Top executives of California’s two biggest utilities warned they would take action to protect their shareholders if Sacramento lawmakers fail to pass legislation limiting their companies’ liabilities for wildfires sparked by their equipment.
“If the legislature does not act, or if they act and don’t actually solve the problem, then we’re going to have to take action,” said Patti Poppe, chief executive of Pacific Gas & Electric, on a July 23 call with Wall Street analysts.
Poppe did not specify what her company would do, but made it clear any action would protect shareholders’ money. Previously, she told Wall Street analysts that if lawmakers failed to pass legislation to protect the utilities, PG&E would use its cash to buy back the company’s shares, according to a report by the bank Jeffries.
That could raise the company’s stock price and benefit shareholders, while reducing money available for the utility’s California programs.
The comments from Poppe and Pedro Pizarro, chief executive of Edison International, came just before the state Legislature returned from summer break Monday to begin the last four weeks of its session.
Gov. Gavin Newsom and legislators have been working behind closed doors to address the state’s escalating cost of wildfires, including those caused by the utilities, The Times reported last month. The big electric companies have told their investors they are talking to Newsom and lawmakers about a bill package that would protect shareholders from paying for utility-sparked fires.
On Tuesday, government fire officials released their investigation into last year’s devastating Eaton fire, blaming Edison’s century-old transmission line, which the utility kept in place even though it had not carried power since 1971.
Last week, Edison’s Pizarro echoed some of Poppe’s statements. He told Wall Street analysts on a conference call that he too was prepared to make financial changes if the legislature does not pass a comprehensive bill that cuts the utilities’ financial wildfire risk before the legislative session ends Aug. 31.
Any legislation that passes without a protective framework for utilities, Pizarro said, would “influence how we prioritize and deploy future capital.”
Pizarro declined analysts’ requests to say where the company would cut back, other than saying it would continue spending aimed at keeping its grid safe and reliable.
“We’re going to evaluate the totality of the package that comes to us and figure out our response that goes along with it,” Pizarro said.
Pizarro also told analysts that without legislation supporting the utilities, Edison’s credit rating could be downgraded. If that happens, he said, it could raise bills for electric customers since the utility may have to pay a higher interest rate for new borrowings.
“That could be a significant cost impact through the cost of debt that gets passed through to SCE customers if we don’t have a framework in the next four weeks that is credit supportive for our utility,” Pizarro told the analysts.
Newsom and lawmakers are drawing up legislation based on recommendations in an April study that the governor ordered last year.
The final report didn’t focus on utilities’ responsibility for sparking at least seven of the 20 most destructive wildfires in state history. It suggested ways to reduce the cost of wildfire liabilities, including by capping fees of attorneys representing victims and reducing payments to survivors for non-economic damages like pain and suffering.
The report also suggested that utilities should no longer reimburse property insurers for damages of fires sparked by electrical equipment. Insurers say this would increase premiums for homeowners.
Edison is now facing thousands of lawsuits from the victims of the Eaton fire, which roared through Altadena, destroying more than 9,000 homes and other structures and killing 19 people. The lawsuits claim it was negligent for the fire, which Edison denies.
The utility created a program to pay for victims’ damages if they agree to give up their right to sue.
Edison has so far paid more than $1 billion to victims. Experts say the fire’s costs could exceed the $21-billion state wildfire fund that Newsom and lawmakers created in 2019 to protect Edison, PG&E and San Diego Gas & Electric.
If that happens, Edison customers must pay for the rest under legislation that Newsom and lawmakers introduced in the final days of last year’s legislative session.
Because of utility protections in legislation that Newsom and lawmakers passed in 2019 and last year, Edison has said it expects its shareholders to pay little for the Eaton fire. The utility says it believes it will be reimbursed for its damage payments to victims by the state wildfire fund and through customer bills, according to the company’s financial disclosures.
A coalition of wildfire survivors, consumer advocates and other groups wrote a letter to Newsom last month, asking him for legislation that keeps utilities accountable for the fires they cause.
The coalition pointed out that despite billions of dollars in damages from the Eaton fire, Edison’s profits soared last year by more than 200% — from $1.3 billion in 2024 to $4.5 billion.
The company’s board also rewarded Edison executives with higher salaries and bonuses. Pizarro received $16.6 million in cash, stock and other compensation, up 20% from 2024.
“For-profit companies that repeatedly cause catastrophic harm must be held accountable, not protected and enriched,” wrote Joy Chen, executive director of Every Fire Survivors Network, who is leading the coalition, in the letter to Newsom.
The letter warned that without reform of current state laws protecting utilities, disasters like the Eaton fire could happen again.
“Altadena is not the first community to endure this cycle, and it will not be the last,” the letter said.
Norwegian Cruise downgraded to Hold at Freedom Broker; PT cut to $20
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WASHINGTON — The Trump administration has acknowledged in court documents that it canceled $7.6 billion in grants for hundreds of clean energy projects “based solely on the political identity of the grant recipient’s state,” including California and 15 other states that voted for Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election.
The statement, included in a court filing last week in a lawsuit over the canceled funding, contradicts repeated assertions by Energy Secretary Chris Wright and other officials that the projects were canceled because they did not adequately advance the nation’s energy needs or had other problems that made them a poor investment of taxpayer dollars.
The Department of Energy said in the filing Wednesday that “DOE accepts that the inclusion of grants … was based solely on the political identity of the grant recipient’s state, i.e., whether the recipient’s location and/or place of performance was in a Blue State or a non-Blue State. DOE will not contend that it looked beyond the prime grantee(s) to consider the political identity or geographic distribution of downstream beneficiaries of the grant funds.”
The agency also said that it “accepts that the differential treatment resulting in the October 2025 termination of Blue State grants and the non-termination of non-Blue State grants was not based on a rational connection between the recipient’s location and/or place of performance and DOE’s past or current agency priorities.”
Democrats and environmental groups seized on the court filing, saying the administration had “weaponized” the federal government to kill good jobs and punish working families because of their political views.
“This administration has now admitted in court what has long been obvious: it terminated nearly 300 cost-cutting energy projects for no reason other than the fact that the states they were in did not vote for the president in the 2024 election,” Rep. Marcy Kaptur of Ohio and Sen. Patty Murray of Washington state said in a joint statement. Both are high-ranking Democrats on the House and Senate appropriations committees, respectively.
“Weaponizing the federal government like this is outright un-American, and it’s hardworking families already struggling with sky-high costs who are suffering the consequences of this corrupt abuse of power,” Kaptur and Murray said.
They called on congressional Republicans to join them in holding the Trump administration “accountable for the President’s failure to look out for all Americans.”
