july

A major airline is cutting complimentary meals offered to passengers on flights with the introduction of a chef curated menu that has to be pre ordered ahead of takeoff

A major airline has announced a new in flight charge that will impact passengers from July, with meals no longer being complimentary.

Hawaiian Airlines services included the free perk of meals when flying between Hawaii and the US mainland.

However, in a recent announcement the airline stated that passengers will not longer automatically receive complimentary meals.

Travellers will now have to purchase pre-ordered dishes from a new menu, between two weeks before departure and 20 hours ahead of takeoff.

Prices are expected to range from about $10 (£7.45) to $17 (approx £12.66) per meal.

However, according to the airline, flights between Honolulu and New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport, will continue to include a complimentary meal for Main Cabin passengers.

The menu has been curated by Maui-based chef Sheldon Simeon, who developed a menu featuring elevated local favourites including crispy mochiko chicken with garlic noodles, barbecue teriyaki chicken bento, and corned beef hash with eggs.

Passengers will also be able to try signature dishes inspired by Simeon’s restaurants including his popular K mayo, teriyaki sauce, and banana bread syrup.

“At the heart of this transformation is what has always defined Hawaiian Airlines: authentic Hawaiian hospitality,” Alisa Onishi, the Managing Director of Hawai‘i Marketing at Hawaiian Airlines, said in a statement.

“We’re still going to keep the authentic parts of our hospitality, free beverages, free local snacks, (and) the sweet treat at the end of the flight. We’re really proud to offer this new option in our main cabin for our guests to explore and enjoy a little more from our island home.”

The airline added: “By moving to a pre-order model, we’re expanding beyond a single standard meal to offer a broader menu that reflects how our guests want to dine today.”

Business Class and First Class menus are also being revamped, with complimentary snacks remaining available on flights.

Comedian and “Saturday Night Live” standout Marcello Hernández will host this year’s ESPY Awards, ESPN announced Wednesday.

The event, honoring excellence in sports performance, will be broadcast live on ABC and the ESPN app from the David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center on July 15, making it the first ESPYs in New York City since 1999. For the last 25 years, the awards ceremony was held in Los Angeles.

“I started doing comedy 10 years ago, in Cleveland, Ohio, and I would take the train 12 hours to New York to sell comedy tickets on the street in Greenwich Village in exchange for stage time,” Hernández said in a statement. “It is an honor, and frankly feels crazy to be hosting the ESPYs this year in New York. I’m sure the energy is going to be great.”

Hernández recently headlined the biggest Spanish-language comedy show ever at the Hollywood Bowl as part of the Netflix Is a Joke Festival in May, and wrapped up his fourth season of “SNL” soon after. His first stand-up special, “American Boy,” premiered on Netflix in January.

He’s also a sports enthusiast, having grown up playing soccer and competing at the collegiate level during his time at John Carroll University in Ohio.

“Marcello is one of the most electric, young comedians today. His genuine enthusiasm for sports and his ties to New York City make him a natural fit to host this year’s ESPYs,” Craig Lazarus, ESPN vice president and executive producer of the ESPYs, said in a statement.

Hernández succeeds last year’s emcee, comedian Shane Gillis, as well as past hosts that include Jimmy Kimmel, John Cena, LeBron James and Peyton Manning.

In January, Puck reported that the change in venue is an effort to capitalize on the popularity of Fanatics Fest, the massive sports festival taking place in New York’s Javits Center from July 16-19, which also coincides with the World Cup final on July 19 at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.

“This return to the heart of Manhattan brings the celebration of sports back to its roots for an unforgettable night at an iconic cultural landmark,” an ESPN spokesperson said in a statement.

June 2 (UPI) — Officials have rescheduled the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner for July 24, several weeks after a gunman disrupted the original event.

Weijia Jiang, president of the association and a senior White House correspondent for CBS, said Tuesday that the event will be a “more intimate gathering” with additional security precautions.

“When gunfire interrupted this year’s event, it further clarified the WHCA’s mission to advocate for the freedoms that are protected in the First Amendment,” Jiang wrote in an email to WHCA members. “We will not allow an act of violence to have the last word, especially during a year when we are reflecting on the 250th anniversary of America and everything we stand for.”

The original event April 25 ended when an armed man charged a security checkpoint outside the event at the Washington Hilton, and the president and other officials evacuated. The suspect, Cole Allen, 31, has been charged with attempting to assassinate the president, assaulting a federal law enforcement official with a deadly weapon and other offenses. Allen pleaded not guilty to all charges.

