flags

With one of the worst pub food experiences, a deserted high street and a pint-glass littered river front – there is only one thing going for this Essex town.

Driving out of the sun-dappled bucolic roads of Highgate, a sense of stillness and dread descended on our A12 approach to Burnham-on-Crouch.

Drizzle spat onto the window as the windscreen wipers failed to fully clear the smudgy stain obscuring our first St George’s flag sighting on turning into Maldon – arguably patient zero of the recent redecorating of the country.

“Oh my God, look at the price of petrol”, my friend and driver Pierre shouted, veering off the road.

At a truly shocking £1.289 a litre – this was easily the highlight of the trip.

Trudging out of our faded periwinkle Nisan Micra in the co-operative car park, it seemed we had injected the only shade of colour into the bleakest town in the UK, reports The Express.

The sky was white-grey, the community boards bleached into oblivion, and the streets were desolate, and strangely perfumed with what smelled like incense.

Along the so-called high street we stumbled upon our first stop, the Essex & Herts Air Ambulance charity shop. A man in a fitted leather jacket best left in the early naughties made a B-line for the front desk and asked the cashier if they “had any war records.”

This would have seemed odd if it weren’t for what sounded like a 1940s factory choir blasting through the sound system. Lined by pebble dash magnolia homes, the high street was thronged with bloated Land Rover Discoveries, surprisingly well polished against the cracking paint of the houses behind them.

Walking on, we got chatting to a man on a stall outside a barber shop. He said he commuted from London to the family business. When asked what he thought of Burnham-on-Crouch, namely the amount of St George’s flags, he said only “I try to stay out of politics.”

Next on the charity shop roster was the Helen Rollason Cancer Charity. A volunteer came bustling out of the back shouting to her second that she needed back up because “there are quite a few customers out here.” There were a total of four of us in the shop.

It was a surprise some wares had made it past the screening process onto the shop floor. Specifically, one doll dressed as a Native American had made it to the shelves and it looked old enough to pre-date the toy industry’s push for better representation of the global population. The book shelves were almost-exclusively stocked with war books, with Allan Bullock’s questionably named ‘Hitler and Stalin: Parallel Lives’.

Considering the St George’s flag to actual human being ratio, the town’s war memorial was surprisingly sparse following the recent 80th VJ day. There was just one kitchen-clock sized wreath next to the monument, yet every chiropodist, beauty salon, hairdresser and corner shop was adorned with either a Union Jack or a St George’s flag.

Walking along the promenade, it was clear the River Crouch itself was Burnham’s best chance at making a convincing postcard. However, considering the dregs of the September sunshine, it more closely resembled a milieu for a disgruntled Brit-slop ITV detective to look out on whilst toiling over his case.

Then was our lunch. With a couple of suspicious looks up and down, and the smell of a carpeted woody interior- the pub seemed nice enough. I ordered the cranberry and brie toastie, and Pierre ordered a tuna melt with chips to share.

I became nervous when I heard the (deathly quiet) table next to us complain about something in their food. Then, Pierre pulled a food-covered hair from his toastie, before, astoundingly, ploughing on.

This was handled with an apology and we were offered a free pudding – which we declined – and they ended up taking our lime soda and pint off the bill.

After lunch I proposed a tea stop at The Cabin Dairy. This was the town’s one saving grace. The interior resembled the height of neo-Victorian maximalism of 2009, with the shelves looking like a jumbled raid of TK Maxx’s knick-knack section.

The staff were warm, and the scone was delicious, soft and straight out of the oven.

I was surprised to be so happy to fork out any more money in what I had decided was indeed the bleakest town in the UK. If you do find yourself near Burnham – don’t go if you can help it – but know that the Cabin Dairy is there to mop up the emotional drainage of your, hopefully brief, stay.

Is Six Flags Entertainment (FUN 4.27%) about to undergo a radical transformation in its business?

If an activist investor in the amusement park operator gets its way, Six Flags could morph into a new type of company entirely. After said investor published a letter detailing such a plan, market players traded the stock up by 4% on Friday. That performance compared very well to the 0.6% increase of the S&P 500 index across that session.

Valuable property

That morning, the activist, Land & Buildings Investment Management, published the letter it sent Six Flags. True to its name, the activist pushed the company to consider monetizing its sprawling land portfolio, suggesting means such as a spin-out of such assets into a real estate investment trust (REIT), or outright sales.

