Lapping up the pomp as Masters champion is what every golfers wants, but it also comes with more interviews, more presentations and – potentially – more distractions.
Spain’s Jon Rahm finished tied 45th on his return after winning in 2023, later admitting he struggled to “adjust” with the demands of “a lot going on”.
“If you’ve won the Masters, especially for Rory, it really is a dream come true. So you’re happy to go back there and I don’t think the additional commitments are ever a distraction,” said Brown.
“Rory has done everything he set out to do in his career, but there are always more goals. Now he wants to defend it.
“As a professional sportsman, you’re always striving for the next win. What can I improve to take me to the next level?
“Golf’s particularly difficult because one week you’re a champion, the next minute you’re a chicken. You can’t take your foot off the gas.”
McIlroy’s form going into the season-opening major provides little indication about his chances.
Three top-10 finishes in his opening four events of 2026 bode well, before a back injury forced his withdrawal from the Arnold Palmer Invitational and left him “still not 100%” at the PGA Tour’s flagship Players Championship three weeks ago.
He says not playing competitively since has provided a “good opportunity to address the issue” before Augusta – which is notoriously physically taxing.
Therefore, it seems the more pertinent factor in McIlroy’s hopes this week is the trust he has gained in his tactical ability.
“Augusta over the years has made me quite tentative at times, especially with approach play,” McIlroy said.
“By becoming a better putter, by working on my short game and becoming better around the greens, that probably allowed me to become more aggressive with my approach play.
“I think that’s been a big part of the reason why I’ve now eventually won there, but why my play has got better there over the years.”
McIlroy feels the Masters is the major where he could potentially end his career with the most success.
Becoming a multiple champion this week, and a rare back-to-back winner, would be another golfing mountain which he has managed to scale.
After gaining independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, Askar Akayev became President.
In 2005, a popular uprising known as the “Tulip Revolution”, forced President Akayev’s resignation in April of that year. Opposition leaders formed a coalition, and a new government was formed under President Kurmanbek Bakiyev.
On April 6th 2010, civil unrest broke out in the town of Talas after a demonstration against government corruption and increased living expenses.
On April 7th 2010, the unrest had spread and mass anti-government protests in Bishkek turned violent, with over 84 people being killed and many hundreds injured in clashes with security forces.
A transition government took control and Bakiev fled the country soon afterwards.
The day has been a public holiday since 2016.
To mark the events of 2010, hundreds of people attend a special ceremony at a memorial site near Bishkek, including top government officials and the relatives of victims who died during the revolution. People laid wreaths and flowers and held prayers for the deceased.
Vitor Matos has said players like Liam Cullen are the “soul and heart” of Swansea City as he insisted the club cannot be dragged down by the weight of history.
After the game, Matos was asked about Cullen’s unfamiliar starting role on the right flank against Boro – and responded by launching a passionate defence of the versatile Wales international.
Swansea academy product Cullen has been consistently praised by managers for his attitude and contribution for club and country.
However, that has not stopped the 26-year-old from facing social media criticism on a regular basis.
The latest example of that came following Wales’ World Cup play-off semi-final defeat to Bosnia-Herzegovina last month, when Cullen featured as a substitute.
Matos has drawn comparisons between Cullen and Inter Milan defender Alessandro Bastoni, who was sent off in Italy’s play-off final loss to the Bosnians four days later.
“I really don’t know what is, how do I say, how everyone feels so much in doubt when it’s Liam or someone similar, because I just give this example,” the Swansea head coach said.
Trump reiterated the fabrication last week when he signed an executive order seeking to place tight federal controls on increasingly popular mail-in voting.
“Mail-in voting means mail-in cheating,” Trump reiterated. “Cheating on mail-in voting is legendary. It’s horrible what’s going on.”
“See you in court,” California Gov. Gavin Newsom replied.
California and several states partnered in filing a lawsuit accusing the president of an illegal power grab. They pointed out that states have a constitutional right to administer elections pretty much as they see fit.
“You know what, because I’m president of the United States,” he told reporters when asked about the vote. “I had a lot of different things” to do. For him, voting by mail was convenient.
As for the rest of us, apparently in Trump’s mind we don’t do anything important enough to warrant handy mail voting.
The reality is that egotistical Trump still can’t admit to himself that he lost the 2020 presidential election to Joe Biden fair and square. Democrats must have cheated, he thinks — or says he does.
The main way Democrats cheat, Trump and his followers assert, is to round up noncitizens and register them to vote — especially immigrants from Latin America.
It’s nonsensical. As if some undocumented immigrant struggling to survive and dodge ICE agents really gives a rat who’s elected governor or senator. Voting fraudulently is a crime — a misdemeanor or a felony, punishable by a steep fine and/or jail time.
And a campaign pro is going to break the law by offering cash or groceries to a noncitizen for her vote? That would be felony stupid.
“We can’t get Latinos who have been here legally for three generations to vote. If you’re going to spend money getting votes, that’s where you’re going to spend it,” says Republican consultant Mike Madrid, who has written a book about Latino political influence.
“The notion that Democratic operatives are going after undocumented immigrants is absurd.”
People who migrated here illegally, Madrid adds, “don’t want to touch the government in any shape or form. They just want to put in a hard day’s work and retreat to the shadows. They couldn’t care less about politics and voting in the United States.”
No hard evidence of significant election fraud in America in recent years has been produced by Trump or anyone else.
The sheriff said he was investigating claims — unsubstantiated — of election fraud. But the project is now on hold. A good place for it.
It was a waste of the sheriff’s resources to collect the ballots and would be an even bigger misuse of personnel and money to sift through all of those documents in a fruitless search for fraud.
I called Assemblywoman Gail Pellerin, a Democrat who was Santa Cruz County’s chief elections official for 27 years. She chairs the Assembly Elections Committee.
In all of those years supervising elections, Pellerin told me, she encountered only one clear case of fraud. A landlord snatched a ballot that had been mailed to a tenant and illegally cast it.
But a voter must sign the envelope containing a mailed ballot and the landlord’s signature didn’t match the intended voter’s as given when she originally registered. Election officials contacted the intended voter, who said she hadn’t received her ballot yet. The landlord was prosecuted and convicted.
Signatures are checked with the use of technology in California. That’s the main method of verifying a mailed ballot’s legality.
Pellerin says her own signature didn’t match up once. “I got sloppy and my signature had changed since I registered 20 years earlier.” She was contacted by an elections official and her ballot ultimately was counted.
In every election, she says, there are cases of a mother signing the ballot for a daughter who’s away at college, or someone signing for an aging parent. The signatures invariably don’t match and the voters are contacted.
But that’s about the extent of so-called cheating, Pellerin says.
“Immigrants are here to make their lives better,” she says. “They’re not going to risk any path to citizenship by trying to participate in an election.”
When voters register, they must answer under penalty of perjury whether they’re a citizen.
Trump’s convoluted intervention in state-operated voting would, among other things, direct the United States Postal Service to design new envelopes with bar codes that verify voter legality. The feds would refuse to send ballots to people deemed ineligible to cast them.
Gosh, what could possibly go wrong under the Trump administration?
Californians have embraced mail-in voting. In the gubernatorial election 40 years ago, only 9% of ballots were cast by mail; 20 years ago, 42% were. In November, it was up to 89%.
But baseless claims by Trump and his grovelers of “cheating” will persist. It fires up the conservative base and raises political money.
It also maligns noncitizens and dedicated elections officials who keep voting fraud-free.
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Britain’s Got Talent has been accused of a ‘fix’ after one if it’s contestant has been revealed as a West End star who appeared in the musical Lion King
20:25, 05 Apr 2026Updated 21:28, 05 Apr 2026
Nic Vani was revealed as a West End star(Image: ITV)
A Britain’s Got Talent star’s West End past has been revealed. But now, Nic Vani has shared his dreams of finally being centre stage in a production, rather than in the background.
During his audition, Nic impressed all four judges with his impressive rendition of Circle of Life, taken from the hit musical, The Lion King.
But one explanation for his outstanding performance is the fact that he starred in the production as a performer. And according to reports, he played the iconic role of Simba.
Nic received a standing ovation from the judges, Stacey Solomon, who is standing in for Simon Cowell, Amanda Holden, KSI and Alesha Dixon. And he received four yesses.
Nic, a father of three, described himself as a singer, without mentioning his professional past. And the reason for appearing on the show was that he finally felt ready to take his career to the next level. During his audition, Nic said: “In my current music career, I’ve always been at the back – so now I think that it’s time for me to be on the spotlight.”
However, after his performance, viewers started to do a bit of digging and found out he was a professional singer. A source said of Nic: “Nic loves performing and has been grafting in musical theatre for decades, but he has always been the swing player waiting in the wings and never the headline West End star. BGT has opened doors for all kinds of stage talent and Nic stepping out of the shadows to show his singing to the world could be the moment to change.”
Meanwhile, a spokesperson said: “Anyone can apply for Britain’s Got Talent whether they are professional or amateur, irrespective of their experience. All contestants are auditioned on merit and judged on their performance on the day. Some of the acts appearing on the show may have tasted a level of success in their craft, but are not household names. All enter the contest with the hope of elevating their career to the highest level.”
As well as starring in The Lion King, he also landed a role in The Book of Mormon and has toured with former Strictly Come Dancing star Oti Mabuse. Fans were not happy about the revelation as they believed the show should be about discovering untapped talent. Taking to X, one person wrote: “Nic vani.. the guy who literally played Simba in The Lion King.. why are they letting people like this on #bgt ??”
And his celebrity links were also on full display as Oti took to Instagram and wrote: “I love you so much and I hope this is the start of a beautiful journey for you.”
Although many were unhappy about his inclusion, others celebrated his talent as they felt he should have been given the coveted golden buzzer.