President Donald Trump posted on social media Tuesday that he will attend and speak at the dinner, which he called a ” ‘HOT’ ticket!”

Trump said the dinner will take place at the Waldorf Astoria in Washington, D.C., which is the former Trump International Hotel. In the email announcing the rescheduling, Jiang did not mention a site.

“This dinner will not only be an opportunity to carry out our program,” she wrote. “It will be a statement that violence has no place in American life and a free press will not be intimidated into silence. As you have all demonstrated, courage and community can and should rise above.”

The Washington Post reported after the prior event that some critics thought the president should not be so prominently featured.

“Why do I need to pay hundreds of dollars and dress up in a tuxedo to go listen to the president of the United States insult my colleagues?” Steven Herman, executive director of the University of Mississippi’s Jordan Center for Journalism Advocacy and Innovation, said in the Post. “I think he’s made it pretty clear he is not a champion of free speech or a free press. He only likes press or speech when it reflects positively on him.”

The travel expert says ‘thousands upon thousands’ of Brits have had their holidays ruined

Travel expert Simon Calder has issued a stark message to anyone who is going abroad in June, July and August. Many Brits are counting down to their summer holidays and the peak travel season.

However, Simon has urged everyone to do a vital check before travelling to avoid “wrecked holidays”. Simon explained that “thousands upon thousands” of people have already been caught out and missed their booked holidays.

He took part in a discussion on BBC Radio 2, where a holidaymaker explained that he had been turned away from his flight at the boarding gate.

James Luton was due to fly to Portugal last week for his 50th birthday but was denied boarding at the airport gate because his passport was issued more than 10 years ago, even though it was not expired.

Brits heading to the EU or Schengen areas cannot have passports older than 10 years when they arrive at their holiday destination. It must also be valid for at least three months after the day you plan to return home.

Simon appeared on the show to urge everyone with holidays booked to check their passports before it is too late. He said: “Unfortunately, he [James] is just one of thousands upon thousands of people who have fallen foul of this.

“As we speak, there will be people who have headed to the airport, and the same thing happened to them. It is just absolutely miserable.”

Simon urged: “You must remember, if you are going to the EU apart from Ireland, you cannot have a passport older than 10 years on the day you enter. It is the only part of the world that cares about when your passport is issued.

“Everywhere else only cares about the expiry date. Please, if you are going away in June, July and August please check that your passport is going to comply.

“Has it had its 10th birthday on the day you plan to go away, and has it got at least three months left on the date you plan to leave? That way, we can hopefully avoid too many more wrecked holidays.”

Before 2018, passports could remain valid for as long as 10 years and nine months.

This was because months remaining on old passports were rolled over to new passports, but the system was discontinued in 2018.

The problem mainly affects those holding burgundy passports, as anyone with a blue passport received it in 2020 or later.

It is still worth checking children’s blue passports, as they are typically only valid for five years.

Another Brat summer is upon us.

Charli XCX announced Monday that her new album, “Music, Fashion, Film,” drops July 24, and it already looks iconic.

That’s because the cover art, which Charli shared on Instagram, features three icons within their fields. The Velvet Underground’s John Cale represents music, Marc Jacobs stands for fashion and beloved director Martin Scorsese symbolizes film.

“My new album Music, Fashion, Film is out july 24th,” Charli wrote on Instagram. “11 songs, 30 minutes, 5 seconds. available to pre order now, love you xx.”

She released the first two singles, “Rock Music” and “SS26,” in May. The latter, a shorthand for the fashion industry’s current “Spring, Summer ‘26” season, has an accompanying video that features the artist strutting down an X-shaped runway, singing, “We’re walking on a runway that goes straight to hell / Nothing’s gonna save us, not music, fashion or film.”

“Rock Music,” the album’s first single, was met with mixed reactions from critics and fans. The song telegraphs Charli’s genre switch from electronic pop to the titular rock music, announcing, “I think the dance floor is dead” over heavily distorted guitar.

“If I’d made another album that felt more dance-leaning, it would have felt really hard, really sad,” Charli told British Vogue in April. “What’s interesting for me is to bend the possibilities of what my perspective on [rock music] could be.” She later clarified on Instagram, “I never said i was making a rock album.”

“Music, Fashion, Film” is not the artist’s first album in 2026. She released “Wuthering Heights,” the soundtrack to Emerald Fennel’s movie of the same name, in February. Cale is featured on “House,” the soundtrack album’s lead single.