The Energy Department announced in October that 321 funding awards across 223 projects were terminated, saying that after review, they “did not adequately advance the nation’s energy needs or were not economically viable.”
The cuts, part of broader attacks from President Trump on climate programs and clean energy funding, slashed federal support for projects to build battery plants, develop hydrogen technology, upgrade the electric grid and capture carbon dioxide emissions.
Russell Vought, the White House budget director, highlighted the cutbacks in a social media post, saying that money “to fuel the Left’s climate agenda is being cancelled.”
The Energy Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Projects that were cut were located in California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Vermont and Washington. All 16 targeted states supported Harris, but Wright said the cuts were “business decisions” based on whether the projects were a good use of taxpayer money or not.
The cuts were immediately challenged in court, and more than two dozen Democratic members of Congress, led by California Sens. Adam Schiff and Alex Padilla and Rep. Zoe Lofgren, wrote a letter to the Energy Department’s acting inspector general requesting a formal investigation. The department’s internal watchdog launched an investigation in December.
Government lawyers had previously confirmed in a court filing late last year that the selection of grants in fact “was influenced by whether a grantee’s address was located in a State that tends to elect … Democratic candidates in state and national elections (so-called ‘Blue States’).”
That filing came in a separate suit filed by clean-energy groups and the city of St. Paul, Minn., over the canceled funding. The most recent admission came in a case called Thakur vs. Trump that’s been ongoing since spring 2025. Federal lawyers acknowledged that they used keywords related to diversity, gender and COVID-19 to screen for projects that ran afoul of the Trump administration’s priorities.
Holly Bender, chief program officer for the Sierra Club, said the latest court filing shows “the Trump administration is brazenly admitting to a vindictive approach to cancelling much-needed energy infrastructure that ignores the job losses, air pollution and increasing bills that people are experiencing everywhere.”
Instead of “building the energy projects we desperately need,” billions of American taxpayer dollars are “going to line the pockets of a small handful of fossil fuel company CEOs,” Bender said, citing nearly $3 billion pledged by the Trump administration to cancel offshore wind projects in favor of fossil fuel projects such as natural gas and coal.
Daly writes for the Associated Press.
Los Angeles City Councilmember Nithya Raman, who is running for mayor against incumbent Karen Bass, seized on significant decreases in street homelessness in her district Friday while blasting increases citywide.
Street homelessness — people living outdoors or in their vehicles — went down by 49% in Raman’s district compared to the previous year, she said at a press conference Friday.
Citywide, street homelessness increased nearly 8%, while overall homelessness, which includes those living in shelters and other temporary facilities, increased 3.4%, according to numbers from the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority’s January point-in-time count that were released Friday.
The contrast between her district and the city overall offered Raman an angle to present herself as more effectively handling the homelessness crisis than Bass.
An estimated 45,194 homeless people live in the city, with about 36% of them in shelters, according to LAHSA.
“Far fewer people living outside. Far more people indoors,” Raman, who has served on the council since 2020 and is chair of the City Council’s housing and homelessness committee, said at the press conference. “As mayor, that is the approach, and the results, that I want to deliver citywide.”
The numbers across the city were a setback for Bass, who has made homelessness one of her signature issues and previously touted two straight years of drops in street homelessness.
Raman cited her office’s homelessness team and their “aggressive interventionist” approach as reasons her district — which extends from Los Feliz and Silver Lake into Studio City, Sherman Oaks and other parts of the San Fernando Valley — did not suffer the same increases as other parts of the city.
She said her team is very familiar with homeless individuals in the district and knows many by name. The team tracks homeless encampments on a map and makes sure that empty shelter beds are filled, she said.
Bass’ campaign said Raman was attacking the mayor’s Inside Safe program, which moves homeless people from the streets to shelter and motel beds, at the same time that it contributed to the decreases in her district.
Raman has critiqued Inside Safe as too costly and insufficiently transparent.
“Nithya Raman is taking credit for the results of Inside Safe while campaigning against it,” Alex Stack, a spokesperson for Bass’ campaign, said in a statement. “While Raman takes credit for the City’s work in her district, ignoring the fact that she’s the Chair of the Homelessness & Housing Committee for ALL of Los Angeles, Mayor Bass is working to move our city forward and address years of neglect.”
Raman responded to those critiques at her press conference, saying that her district only had three Inside Safe operations over the past four years — fewer than some other districts.
She deflected when asked Friday about her responsibility for citywide homelessness, as chair of the city’s housing and homelessness committee.
“Council can pass legislation … move motions forward, but it is the mayor that has charge of the implementation and outcomes,” she said.
Citywide, Inside Safe has moved more than 6,000 people into hotels, motels and other types of interim housing since Bass took office in December 2022. But by May 31, 41% of those people had returned to homelessness, according to LAHSA figures collected separately from this year’s homeless count.
Bass attributed the citywide homelessness increases in part to funding cuts by the state and federal government. She also said the county has not provided adequate mental health or substance counseling services.
“This crisis was ignored by city leaders for decades, it’s only now that we’ve seen a historic decline,” she said in a statement Thursday. “I will never stop fighting until we end street homelessness, because no Angeleno should be sleeping on the street.”
Times staff writer Doug Smith contributed to this report.
Chilean President Jose Antonio Kast has seen Congress approve most of the economic and tax reforms he promoted Photo by Adriana Thomasa/EPA
SANTIAGO, Chile, July 22 (UPI) — Chile’s Congress approved most of the economic and tax reforms promoted by President José Antonio Kast — one of the flagship initiatives of his government agenda.
The reforms include a gradual reduction in the corporate tax rate from to 23% from 27% to encourage investment and revive economic growth.
The Chamber of Deputies on Tuesday passed the National Reconstruction and Economic and Social Development bill, which also establishes tax incentives for the repatriation of capital, creates compensation mechanisms for companies when courts overturn projects that have already received Environmental Qualification Resolution approval and eliminates the tax on a first home for older adults.
Finance Minister Jorge Quiroz said the initiative seeks to “restore tax competitiveness” and provide greater certainty for investment.
“We have approved measures to restore certainty for investment in Chile, remove permitting barriers that have kept investment projects and economic activity stalled, and provide security for those who decide to invest,” he said.
The approval represents one of Kast’s main legislative victories since taking office in March, and allows him to advance one of the pillars of his economic agenda — reducing the tax burden to stimulate private investment and accelerate growth.
Jorge Berríos, academic director of the Graduate Diploma in Finance at the Faculty of Economics and Business of the University of Chile, told UPI that the reform is intended to restore investor confidence and create conditions for the country to return to growth above 3%.
