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KATE Cassidy has posted a Valentine’s Day tribute to the late Liam Payne – declaring him her “best friend from afar”.

The social media star had been dating Liam for two years before his sudden death in October 2024 – and despite his passing, she makes sure to remember him on key dates.

This Valentine’s Day, Kate shared a never-before seen photograph of the pair in happier times.

The polaroid snap shows Kate sitting on Liam’s lap as they pose for the picture in somebody’s garden.

She simply noted: “Happy Valentine’s Day to my best friend from afar.”

Kate and Liam dated for from October 2022, through to the time of his death in October 2024. He was 31 years old.

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The One Direction star died after a horror fall from a hotel balcony in Buenos Aires, where he was due to attend his old bandmate Niall Horan’s show.

Kate had been holidaying with him in the country, but had returned to their home in Florida alone to look after their dog, Nala, just two days before the tragedy.

Kate has been left heartbroken by the loss, and continues to remember him by sharing photos, videos and memories on special occasions, including his birthday.

In February this year, Kate was seen in tears as she visited the UK home she once shared with the singer.

“I’ve been sitting outside of the house that I used to live in with Liam for the past 45 minutes just in my car and it’s just really hard to wrap my head around the fact that I’m not pulling in the driveway and going home to him being there,” she said.

“You really just never know what life is going to bring. Life can bring you plenty of happiness and plenty of joy, I’ve experienced it all.

“But I’ve never felt this much pain.”

When facing criticism for her public heartache, Kate hit back by reminding fans that he was a “real person in her life” and she can grieve how she wants.

In December last year, in retaliation to another fan who said they “wanted her to move on and stop talking about him”, she declared she will always love him.

Posting a video in tears, Kate said: “I want to make something clear. Whoever I end up with in my future will have to accept the fact I will always love Liam, I will always talk about Liam I will always laugh about Liam, I will always cry about Liam.”

She said she normally pays no mind to critical comments but this topic really riled her.

“Let me tell you something, Liam Payne was my boyfriend,” she continued. “He wasn’t just this famous figure to me. It hurts so bad because I am just criticized all the time for speaking about my boyfriend that passed away, the person that I loved and still do love.

“I would never settle for anyone in this lifetime who did not feel comfortable enough with me speaking about Liam.”

PHOENIX — Dodgers closer Edwin Díaz has been settling in with his new team at Camelback Ranch, but in his first comments to the media since camp opened, he faced questions about his old team.

In an interview with Mets broadcaster Howie Rose on Friday, team owner Steve Cohen called Díaz’s decision to a sign a three-year, $69-million contract with the Dodgers “perplexing.” Though Díaz was caught off guard by Cohen’s comments, he said Saturday he had no bad feelings towards the Mets or their fans.

“It’s a market and I was a free agent, so I got the chance to talk with everyone,” Díaz said. “I think the Dodgers did a great job of recruiting me, so at the end of the day, I chose to be here. I have a lot of respect for the Mets organization — players, staff, ownership — they treated me pretty good. I don’t have anything bad to say about them. But at the end of the day, I’m here, so this is a new journey for me. I’m happy to be with the Dodgers, so let’s see how it goes.”

Díaz participated in the Dodgers’ first day of official workouts Friday, throwing a clean bullpen session without any hiccups. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts has liked what he has seen thus far from the three-time MLB reliever of the year.

“I’m very excited to get to know him more,” Roberts said. “[He’s] just a great teammate, really good person, loves baseball, a good heartbeat. You can tell he knows what he needs to do to get ready. [He’s] likable, and at the end of the day, he chose to be here, so that’s something that is of a lot of value for us. High character. I’m really looking forward to getting to know him.”

One thing that attracted Díaz to the Dodgers was the team’s culture.

“That’s how they’ve been so good,” Díaz said. “They have a really good clubhouse… They’ve got different personalities in the clubhouse. They’ve got different players from different countries, and they all get together and have fun, so that’s something good.”

Part of having a melting pot of a clubhouse means missing some key ingredients for an extended period of spring training. The Dodgers will have several players participating in the World Baseball Classic, including Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Will Smith and Díaz.

Each Major League player competing in the event runs the risk of injury, something Díaz knows all too well. Moments after striking out the side to send Puerto Rico to the WBC quarterfinals in 2023, Díaz sustained a season-ending knee injury.

Despite suffering the trauma of the last WBC, Díaz told reporters it was a no-brainer, when he was asked to compete for his country again in 2026.

“It wasn’t in my mind,” Díaz said. “I have the chance to play in front of my family in Puerto Rico. It was an easy decision.”

Díaz’s fearlessness is one trait that Roberts admires about his new closer. Díaz met Roberts’ squad in the 2024 National League Championship Series, where the Dodgers managed only two hits off him across 5.1 IP, scoring no runs.

“He’s not scared,” Roberts said. “When he’s in the game, it’s an uncomfortable at bat for lefties and righties, and when we did see him in the postseason, [we were] really trying to keep him out of the game, knowing that he can go one, two [or] even three innings. That, he’s done against us in the postseason; [he’s] just a great competitor.”

The addition of Díaz should stabilize the back end of the Dodgers rotation. Since bidding farewell to Kenley Jansen after the 2021 season, the Dodgers haven’t had a closer tally more than 25 saves in a season. Over his nine-year career, Díaz has 253 saves.

With Díaz expected to be the regular ninth-inning guy, Roberts looks forward to having more flexibility when managing his bullpen.

“It’s huge,” Roberts said. “I don’t think that there’s one way to manage a pen, but when you have a guy like Edwin Díaz as your closer, I do think it frees up other guys, myself included. Not having to worry about matchups for the ninth, I think that’s freeing for me and allows for getting the matchups we need in the prior innings.”

Dodgers staying cautious with Graterol

One key relief weapon Roberts hopes to have in his armory is Brusdar Graterol.

The hard-throwing right-hander underwent labrum surgery shortly after the 2024 World Series, and hasn’t pitched in a game since.

Roberts provided an update on Graterol’s recovery Saturday.

“He’s in the picture, but I do think that coming back from the shoulder, it’s going to take some time,” Roberts said. “He’s in the bucket of, ‘We’re going to slow-play him’. I think yesterday he threw off the mound, and the velocity is not near where it’s going to be, so I think that it’s a slow progression. I just don’t know where that puts us, but it’s a slow process for Brusdar.”

Staff writer Anthony Solorzano contributed to this report.

GORDON Ramsay has hailed David and Victoria Beckham as fantastic parents — and said time will help Brooklyn heal their heartbreaking family feud.

The Michelin-starred restauranteur, 59, said he loves the aspiring chef, 26, and has been in contact offering support.

He also spoke for the first time about that dance at Brooklyn’s 2022 wedding to Nicola Peltz – which he attended alongside wife Tana.

Loyal Gordon, a long-time family friend, said: “It’s a very difficult situation.

“Victoria is upset, and I know 24/7, seven days a week, just how much David loves Brooklyn.

“Brooklyn and I have messaged a little bit, our relationship is solid. I love him – his heart is incredible.

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“But it’s hard, isn’t it, when you’re infatuated? Love is blind. It’s easy to get up on that rollercoaster, and get carried away. But it will come back.

I know just how many times they have got Brooklyn out of the s***

Gordon on David and Victoria’s parenting

“I’ve seen first-hand just how good parents they are. David as a dad is just incredible.

“They’ve both put so much energy into their kids, and I know just how many times they’ve got Brooklyn out of the s***.

“I think it’s going to be a matter of time before Brooklyn takes a good look at himself and understands just what his parents mean to him.

“He’s desperate to forge his own way, and I respect that from him. It’s such a good thing to do.

“But remember where you came from. And honestly, one day you’re not going to have your mum and dad, and you need to understand that.

“That penny will drop.

“I just want Brooklyn to take a moment to himself. And remember: you’re half mum, half dad. And you’re an amazing young man.

“But, boy, they’ve done more for you than anyone did in your entire life.

‘Time the best healer’

”Time’s going to be the best healer, and David will absolutely get that relationship back on track.”

While Brooklyn has blocked many of his relatives on Instagram, he and Gordon still follow one another.

The chef, who has almost 20million followers, has backed Brooklyn’s cooking endeavours where others were quick to mock.

Meanwhile, Posh and Becks and Gordon and Tana have been pals for nearly 2½ decades.

Of course, Gordon knows about family feuds in the wake of his recent troubles with new son-in-law Adam Peaty’s clan.

He and Tana also went through hell when her dad, Chris Hutcheson, was jailed for six months in 2017 for hacking company computers.

Gordon says: “Tana and I sat them down, and we buried the hatchet with her parents. It’s family, it’s what you do.”

In his damning statement last month, Brooklyn accused his mum of “dancing inappropriately” on him at his wedding.

His friends allege that she “grinded” on the groom. She has since become victim to hundreds of mocking memes.

However unnamed “friends” of the Beckhams hit back at the allegations. Over to Gordon, then, to set the record straight.

He says: “There was nothing salacious. There was nothing inappropriate. Everyone was having fun, having a dance.”

But, Gordon, DID SHE GRIND?

He says: “No! Nothing of the sort. It was fun. I haven’t seen any of the memes, I heard about them of course, but Victoria’s got a great sense of humour.

“She’s great. She’s right to be upset (about the wedding) but she can bat that other s*** away in a heartbeat.

“Victoria and Tana have spoken a lot, they are probably closer than ever – they’re like two peas in a pod, those two.”

When Gordon isn’t playing ace therapist/mediator, he’s been pretty busy on his own terms.

On Wednesday his new six-part Netflix documentary Being Gordon Ramsay airs, detailing his efforts to launch his latest ambitious project.

Britain’s highest eaterie, Restaurant Gordon Ramsay High is on the 60th floor of skyscraper 22 Bishopsgate in the City of London.

I never ever watch myself on telly because it’s just incredibly nerve-wracking.

Gordon Ramsay

The intimate 12-seater chef’s table experience has already earned him another Michelin star. 

I’ve seen the show, and it’s brilliant, giving a fly-on-the-wall look into Gordon’s frenetic and fabulous home life – he and Tana have six kids – as well as the hell of getting a new business off the ground.

He smiles: “I won’t watch it. I never ever watch myself on telly because it’s just incredibly nerve-wracking.

“When you’ve done it and lived it, the last thing you want to do is sit there with lots of popcorn. There’s a level of embarrassment.”

‘Getting softer with age’

Even without Gordon’s viewership, it is sure to be another Netflix smash. Contrary to his bravado, away from the kitchen, and whisper it, but Gordon is a bit of a pussycat, and definitely “getting softer with age”.

He regularly cries, he admits.

He turns 60 in November but in the doc we see super-fit Gordon running outdoors with his young son, Oscar, in the gym and pumping weights. He is ripped.

