We made it! After this weekend, when the Producers Guild of America and Screen Actors Guild hand out their highly predictive precursors, the final shape of the Oscar race should be (reasonably) clear — and nominees worn out by months of campaigning will be breathing a sigh of relief.
Before I share highlights from this week’s issue, one programming note: This will be my last letter from the editor until our inaugural Cannes issue drops in May. (Don’t worry, I will be plenty busy in the interim catching up on this year’s top Emmy contenders.)
Thanks as always for following along, and may you triumph in your Oscar pool!
Cover story: Rose Byrne
(Ryan Pfluger / For The Times)
Times columnist Mary McNamara and I don’t agree on everything, but we do agree on this: “Damages” deserves to be ranked alongside “Mad Men” and “Breaking Bad” in any discussion of the Golden Age of TV.
That’s thanks in one part to a gripping flash-forward narrative structure now so common it could be considered a cliché, and in another to Glenn Close’s indelible performance as ruthless litigator Patty Hewes. But it’s also a testament to the multifaceted talents of Rose Byrne, who went “toe-to-toe” with Close in what would become her breakthrough role — and then confidently pivoted to projects like “Insidious,” “Bridesmaids” and “Spy.”
“Byrne is something of a creative chameleon, moving easily from drama to comedy to horror, film to television to stage and back again,” McNamara writes in this week’s cover story. “In many ways, her gut-wrenching, darkly funny performance as a woman pushed beyond all endurance in “If I Had Legs I’d Kick You” is a culmination of all the characters she brought to life before it.”
Inside Warner Bros.’ dominant Oscar haul
(Christina House/Los Angeles Times)
Whether you come down on the side of “Sinners” or “One Battle After Another” in the best picture race may be perfect fodder for debate with friends over a few small beers, but for Warner Bros. executives Mike De Luca and Pam Abdy it would be akin to choosing a favorite child. After all, both projects emerged from the pair’s desire, as contributor Gregory Ellwood writes, to make WB “a destination where filmmakers of all varieties, including auteurs, bring their projects for ‘white glove’ treatment.”
As De Luca explains, “Everything was original once… If you don’t refresh the coffers with new IP to create new franchises, at some point you get to Chapter 10 or 11 and people start to move on.”
The many faces of ‘The Secret Agent’
(Ryan Pfluger/For The Times)
The moment Tânia Maria arrives onscreen as Dona Sebastiana in “The Secret Agent,” you can’t help but ask yourself, “Who is that?!” (Star Wagner Moura had the same reaction.) But the real feat casting director Gabriel Domingues pulls off in the Oscar-nominated Brazilian thriller is to make you ask yourself the same question, over and over, every time a new character appears.
How did Domingues find a range of actors to represent the country’s endless diversity? It’s part of his process, writes contributor Carlos Aguilar: “He prides himself on doing the shoe-leather work of looking for fresh, compelling faces in cities where others might not think to look — those without a prominent arts scene, for instance.”
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court agreed Monday to decide on shielding energy producers from dozens of lawsuits seeking to hold them liable for costs of global climate change.
In the past decade, dozens of cities, counties and states, including California, have joined state-based lawsuits that seek billions of dollars in damages, and they have won preliminary victories in state courts.
But the Trump administration and the energy producers urged the Supreme Court to throw out all of these suits on the grounds they conflict with federal law.
“Boulder Colorado cannot make energy policy for the entire country,” lawyers for Suncor Energy and Exxon Mobil said in their appeal. They urged the court to rule that “state law cannot impose the costs of global climate change on a subset of the world’s energy producers chosen by a single municipality.”
The Biden administration had said the justices should stand aside while the lawsuits move forward in state courts, but the Trump administration filed a brief in September urging the court to intervene now.
They said the case has “vast nationwide significance,” and it should not be left to be decided state by state.
Lawyers for Boulder had urged the court against taking up the issue at an early stage of the litigation. “This is not the right time or the right case for deciding” whether municipalities can sue over the damage they have suffered.
But after weighing the issue for weeks, the court announced it will be hear the claims of the oil and gas industries.
Viewers of ITV’s new true crime drama The Lady, starring Natalie Dormer as Sarah Ferguson, have voiced concerns about the timing of the series amid ongoing royal controversy
22:13, 22 Feb 2026Updated 22:42, 22 Feb 2026
ITV The Lady airs tonight and is based on a true story(Image: ITV)
ITV’s The Lady debuted this evening, prompting immediate reaction from viewers just minutes into the Sarah Ferguson drama.
The four-part true crime series chronicles the devastating story of Sarah Ferguson’s royal assistant, Jane Andrews, whose trajectory from humble beginnings to palace life ended with her being convicted of murdering her partner, Thomas Cressman, in 2000.
According to the opening episode’s description, “Working-class woman Jane Andrews wants more for her life and is unlucky in love.”
It continues: “On the brink of losing all hope, she receives a letter inviting her to interview for a job with Sarah, Duchess of York, at Buckingham Palace. Securing the job, she moves to London – but life in the palace is gruelling, and Jane struggles to fit in, but she and Sarah find common ground in their experiences of love and betrayal.”
Mia McKenna-Bruce portrays Jane Andrews in the ITV production, whilst Natalie Dormer underwent a transformation to embody Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York, reports the Express.
Within minutes of broadcast, audiences flocked to social media to voice their opinions, with numerous commenters branding it “poor taste” and “bad timing”.
One viewer declared: “Quite possibly, the worst-timed launch of a TV series, ever. #thelady,” whilst another questioned: “Was it the best time to show #TheLady, considering all the controversy around Andrew Windsor and Sarah Ferguson?”
However, a third viewer observed: “ITV couldn’t have timed this any better. It’s pretty good too #TheLady.”
Other viewers concurred, with one stating, “Bad taste at the moment showing anything to do with Sarah Ferguson,” whilst another remarked, “I don’t think this drama could have been timed any better #TheLady.”
For the latest showbiz, TV, movie and streaming news, go to the new **Everything Gossip** website.
The production also garnered widespread acclaim, with one fan writing, “Ok tunes have me hooked already…..”
Another viewer shared their enthusiasm: “#thelady ok 15 mins in, and I’m hooked! Quality-made drama.”
Tomorrow evening’s second episode, which can be streamed on ITVX, promises: ” Jane meets dashing businessman Luis Castillo, and the two begin a relationship, but tensions soon erupt on a holiday in Greece and she becomes increasingly unstable.”
The synopsis continues: “As Jane’s carefully constructed composure starts to fracture and puts her position with the duchess at risk, a lifeline appears in the shape of the charismatic Tommy Cressman.”
The third episode will subsequently be broadcast next Sunday at 9pm on ITV.
The Lady continues tomorrow evening at 9pm on ITV, with episodes currently available to stream on ITVX.
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NEW YORK — JPMorgan Chase acknowledged for the first time that it closed the bank accounts of Donald Trump and several of his businesses in the aftermath of the Jan. 6, 2021, attacks on the U.S. Capitol, the latest development in a legal saga between the president and the nation’s biggest bank over the issue known as “debanking.”
