharge on the state’s sales tax and the incomes of wealthy taxpayers, provided revenue for six years — a more robust plan, Brown now says, than what he asked Republicans to support. “We’d have been right back in the soup” with the original plan, he said. “This way, we got a couple of more years.”

Brown campaigned hard for the ballot measure, shrewdly making it about the budget’s biggest beneficiary — schools — and about his own commitment to balancing the books. On election day, it passed with 55% of the vote.

“There’s no way in hell the voters would have approved those taxes if not for their faith in his fiscal stewardship,” Pérez said.

The taxes and California’s recovering economy have since produced historic tax windfalls. The state Department of Finance estimates the 2012 tax initiative and an extension approved by voters (but not explicitly endorsed by the governor) in 2016 has, to date, generated $50 billion in additional revenue.

Brown’s budget dominance begins with a firm grip on tax revenue forecasts »

Not that all of the modern Brown era has been all about less spending. State government spending has risen by 59% since 2011. Much of that has gone to K-12 schools, as required by law, and Medi-Cal, the state’s Medicaid program. Healthcare spending, in particular, has more than doubled in seven years, to about $23 billion in general fund costs. California has fully embraced Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act. Brown has lashed out at efforts by President Trump to rescind the law.

The rush of revenue also has allowed for a substantial savings account. Brown and lawmakers crafted a robust rainy-day reserve fund, ratified by voters in 2014. “That’s the kind of collaboration you don’t often see between legislators and governors,” Pérez said.

Through lean and flush years alike, the governor’s job approval ratings remained strong. Liberal activists routinely criticized him for not doing more to help those in need, suggesting with an increasing frequency through the years that the scion of a prominent political family had never experienced those struggles first-hand.

Health and human services advocates hold a Los Angeles rally to protest Gov. Jerry Brown’s budget in 2014.

(Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times )

“They’re always asking for more,” he said. “There’s no natural limit. There’s no predator for this species of budgetary activity, except the governor.”

Even critics acknowledged that Brown kept listening to advocacy groups. In 2016, he agreed to remove a provision in the state’s welfare assistance program, CalWORKs, that denied coverage to children born while their families were already receiving benefits. The ban had been in place for almost two decades.

“We came a long way,” said state Sen. Holly Mitchell (D-Los Angeles), the chair of the Senate’s budget committee and a vocal advocate for changing the welfare rule. From the beginning, she said, Brown’s advisers said it was about the cost, not the policy.

This year, Mitchell convinced him to go even further — a small increase in the size of CalWORKs’ monthly cash grants, subsidies that failed to rise with inflation for more than a decade.

Mitchell recalled a flight from Los Angeles during which Brown, a voracious reader, spoke at length about a book that chronicled poverty around the world. “And I was able to say to him, ‘Yes, that chapter right there, that sounds like Central California,’ ” she said.

Likening income inequality to his celebrated efforts on climate change, Mitchell said she once told Brown, “By you just making it a priority, you’ve had worldwide impact. So have the same attitude about poverty.”

In recent years, Brown has agreed to expand childcare programs, Medi-Cal coverage for children regardless of immigration status and a state earned income tax credit for the working poor.

“His track record on issues of poverty, inequality and economic security adds up far better [over two terms] than it often looked in individual budget years,” said Chris Hoene, executive director of the nonprofit California Budget and Policy Center, which advocates for the working poor.

Looking beyond the one-year-at-a-time approach to state budgets may be an important legacy of the Brown administration. The governor pointed to recently adopted five-year plans as a way to get a better look at what’s over the horizon. “It gets people thinking about the inevitable consequences of the decisions in this budget,” he said.

It also may help break one of the more ignominious traditions of California governors: leaving a fiscal mess for the next person to clean up. It’s the kind of dilemma his father, the late Edmund G. “Pat” Brown, left Ronald Reagan in 1967 and he left the late George Deukmejian in 1983.

“The story is one of governors always hitting a wall and leaving a big, fat deficit,” he said. “I wanted to avoid that if I could.”

[email protected]

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KEIR Starmer is set to announce an “online hospital” that will deliver millions of appointments a year as a “new chapter” for the NHS begins.

The Prime Minister will use his leader’s speech at Labour’s conference to set out plans for NHS Online which will connect patients to specialist clinicians.

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The scheme, which will begin operating in 2027, will deliver up to 8.5 million extra NHS appointments in its first three years, Labour claimed.

In his speech in Liverpool Sir Keir will say “a new world is coming” and “in decades to come, I want people to look back on this moment as the moment we renewed the NHS for a new world”.

The online hospital will be accessible through the NHS app and will allow patients to choose between the digital service and their local hospital.

And those who use the service will be able to access and track prescriptions, be referred for scans and tests, and receive clinical advice on managing their condition.

Patients who require a physical test or a procedure will be able to book them on the app, at a nearby hospital, surgical hub or community diagnostic centre.

Sir Keir will describe it as “a new chapter in the story of our NHS, harnessing the future, patients in control”.

“Waiting times cut for every single person in this country. That’s national renewal, that’s a Britain built for all.”

The Prime Minister will stress the need for continued NHS modernisation, insisting it is Labour’s responsibility to make the health service fit for the years to come.

Sir Keir will say: “I know how hard people work in the NHS – I see it my family – and I celebrate it at every opportunity.

“But the responsibility of this party is not just to celebrate the NHS, it’s to make it better.”

The scheme builds upon ideas already being used in some NHS trusts to reduce waiting times and allow patients to get treatment or advice quicker.

NHS England chief executive Sir Jim Mackey said: “This is a huge step forward for the NHS and will deliver millions more appointments by the end of the decade, offering a real alternative for patients and more control over their own care.

“Patients who choose to receive their treatment through the online hospital will benefit from us industrialising the latest technology and innovations, while the increased capacity will help to cut demand and slash waiting times.

“The NHS can, must and will move forward to match other sectors in offering digital services that make services as personalised, convenient, and flexible as possible for both staff and patients.”

NHS Providers chief executive Daniel Elkeles said: “The online hospital could be a very significant development, transforming the way many patients receive their care.

“The way the NHS provides outpatients services hasn’t changed much for decades, but during Covid we learned a lot about opportunities for new approaches using digital technology.

“It’s sensible they are taking the time to plan this properly because there are a lot of factors to consider.

“These include the handling of patient data and the need to avoid ‘digital exclusion’ of people who can’t access the service.

“It’s important there’s new funding and it will be an NHS organisation with NHS staff.

“This is a bold, exciting initiative, but the benefits should not come at the cost of destabilising vital services patients will continue to rely on.”