“A reduction of several percentage points in the corporate tax rate has positive effects on companies and the economy, although those results are generally seen over the long term,” he said.
Berrios said some effects could be felt sooner in the labor market because of the subsidies included in the initiative, as well as through an improved perception of Chile among domestic and foreign investors.
“The Chilean market is returning to a structure similar to that of the 1990s, with market-oriented reforms that allowed the country to achieve strong growth and stand out in Latin America,” he said.
Berríos said the Chilean economy experienced several years of uncertainty marked by increased regulation and higher taxes — factors that he believes damaged the country’s standing among investors.
The Confederation of Production and Commerce, the country’s leading business organization, welcomed approval of the bill. Its president, Susana Jiménez, said the initiative represents “an important step toward restoring the economy’s dynamism and returning to growth.”
The only provision still awaiting approval is the compensation mechanism for municipalities, which will lose part of the revenue generated by the tax on residential properties.
The Broad’s “Yoko Ono: Music of the Mind” is more mind than music. She opens your mind; you make the music. Look into an empty “Box of Smile” and maybe you will. “Give Peace a Chance” — of course.
She breaks, and she mends, and not just your mind. Something tells me the Broad won’t go along with Ono’s “Collecting Piece II” from 1963, which has the following instructions: “Break a contemporary museum into pieces with the means you have chosen. Collect the pieces and put it together with glue.”
That’s a smile piece, too, although Ono looks all business holding a crystalline hammer on the catalog cover photo. I still smile when I recall how her piece for an orchestra that asks the players to bang their heads against a stage wall utterly delighted an audience and musicians at a performance in New York. Only Ono remained deadpan.
There were more smiles Saturday evening when The Broad, in collaboration with REDCAT across the street, presented a program of two Ono performance pieces. It began with six members of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra playing Boccherini’s First Sextet. This happens to be the first work ever written for pairs of violins, violas and cellos, as an expression of freedom that, in 1776, felt revolutionary.
Perhaps that is why LACO chose the Italian composer to represent a contemporary revolutionary artist in the wake of our 250th July 4. The actual piece being performed was Ono’s “Sky Piece for Jesus Christ,” in which she instructs an orchestra, whatever size (although she tended to like something larger than a sextet), to begin by playing a work, say, by Mozart.
It doesn’t much matter what is chosen, because at the premiere in a 1965 Fluxus concert at Carnegie Recital Hall, Ono and a couple of colleagues crept on stage and began wrapping the musicians in gauze. After a few minutes, they could no longer play.
Amusing, yes, but this is also an act of silencing, maybe even passive-aggressive violence. You smile (and a player or two at REDCAT couldn’t suppress a smile), but you don’t feel so hot doing so.
Members of the L.A. Chamber Orchestra covered in gauze while performing Yoko Ono’s “Sky Piece to Jesus Christ” at REDCAT.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
There is, in fact, more to this “Sky Piece” than meets the smile. Ono meant Jesus Christ to stand for John Cage. Cage was a key inspiration for Ono’s art. When the Beatles broke up and Ono and John Lennon moved to New York in the late 1960s, they first wanted to be as far from the limelight as possible, Ono having been demonized in the popular press over supposedly breaking up the Beatles (she didn’t!!!!). Cage found them a small two-bedroom apartment next door to him and his partner, Merce Cunningham, in their modest West Village building (a significant fact curiously ignored in the otherwise illuminating new documentary “One to One: John and Yoko” about the couple’s new New York life there).
Ono and Cage had a long, meaningful but not always easy relationship. Cage, who wrote music to suppress his ego, had a problem with Ono’s exhibitionism. In 1962, he dedicated a piece to Ono titled “0’00” (4’33” No. 2),” an Ono-like composition with a single sentence of instruction: “In a situation provided with maximum amplification (no feedback) perform a disciplined action.”
Cage later added other qualifications. One insistence is that the action should fulfill an obligation to others. However much Ono’s “Sky Piece” comes across as a playful Cage rejoinder, Ono did, the year before in Kyoto, create what could be called a version of “0’00”,” although an actual silent piece.
This is her famous “Cut Piece,” which the performance artist known as MPA performed at REDCAT following “Sky Piece.” It was clearly the draw that caused the program to be sold out months in advance.
There are many meanings that have been inscribed to “Cut Piece,” in which Ono invited the audience to come on stage and, with a pair scissors, cut off a small piece of her dress. Along with questioning social and sexual taboos, feminism and acts of aggression, Ono also confronts her own issues with ego from a Buddhist perspective, just as Cage had.
“Cut Piece” has a central place in Ono’s work as do film clips of her performing it in the Broad exhibition. Ono sits without a trace of emotion as she is stripped bare. Attention is directed away from her to the cutters. But the action is nullified by the fact that Ono assumes the stoic posture of the Buddhist monks seen in the news at the time setting themselves aflame in protest of the Vietnam War.
War had, indeed, inspired Ono in her shocking, exhibitionist (however ego-denying) disciplined action. It’s fulfillment of an obligation to others is, like so much in Ono, a two-edged sword forcing us — be we active cutters or passive observers — into contemplation of violence.
MPA’s performance was extraordinary. She introduced “Cut Piece” by noting that in Ono’s six performances over a half-century, the last in 2003 in response to the Gulf War, anger had turned into something more gracious. It was her way of saying to a new generation, give peace a chance.
To begin her own performance, MPA announced that she has retained Ono’s intent to perform “Cut Piece” in time of war. She said take the square of clothing and honor it, let it mean something to you.
At the few performances I’ve seen of “Cut Piece,” there has typically been audience hesitation at first. Not this time. What looked like almost half the full house immediately walked on stage and lined up. In the age of Instagram, everyone’s 15 minutes of fame has turned into an eternity. The cut piece of fabric — a custom garment designed by Victor Barragá — becomes proof of not missing out.
Most cutters approached MPA self-consciously as if walking to a casket at a funeral, although a few acted more like performers themselves wanting to be seen. Through it all, some 40 minutes, MPA didn’t move a muscle. It was as if she had abstracted herself from scissors and spectators, projecting not so much courage as strength. She inspired silence.
An evening that had begun as silencing a smiling sextet ended in a sublime effort to open the mind beyond body and music to give peace a chance.
Davis Turner/Getty Images News
Duke Energy (DUK) up 0.6% in Monday’s trading after saying it reached a settlement with North Carolina Public Staff, the agency representing utility customers, that would lower the proposed rate increase by more than half, subject to approval by the North
July 15 (UPI) — The U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday voted to defeat an amendment cutting military aid to Israel by billions of dollars, although more than 100 Democrats voted for the measure.
Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., proposed the amendment, which was attached to a spending bill. It would have cut $3.3 billion in aid, much of which would have gone to Israel’s military. The amendment failed by a 104-314 vote, with Massie and 103 Democrats voting for it. Ten Democrats voted only “present,” with 98 voting against it.
Even defeated, the measure’s support was a rebuke to the Israeli government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and its attacks on Gaza. The government faces accusations of genocide against the Palestinian people.
However, some Democrats said the measure was designed to spread division among their party and called it “deeply flawed” even if they voted for it.
Rep. Katherine Clark, D-Mass., House minority whip, voted for the measure, while also saying that it was “not an attempt to have a serious and necessary debate” about military aid to Israel but “more stunts from congressional Republicans who would rather score cheap political points than lead.”
Still, Clark said, “It is clear that the status quo is not tenable.We should not provide a blank check for military aid to any country that does not comply with U.S. law, interests and values. The Netanyahu government has failed to meet that standard.”
Clark is the second-highest ranking House Democrat. The top Democrat in the House, Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., and Democratic Caucus Chairman Rep.Pete Aguilar, D-Calif., both voted against the measure. Jeffries said he would not try to get other Democrats to oppose the bill but encouraged them to vote their conscience.
Rep. Greg Casar, D-Texas, the leader of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, encouraged support for the measure before the vote, saying voters are looking for leaders who will question blind U.S. support for Israel.
“Think about this for just a moment,” Casar said after the vote. “Starting today, a majority of Democrats in this building refused to vote to send billions of dollars in weapons to the Israeli military. That sends a strong message to Netanyahu that the days are over of an unaccountable blank check to his wars and his war crimes, at least from the Democratic Party.”
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Thomson Reuters (TRI) is planning to eliminate up to 500 engineering jobs, the firm’s media arm reported on Monday.
The layoffs affect about 5.2% of the company’s 9,400 employees in its operations and technology unit. It represents about 1.8% of its overall workforce of
By Agence France Presse and Reuters
Published On 13 Jul 202613 Jul 2026
European Union foreign ministers met in Brussels on Monday to discuss whether there is enough support for new measures to curb trade with Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.
“Everybody agrees that the situation in the West Bank is really intolerable,” EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said at the start of a meeting.
“What is happening in the West Bank is actually making it more and more impossible that the two-state solution ever can come into effect.”
Here is more about the ongoing EU discussions on Israeli settlements.
The discussions are based on a confidential paper by the European Commission that floats three different options – an import licensing system, prohibitive tariffs, or a ban – an unnamed senior EU diplomat and a European official said, Reuters reported.
The EU has long struggled to take major decisions on Middle East policy because of deep and long-standing divisions among its 27 member countries, particularly on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Diplomats said the debate at a meeting in Brussels on Monday was not expected to yield any concrete decisions, but would help to sound out if there is enough support to move forward.
Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967. More than 500,000 Israeli settlers live in the territory, excluding east Jerusalem, among some three million Palestinians.
This month, Israel’s Security Cabinet has approved a plan to establish 13 new settlements in the central occupied West Bank.
The number of new settlements has soared recently, according to new data from the Palestinian Forum for Israeli Studies (MADAR). After averaging approximately eight outposts annually between 2012 and 2022, the number jumped to 32 in 2023, then 62 in 2024, reaching 86 during 2025.
Nasser Khdour, Middle East assistant research manager at the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED), said that 2026 is the deadliest year for settler violence since ACLED began tracking incidents in Palestine a decade ago.
“Incidents have included attacks on Palestinians, property destruction, damage to farming equipment and facilities, tree uprooting, and grazing on Palestinian agricultural land. Other incidents have involved looting, including the theft of equipment, sheep, and crops,” Khdour was quoted as saying on the ACLED website in May.
Under pressure for the EU as a whole to take measures, the bloc’s executive last week laid out options to curb trade with settlements, including a ban.
“There have been a lot of asks and requests from the member states regarding the ban of the trade with illegal settlements,” Kallas said.
“Let’s see if these options that have been provided now will have a stronger push from member states.”
Belgium’s Foreign Minister Maxime Prevot said the options laid out appeared to be more “a bone to gnaw on than a genuine desire to move forward”.
“We are calling for concrete proposals,” he said.
There is disagreement in Brussels as to whether that move would need backing from all 27 member states or just a weighted majority.
Diplomats say that key players Germany and Italy are still undecided on the move.
Several EU countries – including Spain, the Netherlands, and the Republic of Ireland – have already imposed their own trade restrictions on Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories, considered illegal under international law.
In May, the EU imposed sanctions on four entities and three individuals over what it described as serious and systematic human rights abuses against Palestinians in the West Bank.
In a July 2024 advisory opinion, the International Court of Justice said Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories and settlements in the West Bank are illegal and that states should take steps to prevent trade or investment relations that help maintain the situation.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar last year described a push by some European governments to implement the advisory opinion as “shameful”.
SYDNEY Sweeney looked sensational as she stripped off to cut away lingerie in a sizzling new video.
The actress, 28, put on an eye-popping display while showing off the latest drop from her lingerie brand SYRN.
In the steamy clip, Euphoria star Sydney was seen shrugging off a fur coat while looking out over a balcony.
Leaving almost nothing to the imagination in the daring lingerie, Sydney posed up a storm as she showed off her incredible figure.
Sharing the clip on Instagram, she simply captioned the post: “Did you get your @syrn yet?”
Fans rushed to comment, with one writing: “Jaw on the floor.”
Another said: “The most prettiest girl in the world.”
And a third joked: “You should not be allowed to post this.”
Sydney recently defended stripping off to play her Euphoria character Cassie in the latest season of the HBO hit.
Creator of the show Sam Levinson thought it needed to be toned down, whereas Sydney did not.
“When I first wrote it, I was like, ‘Maybe we shoot all of this, and we don’t have any nudity. Maybe there’s ways to shoot around certain things?’” he told the New York Times.
“Are you kidding?” Sydney reportedly told him.
“I’m playing an OnlyFans model. You’re telling me you’re going to, like, skirt around it?”
And not long after the finale aired, she defended sexy scenes with a slew of snaps from the show and a caption that read: “It’s called… acting.”
World number one Scottie Scheffler misses the cut for the first time in 79 tournaments as he bogeys the final hole of his second round of the Scottish Open.
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Planned Parenthood and two smaller regional abortion providers are resuming billing Medicaid for services other than abortion after being cut off for most of a year.
The defunding, which was mandated in President Trump’s big tax and policy law last year, has been blamed in the closure of multiple clinics as well as a reduction in the number of Planned Parenthood patients being screened for breast cancer or tested for sexually transmitted infections.