Image source: Getty Images.

This isn’t the first time Land & Buildings has prodded Six Flags to exploit the value of its properties. In the letter, it said that one of its presentations illustrated how the company’s stock could rocket 50% higher after pulling one of those moves.

The stakes are even higher now, at least according to the activist.

Referring to the beaten-down Six Flags equity, it wrote that “Today, with the Company’s valuation near all-time lows, we see an even more compelling rerating opportunity from separating the real estate, with over 75% immediate upside based on 2026 consensus estimates.”

Land & Buildings wrote that “Upside could be as much as 130% if 2026 EBITDA recovers to $1.1 billion (FUN’s original 2025 guidance).”

Small stake, big voice

As is standard with activist investors, Land & Buildings has a small (roughly 2%) stake in Six Flags, so it probably can’t effect such a change on its own. Effective activists are good at shaking up the people who can make big moves, and at getting shareholders behind their ideas. So far, the company’s ideas for “unlocking” the value of the real estate seem to be resonating. We’ll see if they result in real change.

Leclerc’s crash made it another dire day for Ferrari after Hamilton failed to make the top-10 shootout.

The session ran for two hours and the six red-flag stoppages broke a record that had previously been tied by the 2022 Emilia-Romagna and 2024 Sao Paulo Grands Prix.

The first person to crash was Williams’ Alex Albon, who hit the inside apex at Turn One, causing the first of three red-flag stoppages in the first session.

Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg caused the second, by crashing at Turn Four, and the session ended a few seconds early after both Alpine drivers made mistakes at the same corner after the restart.

Pierre Gasly first sped up the escape road, before his team-mate Franco Colapinto misjudged his entry into the same corner, despite waved yellow flags, and crashed on the exit.

Haas driver Oliver Bearman then brought out the next red flag when he oversteered into the wall on the exit of Turn Two early in the second session. The session then ran to the end without incident, although Piastri hit the wall on the exit of Turn 15 but was able to carry on with his lap.

The excitement was increased during the stoppages in the final session because light rain was starting to fall, which may have influenced the crashes of Leclerc and Piastri.

Leclerc, who had been on pole in Baku for the past four years, went straight on into the tyre barrier at Turn 15, before Piastri did the same thing at Turn Three on the restart.

In the queer enclave of West Hollywood, some residents were furious at the sight of a Pride flag and a transgender flag lowered to half-staff to mourn Charlie Kirk’s assassination.

In the city of Los Angeles, an internal Fire Department memo saying flags should stay raised sparked conservative anger at Mayor Karen Bass.

And in Huntington Beach, where MAGA politics are warmly received, officials pledged to honor Kirk’s memory by keeping flags lowered for an additional week past the mourning period set by President Trump.

The controversial right-wing commentator’s slaying last Wednesday ruptured cultural fault lines across the country, exacerbating fears of political violence, triggering campaigns to punish those who responded crudely and prompting the president to escalate attacks on his foes.

Amid the national maelstrom, Trump’s unusual decision to order flags lowered to half-staff at public buildings to memorialize a private citizen has been a flash point at the municipal level.

The fallout has exacerbated tensions in major cities and small towns, including in Southern California, as local officials chose whether to comply — and found wrath on either end of the decision.

Kirk, 31, founder of the conservative youth organization Turning Point USA and a close Trump ally, was an incendiary figure. In life, he was lionized by the far right and castigated by many others for anti-immigrant, anti-LGBTQ+ and anti-Black remarks, among other offensive rhetoric. He galvanized a generation of young Americans to turn toward the GOP, with even critics acknowledging his organizing skills and impact.

It’s not unprecedented for a president to order flags lowered to half-staff for a civilian, according to James Ferrigan, a flag expert who previously served as protocol officer at the North American Vexillological Assn.

Trump called for flags to be lowered in August after two children were shot to death at a Minneapolis Catholic school, but not after Democratic Minnesota lawmaker Melissa Hortman and her husband were killed in June.

Two days after Kirk’s death, a screenshot of an internal Los Angeles Fire Department memo that said city flags should remain raised “unless directed by the mayor” began to go viral on social media. Many lambasted Bass for not ordering the flags lowered, with some accusing her of defying the president.

