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MANY hotels claim to be big on wellness, but the recently-opened Cotswolds escape Hyll has mastered it.

Here’s everything you need to know.

Where is Hyll?

Buried deep in the Cotswolds countryside, near Chipping Campden and fancy members clubs like Soho Farmhouse, Hyll is undoubtedly as stylish as its plush neighbours – only you won’t need to sell out for an extortionate members fee.

Named after the old English word hill, meaning elevated piece of ground, rural views are pretty spectacular from this retreat’s high perch.

There’s a car park on site or the hotel can arrange transfers from the train station.

What’s it like?

Not just a hotel, Hyll is more of a sanctuary where guests are gently encouraged to switch off – whether that’s with a board game in front of a freshly-stoked fire or with a scenic stroll around the 60 acres of manicured grounds.

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The luxury Chelsea hotel with affordable suites overlooking the London Eye

ALL WENT SWIMMINGLY

The Swan at Lavenham, Suffolk

Views are just as gorgeous from within the Grade-II listed 14th century manor house thanks to its original stone frame, timber beams and framed artwork that wouldn’t look out of place in a French farmhouse.

What are the rooms like?

The 26 unique bedrooms (some in the main house and some in the courtyard) feel homely yet luxurious with plump feathered cushions, freestanding bathtubs and chic coffee table books.

If the strict colour palette of neutral browns and sandy tones doesn’t soothe you, a guided yoga nidra (a type of specific relaxation yoga) session sure will.

A series of wellness videos have been designed exclusively for hotel guests and are text to your phone ahead of bedtime.

What is there to eat and drink?

Eat in the dining room, living room, outside or wherever you please, thanks to the laid back “mi casa, su casa” ethos.

Dinner relies on local ingredients sourced from nearby farms, mills and distilleries.

Star dishes include Briar Hill Farm hogget served with salsa verde and baklava tart soaked in the hotel’s own honey.

Post dinner, retire to the marshmallow-like sofas next door with a book and signature cocktail – I liked the yuzu and plum sour, both tart and sweet.

Non-drinkers are catered for, too, with a decent selection of no and low cocktails including a sharp No-groni.

Breakfast is a farm-style mix of homemade granola and hot options like full English and scotch woodcock (scrambled eggs on toast, topped with salty anchovies) both on the menu.

Breakfast hampers can also be delivered straight to your bed.

What else is there to do?

Small books labelled ‘Do Nothing’ and ‘Do something’ are left on bedside tables with suggestions on how to fully embrace and unwind in the Cotswolds nature.

In-room massages can be booked on request and dogs are welcome in certain bedrooms and throughout living rooms and restaurants in the main house.

The essence of the place, in general, is to do very little.

I’d recommend just kicking back with a book – each of the three lounge areas are kitted out with bookshelves and artsy side tables covered in fiction and non-fictions reads that you can borrow for the duration of your stay.

Thanks to a partnership with Borzoi Books, these are refreshed on a monthly basis.

You can even arrange to take a book home with you, for a fee.

How much are rooms at Hyll?

Rooms cost from £210 per night including breakfast.

Is Hyll family friendly?

Kids are welcome but it’s not the most child-friendly of places.

Cost and additional child beds are available on request, however.

Is there access for guests with disabilities?

Although, staff are always on hand to help, Hyll is not the ideal place for wheelchair users.

Given the historic property is Grade II listed, a lift cannot be installed and therefore bedrooms are accessed via stairs.

Looking for a place to stay? For more hotel inspiration click here.

The move follows a drone strike on the Red Sea port of Yanbu, Saudi Arabia’s main oil export outlet, after Iran blocked the Strait of Hormuz.

Saudi Arabia has given Iran’s military attache and embassy staff 24 hours to leave the kingdom due to “repeated Iranian attacks” on its territory.

The Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement on Saturday that it had declared personae non gratae the “military attache of the Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the Kingdom, the assistant military attache and three members of the mission staff”.