The Medicaid billing was allowed to resume last weekend.
The restored funding does not mean the battle over federal abortion policy has ended, and not all services that were cut will return.
Here’s what to know about the situation.
Many abortion providers, including Planned Parenthood affiliates, have struggled financially since the 2022 Supreme Court decision that overturned Roe v. Wade and allowed state abortion bans to be enforced. Clinics have closed in states with abortion bans and restrictions as well as those without.
Planned Parenthood says its affiliates have closed nearly 30 of its roughly 600 clinics over the past year, citing the funding change as a key reason.
Over that period, affiliates dispensed about 25% fewer packs of birth control pills and conducted about 20% fewer breast cancer exams than the previous year.
Many patients — especially in places where healthcare can be hard to access — may not have had care at all because of the defunding, the organization said.
Planned Parenthood Action Fund spokesperson Angela Vasquez-Giroux said the cuts have also led to limited abortion access in some places.
Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin halted abortions for about a month, then dropped its status as an “essential community provider” so it could resume seeking reimbursement. The Arizona affiliate paused offering many of its services to patients covered by Medicaid.
The defunding provision also affected two other healthcare providers that met the criteria in the law because the were nonprofit family planning organizations that provided abortion and received more than $800,000 yearly in Medicaid reimbursements.
Their experiences were very different.
Maine Family Planning closed three primary care clinics that served about 1,000 patients in the largely rural state.
Evelyn Kieltyka, a senior vice president of program services, said that even with help, their former patients had to wait an average of four to six months to be established with new providers.
Meanwhile, the number of abortions the group provided held steady, she said. Maine is one of several states where state-funded Medicaid covers abortion.
Patients at Health Imperatives in Massachusetts may not have noticed the change, as no services were dropped.
The state government funded Medicaid reimbursements that the federal government stopped — something that Planned Parenthood says happened in some form in 14 states. On top of that, the clinic system received a grant from Melinda Gates’s foundation.
Planned Parenthood’s Arizona affiliate has already announced expanded hours and more telehealth options linked to the ability to bill Medicaid again.
Some other services are not likely to be restored.
Kieltyka said Maine Family Planning isn’t planning to bring back its primary care practices again.
“When you close something down and you lose positions,” she said, “it’s very difficult to bring that back and build it back up again.”
And Michelle Quesada, vice president of communications, brand and marketing for the Planned Parenthood affiliate in Florida, said a closed clinic in Lakeland isn’t expected to reopen, partly out of concern that Congress or the Trump administration could cut Medicaid reimbursements for the organization again.
“There’s no telling with this uncertainty,” she said. “It’s like a yo-yo effect.”
The political battle isn’t over.
Abortion opponents are pushing Congress to adopt another defunding policy.
“They’ve defunded Big Abortion before,” Kelsey Pritchard, a spokesperson for Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, said Monday, “and they should do everything in their power to do it again.”
Planned Parenthood contends that most general election voters don’t want the organization to be defunded. Pritchard said that the Republican base does.
Mulvihill writes for the Associated Press.
Dikuch/iStock via Getty Images
Scorpio Tankers (STNG) down 2.1% in Tuesday’s trading as Bank of America double-downgrades shares to Underperform from Buy with a $78 price target, lowered from $100, saying product tanker rates remain historically strong but are now in a post-peak pullback.
British American Tobacco (BAT) is to cut nearly a fifth of its global workforce as part of a major cost-cutting drive.
The company, which makes Lucky Strike and Dunhill cigarettes, is cutting 5,500 roles and outsourcing 3,500 more.
BAT did not say where the jobs being cut were located, but added that the US was not affected.
The cost-cutting programme is expected to save about £600m a year by 2028, it added.
The tobacco giant, which currently employs 47,000 people globally, had previously announced a savings drive that would involve making it “more digital and AI-focused”.
Traditional cigarette sales are shrinking as smokers increasingly switch to vapes and nicotine pouches.
BAT is shifting its focus to smoking alternatives such as its Vuse vapes and Velo nicotine pouches to drive growth, but its sales and profit margins have been sluggish in recent years.
Sales in the US — its biggest market — have also been hit by the cost of living, as smokers swap for cheaper brands.
Additionally, the company is battling rising duties and stricter regulations in some markets.
BAT said the job cuts, which have already started, are set to be completed by the end of this year.
Chief executive Tadeu Marroco said the cuts would make the company “more agile, cost disciplined and technology enabled”.
“These changes affect many of our colleagues, and we are focused on supporting them through this transition with care and respect, as we position the business for the future.”
In contrast to heat pumps, continuing record sales of electric cars indicate they are all but set to replace their petrol and diesel counterparts in the coming years on UK roads.
Emma Pinchbeck, CEO of the Climate Change Committee, praised the improvement in greener transport.
“We’ve made big progress on things like electric vehicles, where one in four cars being bought in the UK today is now an EV.”
She said the growth had been accelerated by the Iran fuel crisis, which has seen significant increases in petrol and diesel prices at the pump pushing people to seek out other options.
“We can see in the numbers what people want – cheap cars and cars that will save them money, particularly as fossil fuels are volatile,” she said.
But the industry body, Society of Motor Manufacturers (SMMT), said most of this demand had been brought about by huge discounts offered by car manufacturers.
“This has cost the industry more than £10 billion since 2024 – an unsustainable amount when that money should be going into R&D, manufacturing and the workforce,” said Mike Hawes, CEO of SMMT.
It supported the government’s plan to weaken its Zero Emission Vehicles (ZEV) mandate – which sets a target for number of EVs manufacturers produce and a penalty for failing to meet that target.
The UKCCC disagreed and urged the government to keep the policy.
SOUTHAMPTON, N.Y. — The USGA set up a different golf course at Shinnecock Hills to keep it playable in strong wind. And when the wind subsided late Thursday afternoon, Wyndham Clark looked like he was playing in a different U.S. Open.
Clark seized on a more gentle course — slightly calmer and still soft with receptive greens — by pulling away late to reach six-under-par through 16 holes.
He left in darkness with a four-shot lead over seven players, one of them Oklahoma junior Ryder Cowan, another the surprisingly resurgent Dustin Johnson.
Rory McIlroy thought he had made a fine effort with a 69 in gusts that topped 30 mph in the middle of the day, when the scoring average was well above 74. The afternoon started tough until the wind kept subsiding, and players began taking aim at flags. The afternoon wave was playing at least a stroke easier than the early starters who faced relentless wind.
“Everything was kind of clicking,” said Clark, who came into the U.S. Open playing as well as anyone. “We were definitely fortunate with the wind laying down. Overall a good round.”