Fire Department spokesperson Margaret Stewart said the department follows city flag directives and had not been instructed to lower its flags. The internal memo was not sent at the request of the mayor or anyone in her office, according to someone with knowledge of the situation who was not authorized to speak publicly.

Bass spokesperson Zach Seidl declined to comment on the memo but noted that during Bass’ tenure, flags have been lowered to mourn the deaths of elected officials and first responders.

Ferrigan said that a local official’s choice not to lower flags after a president’s executive directive might be seen as somewhat ill-mannered but wouldn’t be breaking any rules.

“Is it a breach of protocol? Probably not,” Ferrigan explained. “Is it a breach of etiquette? Well, maybe.”

Fox 11, which first published the Fire Department memo, reported that several firehouses lowered their flags to half-staff anyway.

In fiercely progressive West Hollywood, a local news outlet posted an Instagram video of the city’s rainbow Pride flag and a blue-white-and-pink transgender flag lowered to half-staff, blowing in a light breeze.

Thousands of people commented, with most irate or confused that the city was memorializing one of the nation’s most prominent anti-transgender voices — especially with the Pride and transgender flags. Some asked whether it was meant as satire. The flag was located in Matthew Shepard Square, which honors a gay teen who was viciously slain in 1998.

Weho Times, the local outlet in question, reported that a sign was placed Sunday in the square reading: “Shame on West Hollywood for lowering our flags in honor of a racist, transphobic, homophobic, Nazi-loving monster.”

“In particular, there has been significant outrage regarding the lowering of the LGBTQ+ flags, which are prominently flown in our city as a symbol of pride, inclusion, and community identity,” West Hollywood City Manager David Wilson said during Monday’s City Council meeting, according to written comments provided by the city.

The decision to lower the flags “should not be interpreted as an expression of alignment with, or endorsement of, Mr. Kirk’s political views or actions,” Wilson said, adding that city protocol has long been to follow presidential flag lowering directives.

But, he continued, the city’s flag policy will be taken up at a council meeting next month, and potentially reconsidered.

Ferrigan, the flag expert, wasn’t entirely surprised by the battles flaring up in municipalities across the American map.

“Remember, this might be a little $10 worth of cloth,” he said. “But these are bits of cloth that people will kill for or die for.”

Love Is Blind UK has returned with 30 new singletons entering the pods in the hope of finding true love.

WARNING: This article contains spoilers from Love Is Blind UK season two.

Love Is Blind UK fans have watched five couples get engaged but not everyone is happy with one match in particular.

A year has gone by since the first series of UK’s Love Is Blind debuted on Netflix with real-life married couple Emma and Matt Willis hosting the dating show.

Singles from across the UK and Ireland gathered to the Love Is Blind pods where they got to know potential partners without ever seeing them, in a bid to find that deep emotional connection.

By the end of the fourth episode, five couples got engaged and were able to see each other for the first time but it wasn’t smooth sailing by any means.

Katisha, 31, found herself in a love triangle with 30-year-old financial analyst Demola and 28-year-old health coach Javen while in the pods.

She initially decided to go with Demola but in an unexpected U-turn, Katisha changed her mind after another date with Javen.

Katisha ended her time with Demola, going on to only pursue her romance with Javen which resulted in the pair becoming the last couple to get engaged.

However, throughout the dating process, Javen, a former professional footballer, had shown some worrying “red flags” according to fans.

Taking to X, formerly Twitter, someone wrote: “The moment Javen said it’s a game he is playing, we all saw that red flag. Katisha girl,” followed by an eye roll emoji.

A fellow fan commented: “Javen saying grand gestures is not his thing confirmed to me that he is a red flag.”

While a third agreed: “Choosing Javen is crazy I’m sorry because what do you mean you want her to propose? Red flag,” and another stated: “Javen is a huge red flag. HUGE.”

Despite fans’ concerns with Javen’s behaviour, he and Katisha did get engaged, although they soon faced criticism from within the group.

Fellow groom Kal called out Katisha for how she treated Demola but she simply said she had a change of heart and it was nothing to do with what he personally did.

A teaser for next week’s batch of episodes sees Kal bringing up this issue with Javen as he questions if she could change her mind again.

Katisha is also going to meet up with Demola in real-life so there may be a chance a romantic connection could still blossom with them.

Love Is Blind UK season two is available to watch on Netflix.