The move comes amid the US-Israeli war on Iran, which has seen Tehran target Saudi Arabia and its Gulf neighbours hosting US military assets with increasingly damaging retaliatory attacks on civilian hubs and energy facilities, unleashing chaos across the region and roiling global energy markets.

Saudi Arabia, which holds the world’s second-largest proven crude oil reserves, has come under attack by hundreds of Iranian missiles and drones since the start of the war, the vast majority of which have been intercepted, authorities have said.

Among the attacks, energy facilities in the east of Saudi Arabia have been repeatedly targeted, as well as the capital, Riyadh, where the US Embassy was hit by two drones earlier this month.

On Thursday, oil loadings at the Red Sea port of Yanbu were disrupted after a drone fell on the nearby Aramco-Exxon refinery, SAMREF.

The port is the only export outlet for Saudi Arabia after Iran effectively blocked tanker traffic leaving the Gulf via the Strait of Hormuz.

Saturday’s statement came after Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud said earlier in the week that trust in Iran had been “shattered”, asserting his country’s right to defend itself.

The foreign minister said that Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states had “very significant capacities and capabilities that they could bring to bear should they choose to do so”.

Saudi Arabia’s relations with Iran have historically been rocky, but the two countries embarked on a Beijing-brokered rapprochement three years ago.

On Saturday, the Foreign Ministry said that continued Iranian attacks would lead to further escalation and have “significant consequences” for current and future relations.

The statement followed Qatar’s decision on Wednesday to declare the Iranian Embassy’s military and security attaches in Doha as personae non gratae, along with their staff.

War, which saw Iran attack Qatar facility, has caused ‘high, volatile’ gas prices that could hit EU storage projections.

The European Union has urged member states to start early on meeting next winter’s gas storage targets after Iranian attacks on Gulf energy facilities caused prices to surge on global markets.

Energy Commissioner Dan Jorgensen sent a letter Saturday urging the bloc’s members to get to work “as early as possible” in the coming months to “mitigate pressure on prices and avoid [an] end-of-summer rush”, asking them to consider cutting their so-called filling target by 10 percentage points to 80 percent.

The move came days after Iran attacked Qatar’s Ras Laffan Industrial City complex, which provides about 20 percent of global supplies of liquefied natural gas (LNG). The attack, which came amid the US-Israeli war on Iran, was in retaliation for an Israeli attack on the Iranian South Pars gasfield.

State-owned QatarEnergy said that Iran’s attack on Qatar, which has been targeted throughout the duration of the war, knocked out 17 percent of Doha’s export capacity and would affect exports for up to five years.

The slowdown will mainly harm Asian buyers, including China, Japan, and India, which buy some 80 percent of QatarEnergy’s LNG.

But Europe, which only sources around 9 percent of its LNG from Qatar, will nevertheless be exposed to increased competition, with tanker traffic leaving the Gulf via the Strait of Hormuz throttled by the war.

Natural gas prices in the EU have risen by more than 30 percent since the start of the war on February 28, spiking after Israel’s attack on Iran’s critical South Pars gasfield and subsequent Iranian attack on Qatar’s Ras Laffan.

Jorgensen said that the EU’s gas supply, which has mainly been furnished by the United States since the bloc weaned itself off Russian energy over the Ukraine war, remained “relatively protected at this stage”.

“But, as a net energy importer on global markets, the resulting high and volatile global prices may also impact the EU gas storage projections,” he cautioned.

Jorgensen warned that developments “threaten regional and global security”, urging member states to refill stores early over a longer period.

The EU requirement for member countries to maintain gas reserves at 90 percent of capacity to meet winter heating and power demand underpins the region’s energy security.

Having cut that target by 10 percent, the energy commissioner noted that, in case of “difficult conditions” and a commission assessment, the countries could deviate by up to 20 percent.

Oil prices have also soared since the start of the war by more than 50 percent.