Shinnecock was still a brute of a test, but the red numbers on the white scoreboard were an unfamiliar site for this course. When play was suspended by darkness, 17 players were under par.
Xander Schauffele hits his tee shot on the ninth hole during the second round of the U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club on Friday.
(George Walker IV / Associated Press)
The lowest opening round in the previous five U.S. Opens at Shinnecock is 66, last done by three players in 2004.
Cowan birdied his last hole for a 68 to join former Sooner Max McGreevy and former Oklahoma State player Sam Stevens, the only one of that trio who faced the harsh wind of the morning wave.
Johnson, in his final year of being exempt from the U.S. Open he won at Oakmont in 2016, ran off four straight birdies and was tied with Clark after 13 holes. But Johnson failed to get up-and-down for birdie on the easy par-five fifth, where Clark made eagle. And then Johnson three-putted from short range for double bogey on the sixth to fall four shots behind.
Scottie Scheffler, who needs the U.S. Open to complete the career Grand Slam, battled all day and relied heavily on his short game to salvage a 72. It was his 10th consecutive U.S. Open round without breaking par, but at the time it left him only four shots out of the lead.
Clark, who won the U.S. Open in Los Angeles three years ago, changed the look of the leaderboard. He was to return Friday morning to complete the round, then head out for the second round in wind expected to be not as strong.
One key to his round might have happened some five hours before he even showed up.
Thirty minutes after the round began, play was stopped because of fog so dense it was difficult to see the fairway and the green on the par-three 11th. The two-hour delay pushed back tee times.
The forecast was for the strongest wind of the week during the brightest part of Thursday.
“I would say when I got my tee times on Tuesday, I was like, ‘Oh, could be a tough draw,’” Clark said. “That two-hour fog delay was very helpful, and it was really nice it laid down. So it definitely helped those last six, seven holes we played.”
His golf wasn’t too shabby, either. Clark started on No. 10 and opened with two quick birdies. He went out in 32 to get his name atop the leaderboard. And after missing an eight-foot birdie putt on No. 1 and failing to save par from a bunker on the long par-three second, he took off.
He hit wedge to five feet on No. 3 for birdie, made a 20-foot birdie putt on the next and then from 207 yards with some wind at his back, he hit his second on the par-five fifth to within three feet for eagle.
When Johnson faltered, Clark had plenty of breathing room — and a quick turnaround.
The wind was so strong and the conditions so severe that it took Scheffler’s group nearly three hours to complete nine holes. There was a question the round could have finished even without the fog delay.
Only 27 out of the 77 players from the afternoon wave — Jason Day withdrew because of a back injury — finished the first round.
Dustin Johnson reacts after missing a putt on the sixth hole during the second round of the U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club on Friday.
(Gerald Herbert / Associated Press)
Johnson was joined by three other U.S. Open champions — Matt Fitzpatrick (2022), Gary Woodland (2019) and Jon Rahm (2021) — at two under, with all still having holes to play.
Rahm, who had a chance in the final hour at the PGA Championship, was bogey-free and reached two under by making a 60-foot birdie putt on the par-three 17th hole.
Stevens overcame a double bogey to start his round — a hole that took him over two hours to play because of the fog — and strung together six birdies for his 68.
“The greens haven’t been too firm, the fairways haven’t been too firm, so I’ve really felt like it’s pretty scorable,” said Stevens, who had only his second sub-70 round in his fourth U.S. Open. “Obviously, it’s difficult, but overall it’s an awesome place. I think the setup is great right now.”
For half of the opening round, the USGA appeared to have the ideal test. Coming off two Opens at Shinnecock when the course got out of control, it slowed greens to 10 1/2 on the Stimpmeter — rare for any major, much less the U.S. Open — and keep plenty of water on the putting surfaces.
It was all because of the wind, which did not disappoint. The sustained wind approached 25 mph, and gusts were even stronger. And if that wasn’t enough, it shifted directions in the middle of the day.
“It was tough around here without wind, and then it was blowing pretty hard — really hard,” Keegan Bradley said after a 70. “The USGA did a great job setting the course up because if the greens were any faster or firmer, we might not be playing right now.”
But they played, it became more ideal with each passing hour late in the afternoon.
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The Senate Armed Services Committee is “concerned” about the U.S. Air Force’s current plan to retire its E–11A Battlefield Airborne
Communications Node (BACN) aircraft in Fiscal Year 2028. Legislators want more details about how the service expects to plug any capability gaps that might result from axing the highly specialized communications planes. The Air Force abruptly announced plans to retire the E-11A fleet, which has more than doubled in size in recent years, and supplant it with new space-based capabilities back in April.
A formal request for a briefing on the Air Force’s plans surrounding the E-11A fleet is included in a report accompanying a draft of the annual defense policy bill, or National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), for the 2027 Fiscal Year. The Senate Armed Services Committee released a full copy of the proposed legislation and the report yesterday.
The Air Force currently has 7 BACN jets in service, which are based on several different models from the Bombardier Global Express family of business jets. The BACN package has also flown operationally in the past on one of NASA’s high-flying WB-57F research aircraft and a fleet of now-retired EQ-4B Global Hawk drones.
“The committee is aware of the Department of the Air Force’s decision to cancel the E–11 Battlefield Airborne Communications Node (BACN) capability, which has historically provided critical communications relay and data translation functions enabling joint and coalition operations, particularly in contested and communications-degraded environments,” the report says. “The committee is concerned about the operational risk associated with the loss of the E–11 BACN capability and the lack of clarity regarding the Department’s plan to mitigate resulting gaps in airborne communications, data integration, and battle management.”
“Therefore, the committee directs the Secretary of the Air Force to provide a briefing to the congressional defense committees, not later than March 31, 2027, on the Department’s plan to address capability gaps resulting from the cancellation of the E–11 BACN capability,” it continues.
The briefing needs to at least provide the following:
Currently, the BACN aircraft provide an extremely valuable airborne communications gateway that can be used to relay data across various waveforms between platforms in the air, at sea, and on land. The planes offer a vital way to ‘translate’ between data-sharing systems that may not otherwise be able to ‘talk’ to each other. E-11As can also provide a vital node between line-of-sight and beyond-line-of-sight links. During the conflict in Afghanistan, the BACN aircraft became known for providing this service and creating an active data-sharing rebroadcasting network in a country where mountainous terrain could often limit the reach of line-of-sight links.
The Air Force first announced its intention to divest the E-11A fleet earlier this year as part of the rollout of its annual budget request. The service offered few additional details publicly at that time, beyond that the Hybrid Satellite Communications (STACOM) Terminal program would provide a “bridge” capability in the near term.