Another viewer said: “This man was phenomenal!!!! And should have had the golden buzzer!!! His performance made the hairs on my neck and spine stand on end!! Amazing!!!!”‘
Another act that was given Stacey’s golden buzzer was a primary school group who performed a unique version of All Things Bright And Beautiful. But within the song they then paused and performed a comedy skit.
Nic may be wanting to follow in the footsteps of BGT legend Susan Boyle, who shot to fame back in 2009 with her rendition of I Dreamed A Dream.
Following her performance, she made it to the final but lost out on winning the competition to dance group Diversity. Susan is now worth an estimated £22 million and has finally moved out of her childhood home.
Susan, who recently celebrated her 65th birthday, showed off her transformation. And fans were so taken aback by her news look, they said that the TV personality was ageing “backwards.”
Sharing a snap of her in a football shirt, showing off her blonde hair she captioned the post saying: “I’m so proud to support the wonderful charity, Street Soccer Scotland. I’ve absolutely loved getting my hands on this beautiful limited edition Street Soccer Scotland x Timorous Beasties football shirt.”
Since independence, the history of this small, landlocked African country has been dominated by tensions between the Hutu and Tutsi ethnic groups.
The first democratic elections in June 1993, brought the Hutu, Melchoir Ndadaye to power, though he was assassinated in October of that year.
In early 1994, the parliament elected another Hutu, Cyprien Ntaryamira as President.
On April 6th 1994, Ntaryamira died in a plane crash. The private Dassault Falcon 50 jet which belonged to Rwandan president Juvénal Habyarimana, a fellow Hutu, was shot down while landing at Kigali International Airport, Rwanda. The plane crashed, killing both presidents. The deaths ignited the Rwandan Genocide.
President Ntaryamira Day is a solemn observance during which people reflect upon one of the most tragic events in African history.
Centuries before Donald Trump started playing around with the world economy, “tariff” was a levy paid to Spain by ships using the strait of Gibraltar; it was named for Tarifa, the town near the strait’s narrowest point. France’s kings had long dreamed of a waterway linking the Atlantic to the Mediterranean: as well as depriving the Spanish monarch of easy money, it would save ships a long voyage around Spain and Portugal, risking storms and pirates.
From the Atlantic, vessels can reach Toulouse from the Gironde estuary (on the Garonne River), but not until the 1660s did anyone have a viable plan for the remaining 200km to the Med. Considered one of the biggest engineering feats of the 17th century, Pierre-Paul Riquet’s Canal du Midi (finished in 1681 and called the Canal Royal du Languedoc until the revolution) rewrote the history of transport and commerce in the south of France – for centuries it carried wheat and wine, people and post.
Illustration: Guardian Graphics
In 1996, Unesco added the canal to its world heritage list, citing the way Riquet “turned a technical achievement into a work of art”. Today, the canal attracts more than 70,000 visitors a year, almost three-quarters of them from outside France. From La Ville Rose (as Toulouse is known) to the sea, here is how to enjoy it, however you decide to travel.
Toulouse-Carcassonne
The canal south-east of Carcassonne sees the most tourists; the Toulouse side has fewer attractions, but is enjoyably quieter, all sunflower fields and old windmills. In centuries past, horse-drawn barges would make their first stop at Négra lock; it’s a good place to clock the unusual oval shape of the lock basins, which helps the stone walls withstand water pressure. The inn that served passengers lunch is now a Locaboat rental firm, which hires out barges sleeping from two to 12.
A stretch of the canal south-west of Toulouse near Négra. Photograph: ImageBroker/Alamy
The technically minded will enjoy the Seuil de Naurouze, the canal’s highest point, where it crosses the watershed between the Atlantic and the Med. Key to Riquet’s plan was feeding the canal with water channelled from the Montagne Noire, north-east of here. It’s a peaceful spot, with an avenue of plane trees leading to an obelisk commemorating the engineer. A short walk away, Le Pas de Naurouze offers a meaty (this is south-west France) but excellent set lunch for €23.
Eight miles on is Castelnaudary, home of rib-sticking bean cassoulet, invented while the town was besieged by the English in 1355: try it at the renowned restaurant Chez Marty. The coming of the canal boosted this town’s fortunes: waterside terraces on its lake-like Grand Bassin have an expansive feel, and a 10-minute climb to the restored 17th-century Cugarel windmill offers great views. Across the water, Le Grand Bassin is, in high season, an eco-friendly holiday let sleeping 15, but in shoulder season it lets out individual en suite rooms from €90. Handy for the station and boat jetty, it also offers cycle storage and repairs, and luggage transfers.
Carcassonne – and on
Much has been written about Carcassonne’s medieval citadel, but it is best avoided in the summer season. The canal grows more attractive from here though, even if the towpath gets bumpier. Sleepy villages in golden stone include Trèbes, between the canal and the Aude River, with its 13th-century church, marina and Sunday market. A lovely walk south-east takes in the Domaine des Pères olive oil mill (book visits online), and a three-lock flight on which boats drop seven metres of their 80-metre descent to the Mediterranean.
A room at Château de Paraza.
Paraza, 25 miles on, is an arty village, home to several studios and the unfortunately named CLAP gallery (Centre Local d’Art Parazanais). Château de Paraza winery offers tastings – and luxury castle rooms for a splurge. Cheaper options include Domaine Méditerranée (from €85) with a pool and dinners on request.
Toulouse is just under 200km from the sea, but the canal’s many loops and meanders add another 40km. One loop, just after Paraza, runs to France’s first canal aqueduct, the 1676 Pont-Canal de Répudre, the parapets of its one-arch bridge spanning the river of the same name.
Escape the canal
There’s a holiday feel to the route after Capestang. The countryside is more open, there are more pleasure craft on the water, and plenty of attractions.
It’s worth detouring a few miles to the village of Saint-Chinian, in Languedoc’s oldest winemaking area. It has narrow streets, shady squares and a Benedictine abbey, but also lots of ways to get active. Rock climbers can tackle any of 15 routes up the magnificent west-facing Notre-Dame cliff nearby. There’s kayaking on the Vernazobre and Orb rivers, horse riding and cycling among the vines on Oenovélo 1, a mostly off-road bike route that links Saint-Chinian to the canal at Colombiers (see below). This makes a nice change if you have been riding the towpath for days.
The village of Capestang is one of many great stop-offs as the canal nears the coast. Photograph: CW Images/Alamy
South of here is the circular, spiral-built village of Puisserguier, topped by its 1,000-year-old battlemented castle (entry free but hours can be erratic; try +33 6 62 14 70 96). Then it’s back to the canal at Capestang, with its chunky stone bridge and great market (Wed and Sun) by the tall Saint-Étienne church. There’s good food at Le Pourquoi Pas, right by the canal a few miles west, while La Pause Sous le Pin (doubles from €90 B&B) is a welcoming B&B with a pool and garden, five minutes’ walk from the centre.
To Béziers and the coast
The area around the ancient village of Colombiers used to be classic Insta-worthy Canal du Midi – curved stretches of waterway reflecting rows of tall planes – but severe canker stain infection saw about 1,600 trees felled. Many have been replanted, though, and are now thriving. Before Colombiers, there are two sites of note. The Oppidum d’Ensérune is a Gallic hill fort dating from the sixth century BC (€9 including museum). A scenic walk away (and free) is the world’s oldest canal tunnel, the Malpas, bored through a ridge. Finished in 1680, it takes just a few minutes to pass through but is a unique experience for boats, bikes and walkers.
The Canal du Midi at Colombiers. Photograph: Alan Gardiner/Alamy
Colombiers is the place to take to the water if you haven’t already. Sunboat offers permit-free day boats for 4-12 people from €35, all with cushions and sunshade; larger ones have a Bluetooth speaker and table for musical lunches. There are also rowing boats, kayaks and paddleboards to hire – and guided sightseeing trips. Colombiers’ 12th-century chateau is mostly closed for restoration, but there are guided tours on Wednesdays. Check out the wine cellars, glazed in multicoloured metro tiles.
Just outside Béziers is maybe the canal’s most remarkable sight: the “nine locks” of Fonseranes, allowing boats to drop 21 metres. It’s a lively spot, with plenty of spectators on the banks. Boats now enter and leave via basin seven, so the flight is six locks, but it’s impressive all the same.
And relax …
The Canal du Midi at its final destination in Sète. Photograph: SFL Travel/Alamy
The canal empties into the Étang de Thau at Les Onglous, but boats would then cross the lagoon to unload at Sète harbour, which Riquet also designed. Sète is a pretty, lively port town, with train links on to Marseille and Avignon or back to Toulouse. It has canals of its own, sandy beaches, a covered market and traditional water jousting tournaments (great fun to watch). Les Terrasses de Saint-Clair is a peaceful B&B with three bedrooms (from €130), pool and boules court on the hill between the port and lagoon. After a canal odyssey of any kind, Séte makes a great place to stay still for a few days.
The Easter Bunny is now an established part of the Easter traditions. In Europe and America, the Easter Bunny visits the garden of children leaving chocolate eggs and treats for the children to find on Easter Egg hunts.
Rabbits and hares don’t have any direct connection to any Christian tradition and it is interesting to note that the pagan goddess, Ostara was always traditionally accompanied by a hare. The modern tradition derives from a German custom that was first recorded in the 16th century. It may seem strange for a rabbit to be laying eggs, but as eggs were part of the foods banned during Lent, then the reintroduction of eggs would have been a welcome treat, no matter how they arrived in the garden.
It was once thought that hares could give birth without conceiving, which may have made them a way of explaining the birth of Jesus to the Virgin Mary. It is also said that the sight of Rabbits appearing from their underground burrows is a reminder of Jesus appearing from the tomb after his resurrection on Easter morning.