DOVER AIR FORCE BASE, Del. — President Trump is set to pay his respects on Wednesday at a Delaware military base when the remains of six U.S. service members killed in the crash of a refueling aircraft are returned to their families.

It will be the second time since launching the war with Iran on Feb. 28 that the Republican president will attend the solemn military ritual known as a dignified transfer, which he once described as the “toughest thing” he has had to do as commander in chief.

All six crew members of a KC-135 Air Force refueling aircraft were killed last week in a plane crash over friendly territory in western Iraq while supporting operations against Iran. They were from Alabama, Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio and Washington state.

“Every person on that aircraft carried a weight most Americans will never see, and they carried it with professionalism, courage, and a level of quiet excellence that deserves to be recognized,” retired Lt. Col Ernesto Nisperos, a friend of one of those killed, said in a text message Wednesday.

The crash brought the U.S. death toll in Operation Epic Fury to at least 13 service members. About 200 U.S. service members have been injured, including 10 severely, the Pentagon has said.

Trump last traveled to Dover Air Force Base on March 7 for the dignified transfer of six U.S. service members who were killed by a drone strike at a command center in Kuwait. He saluted as flag-draped transfer cases containing the remains of the fallen service members were carried from military aircraft to vehicles waiting to take them to the base’s mortuary facility to prepare them for their final resting place.

“It’s the bad part of war,” he told reporters afterward. Asked then if he worried about having to make multiple trips to the base for additional dignified transfers as the war continued, he said, “I’m sure. I hate to do it, but it’s a part of war, isn’t it?”

U.S. Central Command, which oversees military operations in the Middle East, said that the crash followed an unspecified incident involving two aircraft in “friendly airspace” over Iraq but that the loss of the aircraft during a combat mission was “not due to hostile or friendly fire.” The circumstances were under investigation. The other plane landed safely.

The crash killed three people assigned to the 6th Air Refueling Wing at MacDill Air Force Base in Florida: Maj. John A. “Alex” Klinner, 33, who served in Birmingham, Ala.; Capt. Ariana Linse Savino, 31, of Covington, Wash.; and Tech. Sgt. Ashley Pruitt, 34, of Bardstown, Ky.

Klinner, who left behind a wife, a 2-year-old son and 7-month-old twins, was known for his steady command and goofy nature, as well as a willingness to help others. Pruitt’s husband described her as a “radiant” woman who lit up the room. Savino was a friend, mentee and “source of positive energy” who was proud of her Puerto Rican heritage and inspired young Latinas, said Nisperos, who is serving as spokesman for her family.

“She had had this warmth that made you feel seen, a strength that showed up in everything she touched, and a spark — that spice — that made her unforgettable,” Nisperos said. “If you knew her, even for a moment, you knew you were in the presence of someone who was going to change the world.”

The three others were assigned to the 121st Air Refueling Wing at Rickenbacker Air National Guard Base in Columbus, Ohio: Capt. Seth Koval, 38, a resident of Stoutsville, Ohio, who was from Mooresville, Ind.; Capt. Curtis Angst, 30, who lived in Columbus; and Master Sgt. Tyler Simmons, 28, of Columbus.

Koval grew up dreaming of becoming a pilot, according to his wife, who described him as a loving, generous “fixer of all things.” Angst’s family said his life was defined by service, generosity and “a genuine love for people.” Simmons loved confiding in his 85-year-old grandmother and working out with her, Sen. Jon Husted said Tuesday, when he and Sen. Bernie Moreno honored the Ohio airmen on the Senate floor.

“To the mom and dad of these three young soldiers, I can’t even process what you’re going through. I can’t even imagine the emotions that you’re feeling,” Moreno said. “Just know that America is grateful beyond words for the sacrifice that your heroic young sons made.”

Superville writes for the Associated Press. AP writers Holly Ramer in Concord, N.H., and Hallie Golden in Seattle contributed to this report.