Hybrid SATCOM is a capability the Air Force is working to field on a variety of aircraft, including aerial refueling tankers and cargo planes, which is intended to give them better access to government-owned and operated and commercial satellite constellations. SpaceX’s Starlink network and its government-focused cousin, Starshield, are already in particular widespread and still-growing use across the U.S. military. Distributed constellations of satellites, like the ones used for Starlink and Starshield, to support various mission requirements are changing warfighting, and the pace of those developments is accelerating.
An annual force structure report that the Pentagon released last month offers some further insights into the Air Force’s argument for retiring the E-11As.
“Predicated on the successful deployment of next-generation orbital systems, the E-11A fleet is scheduled for divestment in FY 2028,” the force structure report says. “These space-based assets will provide equivalent relay and datalink capabilities, superseding current E-11A functions and enabling a modernized transition of the mission set. Consequently, all cost savings will be reinvested into the replacement capabilities.”
“As part of a broader strategy to align resources with the most pressing operational needs, the Department of the Air Force will divest its fleet of seven E-11A aircraft, with the action planned for FY 2028,” the report adds. “This decision allows for the strategic reallocation of fiscal resources to fund more critical, high-priority service requirements and accelerate modernization efforts in other key areas.”
The Air Force’s decision regarding the E-11A came without any real warning, at least publicly. As noted, the service had significantly increased the fleet size in recent years, driven in part by the retirement of the EQ-4Bs. The aircraft had looked set to continue serving for years to come.
Demand for the capabilities BACN offers has gone well beyond Afghanistan. The aircraft continue to be heavily utilized to support active combat operations, including as part of Operation Epic Fury against Iran this year. The platform was also utilized during the mission to capture former Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro in January.
At the same time, there are questions about the survivability of the E-11A going forward as a non-stealthy business jet-based aircraft, especially in the context of a future high-end fight. These concerns are even pronounced for the BACN aircraft given that a key aspect of their mission set to date has involved flying within range of line-of-sight links. A growing threat ecosystem that pushes the planes further and further from the forces they are expected to support would challenge their utility.
China and Russia, in particular, are developing very long-range anti-air missiles, and the Air Force itself has warned that designs with ranges of 1,000 miles could be in service by 2050. Ever-more sophisticated anti-access/area-denial (A2/AD) ‘bubbles’ will be an increasing challenge for traditional non-stealthy combat support aircraft, not just BACN, as time goes on. Even smaller adversaries like Iran and North Korea, and even some non-state actors, are continuing to field more threatening air defense systems, as well.
As an aside, the U.S. Army now views very long-range air-launched drones as a key capability to help ensure the relevance of its new Bombardier Global Express-based ME-11B High Accuracy Detection and Exploitation System (HADES) surveillance and reconnaissance planes in future large-scale conflicts. You can read more about the plans for HADES here.
All this being said, there is also something of an interesting parallel, very broadly speaking, between the Air Force’s current plans for the E-11A fleet and its failed Pentagon-backed attempt to cancel the E-7 Wedgetail airborne early warning and control aircraft program. The arguments for axing the E-7 were also heavily rooted in plans for new space-based capabilities, concerns about the vulnerability of a non-stealthy aircraft in future high-end conflicts, and a general desire to shift resources to other priorities. Congress ultimately intervened to save the Wedgetail program, and the Air Force and the Pentagon have now completely changed their tone, at least publicly, on the matter.
“I know our department had taken the position that it was … other satellite ISR [intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance capabilities] that was probably going to be capable of a lot of that in the future,” Secretary Pete Hegseth said in response to a question about the E-7 at a hearing in May. “But I think that mindset was indicative of a mindset that we’ve shed, which is the divest-to-invest mindset, which was an austerity mindset, that we’re going to get continuing resolution after continuing resolution. So, we [sic] got to get rid of these platforms in order to invest in these platforms. And there are gaps that need to still be filled. And there are systems that still need to be funded that are used on the battlefield right now, say, MQ-9s, A-10s, you name it.”
Hegseth’s comments here would seem to reflect a logic that one could also apply to the E-11A fleet, at least based on the arguments the Air Force has put forward for its divestment so far.
Whether Congress intervenes now to save the BACN aircraft remains to be seen. The Air Force is still expecting to continue flying the jets through next year at least.
The Air Force will now have a chance to more formally argue before members of the Senate Armed Services Committee for moving ahead with its plan to axe the E-11As.
Contact the author: joe@twz.com
BUDGET airline Wizz Air has warned that it could be forced to cut UK routes due to rising costs.
It comes after air passenger duty (APD) was raised in April – a tax on airlines that is usually then passed onto passengers by increasing flight fares.
Wizz Air boss József Váradi said that the airline will now look at whether the rise in APD will impact demand for its flights and depending on the results, whether any of the airlines routes should be cancelled.
The APD rise in April hit a record high and further increases are expected in the future.
On economy flight fares, APD rose from £13 to £15 in April, to most destinations across Europe.
For Brits travelling on holiday, this means that a family of four could be spending an extra £60 (£8 more than previously) before even adding luggage to their flight booking.
Read more on travel inspo
While Wizz Air has not confirmed which flights are at risk, the airline currently flies to 77 destinations from the UK including holiday hotspots such as Alicante, Tenerife and Majorca in Spain.
The airline boss added that while Wizz Air is mostly happy with its services from the UK, “issues affecting the UK airline industry like APD charge increases” cannot be ignored.
He said: “We have to evaluate how exactly that plays out on our network, our customer base and our financial performance and make decisions accordingly.”
“If the cost of business is going up, that will result in capacity rationalisation if you are unable to pass it on to customers.”
The APD rise comes at a time when many airlines are already feeling the financial pressure of rising air fuel costs.
Váradi added: “I do not think the UK should be overcharging airline customers to raise funds for other activities and commitments, because this is going to undermine airlines and the UK is going to lose out on tourism at the end of the day.”
Sun Travel has contacted Wizz Air for comment.
The tip could help holidaymakers save money (stock photo)(Image: Getty)
A savvy travel tip could help holidaymakers save money on trips to expensive destinations. MoneySavingExpert (MSE), founded by journalist and broadcaster Martin Lewis, often shares money-saving tips for the public. According to a previous blog post from the MSE team, some travellers could save money by booking a hotel they don’t need.
The experts explained that package holidays can sometimes offer better deals than scheduled flights for certain destinations. So travellers could save money by booking their flight as part of a package deal, then booking their preferred accommodation, assuming they’re not keen on the hotel included with the package.