On Easter Sunday, the traditional meat for dinner is lamb. The lamb was a sacrifice during the Jewish Passover, and it became a symbol for Jesus. It is also seasonal as Spring lamb is particularly tender and noted for its subtle flavour.
Chungmyung Day falls on one of the 24 divisions of the year and represents the sky clearing up for spring.
Traditionally the day is spent tidying up graves and doing home repairs that could not be done during the winter months.
It takes place on the same date as the Ching Ming Festival (Tomb-Sweeping Day) in China which also shares rituals about ancestor worship.
Despite the rich history of the traditions of this day, it has only been an official holiday since 2010, when Kim Jong Eun declared this day as a holiday so that the people could spend it conducting traditional rituals.
Along with New Year’s Day, Lunar New Year’s Day, Dano (May 5th) and Chuseok, Hansik is one of the five ‘folk holidays’ offically commemorated in North Korea, but are not viewed as important as Kim Jong Il’s and Kim Il Sung’s birthdays, which both are normally celebrated with three days of holidays.
Director Annemarie Jacir on how Palestine 36 traces today’s crisis back to British colonial rule.
Before Israeli occupation, there was British colonialism. We speak to director Annemarie Jacir about Palestine 36, her epic film about the 1936 Palestinian revolt that almost succeeded, the often-forgotten roots of today’s crisis, and why this history still feels painfully present.
In this episode:
Episode credits:
This episode was produced by David Enders, Sonia Bhagat, and Sarí el-Khalili with Spencer Cline, Chloe K. Li, Catherine Nouhan, Tuleen Barakat and our host, Malika Bilal. It was edited by Tamara Khandaker.
Our sound designer is Alex Roldan. Our video editors are Hisham Abu Salah and Mohannad al-Melhem. Alexandra Locke is The Take’s executive producer.
At first glance, it seems a strange name for a day that marked such a terrible event as a crucifixion, but when we look at the origin of the name it becomes clearer… or it would if there was one origin that people could agree on. As it stands, you can take your pick from the following:
Some say it comes from the use of “Good” as an adjective applied to the day, which is an Old English synonym for “holy.”
Others believe it stems from a corruption of the word “God,” in much the same way that “Good Bye” comes from the phrase “God be with ye.” So the name may be derived from ‘God’s Friday’.
Undoubtedly most Christians perceive the day as “good” because the message of Easter is of Christ’s victory over sin, death, and the devil. Indeed, the New Testament is also known as the Gospel, which is Greek for ‘Good News’.
Also, it also worth noting that this confusion over the name is mainly confined to Western European and North American Christians. Eastern Orthodox Christians call it “Great and Holy Friday. Around the rest of the world, it’s known as Holy Friday in most Latin nations, ‘Great Friday’ by the Slavic peoples, “Friday of Mourning” in Germany and “Long Friday” in Norway.
WASHINGTON — One year ago, Donald Trump stood in a sun-kissed, unpaved Rose Garden and defiantly announced a new era of global trade, raising tariffs on countries worldwide and sending shock waves through the global economy.
The president promised short-term pain rippling through American households would make way for a U.S. economy that would soon take off. But experts say they are still waiting for receipts — and question whether they will ever come.
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A year of turbulence
Tariff rates shifted so unpredictably for so long — across countries and with remarkable speed — that companies are still struggling to build stable, long-term supply chains capable of supporting future planning and growth. U.S. markets recorded one of the most volatile years in history, marked by extreme swings and modest gains driven by a handful of stocks for tech companies largely inoculated from import duties.
A customer visits a Costco food court in San Diego on March 18.
(Kevin Carter / Getty Images)
Federal customs duties brought in tens of billions of dollars. But a study published this week by the European Central Bank found that U.S. importers and consumers, not foreign exporters, bore the brunt of the costs that paid for it — and that an even larger share of the burden will fall on American households and companies the longer Trump’s tariff policies stay in place.
Despite the president’s pronouncements, tariff earnings have barely made a dent in the federal debt.
Tax cuts and additional spending on defense and immigration enforcement have increased the annual deficit. In the months of January and February alone, net customs duties hit an average of $27 billion — a significant figure that has essentially offset the costs of Trump’s war with Iran, now estimated to be more than $57 billion since its start.
In February, the Supreme Court ruled that Trump had exceeded his authority by bypassing Congress to impose tariffs on an emergency basis. But the decision has merely prompted the Trump administration to look for ways to bypass the high court, as well.
“Even after the court ruling, the Trump administration continues to wield tariffs in a haphazard and ill-conceived fashion,” said Kimberly Clausing, a professor of tax policy and law at UCLA School of Law. “One year in, Trump’s tariffs have only generated higher prices, economic disruption, frayed alliances, and manufacturing job loss.”
Farmers in New Delhi take part in a March 19 protest demanding a minimum support price for crops.
(Sajjad Hussain / AFP / Getty Images)
Since the court ruling, Trump has moved away from using broad emergency powers to justify tariff rates, now citing laws on national security and unfair trade practices to keep them in place. Those are being challenged, as well.
“Trump’s tariff mania injected uncertainty into global business supply chains that he is refusing to let the Supreme Court undo,” said Aaron Klein, chair of economic studies at the Brookings Institution.
“It would be one thing if Trump replaced the existing tariff system with a coherent strategy approved by the very Republican Congress he controls,” Klein added. “Instead, Trump’s on-again, off-again tariff by tweet and let the courts figure it out months later destroys business’ ability to plan and undermines global confidence in America’s trustworthiness.”
‘Mounting downside’
Whether or not the president’s tariff policies survive, they have succeeded in ushering in a new era of international trade, shifting global reliance on the U.S. dollar and on the American consumer market, experts said.
“The euro, the Chinese yuan and crypto will be the biggest beneficiaries as the dollar loses market share,” said Kenneth Rogoff, an economist and professor at Harvard. “Future historians may well look back some day and see Liberation Day as marking the beginning of the end of the dollar’s absolute dominance in global markets, and the ‘exorbitant privilege’ it has given to the United States as issuer of what once upon a time was the world safest currency.”
Mary Lovely, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, said that Trump’s tariff policies have upended global shipping, prompted China to increase offshore investments in countries like Vietnam to process Chinese inputs for the U.S. market, and elevated long-term uncertainty over investing in North America — a trifecta that has ensured that U.S. companies and consumers bear the costs.
“While the president promised an American ‘industrial renaissance,’ manufacturing jobs have been lost every month since early 2023,” Lovely said. “Easy to see the mounting downside of his tariff barrage, hard to find much upside.”
More than 100,000 net jobs in the U.S. manufacturing sector have been lost over the last year, in part due to the increased costs facing U.S.-based manufacturing companies for parts and inputs, said Michael Strain, director of economic policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute.
That has made domestic manufacturing less competitive. “The trade war has also increased the prices facing consumers at a time when affordability is their top concern,” Strain added.
Customers shop at the Sanya International Duty Free City in Sanya, in south China’s Hainan province, on Jan. 10. In December 2025, China launched special customs operations in the Hainan Free Trade Port, allowing easier entry of overseas goods and expanding zero-tariff coverage.
(Guo Cheng / Xinhua / Getty Images)
The policy has become a political albatross for the president, who now proceeds through a midterm year with a bipartisan majority of Americans dissatisfied with his approach to their top concern. Seven in 10 Americans believe that tariffs have increased their costs of living, according to a recent poll, including 64% of Republicans and 67% of independents.
Sung Won Sohn, a former commissioner at the Port of Los Angeles, said that inflation aggravated by Trump’s tariff actions has complicated policy at the Federal Reserve, fueling uncertainty in the U.S. stock market.
The Supreme Court’s decision, which prompted legal ambiguity on the administration’s path forward and opened the door to a flood of litigation for potential tariff refunds, further added to uncertainty. “The net result is decreased economic efficiency,” Sohn said.
Trump faces worse poll numbers on inflation than former Presidents Carter and Biden, both of whom faced challenges with increased prices on goods. Today, 72% of Americans disapprove of the president’s handling of rising prices, according to a CNN poll released this week.
“The real damage from the tariffs — and their uneven unwinding — is not captured in headline GDP figures,” Sohn added. “It shows up in slower decision-making, reduced productivity, and a persistent fog over the economic outlook.”
American heavyweight Deontay Wilder says his fight against Briton Derek Chisora will be “one of the best in history” – with both men gearing up for their 50th professional bout.
From Thuc Nhi Nguyen:Luka Doncic, with the eyes of five defenders fixed on him in the paint, faked a lob pass. He threatened to wrap a pass around Cleveland center Thomas Bryant’s back. Instead, the Lakers superstar pulled up straight over the top of Bryant’s outstretched arm, dropping a fadeaway jumper softly through the net.
Doncic smiled toward the Lakers’ bench as he backpedaled. He shrugged at himself.
Doncic brought back all his old tricks after serving a one-game suspension and capped his torrid March with 42 points, 12 assists, five rebounds and no turnovers in the Lakers’ 127-113 rout of the Cavaliers (47-29) on Tuesday night at Crypto.com Arena.
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Doncic, who was suspended for Monday’s game against the Washington Wizards because of technical foul accumulation, joined Michael Jordan as the only players in NBA history to score 600 points in the month of March. He is one of just 10 players to score 600 points in a month.
“You can see he’s the MVP,” forward Rui Hachimura said.
Doncic, in the NBA most valuable player conversation with Oklahoma City’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, San Antonio’s Victor Wembanyama and Denver’s Nikola Jokic, scoffed at the suggestion that he state his case for the coveted award.
He’ll let his numbers speak: A league-best 33.8 points per game, the only player averaging 30 points a game with more than 100 steals this season and the third-youngest player to reach 15,000 career points.
Dodgers pitcher Shohei Ohtani delivers during the third inning of a 4-1 win over the Cleveland Guardians at Dodger Stadium on Tuesday night.