March 15 (UPI) — The Department of Defense has identified the six U.S. service members killed during a refueling mission as part of the Iran war as three members of an Air Force refueling wing and three from the Ohio Air National Guard.

The six crew members were aboard a Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker — a refueling aircraft — when it crashed Thursday in western Iraq, which was considered friendly airspace.

Among the dead were four airmen assigned to the 6th Refueling Wing at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Fla.: Maj. John A. Klinner, 33, of Auburn, Ga.; Capt. Ariana G. Sabino, 31, of Covington, Wash.; and Tech Sgt. Ashley B. Pruitt, 34, of Bardstown, Ky. The three were part of the 99th Air Refueling Squadron based out of Sumpter Smith Joint National Guard Base in Birmingham, Ala.

Shortly after their identities were made public, Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey offered her condolences on X.

“Three of the service members who lost their lives in duty to our nation were stationed at the 117th in Birmingham,” she posted. “They were not only outstanding Airmen. They were our neighbors — our fellow Alabamians. May their service and that of their families never be forgot.

Three others were assigned to the 121st Refueling Wing at Rickenbacker Air National Guard Base in Columbus, Ohio: Capt. Seth R. Kobal, 38, of Mooresville, Ind.; Capt. Curtis J. Angst, 30, of Wilmington, Ohio; and Tech Sgt. Tyler H. Simmons, 28, of Columbus, Ohio.

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine and his wife, Fran DeWine, were mourning the loss of the three airmen who operated out of Ohio and were trained to do work that was “critical in long-distance missions in defense of our nation.”

“Every mission they undertook involved risks that they were willing to take and the courage to put the lives of others above their own,” he wrote in a post on X.

“They served with honor.”

The Pentagon said the crash that led to the service members’ deaths was under investigation. A second Boeing Stratotanker involved in the incident declared an emergency before landing in Tel Aviv with no one on board injured.

Thirteen U.S. service members have died in connection to the Iran war, which began in late February.

Five players who defected from the Iranian women’s soccer team after the team’s final match in the Asian Women’s Cup in Australia were granted asylum Tuesday.

Police assisted the women in leaving their hotel and placed them in a safe house. There, they met with Australian home affairs minister Tony Burke and their humanitarian visas were processed.

At least seven players left the hotel, according to Raha Pourbakhsh, a journalist for Iran International TV. Families of at least three of the five players granted asylum had been threatened, Pourbakhsh told CNN. At least two other players who left the hotel haven’t been located.

According to an X post by Reza Pahlavi, son of the deposed Shah of Iran, the players who “successfully sought refuge in Australia” are Fatemeh Pasandideh, Zahra Ghanbari, Zahra Sarbali, Atefeh Ramazanzadeh, and Mona Hamoudi.

Pahlavi warned in a separate post that the women would face “dire consequences” if they return to Iran.

“I don’t want to begin to imagine how difficult that decision is for each of the individual women, but certainly last night it was joy, it was relief,” Burke said.

Burke said the asylum offer was extended to all 26 players and the coaching staff, but the team left Australia for Iran on Tuesday, Ten Network News reported. It was unclear whether anyone besides the seven players who had left the team hotel had defected.

The team remained silent during the Iranian national anthem before their first Asian Cup match a week ago, which was interpreted as a protest against the regime. They saluted and quietly mouthed words to the anthem before a match against Australia after pushback from the Iranian government and accusations of treason.

Australia assisted the women, who apparently fear persecution at home. Following the United States-Israeli strikes on Iran and retaliation in the Middle East, Iranian state television labeled the soccer team “wartime traitors” and alluded to repercussions upon their return to the country.

Protesters converged near the bus transporting the team after its final match Sunday night, shouting “save our girls” and carrying the Iranian Lion flag used before the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Today, the flag is a symbol of resistance against the current regime.