The acknowledgment came in a court filing submitted this week in Trump’s lawsuit against the bank and its leader, Jamie Dimon. The president sued for $5 billion, alleging that his accounts were closed for political reasons, disrupting his business operations.
“In February 2021, JPMorgan informed Plaintiffs that certain accounts maintained with JPMorgan’s CB and PB would be closed,” JPMorgan’s former chief administrative officer Dan Wilkening wrote in the court filing. The “PB” and “CB” stands for JPMorgan’s private bank and commercial bank.
Until now, JPMorgan has never admitted it closed the president’s accounts in writing after Jan. 6. The bank would only speak hypothetically about when the bank closes accounts and its reasons for closing accounts, citing bank privacy laws.
A spokeswoman for the bank declined to comment beyond what the bank said in its legal filings.
Trump originally sued JPMorgan in Florida state court, where the president’s primary residence is now located. The filings this week are part of an effort by JPMorgan Chase to have the case moved from state to federal court and to have the jurisdiction of the case moved to New York, which is where the bank accounts were located and where Trump kept much of his business operations until recently.
Trump originally accused the bank of trade libel and violating state and federal unfair and deceptive trade practices.
In the original lawsuit, Trump said he tried to raise the issue personally with Dimon after the bank sent him notices that JPMorgan would close his accounts, and that Dimon assured Trump he would figure out what was happening. The lawsuit alleges Dimon failed to follow up with Trump.
Further, Trump’s lawyers allege that JPMorgan placed the president and his companies on a reputational “blacklist” that both JPMorgan and other banks use to keep clients from opening accounts with them in the future. The blacklist has yet to be defined by the president’s lawyers.
“If and when Plaintiffs explain what they mean by this ‘blacklist,’ JPMorgan will respond accordingly,” the bank’s lawyers said in a filing.
JPMorgan has previously said that although it regrets that Trump felt the need to sue the bank, the lawsuit has no merit.
The issue of debanking is at the center of the case. Debanking occurs when a bank closes the accounts of a customer or refuses to do business with a customer in the form of loans or other services. Once a relatively obscure issue in finance, debanking has become a politically charged issue in recent years, with conservative politicians arguing that banks have discriminated against them and their affiliated interests.
“In a devastating concession that proves President Trump’s entire claim, JPMorgan Chase admitted to unlawfully and intentionally de-banking President Trump, his family, and his businesses, causing overwhelming financial harm,” the president’s lawyers said in a statement. “President Trump is standing up for all those wrongly debanked by JPMorgan Chase and its cohorts, and will see this case to a just and proper conclusion.”
Debanking first became a national issue when conservatives accused the Obama administration of pressuring banks to stop extending services to gun stores and payday lenders under “Operation Choke Point.”
Trump and other conservative figures have alleged that banks cut them off from their accounts under the umbrella term of “reputational risk” after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. Trump was impeached on a charge of inciting insurrection on Jan. 6, though not convicted in the Senate; and he was criminally indicted for his role in the riot and his attempt to overturn his 2020 election defeat, but that case was dismissed after he won the 2024 election.
Since Trump came back into office, the president’s banking regulators have moved to stop any banks from using “reputational risk” as a reason for denying service to customers.
This is not the first lawsuit Trump has filed against a big bank alleging that he was debanked. The Trump Organization sued credit card giant Capital One in March 2025 for similar reasons and allegations. The case is ongoing.
Good morning, and welcome to L.A. on the Record — our City Hall newsletter. It’s Noah Goldberg, with an assist from David Zahniser and Sandra McDonald, giving you the latest on city and county government.
There was a brief discussion on the L.A. City Council floor, with hardly any disagreement, before a motion brought by Councilmember Monica Rodriguez passed on Tuesday.
Rodriguez wants to allow city officials to enter hillside properties in “Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zones,” even without an owner’s permission, to clear hazardous materials and homeless encampments. The goal is to stop encampment fires that could grow into wildfires.
Councilmembers Hugo Soto-Martínez and Ysabel Jurado voted against the proposed change to the city’s municipal code, citing details they wanted addressed, but said they agreed with its spirit.
A third councilmember, Eunisses Hernandez, also voted against the measure, though she did not speak during the meeting.
The political implications of the seemingly routine vote could play out more bitterly over the next several months as Soto-Martínez and Hernandez, both members of the council’s four-person “progressive bloc,” run for reelection in their districts, which include fire-prone hillsides.
The proposal could become another wedge issue on homelessness for the two members, just as the city’s controversial anti-encampment law, Municipal Code section 41.18, was in the 2022 election.
That year, it was Soto-Martínez and Hernandez who were running against incumbents and took a progressive stance against 41.18, which allows council members to designate areas near schools, libraries, senior centers and other sensitive areas as no-camping zones. The two said they believed the law was ineffective at solving homelessness, merely shuffling people around without addressing the root issues.
Now, as the two council members defend their seats, Rodriguez’s proposal has already spurred similar attacks from would-be incumbent-busters.
MariaLou Calanche, a nonprofit leader seeking to unseat Hernandez in District 1, lives in a “Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone” at the bottom of a hill by Debs Park. The area is full of dry brush, and Calanche said in an interview that parts of the park catch fire every summer.
“The council district has a lot of hillside property and open space. Debs Park has encampments in it that have not been cleared and that’s public property,” said Calanche, who formerly served on the city Police Commission. “I’m concerned that the current council member puts ideology over the safety of the citizens and residents.”
Calanche said she would consider highlighting Hernandez’s “no” vote on campaign mailers.
“This is such a simple way to make a difference,” Calanche said. “It just seems incredible they would not be supportive.”
Hernandez said she is open to supporting Rodriguez’s proposal but that it fails to define the type of hazard that would allow city officials to enter private property without permission.
“When you expand government authority without tight definitions and guardrails, you end up with inconsistent enforcement and expensive lawsuits,” she said in a statement.
She said she hopes to work with the city attorney’s office, Fire Department and others to make sure the policy is “precise, intentional, legally sound and actually focused on reducing fire risk.”
In District 13, Dylan Kendall, a nonprofit founder and entrepreneur who is running against Soto-Martínez, said she supports the “common-sense” proposal and that her opponent’s vote was “irresponsible.”
The district, which stretches from Hollywood to Atwater Village, includes high fire-risk areas like Elysian Heights and parts of Silver Lake.
“We know what [firefighters are] seeing on the ground: encampments on or adjacent to private property with exposed wiring, pressurized fuel canisters and dense vegetation, and a maze of legal questions about who controls the site when they respond to a call,” she said in a statement. “If a private owner cannot or will not remove combustible materials and encampments that clearly increase wildfire risk, the city should be able to step in, clear the danger.”
Before Tuesday’s vote, Soto-Martínez said he would have supported the proposal had it included a definition of what exactly a fire hazard is, making the same point that Hernandez later did.
Soto-Martínez had supported Rodriguez’s initial proposal at the council’s Public Safety Committee, which was to ask for a report on what municipal code changes would be needed.