Charli has added acting and producing to her repertoire in recent years. She produced and played a somewhat fictionalized version of herself in Aidan Zamiri’s mockumentary “The Moment,” based on the “Brat” album cycle, which Times film critic Amy Nicholson called “ ‘Spinal Tap’ for the era of stan culture.”

She also co-starred in Daniel Goldhaber’s “Faces of Death” remake, released in April, and is set to appear in Gregg Araki’s upcoming erotic comedy “I Want Your Sex” and Cathy Yan’s art-world thriller “The Gallerist” by year’s end.

“I’ve always been really inspired by cinema when making my music, more so than listening to music, to be honest,” Charli told The Times at the Sundance Film Festival in January. “It’s an honor to be able to be acting, working on projects and writing and producing films. It’s kind of my dream.”

A $30 minimum wage for hotel and airport workers will be delayed after Los Angeles elected officials persuaded a group of business leaders to drop a ballot measure that would have devastated the city budget.

On Tuesday, the City Council approved the 18-month delay, which will postpone the wage increase until after the 2028 Olympics and fend off the business-backed initiative to eliminate the gross receipts tax, which is the city’s second-largest revenue stream.

The minimum wage will still increase to $25 in July and continue in increments until reaching $30 in January 2030.

Because the 11 to 4 vote was not unanimous, the new pay schedule will head to a second vote next week. Councilmembers Eunisses Hernandez, Ysabel Jurado, Nithya Raman and Hugo Soto-Martínez cast the “no” votes.

In May 2025, the council approved a proposal that would have increased the minimum wage to $30 in July 2028 and also raised an hourly payment for healthcare coverage.

In response, a coalition of airline and hotel businesses gathered enough signatures to place a measure on the Nov. 3 ballot that took aim at the city’s gross receipts tax, which is imposed on a vast array of businesses, including entertainment companies, child-care providers, law firms, accountants, healthcare businesses, nightclubs and many others.

If approved by voters, the measure would have stripped $740 million from the city’s general fund over the first year, according to city officials, and over five years would have amounted to a $860 million loss annually on average.

City officials, hotel and airport businesses and labor unions had been in continuous negotiations since last Wednesday, when the council narrowly approved an initial postponement of the wage increase to allow time to reach an agreement. The business coalition agreed to withdraw the measure if the council permanently approved the delay.

In addition to delaying the $30 minimum wage, the council on Tuesday pushed back the hourly healthcare payment to start at $8.15 an hour for airport workers in July 2027 and $4.25 for hotel workers July 1 of this year.

The council also voted to set up a committee to study possible changes to the business tax structure.

“Imposing wages and benefits without bringing business to the table is not reasonable,” said Nella McOsker, president and CEO of the downtown business group Central City Assn., at the council meeting. “It is reasonable to ask us to partner together to be on the other side of the table and negotiate, but it is not OK to do so without that process.”

Kurt Petersen, president of Unite Here Local 11, which represents the hotel workers, accused city officials of giving “into blackmail.”

“They now have a playbook. The next time workers win something, they’ll threaten to blow up the city,” Petersen said of the business coalition. “It’s a bad day for workers.”

Council President Marqueece Harris-Dawson described the process as painful but nearing a conclusion.

“I think we walked away from the negotiating table, like many negotiating tables, where no one was happy about the outcome, but everybody came away better than when we started off,” he said.

Shortly before the council vote, Mayor Karen Bass issued a statement that said she was called in by both business and labor leaders to close the deal.

She called the proposed repeal of the gross receipts tax “an existential threat to the city budget and the services it supports,” including street repairs, public safety and efforts to clean the city.

“This agreement ensures workers are paid fairly and that businesses that create jobs can continue serving LA and hiring Angelenos,” Bass said.

On Tuesday, the council chamber was filled with union workers in red, purple and yellow shirts.

Laura Esquivel, a janitor at Los Angeles International Airport, expressed frustration that council members were not standing by their earlier commitment.

“We’re sick and tired of being exploited. Some members of the council that are here, now we know, do not stand with workers,” Esquivel said. “We are not giving up, we will continue to fight and we’ll be back here in 2028.”

Before voting against the delay, Soto-Martínez, a former Unite Here organizer, called it sad and enraging.

“I cannot support anything that is going to take away money from workers,” he said.

Councilmember Imelda Padilla, who spoke in Spanish, was critical of the way the negotiations unfolded.

“If this thing about the gross tax receipts passes, we don’t have a city,” Padilla said. “The business community has us by our necks.”

She said workers deserve the wage increase, though she voted for the delay.

“Next time, let’s negotiate, and let’s negotiate well,” she said.

Times staff writer Suhauna Hussain contributed to this report.