Wife Tana also recently smashed a Half Ironman in Greece, breezily qualifying for the World Championships in the process. They are a truly impressive power duo, and very clearly still massively in love.

Having trained under Marco Pierre White at the age of 35 Gordon set up his first restaurant, winning three Michelin stars shortly after. He now has eateries across the globe, and is arguably the planet’s most famous chef.

His work ethic is relentless – possibly a result of his humble upbringing. In one episode, Gordon gets emotional recalling his own childhood struggles, growing up on a council estate near Glasgow, and relying on school vouchers to eat.

Today, he has teamed up with a fantastic charity, Feeding Britain, to provide 800,000 kids in poverty with affordable food. Gordon has quietly donated “very heavily” to it.

He recalls: “I was hungry all the time, there was no food in the house.

“I was sometimes too embarrassed to use my vouchers to get my free shepherd’s pie in case, you know, aged 15 or 16, a girl I fancied saw me. I was a skinny f***ng bean.

I remember eating toothpaste thinking that was delicious because there were multiple nights where we never ate. It is appalling that we’re in this situation now.”

Meanwhile, Gordon has been a rock for 26-year-old daughter Holly’s new husband, Olympic swimmer Adam Peaty.

Last weekend Gordon said he’d treated the Peaty family “like royalty”, prompting a furious robust from Adam’s estranged mum, Caroline, who was not invited to his and Holly’s December wedding.

She labelled the Ramsays “bullies”. ”I am certainly not a bully, and it is so appalling to even suggest there was any bullying,” he sighs.

“That’s absolute nonsense. It was sad to see that barrage of negativity that was self-propelled by them.

“But Adam is an incredible young lad and he and Holly are a wonderful, happy, young couple.”

So, would Gordon fancy being a grandad?

He says: “Jesus Christ. They’re still on their f***ing honeymoon!

“But I do laugh sometimes when I’m in the park with [two-year-old son] Jesse.

“I was taking him to a football match last Saturday, and then this lady said, ‘Oh, it must be so nice to have the grandkids at the weekend!’

“And I’m like, ‘Are you f***ing serious woman? Grandkids?! That’s my son!’”

• Being Gordon Ramsay is available on Netflix from Wednesday.

60th WILL BE ADELE OF A PARTY

THE very sweary superstar — I counted 27 f***s in the new documentary’s first episode – hopes superstar singer Adele will bring birthday cheer on his 60th in November.

Obviously, for a man not feted for his thriftiness, there will be a huge party, also celebrating his 30th anniversary with Tana.

“We are hoping Adele will sing,” he grins. “Tana loves Adele and I saw her in Vegas when she was playing the Colosseum, and she was a customer of ours in Chelsea.

“She is an incredibly gracious, talented woman, and a real foodie. She loves that kind of fine dining style.”

Single on Valentine’s Day? Skip the predictable romance films and celebrate with these nostalgic, feel-good movies to lift your spirits

Valentine’s Day has come round once more, and if you’re not getting caught up in all the soppy, romantic nonsense, there’s loads of other ways you can spend your evening. If you’re staying in and swerving all the loved-up couples out there, telly is an excellent means of escape.

Valentine’s Day needn’t revolve around romance, after all. If you’ve had your fill of formulaic, predictable romantic flicks, here are some brilliant alternatives that’ll rekindle your appreciation for those nearest and dearest.

So whether you fancy a giggle on your own or with mates, ditch those rom-coms for some feel-good nostalgia this Valentine’s Day.

Angus, Thongs & Perfect Snogging (2008)

For anyone wanting to grasp what life was like as a British teenage girl in the late noughties, Angus, Thongs & Perfect Snogging hits frighteningly close to home. At some stage, we’ve all caught ourselves relating to Georgia’s worldview, however misguided it might be, reports the Express.

Adapted from Louise Rennison’s bestselling book series, we follow 14-year-old Georgia Nicholson (Georgia Groome) as she tries to navigate adolescence whilst pining after the new lad in town – a breakthrough performance from Aaron Taylor-Johnson. Throughout her mission to bag a boyfriend and organise a spectacular 15th birthday bash at a nightclub, we witness the inner workings of the teenage brain manifesting in reality through some absolutely hilarious and toe-curling antics.

Shaving off an eyebrow? Absolutely. Faking the disappearance of a beloved moggy for sympathy? Naturally. A massive pair of granny pants? Without question.

Whilst this flick might centre on Georgia’s romantic pursuits, beneath the surface lies a tender coming-of-age tale exploring insecurity, platonic bonds, and that distinctly teenage sensation that everything is utterly catastrophic. Plus, it boasts what’s arguably one of cinema’s finest original songs, guaranteed to transport you straight back to those nostalgic days.

Planning to mark Valentine’s Day with your mates this year? Nobody’s turning down this gem. Angus, Thongs & Perfect Snogging proved a defining British picture for younger audiences back then, and continues to supply countless cultural touchstones we reference today.

In fact, Georgia Groome recently resurrected that legendary olive outfit for a cameo appearance in the reveal video for Maisie Peters’ latest album ‘Florescence’. Nearly two decades on and that immortal line still echoes: “Boys don’t like girls for funniness”.

The film is available to stream on Netflix, Amazon Prime and Apple TV.

Wild Child (2008)

The year 2008 was evidently peak teen cinema. On one side sits Angus, Thongs & Perfect Snogging, offering a relatively authentic portrayal of adolescent life for girls during the noughties, whilst on the other stands Emma Roberts ‘ Wild Child.

What do you do with a spoilt, glamorous Malibu Barbie teenager who leaps off cliffs into the ocean? Simple – pack them off to an all-girls boarding school deep in the English countryside.

A genuine fish out of water, Emma Roberts’ Poppy Moore couldn’t be more different from the seemingly prudish, eccentric pupils she encounters at Abbey Mount. It’s quite the exaggerated portrayal of boarding school life, but that’s rather the point – to knock the protagonist down a peg or two.

Gradually, the crisp English climate begins breaking down Poppy’s defences as she develops authentic bonds with her roommates – Kate (Kimberley Nixon), Josie (Linzey Cocker), Kiki (Sophie Wu), and Jennifer “Drippy” Logan (Juno Temple). Naturally there’s a love interest (Alex Pettyfer) and a sworn enemy (Georgia King) determined to see her fail, though that’s really beside the point when there’s such entertaining mischief afoot.

Beneath the rebellious and entitled façade lies genuine warmth, drawn out through the connections she forges. Ultimately, Poppy emerges transformed – having discovered a missing piece of herself through real mates who embrace her for who she truly is, whilst wreaking havoc around campus. Whilst Wild Child might not be the most universally relatable picture, there’s something in all of us that yearns for that kind of school adventure.

The film also marks one of Natasha Richardson’s final performances (as headmistress Mrs Kingsley) prior to her tragic passing in 2009.

Wild Child is available to stream on Netflix.

The Breakfast Club (1985)

This film boasts what’s arguably one of cinema’s most iconic closing sequences and exit tracks. The Breakfast Club, a coming-of-age comedy-drama, follows a group of outsiders whiling away the hours together during an all-day Saturday detention.

Each teenager belongs to a different social circle within the school, and their paths would ordinarily never cross in daily life. They’re set the task of penning a thousand-word essay on “who you think you are” by their notoriously harsh vice principal (Paul Gleason).

Alongside the usual rebellious teenage shenanigans and storylines, the film explores the realities lurking beneath the stereotypes presented on screen. It tackles themes including peer pressure, abuse, neglect, troubled relationships, and suicide in a manner that resonates with its audience, rendering the characters relatable to viewers.

Despite their contrasts, the group discover they’re all grappling with comparable struggles and form connections with one another. It serves as a reminder that surface appearances can be deceiving.

Whilst the group suspect their newly-formed bonds will dissolve once detention wraps up, they acknowledge they’ll view their classmates through fresh eyes going forward. As the film reaches its conclusion, we hear their moving message to their vice principal, declaring: “Each one of us is a brain, an athlete, a basket case, a princess, and a criminal.

“Does that answer your question? Sincerely yours, the Breakfast Club.”

Cue Judd Nelson’s fist raise and Simple Minds’ ‘Don’t You Forget About Me’.

The Breakfast Club can be watched via Netflix, Amazon Prime and NOW TV.

Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion (1997)

There’s something about a 90s comedy that hits all of the right spots, something the 2020s can learn from. The film follows underachieving best friends Romy (Mira Sorvino) and Michele ( Lisa Kudrow ) who decide to reinvent themselves with fake careers to impress their former classmates at their ten-year high school reunion.

The film kicks off with the drama of the girls’ prom in 1987, where they find themselves targeted by bullying from the high school cheerleader clique. Some stroppy behaviour leads the girls to do the classic slow dance together.

Fast forward, the duo don’t appear to have achieved much success since leaving school, stuck in dead-end jobs – or jobless – living a life lacking in some sort of purpose. They’re fine, totally fine.

It’s the invitation from one of their high school tormentors to their high school reunion that makes them pull their socks up, but only in the pretence sense. It’s your typical American movie that takes you on a journey, both literally and figuratively.

Following a catastrophic falling out over their friendship, the pair go their separate ways after their drive cross-country to the reunion. Or do they?

The film is madcap, light-hearted, and chock-full of clichés, but sometimes that’s just the ticket. Let’s face it, we all need a good giggle now and then, and anything featuring Lisa Kudrow is guaranteed to leave you in fits of laughter.

You can catch this film on Disney+.

Frances Ha (2012)

Whilst we’re accustomed to seeing Greta Gerwig behind the lens, she’s equally at home in front of it. The film stars Gerwig as a struggling dancer in New York, grappling with the rollercoaster ride of her twenties alongside her best mate, Sophie (Mickey Sumner).

They say your twenties are meant to be the time of your life, but in truth, you’re still figuring out who you are and where you fit into the world. We can all identify with the unpredictability of existence; flitting from one flat to another, settling for jobs you don’t really fancy, and witnessing friendships fade as they form new relationships.

Life in the Big Apple can be complex and unsettling, regardless of which side of the Atlantic you hail from. The trials and tribulations of everyday life can weigh heavily, with Frances battling to make her mark on New York.

The film masterfully blends comedy, drama and emotion to paint an authentic picture of struggling twenty-somethings.

In 2025, Frances Ha secured the 90th spot on The New York Times’ list of “The 100 Best Movies of the 21st Century”. Writing for Harper’s Bazaar, Yasmin Omar noted: “Frances Ha has become a cult classic thanks to its relatable portrait of the bewildering life stage that is young adulthood.”

Frances Ha is available on Netflix, Amazon Prime and Apple TV.

