Balvinder and her professional partner Julian Caillon reprised their Rumba to Stay by Shakespears Sister, while Ellie and Vito Coppola performed their Tango to Abracadabra by Lady Gaga once more.
Post-dance-off, Balvinder posted a photo of herself and Julian performing on Instagram, captioning it: “I loved dancing the Rumba with @Julian_caillon. This was a gorgeous pay off to a very difficult week.”
This followed Julian’s post of photos from their performance, declaring it their “favourite dance yet”, reports Wales Online.
“Which I can’t believe we’re saying considering where we started with the Rumba,” he wrote.
“This week more than ever I saw @leesopal grow and improve as a dancer. From the technique to the performance there was absolutely nothing more she could’ve done, and I absolutely loved dancing this routine together.
“Make sure you’re tuning into the results show tonight to see if we “Stay” in the competition.”
Meanwhile, on the Strictly results show, Vito had some heartfelt words for Ellie after their elimination.
“Honestly, there are no words I can use to describe how proud I am of you and you did really change my life so much,” he said.
“You made me such a better person. At the beginning of this year, I said to myself please, please, please can you send me a beautiful angel into my life? And now you arrived.
“I’ve never had a little sister but I always wanted one. Now, I have you and you’re my little sister forever, and your big brother is always by your side.”
Nine couples remain in the competition and will perform next Saturday when the professional dancers will be accompanied by the Band of the Royal Air Force Regiment in a special tribute to Remembrance Sunday.
Unto every generation, and fraction thereof, a sitcom is born, in which the young people of the moment state their case, self-mockingly. FX recently gave us a State of New York Youth in “Adults,” and here we are now, closer to home with “I Love L.A.,” premiering Sunday on HBO, the network of “Girls” (your guide to the 20-teens), still the most prestigious slot on linear television.
As a native of this fair city, who will never call downtown “DTLA” — let alone #DTLA — I miss the days when the rest of the country wanted nothing to do with us. (Real conversation from my life: Person: “Where are you from?” Me: “Los Angeles.” Person: “I’m sorry”). I can get a little cranky when it comes to the gentrihipsterfication of the city by succeeding hordes of newly minted Angelenos. (The place-name dropping in “I Love L.A.” includes Canyon Coffee, Courage Bagels, Jumbo’s Clown Room, Crossroads School and Erewhon.) I’m just putting my cards on the table here, as I approach characters whose generational concerns are distinct from mine, even as they belong to a venerable screen tradition, that of Making It in Hollywood, which runs back to the silent era. (The heroine of those pictures, stardom escaping her, would invariably return to the small-town boy who loved her. No more!)
Created by and starring Rachel Sennott (“Bottoms”), “I Love L.A.” takes its title from a Randy Newman song written well before Sennott or any of her co-stars were born. (To tell us where we are, as regards both HBO and the location, the series opens with a sex scene in an earthquake.) As in many such shows, there is a coterie of easily distinguishable friends at its center. Sennott plays Maia, turning 27 and in town for two years, working as an assistant to talent/brand manager Alyssa (the wonderful Leighton Meester, from “Gossip Girl,” that 2007 chronicle of youth manners) and hungry for promotion. Back into her life comes Tallulah (Odessa A’zion, the daughter of Pamela Adlon, whose throatiness she has inherited), a New York City It Girl — does any other city have It Girls in 2025? — whose It-ness has lately gone bust, as has Tallulah herself, now broke and rootless. She is one of those exhausting whirlwind personalities one might take to be on drugs, except that there are people who really do run at that speed, without speed — Holly Go-Heavily.
Also starring in the series are Jordan Firstman, left, True Whitaker and Odessa A’zion.
(Kenny Laubbacher / HBO)
Charlie (Jordan Firstman) is a stylist whose career depends on flattery and performative flamboyance. (“What’s the point of being nice,” he wonders, “if no one that can help me sees it?”) Alani (True Whitaker) is the daughter of a successful film director who has presumably paid for her very nice house, with its view of the Silver Lake Reservoir, and whatever she needs. (She has a title at his company even she admits is fake.) Since she wants for nothing, she’s the least stressful presence here, invested in spiritual folderol in a way that isn’t annoying. Attached to the quartet, but not really of it, is Maia’s supportive boyfriend, Dylan (Josh Hutcherson), a grade-school teacher and the only character I came close to identifying with. Do the kids still call them “normies”? Or did they ever, really?
That I find some of these people more trying than charming doesn’t prevent “I Love L.A.” from being a show I actually quite like. (The ratio of charm to annoyance may be flipped for some viewers, of course; different strokes, as we used to say back in the 1900s.) If anything, it’s a testament to Sennott and company having done their jobs well; the production is tight, the dialogue crisp, the photography rich — nothing here seems the least bit accidental. The cast is on point playing people who in real life they may not resemble at all. (My own, surely naive, much contradicted assumption is that all actors are nice.)
Desperation, in comedy, is pathetic but not tragic; indeed, it’s a pillar of the form. Maia, Tallulah and Charlie are to various degrees ruled by a need to be accepted by the successful and famous in the hope of becoming famous and successful themselves. (Alani is already set, and Dylan is almost a hippie, philosophically.) At the same time, the successful and famous come in for the harshest lampooning, including Elijah Wood, in an against-type scene reminiscent of Ricky Gervais’ “Extras.” On the other hand, Charlie’s unexpected friendship with a Christian singer he mistakes for gay is quite sweet; comedy being what it is, one half-expects the character to be taken down. Miraculously, it never happens. You can take that as a recommendation.
For Palmer, the past few months have been a personal and professional challenge.
The Scotland defender, who has only known Wednesday as a permanent club, with close to 500 appearances, watched on “powerless” as good friends exercised their right to leave, exasperated by unpaid wages and the direction of travel.
But as the squad’s Professional Footballers’ Association representative, the 34-year-old has been left to deal with awkward questions from worried players for which he has rarely had the answer.
Palmer and club captain Barry Bannan managed to arrange a Zoom conversation with Chansiri in the summer, hoping for some clarity but receiving none.
“The owner maintained that he was doing his best, but we were asking questions that ultimately he didn’t have the answers for,” said Palmer.
“But we felt that we had to ask them on behalf of the players.
“It would have been lovely to hear ‘you are going to get paid on this time and the money was going to come’, but he didn’t have the answers. But I would rather have had that answer than not asked him at all.”
The match with Middlesbrough proved to be one of the lowest points of his career, played out in front of virtually empty home stands, reminiscent of the depressing times of Covid when playing football felt more like a job than at any other time.