(Ronaldo Bolanos / Los Angeles Times)
From Maddie Lee: The sprinkling of rain over Dodger Stadium on Tuesday night added a new element to what’s already a familiar sight: Shohei Ohtani walking off the mound and immediately strapping on the various guards and batting gloves he wears to hit.
In the Dodgers’ 4-1 win — as Ohtani held the Guardians to one hit through six scoreless innings in his 2026 pitching debut — it happened twice.
The first inning was guaranteed. But after throwing a scoreless fifth, Ohtani again was due up to lead off the bottom half of the inning.
He appeared to realize just that as he reached the far end of the dugout. Ohtani pivoted and jogged to the opposite entrance, where he handed off his hat and glove to start the well-practiced routine.
UCLA guard Gabriela Jaquez, left, drives to the basket past Duke center Arianna Roberson during the Bruins’ Elite Eight win in the NCAA women’s basketball tournament on Sunday.
(Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Times)
From Anthony Solorzano: With Kendrick Lamar’s “tv off” blaring outside the Mo Ostin Basketball Center, a crowd of cheering fans gave the UCLA women’s basketball team a fitting sendoff Tuesday as they left Westwood for Phoenix.
The Bruins are back in the Final Four, where they’ll play Texas — the only team that has beaten them this season — and begin a final push to win what they hope will be their first national championship since 1978.
Last year, UCLA fell to Connecticut in the Final Four, a loss that has made the Bruins hungrier for a title.
“Experience is such an important teacher, for me, as well as for [the team],” said UCLA coach Cori Close. “I just think there’s been a clarity of focus.”
Portland’s Brandon Ingram, left, controls the ball in front of the Clippers’ Derrick Jones Jr. during the first half of the Clippers’ 114-104 loss Tuesday night at Intuit Dome.
The Clippers (39-37) are eighth in the Western Conference, a half-game in front of the ninth-place Blazers (39-38). The loss locked the Clippers into the NBA play-in tournament. They lead the season series against the Blazers 2-1, with the teams playing again on April 10 in Portland.
Toumani Camara scored 17 points and Scoot Henderson added 15 for the Trail Blazers.
Logan O’Hoppe hit a two-run single with two outs in the sixth against reliever Phil Maton (0-1), and that was all Soriano (2-0) needed on a cold and windy night at Wrigley Field.
The 27-year-old right-hander threw 90 pitches, striking out four and walking two. He was coming off a terrific performance in the Angels’ 3-0 win at Houston on opening day.
Chase Silseth pitched around a single by Nico Hoerner and walk to Moisés Ballesteros in the seventh. Drew Pomeranz worked 1⅓ innings against his former team, and Jordan Romano got two outs for his second save.
Detroit Lions coach Dan Campbell, left, speaks with referees during a game against the Rams at SoFi Stadium in December.
(Harry How / Getty Images)
From Sam Farmer: With the NFL and referees union at a negotiating impasse, the league has put in place a safety net in case replacement game officials are required for the upcoming season.
Team owners approved a rule Tuesday allowing the league to intervene from its New York headquarters and correct officiating errors in real time using replay technology. The rule would be in effect for one year only and would be triggered if the NFL and NFL Referees Assn. cannot agree on the fundamental issues of accountability, compensation and working conditions.
“There is frustration among ownership about the state of the negotiations,” said NFL executive Jeff Miller, responsible for overseeing the league’s communications and public affairs. “What we’ve been crystal clear on is that this is an opportunity for us to improve the state of our officiating.”
Golfer Tiger Woods stands by his overturned vehicle in Jupiter Island, Fla., March 27.
(Jason Oteri / Associated Press)
From Steve Henson:Tiger Woods failed field sobriety tests after crashing into another vehicle last week, and had bloodshot eyes and two hydrocodone pills in his pants pocket, according to a probable cause arrest affidavit released Tuesday.
Woods, 50, told investigators he did not notice the vehicle in front of him had slowed because he was looking at his cellphone and changing the radio station, the affidavit said. His Land Rover rolled onto its side after hitting a Ford-F150 pickup truck pulling a small trailer.
The prescription opioid pills were found during a search after his arrest on suspicion of driving under the influence, causing property damage and refusal to submit to a lawful test. Woods told deputies he had taken prescription medications earlier that day.
Just consider the evidence: In his 10 years with LAFC, Thorrington has hired three coaches and each one has been better than the last. How many other executives have a track record like that?
Then again, maybe it’s not luck. Maybe Thorrington simply has been the best general manager in the league over the past decade.
“Either one. Doesn’t really matter,” Thorrington said when asked for the secret to his success. “The results are what matter.”
Jaden Ivey waived by Bulls for ‘conduct detrimental’
Chicago Bulls guard Jaden Ivey is defended by Denver Nuggets forward Spencer Jones on Feb. 7.
(Erin Hooley / Associated Press)
From Chuck Schilken: The Chicago Bulls announced Monday that they have waived guard Jaden Ivey for “conduct detrimental to the team,” soon after the former first-round draft pick made anti-LGBTQ+ comments on Instagram Live.
The move came less than two months after Chicago acquired Ivey from the Detroit Pistons. In recent days, the fourth-year player has posted several videos on Instagram in which he speaks at length about his religious beliefs.
Ivey recorded another such video Monday soon after learning of his release by Chicago. In it, he held firm to his convictions and predicted he would have trouble landing another NBA job because of them.
1930 — American golfer Bobby Jones starts his Grand Slam season by winning the Southeastern Open.
1938 — Joe Louis knocks out Harry Thomas in the fifth round in Chicago to retain his world heavyweight title.
1940 — Governor Herbert Lehman of New York signs the Dunnigal bill, which legalizes pari-mutuel wagering and outlaws bookmakers at the state’s racetracks.
1954 — Detroit Red Wings right wing Gordie Howe scores 2 goals and an assist, and sets a Stanley Cup playoff record for fastest goal from the start of a game (:09).
1972 — The first collective player’s strike in major league history begins at 12:01 a.m. The strike lasts 12 days and cancels 86 games.
1973 — Boston’s John Havlicek connects on 24 field goals and finishes with 54 points the Celtics defeat Atlanta, 134-109, in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals.
1978 — NY Islanders RW Mike Bossy becomes first NHL rookie to score 50 goals in a season.
1981 — Edmonton C Wayne Gretzky has an assist (his 103rd) to break Bobby Orr’s 10-year mark for most assists in a single NHL season.
1984 — Southern Cal beats Tennessee 72-61 for the NCAA women’s basketball title.
1985 — Villanova shocks Georgetown with a 66-64 victory to win the NCAA basketball title. The Wildcats, led by Dwayne McClain’s 17 points, shot 79 percent from the field, making 22 of 28 shots, and added 22 of 27 free throws.
1989 — Jim McAllister of Glassboro State hits four home runs and drives in nine runs in four at-bats in a 21-5 five-inning rout of Delaware State.
1990 — Betsy King holds on for a two-stroke victory over Kathy Postlewait to win the LPGA Dinah Shore tournament.
1991 — Duke ends years of frustration with a 72-65 victory over Kansas for its first national title in five championship game appearances and nine trips to the Final Four.
1992 — A week before the Stanley Cup playoffs are set to begin, the NHL players strike for the first time in the league’s 75-year history. The strike lasts 10 days.
1996 — Kentucky wins its first national title in 18 years with a 76-67 victory over Syracuse.
1999 — Detroit Pistons G Joe Dumars becomes 10th player in NBA history to play 1,000 games with the same team.
1999 — Philadelphia 76ers head coach Larry Brown wins his 900th pro game.
2000 — Michelle Kwan wins her third World Figure Skating title by pushing through all seven triple jumps. The triple toe-triple toe lifts Kwan above Russians Irina Slutskaya and last year’s champion, Maria Butyrskaya.
2002 — With Juan Dixon and Lonny Baxter leading the way, Maryland wins its first national championship with a 64-52 victory over Indiana.
2007 — Morgan Pressel becomes the youngest major champion in LPGA Tour history with a game well beyond her 18 years, closing with a 3-under 69 at the Kraft Nabisco Championship. Pressel plays her final 25 holes over Mission Hills without a bogey as Suzann Pettersen blew a four-shot lead with four holes to play.
2007 — American super swimmer Michael Phelps smashes his own world record in the 400m individual medley (4:06.22) to win his record 7th gold medal at the World Championships.
2011 — Jarome Iginla scores his second goal of the game with 5:03 left to reach 1,000 points and help Calgary rally to beat St. Louis 3-2.
2016 — Golden State Warriors consecutive home winning streak ends at 54 games.
2018 — Arike Ogunbowale hits a 3-pointer with a tenth of a second left to give Notre Dame a 61-58 win over Mississippi State and its first women’s national championship since 2001. Notre Dame, trailing 30-17 at halftime, pulls off the biggest comeback in title game history, rallying from a 15-point deficit in the third quarter and a five-point deficit in the final 1:58.
2020 — All England Lawn Tennis Club cancels Wimbledon for the first time since World War II because of the COVID-19 pandemic; entire grass-court season abandoned.
Compiled by the Associated Press
Until next time…
That concludes today’s newsletter. If you have any feedback, ideas for improvement or things you’d like to see, email me at houston.mitchell@latimes.com. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.
“Everyone is at least a dormant ballet nerd,” declares 22-year-old Eden Lim, while sitting for an interview in the suburban Dallas studio where she and her sister, Jordan, 24, film and edit their popular YouTube channel “Ballet Reign.”
Judging from the near-universal backlash to Timothée Chalamet’s recent bad-mouthing of ballet, Eden’s summation of the central tenet of their show may be true. With 67,000 subscribers in 166 countries and growing, the Lim sisters are mixing Gen Z humor and exuberance with astounding erudition to bring ballet to a new generation and fire up older, longtime fans.