Iran is now under the rule of Mojtaba Khamenei, a new hardline supreme leader. Khamenei is the son of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the 86-year-old leader who was killed on the first day of U.S. and Israeli attacks.

President Trump, in a statement Monday on Truth Social, said the United States would grant the Iranian players asylum if Australia did not. Trump posted a second time, saying he had spoken to Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and that five players had “already been taken care of” and that “the rest are on their way.”

However, Iranian first Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref objected to the involvement of Trump and Australia, saying: “Iran welcomes its children with open arms and the government guarantees their security. No one has the right to interfere in the family affairs of the Iranian nation and play the role of a nanny who is kinder than a mother.”

Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong told ABC that her country sides with the men and women of Iran.

“For Australians to see [Iranian players] in Australia and the Matildas swapping jerseys with them was, I think, a very evocative moment,” Wong said. “We know this regime has brutally oppressed many Iranian women and we stand in solidarity with the men and women of Iran, particularly Iranian women and girls.”

EXPLAINER

Until Khamenei’s successor is picked, the three-member leadership council, including Ayatollah Alireza Arafi, will lead Iran.

Iranian authorities have announced a three-member interim leadership council to run the government after the killing of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in Israeli-United States strikes.

Iran’s government pledged to avenge the killing on Saturday of Khamenei, who had been in power for nearly four decades. Tehran has since targeted Israeli and US assets located across Gulf countries in retaliatory strikes.

While US President Donald Trump has said he wants a change in Iran’s government, the religious leaders of Iran moved on Sunday to start the process of choosing Khamenei’s successor.

What is the interim leadership council?

Article 111 of Iran’s Constitution authorises a temporary leadership council to assume the supreme leader’s duties until a successor is elected.

That council will consist of President Masoud Pezeshkian; the chief justice of the Supreme Court, Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Ejei; and a member of the Guardian Council, Ayatollah Alireza Arafi.

So who are these three figures who will temporarily run Iran as it reels from war?

Ayatollah Alireza Arafi

Arafi has been a member of the Guardian Council since 2019. Its members are appointed by the supreme leader. It is an Islamic legal authority that vets Iran’s laws and policies to make sure they conform to Islamic principles. It approves election candidates, has veto power over legislation passed by parliament and supervises elections.

Arafi also serves as the deputy chairman of the Assembly of Experts, the body responsible for overseeing the selection of the supreme leader. He leads Friday prayers in Qom, Iran’s most important religious centre, and heads the seminary system, overseeing education for religious leaders nationwide.

Masoud Pezeshkian

Pezeshkian, 71, is a reformist politician and heart surgeon who served in the army during the Iran-Iraq War. He was elected president in the 2024 elections.

He previously served as health minister under President Mohammad Khatami and, after 2005, as a member of parliament representing the northwestern city of Tabriz.

Pezeshkian ran unsuccessfully for president earlier but in 2024 won on a reform-oriented platform and has since navigated economic pressures and regional tensions.

He earlier campaigned on economic stabilisation, easing social restrictions and pursuing constructive engagement abroad while affirming loyalty to the Islamic Republic’s constitutional framework.

Reacting to Khamenei’s assassination, Pezeshkian said in a statement that Iran now considers “it its legitimate duty and right to avenge the perpetrators and masterminds of this historic crime”.

Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Ejei

Mohseni-Ejei is a senior religious leader and has headed the judiciary since Khamenei appointed him to the post in July 2021.

He previously served as intelligence minister from 2005 to 2009 and later as prosecutor-general and first deputy chief justice. He is regarded as a hardline figure aligned with the conservative wing of the government.

In January, when the collapsing rial triggered protests across Iran, Mohseni-Ejei promised “no leniency” towards what he called “rioters”.

Mohseni-Ejei said the US and Israel “openly and explicitly supported the unrest” in the country after Trump called on Iranians to take to the streets.