And having the players and fans united again at Hillsborough at least offers Palmer hope for the remainder of what will continue to be a challenging season.
“Football is dead without the fans, and for me Wednesday night was tough,” he said.
“It took me back to that Covid season, there was an emptiness around where everything was at.
“So this has just stoked the fire a little bit within the group to use that little light of positivity to get us through the next few weeks and months.”
For much of the year, the Dodgers’ starting rotation felt broken.
In large part, because the pitcher acquired to be its anchor was struggling to find himself.
It’s easy to forget now, with Blake Snell in the midst of a historic October performance that has helped lead the Dodgers back to the World Series. But for most of his debut season in Los Angeles, the two-time Cy Young Award winner and $182 million offseason signing was grappling with frustration, enduring what he described recently as “the hardest year of my career.”
First, there was well-documented early adversity: A shoulder problem that Snell quietly pitched through in two underwhelming starts at the beginning of the campaign, before sidelining him on the injured list for the next four months.
Then, there was an ordeal Snell detailed last week for the first time: In late August, on the same day his wife Haeley gave birth to the couple’s second child, Snell got so sick in the hospital that he fainted, was taken to the emergency room, and kept overnight hooked up to IV fluids.
“This is awful,” he thought to himself then.
Which now, has made his dominant postseason — including an 0.86 ERA in his first three playoff outings, and a scheduled Game 1 start in the World Series on Friday night — all the more gratifying.
“It’s been a lot,” Snell told The Times last week, while reflecting on a difficult season now primed for a triumphant final act. “But that’s what this is all about. Find the best in yourself. Fight through all the doubt, the bull—. And figure it out.”
Early in the year, that group dealt with its own rash of injuries, losing Snell, Tyler Glasnow, Roki Sasaki and others in a harrowing flashback to 2024.
This time, most of their top arms returned healthy. But up until six weeks ago, they still faced genuine questions for the fall.
At that point, Yoshinobu Yamamoto was mired in an up-and-down stretch following his All-Star selection in the first half of the year, raising worries he could be tiring en route to making a career-high 30 starts.
Glasnow had returned from his early-season shoulder problem, but grinded through six starts from July 29 to Aug. 30 with an ERA above 4.00.
And while Shohei Ohtani was pitching well, he was also continuing to build up in his return from a second career Tommy John surgery.
Suddenly, it all left Snell to be the linchpin for the pitching staff — thrusting him to the center of the late-season resurgence that was soon to come.
“With every great starting staff, you got to have that anchor,” manager Dave Roberts said. “Having him get back to pitch the way he did, sort of raised the bar for everyone.”
This past winter, the Dodgers made Snell their top priority for a reason.
They looked at the patchwork rotation that nearly derailed their 2024 World Series run, and decided the year’s staff needed another star to build around.
Yamamoto, Glasnow and Ohtani already provided a well-established foundation. Clayton Kershaw, Emmet Sheehan, Tony Gonsolin and Dustin May offered plenty of depth to withstand a 162-game marathon.
What was missing, however, was another bona fide ace; the kind capable of swinging postseason series and transforming October fortunes. In Snell, they saw such potential. His presence, they hoped, would complete their title-defense blueprint.
“As we were talking about ways that we could put ourselves in the best position to win a World Series in 2025,” president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said the day Snell was introduced by the club, “all conversations kept coming back to Blake.”
For most of the year, of course, Snell’s impact was limited. After his two injury-hampered starts at the beginning of the season, he remained out of action until after the trade deadline.
During that time, the Dodgers slow-played Snell’s recovery — putting him through a meticulous process (similar to their handling of Glasnow and Ohtani) that was designed to have him ready for the stretch run of the season, and hopefully peaking in time for the start of the playoffs.
Upon his initial return in early August, Snell seemed to be on track, with the left-hander posting a sub-2.00 ERA in his first four outings off the IL.
Then, however, came another unforeseen setback, after he rushed home from an Aug. 22 outing in San Diego for the birth of his child.
By the time Snell’s wife went into labor later that week, the 32-year-old arrived at the hospital feeling “extremely sick,” he recounted last week. At one point, as he got up from a couch to go hold his newly born baby, he said he passed out and fainted right there in the room.
Snell was taken to the emergency room and stayed there overnight, getting two IVs to combat an unspecified illness undoubtedly compounded by exhaustion.
“I couldn’t really stand,” he said. “I just felt awful.”
And yet, a few days later, there Snell was back atop the Dodger Stadium mound; making sure that, after his extended absence earlier in the campaign, he wouldn’t miss another start.
“That’s what I signed up to do,” Snell said. “When I pitch, I just forget about it. I don’t allow a lot of excuses.”
Snell’s illness was unknown at the time, but the physical toll it had taken quickly became obvious. His velocity was noticeably down in a three-run, 5 ⅓ innings start on Aug. 29 against the Arizona Diamondbacks. Six days later, he toiled again during a “frustrating” outing in Pittsburgh, yielding a season-high nine hits and five runs to the lowly Pirates.
Pushing through those games, though, gave Snell a key to hone in on for the rest of the season. “If this is who you are today, figure it out,” he told himself. And finally, with no more disruptions to his routine, improvement flowed quickly.
Dodgers pitcher Blake Snell puts his arm around catcher Ben Rortvedt as they walk back to the dugout together on Sept. 17.
Snell said after that outing, which was followed by one more six-inning, one-run start in his regular-season finale in Arizona: “[I’m] starting to be able to play catch with more intent and work on stuff … Coming through in the push to the postseason, and being able to make it, that’s what the whole season is for.”
The old adage in baseball is that hitting can be contagious.
In the case of this year’s Dodgers, starting pitching evidently can be, too.
As Snell got hot in September, so did the rest of the team’s resurgent rotation. Yamamoto rediscovered his early-season form, winning National League pitcher of the month with an immaculate 0.67 ERA in four starts. Glasnow finished the month with a 2.49 mark, after finally refining the mechanics of his throw. Ohtani, meanwhile, got stretched out to six innings, maintaining his two-way dominance over repeated full-length appearances.
The bar had been raised, with the constant cycle of gems continuing to push it a little bit higher.
The pitchers rode off the momentum and relished in their shared success; to the point that Roberts joked they almost seemed to be competing to outdo one another.
“I think we’re all good,” Glasnow said. “So it was just a matter of time until all of us did good at the same time.”
But in these playoffs, no one has been more lethal than Snell. In his 21 innings so far, he has thrown a scoreless frame in all but one.
Dodgers pitcher Blake Snell walks off the mound after striking out the last batter of the second inning of Game 2 of the NLDS against the Philadelphia Phillies.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
He was good in his first start, producing seven innings of two-run ball against the Cincinnati Reds in the wild-card round. He was superb in the next, going six scoreless against the Phillies in a hostile road environment.