With episode titles such as “Addictive Ballet Moments to Alter your Brain Chemistry” and promises like “This will increase your lifespan and double your morale,” they are on a mission to ensure that ballet not only survives but thrives.
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Mirthfulness is the Lim sisters’ medium, but their message is serious. During each show, they parse video clips of great performances, often by explaining the history of the piece and giving detailed behind-the-scenes stories. They dissect the most famous pas de deux with trenchant insight and introduce their audience to the greatest dancers, including Natalia Osipova and Roberto Bolle. With signature, irrepressible enthusiasm, the sisters help viewers see precisely what makes the shows and dancers so extraordinary.
Eden, left, and Jordan Lim of YouTube channel “Ballet Reign” trained as professional dancers before deciding to focus on their show full time.
(Larsen & Talbert / For The Times)
A video clip featured in the “Addictive Ballet” episode shows New York City Ballet principal dancer Ashley Bouder launching herself into a jeté so high she seems to leave Earth’s gravity. In midair she manages to turn herself 180 degrees before being caught by her partner, despite her momentum seeming to drift into his arms like a feather blown by a breeze.
While watching the singular feat, Eden exclaims, “Call the news channels! We found a person who can actually levitate!”
Jordan says the goal is to make viewers feel equipped to say, “I understand what’s going on, and I can appreciate it, and I can appreciate that this was done well.”
“Ballet Reign” launched three years ago with modest hopes. The sisters sought a mere toehold in the YouTube universe, aiming for a narrow niche audience of fellow ballet fanatics (“ballet nerds”) ages 16 to 25. To their initial astonishment, they have attracted a far wider viewership spanning all ages, even followers who hitherto had only scant interest in ballet. They have drawn in many young children and older adults, with those 65 and up now their third-largest subscriber group.
The show has rapidly won acclaim from within and outside of the ballet world — perhaps because the depth and breadth of their knowledge makes it hard to shake the suspicion that they secretly are Ivy League professors.
The Lim sisters speak with sophistication about classic ballets and dancers they love — delivering their message through a whimsical show that has attracted fans of all ages.
(Larsen & Talbert / For The Times)
They comment with equal sophistication on ballet steps, choreography, history, musicology and the minute details of costume design. Eclectic references pop out of nowhere — a metaphor from quantum physics, an aside that the flute is the instrument whose sound is closest to a sine wave, that a serinette is an 18th century music box used to teach caged canaries to sing.
Even actual professors laud the show.
Nicolas Krusek routinely shows “Ballet Reign” episodes in his classes for adults on ballet history at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver. Krusek says what makes the show compelling “is the spirit of the videos, just the sense of joyousness and benevolence that they communicate, and a real sense of reverence for the art and the artists.”
John Meehan, a Vassar College professor of ballet and former principal dancer with American Ballet Theatre, calls their episode on Igor Stravinsky’s “The Firebird” ballet “amazing,” adding that it conveys at least as much information in much more palatable form than a “dry” university lecture.
Julie Cronshaw, director of the Highgate Ballet School in London, says even for learned, longtime balletomanes the show opens up a whole new realm of understanding and appreciation. For those weighed down by adult concerns, watching an episode leaves them feeling uplifted.
This is why Jordan believes “Ballet Reign” has attracted a significant older audience — and also because the sisters honor tradition.
“They’re looking at the content and saying, ‘These are pieces that I grew up watching. And these are the dancers that I adored when I was younger,’” Jordan says.
Eden says she hopes “it’s because our content, and the way we deliver it, is able to touch hearts.”
The Lim sisters keep a disciplined schedule, turning out polished, deftly produced episodes 52 weeks a year.
(Larsen & Talbert / For The Times)
The show also benefits from its high production values, with expertly edited clips from performances, clever blurbs of text and quirky cutaways to, say, a pole vaulter as an allusion to how high a dancer jumps.
Episodes generally begin the same way, with the sisters sitting behind a table with an old-fashioned radio-days microphone nicknamed “Mike-elangelo” between them. Eden kicks things off by announcing, “Ladies and gentlemen, this is Ballet Reign.”
A flash of superimposed text identifies them as “*Very certified*, extremely serious ballet experts.”
Jordan and Eden revel in each other’s company, finish each other’s sentences and play off each other with insightful or witty interjections.
“We grew up best friends from the beginning, and that’s never changed,” Jordan says.
They keep a disciplined, grueling schedule, turning out polished, deftly produced episodes 52 weeks a year.
Comments validating their efforts come in frequently. “You really helped me through a dark time,” reads one. Another notes, “I was going through a really difficult life transition and having your videos helped me get through.”
Jordan says, “That’s a sort of impact that I genuinely did not see coming.”
The sisters are openhearted and enjoy revealing ballet’s best-kept secrets, but they have kept a remarkably mysterious online profile. Until now, they have never even disclosed their last names, let alone anything about their background, education or experience.
There is also nearly nothing on the internet, and fans have long wondered about their credentials, including whether they are professional dancers themselves.
On the show the sisters certainly come across as if they were. Surprisingly, the answer is no — with an “almost” caveat.
The oldest of four siblings, Jordan and Eden spent nearly all of their childhood in Ottawa. From the time they were small the sisters beelined toward becoming professional ballet dancers. Jordan says when she was 4 she got up at the crack of dawn every day and put in a VHS tape of a ballet class that her mother, Mary Lim, had bought. With fierce determination, she performed tendus and relevés along with the older students on the tape.
Eden’s ballet fascination quickly followed. Mary says she soon realized she had no choice but to send them to ballet school.
“Obviously, if you look at a 4-year-old doing ballet at 7 a.m. every single day, you’re like, OK, let’s try lessons,” Jordan says.
Eden, left, and Jordan Lim of “Ballet Reign” are the oldest of four siblings and spent nearly all of their childhood in Ottawa before relocating to Texas to pursue their careers.
(Larsen & Talbert / For The Times)
By 2015, the girls needed a better ballet school than was available in Ottawa. Their parents packed up the family and moved to Dallas, where the pair enrolled in the Ballet Academy of Texas. Aside from ballet classes they were entirely homeschooled, but they had plenty of experience dancing in school performances, ballet competitions and with real companies.
Mary says the intent was “to give them an opportunity to move and carve their own path … We wanted them to find their passions.”
The moment the sisters had worked for all their lives arrived in 2020, when the time came to set off around the country — and the world — to audition for ballet companies. But the COVID-19 pandemic hit just as they got started, and almost everything in the ballet world shut down.
Jordan says the hiatus led them to reflect for the first time on whether their lifelong ambition was truly what they wanted. At the same time they groped for a way to put their passion for ballet to temporary use.
For years the sisters had fantasized, half-seriously, about having their own YouTube channel. Eden convinced an initially reluctant Jordan it was time to make the daydream real, and “Ballet Reign” premiered on Dec. 21, 2022.
The sisters say they convinced themselves they were using the show to take “a gap year” while waiting out the pandemic. As the first months passed, and their audience widened and sent glowing feedback, they began to realize they were having a big impact and touching lives. It dawned on them that this wasn’t just an interlude but their calling.
In an agonizing twist, just as the show had gotten underway, Jordan received word she had been accepted by a professional ballet company. She turned down the offer.
“It was one of the hardest decisions I’ve ever had to make,” Jordan says, but in retrospect the right one.
SACRAMENTO — It’s probably time for California to reform the outdated “reform” that could be leading us into an absurd November election with no Democratic candidate for governor allowed on the ballot.
The absurdity is that Democratic voters outnumber Republicans in California by nearly 2 to 1. But the voters’ choices for governor could be restricted to just two Republicans — both disciples of President Trump, who is despised in this state.
The odds against this scenario are high. But it’s an increasing possibility.
It’s conceivable because of a crowded Democratic field of candidates and a 2010 reform placed on the ballot after a late-night deal demanded by a Republican state senator — Abel Maldonado of Santa Maria — in exchange for his vote to pass a stalled budget and tax increase.
The compromise led to voter approval of California’s unique top-two open primary. The top two vote-getters advance to the November runoff, regardless of party. It’s called an open primary because voters can choose any candidate, no matter their party.
So two Democrats or two Republicans might be the only choices in November — in statewide, congressional and legislative races. That doesn’t happen often, but it has a few times.
It doesn’t reflect the current reality of American politics, with voters sharply polarized between Democrats and Republicans. They want to vote for someone from their own party and are not interested in choosing among two perceived evils.
We should consider returning to a primary system that produces party nominees — one Democrat and one Republican — to give voters a more varied selection in November. Maybe even allow a third or fourth candidate to emerge from minority parties.
It’s too late to change for this year, but we could for future elections. It would require voter approval.
For the present, we’re saddled with the unwieldy dilemma of there being eight major Democratic candidates and just two Republicans. If the combined Democratic vote is splintered among the eight Democrats in the June 2 primary, the two Republicans could end up finishing first and second.
Political data guru Paul Mitchell, who has been running primary election simulations, pegs the chances of a Democratic lockout at 20%.
“There’s only a one-in-five chance, but you don’t want to see a one-in-five chance with something this important,” says the statistician, who works mostly for Democrats.
“To be safe, the Democratic Party needs to have a candidate polling at 20% or more. And none of the Democratic candidates are half way there. It’s scary.”
Mitchell bases his assessment on a poll released last week by state Democratic chairman Rusty Hicks, part of an effort to pressure low-polling Democratic candidates to step out of the race.
The survey showed both Republicans leading the field — former Fox News host Steve Hilton with 16% and Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco at 14%. At 10% each were three Democrats: Rep. Eric Swalwell of the San Francisco Bay Area, former Orange County Rep. Katie Porter and wealthy climate activist Tom Steyer. No other Democrat registered above 3%. There were 24% undecided.
The straggling candidates need to ask themselves, Hicks says: “if you’re polling 1% to 2%, do you have a path to get to 20?