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This Valentine’s Day, chocolate prices are no longer at last year’s peak, but cheap chocolate has not made a comeback, and it probably never will. Last year’s cocoa price crisis, driven by a combination of extreme heat, drought and disease in key producing regions, may have eased. But the aftertaste remains: A market that no longer behaves the way it used to, because the landscapes that grow cocoa are no longer the same. And the world’s unwitting appetite for cheap chocolate at the expense of biodiversity is part of the reason.

Cocoa is one of the most rainfall-dependent crops in the tropics, grown mainly by smallholders with few safety nets. Because cocoa production is concentrated in a handful of regions, a bad season in one place can quickly ripple across global supply. That fragility was laid bare in 2024, when the Ivory Coast and Ghana, which produce nearly 60 percent of the world’s cocoa, were hit by climate extremes that slashed harvests. Prices surged by more than 300 percent, squeezing some farmers, enriching others, and leaving consumers paying for the uncertainty.

The problem is not simply that cocoa is vulnerable. It is that we have built a cocoa economy that magnifies the vulnerability. For decades, the world has chased low prices and high output, and too often that has meant converting forest landscapes into farmland, from West Africa to parts of Latin America and Southeast Asia.

But forests are not optional. They regulate rainfall, protect soils, and create the microclimates on which cocoa depends. Full-sun cocoa farms can produce higher yields in the short term, but the sugar rush is followed by a costly crash: Depleted soils, limited protection from heat and drought that is on the increase, and little for farmers to fall back on when the monocrops fail. Yields fall, farms expand deeper into forests to compensate, and the cycle repeats.

This is why cocoa’s price volatility is not a temporary blip. It is a warning sign: We are weakening the natural systems cocoa depends on at the same moment that climate change is making harvests less reliable.

Research by the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) shows how extreme heat undermines agriculture, reducing both the quantity and quality of crop yields and increasing pest and disease pressure. A recent study modelling cocoa under mid-century climate change finds that warming could wipe out as much as a third to half of today’s suitable cocoa area in some core producing zones, while shifting production towards new regions. Without safeguards, that transition risks trading climate stress in one place for forest loss in another. The details will vary across regions, but the implication is global: As climate change alters weather patterns, the geography of cocoa production will shift, and a stable supply will become harder to take for granted.

Unless we build resilience now, future Valentine’s Days may come with less chocolate and higher prices.

But we can eat our chocolate and keep forests too, by changing how cocoa is grown. It starts with bringing trees back to cocoa farms, reversing the damaging practices that are ultimately undermining production. Change can be made through climate-resilient agroforestry practices that rebuild shade cover, improve soil health and moisture retention, and reduce cocoa’s exposure to heat and drought. Cocoa grown under shade trees can stabilise farm conditions and support biodiversity, while producing higher-quality beans that meet premium market standards, giving farmers stronger incentives to maintain tree cover rather than clear more land.

Sceptics argue that growing cocoa with trees means accepting lower yields. But when it comes to unsustainable practices, high productivity today comes with a high cost tomorrow. A farm that exhausts its soil, loses shade, is exposed to drought, and needs ever more chemical inputs to maintain production is not a success story. It is a trap.

In a changing climate, the point is not how much cocoa a farm can produce in a year, but how reliably it can produce year after year. That requires resilience built into the landscape, now more than ever: More tree cover, healthier soils, and diversified farm systems that protect livelihoods when climate extremes hit.

This is not theoretical. It is already happening.

In Ecuador’s Amazon province of Napo, a project financed by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and supported with technical assistance from the FAO has helped strengthen a sustainable cocoa value chain built around the traditional Chakra agroforestry system used by Kichwa communities. Put simply, it is cocoa grown as part of a forest garden: Kichwa women known as Chakramamas help steward these farms, cultivating cocoa under shade trees alongside a diverse mix of other crops and native plants, rather than clearing land for a single crop. Recognised by FAO as a Globally Important Agricultural Heritage System, the model is still expanding more than a decade on, helping Indigenous producer families earn more from premium cocoa through stronger processing, marketing, and partnerships with high-value buyers. High-end chocolatiers continue to source from Chakra producers, showing that cocoa grown alongside trees can deliver world-class quality while keeping forests standing for biodiversity, climate and land benefits.

There are more examples. In the Ivory Coast, FAO-backed efforts supported by the Green Climate Fund are already delivering results, restoring 1,084 hectares (2,679 acres) of degraded land and converting 3,527 hectares (8,715 acres) of conventional cocoa into improved agroforestry systems while reducing pressure on forests. Meanwhile, 234 farmers now have access to cocoa cooperatives, ensuring access to international fair-trade and organic certifications and a better price for their products. In Sao Tome and Principe, FAO has supported cocoa agroforestry through the GEF-funded Restoration Initiative, helping restore nearly 10,000 hectares (about 25,000 acres) of forest and improve land management across a further 23,000 hectares (about 57,000 acres). These are not boutique experiments. They are working models for stabilising supply, supporting farmer incomes, and reducing the forest loss that fuels cocoa’s growing volatility.

But projects alone will not be enough. Scaling them will take serious investment: From governments, companies, and consumers. It will also require rules that shift incentives across the entire cocoa economy, such as a new European Union law that requires cocoa and chocolate entering the EU market to be deforestation-free. By tying market access to how cocoa is grown, these rules are pushing governments, producers, and companies to rethink production models, improve traceability, and strengthen zero-deforestation cocoa systems.

Governments will also need to invest in farmer adaptation and long-term productivity, not just short-term output. That means accessible finance, practical support on farms, and policies that reward sustainable production instead of expansion into forests.

And chocolate companies need to promote resilience across their supply chains, not just chase volume. In a world of climate disruption, the cheapest cocoa is not necessarily the best bargain if it comes at the expense of farmers’ livelihoods or the ecosystems that keep cocoa viable in the years to come.

Paying farmers for chocolate that keeps forests standing is not a luxury. It is part of what makes cocoa more available and keeps farmers in business in a warming world. Chocolate is sold as a simple pleasure, but cocoa is no longer a simple crop: Its future depends on whether we treat forests and biodiversity as essential infrastructure for stable and resilient agrifood systems.

The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera’s editorial stance.

Ryan Sickler is used to asking the question that people are afraid to ask: “Is there anyone here who has ever actually died and come back and would be comfortable talking about it in front of all of us?”

It’s not your typical comedy show crowd work but it has profound results. During his special “Ryan Sickler: Live & Alive” released on YouTube in October, a woman in the audience talked about a near-death experience as a child where she rode her bicycle in front of a neighbor’s station wagon. But Sickler pointed out that this remarkable level of candor in the audience is something he continues to marvel about. In fact, he said they did two shows the night they taped his special and during the second show two people in the crowd said they had near-death experiences.

“When I ask the question, I know there’s someone in the crowd that’s like, ‘There’s nobody in here that’s died and come back,’” Sickler said. “So now they’re all very excited to listen too. Like, what happened to this lady, or what happened to this guy? You know, there’s been some wild ones, some real funny ones out there too.”

Given how many comedy specials are being released on various streaming platforms, he says that “we have lost the specialness of the special.” But Sickler said since coming so close to death and being able to talk about it with candor and relatability, he is still calling his latest self-produced YouTube special, special. It now has more than 1 million views on YouTube. Sickler has been on the comedy scene for more than 30 years and released his comedy special “Lefty’s Son” in 2023. He also hosts the “HoneyDew Podcast.” His comedy career has often incorporated his lived experience with a rare blood-clotting disease called Factor V Leiden that almost killed him.

But these days, he’s grateful to be alive, to have been able to wake up when it looked like he might not, to watch his daughter continue to grow up and the laughs along the way. Sickler has long been candid about his chronic health issues with his comedy but he has found particular meaning in doing crowd work when he performs, that talks about death and what it means to live.

The Times recently spoke with Sickler about his special and how he thinks about his sense of health, humor and mortality.

Ryan Sickler in the studio where he films the “HoneyDew Podcast.”

(Al Seib / For The Times)

What did you want to say this time around in your new special?

My first special was something that was a bit of a hybrid of stuff that had been out there and around, but I didn’t own it. It was out there on people’s platforms. They’re making the money off of it. And so I did a bit of, “Let me get this stuff on my channel where I can control it.” And then the other part of that special was becoming a new single dad, all those things this time, specifically, I really just wanted to talk about what had happened and the results after that. I follow these comedy accounts and in October, there were 31 stand-up specials that hit between Netflix, Hulu, YouTube. November was 30. This month was a little slow because the holidays, but it was still at 18 the last time I checked. So I don’t think there’s anything special about stand-up specials anymore. You’re in an environment now where there’s a stand-up special a day, people are doing that with podcasts. There’s so much content going on out there, and I feel like a lot of it is the same. So I this time wanted to just take something that happened very personal to me, this incident, and then tell the story, not only behind it, but what happened after and I was really proud of being able to just focus on that and make that into this special instead of just my observations on this or my thoughts on that. I’m a storyteller and I really think that’s what art is.

When did you realize you had the courage to write about this near–death experience?

I know I had the courage to write about it a long time ago. When I’m making people laugh at my father’s funeral and things like that, I knew I was comfortable being able to take on the material. But what I didn’t know was, could I make it funny? Could I make it relatable? Could I make this one thing that happened to this one person on this rock in outer space matter to anybody and make them care? Because it’s not like we all had this happen to us. This is just one thing that happened to this one dude. So that was really what I was more worried about, is like, can I get this message across and make it relatable, funny and entertaining at the same time? Which is why I threw in those really expensive light cues.

It can be very challenging to hear about these traumatic [near–death] experiences that people have had. How do you absorb that and not absorb it too much?

I’ve been doing this show for so long that it does start to wear on you a little bit hearing a lot of the trauma. So I created a new podcast a couple years ago called the Wayback, which is just fun, funny, nostalgia. So that also for me, was like, let’s not dig into the tears and let’s just laugh about growing up. So that was one way where I could still keep it in my lane and do my job, where I alleviate that a little bit. But the other thing, and I make fun of myself a little, is I’m like the paramedic at the party now. I’m the guy that’s like “You think that’s bad, wait until you hear this.” “This one guy …” “This one lady …” You know what I mean? So I’ve almost become sort of their voice, and I have absorbed it in a way that isn’t so negative, where I carry it home with me. I always forget the quote how it’s worded, but it’s something to the tune of, if we all stood in a circle and threw our problems in the middle, we’d all take our shit right back. It’s like you know what, that’s what you’re dealing with? I’m gonna go ahead and take mine.

How is hearing all these stories and connecting with the crowd and fans in this way [about near–death experiences] changed how you think about your own sense of mortality?