In his speech, The PM will also say there is “nothing compassionate or progressive” about letting illegal migrants cross the Channel as he stakes his political life on bringing an end to the small boats crisis.

He is under pressure to give a storming conference speech to silence his growing number of critics in both the party and across the country.

Delivering hard truths to his party faithful, the Labour leader will say beating Reform will require “decisions that are not cost-free or easy — decisions that will not always be comfortable for our party”.

Sir Keir sees stopping the migrant boats, maintaining economic discipline and taking another stab at slashing Britain’s bloated benefits bill as vital to winning re-election.

Channel crossings are at record levels under Labour, while use of asylum hotels has also increased.

It has seen Reform open up a ten-point lead, according to some polls, and become the bookies’ favourite to form the next government.

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Aug. 30 (UPI) — Spirit Airlines announced it filed for bankruptcy, less than six months after emerging from Chapter 11 reorganization.

The budget carrier said Friday it is “executing a comprehensive restructuring of the airline to position the business for long-term success.” The company filed voluntary petitions for Chapter 11 in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York.

After the filing, the South Florida-headquartered airline assured customers the carrier will continue service to most current locations.

“The most important thing to know is that Spirit continues to operate and offer high-value travel options,” Spirit said in a letter to all guests. “This means you can continue to book and travel with Spirit.

“Our flights continue to operate normally. You can use tickets, credits and loyalty points. You can continue to benefit from our Free Spirit loyalty program, Saver$ Club perks and credit card terms.”

Wages and benefits will continue for employees and contractors. Also, Spirit intends to pay vendors and suppliers for goods and services provided on or after the filing date.

“Our Team Members remain focused on offering you a safe journey, with excellent service and an elevated experience,” the airline told guests.

After emerging from bankruptcy the first time, Spirit said it planned to furlough about 270 pilots and downgrade some 140 captains to first officers between Oct. 1 and Nov. 1.

The total number of employees is 11,000.

Reorganization plans are focused on four areas:

• Redesigning its network to “focus its flying on key markets to provide more destinations, frequencies and enhanced connectivity in its focus cities.” That includes ending service in certain markets.
• Rightsizing fleet size “to match capacity with profitable demand in line with the redesigned network. This will significantly lower Spirit’s debt and lease obligations and is projected to generate hundreds of millions of dollars in annual operating savings.”
• Addressing cost structure “to build on its industry-leading cost model by pursuing further efficiencies across the business.”
• Offering three new travel options of Spirit First, Premium Economy and Value. “Spirit will take full advantage of its lower costs to offer consumers more of what they want — value at every price point,” the airline said.

In March, Spirit said it was “emerging as a stronger and more focused airline” after declaring bankruptcy on Nov. 18 after poor quarterly performances. Spirit had lost more than $2.5 billion since the start of 2020 with revenue severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

After the first bankruptcy, the airline received a $350 million equity investment from existing investors to support Spirit’s future initiatives. The airline emerged from its financial restructuring, completing a transaction that equitizes approximately $795 million of funded debt.

Common shares will now be traded on the over-the-counter market and delisted from the NYSE American Stock Exchange.

After emerging from the first bankruptcy, Spirit said Ted Christie would remain as chief executive but two months later, David Davis, 58, was named president and CEO. He most recently worked as the chief financial officer and a board member of Sun Country Airlines.

“Since emerging from our previous restructuring, which was targeted exclusively on reducing Spirit’s funded debt and raising equity capital, it has become clear that there is much more work to be done and many more tools are available to best position Spirit for the future,” Davis said. “After thoroughly evaluating our options and considering recent events and the market pressures facing our industry, our Board of Directors decided that a court-supervised process is the best path forward to make the changes needed to ensure our long-term success.

“We have evaluated every corner of our business and are proceeding with a comprehensive approach in which we will be far more strategic about our fleet, markets and opportunities in order to best serve our Guests, Team Members and other stakeholders.”

After the airline released its quarterly report earlier this month, Spirit revealed that it had “substantial doubt” about its ability to stay in business over the next year, citing “adverse market conditions.” It reported a net loss of $245.8 million for the second quarter of 2025. Revenue was $1.02 billion, down 20% from the previous year.

The carrier rejected repeated acquisition proposals from rival discounter Frontier Airlines and in January 2024, JetBlue’s purchase plans of the rival airline were rejected by antitrust regulators.

Spirit has 550 daily flights to 77 destinations, through the United States, the Caribbean and South America.

In terms of market share, Spirit is 4.4%. Delta Airlines is No. 1 at 17.9%, followed by American Airlines at 17.3%, Southwest Airlines at 16.3% and United Airlines at 16.2%, according to the U.S. Bureau of Transportation statistics from June 2024 to May.

Spirit’s main hub is Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport. Its two other major hubs: Orlando International Airport and Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport.

The history between Pakistan and Afghanistan has been marked with suspicion, lack of equality, and missed potential, especially in recent history. It is in diplomacy, as in life, that there are occasions in which the sound of a gesture carries its message above the sound of the past. Such an opportunity is provided by the recent expression of the Deputy Spokesperson of the Islamic Emirate, Hamdullah Fitrat. The fact that he promises that the Afghan soil would not be used against Pak and asks that both neighbouring countries work together economically and in the field of diplomacy shows that things are getting on the better side and both need to respect and coexist. In a world that has long found itself in reactive security positions, the language of restraint and responsibility holds the prospect of a more reflective world.

Of course words are not in themselves an end. However, when said clearly and with intention, as Fitrat did speak, they may pave the way toward another type of relationship. There was a kind of political ease in his tones, such as crowds of today do not have. Such a developing dialogue can potentially assist the two countries to do away with such zero-sum logic that has been a dominant feature of their interaction all along. The bonds of trust that have been damaged by war and proxy politics need to be re-established cautiously, and lighting shouldn’t further be established on sentimentality but on sustained interaction based on mutualistic interests. The readiness of Kabul to reinstate ambassadorial-level relations with Islamabad is a good indication of good intention. It will be a reversion to formal diplomacy and architecture, which can substitute on a more permanent basis episodic contact with persistent dialogue. Although such measures appear technical at face value, they play critical roles in the creation of atmospheres of trust. A dialogue at this level facilitates a constant exchange of ideas, grievances, and solutions, and both countries find it easier to work out the misunderstandings before they toughen into grievances. During diplomacy, the big moves are seldom as successful as the small moves that are made regularly and highlight long-term success.