“All of these candidates are experienced. They know in their gut when they’re viable or not.”
Mitchell says, “A lot of folks are now looking at why we have a wacky system that causes [a party chair] to tell candidates they should drop out of a race.”
Yes, it does smack of being undemocratic even if it’s practical politics.
Mitchell says the top-two system should be scrapped.
Hicks agrees.
“Things that were promised [by top-two promoters] have not been delivered,” the state party chairman told me. “It’s time to consider going back to the kind of system voters like.”
Appealing to the middle
I called around and got different views from veteran Democratic strategists.
“It was sold as reform, but it’s not reform. It’s a distortion of the process,” one former political consultant told me, asking for anonymity because of his current employment. “Everybody thought it would yield more moderate, consensus candidates, but that’s not what’s happening.”
Consultant Steve Maviglito, who ran the 2010 campaign against the top-two system, says it’s undemocratic because it risks not giving voters “a chance to cast a ballot for a candidate they have some belief in. That’s what our system is built on.”
The grand theory, he notes, was that candidates would be forced to appeal to the middle.
“Just the opposite,” Maviglio argues. “Democrats want a strong Democrat and Republicans want a strong Republican. The only thing in the middle of the road is a dead armadillo.”
Moreover, he points out, the top-two system has been manipulated by Democrats — including Sen. Adam Schiff and Gov. Gavin Newsom — to boost a Republican in the primary to guarantee a non-competitive, easy election in November.
That’s a bit sleazy.
“The top-two has actually been hugely good to Democrats,” says Democratic strategist Garry South. “They need to think this through. Since the top-two primary was implemented, there have only been three same-party runoffs for state office out of 26 races — all three of them Democrats.
“The current specter of two Republicans [in November] is not the fault of the top-two primary system. It’s due to every Democrat and their brother — or sister — taking a flier and filing for governor.”
“Never,” replies consultant David Townsend when asked whether the top-two primary should be junked. He ran the ballot campaign authorizing it. Townsend insists today’s Legislature contains more moderate Democrats because of the top-two and that they provide a check on the liberal majority.
That’s true to some degree.
OK, we could leave the top-two system for the Legislature and scuttle it for statewide offices.
The thought of being limited to a choice between two Republicans — or two Democrats — for governor is unacceptable and un-American.
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Dzeko has been a crucial player for his country since his international debut in 2007, and has 73 goals in 147 appearances – scoring every year for the past two decades.
Until as recently as last year he was still reaching double figures for goals at club level.
Last summer, he returned to Serie A to sign for Fiorentina and, at the time, dismissed suggestions he was slowing down with age.
“Age doesn’t matter, I’m not a write-off yet,” he said.
“Behind all this is the work that a 39-year-old has to do, even more than others. I feel good, we’re working hard, and this will bring us satisfaction later.”
That move did not quite work out and Dzeko soon found himself out of favour at the club, having failed to score in 11 Serie A games.
But a switch to Schalke in Bundesliga 2 in January has reinvigorated him – possibly at just the right time as the World Cup approaches – and he has scored six goals in eight games for the German side.
On what the future holds for him, Dzeko said recently: “I’ll listen to my body in the summer but at the moment, I still feel very good, and I still score goals.”
But if he does help his country qualify for the World Cup, it is very likely that conversation with his body will be delayed a little longer.
A HISTORIC Hampshire pier is set to reopen to the public for the first time since its closure in 2024 after undergoing months of work.
Hythe Pier will reopen on Thursday, April 2 following major electrical improvements and a subtle revamp.
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Located in Hampshire, the pier is a crucial stopping point for the Hythe FerryCredit: Getty
Under the management of Hythe Pier Companies, it will cost visitors £1 to walk along the pier, but children under five will be allowed on for free.
A spokesperson for the Hythe Pier, Train and Ferry Group said: “Every £1 you spend goes back into the pier, supporting its future as we begin our transition into a charity.
“Come and walk the full length of the pier (700 yards / 640 meters) take in the views, and be part of this next chapter.”
The attraction is the UK’s seventh-longest pier but has been shut for more than a year and has kept essential ferry services closed, disrupting life for locals.
A crucial stopping point for the Hythe Ferry, which ran regular services to Southampton before the closure, the pier has been essential to the community.
Although the reopening is good news for tourists, the essential ferry and train services that once connected the village to Southampton are not yet back on track.
Local councillor Malcolm Wade explained that the pontoon, owned by ferry operator Red Funnel, has been broken for almost two years, leaving commuters, football fans and day trippers cut off.
“We’re waiting for Red Funnel to decide what they’re going to do, because they’ve already written to us to say they’re not interested in running the ferry anymore and we want our ferry back”, he said.
Hythe Pier, Train and Ferry Group said: “We could see how incredibly important it was that we bring our much-loved pier back to the community.
“This is hopefully the first step towards restoring the service.”
The attraction is the UK’s seventh-longest pierCredit: Getty
“From the very, very beginning, Chad Bianco didn’t say this was political,” Bianco told me, referring to himself in the third person. “Chad Bianco said we have an allegation of fraud with numbers that don’t add up, and no one has an exact reason why. So we have to find out the exact reason why. It’s plain and simple. Plain and simple.”
If you’re clueless as to what Bianco is talking about, let me give you the short version. A citizens group of election “auditors” claimed that in the last election over Proposition 50 in November, there were about 45,800 more ballots counted than cast.
The Riverside County Registrar of Voters, Art Tinoco, a highly respected election official, gave a long presentation explaining why that number was not accurate. He said that the actual difference in ballots cast and counted is only 103, within the acceptable margin of error for the 1.4 million voters in his area.
But unhappy with that answer, the group apparently took their concerns to Bianco, who decided to use his powers of criminal investigation to circumvent the many established avenues for vote audits through his own county and the California secretary of state (though he hasn’t revealed publicly exactly what led to the investigation).
Using a secret, sealed warrant — so none of us actually know what he’s alleging — he seized more than half a million ballots. The court has apparently appointed a special master to count those ballots, though Bianco at first said his deputies would do their own counting. But we don’t know who that special master is, or even if he or she has yet been appointed.
Here’s what we do know, and why it counts as a danger not just to Riverside, but also to American democracy writ large, when a politically ambitious lawman decides to run elections himself.
The fraud fiasco
So where did the citizen-auditors get their 45,800 number? Like many California counties, Riverside tallies ballots as they come in. So for the 11 days voting was happening (and for the mail-in ballots that came later) someone was making a handwritten note for every ballot that the county received.
Yes, I said handwritten, for more than 600,000 ballots going through 2,500 workers and volunteers. It’s often inaccurate and not every ballot is going to end up being a good one — some lack signatures, for example.
Tinoco, the registrar, called these handwritten logs “raw data” that also are missing ballots from other sources that increases the final tally, such as people who register on the day they vote. So no one who understands elections expects this number to be accurate or final.
Once all these ballots are checked to make sure they should be counted, they are sent to an entirely separate system, which reads them electronically and provides the election results.
When the number of vetted ballots is compared with the number of ballots that are counted by the second system, the difference is 103, Tinoco said.
So no fraud, only human frailty with the difficult business of counting by hand.
Matt Barreto, a UCLA political science professor and director of its Voting Rights Project, said Bianco’s actions were similar to what happened in Fulton County, Ga., where the FBI seized ballots after Trump’s debunked claims of fraud — despite plain and simple explanations from election officials.
“In both cases, Georgia and Riverside, independent elections offices had already verified the accuracy of the ballot count, and in both cases the results had been certified by the Secretary of State,” Barreto said. “It is worrisome that a very partisan law enforcement officer is questioning the integrity of an election, perhaps because he did not support the results.”
The investigation
Bianco has been investigating the 45,000 claim for months, but it came to a head in recent weeks, in no small part thanks to a news conference he held. Bianco’s office, as first reported by the Riverside Record, served a warrant on the election office one day before Tinoco made his presentation to the Board of Supervisors in early February.
Since then, the California secretary of state, which handles elections, and the state Department of Justice have both tried to intervene to stop Bianco from taking ballots or doing his own recount, Pillow Guy-style. But they’ve had little luck.
Secretary of State Shirley Weber called the allegations “unsubstantiated” and questioned the legality — and common sense — of having deputies hand count ballots. Now, her office is trying to make sure folks trained in elections are involved in whatever happens next.
“The sheriff’s assertion that his deputies know how to count is admirable,” Weber said. “The fact remains that he and his deputies are not elections officials.”
Separately, California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta has gone to the courts to try to keep Bianco from spiriting away the ballots. Bonta’s office went straight to the California Court of Appeals to ask it to force the sheriff to comply with their requests to take no further action and supply the Justice Department with the probable cause evidence used to obtain the search warrant — basically tell them exactly what proof he’s using to claim a crime might have been committed.
The appeals court declined to intervene until Bonta went to the lower Riverside County Superior Court. But in the meantime, Bianco went back to his judge and asked for another secret, sealed warrant — which he got.
The bigger problem
And that brings us to why we should all be concerned about Riverside County.
First, why all the secrecy? Shouldn’t elections and everything about them be transparent, so we all can feel confident any investigation is on the up and up?
I asked Bianco why the warrants are sealed, and he told me I didn’t understand investigations.
“In an ongoing investigation, we never unseal the warrants,” Bianco said. “No, I can’t say never. I can’t say never. Why are you coming at me like I’m the bad person here, instead of like a rational person?”
When I asked him why a sheriff needed to be involved, rather than allowing the state officials who handle elections to investigate, he told me this was a crime investigation just like any other — domestic abuse or murder, for example.
“It’s called fraud,” he said. “Let me ask you this: Do we just let, do we let doctors investigate themselves for medical malpractice?”