But on Tuesday, Rodriguez amended her motion to go straight to the city attorney’s office to change the municipal code. She said she wanted to accelerate the change because of the importance of preventing encampment fires.
Soto-Martínez also expressed an underlying concern that echoed his earlier statements about 41.18, which he fiercely opposed.
“What I don’t want to see is this being used as a tool to push homeless folks from one side of the street to the other side of the street,” he said.
Notably, Councilmember Nithya Raman, who is running for mayor against incumbent Karen Bass, voted in favor of Rodriguez’s motion.
“The problem that this motion is identifying — gaining permission to access private property in Very High Fire Severity Zones — is one that needs to be resolved to ensure that we are mitigating the risk for a serious fire to our fullest capacity,” Raman, who opposed 41.18 and is a member of the council’s progressive bloc along with Jurado, said in a statement.
Former Councilmember Mike Bonin, who runs the Pat Brown Institute for Public Affairs at Cal State LA, said the hillside encampment issue is less clear-cut than 41.18 but could still prove to be divisive.
“This is the kind of thing political consultants salivate over,” he said. “It’s an example of taking an issue that even from the council debate seemed to appreciate the shades of gray and making it black and white.”
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State of play
— KARATE KAREN: Bass said at a rally in Leimert Park on Sunday that she is ready to fight off a challenge from Raman, invoking her training in karate to remind Angelenos that she is not too nice to battle. “I was trained to fight physically,” she said, stooping into a bow. “But if you know the martial arts, you know to bow before you kill somebody. You know to smile to throw them off.”
The mayor said she was joking, adding, “But seriously, we know how to fight and we know how to organize.”
— SCHOOL LAYOFFS: The Los Angeles Unified School District board — confronted with deficit spending and a forecast of insolvency in three years — narrowly voted to send out 3,200 notices of possible layoffs. The move, which is ultimately expected to result in 657 job cuts, is strongly opposed by labor unions as unnecessary and harmful to students.
— UCLA AX: UCLA fired its chief financial officer, Stephen Agostini, saying he inaccurately described the school’s budget deficit. The termination comes after Agostini told the school newspaper, the Daily Bruin, that “financial management flaws and failures” predating his arrival led to a $425-million deficit. The school claimed his comments were inaccurate.
— PRESSURE ON WASSERMAN:Casey Wasserman faced more calls to step down as chair of the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics over racy emails with convicted sex Ghislaine Maxwell from decades ago. Bass, along with some gubernatorial candidates, was among those joining the chorus.
“My opinion is that he should step down,” Bass said in a CNN interview.
— STRICTLY BUSINESS: A coalition of business and hotel industry leaders submitted more than 79,000 signatures in support of a measure to repeal the gross receipts tax on L.A. businesses. The measure, proposed for the November ballot, would punch an $800-million hole in the city budget if approved by voters.
— WRITE IT RIGHT: Angelenos hoping to write arguments for or against three city ballot measures — dealing with cannabis and hotel taxes — can apply by Friday with the office of Council President Marqueece Harris-Dawson. The arguments will be published in the Voter Information Pamphlet mailed out before the June 2 election.
— PUSHING FOR PARK: The union that represents rank-and-file police officers is putting $278,000 into efforts to reelect Councilmember Traci Park, according to a filing submitted to the city’s Ethics Commission. The money from the Los Angeles Police Protective League will go toward polling and canvassers in Park’s coastal district.
— SLAP ON THE WRIST: City Council candidate Jose Ugarte, who is running to replace his boss Curren Price in District 9, has agreed to pay $25,000 for committing a city ethics violation. Ugarte admitted that on his financial interest forms, he failed to disclose a consulting firm he owns and income he made. He has called it a “clerical reporting error.”
QUICK HITS
Where is Inside Safe? The mayor’s signature program was in Skid Row in Councilmember Ysabel Jurado’s district providing assistance to homeless people during the heavy rains this week.
On the docket next week: The Charter Reform Commission will meet Thursday to address City Council expansion, ranked choice voting, mayoral powers and more.
Stay in touch
That’s it for this week! Send your questions, comments and gossip to LAontheRecord@latimes.com. Did a friend forward you this email? Sign up here to get it in your inbox every Saturday morning.
U.S. Atty. Gen. Pam Bondi declared a triumph against California on Friday, touting an appellate court ruling that she said blocked a state ban on immigration agents and other law enforcement officers wearing masks.
“The 9th Circuit has now issued a FULL stay blocking California’s ban on masks for federal law enforcement agents,” Bondi posted on the social media site X, calling the Feb. 19 decision a “key victory.”
Bondi, however, appeared confused about which case the court was ruling on this week.
A federal judge in Los Angeles blocked California’s first-in-the-nation mask ban 10 days earlier, on Feb. 9.
At the time, U.S. District Judge Christina A. Snyder said she was “constrained” to block the law because it included only local and federal officers, while exempting state law enforcement.
The state did not appeal that decision.
Instead, on Wednesday, the law’s author Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) introduced a new mask bill without the problematic carve-out for state officers.
With the initial legal challenge already decided and the new bill still pending in the legislature, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has no reason to revisit the mask ban.
The ruling that Bondi appeared to reference involves a separate California law requiring law enforcement officers to display identification while on duty.
Snyder had previously ruled the “No Vigilantes Act” could take effect because it did not exempt state police, a decision the Justice Department appealed to the 9th Circuit.
The appellate court is set to review the matter early next month. Until then, the court issued an injunction that pauses the state law from taking effect.
Issuing a temporary administrative injunction is a common procedural move, allowing judges to freeze things in the status quo until the court has a chance to weigh the law and come to a decision.
Thursday’s order set a hearing in the Richard H. Chambers U.S. Court of Appeals in Pasadena for March 3, indicating the case is far from over.
Bill Essayli, who leads the U.S. attorney’s office in Los Angeles, also celebrated with a post on X, calling Thursday’s order “another key win for the Justice Department.” He too suggested the injunction somehow involved the mask case.
A spokesperson for the U.S. Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The law requiring officers to show ID is less controversial than the mask ban. But it may still face an uphill battle in the appellate court. A three-judge panel is set to hear the case, comprising two judges nominated to the bench by President Trump and one by President Obama. One of the Trump appointees, Judge Mark Bennett of Hawaii, has previously signaled skepticism over the administration’s immigration enforcement policies.
At issue in the ID case is whether California’s law interferes with or controls the operations of the federal government, actions prohibited by the supremacy clause of the U.S. Constitution. Snyder ruled that the identification law was more akin to speed limits on the highway, which apply equally to everyone, a decision the appellate court could reject.
A ruling is not expected before mid-March, and would not directly affect the push by state lawmakers to pass a revised mask ban.
Recent polls show more than 60% of Americans want U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers and other federal agents unmasked. More than a dozen states are pursuing laws similar to California’s.