Even a new focus on regional economic connectivity, especially on such projects as the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) pipeline, introduces a strategic depth into the changing alliance. Development corridors are not mere energy and trade routes; rather, they consist of architectures of common fate. By supporting such initiatives, Kabul accepts the vision of interdependence under which prosperity rather than suspicion characterizes relationships within the region. This indicates a pragmatism that is familiar to Pakistan as the longing to perceive an economic integration as the stabilizing factor in South Asia.

Similarly important is the fact that Afghanistan is aware of the role played by Pakistan in making it possible to trade with the rest of the world. This kind of recognition shows a coming of age of the need that geography and goodwill must be compounded. Trade, as trust, is established on unblocked channels—physical, political, and psychological. It will be important to foster this interdependence by establishing effective policy models and simple communication to help turn transactions into strategic partnerships. The positive edge that Kabul has taken on in complicated humanitarian issues, especially the refugee issue, is perhaps the most promising. For a long time, displacement politics has been a contentious affair. It is important to note that when treated together, it will turn into the venue of institutional collaboration. Collective action is needed in the nature of managing refugees, beyond policy based on reactions, but a compassionate and progressive construction that treats human beings at the centre of all boundaries as deserving of dignity. As the two countries can testify, the plight of refugees generally reflects the sense of right or wrong the state carries.

Goodwill will have to be accompanied by action. History can provide us with a sufficiency of instances of lost opportunities for organization or dissimulation. The actual challenge of these new overtures will be in the translation to the ground realities, particularly solving the much-desired security concerns of Pakistan about the cross-border militancy. Provided the efforts of Afghanistan are followed through on a regular basis, and further provided that Pakistan acts with restraint and in the vein of positive diplomacy, there is a chance of a new era of cooperation in the region.

Pakistan, on its part, is also dedicated to the relation, which is founded on mutual respect and equality of sovereigns. The voice of Kabul can give an unusual chance to formulate the shape of this relationship, not in the reflections of the past wars but in the image of peace and development. The world will be looking on, but in the end it will be the latter that will determine how this story should be written with bravewisdom by both Kabul and Islamabad. In geopolitics there are times when history turns softly, without tumult but by the turning of a phrase of expression, a change of one word and phrase. This can turn out to be one of such instances. It extends an opportunity to the two countries to shed off the gravitational force of their history and, gradually and together, step forward towards a future anchored on trust. In the fragile structure of peace, truth and imperturbability are more powerful than power and the ultimate position of judgment wisdom, which man swiftly restrains himself with regard to another.

There’s plenty of dramas in store this week, with Lauren Lyle reprising her role as Karen Pirie on ITV and Keeley Hawes fronting a new show on Amazon Prime. Get the lowdown.

Drama is all the rage this week on the box, with a string of new shows guaranteed to keep viewers on the edge of their seats.

For starters, BBC2 is airing a gripping show, Unforgivable, set to explore the impact of abuse with a star-studded cast. On ITV, Outlander star Lauren Lyle returns to Karen Pirie, ready to face a new cold case on-screen.

Amazon Prime, on the other hand, is gearing up for some gritty scenes with The Assassin, starring Keeley Hawes and The Good Doctor’s Freddie Highmore.

And while there’s plenty more on streaming platforms, Sky viewers will soon wave goodbye to one of their all-time favourite series as Shemar Moore fronts SWAT for the last time.

READ MORE: Get 30% off menopause supplements for bloating women ‘wish they’d found sooner’

Lip Reading the Royals: The Secret Conversations

Saturday, 5

Ever wondered what Prince William whispers to his wife, Kate Middleton, during royal events? Lip Reading the Royals: The Secret Conversations reveals the monarchy’s most private exchanges, caught on camera at weddings, funerals and formal occasions.

With expert lip reading and royal insiders on hand, this eye-opening documentary decodes the hidden dialogue of the royal family – from knowing glances to tense exchanges – offering a rare glimpse behind palace walls. It’s the Crown, unfiltered.

Krays: London’s Gangsters

Saturday, Prime Video

Forget the movie mythos, this two-part documentary unpacks the real Reggie and Ronnie Kray. Featuring never-heard-before recordings from the brothers in prison, this film digs deep into the psychological bond that kept London’s East End crime lords together.

Through expert insights and interviews, this series explores their brutal reign, their unwavering loyalty and descent into popularity. Shedding the Hollywood sheen, this is the raw and unfiltered truth behind Britain’s most renowned gangsters.

SWAT

Sunday, Sky

Shemar Moore leads SWAT into its explosive eighth and final season as Hondo confronts his most personal mission yet. When a school bus carrying students and his former football coach disappears, the team races against the clock.

Meanwhile, tension mounts with new recruit Devin Gamble, whose criminal family ties raise serious red flags. Balancing action-packed sequences with emotional stakes, this season promises high-risk takedowns, moral dilemmas, and a powerful send-off for the elite unit that’s kept L.A safe for seven years.

The Veil

Sunday, C4

Elisabeth Moss trades Gilead for global espionage in this gripping thriller series. She stars as MI6 agent Imogen Salter, tasked with uncovering the truth behind Adilah El Idrissi (Yumna Marwan), a woman suspected of orchestrating a deadly terrorist plot.

As secrets mount and loyalties blur, both women engage in a psychological game of chess spanning Paris, Istanbul and London. It’s tense, atmospheric and rich in twists, exploring trust and the veil between fact and fabrication.

Karen Pirie

Sunday, ITV

Lauren Lyle is back as cold case specialist DI Karen Pirie in this gripping adaptation of Val McDermid’s A Darker Domain. The second season tackles the 1984 kidnapping of heiress Catriona Grant and her toddler son Adam.

Their disappearance has rattled Scotland but when a body and Catriona’s car keys resurface in a remote quarry, Karen must untangle a web of secrets, betrayal and hidden romances. With its dual-timeline and Karen’s razor-sharp wit, there’s more deadpan banter, bold deductions and emotionally charged revelations.

Mandy

Monday, BBC2

Diane Morgan dons the leopard print as Mandy Carter in the fourth season of the gloriously daft BBC comedy. This time, the loveable oddball finds herself in increasingly surreal misadventures and bizarre job trials. But don’t expect her to learn anything new – she’s still up to her old tricks.

Every episode is short and savage and packs absurdist laughs and deadpan brilliance, keeping the cult following firmly on board. There’s plenty of chaos in store for Mandy but in her world, disaster is always part of the plan.

Cold Case Forensics: The Cheesewire Killer

Monday, 5

George Murdoch’s brutal 1983 murder – committed with a cheesewire has haunted Aberdeen for decades. Now, this gripping forensic documentary reopens the chilling case with cutting-edge analysis and fresh leads.