The implication there is that election officials are in a conspiracy to commit an actual crime — fraud — and can’t be trusted. That jumps the shark from maybe election staff counting sloppy in their handwritten tallies of ballots received, to a — yes, folks, here it is — a conspiracy of Democrats, from those volunteers up to the highest state officials.
“Oh, please,” Bianco said regarding my questions on whether this was, in fact, political. “I’m the sheriff of Riverside County, and my investigators are responsible for crime. I have nothing to do with this investigation.”
His news conference would beg to differ.
And now we have a precedent for a politics-driven sheriff seizing ballots, maybe to make headlines, maybe to please Trump, maybe both. What happens if other Republican sheriffs across the country decide to do some ballot seizing of their own in swing states or contested races come November?
Is it all fair game now for whoever can physically take the ballots to be the arbitrator of results?
George Skelton and Michael Wilner cover the insights, legislation, players and politics you need to know. In your inbox Monday and Thursday mornings.
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The Major League Baseball Players Assn. is arguably the strongest union in the United States whose members include some of the most conservative athletes in professional sports. The owners of Major League Baseball’s 30 teams, who made their wealth through the workings of free enterprise capitalism, want to limit what players can be paid. This apparent political and philosophical irony will most likely lead to a shutdown of baseball at the end of this season.
Wednesday is opening day for the 162-game major league season. The 2025 season ended Nov. 1 with an 11-inning Dodgers victory over the Toronto Blue Jays in what was one of the most mesmerizing World Series ever. Last season, the Dodgers attracted more than 4 million fans for the first time. The Dodgers weren’t alone. More than 71 million fans attended major league games — the third straight season of growth. Over the last decade, league revenue has increased 33%.
And yet, despite all this good news about the health of baseball’s finances, team owners have threatened to lock the players out — essentially an ownership strike — at the end of this season over terms of a new collective bargaining agreement soon to be negotiated with the players union.
Major League Baseball, unlike the NFL, the NBA and the NHL, does not have a hard salary cap that limits what teams can spend on players. This is the key issue for the 30 team owners and Commissioner Rob Manfred, who argues that the system is “broken.” Small-market teams can’t effectively compete, Manfred insists, with economic behemoths like the Dodgers and Yankees. But over the past 10 seasons, 14 teams have made it to the World Series, so the league is not dominated by only a few big spenders.
Major leaguers and fans have weathered five player strikes and four owner lockouts since 1972. The 1994-95 strike lasted 232 days, canceling more than 900 games, including the World Series. Unlike in the NFL, where top players like San Francisco 49ers quarterback Joe Montana crossed a picket line during the 1987 NFL Players Assn. strike, unionized baseball players have remained united. So far, no star players have been strikebreakers in baseball. Both Paul Skenes of the Pittsburgh Pirates and Tarik Skubal of the Detroit Tigers — the 2025 Cy Young Award winners for their respective leagues — also serve in players union leadership roles.
A recent report analyzing major league ballplayers’ political affiliation found that among those who live in states that allow public access to voter registration records, nearly 54% of the players were Republicans compared with 8% Democrats. Why does a rightward-leaning membership retain such strong union loyalties?
For Miami Marlins pitcher Pete Fairbanks, who is also a member of the players union leadership, it comes down to recognizing that they stand on the shoulders of players who challenged the baseball establishment.
“If you look at the history of the union, we’ve had a foundation set for us,” Fairbanks said. “They fought for players’ rights and for the general betterment of the whole and it’s the job of the veteran players to pass that history on to the younger players.”
Marvin Miller, a former Steelworkers Union leader, revolutionized the players’ union and baseball when he led the association from 1966 to 1982. He told the New York Times in 1999 that he was “irked” that many players did not know that it was the union that made their enormous salaries and benefits, arbitration and free agency possible. “When you don’t know your history, you tend to relive it,” Miller said.
Miller, who died in 2012, was a labor history buff who realized that highly skilled workers often developed elaborate ethical codes that promoted solidarity with other employees.
Bruce Meyer, the current executive director of the players association, puts the union’s fractious history with the owners at the center of his communications with players. He spent weeks talking with union members during spring training in Florida and Arizona, emphasizing the importance of unity in the ranks. “The bottom line is that our players have always been of the view that they are fighting not just for themselves but for their teammates and for the players that come after them,” Meyer said.
Manfred’s strategy as commissioner of Major League Baseball has been to talk directly with the players himself, especially the lower-earning younger players who he claims are being shortchanged. He argues that “10% of our players make 72% of the money,” numbers that Meyer disputes.
The commissioner is essentially telling players that their union has engaged in malpractice, losing touch with its own members while the economics of baseball changed around them. Meyer regards Manfred’s attempt to divide players as “standard management-labor tactics.”
Top agent Scott Boras said that, unlike in the NFL, baseball’s open salary system works for players because “your talent allows you to earn what you can earn without taking money from anybody else’s pocket.”
Paradoxically, the union has embraced the principles of Adam Smith: Let the free market work. No one forced the Dodgers to pay Shohei Ohtani $700 million. Good for Ohtani, great for Dodger fans. And this year, the Japanese clothing retailer Uniqlo will be a field sponsor at Dodger Stadium. The owners, who embrace team revenue sharing and luxury taxes and demand restrictions on salary competition, sound like socialists.
When labor-management disputes interrupt baseball, many fans undoubtedly feel like they are victims of a squabble between “millionaires and billionaires.” Ryan Long, a 26-year-old minor league pitcher in the Baltimore Orioles system and a union leader, thinks the players association should try to understand how regular working people feel about a potential lockout. “Whether it’s people selling hot dogs at stadiums or cleaning rooms at local hotels, the union should help in whatever way it can for other workers who may be hurt if baseball shuts down,” he said.
In late February at the Yankees spring training field in Tampa, I spoke with season ticket holder Richard Barnitt, who wore a shirt designed like a baseball, looking like he could be scuffed up and pitched. “There has to be some kind of cap because the Dodgers and the New York Mets had unlimited money,” he said. Another fan, Carlos Rodriquez, an airplane mechanic living in Tampa, disagreed. “I don’t think a salary cap would be fair to the players,” he said. “The players association does magical work for those guys.”
If locked out, the players are going to want support from fans, to whom a salary cap might sound reasonable. Owners will do what owners do: maximize profits and franchise values. The players union should find ways to show the fans they are not forgotten.
During a previous owners lockout, the association created a million-dollar fund to help pay the bills of stadium concession workers who were thrown out of work. They can do the same again, letting fans know that they understand that most Americans struggle paycheck to paycheck. And maybe Ohtani can chip in a couple hundred bucks — like former Dodger Mike Piazza did decades ago — for each home run.
Kelly Candaele produced the documentary “A League of Their Own,” about his mother’s years playing in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League.
There is a familiar critique of María Corina Machado. That she is too rigid, not particularly interested in adjusting to the diplomatic realities surrounding Venezuela’s political crisis, and not especially inclined toward compromise.
The argument is straightforward. Moments like this are supposed to require flexibility, negotiation, and a willingness to adapt. From that perspective, her style can seem poorly suited to the situation.
But that reading is at best incomplete. It assumes a level of intransigence that is not always reflected in how she has actually operated, particularly in her dealings with international actors. More importantly, it assumes that Venezuela is going through a conventional political transition, one where the main challenge is to manage an orderly redistribution of power.
That is not quite what is happening.
Because in deeper national crises, the issue is not only how power changes hands, but whether the country still sees itself as a functioning political community. And in those moments, the tension is not simply between rigidity and pragmatism, but between adaptation and the risk of political dilution.
This is not a new tension. During World War II, Charles de Gaulle was widely seen by his allies as arrogant, inflexible, and almost impossible to work with. Franklin D. Roosevelt dismissed him as a prima donna who “thinks he is France.” Winston Churchill, more begrudgingly, called him “the heaviest cross I have to bear,” and both struggled with what they saw as his refusal to behave like the leader of a defeated country.
Preserving the idea of France as a nation, even in defeat, required a certain political stubbornness, one that inevitably generated friction with allies focused on managing the war.
Between them, Churchill and FDR sketched a portrait of a man too rigid, too proud, too self-appointed to be useful, and yet too symbolically indispensable to ignore.
De Gaulle, after all, had no real army at the outset, no territory, and no state apparatus behind him. Yet he insisted on speaking, and acting, as if France still existed as a sovereign political force.
From the outside, that posture often looked unreasonable, even counterproductive. From the French perspective, it was something else. De Gaulle understood that if the leader who claimed to represent France began to behave primarily as a dependent actor, the country itself risked being seen that way. Preserving the idea of France as a nation, even in defeat, required a certain political stubbornness, one that inevitably generated friction with allies focused on managing the war. At the same time, De Gaulle was careful to express gratitude for the support France depended on, even as he resisted being defined by it. The challenge was not to reject alliances, but to avoid being politically reduced by them. It was precisely that balance, difficult and often uncomfortable, that later allowed him to reappear not just as a political figure, but as the embodiment of France’s return.
There is a long tradition in political history of what the French call l’homme providentiel, the idea that, in moments of acute national crisis, certain figures come to embody more than a political program. They are read, sometimes reluctantly, as necessary to the resolution of the crisis itself. Charles de Gaulle was often described in those terms, not because he sought to cultivate that image, but because the collapse of the French state created a vacuum that only a figure with that kind of symbolic authority could fill.
In a very different context, María Corina Machado’s role in this most recent chapter of Venezuela’s history has taken on a similar tone. Not as a conventional political leader, but as a figure onto whom broader expectations about national recovery have been projected. That does not resolve the practical challenges of the moment, but it does complicate the assumption that she can simply be treated as another actor within the process.