Even with my close call, like, that one angered me, because you start to think about things. You never know how you’re really going to go. You might have an idea if you’re getting older and cancer runs in your family, whatever, but the fact that you could go to a hospital for a simple surgery, they don’t listen to you, everything’s there in your paperwork. You’re your own advocate. You’re doing all the right stuff by yourself, and you’re among professionals, medical professionals, not Yahoos, and you can still have someone else make a mistake and your life is gone. That started me thinking a lot like, “Oh man, for no fault of my own, I could also be gone.” So I go day by day, and I try to be happy day by day. And I’m not going to lie, I also like to know I got a little something tomorrow too.

Do you think that incorporating death and near–death in your comedy helps people work through their own feelings about death and grief?

I only say yes to that because the amount of emails I get, the amount of feedback we get, the amount of guests that still continue to show up [to support] the Patreon. I’ve definitely found, I would say, a purpose in my people. If you’re someone saying you’re a jerk for laughing at this lady talking about cancer, we’re not laughing at her cancer. We’re laughing at something, some light that she found in the darkness of this and trying to have a moment here together, all about, “Hey, there’s some positive ways to look at things at your lowest.” So I know it’s helped people. I mean, we have, over the years, probably thousands of emails now. We have people telling us how much it’s helped. And I mean just through podcasting, I found out I have this blood disease. I was 42 at the time, and already been podcasting. There’s a lady I went to high school with. She’s like “Ryan, my son is 17. He started clotting.” I said, “Go ahead and check for this.” He listens to the podcast. This kid has it. I said, “Well, bad news. It’s genetic.” Now the whole family’s got to get tested. And if you have it from one parent, it’s not great, but having it from two is bad. The whole family gets tested. The parents have it. She’s got it from both her parents. So I can’t get over the fact that a woman I knew when we were children, 35 years later is like, “Hey, that thing you’re talking about on your podcast, my kids, my family, we all have it.” And then I’ve talked about another disease I also have, called Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease, which is CMT. And from bringing that up, people hit me up on that like “I have it, no one ever talks about that.”

What have you found to be one of the positives — besides surviving — of your near–death experience?

Gosh, so many. I have a child, so getting to see her grow and really taking care of my health and things. Not that I wasn’t before, but just I dove in even deeper. I went and got what’s called a gallery test for prescreening for cancer. I started doing all these blood works and like, “Let’s go find out everything you know, because I didn’t find out that I had this blood disease until I was 42 when I clotted.” I’m living my whole life, not even knowing I have this thing and and if I don’t clot, there are plenty of people out there that live to 100 years old and have it. It’s really made me appreciate life and trying to take things day by day. I also was living in a little single-dad pad at the time. We had no central air. We had tandem parking. We were above dumpsters. Our laundry was outside in a room with quarters. And when I got home — I’m still on a walker — and I was like, “What are we doing? We’re going to die without central air? Are we going to die with a bucket of quarters on the fridge? No more.” And so I moved my home, I moved my studio, I did all these things that are, like, the biggest thing you can do in life. We’re going to roll the dice, scared money don’t win, and we’re just going to go for it. Also, as a comedian and anybody in entertainment will tell you, a lot of times you work scared, you hold that money and you wait until the next thing comes. And also, as a single parent, you know we got to budget. And I was like, no more. We’re not going to go out and buy 10 Porsches. We’re going to be responsible. But I was on point with let’s go get a living will and trust. Let’s make sure we have that life insurance policy. Let’s make sure we have all the proper paperwork and stuff done before we do anything like go on a vacation, you know, let’s get this done now and get it done proper.

What do those conversations look like, if you have them at all, about encouraging your male friends to go to the doctor or encouraging them to take care of themselves, physically and emotionally?

I would say the conversations go something like this. My younger brother is like, “Hey, man, I just went in for a test, and they’re telling me I got to have an old school triple bypass,” and then that’s what we all get tested. “Hey guys, I found I got a blood disease.” “Oh man, we all better look into it now.” That’s usually how it goes. I don’t know many men who are proactive. There are a few of us these days. But it’s usually something horrible happens and then we’ll be proactive about everything else.

Do you have male fans who also say “I [saw] your special … I went to your show, and it made me go [to the doctor]”?

Yeah, but I’m saying, though, it still took them to come see a professional clown to get them to go to the damn doctor. I actually have been very good about going, because everyone in my family died. So I’ve been proactive in the sense that I go get two physicals a year. I’ve been doing that since my 20s. I always tell my doctor, if I can go buy expensive sushi, if I go buy weed, if I go buy all these things, I can put money into myself here and come see you a second time and pay for all that. So I do two physicals a year, and I’ve been doing that forever. But I’ve never done any sort of like gallery test. And now we’re in our 50s, so we got to go get the prostate and all that. That’s when you start hearing about that stuff. There’s a lot of ignorance that goes into it as well. I just had a guest here on the “HoneyDew” and said he didn’t go to a doctor or anything for over 20 years because he was just scared of what they were going to tell him. He was scared to get the bad news. You can kind of get the bad news and you could turn that into good news. It doesn’t need to be deadly news.

How do you know when you’ve been too open?

It usually tends to be a personal thing where someone’s like, “I don’t really appreciate you bringing that up.” So I don’t anymore. I’m always cognizant of [saying] like, “Hey, would it be cool if I talked about this or whatever?” I feel like the question you’re asking me would have been great for me just before I started, like, the “HoneyDew” and stuff because this is what I really want to talk about. Everyone wants to talk about the best and bring their best and I just really do want to hear about, you know, the trauma bond. I want to hear about the worst times in your life. I want to know because, honestly, that tells me so much more about you than you verbally talking about you. You know who you were in those moments, how you reacted, how you behaved, how you’ve adjusted. Those things really end up defining who you are, and that’s more what I want to know about. I don’t want to know your best polished version of yourself.

The Derbyshire village is home to the UK’s only six-sailed stone tower windmill and three traditional pubs, making it an ideal countryside destination

Nestled peacefully between Ripley and Belper lies a delightful village offering far more than initially apparent for a perfect day out.

Heage is most famous for its windmill, but attracts plenty of visitors to its classic pubs, located within half an hour of Derby city centre. It’s a perfect location for an afternoon wander, with several opportunities to stop off for a pint or some hearty pub fare.

The distinctive name originates from the Anglo-Saxon term ‘Heegge’, meaning high or lofty, reflecting its agricultural heritage. The village is divided into two parts, Heage and Nether Heage, though neither has a traditional ‘centre’ and largely comprises houses dotted along country lanes, with the windmill standing peacefully on the outskirts.

Windmill

At the village’s core stands its windmill, remarkable not only for its construction, which commenced in 1791, but also for its six-sailed stone tower. It’s the sole remaining windmill of its type in the whole country and attracts visitors eager to witness this historic landmark.

The magnificent mill operated right through until 1919, when damage necessitated extensive restoration work. Each sail reportedly weighs one tonne, whilst the tower itself is constructed from robust local sandstone.

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In 1965, it finally received ‘listed status’ and remains carefully maintained, having undergone significant structural beam repairs in 2003. A recent visitor shared their experience on TripAdvisor: “Brilliant visit to Heage Windmill; learnt such a lot and got to have a go with the sails!

“The team here has a fabulous knowledge of what it was like being ‘Windy Miller’ back in the day, and we even came away with some flour from the actual mill. Cannot recommend highly enough.”

Another guest commented: “This really is a wonderful place to visit. Beautifully preserved and so well looked after. The very kind people running the mill were so kind to watch our dogs while we had the pleasure of such a great tour and demonstration.”

Pubs

The village of Heage boasts three pubs – The Eagle Tavern, The Black Boy and The Spanker Inn, all within easy walking distance. Nestled in the heart of Heage, between the other two, is the Black Boy, which one patron described as being “a lovely place.”

They commented: “Locals, visitors, ramblers and even dogs – just as a pub should be! The food was lovely and very fresh. Would recommend.”

Others enjoy drinking pints at the Spanker Inn, a “brilliant little pub” beloved by locals, which is due to welcome new owners. One diner shared: “We stayed nearby on holiday. We visit this area about twice a year and always go to the Spanker for a meal.

“We are never disappointed. Plenty of choice on the menu, good prices and good food. Good atmosphere and service.”

For a vibrant ambience featuring regular live music and an authentic village atmosphere, the Eagle Tavern serves as a community focal point. Quiz nights, special events and live sports screenings attract visitors from throughout the surrounding area seeking quality entertainment alongside quality ale.

Guests have praised it as a “warm and welcoming pub” boasting a “lovely” outdoor seating space perfect for sunny days. When visiting the windmill, it’s tempting to hop between these charming local establishments.

Morley Park

Nestled within Heage village is Morley Park, a site of considerable historical importance, having once been among seven Royal parks within the Duffield Frith. This extensive forest served as an enclosed hunting and grazing ground under Royal ownership.

Throughout the industrial revolution, it transformed into a significant ironworks location, featuring blast furnaces now designated as Grade II listed structures. The two striking stone furnaces still tower at approximately 40 feet following restoration work in 1986, and can be located near the A38.

These are the key developments from day 1,450 of Russia’s war on Ukraine.

Here is where things stand on Friday, February 13 :

Fighting

• Russia launched a barrage of ballistic missiles and drones at Ukrainian cities in overnight attacks on Thursday, officials reported, as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Moscow was “hesitating” about another round of United States-brokered talks on stopping the war.
• Russian forces launched 219 drones and 24 ballistic missiles on Thursday night, causing injuries, deaths and damage to energy infrastructure in Kyiv, Odesa and Dnipro, President Zelenskyy wrote on the Telegram messaging app.
• Two people were killed and six more wounded in an attack on the railway hub of Lozova in the northeastern Kharkiv region bordering Russia, local prosecutors said.
• Kyiv’s Mayor Vitali Klitschko said on Telegram that close to 2,600 high-rise apartment buildings were left without heating following the latest Russian attacks, particularly in the capital’s Desnyanskyi, Dniprovskyi, Pecherskyi and Solomyanskyi districts.
• The attack on the capital came as 1,100 high-rise buildings in the Dniprovskyi and Darnytskyi districts were already “without heat after the previous shelling”, Klitschko said, as temperatures in Kyiv are forecast to fall as low as -13 degrees Celsius (8.6 degrees Fahrenheit) this week.
• ⁠More than 220,000 people in Russia’s ⁠Belgorod region ⁠have been left without electricity after a Ukrainian ‌attack caused an accident at a substation, regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov ⁠said.
• In Odesa, the State Emergency Service said that Russian drones hit a nine-storey residential building, an outdoor market and a supermarket, causing multiple fires to break out. The drone attack also damaged energy infrastructure, the emergency service added in a post on Facebook.
• Ukraine’s General Staff said that, according to preliminary reports, Ukrainian forces hit an oil refinery in Ukhta in Russia’s Komi Republic, about 1,750km (1,087 miles) from the border with Ukraine, causing a fire to break out.
• A Russian attack last month on the Ukrainian branch of ⁠the Soviet-built Druzhba oil pipeline halted the transit of Russian oil to eastern Europe, Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said. Despite its war with ⁠Russia, Ukraine continues to transport Russian oil to Slovakia and Hungary even though it stopped the transit of Russian gas last year.
• Ukraine said the bodies of two Nigerians fighting for Russia have been found in the east of the country. Hamzat Kazeem Kolawole and Mbah Stephen Udoka both served in the 423rd Guards Motor Rifle Regiment of the armed forces of the Russian Federation, according to a statement by Ukrainian intelligence.