We’re in something like award season no man’s land right now: the whirlwind of the Oscar nominees luncheon is behind us, but most of the major precursors have yet to be handed out. Which leaves less for the pundits to chew on, perhaps, though it also means there’s finally some spare time to catch up on your reading.
I’m Matt Brennan, editor in chief of The Envelope. Let me be of some assistance.
Cover story: ‘Sentimental Value’
(Christina House / For The Times)
After an entire award season’s worth of conversations about one of the top contenders, it’s rare to hear a new one this late in the game. But when I ran in “Sentimental Value” director Joachim Trier last week, he happily shared his point of view on an anecdote his editor, Olivier Bugge Coutté, recently shared with The Envelope about killing one of Trier’s darlings. “He was right,” Trier admitted with a half-rueful smile, after describing the elaborate aerial shot over a theater audience with which he originally intended to open the film.
Such candor is also a mark of contributor Bob Strauss’ interview with Trier and star Stellan Skarsgård about making the year’s most-nominated international feature, from their discussion of the stroke that permanently altered the actor’s process to bon mots about the film’s depiction of Netflix, demanding directors and more. I was most tickled by Skarsgård’s, um, unvarnished description of the small screen: “The narrative form of television is based on you not watching,” he tells Strauss. “It explains everything through dialogue so you can make pancakes at the same time.”
Digital cover: Kate Hudson
(Christina House / Los Angeles Times)
When contributor Amy Amatangelo sent me her pitch for a story on “Song Sung Blue,” it swiftly answered the question I want every pitch to answer: Why are you the right person to write this story?
“I am a lifelong Neil Diamond fan,” she wrote. “My dad loved him. I saw him in concert as a child. My dad and I danced to ‘Beautiful Noise’ at my wedding.”
So it was a no-brainer to set her up with this week’s digital cover star, nominated for playing one half of the film’s Neil Diamond tribute band. “Although she’s had a slew of successes in the interim,” Amatangelo writes of the 25 years since “Almost Famous,” “it can sometimes seem that we’ve underappreciated, and perhaps underestimated, Kate Hudson.”
‘Train Dreams’’ not-so-secret weapon
(Lauren Fleishman/For The Times)
Speaking of pitches, the most frequently suggested subject for coverage since the Oscar nominations (not-named-Chalamet-or-DiCaprio division) may be “Train Dreams” cinematographer Adolpho Veloso. Which already made the Brazilian’s wizardry one of the industry’s worst-kept secrets. Count contributor Emily Zemler’s profile among the final nails in the coffin.
“Capturing the enormous trees that would have existed in the early 20th century was a challenge,” she writes of the film, which spans the life of an itinerant logger in the Pacific Northwest. “The production went to protected parks, where they had to be cautious about not affecting the environment. ‘How do you shoot a movie where they’re supposed to be cutting those trees, but they cannot even get close to those trees?’ Veloso says. ‘It was almost like shooting stunts.’”
With yesterday’s Oscar nominees luncheon in the books, the marathon that is awards season is now entering the home stretch. But that doesn’t mean there’s no grist left for the mill, especially when it comes to those — like this week’s cover subject, 73-year-old first-time nominee Delroy Lindo — whose names weren’t necessarily on pundits’ nominations predictions lists.
Through Feb. 26 we’ll be more sharing stories like his, and many others, before Oscar voters cast their final ballots for the March 15 awards. I’ll let my friend Glenn Whipp regale you with tales from his interview with “Sinners” star Lindo when he sends his next newsletter on Friday. In the meantime, read on for more highlights from this week’s issue.
Digital cover story: Wagner Moura
(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)
Basking in the sun outside The Times newsroom ahead of his digital cover shoot last month, Wagner Moura seemed exceptionally relaxed about spending his Tuesday afternoon in El Segundo with a bunch of journalists. But don’t let “The Secret Agent” star’s easygoing personality fool you into thinking he’s aloof in any way.
As contributor Lisa Rosen writes in her profile of the actor, he’s unafraid to draw pointed comparison’s between Kleber Mendonça Filho’s acclaimed political thriller — nominated for four Oscars, including lead actor — and contemporary politics, from disgraced Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro to federal agents in American streets.
“This is also a film about infamy, because he’s being persecuted so unfairly,” he tells Rosen, comparing his character’s fate to that of Minneapolis residents Renee Good and Alex Pretti. After their deaths, he continues, “lies were spread about them online. It’s so cruel, and so it’s killing the person twice.”
But I don’t think you need to be intimately acquainted with Hawke, who also appeared on an Envelope digital cover last fall, to find him and Kaplow high-caliber raconteurs of the joys, and occasional indignities, of making independent films. “Sometimes you get to set and it’s easy to shape the text to make it more your own. The process here was for me to get rid of Ethan,” says Hawke. “It was to try and match the screenplay. I don’t ever remember working as hard — or [director] Rick [Linklater] being as mean to me.”
As far as hooking the listener to a story goes, Lorenz Hart, the loquacious lyricist that Hawke and Kaplow pay homage to in “Blue Moon,” would be proud.
Inside the race for best editing
(Illustration by Vartika Sharma / For The Times)
Oscar voters have occasionally been accused of making this award about the most editing instead of the best editing, but from the descriptions of this year’s five nominees, I think we can safely say that whomever the winner ends up being, their achievement will have been genuinely outstanding.
As contributor Bill Desowitz discovered from his outreach to the editors of “F1,” “One Battle After Another,” “Marty Supreme,” “Sentimental Value” and “Sinners,” coping with trauma is the surprising through line among the disparate scenes the nominees themselves chose as most pivotal to their films. (Given the volume of the footage some of them waded through, they might be suffering it too.)
Two years ago, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass went to Sherman Oaks to cut a quick campaign ad for a trusted ally: Councilmember Nithya Raman.
Standing next to Bass, Raman looked into the camera and praised the mayor’s work on homelessness, saying she was “honored” to have her support.
“I couldn’t be prouder to work alongside her,” Raman said.
That video, recorded at a get-out-the-vote rally for Raman’s reelection campaign, feels like a political lifetime ago. On Feb. 7, Raman launched a surprise bid to unseat Bass, saying the city is at a “breaking point” and no longer capable of providing basic services.
Raman’s entry into the race, hours before the filing deadline, shocked the city’s political elite and infuriated the mayor’s supporters. Some observers called it a betrayal of Shakespearean proportions.
Raman’s name had appeared on a list of Bass endorsers just weeks earlier. Bass’ support for Raman’s 2024 reelection bid had helped the councilmember earn 50.7% of the vote and avoid a messy runoff.
“How can she treat a relationship like this, and dispose of it once it’s served its purpose?” said Julio Esperias, a Democratic Party activist who volunteered with Raman’s 2024 campaign at Bass’ request. “It’s a breach of trust, a betrayal, and it’s kind of hard for me to stomach at the moment.”
In 2024, Bass — then at the peak of her popularity — was featured prominently in Raman’s campaign mailers. She sent canvassers to knock on voters’ doors. A speech Bass delivered at Raman’s rally in Sherman Oaks was turned into a social media video with stirring background music.