Presented by Kirsty Ward and narrated by Unforgotten’s Nicola Walker, the film retraces the night of the crime, the botched early investigation and what new DNA technology might uncover. With emotional interviews, and detailed insights, this show explores whether justice for George is finally within reach.

Critical: Between Life and Death

Wednesday, Netflix

From the producers of 24 Hours in A&E, this Netflix docuseries offers unprecedented access to London’s Major Trauma System. Cameras follow paramedics, surgeons, nurses and patients across four hospitals – St George’s, Royal Londo, St Mary’s and King’s College – as they tackle life-and-death emergencies.

Shot in real time, Critical: Between Life and Death delivers raw and unfiltered moments from the frontline. Brace yourselves for harrowing injuries, emotional recoveries and the incredible teamwork that keeps Brits alive against the odds.

Acapulco

Wednesday, Apple TV

The sun-drenched dramedy Acapulco returns for its fourth and final season as Maximo Gallardo faces the past – and the future. In 1986, young Maximo (Enrique Arrizon) tries to reclaim the top hotel title after a shock defeat.

Meanwhile, present-day Maximo (Eugenio Derbez) works tirelessly to revive Las Colinas before its grand reopening. Acapulco’s final chapter wraps up loose ends with heart, humour and the show’s trademark neon charm. Expect generational reflections and heartfelt growth for this last dip in Acapulco’s glamorous poolside chaos.

Mr Bigstuff

Thursday, Sky

Danny Dyer is back as loudmouth Lee in Mr Bigstuff’s second season, fresh off a 2025 TV BAFTA win for his performance in the bonkers Sky comedy.

This time, family drama ramps up when Lee and younger brother Glen (Ryan Sampson) discover their supposedly dead father may still be alive.

But as tensions rise between them – and with Glen’s fiancee Kirsty (Harriet Webb) keeping huge secrets – old wounds reopen. Guest stars include Fatiha El-Ghorri and EastEnders icon Linda Henry. With brawls, breakdowns and belly laughs, season two dives deeper into dysfunction with twisted humour and heartfelt honesty.

Unforgivable

Thursday, BBC2

Jimmy McGovern delivers a gripping new BBC Two drama with Unforgivable, where he delves deep into the emotional wreckage left by grooming and abuse within a working-class family.

Anna Friel leads the cast as Anna McKinney, a mother desperately trying to keep her family together, while Bobby Schofield plays Joe – a man sent to rehabilitation after his release from prison, seeking redemption with help from a former nun (Anna Maxwell Martin). It’s gut-punch storytelling at its finest.

Tom Kerridge Cooks Spain

Thursday, ITV

Tom Kerridge swaps British classics for Iberian delights in this six-part travelogue series. Journeying through Spain’s most flavour-packed regions, Tom samples all kinds of delicacies – from sherry vinegar aged since 1896 in Andalusia to anchovies in Santoña and explores seafood culture in Valencia.

Made in partnership with M&S’ Farm to Foodhall campaign, this series offers rich local insight, culinary history and vibrant visuals. Expect a mouth-watering tour of tapas, tradition and technique, filled with Tom’s trademark warmth and love of food. You won’t want to miss a bite.

A Normal Woman

Thursday, Netflix

Marissa Anita commands the screen in this taut, psychological Indonesian drama where she plays Milla – a privileged housewife on the brink of madness after convincing herself she’s contracted a mysterious and incurable illness.

Her body feels alien, her family’s dismissive and, soon enough, reality starts to blur. As her seemingly perfect life teeters on the edge, Milla has to confront uncomfortable truths or cling on to delusion. Dark and unflinching, A Normal Woman explores identity, repression and the cost of being believed.

The Assassin

Friday, Amazon Prime

Keeley Hawes stars as Julie, a retired hitwoman whose peaceful life in Greece is upended when her estranged son Edward (Freddie Highmore) arrives – unearthing secrets that put both of their lives at risk. When enemies from Julie’s shadowy past surface, the duo are forced to collaborate for survival.

Created by Harry and Jack Williams (The Tourist), this six-part thriller blends emotional depth, covert manipulations and sun-soaked suspense. Expect sharp twists, explosive action and a gripping exploration of legacy, family and redemption.

Whitstable Pearl

Friday, U&Alibi

Kerry Godliman returns as Pearl Nolan, the food-loving, crime-solving seaside sleuth in Whitstable Pearl’s third season. In six new episodes, Pearl balances running her restaurant with investigating a string of mysterious deaths across Kent’s coastal community.

With DCI Mike McGuire (Howard Charles) complicating things both professionally and personally, Pearl finds herself in deeper waters than ever.

Get ready for local secrets and emotional tension as the amateur detective tackles love, loss and layered cases in this quietly compelling Brit drama.

Here We Go

Friday, BBC2

The Jessops are back for the third season of Here We Go – and they’re just as chaotic as ever. This time, the lovable family faces everything from disastrous holidays to awkward jobs – even baby bombshells – all with their usual mix of mishaps and mayhem.

Created by Tom Basden and starring Jim Howick and Katherine Parkinson, the hit BBC comedy continues to capture the hilarious ups and downs of everyday life. Expect more laughs, heart and more family m havoc.

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

Cardi B, who wonders “Am I the Drama?” on her upcoming album, now faces a different question from curious fans: Did she split with Stefon Diggs?

The Grammy-winning “Bodak Yellow” rapper sparked breakup chatter this week after eagle-eyed followers noticed she had taken down photos featuring NFL star Diggs from her Instagram page. Cardi B, 32, and Diggs, 31, hard-launched their relationship during the NBA Playoffs in May and made things Instagram official in June.

Representatives for Cardi B and Diggs did not immediately respond to The Times on Tuesday.

In June, Cardi B flaunted her relationship with the New England Patriots wide receiver, sharing very intimate photos from a steamy boating trip in a since-removed Instagram carousel. “Chapter 5 ……Hello Chapter six,” Cardi B captioned the collection of photos, which is no longer publicly visible on her profile.

Cardi B and Diggs first sparked dating rumors in February, when TMZ published video of the pair arriving at a Miami hotel during Valentine’s Day weekend. In April, they were spotted together again partying it up at a Manhattan nightclub. Photos of the rapper dancing on the athlete’s lap spread online and even got a thumbs-up from the musician’s estranged husband, Migos rapper Offset.

Cardi B reportedly filed to divorce Offset in 2024. Since then, their relationship has been far from friendly as the pair — who share three young children — continue to spar on social media.

While Cardi B’s Instagram does not currently feature any photos of Diggs, it’s worth noting that they still follow each other on the app. Cardi B and Offset, on the other hand, are no longer Instagram mutuals.