More recently, Volodymyr Zelenskyy has faced a similar tension. Ukraine’s survival depends heavily on Western support, particularly from the United States, yet his relationship with Washington, especially under Donald Trump, has often been marked by visible strain. At times, Zelensky has had to absorb public criticism, adjust his tone, and even appear deferential in ways that, from the outside, can look uncomfortable. But that is only part of the picture. He has also been careful to consistently express gratitude for American support, acknowledging that it has been essential in sustaining Ukraine’s defense, even as he continues to press for more assistance and assert Ukraine’s strategic value. The result is not a simple posture of defiance or submission, but something more complex. A constant negotiation between dependence and dignity.
Machado is operating within that same tension. Venezuela’s political crisis is often framed as a negotiation problem, one that can be managed through calibrated concessions, international mediation, and gradual normalization. But that framing misses something more fundamental. For a large part of the country, the issue is not simply how power is redistributed, but whether the outcome reflects the democratic mandate that has already been expressed. In that context, a leadership style that appears inflexible from the outside may in fact be responding to a different constraint altogether, the need to sustain the idea that Venezuela has not accepted its political condition as final.
Political processes can be negotiated, structured, and even externally supported, but they cannot fully stabilize without a sense that they reflect the will of the society they claim to reorder.
If there is a lesson in De Gaulle’s trajectory, it is not simply that difficult leaders can prove indispensable, but that political arrangements built around figures who lack legitimacy tend to remain fragile. Over time, systems that attempt to bypass the actors who embody a country’s political mandate often find themselves circling back to them, not out of preference, but out of necessity.
Something of that dynamic is beginning to surface in Venezuela. The events of early January created a sense, however fleeting, that a political opening might finally take shape. That expectation has not materialized in a way that is broadly felt, and the gap between anticipation and outcome is beginning to generate visible frustration. What is emerging instead is a more ambiguous configuration, a transition that gestures toward change without fully convincing that it has arrived.
In that context, the question is not whether María Corina Machado is a comfortable actor within the process, but whether a process that unfolds without her can secure broad social buy-in. The instinct to view her primarily as a destabilizing force risks missing a more basic point. In moments like this, the leaders who carry political legitimacy are often the ones systems struggle to accommodate, even as they become increasingly difficult to exclude. Winston Churchill, who had once found De Gaulle exasperating, would later acknowledge as much: “Here was a man who, though not elected, though not even accepted by all Frenchmen, nevertheless represented France… He was the spirit of France.”
That may be the uncomfortable reality of moments like this. Political processes can be negotiated, structured, and even externally supported, but they cannot fully stabilize without a sense that they reflect the will of the society they claim to reorder. The difficulty is that the figures who embody that will are rarely the easiest to incorporate.
They are, more often than not, the ones who insist on speaking as if the country they represent has not yet accepted its condition as final.
Comedians Jo Koy and Gabriel “Fluffy” Iglesias are used to delivering big laughs on large stages. But in the world of major L.A. venues, there’s big, there’s massive, and then there’s SoFi Stadium.
The show starring both comedians was billed as a record-breaking feat for stand-up when they sold out the 70,000-seater. Though the pressure to fill up the stadium was off, it still remained to be seen how the two comics would make their most dedicated fans laugh from more than a football field away. By that criteria, Saturday night was definitely a win.
Kicking off the early portion of the show at 7 p.m., fans were already filling the seats as opening acts from Iglesias’ camp, including Matt Golightly, Joey Guila, Alfred Robles, Martin Moreno (who celebrated his 58th birthday on stage) and ventriloquist funnyman Jeff Dunham got the crowd warmed up for about an hour before Iglesias took the stage first.
Comedians Jo Koy and Fluffy perform Saturday at SoFi Stadium.
(Christina House / Los Angeles Times)
It was almost 8 p.m. when Iglesias emerged following a video skit playing on the jumbo screens and the stadium’s massive halo scoreboard with his funny misadventures of a routine doughnut run at Randy’s Donuts that turned into the plot of “Sons of Anarchy” spinoff “Mayans M.C.” featuring lead actors Emilio Rivera, a.k.a. Miguel Golindo, and Clayton Cardenas, known for playing Angel Reyes. Reyes caused the first major eruption of noise in the crowd by pressing a detonation device that triggered columns of smoke that filled the stage as Fluffy made his entrance in a white flat cap and custom Los Angeles button-up to greet the sold-out stadium.
“Thank you for being here, all I have to say is we did it!” Iglesias proclaimed as the crowd cheered.
Pointing and waving to fans in the nosebleeds, he took time to embrace the moment that topped his previous triumph of performing at Dodger Stadium.
Fluffy takes the stage at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood.
(Christina House / Los Angeles Times)
Though the stage couldn’t have been bigger, both comedians used their ability to make a large event feel intimate by drawing the crowd in through storytelling and making them feel like they were part of a conversation. Iglesias set the tone of his set right away by telling us about the chisme (a.k.a. salacious gossip) surrounding his newly married stepson that weaved into stories about his travels all over the world including his controversial stop at the Riyadh Comedy Festival.
Iglesias also took a pause to relate one other historic fact about the two stadiums in L.A. he’s now been able to sell out.
Santino Villalovos of Tracy, Calif., shows his Fluffy tattoo during the Jo Koy and Fluffy show at SoFi Stadium.
(Christina House / Los Angeles Times)
“The two biggest shows in comedy were Dodger Stadium and SoFi Stadium. … And what did they both have in common? They both featured a Mexican,” he said.
Even though he thought about retiring as a comedian after filling up Dodger Stadium (twice) to film his special “Stadium Fluffy,” Iglesias said the SoFi show inspired him to keep pushing himself. And alongside Koy he knew they could do it.
Fans react to special guest Jamie Foxx during Jo Koy’s performance at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood on Saturday.
(Christina House / Los Angeles Times)
“Jo I know you’re in the back, thank you for trusting me man, we did it brother. And I’ll say it in front of an entire stadium, love you. Things like this for me is a huge deal because it inspired me and gave me another reason to keep doing what I love to do. And tomorrow I’m gonna be in the same situation I was after Dodger Stadium — what am I gonna do now? But until then I’m enjoy the hell outta tonight and I still have more stories to share with you.”
Fluffy’s most controversial (and true) bit of the night was breaking the news to his fans that his name is mentioned in the Epstein files, which sent collective shock through the stands.
“I’ve never been to the island, I’ve never been on the plane and I have never met Jeffrey Epstein,” he clarified.
Fans light up SoFi Stadium during Fluffy’s set on Saturday.
(Christina House / Los Angeles Times)
The comedian said that according to reports in the Epstein files, the late convicted pedophile apparently tried to buy tickets to his show at an Improv in West Palm Beach, Fla., in 2014 but was told by his assistant via email that both his shows were sold out.
“Jeffrey Epstein, one of the most diabolical human beings to ever walk the face of the earth. Had the ability to connect with politicians, with influencers, with celebrities. He put people in very compromising positions. He got people on planes. He put people on islands. He was involved in trafficking. He was able to accomplish all these evil, crazy things, but at the end of the day, he still couldn’t get tickets to see my show,” Iglesias said.
Jo Koy reveals himself with the Jabbawockeez at SoFi Stadium.
(Christina House / Los Angeles Times)
After a brief intermission, things transitioned to Jo Koy’s portion of the show featuring warm-up sets from TikTok skitmaster King Bach and longtime friend and stand-up star Tiffany Haddish, who came to the stage looking ready for the red carpet with a flowing silk dress, hair blowing in the man-made wind to deliver her brand of high-energy stories about becoming a real estate tycoon in South-Central.
When it was Koy’s turn to enter the stadium, he slipped in undercover, dressed as one of the Jabbawockeez — the legendary masked hip-hop dance troupe that danced onstage to a medley of West Coast hip-hop dressed in red with acrobatic swagger. At the end of a brief routine, Koy unmasked himself as one of the dancers, eliciting cheers from the crowd as his son helped him change onstage into his regular attire, Dodgers hat and a jean jacket.
Jo Koy performs at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood on Saturday.
(Christina House / Los Angeles Times)
Always a man of the people, his set also reminded us that he’s also a man of the pets, specifically dogs, launching into a long bit that felt worthy of a slightly more adult version of a Pixar movie. But beyond jokes and stories, Koy kept coming back to the idea that laughter, more than fame, marketing or money, is what helped the comedians’ big plans for SoFi come together.
“This place is full, all the way to the top, people laughing and having a good time. I know there’s a lotta s— going happening in the world right now but guess what, we don’t wanna hear it right now. We came to have a good f— time. I’m not here to debate s—, everybody’s in here, everything they said wasn’t supposed to happen happened. Look around, every f— color of the rainbow is in SoFi Stadium tonight.”
Jamie Foxx, left, sings with Jo Koy at SoFi Stadium.
(Christina House / Los Angeles Times)
The vibe of the set was all about escaping the problems of everyday life. For most of the night that was taken care of by comedy. And sometimes that escapism was aided by the power of R&B. Twice during the night Koy shocked the crowd with special guest sing-alongs, first with Babyface coming out to serenade the crowd with a brief yet un-relenting hit fest he wrote and/or sang including “Can We Talk,” the ‘90s hit he wrote for Tevin Campbell, and the Boyz II Men anthems “I’ll Make Love to You” and “End of the Road.”
The second surprise came courtesy of Jamie Foxx, who popped out in shades and 10-gallon hat to sing the Ray Charles homage-driven hook of Kanye West’s “Gold Digger.”
Aside from any historic accolades, Saturday night was the culmination of a show that was a year in the making and a victory lap for the careers of two comics who’ve been in the game for decades. It was also a moment where comedy’s past met its stadium-size future in the L.A. comedy world. Though it’s hard to say when the next big comedian will have enough fans to fill a stadium in L.A., Saturday didn’t feel like it was the last time comedy fans will show up to fill SoFi for a pair of comedians who put in the work to make themselves a team worth rooting for.