Councilwoman Nithya Raman talks to attendees during an election night party held by the Democratic Socialists of America – LA chapter at The Greyhound on Nov. 4 in Los Angeles.
(Eric Thayer/Los Angeles Times)
That video, along with other posts highlighting Bass’ support for her, still appears on Raman’s Instagram page, which now promotes her run for mayor.
Bass, politically bruised over her handling of last year’s devastating Palisades fire, now faces an insurgent campaign from one of the City Council’s savviest players.
Esperias said he regrets helping Raman claw back the endorsement of the Los Angeles County Democratic Party in 2023, after it nearly went to her opponent.
Bass, for her part, has downplayed any hard feelings, saying she intends to run on her record — including her collaboration with Raman. Asked if she viewed Raman’s candidacy as a betrayal, she responded: “That’s not significant now.”
Mayor Karen Bass speaks before signing a rent stabilization ordinance passed by the Los Angeles City Council, the first update to the ordinance in nearly 40 years, at Strategic Actions for a Just Economy in Los Angeles Tuesday, Dec. 23, 2025.
(Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)
“I will tell you that it was a surprise, absolutely,” Bass said. “But I am moving forward, I am going to run my race, and I look forward to serving with her in my second term.”
Raman has been delivering a similarly complicated message, expressing deep respect for the mayor while arguing that the city is in desperate need of change.
On the morning of Feb. 7, before filling out her paperwork at the city clerk’s office, Raman called Bass to inform her she was running.
The next day, the two women met privately at Getty House, the mayor’s mansion. Neither would say why they met or what they discussed.
At City Hall, both supporters and critics of Bass have been retracing recent events, looking for clues as to how things went wrong.
In November, while watching election returns for New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, Raman told The Times that Bass was the most progressive mayor the city ever had — noting that Angelenos “vote their values.” Last month, Bass twice announced that she had Raman’s endorsement.
On Friday, Raman said she could not remember exactly when she endorsed Bass, saying she believed it came during a phone call with the mayor “probably in the fourth quarter of last year.” At the same time, she said her exasperation with the city’s leadership has been building for months.
“I have been actually frustrated by the conditions in the city for quite some time, particularly over this last year, where we are both unable to deliver basic services, like fixing streetlights and repaving streets for my constituents, but also are not moving toward a more accountable, transparent and efficient system of addressing issues like homelessness,” she said in an interview.
Gloria Martinez, center, of United Teachers Los Angeles, speaks at a rally outside City Hall featuring opponents of the effort to rewrite Measure ULA, a tax on property sales to pay for housing initiatives.
(Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)
Raman pointed to Measure ULA, the voter-approved tax on property sales of $5.3 million and up, as a catalyst for her mayoral bid. Although she has been a supporter of the tax, she has also concluded that it is a major obstacle to building new housing.
Last month, Raman tried without success to put a measure on the June 2 ballot that would have scaled back the types of properties covered by the tax, in hopes of jump-starting apartment construction.
Raman also told The Times that Inside Safe, the mayor’s signature program to move unhoused people indoors, needs to be redesigned so it is “fiscally sustainable.” She said she “simply did not see any progress” from the mayor’s office on that issue.
Asked whether she betrayed Bass, Raman said her decision to run was driven by the growing problems facing the city — and the need for change.
“My most important relationship in this role is with the people of Los Angeles, not the politics of City Hall,” she said.
Bass campaign spokesperson Douglas Herman pointed out that Raman is head of the council’s housing and homelessness committee — and that she repeatedly voiced support for Bass programs that have delivered back-to-back reductions in street homelessness.
Los Angeles City Councilmember Nithya Raman scans a QR code to get election updates during an election night party in March 2024.
(Myung Chun/Los Angeles Times)
“While we are developing more cost effective models, it is absolutely urgent that we get people off our streets immediately,” Herman said. “Nithya Raman is acting like a typical politician and knows it because she congratulated Mayor Bass for cleaning dangerous and long-standing encampments in her district.”
Raman’s decision has sparked an outcry from an unlikely combination of Bass allies. Danny J. Bakewell, Jr., executive editor of the Los Angeles Sentinel, condemned Raman’s actions last week in an editorial that invoked the O’Jay’s 1972 hit “Back Stabbers.”
“One of life’s greatest disappointments is discovering that someone you believed was a friend is not,” wrote Bakewell, whose newspaper focuses on issues facing the city’s Black community.
The Los Angeles Police Protective League, which represents rank-and-file LAPD officers and opposed Raman’s reelection in 2024, offered a similar take.
“If political backstabbing were a crime, Nithya Raman would be a wanted fugitive,” the union’s board, which has endorsed Bass, said in a statement.
Zev Yaroslavsky, a former county supervisor and City Council member, does not believe that Raman’s recent history with Bass — endorsing her and later running against her — will be an issue for the electorate. In L.A. political circles, however, it will be viewed as a transgression, at least in the short term, he said.
“As a politician, you don’t have much currency. What you have is your word,” he said.
Yaroslavsky, director of the Los Angeles Initiative at the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs, said he is certain that Raman and the other major candidates — community organizer Rae Huang, reality television star Spencer Pratt and tech entrepreneur Adam Miller — have looked at polls showing that Bass is politically weakened and vulnerable to a challenge.
“If Raman becomes mayor, nobody’s going to remember this, including the political class,” he said. “If she doesn’t, it’ll be a little more difficult for her. It’s not irreparable. But there will be a residue to this.”
On the council, Raman belongs to a four-member voting bloc, each of whom won office with support from Democratic Socialists of America. While Bass is generally considered more conservative than Raman on public safety issues, the two share many of the same policy priorities, particularly around homelessness.
In her first campaign for City Council in 2020, Raman ran on a promise to address the city’s homelessness crisis in a humanitarian way, by moving unhoused residents into temporary and permanent housing.
Bass, a former state Assembly speaker and 12-year member of Congress, took office two years later and made homelessness her signature issue, convincing the council to expand her power to respond to the crisis.
Raman backed Bass’ declaration of a homelessness emergency, which gave the mayor the power to award contracts and sign leases directly. A week later, Bass staged her first Inside Safe operation in Raman’s district, on a stretch of Cahuenga Boulevard in Hollywood.
As recently as July, Raman appeared on a Bass press release touting the city’s progress on homelessness.
Bass first announced that Raman had endorsed her on Jan. 27. Raman said she did not begin seriously contemplating a run for mayor until the following week, as the filing deadline approached.
Over a tumultuous 48-hour period, former L.A. schools Supt. Austin Beutner exited the race, while real estate developer Rick Caruso and L.A. County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath announced that they, too, would stay out.
“I realized we were potentially not even going to have a real competition, and that troubled me,” Raman said.
Esperias, the Bass supporter, said he is still processing Raman’s decision to run.
He said Bass tapped him to help Raman in 2023 after one of Raman’s opponents, deputy city attorney Ethan Weaver, cleared a key hurdle in his bid for the endorsement of the county’s Democratic Party.