Speculation about the status of Cardi B’s romantic life surfaced as she arrived at Paris Fashion Week sans Diggs. She appeared at the Schiaparelli showcase at Petit Palais wearing a body-hugging gown with a dramatic neckline and fringe. A live crow was perched on the “W.A.P.” artist‘s right hand, evoking imagery from her forthcoming album.

Cardi B revealed in late June that her long-anticipated sophomore album, “Am I the Drama?,” is set to drop Sept. 19, seven years after her debut, “Invasion of Privacy.” Her social media announcement included a look at the theatrical album cover: She wears an abstract red body suit and matching fishnet stockings, grabbing one heel as a dark bird rests on her shoe and more of them swarm around her.

Before the announcement, Cardi B reflected in a teaser on “seven years of love, life and loss” and trading in grace for hell.

“I learned power’s not given. It’s taken,” the Bronx native says in the video. “I’m shedding feathers and no more tears. I’m not back. I’m beyond.”

United States President Donald Trump has insisted that the military strikes he ordered on Iran’s nuclear facilities on Sunday morning “completely obliterated” Iran’s uranium enrichment capabilities.

And after an initial classified US intelligence report contradicted that assertion, Trump and his administration have lashed out at those who leaked the document and the media that has covered it – throwing out its assessment.

The standoff between Trump and the evaluation of sections of his own intelligence community continued through Wednesday at The Hague, where the US president was attending the NATO summit and was asked several questions about the leaked document.

Yet it was only the latest instance of Trump publicly disagreeing with US intelligence conclusions during his past decade in politics – whether on Russia or North Korea, Venezuela or Iran.

Here’s what the latest spat is about, and Trump’s long history of disputing intelligence assessments:

What is Trump’s latest disagreement with US intelligence about?

On June 21, the US joined Israel in its strikes against Iran. US forces hit Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan, three Iranian nuclear sites, with a range of missiles and bunker-buster bombs.

Trump applauded the success of the US attacks on Iran multiple times. “Iran’s key nuclear enrichment facilities have been completely and totally obliterated,” he said in a televised address from the White House after the attack.

However, a confidential preliminary report by the intelligence arm of the Pentagon, the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), suggested otherwise.

The DIA report said the US attacks had only set Iran’s nuclear programme back by less than six months.

The report added that in the DIA’s assessment, Iran had moved its stockpile of enriched uranium before the strikes, something Tehran has also claimed. As a result, little of the material that Iran could in theory enrich to weapons-grade uranium had been destroyed.

On Tuesday, the White House rejected the findings of the intelligence report. “This alleged assessment is flat-out wrong and was classified as ‘top secret’,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement, describing the person who leaked the document as a “low-level loser in the intelligence community”.

“The leaking of this alleged assessment is a clear attempt to demean President Trump and discredit the brave fighter pilots who conducted a perfectly executed mission to obliterate Iran’s nuclear program. Everyone knows what happens when you drop fourteen 30,000-pound bombs perfectly on their targets: total obliteration,” Leavitt added.

Trump also dismissed the report on Wednesday during the NATO summit in the Netherlands, continuing to claim that the US decimated Iran’s nuclear capabilities and denying claims that Tehran moved its enriched uranium. “I believe they didn’t have a chance to get anything out because we acted fast,” Trump said, adding “it would have taken two weeks, maybe, but it’s very hard to remove that kind of material… and very dangerous.

“Plus, they knew we were coming,” Trump added. “And if they know we’re coming, they’re not going to be down there [in the underground sections of the nuclear facilities].”

On Wednesday, the White House website published an article titled Iran’s Nuclear Facilities Have Been Obliterated – and Suggestions Otherwise are Fake News.

Besides Trump, the article also quotes Israel’s Atomic Energy Commission, which has said that “the devastating US strike on Fordow destroyed the site’s critical infrastructure and rendered the enrichment facility inoperable.” Of Iran’s three major nuclear sites, Fordow is the hardest to reach for Israel’s missiles, as it is buried deep under a mountain – which is why Israel successfully convinced the US to hit the facility with bunker-buster bombs.

Additionally, the White House article quotes the Trump-appointed US director of national intelligence (DNI), Tulsi Gabbard, as saying: “The operation was a resounding success. Our missiles were delivered precisely and accurately, obliterating key Iranian capabilities needed to quickly assemble a nuclear weapon.”

John Ratcliffe, director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), also diverged from the DIA report, saying the US had “severely damaged” Iran’s nuclear facilities.

In a statement published on the CIA website on Wednesday, Ratcliffe said: “CIA can confirm that a body of credible intelligence indicates Iran’s Nuclear Program has been severely damaged by the recent, targeted strikes. This includes new intelligence from a historically reliable and accurate source/method that several key Iranian nuclear facilities were destroyed and would have to be rebuilt over the course of years.”

Yet Trump’s track record of disputing intelligence assessments and distrusting the intelligence community runs much deeper than Iran.

Did Trump disagree with US intelligence during his first term?

Yes, multiple times, including:

In 2016, on Russian election interference

The US intelligence community, in July 2016, accused Putin of meddling in the US presidential election with the aim of helping Trump defeat Democratic challenger Hillary Clinton.

In November of that year, Trump won the election. His transition team rebuked intelligence reports that concluded that Russian hackers had covertly interfered in the election.

In a statement, the Trump transition team said: “These are the same people that said Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction.”

In an interview in December 2016, Trump himself said: “I think it’s just another excuse. I don’t believe it.”

He added that: “Nobody really knows. And hacking is very interesting. Once they hack, if you don’t catch them in the act, you’re not going to catch them. They have no idea if it’s Russia or China or somebody. It could be somebody sitting in a bed someplace. They have no idea.”

In 2018, again on Russian election interference

In July 2018, the US indicted 12 Russian military intelligence officers, accusing them of being involved in “active cyber operations to interfere in the 2016 presidential elections”, according to then-Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein. This indictment was part of a probe into allegations of collusion between the Trump team and Russia before the 2016 election, being led by former FBI Director Robert Mueller.

That same month, Trump met his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Helsinki for a joint summit. During a joint news conference after the two leaders had a one-on-one private discussion, Trump backed Putin on the Russian leader’s insistence that the Kremlin did not meddle in the 2016 election.

“I have great confidence in my intelligence people, but I will tell you that President Putin was extremely strong and powerful in his denial today,” Trump said.

“He just said it’s not Russia. I will say this: I don’t see any reason why it would be.”

Trump also said the Mueller investigation was a “disaster for our country” and drove a wedge between Washington and Moscow, the “two largest nuclear powers in the world”.