MSE said: “Scheduled flights to some destinations, such as Orlando and Sri Lanka, can be silly money, yet packages there can sometimes come in much cheaper. If you only need the flight, check if there’s a cheaper package holiday, then grab it but DON’T stay in the hotel.”
The guidance added that Martin has previously had success with the trick, helping a friend book a holiday to Sri Lanka. MSE said the passenger paid £300 for the holiday to cover their flights, when the cheapest scheduled deal was over £1,000.”
In another blog post dedicated to cheap package holidays, MSE reiterates the advice. The experts explained: “If you’re going away specifically for seven, 10 or 14 days to a traditional holiday destination, package holidays are often best. They can sometimes be much cheaper than booking a scheduled flight… even if you DON’T want to use the hotel.
“For example, we found flights for a seven-day trip to Florida for £689 per person – a package holiday for the same dates was just £662 per person. It won’t always work, but it’s worth a try.”
When checking flight prices, passengers may wish to compare prices on sites such as Skyscanner. Booking on different days could help customers find the best deals.
Skyscanner says: “Flight pricing changes constantly based on demand, season and route. There’s no fixed ‘cheapest day’ to book but with the right tools, you can stay informed.
“Historically, Skyscanner pricing trends have shown that some airlines release deals late on Mondays, which may lead to lower fares early in the week. Prices tend to rise again as the week progresses and demand increases.”
Some holidaymakers wait until the last minute for deals. Skyscanner explains: “On quieter routes or off-peak travel days, prices may drop as the departure date approaches. But on popular routes or peak dates, fares often increase as the flight fills up.”
SACRAMENTO — Disability rights advocates on Monday gathered outside the state Capitol to push back on Gov. Gavin Newsom’s proposed cuts to in-home supportive services.
“These aren’t just numbers in a budget; these are real people,” said Assemblymember Jeff Gonzalez (R-Indio). “These are children, seniors, veterans and individuals with disabilities whose independence and quality of life depend on these services every single day.”
The In-Home Supportive Services program helps disabled and elderly people remain in their houses by providing in-home care. It pays assistants to help with tasks such as showering, cooking or attending doctor appointments. Newsom’s revised budget proposal, which was unveiled last month, would cut $367.7 million from the program and shift some of that financial burden onto counties.
Gonzalez explained that the issue hits close to home for his family. He said his son has cerebral palsy and a seizure disorder, and relies on assistance to live with dignity.
“Families should not have to wonder every budget season whether the support they rely on will be taken away,” Gonzalez said. “These services should not be treated as bargaining chips in budget negotiations.”
Assemblymember Laurie Davies (R-Laguna Niguel) questioned why a successful state like California would need to enact such cuts.
“It’s hard to go a day without hearing the governor or the administration brag about how we are the fourth-largest economy in the world and yet we can’t fully fund [this program for] the most vulnerable?” Davies said.
The governor has previously explained that difficult decisions must be made as the state could soon face an economic downturn. The budget proposal relies on a tax windfall, largely attributed to the stock market success of artificial intelligence companies, to erase California’s deficit — but some analysts have warned that the AI bubble could burst.
H.D. Palmer, deputy director for external affairs for the California Department of Finance, on Monday said some of the proposed cuts are a byproduct of the federal government’s changes in funding and eligibility for health and human services programs.
The so-called “Big, Beautiful Bill” signed by President Trump last year shifted federal funding away from safety-net programs, he said.
Palmer stressed that state budget negotiations are ongoing.
“Until we land on an agreement, speculation regarding the resolution of any specific differences between the Governor’s budget plan or the Legislature’s respective budget proposals would be premature,” he stated by email.
Monday’s event drew some bipartisan support. Brody Fernandez, communications director for Assemblymember Esmeralda Z. Soria (D-Fresno), said the legislator had been fighting for In-Home Supportive Services funding since she was elected.
Fernandez said his daughter has special needs and her mother had to give up her career to become a full-time caregiver. “This is personal for us and for many of the incredible individuals standing behind me,” he said.
Graham Knaus, chief executive of the California State Assn. of Counties, told The Times that he appreciated efforts to raise awareness about the burden these changes would place on counties.
“We applaud the Senate and Assembly for recognizing counties’ concerns and rejecting this proposal,” he said. “We ask them to hold the line in final negotiations.”
Elizabette Guecamburu, a bookkeeper who has a rare neuromuscular disorder, spoke at Monday’s rally and implored the governor to remember the teachings of their shared alma mater Santa Clara University, a Jesuit-led private school.
“I want him to remember where he came from,” she said, adding that students were taught to value compassion and community. “Don’t forget your Jesuit roots.”
ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE — President Trump said Friday that he wants Bill Pulte, his new acting director of national intelligence, to cut the office, which has already been significantly scaled back during his second term.
Trump noted that the size of the office has been “way too high for way too long” and that “if he cut, I wouldn’t mind.”
“Bill Pulte is very good, he’s very talented,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One as he traveled to Wisconsin. The Republican president said in an earlier interview with the Wall Street Journal that he has asked Pulte to start the process of firing employees.
In the interview with the Journal, the president says he has already conveyed his view to Pulte, the incoming acting director of national intelligence, who has served as head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency but apparently has no national security expertise.
“I’d like to see it smaller. I think there are a lot of people in there that shouldn’t be there,” Trump said, which the Journal said was in reference to intelligence community officials who had served in the Democratic administrations of Presidents Biden and Obama.
Trump told the Journal that he wants Pulte to “start the process” of firing personnel and that the eventual permanent director of national intelligence should continue it. The president has indicated that he would not formally nominate Pulte for the position.
“Frankly, it might be good for him to shake it up before people come,” Trump said. “Because, if he [Pulte] reduced the size, in conjunction with me … and in conjunction with possibly the person coming in … he can do a lot of the hard work and we wouldn’t have to saddle somebody that goes in.”
Pulte was tapped by the president earlier this week in a surprising move that has been met with bipartisan resistance in the Senate, which confirms presidential nominations. The temporary appointment has now snarled the renewal of a critical national security surveillance program on Capitol Hill, with Democrats key to the vote pointing out that they did not trust Pulte — whose office oversees 18 intelligence agencies — to help administer the surveillance program.
Under Pulte’s successor, Tulsi Gabbard, the director of national intelligence’s office had already taken steps to scale back its size. In August, the Trump administration said that the office’s budget would be cut by more than $700 million per year, while slashing the size of its workforce.
At the time, Gabbard said the office had become “bloated and inefficient” while she announced the roughly 40% workforce reduction.
Gabbard resigned last month after revealing her husband’s cancer diagnosis.
Price and Kim write for the Associated Press. Kim reported from Washington.