His masterpiece, however, came in Game 1 of the NL Championship Series, when he tossed eight scoreless innings, struck out 10 batters, and ruthlessly toyed with a Milwaukee Brewers lineup helpless to adjust to his manipulative changeup.
“We’ve all known this: Blake, when he’s right, is the best pitcher in the game,” Kershaw, his future Hall of Fame teammate, said afterward. “To have a guy that can do that, set the tone, and just have a guy that you can count on like that, it’s huge.”
For his part, Snell continues to insist that “I feel like I could be way better.” After his repeated setbacks earlier this year, he claims that, “even now, I’m still battling.”
The numbers, of course, tell a different story. In the live-ball era (since 1920), only three other pitchers with 20 or more innings in a postseason had at least 20 strikeouts and a sub-1.00 ERA (Sandy Koufax in 1965, John Smoltz in 1996 and Justin Verlander in 2013).
On Friday night, Snell will be on the bump once again, trying to continue a dazzling streak for himself and his rotation.
What once felt like the hardest year of his career, is now four wins away from being the most fulfilling.
“It’s what you have to go through to win a World Series,” he said. “You can find an excuse, or you can find a way to figure it out.”
MANCHESTER UNITED are one of multiple Premier League clubs interested in Jobe Bellingham, younger brother of Real Madrid star Jude.
Bellingham, 20, followed in his brother’s footsteps when he left newly-promoted Sunderland to join German giants Borussia Dortmund in the summer.
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Jobe Bellingham has emerged as a target for Manchester UnitedCredit: Getty
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Bellingham is an England youth internationalCredit: Getty
But now, according to reports from German outlet Bild, the midfielder’s next move could bring him back to the UK.
The highly-rated prospect has struggled to find minutes under manager Niko Kovac after starting in the opening two games of the season.
He has played just 74 minutes in the four league games since those games, and could grow frustrated at the lack of opportunities at the club, having been the main man at Sunderland last season.
These frustrations didn’t take long to boil over, with Jobe’s father Mark Bellingham reportedly storming to the dressing room to confront club officials after the youngster was substituted at half-time in their season opener against St Pauli.
United would pose an interesting option for the Stourbridge native to rekindle his meteoric rise, with their midfield struggles being one of their biggest issues under Ruben Amorim this season.
There is a sense that despite having much left to prove on the biggest stages, Bellingham could make an instant impact at Old Trafford.
However, if game time is the deal-breaker in Dortmund, then tales such as that of the consistently snubbed teenager Kobbie Mainoo could be a warning sign to steer clear.
Bellingham joined the Germans in summer for a fee of £27million, and it is hard to picture the Red Devils getting him for anything less than that.
Jude Bellingham spends quality time with his mother away from the football pitch
Another club interested in the England youth international’s services is reportedly Crystal Palace, who were also interested in him while he was with the Black Cats.
Palace have been excellent this season, sitting four places above United in sixth, despite having European football to contend with.
During a trip to the Middle East marking the end of Israel’s war on Gaza, United States President Donald Trump turned to another source of strife in the region: the tensions between Tehran and Washington.
In remarks to the Israeli Knesset on Monday, Trump, who took the unprecedented step of bombing Iranian nuclear facilities earlier this year amid a 12-day war between Israel and Iran, offered a “hand of friendship”.
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“We are ready when you are, and it will be the best decision that Iran has ever made, and it’s going to happen,” Trump said of a possible agreement with Tehran.
“The hand of friendship and cooperation is open. I’m telling you, they [Iran] want to make a deal. It would be great if we could make a deal.”
But despite the dovish rhetoric, the Trump administration has continued to take a hard line against Iran, and analysts say that a path towards better relations between the two countries remains filled with obstacles.
Trita Parsi, executive vice president of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, a US-based think tank, said that the Israeli and US attacks in June, which came as nuclear negotiations between Washington and Tehran were ongoing, undermined advocacy for diplomacy in Iran.
“There’s a perception that the US is using diplomacy to lull Iran into a false sense of security,” Parsi said.
‘Iran is open to a deal’
Iran itself has not closed the door to diplomacy, but its leaders have not rushed to renew talks with the US, either.
“If we receive a reasonable, balanced, and fair proposal from the Americans for negotiations, we will certainly consider it,” Iranian Minister of Foreign Affairs Abbas Araghchi said during a television interview on Saturday.
Iran had rejected an Egyptian invitation to attend a summit on the war in Gaza in Sharm el-Sheikh on Monday, citing US attacks and sanctions.
Talks over Iran’s nuclear programme have not resumed since the Trump administration’s bombing of Iranian nuclear facilities. Israel started the war in June, days before the US and Iranian officials were set for another round of talks.
The US, which during Trump’s first term in 2018 withdrew from a previous deal limiting Iran’s nuclear programme, has also insisted that any new agreement include a total ban on Iranian uranium enrichment.
That demand goes beyond the original deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which only curbed Iran’s uranium enrichment programme under a strict international inspection system.
Iran has depicted that new demand as a denial of its rights as a sovereign country, noting that the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) does not prohibit uranium enrichment.
The impasse over enrichment has become a sticking point in negotiations.
“Iran is open to a deal,” Parsi told Al Jazeera. “But regardless of Trump’s positive tone and kind words, what he is looking for is for Iran to capitulate. As long as he insists on zero enrichment, I don’t think he will get a deal.”
Israel’s war with Iran, which included Israel’s assassination of high-level military figures and civilian nuclear scientists, as well as air strikes that killed hundreds of people, has also increased scepticism about the prospects of a lasting deal with the US.
In a speech to the Knesset on Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu lauded the US decision to bomb Iran during the war as a “biblical miracle”.
Since the beginning of the war in Gaza, Israel has struck a series of blows against Iran and allied groups, such as Hezbollah, across the Middle East, leaving it significantly weakened and giving the US little incentive to make concessions on uranium enrichment and other issues.
Trump often reiterates that Iran’s nuclear programme has been “obliterated” by the US strikes on key facilities, but the extent of the damage remains unclear.
The Pentagon said earlier this year that the Iranian nuclear programme had been set back by one to two years. But Rafael Grossi, the head of the United Nations nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), has said that Iran could be enriching uranium again within months.
Trump can ‘let Iran sweat’
Iran insists that it is not seeking a nuclear weapon, while Israel is widely believed to possess an undeclared nuclear arsenal.
Gregory Brew, an Iran analyst at the US-based Eurasia Group, argued that time is on Trump’s side in the confrontation with Iran.