Former CIA Director John Brennan called Trump’s statements during the news conference “nothing short of treasonous”. Trump later pulled Brennan’s security clearances. Those clearances give select former officials access to classified information and briefings.

In 2019, over Iran, North Korea and ISIL (ISIS)

In 2019, Trump again rebuked the intelligence community, disagreeing with them over multiple issues.

The US intelligence community, on January 29, 2019, told a Senate committee that the nuclear threat from North Korea remained and Iran was not taking steps towards making a nuclear bomb.

Intelligence agencies said they did not believe that Iran violating the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, a nuclear deal signed between Iran and a group of countries led by the US in 2015. This, even though Trump had pulled out of the deal in 2018.

“The Intelligence people seem to be extremely passive and naive when it comes to the dangers of Iran. They are wrong!” Trump wrote on X, then called Twitter.

“Be careful of Iran. Perhaps Intelligence should go back to school!” Trump wrote in another X post.

On the other hand, US intelligence said North Korea was unlikely to give up its nuclear program.

On January 30, Trump contradicted this in an X post: “North Korea relationship is best it has ever been with US No testing, getting remains, hostages returned. Decent chance of Denuclearization.”

During his first term, Trump engaged directly with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, and in June 2019, met him at the fortified Demilitarized Zone between the two Koreas – the first US president to travel there.

Meanwhile, US spy chiefs warned that the ISIL (ISIS) armed group would continue to launch attacks from Syria and Iraq against regional and Western adversaries, including the US.

That assessment was at variance with Trump’s views. In December 2018, he withdraw 2,000 US troops from Syria on grounds that ISIL (ISIS) did not pose a threat any more. “We have won against ISIS,” he said in a video.

What did Trump and US intelligence clash over recently?

During his second term, too, Trump has differed with the intelligence community’s conclusions on multiple occasions, including:

In April, over Venezuela

Trump’s current term has been marked by an aggressive immigration crackdown. In March, he signed a proclamation invoking the 1798 Alien Enemies Act. Trump’s proclamation claimed that the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua is “perpetrating, attempting, and threatening an invasion or predatory incursion” against US territory.

The proclamation says all Venezuelan citizens aged 14 or older “who are members of” the gang and are not naturalised or lawful permanent US citizens are liable to be restrained and removed as “Alien Enemies”.

In his proclamation, Trump said the Tren de Aragua “is closely aligned with, and indeed has infiltrated, the [Venezuelan President Nicolas] Maduro regime, including its military and law enforcement apparatus”.

However, in April, a classified assessment from the National Intelligence Council (NIC), an arm of the DNI, found there was no coordination between Tren de Aragua and the Venezuelan government. The assessment found that the gang was not supported by Venezuela’s government officials, including Maduro.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) was the only one, among the 18 organisations that make up the US intelligence community, to disagree with the assessment.

In June, over Iran’s nuclear weapons

On March 25, Trump’s DNI Gabbard unambiguously told US Congress members that Iran was not moving towards building nuclear weapons.

“The IC [intelligence community] continues to assess that Iran is not building a nuclear weapon and Supreme Leader [Ali] Khamenei has not authorised the nuclear weapons programme he suspended in 2003,” Gabbard said.

On June 17, however, Trump told reporters he believed Iran was “very close” to building nuclear weapons, after he made an early exit from the Group of Seven summit in Canada.

Trump’s distrust for his own intelligence community is widely viewed as stemming from what he has described as a “witch-hunt” against him – the allegations that Russia interfered in the 2016 election to help him win.

During the 2018 news conference in Helsinki, Trump said: “It was a clean campaign. I beat Hillary Clinton easily.”

Welcome to Screen Gab the newsletter for everyone who needs a break from doomscrolling.

If your brain needs a fantasy adventure to escape the realities of life, perhaps the escapades of a time-traveling librarian will suit your needs. “The Librarians,” which started as a trio of TV movies that evolved into a four-season TV series, has built out its universe with the recent spinoff “The Librarians: The Next Chapter.” Showrunner Dean Devlin stopped by Guest Spot to discuss how the new show connects to the wider franchise.

And if you’re into crime dramas as a form of escapist TV, this week’s streaming recommendations include a new British detective drama that features a mismatched crime-solving duo and the prequel series in “Dexter’s” expanding serial killer universe.

ICYMI

Must-read stories you might have missed

James Arness, Amanda Blake, Ken Curtis and Milburn Stone in “Gunsmoke.”

(CBS)

50 years after Marshal Matt Dillon’s last draw, ‘Gunsmoke’ is a streaming hit: The adult western drama with James Arness is finding loyal fans and new audiences on Peacock, Paramount+ and Pluto TV.

Commentary: Why on earth is Dr. Phil involved in immigration raids? Another made-for-TV event from a reality star president: Of all the alarming things that have happened in L.A., Dr. Phil hanging out with Trump’s top border policy advisor during immigration raids was the weirdest.

In ‘Murderbot,’ an anxious scientist and an autonomous robot develop a workplace-trauma bond: Alexander Skarsgård and Noma Dumezweni, co-stars of Apple TV+’s ‘Murderbot,’ discuss Episode 6 of the sci-fi series and the autism-coded robot at the center of the show.

‘Materialists’ is a smart and funny all-star love triangle with its own commitment issues: In Celine Song’s rom-com follow-up to her Oscar-nominated ‘Past Lives,’ Pedro Pascal is rich, Chris Evans is poor and Dakota Johnson is a matchmaking mercenary.

Turn on

Recommendations from the film and TV experts at The Times

Timothy Spall as John Chapel and Gwyneth Keyworthh as Janie Mallowan in “Death Valley.”

(Simon Ridgway / BBC)

“Death Valley” (BritBox)

Set not in our own dry desert but the verdant valleys of Wales, this adorable and comical mystery series from the great Timothy Spall, OBE — longtime favorite of director Mike Leigh and familiar to many as Peter Pettigrew in five “Harry Potter” movies — stars as John Chapel, a former TV police detective living in small-town isolation after the death of his Welsh wife. Along comes Gwyneth Keyworth as the world’s sweetest (actual) police detective Janie Mallowan, Chapel’s biggest fan who knocks on his door in the middle of an investigation. After some back-and-forth, push and pull, they become one of those pro-am teams that figure in so many detective shows — like “Castle,” without the sex — and never better done than here. Chapel takes to the job in grand thespian style, playing characters, improvising and analyzing motives through character analysis. (He’s not always right.) Janie is alternately stressed and impressed. Backdrops for the cases include a local theater production, a walking group, a wedding and a school reunion — cozy stuff. — Robert Lloyd

Patrick Gibson as Dexter Morgan in “Dexter: Original Sin.”