Esperias, who lives in L.A.’s Vermont Square neighborhood, said he worked with Raman’s team on a plan to persuade party members to pull Weaver’s endorsement, then flip it to Raman. While Esperias and others called and texted party members, Bass sent a letter urging them to endorse Raman.
Weaver, in an interview, said he immediately felt the difference. After Bass’ letter, interest in endorsing him evaporated.
“It changed the amount of people that would take my call,” he said.
Once the election was over, Esperias said, Raman sent a text message thanking him for his help during a tough campaign.
“I put my credibility, I put my relationships on the line to help build this coalition to get that endorsement,” Esperias said.
Raman argued that the support has gone both ways.
During Bass’ first mayoral campaign, Raman held a fundraiser at her Silver Lake home and introduced Bass to key people in her district.
“I did help her in her election as well, just like she helped me,” she said.
Times staff writer Dakota Smith contributed to this report.
Beirut, Lebanon – The Lebanese and Syrian governments have reached a deal to repatriate about 300 Syrian inmates in Lebanese prisons back to their home country in a move that could pave the way for better relations between the two neighbours.
The issue of Syrian prisoners in Lebanon has been a priority for Damascus since the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime in December 2024. Relations between the two countries have long been marked by what many Lebanese describe as nearly 30 years of occupation and a tutelage rule by Syria over Lebanon, which ended when Syria withdrew its troops in 2005.
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About 2,400 Syrian prisoners are currently in Lebanese prisons. Some are held on “terrorism” charges while others are held for links to attacks against the Lebanese army. But most have never been tried despite having spent years in jail, largely due to a myriad of issues, including political gridlock, judicial strikes and general political indifference.
And while the deal reached on Friday may signal the beginning of a new relationship between Syria and Lebanon – one built on mutual respect rather than Syria’s direct or indirect control of the smaller state on its western border – it did not come about without any public controversy.
In Syrian eyes, many of the prisoners are being held for political rather than judicial reasons. The government of President Ahmed al-Sharaa believes they are in prison mostly due to the influence of the former al-Assad regime and its Hezbollah allies in Lebanon.
But for many Lebanese, anyone accused of attacks against the Lebanese armed forces should not be released.
“Lebanon has long insisted that anyone Syrian or otherwise accused of committing serious crimes against the Lebanese army should not be extradited,” David Wood, the senior Lebanon analyst at the International Crisis Group, told Al Jazeera. “That has been one key obstacle to resolving this prisoner agreement up until now.”
Political prisoners?
Lebanese-Syrian relations have long been complex. Under Syrian President Hafez al-Assad and later his son Bashar, Syrian forces controlled Lebanon from 1976 to 2005.
Even after Syrian troops withdrew from Lebanon, Syria maintained influence over Lebanon via its allies there, including the political and military group Hezbollah.
When the 2011 Syrian uprising began and was subsequently repressed by Bashar al-Assad’s regime, Syria’s border with Lebanon soon became a hotspot for the transportation of people – both fighters and refugees – weapons and drugs.
Under the agreement signed by Lebanese and Syrian officials, about 300 Syrian prisoners in Lebanese jails will be transferred to Syria in the next three months [Wael Hamzeh/EPA]
In Lebanon, the Syrian war had a strong impact. It spilled over into clashes in the northern city of Tripoli; the Battle of Abra, which involved firebrand anti-Assad sheikh Ahmad al-Assir and Lebanese-Palestinian pop star Fadel Shaker; battles with Hezbollah and the Lebanese army on one side and ISIL (ISIS) and al-Qaeda-aligned groups on the other; and attacks on Beirut’s southern suburbs.
In the intervening years, hundreds of Syrians were arrested by Lebanese authorities and held in Lebanon’s overcrowded prisons.
When the al-Assad regime fell, the new Syrian government quickly looked to reframe the relationship with Lebanon, expressing an interest in building ties based on mutual respect and interests.
Among Damascus’s priorities were delineating their shared border and economic and security cooperation. But it also prioritised the repatriation of Syrians in Lebanese prisons.
“The allegation from Damascus is that in many cases the reason for [imprisonment] is political and specifically due to perceived ties between the inmates and groups that were opposed to the former regime of Bashar al-Assad,” Wood said. In its view, “it was actually Assad’s Lebanese allies who conspired to make sure that these people were imprisoned in Lebanon.”
By that logic, the fall of al-Assad and the weakening of Hezbollah after Israel’s 2024 war on Lebanon meant that these prisoners should be released.
Some Lebanese disagree and see the issue as more of a grey area. Even if the Syrian prisoners in question had fought Hezbollah, it had been at a time when the Shia group had been coordinating with the Lebanese army – and, for many Lebanese, fighting the army is a red line.
An important step
On Friday, the agreement was signed with a number of Lebanese ministers present, including Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, Deputy Prime Minister Tarek Mitri and the two countries’ justice ministers.
“This is a very important first step on the road of a comprehensive treatment regarding Syrian prisoners in Lebanese prisons,” Mitri said to reporters on Friday.
Syrian Justice Minister Mazhar al-Wais said: “This step will boost existing confidence, and we hope that relations will progress more.”
The agreement reportedly stipulates that over the next three months, about 300 prisoners will be repatriated to Syria and those serving time for serious crimes, such as rape or murder for example, must have served 10 or more years of their sentences in Lebanese prisons to be eligible for repatriation.
Lebanese prisoners, such as al-Assir, are not included in the deal.
But other issues remain. Among them are Lebanon’s backlogged judicial system and issues related to Lebanese inmates in Syrian prisons.
Only about 750 Syrian prisoners out of the 2,400 have been convicted. That means roughly 65 percent of prisoners are not eligible for repatriation yet.
Fadel Abdulghany of the Syrian Network for Human Rights described this as a “two-track” problem. On his personal website, Abdulghany noted that the transfer of prisoners convicted with final sentences can be carried out with a “swift step”.
However, for those who have yet to be convicted, the issue is not as straightforward. A mechanism for pretrial detention has not yet been agreed by the respective authorities.
“This is not merely a Syrian issue but one that touches the very structure of the Lebanese criminal justice system,” Abdulghany wrote. “Therefore, transferring convicts will not resolve the problem, because the root cause is the slow pace of procedures in Lebanon and the accumulation of detainees held without trial, along with the ensuing issues concerning the legality and continuation of their detention.”
He warned that such detainees could be used as political bargaining chips by Hezbollah. Some members or supporters of the group blame these prisoners for car bombings or other such attacks on their villages. While many of those attacks were on Shia Muslim areas where Hezbollah support is predominant, Christian villages, such as al-Qaa and Ras Baalbeck in the Bekaa Valley, were also subject to attacks.
‘There are no names’
Marcel Baloukji, a former brigadier general who oversaw the Lebanese army’s border committee with Syria, told Al Jazeera that the 300 or so prisoners who are to be transferred do not include many of the more hardened prisoners associated with ISIL or al-Qaeda whom Lebanese authorities have apprehended over the years.