“Trump can sound optimistic about diplomacy, but he can also afford to wait and let Iran sweat,” Brew told Al Jazeera via email.
“With its nuclear programme in ruins, and with new Israeli strikes likely if Iran takes steps to rebuild the programme, [Supreme Leader Ali] Khamenei and the rest of the leadership don’t have many good options.”
Iran is also facing renewed sanctions from the UN after France, Germany and the United Kingdom triggered a so-called snapback of sanctions in August, arguing that Iran had violated the terms of the JCPOA.
Tehran countered that the US unilaterally withdrew from the agreement in 2018, and called another deal allowing inspections of its nuclear facilities by the IAEA “no longer relevant” after the US and Israeli strikes.
Iran was incensed at the IAEA for failing to condemn strikes against its nuclear facilities, which Tehran argues are protected under international law.
“There’s no upside for Trump in resuming talks without Iranian concessions, and there’s currently little downside in letting pressure build, as Iran has been weakened to the point that its ability to threaten Israel or US interests in the region is fairly limited,” said Brew.
“Trump may be willing to let the matter rest for a few months to see if increased economic pain forces Iran back to the negotiating table on favourable terms.”
“The Chair Company,” premiering Sunday on HBO, is a conspiracy comedy — dark comedy, one would definitely have to say — in which Tim Robinson goes down a rabbit hole, from one carrot to the next, after a chair collapses beneath him. It’s a thriller in its way; there will be suspense, and injuries, and a lot of screaming, mostly by the star.
Robinson, who co-created the series with Zach Kanin (who also co-created Robinson’s Netflix sketch show, “I Think You Should Leave”), is a difficult hero. His main shtick is the madman underneath a cracking veneer of civilization; physically, he projects a sort of eccentric normality, like a critique of normal. From the beginning of “The Chair Company,” we see that Robinson’s Ron Trosper is tense and nervous and can’t relax, getting into a argument with a waitress over what and what isn’t a mall — he’s been named to lead the development of a new one in Canton, Ohio. (The action all takes place in the state.)
A presentation he’d been dreading goes well, but as he sits back down, his chair — a standard office model — collapses under him, robbing him of a moment of triumph. What most would throw off with a joke sets Ron on edge, and he begins an obsessive quest to track down the manufacturer. But all he comes up with are dead ends and empty offices, and he begins to suspect a conspiracy. When, getting into his car, he’s hit on the head with a pipe and told to stop asking about the chair, it only makes him more determined to uncover it. Lurking, sneaking and stealing will ensue. Reckless behavior. Shouting.
Along with some standard office comedy involving HR reports and Ron’s “know it when I see it” boss (Lou Diamond Phillips, aging gracefully), there is a family element. Wife Barb (Lake Bell) is moving ahead with plans to develop a more attractive breast pump. Daughter Natalie (Sophia Lillis) is getting married to her girlfriend, and wants to change the venue at the last moment to a haunted house. Son Seth (Will Price), a basketball player apparently of enough talent to mention it in the series, has discovered the pleasures of drinking just as recruiters are coming around. It’s not a developed thread, but it gives Price the opportunity to deliver my favorite line in the series: “Some nights I’ll have like four beers and I’ll sit in my room and I’ll put on Abbott and Costello after I’ve had a couple; it makes me feel good to know that [these] two guys found each other because they both seem so different.” Which is a theme of the show.
The character who makes the series breathe is Mike Santini (Joseph Tudisco), the person wielding the pipe. Ron will track him down, and eventually they’ll become partners in his investigation and, after a fashion, friends. (Though Ron is not always friendly.) Mike is the series’ most original conception, and, in a strange way, its heart — someone not beyond taking money from a stranger to hit another stranger over the head, but sympathetic. Lonely, he craves the connection. Ron, for his part, is forever running out on his family to join Mike in some misadventure.
Robinson, the rare “Saturday Night Live” worker who went from performer to writer, is quite adept at playing this character, which makes Ron exhausting company; it takes a certain sort of stamina, or a love for, this particular brand of chaos to put up with him. It seems hardly credible at times that he’s successfully helped raise two rational children, one to adulthood; has attained an upper-middle-class life (with Lake Bell!); and occupies a position of creative responsibility. There are difficult comic characters you’re nevertheless happy to see — Larry David, because he’s so centered in his world and basically right, Lucille Ball because she’s a genius. But Ron spends so much time at DEFCON 1, dialed up past 11, that it can be off-putting, and drowns out the human inside.
Nevertheless, like any mystery, it draws you along, waiting for answers. Seven episodes of eight were released to reviewers; the seventh ends on what feels like a note of quiet irresolution — if not, in Ron’s mind, satisfaction. But the eighth will surely not let things rest, and you may rest assured — and may need the rest — that eight is not the end.
Federal investigators have determined that the wildfire that leveled much of Pacific Palisades on Jan. 7 was a so-called “holdover” from a smaller fire that was set intentionally on New Year’s Day, about a week earlier.
After Los Angeles firefighters suppressed the Jan. 1 fire known as the Lachman fire, it continued to smolder and burn underground, “unbeknownst to anyone,” according to federal officials. They said heavy winds six days later caused the underground fire to surface and spread above ground in what became one of the costliest and most destructive disasters in city history.
The revelations — unveiled in a criminal complaint and attached affidavit Wednesday charging the alleged arsonist, Jonathan Rinderknecht — raise questions about what the Los Angeles Fire Department could have done to prevent the conflagration in the days leading up to the expected windstorm on Jan. 7 and the extraordinary fire risk that would come with it.
“This affidavit puts the responsibility on the fire department,” said Ed Nordskog, former head of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s arson unit. “There needs to be a commission examining why this rekindled fire was allowed to reignite.”
He added: “The arsonist set the first fire, but the Fire Department proactively has a duty to do certain things.”
A Times investigation found that LAFD officials did not pre-deploy any engines to the Palisades ahead of the Jan. 7 fire, despite warnings about extreme weather. In preparing for the winds, the department staffed up only five of more than 40 engines available to supplement the regular firefighting force.
Those engines could have been pre-positioned in the Palisades and elsewhere, as had been done in the past during similar weather.
Kenny Cooper, special agent in charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives who was involved in the investigation into the Palisades fire’s origin, said the blame for the fire’s re-ignition lies solely with the person who started it.
“That fire burned deep within the ground, in roots and in structure, and remained active for several days,” Cooper said. “No matter how good they are, they can’t see that, right?”
But, he said, wildland firefighters commonly patrol for days or weeks to prevent re-ignitions.