(Patrick Wymore / Paramount+ with Showtime)

“Dexter: Original Sin” (Paramount+ with Showtime)

If superheroes can have origin stories, why not serial killers carrying on their secret mission of justice? That’s the concept of Showtime’s “Dexter: Original Sin,” which travels back to 1991 to show how the crafty Dexter Morgan, the forensics specialist who moonlighted as a vigilante, began his killing ways while working as an intern at the Miami Metro Police Department. The series premiered last year as a prequel spinoff of “Dexter,” the popular drama/dark comedy that ran for eight seasons and later continued its story in the sequel series “Dexter: New Blood.” Patrick Gibson uncannily captures the mannerisms, facial expressions and inflections of “Dexter” star Michael C. Hall, who provides the trademark narration that was one of the signatures of the original series. The show is the perfect appetizer for the July 11 premiere of “Dexter: Resurrection,” which brings the titular antihero back to life despite being “shot to death” by his son Harrison (Jack Alcott) in the finale of “Dexter: New Blood.” — Greg Braxton

Guest spot

A weekly chat with actors, writers, directors and more about what they’re working on — and what they’re watching

Jessica Green, Callum McGowan, front center, Olivia Morris and Bluey Robinson in a scene from “The Librarians: The Next Chapter.”

(Aleksandar Letic / TNT)

“The Librarians” is back after more than seven years, but things are a little different from when we last visited this fantasy land, which spanned three films (starring Noah Wyle) and a four-season TV series. In its latest iteration, “The Librarians: The Next Chapter,” we’re introduced to a new librarian named Vikram Chamberlain (Callum McGowan), who time-traveled from 1847 and now finds himself stuck in the present. He returns to his castle in Belgrade, Serbia only to find that it’s now a museum — but more notably, his arrival releases magic across the continent, leading to some strange occurrences. He has to clean up the mess, with some help in the form of guardian Charlie (Jessica Green), scientist Lysa (Olivia Morris) — who inherited the castle — and historian Connor (Bluey Robinson). For fans of the original series, Christian Kane makes a guest appearance as librarian Jacob Stone. Also returning is showrunner and executive producer Dean Devlin, who is carrying the torch on the series. He stopped by Screen Gab to talk about the new season, which currently airs on TNT and is also available for streaming on TNT’s website and app, TNTdrama.com. — Maira Garcia

“The Librarians” has amassed a legion of loyal fans over the years, first with the films and then with the series. What made you decide to return to it and how did you approach developing “The Next Chapter” with a new cast?

Honestly, I never wanted to stop telling stories in the world of the magical Library! When an opportunity came up to continue the franchise, I jumped at it. I didn’t want to reboot the story, because in my mind (and the fans) the original team of Librarians are still out there doing missions. I wanted to focus on a different story that takes place in parallel. When the idea of a Librarian from the past appearing today, it felt like just the right “fish out of water” story we needed to kick off a new series.

The series features this push and pull of logic and magic, history and fantasy. How do you juggle history with the supernatural elements of the show?

It’s really important to us that viewers can Google things we talk about in our show. While we may not follow exactly the legends in the zeitgeist, we wanted there to be enough of a connection to deepen the enjoyment of our adventures. So history and mythology are at the heart of our show. Sometimes we’ll give an alternate perspective or backstory, but there is always a nugget [of] connection to the stories we want to tell.

Throughout your career, you’ve worked on a number of sci-fi and fantasy films and series like “Stargate,” “Independence Day” and “The Ark.” What is it about these genres that appeals to you, and why do you think audiences gravitate toward them?

Often “escapist” entertainment is looked down upon as a lesser art form. But I find that audiences, especially after dealing with things like a pandemic, economic and personal hardships, [or] political divisions, have a real NEED to escape into a world of optimism and wonder and adventure. I’m no exception.

What have you watched recently that you’re recommending to everyone you know?

It’s not super recent, but I’ve loved watching “Only Murders in the Building” [Hulu], “Ted Lasso” [AppleTV+], “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds,” “Star Trek: Picard” (especially season 3) [both on Paramount+] and the new “Doctor Who” [Disney+].

What’s your go-to comfort watch, the film or TV show you return to again and again?

If “Tombstone” or “Enter the Dragon” is playing on late-night TV, then I’m not getting any sleep. And of course, the 10th and 11th Doctors on “Doctor Who” are a constant fallback watch for me.

Throughout his 2024 campaign for president, Donald Trump strongly and repeatedly denied any connection to Project 2025, the political platform document authored by the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank based in Washington, D.C.

“I have nothing to do with Project 2025,” Trump said during a debate with former Vice President Kamala Harris last September. He said he had not read the document, nor did he intend to.

Yet less than six months into his second stay in the White House, the president and his administration have initiated or completed 42% of Project 2025’s agenda, according to a tracking project that identified more than 300 specific action items in the 922-page document. The Project 2025 Tracker is run by two volunteers who “believe in the importance of transparent, detailed analysis,” according to its website.

Of all the action items, nearly a quarter are related to the environment through agencies such as the Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Forest Service, and the departments of the Interior, Commerce, and Energy. Further, it seems the environment is a high priority for the Trump administration, which has initiated or completed about 70% of Project 2025’s environmental agenda — or roughly two-thirds — according to a Times analysis of the tracked items.

That includes Project 2025 action items like rolling back air and water quality regulations; canceling funds for clean energy projects and environmental justice grants; laying off scientists and researchers in related fields; and withdrawing from the Paris Climate Accord, an agreement among nearly 200 countries to reduce greenhouse gas emissions driving global warming.

When asked about this overlap, the administration continued to downplay any connection between the president and Project 2025.

“No one cared about Project 2025 when they elected President Trump in November 2024, and they don’t care now,” White House spokesman Taylor Rogers said in an email. “President Trump is implementing the America First agenda he campaigned on to free up wasteful DEI spending for cutting-edge scientific research, roll back radical climate regulations, and restore America’s energy dominance while ensuring Americans have clean air and clean water.”

Project 2025 refers to climate change as an “alarm industry” used to support a radical left ideology and agenda.

“Mischaracterizing the state of our environment generally and the actual harms reasonably attributable to climate change specifically is a favored tool that the Left uses to scare the American public into accepting their ineffective, liberty-crushing regulations, diminished private property rights, and exorbitant costs,” it says in a chapter about the EPA.

The author of that chapter, Mandy Gunasekara, served as the EPA’s chief of staff during Trump’s first administration. In the document, she recommends that the president undertake a number of actions to reform the EPA, including downsizing the agency, eliminating its Office of Environmental Justice and Civil Rights, and instituting a pause and review of grants — all of which Trump has done.