Military aid

• Ukraine’s allies have pledged about $35bn in military aid to Kyiv this year, British Defence Minister John Healey said. The figure includes new commitments by individual countries, but also previous promises of weapons made by Ukraine’s allies, including the 11.5 billion euros ($13.6bn) already announced by Germany, a diplomat told the Reuters news agency.
• German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said his country was ready to deliver five new PAC-3 interceptors for Ukraine’s air defence, provided Ukraine’s other allies deliver at least 30 more of their own.
• Norway announced it was buying a “large volume” of French glide bombs as part of a bilateral agreement to support Ukraine militarily against Russia’s invasion.
• The United Kingdom announced it will “urgently provide” air defence missiles and systems worth more than 500 million British pounds ($681m) “to protect Ukraine from [Russian President Vladimir] Putin’s brutal attacks on energy sites and homes”.
• US military aid to Ukraine fell by 99 percent in 2025 compared with 2024, according to a report from the Kiel Institute for the World Economy, a think tank based in Germany. “European military aid rose by 67 percent above the 2022–2024 average” in 2025, the Kiel report found.

Peace talks

• Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that another round of talks on ending the war in Ukraine was expected “soon” but gave no further details.
• Ukrainian Foreign Minister Sybiha said that Russia’s more recent overnight attacks on Ukraine further undermined efforts to end the war through dialogue. “Each such strike is a blow to peace efforts aimed at ending the war. Russia must be forced to take diplomacy seriously and de-escalate,” Sybiha wrote on X.

Regional security

• Estonia is to buy 12 more Caesar self-propelled howitzer artillery pieces from France to strengthen its defence capabilities.
• European Union leaders broadly agreed Thursday on a plan to restructure the 27-nation bloc’s economy to make it more competitive as they face antagonism from US President Donald Trump, strong-arm tactics from China and hybrid threats blamed on Russia.
• Ukraine will begin exporting weapons, including drones, in the coming weeks, Ukrainian Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov said in a news conference, according to Ukraine’s Ukrinform news agency.

Energy

• Power plants in Ukraine that have been damaged by Russian missile and drone attacks continue to produce far too little electricity to supply the country’s citizens, Ukraine’s Energy Minister Denys Shmyhal told a parliamentary energy committee.

Politics and diplomacy

• French President Emmanuel Macron said there was no rush to open dialogue with Russian leader Putin, stressing the need for Europeans to fine-tune their objectives. Macron raised the prospect of reviving dialogue with Putin in an interview published on Tuesday by several newspapers.
• Six more Russian and Ukrainian children are being reunited with ⁠their families, Washington and Moscow said. One child would return to Russia, and five children would be reunited with their families in ‌Ukraine, Russia’s presidential commissioner for children’s rights, Maria Lvova-Belova, said in a post on Telegram.
• Ukraine has accused Russia of abducting thousands of children, and the International Criminal Court has called for the arrest of President Putin and Lvova-Belova on suspicion of unlawful deportation of children.
• ⁠US Secretary of State Marco Rubio ⁠said he would have a chance to ‌meet Zelenskyy at this week’s Munich Security Conference.

Sport

• Ukrainian athlete Vladyslav Heraskevych has lodged an appeal with the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) after he was barred from competing in the Milano Cortina Winter Olympics. The skeleton racer was banned over a dispute concerning a helmet he wanted to wear in the event to honour Ukrainian athletes killed in the war with Russia.
• The International Olympic Committee (IOC) said in a statement: “[The decision] was taken by the jury of the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation (IBSF) based on the fact that the helmet he intended to wear was not compliant with the rules.”
• Zelenskyy reacted to the decision, accusing the IOC of playing “into the hands of aggressors” as Ukraine’s Sport Minister Matviy Bidnyi said Ukraine would go through legal channels to reverse the decision.
• “We are proud of Vladyslav and of what he did. Having courage is worth more than any medal,” Zelenskyy said.

WHEN it comes to day trips some places leave you disappointed – but one place that has never let me down whatever the weather is Cambridge.

From tucking into sticky Chelsea buns to exploring the famous colleges and free museums, you can easily spend a day here – so here are my top tips for a half-term staycation.

Out & About

Depending on whether you want a day bracing the outdoors, or tucked up inside, there’s so much you can do Cambridge.

And one thing the city is so famous for is punting – which you can do year-round.

So if you want to head out on the water, you can opt to go with a guide (which I’d recommend), or have a go yourself.

Lots of different companies offer tours, but if you book through Cambridge Punt Company you can join a shared tour which takes you along the Cambridge Backs.

GO SEA IT

£9.50 holiday spot with shipwrecks, seals offshore & horseshoe-shaped waterfalls

SIGHT SEA

£9.50 holidaymakers’ favourite Skegness activities… away from the beach

Experts talk about the colleges, share stories and it only lasts around 50-minutes.

Prices for shared tours start at around £15 per adult – if you book online you can save 15 per cent on morning tours.

If you want to go it on your own at your own pace then you can go for a self-hire punt which with Punting in Cambridge are priced at £32 per hour.

Just a warning for the self-conscious, a favourite pastime of tourists and locals is to watch first-timers attempt punting and get stuck – so you might spot some giggling onlookers.

If you’re around the punting area, then you may as well take a look around the colleges.

Cambridge is well-known for its prestigious university, and it does no harm that it looks like a set from Harry Potter either.

You can book an official tour with college alumni – although it might not be the most interesting for small children.

If you want to poke your head in, lots of the colleges offer free entry to the public like Pembroke, Christ’s, Magdalene, and Peterhouse.

While you’re there, have a look at the very strange-looking Corpus Clock with a grasshopper on the top.

From there, head into the centre for a walk around the market which is open everyday with stalls selling street food, clothes, jewellery and books.

For some shopping, head into the Grand Arcade or walk across the park to the Grafton Centre.

Free Activities

There are some great places in the city where you don’t have to spend any money at all.

If the weather holds out, the parks are lovely places to go and there are some huge ones in Cambridge like Parker’s Piece and Jesus Green.

Christ’s Pieces is a Victorian park and yes, kids can run about in the open space – but they can also try their hand at table tennis.

On the green are three outdoor tables and you can collect bats and balls from the neighbouring coffee kiosk – free of charge.

Lammas Land has a huge adventure playground with lots of swings, slides and climbing frames to play on.

If it’s a bit chilly then parents can warm up with a hot drink at the cafe which is usually open until 6pm in the winter.

If punting isn’t your thing, but you still want to wander by the water, you can easily take a walk along the River Cam.

You can pick how long you walk for but trails go for miles – some good routes are Magdalene Bridge to Silver Street.

Or the riverside trail through Midsummer Common to Jesus Green.

Sadly there won’t be any cows grazing on the commons in February – but if you return later in the year, you’ll be able to spot them usually near Mill Pond.

Usually they’re there from April until October.

If the weather doesn’t play ball, Cambridge has plenty of museums to take a gander around – and most are free entry.

I remember going into the Fitzwilliam Museum on a school trip and it’s filled with all sorts of artefacts that span across three floors.

It’s currently got an exhibit on Ancient Egypt too (although you’ll have to pay from £14.50 to see this).

The Museum of Zoology is also free and a great one for fans of the Natural History Museum.

Here you can see skeletons of a 21-metre long fin whale, an Asian elephant, Komodo dragon, Goblin shark and even a giant clam.

Check the ‘what’s on’ page as they often hold events and workshops through the year.

Food & Drink

The only struggle you’ll have in Cambridge is deciding where to eat because there are so many good cafes and restaurants.

There are lots of your classic chains that are a hit with kids like Las Iguanas, Zizzi, Honest Burger and Bill’s (who I have to say do a great brunch).

Of course, the city is filled with plenty of fab pubs too.

The Eagle is possibly the most famous as it’s where the finding of the DNA was first announced by  Francis Crick and James Watson in 1953.

They serve up food like Chicken Kyiv, mac and cheese, fish and chips, burgers, as well as lighter options like salads and toasted sandwiches.

Head to The Mill for a fishfinger, sausage or brie sandwich.

A little outside of the city centre is the Milton Arms which has special offers on Pie Tuesdays, Pizza Wednesdays, and Burger Thursdays.

If you get peckish and want something sweet, I cannot recommend Fitzbillies enough.

There are three bakeries around Cambridge and they’re known for their enormous and delicious Chelsea Buns.

The original bakery is the one on Trumpington Street opposite the Fitzwilliam Museum with the other two on Bridge Street and King’s Parade.

You can pick up an original Chelsea bun for around £4.

But there are plenty of other flavours to try like blueberry cheesecake, Nutella, and cinnamon buns.

Or even savoury choices like cheese and marmite, or tomato, basil and pesto.

Getting There

When it comes to getting into Cambridge, if you’re heading there by car it can be very busy with car park prices being extortionate.

The worst by far being the Grand Arcade – if you’re there for over five hours it will set you back £36.10.

A great option, and one I used to go all the time as a child is hop on the Park and Ride.

My family would park the car at Trumpington and hop on the bus.

It’s free to park for up to 18 hours and then it’s £4 to the city centre and back for adults.

Up to four children (under 5) go free with each fare-paying adult.

Otherwise, for children aged between 5-15 years it’s just £1 for a return ticket.

The bus will drop you right outside the Grand Arcade shopping centre in the middle of the city too.

There’s also a train station – but for families be warned it’s around a 20-minute walk into the city centre.

But there are buses and taxis you can hop into – or request an Uber.

For more on Cambridge, check out this pretty hotel that’s perfect for city exploring with a beautiful bar and free walking tour.

And here’s a quiet village just 15 minutes from Cambridge that’s the backdrop of an ITV drama.

WASHINGTON — The sudden and surprising airspace closure over El Paso, Texas, stemmed from the Pentagon’s plans to test a laser for use in shooting down drones used by Mexican drug cartels, according to three people familiar with the situation who were granted anonymity to share sensitive details.

That caused friction with the Federal Aviation Administration, which wanted to ensure commercial air safety and the two agencies sought to coordinate, according to two of the people.