When he worked at a state forestry agency, he said, “we would have a lightning strike, and it would hit a tree, and it would burn for days, sometimes weeks, and then ignite into a forest fire. We would go suppress that, and then every day, for weeks on end, we would patrol those areas to make sure they didn’t reignite,” he said. “If we saw evidence of smoke or heat, then we would provide resources to that. So that, I know that’s a common practice, and it’s just, it’s a very difficult fire burning underground.”
The affidavit provides a window into the firefighting timeline on Jan. 1, when just after midnight, the Lachman fire was ignited near a small clearing near the Temescal Ridge Trail.
12:13 a.m.: An image taken from a UCSD camera, approximately two-tenths of a mile away, shows a bright spot in the upper left — the Lachman fire.
12:20 a.m.: Rinderknecht drives down Palisades Drive, passing fire engines heading up Palisades Drive, responding to the fire.
That night, the LAFD, with help from the Los Angeles County Fire Department, used water drops from aircraft and hose lines, as well as handlines dug by L.A. County crews, to attack the fire, according to the complaint. Firefighters continued suppression efforts during the day on Jan. 1, wetting down areas within the fire perimeter. When the suppression efforts were over, the affidavit said, the fire crews left fire hoses on site, in case they needed to be redeployed.
Jan. 2: LAFD personnel returned to the scene to collect the fire hoses. According to the affidavit, it appeared to them that the fire was fully extinguished.
But investigators determined that during the Lachman fire, a firebrand became seated within the dense vegetation, continuing to smolder and burn within the roots underground. Strong winds brought the embers to the surface, to grow into a deadly conflagration.
Strictly Come Dancing professional Amy Dowden has opened up about her cancer journey, admitting that it can be ‘very difficult’ and ‘worrying’ at times
Amy Dowden has opened up about a ‘difficult’ cancer moment(Image: BBC)
The Welsh dancer revealed she was initially scheduled for a lumpectomy after doctors discovered the tumour. This surgical procedure involves removing just the cancerous lumps and some surrounding tissue.
This led to doctors deciding she would need to undergo a full mastectomy. Speaking on the Breast Cancer Uncovered podcast, Amy confessed that making such quick decisions about your health can be “very difficult”.
She shared: “For me everything happened so quickly, at first I was having a lumpectomy and then after my MRI, there were more tumours so I needed a mastectomy, and all of a sudden you’re trying to make these decisions so quickly and you’re not really thinking rationally because you’re so emotional, it’s very difficult within the time.
“I do think it’s so important to be given all your options and to understand fully. I also didn’t know what I was going to wake up with, that’s quite worrying and scary as well.
“I didn’t know if it was going to wake up with it open or closed, I didn’t know if I was going to have an expander in, or an implant. Even going down to surgery, and I wanted the honesty, you don’t know what you are going to wake up with or what it’s going to look like.”
Amy’s cancer diagnosis forced her to sit out the 2023 series of Strictly following chemotherapy treatment.
In February last year, Amy revealed medics told her they discovered “no evidence of the disease” in her body, paving the way for her Strictly comeback.
She made her return to the programme a year ago, paired with JLS singer JB Gill. However, she was rushed to hospital in October, pulling out of the competition on November 4.
At the time, a Strictly spokesperson said: “Sadly, Amy Dowden MBE will not be partaking in the rest of the competition this year. While Amy focuses on her recovery following a foot injury, fellow professional dancer Lauren Oakley will step in as JB’s dance partner.
“The health and wellbeing of everyone involved in Strictly are always the utmost priority. The whole Strictly family sends Amy love and well wishes.”
Caerphilly-born Amy has made her comeback to the current series of Strictly, teamed up with former Apprentice hopeful Tom Skinner.
The reality TV personality said: “I’m beyond excited to be joining Strictly Come Dancing. I’ve tackled the boardroom and some big breakfasts in my time but stepping onto the dance floor under that glitter ball is next level stuff!
“I’ve never danced in my life (other than at weddings) but I’m ready to graft and of course have a laugh. Bring on the sequins, sambas and most importantly, the BOSH to the ballroom!”.
FROM competitiveness to narcissism – if Noel and Liam have what it takes to patch things up, you have no excuse!
WITH the whole world watching, the Gallagher brothers have been taking to the stage for the Oasis reunion tour – and off the back of their 16-year feud, have proven sibling reconciliation is possible for anyone (though the jury is still out on Princes William and Harry. . .).
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Just because you have the same parents, it doesn’t mean you had the same experience growing up
One of the most impactful relationships you will ever have is with a sibling, who can be a best friend and confidante from day one to the end.
But the dynamic is complex.
Just because you have the same parents, it doesn’t mean you had the same experience growing up.
Likewise, you can share DNA, but not the same outlook on life or values.
Fallouts will occur, and that can lead to long-held feuds.
In fact, one study found 28% of people had experienced at least one estrangement episode with a sibling.*
“Our siblings have known us in our formative years in deeply intimate ways, sharing baths, bedrooms, road trips and battles over broccoli,” says Ali Ross from the UK Council for Psychotherapy.
“During this time, there’s a tension between them being your closest allies and greatest threats.”
How do you navigate tensions when they reach boiling point, or bring up long-standing resentments that are now having a big impact?
“Those conversations can be painful and difficult, especially if this is unprecedented for you in your relationship,” says Ali.
Rhasidat Adeleke teases ‘brother-sister duo’ for 2028 Olympics in exciting training video
“But they can also be helpful to establish a new way of relating as siblings. It can also be a relief to name the elephant in the room, or to expose that you’ve been misinterpreting something and dispel long-held assumptions.”
But sometimes forgiveness feels impossible, and the healthiest thing to do is to walk away.
Exhausting, right? Often it’s just light-hearted banter, but if micro-aggressions are thrown around by your sibling, it can put a strain on your relationship.
“The truth is, people like to be in charge of their narrative and identity – and the way people see themselves within the family, or when compared to siblings, can challenge both those things,” says Ali.
“It is how much you want to buy into that game.”
WHAT NEXT?
When you feel the competitive urge, acknowledge it’s just a reflex, then redirect your energy.
“If you’re casting judgements about a sibling without attempting to understand what it’s like to live their life, challenge yourself to genuinely, compassionately understand them better, then do this for yourself,” says Ali.
He suggests imagining a version of yourself that doesn’t have a sibling to compete with. What would you care about?
“Once you understand the context, the desire to compare and compete diminishes,” he says.
Fallouts will occur, and that can lead to long-held feuds
The Narcissistic Sibling
However much you want to forge a stronger relationship with your sibling, the reality is that sometimes it’s near-impossible.