After Khamenei’s killing, Trump again addressed the Iranian public on Saturday, calling for them to topple the government. “This will probably be your only chance for generations,” he said on Saturday after the US and Israeli attacks on Iran began.

The size of the Los Angeles City Council should increase from 15 to 25 seats, the city’s Charter Reform Commission recommended Thursday.

On a 9-2 vote, the commission backed the council expansion, with supporters saying that smaller ethnic groups, including Black and Asian American and Pacific Islander residents, would be better represented.

The council has consisted of 15 members since 1925, when the city had fewer than 600,000 residents, compared with 3.9 million today.

“I think we owe the people of Los Angeles to walk out of this room saying that we are a commission that’s concerned about equity, that we are a commission that is concerned about Black and AAPI folks who live in this city,” said Commissioner James M. Thomas, who supported the expansion.

The commission also recommended ranked choice voting, where voters list candidates in order of preference, for municipal elections beginning in 2032. The city should also establish a new position, chief financial officer, which would essentially be a title change for what is now called the city administrative officer, the commission recommended.

By April 2, the commission, which has been meeting since last July, must send all its recommendations to the City Council on changes to the city’s governing charter. The council will then vote on which changes will go before city voters as ballot measures in November.

Thursday’s meeting was packed with supporters of City Controller Kenneth Mejia, who feared that the commission would gut his office’s watchdog role.

Among the CFO’s duties would be preparing the city budget, advising the mayor on fiscal policy and producing revenue forecasts — duties currently under the CAO.

Tim Riley, owner of Heavy Water Coffee Shop in Chinatown, said trust in government is at an all-time low and urged the commission to keep the controller’s powers intact.

“Kenneth has been the only form of government that we have felt has represented us as a community,” Riley said.

City Administrative Officer Matt Szabo spoke briefly and confirmed his support for designating the CAO as the city’s chief financial officer, without impacting the controller’s office. The CFO role recommended by the commission does not take away any duties from the controller.

In 1925, each of the 15 City Council members represented about 38,000 residents. Now, each council district has an average of 265,000 residents. If the council grows to 25, each member would represent roughly 159,000 residents.

The commission did not discuss whether the council members’ salaries and office budgets should remain the same, potentially increasing costs for taxpayers.

Nick Caputo, who has been chronicling the charter reform commission‘s progress online, advocated during public comment for the commission to endorse more than 23 seats. The commission had debated for weeks about whether to go as low as 23 seats or as high as 31, settling on 25 as a compromise.

With smaller council districts, Caputo said, residents will be represented by people who know their neighborhoods better.

“I’m happy that they did go to 25,” Caputo said Friday. “I think that would be a tremendous boost for not just representation, but also you’ll get real specialists.”

Commissioner Carla Fuentes noted that three City Council members — Nithya Raman, Ysabel Jurado and Heather Hutt — have publicly supported expanding the council to 25.

“This is a huge moment for the commission,” Chairperson Raymond Meza said after Thursday night’s meeting. “We have been hearing from hundreds of stakeholders, academics, members of the public, other interested parties — and to be able to begin drafting charter language for the City Council to consider is pretty momentous.”

During the debate on ranked choice voting, Commissioner Diego Andrades explained that the city would no longer hold a primary election, which would save money. Instead, all candidates would run in a general election.

Commissioner Christina Sanchez expressed concern that non-English speaking voters and those in under-served communities might have trouble understanding the complexities, which drew ire from the crowd.

“Are you calling us stupid?” two people said.

The commission also passed a recommendation that the city should approve an ordinance for language accessibility and educating residents about the new voting system.

Two days earlier, the commission voted unanimously to bifurcate the duties of the city attorney, currently an elected official who prosecutes misdemeanors and represents the city in civil litigation. Under the commission’s proposal, an appointed city attorney would take over the civil litigation duties, while an elected city prosecutor would handle the misdemeanors.