Despite a meeting scheduled later this month to discuss the issue, the Pentagon wanted to go ahead and test it, prompting the FAA to shutter the airspace. The laser was used at some point, one of the people said.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said earlier that a response to an incursion by Mexican cartel drones had led to the airspace closure and that the threat had been neutralized. Drone incursions are not uncommon along the southern border.

Officials at the White House, FAA and Department of Transportation did not respond immediately Wednesday to request for comment about the dispute. The Pentagon said it had nothing to add to its statement that largely mirrored Duffy’s comment.

The FAA had originally announced a 10-day closure of the airspace, confusing travelers at the airport in the border city with a population of nearly 700,000 people. The order was lifted a few hours later. No Mexican airspace was closed.

Duffy said in a post on X that the FAA and the Defense Department “acted swiftly to address a cartel drone incursion. The threat has been neutralized and there is no danger to commercial travel in the region.” Duffy said normal flights were resuming Wednesday morning. He did not say how many drones were involved or what specifically was done to disable them.

Rep. Veronica Escobar, a Democrat whose district includes El Paso, said neither her office, the city of El Paso nor airport operations received advance notice. She said she believed the shutdown was not based on Mexican cartel drones in U.S. airspace, saying that “is not what we in Congress have been told.”

Pentagon officials declined to comment on Escobar’s remarks and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s office referred questions to the FAA.

“I believe the FAA owes the community and the country an explanation as to why this happened so suddenly and abruptly and was lifted so suddenly and abruptly,” Escobar said during a news conference. The shutdown had been expected to create significant disruptions given the duration and the size of the metropolitan area around El Paso.

“The information coming from the federal government does not add up,” Escobar said.

Cross-border drone activity is not new

Rep. Tony Gonzales, whose district covers an area that stretches for about 800 miles along Texas’ border with Mexico, said cartel drone sightings are common.

“For any of us who live and work along the border, daily drone incursions by criminal organizations is everyday life for us. It’s a Wednesday for us,” Gonzales said.

Asked about the drone explanation provided by U.S. officials, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said she had “no information about the use of drones on the border.” She noted that if U.S. authorities have more information they should contact Mexico’s government.

Steven Willoughby, the deputy director of the counter-drone program at the Department of Homeland Security, told lawmakers in July that cartels are using drones nearly every day to transport drugs across the border and surveil Border Patrol agents.

More than 27,000 drones were detected within 1,600 feet of the southern border in the last six months of 2024, he testified, mostly at night. Homeland Security has said agents have seized thousands of pounds of methamphetamine, fentanyl and other drugs in recent years that cartels were trying to fly across the border using drones.

Mexican officials head to Washington

El Paso is hub of cross-border commerce alongside Ciudad Juárez. The Mexican city is home to about 1.5 million people, and some of its residents are accustomed to taking advantage of facilities including airports on both sides of the border. That easy access to the U.S. has also made Juarez, like other border cities, attractive to Mexico’s drug cartels seeking to safeguard their smuggling routes for drugs and migrants headed north and cash and guns moving to the south.

El Paso International Airport said in an Instagram post after the closure was announced that all flights to and from the airport would be grounded through Feb. 20, including commercial, cargo and general aviation flights. Local newscasts showed stranded travelers with luggage lining up at airline ticket counters and car rental desks at the El Paso airport hours after flights were grounded.

The airport posted later Wednesday morning that its operations had resumed and encouraged travelers to contact their airlines for the most up-to-date flight information.

Mexican defense and navy secretaries planned to meet with Northern Command officials in Washington on Wednesday in a meeting scheduled to be attended by representatives of several other countries, Sheinbaum said during a news conference. Sheinbaum said the Mexican officials would “listen” in the meeting and that her government would look into “the exact causes” of the closure.

‘This was a major and unnecessary disruption’

El Paso Mayor Renard Johnson said at a news conference that he didn’t hear about the closure until after the alert was issued and he called the failure to communicate that to the city unacceptable.

“Decisions made without notice and coordination puts lives at risk and creates unnecessary danger and confusion,” Johnson said. “This was a major and unnecessary disruption, one that has not occurred since 9/11.”

The airport describes itself as the gateway to west Texas, southern New Mexico and northern Mexico. Southwest, United, American and Delta all operate flights there, among others.

A similar 10-day temporary flight restriction for special security reasons remained in place Wednesday morning around Santa Teresa, N.M., which is about 15 miles northwest of the El Paso airport. FAA officials did not immediately explain why that restriction remained in place.

U.S. Sen. Ben Ray Lujan of New Mexico, a Democrat, said in a statement: “Keeping our communities informed and safe is critical. I’m demanding answers from the FAA and the administration about why the airspace was closed in the first place without notifying appropriate officials, leaving travelers to deal with unnecessary chaos.”

Shutdown and restart creates confusion for travelers

The airspace closure upset travel plans on both sides of the border.

María Aracelia was pushing two roller suitcases across the pedestrian bridge from Ciudad Juarez to El Paso on Wednesday morning. She had a round-trip flight to Illinois scheduled for the afternoon.

After receiving a text at 4 a.m. telling her about the 10-day closure, she scrambled to try to find other options, even how to get to another airport. Then came a notification that the El Paso airport had reopened.

“This is stressful and there isn’t time to make so many changes, especially if you need to get back for work,” Aracelia said.

Kim, Finley, Jalonick and Lee write for the Associated Press. Lee reported from El Paso, Texas. AP writers Jim Vertuno in Austin, Texas; Josh Funk in Omaha; Darlene Superville, Mike Balsamo and Konstantin Toropin in Washington; Kathy McCormack in Concord, N.H.; María Verza in Mexico City, and Christian Torres Chávez in Ciudad Juarez contributed to this report.

Is Mike Johnson stupid?

The five-term Louisiana congressman earned a law degree and maneuvered his way to become speaker of the House. That requires a certain mental aptitude.

However, wanting that job, which entails bowing and scraping to President Trump while herding an unruly GOP conference with an eyelash-thin majority, does tend to land on the stupid side of the scale.

But maybe Johnson isn’t stupid. Maybe he’s just willfully ignorant, or uninformed. Perhaps he simply doesn’t know any better.

How else to explain his persistent claim there’s something sinister and nefarious about the way California casts and counts its election ballots?

Just last week, Johnson once again repeated one of the sophistries the president uses to dump all over the country’s elections system and explain away his oft-verified loss in the 2020 presidential campaign.

With an apparent eye toward rigging the 2026 midterm election, Trump suggested Republicans should “take over the voting” in at least “15 places,” which, presumably, would all be Democratic strongholds. Johnson — bowing, scraping — echoed Trump’s phony claims of corruption to justify the president’s latest treachery.

“In some of the states, like in California, for example. I mean, they hold the elections open for weeks after election day,” Johnson told reporters. “We had three House Republican candidates who were ahead on election day in the last election cycle, and every time a new tranche of ballots came in, they just magically whittled away until their leads were lost. … It looks on its face to be fraudulent.”

Fact check: There was no hocus-pocus. No “holding open” of elections to allow for manipulation of the result. No voting or any other kind of fraud.

California does take awhile to count its ballots and finalize its elections. If people want a quicker count, then push lawmakers in Sacramento to spend more on the consistently underfunded election offices that tally the results in California’s 58 counties.

That said, there are plenty of reasons — none involving any kind of partisan chicanery — that explain why California elections seems to drag on and vote totals shift as ballots are steadily counted.

For starters, there are a lot of ballots to count. Over the last several decades, California has worked to encourage as many eligible citizens as possible to invest in the state and its future by engaging at election time and voting.

That’s a good thing. Participatory democracy, and all that.

More than 16 million Californians cast ballots in the last presidential election. That number exceeds the population of all but 10 states.

Once votes are cast, California takes great care to make sure they’re legitimate and counted properly. (Which is exactly what Trump and Johnson want, right? Right?)

That diligence takes time. It may require looking up an individual’s address or verifying his or her signature. Or routing a ballot dropped off at the wrong polling location to its appropriate county for processing.

In recent years, California has shifted to conducting its elections predominantly by mail. That’s further extended the counting process. The state allows those ballots to arrive and be counted up to seven days after the election, so long as they are postmarked on or before election day. Once received, each mail ballot has to be verified and processed before it can be counted. That prolongs the process.

County elections officials have 30 days to tally each valid ballot and conduct a required postelection audit. That’s been the time frame under state law for quite some time.

What’s changed in recent years is that California has had several closely fought congressional contests — a result of more competitive districts drawn by an independent redistricting commission — and the nation has had to wait (and sometimes wait and wait and wait) for the results to know the balance of power in a narrowly divided Congress.

“For that reason, we get an outsized amount of criticism for our long vote count, because everyone’s impatient,” said Kim Alexander, president of the nonpartisan California Voter Foundation.

As for why the vote in congressional races has tended to shift in Democrats’ favor, there’s a simple, non-diabolical explanation.

Republican voters have generally preferred to cast their ballots in person, on election day. Democrats are more likely to mail their ballots, meaning they arrive — and get counted — later. As those votes were tallied, several close contests in 2024 moved in Democrats’ direction.

(In 2022, in Riverside County, Democratic challenger Will Rollins led Republican Rep. Ken Calvert for several days after the election before a batch of Republican votes erased Rollins’ lead and secured Calvert’s reelection. You didn’t hear Democrats raise a stink.)

There are plenty of reasons to bash California, if one is so inclined.

The exorbitant cost of housing. Nightmarish traffic. High rates of poverty and homelessness.

But on the plus side, a comprehensive study — the 2024 Cost of Voting Index, published in the Election Law Journal — ranked California seventh in the nation in the ease of casting a ballot. That’s something to be proud of.

As for Johnson, the evidence suggests the speaker is neither dumb nor uninformed when it comes to California and its elections. Rather, he’s scheming and cynical, sowing unwarranted and corrosive doubts about election integrity to mollify Trump and thwart a free and fair election in November.

Which is much worse than plain old stupidity.

Defense wins championships and Super Bowl LX showed it can get ratings too.

NBC’s Sunday telecast of the Seattle Seahawks’ 29-13 win over the New England Patriots averaged 124.9 million viewers according to Nielsen data, falling short of the record of 127.7 million set last year on Fox.

Seattle’s smothering defense preventing New England from ever getting on track in the game at Levi Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif., was more appreciated by serious football fans than casual watchers. But the controversy surrounding the event with halftime performer Bad Bunny likely stoked additional interest.

Bad Bunny’s halftime show averaged 128.2 million viewers, higher than the game overall. The performance aired after the second quarter, when the game was still close and hit a peak of 137.8 million viewers.