But Baloukji also pointed out that the issue of Lebanese prisoners in Syrian jails is still important for the Lebanese side. Under the al-Assad regime, more than 100,000 people were forcibly disappeared, including hundreds or potentially thousands of Lebanese, going as far back as the Lebanese Civil War.
Mass graves have been found around Syria since the fall of the regime. However, much work needs to be done to identify all the bodies. Until now, the vast majority have still not been identified – neither Syrian nor Lebanese.
“There’s still a problem because there has to be an exchange between Lebanon and Syria,” Baloukji said. “There’s no one there. Most of them are not identified. There are no names.”
Lord of the Flies fans were left less than impressed with the BBC’s adaptation of the classic novel with some viewers even “switching off” just minutes into the thriller.
22:29, 08 Feb 2026Updated 22:30, 08 Feb 2026
Lord of the Flies Official trailer – BBC
Lord of the Flies fans are united in their reaction as William Golding’s 1954 masterpiece receives its first television adaptation on BBC One.
Fans of the classic novel have been anticipating the BBC’s interpretation of this survival story, particularly given the screenplay comes from Jack Thorne, co-creator of Adolescence.
Following a plane crash on an uninhabited island, a band of schoolboys must fend for themselves and maintain civilisation, but when Jack (portrayed by Lox Pratt) develops a bloodlust for hunting, order descends into brutality and disorder.
Whilst anticipation ran high for Lord of the Flies’ debut on BBC One, numerous viewers were swift to criticise the programme’s distinctive cinematography.
One person wrote on X, formerly Twitter: “I love the Lord of the Flies book but this filmmaking style is horrific. This is too ‘cinematic’. It’s only bleedin’ TV!”
Another remarked: “Nope. Can’t watch this fish eye lens car crash”, whilst a second viewer agreed: “Something not quite right about this – but gonna give it a chance.”
They added: “Feels off – is it the weird colours, fisheye lenses shots, kid actors or general vibe. Not sure.”
Someone else complained: “Really *not* a fan of the fisheye lens they’re using on Lord Of The Flies and blurred distorted periphery.”
They continued: “Look at me screams the cinematographer – takes you out of the film and gives a surreal disorienting feel we don’t need.”
Another viewer queried: “What’s going on with the camera work, why is the cameraman in the sea? Did someone get a fish eye lens for Christmas?
“Sorry, the BBC’s Lord Of The Flies is proving to be a hot mess”, another viewer remarked.
“Everything from unmotivated shots and cinematography to performances, casting, delivery, music score and tone.
“Could never do justice to the book but was hoping for something more than this.”
One more chimed in: “This is unwatchable, terrible cinematography, someone’s dialled up the ‘Vivid’ filter to 100.”
Additional critics complained the adaptation was “boring” and “awful”, with someone else declaring: “While everyone is raving about Lord of the Flies on BBC, I’m not, I’m switching off…it’s c***.”
However, not all reactions have been negative, with one supporter noting: “Very impressed by the new adaptation of Lord of the Flies so far”, whilst another stated: “Enjoying it so far, what fantastic actors.”
Lord of the Flies comprises four episodes, with each instalment presented through a different character’s viewpoint.
The opening episode unfolded through Piggy’s (David McKenna) perspective as the youngsters adjusted to their island existence, though the episode concluded dramatically with them accidentally starting a devastating blaze that engulfed the surrounding trees.
The question remains: how will the group cope following this traumatising event?
Lord of the Flies airs every Sunday on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.
A senior South Korean official told reporters in Washington Thursday that he anticipates “some new progress in a few days” regarding issues with North Korea. In this photo, U.S. President Donald J. Trump shakes hands with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on June 30, 2019, at the DMZ. File White House Photo by Shealah Craighead/UPI | License Photo
A senior South Korean official said Thursday that he anticipates “some new progress in a few days” regarding North Korea-related issues, but he noted it is not about the resumption of dialogue between Washington and Pyongyang.
The official made the remarks during a meeting with reporters in Washington amid speculation that U.S. President Donald Trump could seek a meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un when he visits China in April.
“There may be some new progress in a few days. It is not anything significant, but it is intended as a gesture of goodwill that can serve as a starting point (for progress in diplomacy with North Korea),” the official said.
“It doesn’t go as far as dialogue between the U.S. and North Korea,” he added.
He also pointed out North Korea’s lack of interest in diplomacy with Seoul or Washington.
“So we need to wait and see,” he said.
Both South Korea and the U.S. have expressed their desire to reengage with North Korea. But it remains uncertain whether Pyongyang would accede to dialogue overtures at a time when it has deepened cooperation with Russia and China to address its economic and other needs.
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A tech executive who made a fortune developing education software, then waded into the fight against homelessness, is now entering the race for Los Angeles mayor.
Adam Miller, co-founder of Better Angels, a nonprofit focused on preventing homelessness and building affordable housing, filed paperwork on Wednesday to run against Mayor Karen Bass in the June 2 primary election.
Miller, in an interview, said the city is on a downward trajectory and beset with problems — and needs someone with strong leadership skills at City Hall.
“A lot of the issues we face in the city are management problems, and I know how to manage,” he said. “I’ve managed effectively teams that are big and small. I’ve managed teams that are domestic and international. And I’ve managed programs at every stage, so I know how to scale things up and make them operate at scale for a big system.”
The 56-year-old entrepreneur and nonprofit executive is making his move at a moment when the candidate lineup remains unsettled. Even with Saturday’s deadline for filing candidate paperwork fast approaching, some are still undecided on whether to run.
Los Angeles County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath has spent several days hinting that she may jump into the race, while also taking shots at Bass on CNN and elsewhere.
Maryam Zar, who founded the Palisades Recovery Coalition in the wake of the Palisades fire, is also weighing a run. Even real estate developer Rick Caruso, who publicly ruled out a mayoral bid last month, told KNX on Wednesday that he may reconsider.
Former L.A. schools Supt. Austin Beutner, who launched his campaign in October, has been out of the public eye since the death of his 22-year-old daughter on Jan. 6. Reality TV star Spencer Pratt has spent the last several weeks promoting his book “The Guy You Loved to Hate,” and emerged earlier this week to file his candidate paperwork.
Community organizer Rae Huang has been courting the city’s left-leaning voters, appearing with podcaster Hasan Piker in a conversation about housing policy.
Meanwhile, Bass has been using the trappings of her office to promote her work, scheduling two State of the City speeches in a three-month span. The first of those, delivered Monday, sounded in many ways like a campaign stump speech, except longer.
After Miller filed his paperwork, Bass spokesperson Douglas Herman immediately derided him, describing Miller as a “wealthy venture capitalist” who sold software that helped large companies “systematically lay off workers.”
“The last thing Los Angeles needs now is another self-funder who doesn’t understand the crisis of affordability in our city,” Herman said. “Mayor Karen Bass will continue working to solve the biggest problems facing our city with groundbreaking efforts on housing affordability, reductions in street homelessness and public safety stats sitting at 60-year lows.”