The decision to bifurcate the position came after consulting with good governance groups, the public and city departments, Andrades said. The current system allows a city attorney eyeing higher office to potentially offer bad advice to a sitting mayor, and conflicts of interest could occur on issues like police-related settlements and misconduct, he said.

Times staff writer Dave Zahniser contributed to this report.

Boycotts. Prebuttals. Rebuttals. Historic guests.

California members of the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives’ approach to President Trump’s State of the Union address Tuesday night are as varied as their politics and their districts.

Before the speech, Sen. Adam Schiff described Trump as an out-of-control and corrupt president who has ignored pressing issues such as climate change in order to enrich himself and punish his political enemies, including by turning the U.S. Department of Justice and the rest of the federal government into a “personal fiefdom,” unbound by the law.

“From the birth of our nation, our founders were obsessed with preventing tyranny and the emergence of another king, another despot. They created checks and balances, separation of powers, an independent judiciary. They understood that the greatest threat to liberty wasn’t foreign invasion, it was the concentration of power in the hands of one person or faction,” Schiff said on the floor of the U.S. Senate. “This president has systematically dismantled these safeguards in his second term.”

Schiff is among the Democrats boycotting the speech. Other Californians include Reps. Robert Garcia (D-Long Beach), Sara Jacobs (D-San Diego), Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D-Los Angeles) and Julia Brownley (D-Westlake Village).

Sen. Alex Padilla, the son of immigrants who was tackled in Los Angeles last year when he attempted to ask Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem a question during the immigration raids, will deliver a Spanish-language response after Trump’s address on television and online.

California has the largest congressional delegation in the nation, so its elected officials frequently have an outsized presence in the nation’s capital. An especially memorable moment was when then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) ripped up a copy of Trump’s speech after the 2020 State of the Union address.

It’s unclear whether California elected officials plan anything as dramatic tonight. But their guests are notable.

Though Garcia is not attending the speech, his guest at the event is Annie Farmer, a woman who was abused at the age of 16 by sexual predators Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell. Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Dublin), who is attending, is bringing Teresa J. Helm — another Epstein abuse survivor.

Others plan to bring constituents from their districts — Rep. Ken Calvert (R-Corona) is bringing Ben Benoit, the Riverside County auditor-controller who is a longtime friend.

Pelosi’s guest is the Rev. Devon Jerome Crawford, senior pastor of historic Third Baptist Church of San Francisco. And some have surprise guests who will be unveiled later tonight.

For casting director Gabriel Domingues, putting together the ensemble of “The Secret Agent” meant materializing characters inspired by director Kleber Mendonça Filho’s recollections.

“It’s not that he was showing us a picture and saying, ‘They must look like this.’ They were ideas of memories that could change,” Domingues says of the Brazilian period thriller about a father on the run during an interview at The Times newsroom. One of the nominees for this year’s inaugural Academy Award for casting, Domingues appreciates how politically charged Mendonça Filho’s films are. His narratives are often fertile ground for an eclectic mix of performers.

And there are no throwaway roles in “The Secret Agent”: “Even the small characters represent ideas about Brazilian life and its contradictions,” Domingues adds.

To honor his large cast, a “panorama” of his country’s people, Mendonça Filho includes a montage at the end of the film in which each actor is acknowledged individually. The director thinks of this as the cinematic equivalent of a curtain call or final bow at the end of a stage production.

“Gabriel tries to find an interesting mix of experienced actors and people that we can discover,” says producer Emilie Lesclaux about Domingues, with whom she’s worked on multiple projects. He first collaborated with Mendonça Filho and Lesclaux on “Aquarius” as a casting assistant.

Domingues believes working on “Aquarius” was instrumental in developing his casting method, which involves searching for the least obvious option to cast the character. 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.