The NFL’s selection of Bad Bunny riled up right-wing commentators who objected to having an artist singing only in Spanish performing at the premier U.S. sporting event of the year. Bad Bunny has also been outspoken over the Trump administration’s aggressive tactics in removing undocumented immigrants. He skipped the mainland U.S. on his last tour, citing fears that his fans would be targeted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Right-wing activist group Turning Point USA presented an alternative halftime show on YouTube, which topped 6 million viewers, a surprisingly high number considering details of the program were not revealed until days before game day. A concert featuring Kid Rock and several lesser-known country artists did not get a strong critical reception on social media.

But the audience size showed that a hot musical act could attract a significant chunk of the audience already gathered to watch the game.

“More bands should go head to head with the halftime show and not in a political way,” said one rival network executive not authorized to comment publicly. “It would be a good stunt for HBO Max or some other company that’s not an NFL rights holder.”

Nielsen’s improvement to its measurement of viewing through internet connections and set-top boxes — which boosted NFL TV ratings throughout the season, also likely helped the Super Bowl LX number. The additional data was incorporated into TV ratings starting in September.

Another 3.3 million watched the Spanish-language broadcast on Telemundo. NBC did not release data for viewing on its Peacock, saying only that it was the biggest day ever for the streaming platform.

NBC sold out the commercial time for the game at an average price of $8 million for a 30-second spot, with some going for $10 million. USA Today’s annual “Ad Meter” panel chose Budweiser’s “American Icons” as its favorite commercial on the telecast.

A SAUCY Valentine’s Day strip model Abbey Clancy had planned for her hubby Peter Crouch was dashed when he invited a chef to their home to cook for them.

The 40-year-old dressed in skimpy underwear and covered up with a mac, intending to make a big reveal.

But she was forced to swelter under the coat when the former Liverpool, Spurs and England striker arrived with the chef.

Abbey said: “That was the worst surprise ever because I got a gorgeous outfit from Agent Provocateur and just put it on with a coat on top.

“And Pete was like ‘Surprise! We’ve got a chef’.

“So I had to just wear my coat for the whole dinner — at home.

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“I had to wear my coat for the whole meal in my own house.

“And I was literally sweating because I was so worried.”

Asked if she was in a Burberry Mac, Abbey said: “Yeah, I was.

“That was highly embarrassing.

“And he kept asking ‘Aren’t you hot in that coat?’”

Peter, 45, eventually cottoned on to why Abbey would not remove her coat but by then was helpless to ask the chef to leave because it would have appeared rude.

He said: “He wouldn’t go away as well.

“You know when they come over and they want to explain the meal.

“It’s like ‘p*** off mate, will you’.”

Mum-of-four Abbey said Valentine’s nights indoors can be romantic too and couples should not feel pressure to always have a great meal out on February 14.

She added on their Therapy Crouch podcast: “That is nice, to stay in.”

It was not the first time Abbey had tried to woo Peter using the same tactic — although last time she was a bit more successful.

In November 2003 she told The Sun how she lured Peter home from training by picking him up in a car while wearing only a Burberry mac.

He said her teasing tactic “worked very well” — but that he is also very easily pleased.

Peter said: “It’s easy to surprise me.

“If I came home and you had no clothes on, it’d be the best surprise ever.

“It’s so simple and I’ll be so happy.

“I’m just being honest.”

These are the key developments from day 1,448 of Russia’s war on Ukraine.

Here is where things stand on Wednesday, February 11:

Fighting

• A Russian attack killed four people, including three small children, in the Ukrainian city of Bohodukhiv, west of Kharkiv, regional governor Oleh Syniehubov said on the Telegram messaging app early on Wednesday.

• “Two one-year-old boys and a two-year-old girl died as a result of an enemy strike,” as well as a 34-year-old man, Syniehubov said. A 74-year-old woman was also injured, he added.
• Russian attacks on energy infrastructure left the Lozova community in the Kharkiv region without electricity, local official Serhii Zelenskyy said. Syniehubov later declared an energy emergency, citing “constant enemy fire” across the region.
• A Russian missile attack killed a mother and her 11-year-old daughter, and injured 16 people, the Donetsk Regional Prosecutor’s Office said in a post on Facebook.
• Five people were killed in a Ukrainian attack on Vasylivka, in a Russian-occupied area of Ukraine’s Zaporizhia region, Moscow-appointed local official Natalya Romanichenko told Russia’s TASS state news agency.
• A priest was killed in a Ukrainian attack on a funeral procession in Skelki, also in Russian-occupied Zaporizhia, according to TASS, citing Russian officials who widely condemned the attack.
• Ukrainian attacks caused power outages in Russian-occupied areas of Zaporizhia and heating outages in Enerhodar, also in Russian-occupied Zaporizhia, Russian-appointed officials said, according to TASS.
• One of two external power lines supplying the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, occupied by Russia, has been cut as a result of a Ukrainian attack, the Russian-installed management of the power station said on Tuesday.
• A man was killed in a Ukrainian drone attack on a van in the Shebekinsky district of Russia’s Belgorod region, Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said.
• Russian air defence systems shot down three guided aerial bombs and 72 Ukrainian drones in one day, TASS reported.

Military aid

• The US ambassador to NATO, Matthew Whitaker, said in an online briefing that 21 NATO allies and two partners have pledged to buy more than $4.5bn in US weapons through the Prioritised Ukraine Requirements List (PURL) initiative. Whitaker said he expects more announcements of pledges to buy weapons for Kyiv when defence ministers meet in Brussels on Thursday.
• Ukrainian forces received an additional injection of 4.5 billion Ukrainian hryvnias ($104.5m) to order drones and electronic warfare systems over the past month, Ukraine’s Ministry of Defence said in a statement.

Politics and diplomacy

• South African President Cyril Ramaphosa expressed his country’s support for efforts to end Russia’s war on Ukraine in a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday, the president’s office said. The Kremlin also confirmed that the two leaders discussed the war.
• Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that France has not officially re-established relations with Russia, but that Moscow had “noted Mr Macron’s statement on the need to restore relations with Russia”, referring to French President Emmanuel Macron. “We are impressed by such statements,” Peskov added.
• Moscow’s communications watchdog Roskomnadzor said it would further restrict the Telegram platform in Russia, saying the messaging app was not “observing” Russian law, that “personal data is not protected”, and that the app has “no effective measures to counter fraud and the use of the messaging app for criminal and terrorist purposes”.
• Telegram’s Russian-born founder, Pavel Durov, defended the app, which is used widely in Ukraine and Russia, saying Telegram would remain committed to protecting freedom of speech and user privacy, “no matter the pressure”.

Sanctions

• The management of the PCK Schwedt refinery in Germany, controlled by Russia’s Rosneft energy company, made an “urgent appeal” to German Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy Katherina Reiche, saying the threat of US sanctions could harm fuel supply to Berlin and the region. Berlin had secured a sanctions exception for the refinery, but it is set to expire on April 29.

When LAFC promoted Marc Dos Santos from assistant coach to manager two months ago, there were some perks that came with the new job. A raise, certainly. A better seat on the team charter.

But not as many as you might think.

“The office is a little bit bigger,” he said. “My parking space is exactly the same.”

The biggest perk, however, could also prove the more difficult. After five seasons working under Bob Bradley and Steve Cherundolo, Dos Santos is now the guy calling the shots. And if he misfires, it will be clear who deserves the blame.

Dos Santos welcomes the scrutiny.

“I never coach with the intention of what people think or what people are going to say,” he said. “I’m focused on the group and my job; the validation that is the most important for me is from my owners, from the people in the club that believe in me.

“I’m blessed with the pressure of coaching LAFC, It’s a privilege to be under pressure. But at the same time, I want to start well.”

He’ll get that chance Tuesday, when LAFC faces Honduran club Real España in the first round of the CONCACAF Champions Cup in San Pedro Sula. The MLS season will start four days later against Lionel Messi and Inter Miami, the reigning league champion, at the Coliseum.

Dos Santos, who speaks four languages, has already started putting his stamp on the team by tweaking LAFC’s playing style. Under Cherundolo, who spent his whole playing career in Germany, the team ran a German-influenced, high-press system that combined fast-paced attacking with defensive discipline, emphasizing quick transitions and a compact defensive organization.

But Cherundolo’s teams were also content to concede the ball as much as they controlled it. Dos Santos, conversely, spent the preseason implementing an aggressive possession-based attacking game.

“Marc had a lot to do with what we thought was really good about LAFC. But he had some ideas on how to tweak things,” said general manager John Thorrington, whose team is unbeaten in four preseason games, outscoring opponents 7-3. “What is really impressive is Marc and the staff have begun implementing these tweaks. Everybody is really buying in.”

Which is good since Dos Santos won’t have much of a chance to do any teaching once the season begins. LAFC will start the year with four games in 12 days; if it advances to the second round of the Champions Cup, the team will play nine times in 33 days.

Then in late May, after 16 MLS match days, the season will pause for more than seven weeks for the World Cup.

The vagaries of that schedule will require flexibility and depth and will likely force Dos Santos to rotate players in and out of the lineup. And though LAFC’s roster, led by South Korean captain Son Heung-min and former MLS Golden Boot winner Denis Bouanga, appears top heavy, the coach lauds the depth, with offseason additions including wingers Jacob Shaffelburg and Tyler Boyd and midfielder Amin Boudri.

“People could look very superficially,” he said. “But it’s also a league with a salary cap and there’s so many players that support what are called the more known or star players. That’s important.

“The focus is to surround these players with a system and a way of playing that is going to maximize everybody.”

Dos Santos, 48, has won everywhere he’s managed with one exception: his only other MLS head coaching stint in Vancouver, where he spent parts of three seasons, two of which were impacted heavily by the coronavirus pandemic.

He got his coaching start in his native Canada, then moved to Brazil, where he coached in the youth programs of two clubs and worked as a technical director for another. He returned to North America to manage three lower-division clubs and worked as an assistant with Sporting Kansas City of MLS before Bradley named him to the first LAFC staff in 2018.

After Bradley moved on, Dos Santos returned to LAFC as part of Cherundolo’s first staff. And now, as manager, he’s brought in his own lieutenants, replacing original LAFC assistant Ante Razov with former Seattle assistant Andy Rose — who played for Dos Santos in Vancouver — and adding Spanish coach Xavi Tamarit.

“When you go from assistant coach to head coach, you have to take a few steps back. But you need to make sure you delegate to competent people,” he said. “The people that have joined are really competent and do a really good job.”

The proof of that will come on the field and Dos Santos knows he has big shoes to fill. Under Bradley and Cherundolo, LAFC was the best club team in U.S. soccer over the past eight years, winning more games, earning more points and scoring more goals than any team in MLS. It made the playoffs seven times, played in two MLS Cup finals and two CONCACAF Champions League finals, won two Supporters’ Shields and a U.S. Open Cup.

Thorrington expects the winning to continue under Dos Santos.