Does it feel like they won’t take any responsibility for their actions, and don’t seem to be capable of any empathy for you or your viewpoint?
“These are signs of narcissistic behaviour,” says Ali.
“But rather than writing your sibling off as a narcissist and trying to change this other person’s way of being, it is more empowering to understand what you are encountering, what that means for you, and to consider how you are going to navigate that.”
“If they don’t, do you really want to have a relationship with them?
“The answer may be hard and upsetting, but it means you can move forward from a more informed position,” says Ali.
There’s a tension between them being your closest allies and greatest threats
Ali Ross
The Peter Pan Sibling
Some people might describe your sibling as a “free spirit”, but you only see them as a big kid.
Ali suggests thinking about why your sibling’s Peter Pan energy irritates you so much.
“Do you feel like you got too old, too soon, or took on more responsibility and feel resentment?” says Ali.
Perhaps you took on caring responsibilities for other family members.
“Ask yourself honestly if there are feelings of being a martyr on your part,” says Ali.
“Have you rushed straight in to put out the fire before anybody else smelled something was burning?”
WHAT NEXT?
Try telling your sibling how much you are struggling.
“Say something like: ‘This is the burden I’m carrying, and you’re not helping,’ and follow it up with some actual strategising to prompt a practical shift,” Ali says.
Our siblings have known us in our formative years in deeply intimate ways, sharing baths, bedrooms, road trips and battles over broccoli
Ali Ross
The Controlling Sibling
Is your sibling overbearing or dictatorial? It’s likely to come from a fear of being vulnerable, says Ali.
“They’re taking power in a situation because they can’t bear the idea of not being in control. However, this feeling is often buried so deep that your sibling won’t recognise it for what it is.”
People under control can end up feeling resentment, but may be too oppressed to express their true feelings.
WHAT NEXT?
“Be aware that calling it out is a threat to their control in itself,” Ali warns.
“It is why they are likely to double-down on their control, or find another insidious way to try to resume or re-establish control.
“It is much better if the controlling person is left to try to figure it out for themselves, and you spend as little time as you can in their orbit.”
It can also be a relief to name the elephant in the room, or to expose that you’ve been misinterpreting something and dispel long-held assumptions
Ali Ross
The Disengaged Sibling
Of course, not all siblings are close.
Or perhaps you once were, but can’t make sense of how your friendship fizzled out.
“Too often, we draw conclusions too early, then base our response on that,” says Ali. There can be a multitude of reasons why your sibling is being elusive.
“Let’s say someone has been abused or neglected in some way [by the family], and they just want out. You cannot force someone to confront something if they do not want to, and you need to respect their space.”
Maybe you’re their problem, in which case, are you ready for some criticism?
“It might be that you are both very different people, and they’re just not that interested in having a relationship with you.
“This will hurt, but at least you’ll hear it for what it is and know what you are dealing with.”
WHAT NEXT?
It’s a tricky conversation, especially if it comes after years of distance.
“Say to them: ‘I feel sad that we don’t have much of a relationship, as far as I see it, and I don’t know why that is. Do you want to feel closer, because I do?’” says Ali.
“You can then try to suggest ways you can bridge that gap or, even better, leave it with them.”
“This is one of the most remote and also one of the most poor parts of Afghanistan.”
Thamindri de Silva, the National Director for World Vision Afghanistan, explains why it’s difficult for response teams to reach the area affected by the earthquake in Afghanistan.
Clarkson’s Farm star Jeremy Clarkson has turned his countryside escapades into a hit TV series – but he has confessed he is still very clueless about some agricultural practices
22:50, 20 Jul 2025Updated 22:51, 20 Jul 2025
Jeremy Clarkson has admitted he still has a lot to learn about farming(Image: AMAZON)
Jeremy Clarkson may be reaching new levels of fame thanks to his hit documentary series about his Oxfordshire farm – but he has admitted there are aspects of farming that he is still completely clueless about, despite working the land for years.
The 65-year-old TV star previously enjoyed fame as a host of Top Gear on the BBC – before departing the show under a cloud of shame after he punched a producer behind-the-scenes. He then launched rival car show The Grand Tour on Amazon Prime – however this success has been eclipsed by his hugely popular agricultural series, Clarkson’s Farm.
The show follows Jeremy as he endures trials and triumphs as he tries to make a living from his farm – which he named Diddly Squat as he has struggled to make sizeable sales from his crops. But the star appears to be enjoying his challenges – and has even become a spokesperson of British farming, and has turned on the current Labour government over changes to tax rules that risk decimating the UK farming industry.
Jezza has been learning as he goes – and admits there are still many aspects of farming he cannot understand. In a recent column, he explained that he can be confused by the industry – including how animals are turned into food after they are sent to the slaughterhouse.
He writes in the Sunday Times Magazine: “It’s nigh on impossible to deduce which bits are used to make steaks and which are for mincing and whether that bulbous-looking thing is incredibly tasty or a bowel.”
The Amazon Prime show has been airing since 2021(Image: PRIME VIDEO)
He continued: “But by far and away the most difficult thing would be turning my wheat into bread. This is something that has fascinated me for years because how on earth did anyone figure it out?”
As well as running his farm, Jeremy has opened his Diddly Squat Farm Shop where he sells his home-grown products to the public. And more recently he opened a pub called The Farmer’s Dog – which is a short trip from his farmland.
Clarkson’s Farm has been on the air since 2021 and has proved to be a surprise hit for Amazon. The show, now in it’s fourth season and with a fifth on the way, has won over TV fans who have admitted they have become unexpectedly emotional while watching the show.
Clarkson’s Farm fans have admitted they find the series unexpectedly emotional(Image: PRIME VIDEO)
The r/ClarksonsFarm Reddit page has swelled in contributors since the show began – with many fans heading there to review episodes online.
And fans have not shied away from confessing they have been moved to tears by the show. One poster admitted: “I have, like many others, only known Jeremy from Top Gear and Grand Tour, and I’ve always perceived him as this cocky character whom I also find funny of course.
“I expected him to be the same way when I started watching Clarkson’s Farm. But I am more than surprised with how big his heart is!” The fan went on to share their favourite moment from the show, a scene which many have praised as one of Clarkson’s Farm’s very best parts.
The fan adds: “He is so interested and humble (to a certain degree with Kaleb). He cares so much for the animals and even though it’s sad, I love seeing how deeply it hurts for both him and Lisa when they send them to the butchers or they die.
“He sees farming from such a wide perspective and he uses his screen time well to enlighten us non-farmers about the unknown reality of this hardcore profession in an interactive manner. I just love watching it! I just saw the episode of season three where Kaleb gets frustrated over the bad crops and how much work that goes into it. I must admit I teared up a bit.”