That same chapter also recommends that the president undermine California’s ability to set strict vehicle emission standards, which Trump vowed to do shortly after taking office; the Senate this week voted to revoke California’s rights to enact policy on the issue.

Gunasekara did not respond to a request for comment.

Matthew Sanders, acting deputy director of the Environmental Law Clinic at Stanford, said these and other Project 2025-mandated moves could have far-reaching ramifications. He noted that 11 other states had chosen to follow California’s emission rules.

“What California does impacts what the rest of the nation does,” Sanders said. “In that sense … decisions about how to effectuate the Clean Air Act mandates are technology-forcing for much of the nation, and isolating California and eliminating its ability to do that will have profound consequences.”

The EPA isn’t the only agency affected by environmental policy changes mirrored in Project 2025.

The Trump administration has also directed the Department of Energy to expand oil and gas leasing in Alaska, eliminate considerations for upstream and downstream greenhouse gas emissions, and expedite the approval of liquefied natural gas projects, all of which were recommendations outlined in the document.

The Interior Department, which oversees U.S. national parks and public lands, has seen rollbacks of at least a dozen of President Biden’s executive orders that prioritized addressing climate change, as well as the termination of a Biden-era policy to protect 30% of U.S. land and water by 2030, also known as the 30×30 plan.

In April, Trump issued an executive order opening up 112.5 million acres of national forestland to industrial logging, as outlined on page 308 of Project 2025. The president said the move — which will touch all 18 of California’s national forests — is intended to increase domestic timber supplies, reduce wildfire risk and create jobs.

Sanders said actions on public lands are particularly consequential, not only for the extraction of resources but also for protected species and their habitats. The president has already taken Project 2025-mandated steps to lessen protections for marine life and birds, and has called for narrowing protections afforded by the Endangered Species Act.

He also expressed concern about Trump’s Jan. 20 proposal to revise or rescind National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) regulations that require federal agencies to consider the environmental impacts of their actions — a step recommended on page 60 of Project 2025.

While the president described NEPA and other rules as “burdensome and ideologically motivated regulations” that limit American jobs and stymie economic growth, Sanders said such framing is an oversimplification that can make the environment a scapegoat for other administrative goals.

“When we make these decisions in a thoughtful, careful, deliberate way, we actually can have jobs and economic development and environmental protection,” he said. “ I don’t think that those things are inherently opposed, but the administration, I think, gets some mileage out of suggesting that they are.”

Indeed, the Commerce Department, which houses the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Weather Service and other climate-related entities, has also seen changes that follow Project 2025’s playbook. The document describes the agency as “one of the main drivers of the climate change alarm industry and, as such, is harmful to future U.S. prosperity.”

In recent months, the president has made moves to “break up” NOAA — a directive also found on page 674 of the Project 2025 document — including laying off hundreds of staffers, closing several offices and proposing significant cuts to its research arm.

The administration has similarly taken Project 2025-recommended steps to shift disaster relief responsibilities away from the federal government and onto the states; loosen energy efficiency standards for appliances; and rescind USAID policies that address climate change and help countries transition away from fossil fuels, among others.

These are some of nearly 70 environmental action items identified in the Project 2025 Tracker, of which 47 are already completed or in progress less than 150 days into President Trump’s second term.

Tracking the administration’s progress is a somewhat subjective process, in part because many of the directives have come through executive orders or require multiple steps to complete. Additionally, many goals outlined in Project 2025 are indirect or implied and therefore not included in the tracker, according to Adrienne Cobb, one of its creators.

Cobb told The Times she read through the entire document and extracted only “explicit calls to action, or recommendations where the authors clearly state that something should be done.”

“My goal was for the tracker to reflect the authors’ intentions using their own words wherever possible,” she said. “By focusing on direct language and actionable items, I tried to create a list that’s accurate and accountable to the source material.”

Though the Trump administration continues to deny any connection to Project 2025, the creators of the massive tome were always clear about their presidential intentions.

“This volume — the Conservative Promise — is the opening salvo of the 2025 Presidential Transition Project,” Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts wrote in its forward. “Its 30 chapters lay out hundreds of clear and concrete policy recommendations for White House offices, Cabinet departments, Congress, and agencies, commissions, and boards.”

TEEN Mom star Cheyenne Floyd has revealed she’s pregnant with her third child on the show’s season premiere.

Teen Mom: The Next Chapter fans figured out the 32-year-old mom of two’s news ahead of time after catching a tell-tale detail in the background of the season finale teaser.

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Cheyenne is already mom to Ryder, 8, with ex Cory Wharton, and Ace, 3, with husband Zach Davis, whom she married in 2022.

On the finale’s last moments, Cheyenne tells the camera that she’s going to start fertility treatments in the coming days – but feels she needs to take a pregnancy test ahead of time.

“Oh my God, it says that I’m pregnant,” she says after taking two Clear Blue tests. “Oh my God, I’m shaking!”

In the next scene, she tells Ryder, who becomes so excited and emotional, she bursts into tears.

After the scene aired, Cheyenne announced her pregnancy to her fans on Instagram.

“And when we had nothing left to give, we surrendered it all to God,” she wrote.

“We told Him we couldn’t carry it anymore — and He answered.

“Not in our timing, but in His.

“This little life is proof that even in the waiting, even in the heartbreak, miracles are still being written.”

EMOTIONAL STRUGGLE

Her struggle to get pregnant with her third child was a focus of the show’s latest season.

“Zach and I have been trying to get pregnant for a year and a half now and just being told you’re not fertile, it just doesn’t work. It’s hard. It’s really hard,” she told Us Weekly.

“I just want to know, Why didn’t anybody tell me? I’m crying in the bathroom by myself and then calling my best friend.

“What do I do? It’s hard. It’s so hard. But that’s why I wanted to talk about it on the show, and the influx of messages that I’ve got from people that are like, ‘Thank you.’”

In a finale promo, the narrator promised one cast member would reveal their secret pregnancy on the episode.

Fans initially thought the star was Jade Cline, 27, who was two weeks late on her period and bought a pregnancy test on the previous episode.

But a eagle-eyed viewer caught that the pregnancy tests in the promo were placed on a counter that looked to be the same as those in Cheyenne and Zach’s Los Angeles home.

“Shout out to Zach for literally zooming in on the countertop in their house tour video,” a Reddit user said.

In another clue, Cheyenne recently covered up her stomach in a swimsuit on a recent trip to Turks & Caicos for friend Yris Palmer’s birthday.

Kylie Jenner was also on the trip, and spoiled the birthday girl with a massive $39k-a-night beach mansion.

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