“I am confident that we made this decision for the right reasons,” he said. “And those who are not convinced yet will be convinced very soon.”

If they aren’t, LAFC’s famously demanding fans will be calling for the coach’s head. So even though MLS is heavily promoting the regular-season opener with Messi and Inter Miami, Dos Santos isn’t looking past his real first game in charge, which is the Champions Cup game with Real España.

“For me, the only game that counts in my head right now is the game of Feb. 17 in Honduras,” he said. “That’s where I put my energy. And then we’ll deal with the Miami game.”

WATFORD may not be top of your staycation bucket list, especially after it was named one of the UK’s worst big towns.

Ranked poorly by The Telegraph, it was slated for its its ‘concrete centres and bad vibes’.

They might not like it, but as a local – I’m 30 mins down the M1 from there – I feel the need to jump to its defence.

I look at the town with an air of nostalgia because – believe it or not – some of the highlights of my childhood were spent in Watford.

In my teens, it was the closest thing to an action-packed city we had, unless we wanted to trek into London, which quite frankly was a cost my pals and I didn’t want to incur, plus our parents all worried about our safety in the big smoke. 

Days were spent at the Harlequin shopping centre, which had all the top high street shops but without the London crowds. Mum would take me here in early school years to buy new shoes from Clark’s.

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I’d watch the Disney movies in shoe heaven while mum and the shop assistants liaised over styles and measured how much my tootsies had grown.

I spent weekends as a season ticket holder watching Watfords now distinctly average football team play on its home turf, stopping for chippies to celebrate (or commiserate) post game.

When I turned 17, my pals and I graduated from the shops to the clubs and bars.

In the 2000s party glory days, we’d grab our glad rags and the tallest platform heels we could find, starting at Vodka Revolutions where shots were cheap as chips, then heading on to one of the mega clubs like Oceana or Area (both now gone).

We wouldn’t walk between venues, instead we’d hop on a bicycle tuktuk, just like the fairy-light clad ones you find in London, only cheaper. 

Top Golf was another cherished activity at the weekends.

The experience is still there today, home to a lively bar and several putting stations.

You don’t have to be good at golf to play, the aim of the game is to whack the balls into targets laid out on the vast green ahead.

Admittedly, I don’t visit Watford as frequently nowadays as most of my time is spent either close to my office in London Bridge, or my hometown, when I’m not off travelling the world.

But it still holds a charm nonetheless. And well worth a visit.

For starters, the is where the UKs leading Harry Potter attraction is, Warner Bros Studio Tour.

Potter fans will be blown over by what’s on offer here and you can pick up some wizarding treats seen on screen and read in the books, like butterbeer, before getting a first hand look behind the magical scenes seen on screen.

Don’t forget to pull a squealing mandrake out of the dirt and explore the Dursley’s house in Privet Drive.

There’s a decent restaurant scene now, too.

Humo is a great option for meat lovers with grubs scorched over an open flame.

The shopping is still decent – and less busy than those in London!

And little kids can take advantage of a Vue cinema and pottery painting while older ones test their nerve at indoor go karting or ninja warrior adventure.

So even if Watford is a little rough around the edges and not the prettiest place to look at, it’s still got it perks. 

One things for sure, you’ll never get bored. But I do wish they’d bring back those booming clubs

A picturesque village just off the motorway boasts pretty cottages, a microbrewery and plenty of shops and restaurants as well as strong links to dinosaurs

When driving along the motorway, most people will have a go-to service station or stop on the way. However if you’re heading towards the likes of Cheshire and Warrington, there’s one picture-perfect village that’s well worth having on your radar.

With the busy roads, high-sided lorries and fast traffic, people could be forgiven for thinking any quiet villages of the North West must be miles away.

But the chocolate box village of Lymm in Cheshire is mere minutes away from the grey blocks of perpetually busy road on the M62 and M6, and it’s a historic gem of a place that has plenty to occupy and entertain visitors on a day trip or those wishing to stay a little bit longer.

A short walk from the village centre brings you out at the picturesque scenery of Lymm Dam – with woodlands and meadows teaming with wildlife – or, back in the village, you could choose to take a stroll along the towpath of the Bridgewater Canal which has an abundance of interesting boats moored up that add to the village’s unique atmosphere.

The area is not only famous for its water but also for a history that includes a dinosaur’s footprint that’s a staggering 240 million years old.

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At Lymm Heritage Centre, those interested can even meet the reimagined Chirotherium dinosaur, often referred to as a ‘hand beast’ – a Triassic creature which has feet roughly the same size as a human hand. The actual fossilised footprints are in a nearby town centre display.

Meanwhile Lymm Cross dates back to the 17th Century when it was likely used as a meeting point, and was restored in 1897 for Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee. It’s now recorded in the National Heritage list of England as a designated Grade I listed building.

Away from history, the village has its own micro-brewery and also a huge choice of pubs, bars, coffee houses and restaurants from The Jolly Thresher described as the ‘best pub in Lymm’ to La Boheme which serves old school French fare and Mediterranean eatery, Ego at The Green Dragon.

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The centre also has plenty of independent shops selling a range of items appealing to all kinds of visitors.

One reviewer said: “Lymm is lovely, the village centre is very quaint and Lymm Dam is beautiful. It has a magnificent amount of picturesque countryside.”

Another commented: “Lymm is a perfect day out – peaceful, pretty and full of charm. Lymm Dam is a beautiful, peaceful spot with just the right mixture of woodland walks, calm water and village charm. The cottages along the dam are like something out of a storybook with white walls, yellow doors and flowerboxes bursting with colour. The whole area is spotless and well-kept.”

To say the mood at Ryan Coogler’s production company Proximity Media has been euphoric would be an understatement.

You too would be more than euphoric if your film landed in the year’s box office top 10 and set the all-time record for most Oscar nominations.

But “Sinners” wasn’t built in a day. It’s been a slow and steady ascent — call it, well, one success after another — since Coogler founded the company in 2018 with his wife Zinzi (they married in 2016) and USC film school buddy Sev Ohanian. And the director is unstinting in his praise for his partners.

“Zinzi is meticulous and detail-oriented and the one that keeps it all together,” Coogler wrote in an email to The Envelope. “She is humble and observant but is the smartest person I know and knows me extremely well. Sev is exceptional at strategy, and the most experienced producer of the three of us, which is invaluable. … Together, they act as a bridge between the creative and the business, which allows me to stay focused on the film.”

The three have been working together since Coogler’s 2013 feature debut, “Fruitvale Station,” based on the true story of Oscar Grant, a young Black man shot to death by a transit police officer in an Oakland BART station.

Bringing audiences in close proximity to stories and subject matter often overlooked forged the name of the company, which now includes feature film, television, nonfiction, music and podcasting departments.

Past film projects include the Oscar-winning “Judas and the Black Messiah,” “Space Jam” and “Creed III.”

“They are on a fast rocket with an upward trajectory for almost any project they bring to the marketplace,” said Andrew Goldman, adjunct professor of film and television at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. ”Every company in town will want a Proximity/Ryan Coogler project. They have cracked a formula of both critical acclaim and box-office successes.”

A recent installment of the podcast “In Proximity” featured Michael B. Jordan and Ryan Coogler getting in the weeds about the production of “Sinners,” including how Jordan distinctly portrayed twins Smoke and Stack.

Moving forward, it looks like Proximity’s sights are set on stories based on another duo: “The X-Files’” Mulder and Scully, the iconic opposites-attract FBI agents who forged a deep personal partnership while investigating strange and paranormal cases over 11 seasons on Fox, beginning in 1993 and stretching until 2018.

Warmly displaying their camaraderie and creative interdependence, Zinzi Coogler and Ohanian spilled more about their company over Zoom, including their early days, people who inspired them and how they’re adapting to the shifting media landscape.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Michael B. Jordan, left, and Miles Caton in “Sinners.”

(Warner Bros. Pictures)

What is the origin story of how Proximity Media formed?

Ohanian: It officially became a company on April 6, 2018, over lunch in San Francisco, but the roots go back to 2008 at USC film school, where I first met Ryan Coogler. We became friends working on student films and reconnected when Ryan and Zinzi were finishing “Black Panther.” Around that time, I had just produced “Searching,” and we started talking seriously about forming a company together.

Zinzi, what made you want to partner with Sev and Ryan formally?

Coogler: After years of working with Ryan unofficially, especially on “Fruitvale Station,” we knew we wanted to make it official. Sev had always impressed me with his creativity and relentless work ethic. When Ryan and I discussed founding a company, Sev was the only person we wanted to approach. Luckily, he said yes — and that’s how Proximity really began.

Did you ever imagine Proximity would grow as it has?

Ohanian: Honestly, no. Back when we were making “Fruitvale Station,” we were just trying to get the movie finished. But looking back, it feels inevitable because we’ve put in years of steady work and built strong relationships in the industry.

Coogler: We couldn’t have foreseen this success. But the foundation of our collaboration — our shared belief in storytelling and craftsmanship — has never changed since those early days.

What projects are you most excited about now?

Ohanian: Last year was a landmark one. We released “Sinners,” had streaming hits like “Ironheart” and “Eyes of Wakanda,” and launched Season 3 of our “In Proximity” podcast. We also have several documentaries and new TV shows in development, plus a long-rumored “X-Files” project that’s close to launching.

Tell us about the atmosphere within the company.

Coogler: There’s a lot of laughter between the three of us — Ryan, Sev, and me. In our early days, someone once asked, “Can I get the real name of your company?” We cracked up at that and recorded the moment. It keeps us humble and reminds us how far we’ve come.

How did you approach producing “Sinners?”

Coogler: It was our first time being sole producers on something Ryan wrote and directed. We saw it as a big moment for Proximity — a chance to support Ryan’s creative vision from start to finish.

Do you have defined roles within Proximity?

Ohanian: Roles shift depending on the project. We each bring different strengths — Ryan as director, me from the indie film side, and Zinzi with her broad experience and steady leadership. We’ve built a team of about 20 people who’ve grown with us, including some who started as assistants and are now producers.

Did other production companies serve as an inspiration?

Coogler: We’ve leaned on amazing mentors — Jim Morris at Pixar, Kevin Feige and Lou D’Esposito at Marvel, and Charles King at Macro. Their guidance shaped how we lead and structure our company.

Looking ahead, how is Proximity adapting to the changing media landscape?

Ohanian: Change has been constant since day one — recessions, strikes, streaming shifts. We stay adaptable through yearly retreats, often at Pixar, to reassess our strategy and think creatively about the future.

How do relationships like the one with Michael B. Jordan influence your work?

Coogler: Michael’s family to us. We’ve been through so much together — from “Fruitvale Station” to “Creed III” and “Sinners.” That trust and history make the work special every single time.