A sixth season is also expected to be filmed following the release of season six – although Jeremy has previously hinted the crew behind the cameras will take a long break after the fifth season before filming the sixth.
When Dakota Ditcheva became the first British woman to win an MMA world title, she had no idea of the frustration that would follow.
After the 26-year-old’s historic win over Taila Santos in the PFL flyweight final – her fourth victory in a golden 2024 – she had all the momentum.
Congratulations poured in from icons of women’s MMA, including Amanda Nunes, Cris Cyborg and Joanna Jedrzejczyk, but soon the narrative would develop.
The question starting to form on everybody’s lips after that career-high moment in November was “what’s next?”.
Ditcheva was ready to fight anyone, but the dominant way in which she had dispatched her opponents – including three first-round stoppages and one in the second round – meant there were no worthy challengers left in the promotion.
“Obviously, with me walking through them last year it’s made it difficult,” Ditcheva tells BBC Sport.
“It’s definitely frustrating. I did so well last year – I fought in the cage four times and obviously the last one was a big one and drew a lot of attention, but now I felt like my momentum had kind of dropped off.
“Santos was the top girl in the division and the fact I walked through her so easily is another thing which made this year so difficult. They [the PFL] didn’t know which direction to put me in.”
Atomic Kitten’s Liz McClarnon has shared the gender of her baby in her first TV interview since announcing the pregnancy, having opened up about her difficulties around conceiving
Countryfile’s Adam Henson has opened up on the ‘difficult times’ he has faced away from the BBC show
Countryfile’s Adam Henson has candidly shared his struggles with “difficult times” and family woes.
Behind the scenes, Adam tends to a Cotswolds farm founded by his father Joe in 1971, where he’s faced hard choices and significant losses.
Adam, despite a robust circle of support, stresses the need to highlight mental health concerns within the farming community.
In an exclusive chat with Reach PLC, Adam confessed: “My characteristics are that I am an upbeat person, and I have got an incredibly supportive family, wife and children and people around me.”
On the professional front, he divulged: “And within the business, I have got a business partner who I was at Agricultural College with, and he is one of my closest friends, and what we do is surround ourselves with people that are excellent within their own role in the business”, reports Wales Online.
Adam Henson’s wife Charlie was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer(Image: (Image: Getty))
He added about his team dynamics: “Whether that is a manager or a farm manager, we work really closely with the team, and we are all very honest and open with one another.”
Reflecting on some particularly tough periods, Adam revealed: “I have had some very difficult times in my life, both in business and personally. My wife was very ill a few years ago, my parents dying, and I lost a nephew.
“We have gone through foot and mouth challenges, Covid, and we have had some tough times, but I’ve never had poor mental health because I’ve had that fantastic support system around me.”
Adam Henson suffered an unfortunate bee blunder at his farm on Sunday’s episode of Countryfile(Image: BBC)
Adam is well-known for sharing the ups and downs of his farming life in Gloucestershire with his social media audience.
In one of his latest online updates, Adam shared a touching moment from the farm. In the post, he jubilantly declares, “We’ve just had another new arrival on the farm. One of our Gloucester cows has given birth.”
The footage then reveals the heartwarming scene of the cow alongside her newborn calf as Adam appreciatively says, “There she is. That’s Holly and her beautiful little calf.”
Concluding his heartfelt post, Adam praises the efforts of the cow with an affectionate: “What a clever girl.”
Adam says he’s never had bad mental health thanks to his support system(Image: BBC)
Admirers flocked to the comments section, with one person expressing their awe by stating “Just beautiful,” while another kept it brief with the word, “Lovely.”
The charming newborn also attracted warm sentiments, with someone calling it a “Sweet baby”.
Countryfile airs Sundays at 7pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.
ATLANTA — The case of a pregnant woman in Georgia who was declared brain-dead and has been kept on life support for three months has given rise to complicated questions about abortion law and differing views about whether a fetus is a person.
Adriana Smith, a 30-year-old nurse and mother, was about two months pregnant on Feb. 19 when she was declared brain-dead, according to an online fundraising page started by her mother. Doctors said Georgia’s strict antiabortion law requires that she remain on life support until the fetus has developed enough to be delivered, her mother wrote.
The law, one of a wave of measures enacted in conservative states after the Supreme Court overturned Roe vs. Wade in 2022, restricts abortion once cardiac activity is detected and gives personhood rights to a fetus.
Smith’s mother says the law has left her family without a say in a difficult situation, and with her due date still months away, the family is left wondering whether the baby will be born with disabilities or can even survive. Some activists, many of them Black women like Smith, say it raises issues of racial equity.
What does the law say?
Emory Healthcare, which runs the hospital, has not explained how doctors decided to keep Smith on life support except to say in a statement that it considered “Georgia’s abortion laws and all other applicable laws.”
The state adopted a law in 2019 to ban abortion after cardiac activity can be detected, about six weeks into pregnancy, that came into effect after Roe was overturned.
That law does not explicitly address Smith’s situation, but allows abortion to preserve the life or physical health of the pregnant woman. Three other states have similar bans that kick in around the six-week mark, and 12 bar abortion at all stages of pregnancy.
David S. Cohen, a professor at Drexel University’s Thomas R. Kline School of Law in Philadelphia, said the hospital might be most concerned about part of the law that gives fetuses legal rights as “members of the species Homo sapiens.”
Cohen said that Emory may therefore consider Smith and the fetus as two patients and that once Smith was on life support, the hospital had a legal obligation to keep the fetus alive, even after Smith was considered brain-dead.
“These are the kind of cases that law professors have been talking about for a long time when they talk about fetal personhood,” he said.
State Rep. Nabilah Islam Parkes, an Atlanta-area Democrat, said Friday that she sent a letter to state Atty. Gen. Chris Carr asking for a legal opinion on how Georgia’s abortion law applies when a pregnant woman is brain-dead.
Divide within antiabortion movement
Antiabortion groups are divided over whether they should support personhood provisions, which are on the books in at least 17 states, according to the advocacy group Pregnancy Justice.
Some argue that fertilized eggs, embryos and fetuses should be considered people with the same rights as babies after birth. This personhood concept seeks to give them rights under the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, which says a state can’t “deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process or law; nor deny any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”
Some saw personhood as politically impractical, especially after personhood amendments to state constitutions were rejected by voters in Colorado, Mississippi and North Dakota between 2008 and 2014. Those who steered away sought laws and restrictions on abortion that stopped short of personhood, although they were often informed by the concept.