Miller pushed back on the mayor’s statement, saying his company’s software was used for training and helping employees build their skills. He said that, although he will provide a loan to his campaign to get things started, he will be raising money like any other campaign.
Miller is the former chief executive of Cornerstone OnDemand, the global training and development company that he built over more than two decades, growing it to more than 3,000 employees. The publicly traded company was sold in 2021 to a private equity firm for $5.2 billion, he said.
The Brentwood resident has been heavily focused on philanthropy, serving as chair of the nonprofit 1P.org, which is a charitable foundation that provides funding to other nonprofit groups.
Miller said he and his wife, Staci, while mapping out their philanthropic work, chose to focus on intractable problems at the local, state, national and global level. Locally, he said, homelessness was the issue they identified as the most intractable.
1P.org has been providing funding to Better Angels, which has been working to build affordable housing while also distributing micro-loans to families facing eviction. In addition, the nonprofit has developed an app to help homeless outreach workers stay connected.
Sara Reyes, executive director of SELAH Neighborhood Homeless Coalition, said its 700 volunteers use Better Angels’ outreach app to maintain relationships with one another and their clients in neighborhoods stretching from Hollywood to Atwater Village.
The app is not integrated with the homeless database maintained by the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, a city-county partnership, and would be more effective if it was, Reyes said.
Miller said the city needs help with issues that go well beyond homelessness. For example, he said, city leaders have made L.A. “one of the least developer friendly cities in the country,” hindering the construction of new homes.
“We have a major housing shortage,” he said. “We have an unacceptable number of people who are unhoused. We have affordability issues. I’d say city cleanliness is on the decline. We are not well prepared for disasters, as was clearly seen last year.”
King Charles has revealed how he was always going to stick to environmental campaigning – despite fierce criticism – in a new documentary for Amazon Prime
Finding Harmony: A King’s Vision teased in trailer
The King has revealed how he refused to be diverted from campaigning on an important issue despite receiving ‘upsetting’ criticism. Charles makes the admission in a brand new Amazon Prime documentary, which looks back at the monarch’s ‘Harmony’ philosophy and his lifelong commitment to green issues.
The 90-minute film, called Finding Harmony: A King’s Vision, sees Charles warn that the situation with the environment is “rapidly going backwards” with mankind “actually destroying our means to survival”. But he also expresses his hope for the future and says that “by the time I shuffle off this mortal coil” that there might be more awareness of the “need to bring things back together again”.
The documentary sees the King collecting eggs from his chickens at their “Cluckingham Palace” coop on his Highgrove estate, and reveal his love of a crispy baked potato, declaring that “red Duke of Yorks” are the best variety for this.
Oscar-winning actress Kate Winslet, who narrates the film, also recounts how Charles was “haunted” by the criticism he faced after he said in a 1986 television interview that he talked to plants.
The documentary describes how the King, as Prince of Wales, emerged as a key figure on the environment over the years, making regular keynote speeches, despite “cries from some that he should take a back seat”, Winslet said.
The King, in new footage, adds: “I just felt this was the approach that I was going to stick to. A course I set and I wasn’t going to be diverted from.”
After an academic comments that the world is not on the “trajectory” needed to limit the worst affects of climate change, Charles remarks: “It’s rapidly going backwards, I’ve said that for the last 40 years, but anyway, there we are…I can only do what I can do, which is not very much – anyway.
“People don’t seem to understand it’s not just climate that’s the problem, it’s also biodiversity loss, so we’re actually destroying our means of survival, all the time. To put that back together again is possible, but we should have been doing it long ago. We’ve got to do it as fast as we can now.”
He adds: “Maybe, by the time I shuffle off this mortal coil, there might be a little more awareness… of the need to bring things back together again.”
The documentary also features archive footage of the King describing how he talks to plants, a comment that narrator Winslet says has “haunted him ever since”.
Ian Skelly, co-author of the King’s 2010 Harmony book, says: “Those criticisms really upset him. He got treated very unfairly, seen very unfairly, and those of us that knew him better were quite upset by that. It was difficult to know how to respond, but I really felt for him.”
Also appearing in the documentary is Prince Harry, who is shown fleeting in archive footage of Charles teaching him how to fish at Balmoral.
Prince William also features, as a small child with Charles at Highgrove, and lying next to his father on the grass as a youngster, and visiting a herd of cows with Charles at Home Farm in 2004, when William was in his twenties.
Prince Charlotte and Prince Louis, with the now Prince and Princess of Wales, are pictured briefly in footage from the King’s Coronation. And the late Queen Elizabeth II is shown filming a young Charles, in archive footage of the future king in home movies.
The documentary explores the origins, evolution and scientific foundations of the King’s “harmony” philosophy, which he set out in his 2010 book Harmony: A New Way Of Looking At Our World. The book will be republished by HarperCollins in March to mark the release of the documentary.
The film also shows how The King’s Foundation, which has its headquarters at Dumfries House in Ayrshire, embraces the harmony approach – the importance of living in balance with nature – through projects focusing on community regeneration, sustainable textiles and traditional skills.
Later tonight, the King and Queen will attend the premiere at Windsor Castle, believed by Buckingham Palace to be the first time a global movie premiere has been held at a royal residence.
A spokesperson for the King said the film was “not a conventional royal documentary”. “There are no golden carriages here; no glittering crowns or crimson robes,” the spokesperson added.
“Instead, this is a deeply personal exploration of ideas that have shaped His Majesty’s life and work: the interconnectedness of all things, the wisdom of traditional knowledge, and the belief that we can build a future that works in partnership with nature rather than against it.” The spokesperson added that it “sets a new high watermark for royal documentaries”.
Finding Harmony: A King’s Vision will be released on February 6 on Prime Video in more than 240 countries and territories worldwide.
Jan. 28 (UPI) — A NASA research jet performed a gear-up landing at Houston’s Joint Reserve Base Ellington after suffering a “mechanical issue,” according to NASA officials.
Uncorroborated video of the Tuesday landing posted online shows the plane, a WB-57 research aircraft, coming in low toward the runway, touching down with the belly of its fuselage.
Sparks, fire and smoke spew from the back of the plane as it comes to a stop, the video shows.
NASA Press Secretary Bethany Stevens said in a statement that the gear-up landing was the result of an unspecified “mechanical issue.”
“Response to the incident is ongoing, and all crew are safe at this time,” she said.
“As with any incident, a thorough investigation will be conducted by NASA into the cause. NASA will transparently update the public as we gather more information.”
The incident occurred at about 11:30 a.m. CST Tuesday on Runway 17R-35L, according to Houston Airports, the Texas city’s Department of Aviation.
The WB-57 high-altitude research plane is a mid-wing, long-range aircraft based near the NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston.
According to NASA, three of the jets operate out of Ellington Field, and can fly in excess of 63,000 feet above sea level. It can also fly for about 6 1/2 hours with a range of about 2,500 miles.
A pilot and a sensor equipment operator generally crew the aircraft during flights.