Gabriel Leone as Bobbi/Abdias  (Victor Juca)

Hermila Guedes as Claudia  (Victor Juca)

Luciano Chirolli as Henrique Ghirotti  (Victor Juca)

Roberio Diogenes as Euclides Cavalcanti  (Victor Juca)

Tânia Maria as Dona Sebastiana  (Victor Juca)

Joalisson Cunha as Frentista  (Victor Juca)

Isabel Zuaa as Tereza Victoria  (Victor Juca)

Kaiony Venancio as Vilmar  (Victor Juca)

That’s not to say the entire cast was discovered. Mendonça Filho had lead Wagner Moura in mind from the outset, while others sprung to mind as he wrote the screenplay: Maria Fernanda Cândido, a famous soap opera actor, as a crucial ally to Moura’s character; and the late Udo Kier, who had previously appeared in the director’s blood-soaked film “Bacurau,” as a German Jewish immigrant who lived through World War II.

The filmmaker admits that envisioning parts with a specific person in mind is “dangerous.” “I can write a character thinking of you, but I never know if you will want to make the film,” says Mendonça Filho. “And I grow attached to the image.”

Among the other supporting roles, the most challenging to cast, the team agrees, was that of Euclides, the sleazy police chief. Though the character is “repulsive,” it also required an edge of charisma to make him more emotionally layered. Eventually, they came across actor Robério Diógenes. “Robério has studied the clown art in the theater, and he’s a very funny guy, so he adds a component of ridiculousness to this character,” Domingues says.

For Vilmar, an impoverished man hired as a subcontractor for a murder, Mendonça Filho had in mind a real-life contract killer he’d seen in a 1970s TV program. The actor had to convey a certain ambiguity not often afforded to people of a lower social class. There’s no doubt Vilmar is acting out of necessity, but he is not entirely without agency since he negotiates his payment. Domingues found the ideal embodiment of this complex character in Kaiony Venâncio, an actor from the city of Natal who had mostly worked in short films.

Then there’s the scene-stealing Tânia Maria, who plays the endearing, chain-smoking Dona Sebastiana. The 79-year-old talent first appeared in “Bacurau” as an extra. “I just could not help thinking of her,” says Mendonça Filho about casting her in his latest film. “I even pre-ad-libbed many of her lines knowing what she might say.”

Before finding her way onto the screen, Tânia Maria has long made a living as an artisan handcrafting rugs. “I never thought about being an actress. I only thought about sewing,” she says with an endearing smile. “All of this came as a surprise.”

Igor de Araujo as Sergio  (Victor Juca)

Joao Vitor Silva as Haroldo  (Victor Juca)

Robson Andrade as Clovis  (Victor Juca)

Maria Fernanda Candido as Elza/Sara Gerber  (Victor Juca)

Alice Carvalho as Fatima  (Victor Juca)

Thomas Aquino as Valdemar  (Victor Juca)

Licinio Januario as Antonio  (Victor Juca)

Udo Kier as Hans  (Victor Juca)

And though she’s still sewing, her acting prospects look bright. She’s already appeared in another film, “Yellow Cake,” premiering at the Berlin International Film Festival this month. That Tânia Maria also recently starred in humorous local commercials for Burger King and Heineken is proof of her current status in Brazilian pop culture — as are the Dona Sebastiana costumes that have become popular during this year’s Carnival.

“I can’t go out on the street without people stopping me. They ask me for autographs, for photos, they want to talk to me, they ask me questions,” she says in Portuguese via an interpreter while on a video call from her home. “I make time for everyone, and I’m enjoying all of it.”

Undaunted by what she calls the most challenging aspect of acting — memorizing the lines — Tânia Maria is eager to continue exploring this unexpected new facet. “I don’t want to stop because I’m not old! I’m waiting for more invitations to move forward in acting,” she says.

The success many of the actors have found thanks to “The Secret Agent” very much pleases the filmmakers, but it also has a major downside.

“That’s all that we want for the people that we work with, that the film is good for them and their career,” says Lesclaux. “But for us, it also makes things more complicated for the next film because we will want to work with them, and they might not be available.”