Personhood proponents argue this lacks moral clarity. Some personhood proponents have been sidelined in national antiabortion groups; the National Right to Life Committee cut ties with its Georgia Right to Life affiliate in 2014 after the state wing opposed bills that restricted abortion but allowed exceptions for rape and incest.
Unequal access to care for Black women
The Associated Press has not been able to reach Smith’s mother, April Newkirk. But Newkirk told Atlanta TV station WXIA that her daughter went to a hospital complaining of headaches and was given medication and released. Then, her boyfriend awoke to her gasping for air and called 911. Emory University Hospital determined she had blood clots in her brain and she was declared brain-dead.
It’s not clear what Smith said when she went to the hospital or whether the care she was given was standard for her symptoms. But Black women often report that their pain isn’t taken seriously, and an Associated Press investigation found that health outcomes for Black women are worse because of circumstances linked to racism and unequal access to care.
Monica Simpson, executive director of SisterSong, the lead plaintiff in a lawsuit challenging Georgia’s abortion law, said: “Black women must be trusted when it comes to our healthcare decisions.”
“Like so many Black women, Adriana spoke up for herself. She expressed what she felt in her body, and as a healthcare provider, she knew how to navigate the medical system,” Simpson said, noting that by the time Smith was diagnosed “it was already too late.”
It’s unclear whether the clots in Smith’s brain were related to her pregnancy.
But her situation is undoubtedly alarming for those seeking solutions to disparities in the maternal mortality rate among Black women. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Black women had a mortality rate of 50.3 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2023. That’s more than three times the rate for white women, and it is higher than the rates for Latino and Asian women.
What is Smith’s current situation?
While Smith is on a ventilator and probably other life-support devices, being declared brain-dead means she is dead.
Some experts refer to “life support” as “maintenance measures,” “organ support” or “somatic support,” which relates to the body as distinct from the mind.
Emory has not made public what is being done to allow Smith’s fetus to continue to develop.
In another case in Florida, doctors successfully delivered the baby of a 31-year-old woman who was declared brain-dead while 22 weeks pregnant, but not without weeks of sustained monitoring, testing and medical care. The woman’s family wanted to keep the fetus, physicians with the University of Florida College of Medicine said in a 2023 paper.
On her first day of admission, doctors administered hormones to raise her blood pressure and placed a feeding tube. After she was transferred to an intensive care unit, an obstetric nurse stayed by her bedside continuously to monitor the fetus’ heart rate and movements.
She was on a ventilator, regularly received steroids and hormones, and needed multiple antibiotics to treat pneumonia. Her medical team encompassed multiple specialties: obstetrics, neonatology, radiology and endocrinology.
Doctors performed surgery to remove the fetus at 33 weeks when its heart rate fell, and the baby appeared to be in good health at birth.
“We don’t have great science to guide clinical decision-making in these cases,” said Dr. Kavita Arora, an obstetrician and gynecologist in North Carolina who raised concerns about the effect of prolonged ventilator use on a fetus. “There simply aren’t a lot of cases like this.”
The 2023 paper warned that “costs should not be underestimated.”
It is not clear whether Smith, whose mother said she was a nurse at Emory University Hospital, had health insurance. But JoAnn Volk, a professor, founder and co-director of the Center on Health Insurance Reforms at Georgetown University, said that for people with health insurance, it’s generally up to the insurer to determine whether care is medically necessary and covered under the plan.
While it is unclear how much it will cost to keep Smith on life support until the fetus can be delivered, or who will be responsible for that cost, her mother’s GoFundMe page mentions Smith’s 7-year-old son and notes that the baby could have significant disabilities as the effort aims to raise $275,000.
Associated Press writers Brumback and Thanawala reported from Atlanta and Mulvihill from Cherry Hill, N.J. AP writer Jeff Amy in Atlanta contributed to this report.
AN ICONIC F1 grand prix track is at risk of being axed from the race calendar.
The Emilia Romagna Grand Prix at Imola could be set to host its last F1 race.
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Emilia Romagna Grand Prix could be cut from the F1 calendar
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The track was reintroduced back in 2020
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Stefano Domenicali has said it would be ‘difficult’ to keep the raceCredit: Getty
The famous circuit is the host for this weekend’s race in the 2025 season.
But F1 president Stefano Domenicali has admitted that it could be cut from the calendar.
There are currently two races in Italy, the one in Imola as well as the Italian GP at Monza.
Domenicali has suggested that with the increased interest in the motorsport, it could prove “difficult” for both to be kept.
He told RAI radio: “Italy has always been and will be an important part of Formula 1.
“It will be increasingly difficult to have two races in the same country because interest in F1 is growing and it’s a situation we will have to deal with in the coming months.
“It’s hard for this situation with Imola and Monza to continue together on the calendar for long.”
The Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari debuted back in 1981.
However, it has previously been cut as it was left off the calendar from 2006 until it was reintroduced in 2020.
This was when the race was rebranded as the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.
Lewis Hamilton fumes ‘have a tea break while you’re at it’ at Ferrari staff and refuses to apologise in Miami GP bust-up
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No other country in Europe has more than one race but Spain will have next year.
This is down to the overlap between the new Madrid track and last year of the Barcelona circuit.
The USA has three races with tracks in Miami, Las Vegas and Austin.
Speaking in 2024, Domenicali admitted that some tracks in Europe could become rotational in the calendar.
He said: “We have some news to share very, very soon with regard to the possibility in the mid-term to have some rotational European Grand Prix and some other new options coming later.
“This is something that, of course, we will clarify in the due course.
“It is true that we have a large demand for new possible venues that want to come in.
“Our choice will always be balanced between the right economic benefits that we can have as a system and also to leverage in the growth of the market.
“That we can see potential that will be beneficial for us to grow our business even further.”
With Ulster having had to cut their cloth accordingly in a different financial landscape, there will be a concern that off-field struggles impacting on-field results becomes something of a spiral.
Already, the pattern of the season’s conclusion seeing plenty of experienced stalwarts heading out the door was set to be repeated.
John Cooney has been a talisman for the province since arriving from Connacht in 2017 but the 11-times capped Irish international has signed a three-year deal with Brive.
Lock Kieran Treadwell, who has also won 11 caps for Ireland, will return to Harlequins, while Andy Warwick and Alan O’Connor, who have represented Ulster a combined 421 times, are among the summer exits too.
All told, eight departing players accounted for 93 outings this season and, to date, the impressive signing of Northampton Saints number eight Juarno Augustus is the only confirmed arrival.
While more are set to come in, the loss of income associated with missing out on knock-out rugby in the URC and the Champions Cup next season will not make it any easier to build a competitive squad.
