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A NUMBER of major attractions are set to shut early tomorrow, or close entirely, as Brits brace for the fifth heatwave of the year.

The mercury is set to rise to highs of 38C tomorrow, with very hot conditions anticipated for England and Wales.

Landmarks across England are closing early tomorrow in order to look after the wellbeing of staff and visitors.

This includes Britain’s largest zoo, Whipsnade Zoo in Bedfordshire, which spans over 600 acres and welcomes nearly one million annual visitors.

Whipsnade, alongside London Zoo in Regent’s Park, are both shutting two hours earlier at 4pm, in comparison to its regular 6pm closing time.

The decision hopes to “help support the wellbeing of our animals, visitors and staff during the hottest part of the afternoon”, according to the two major attractions.

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Brits are set to bask in 38C highs tomorrow afternoon, with rare amber “extreme heat” warnings in place for London, parts of the South East, East Midlands, East of England, West Midlands and South Yorkshire.

This heat has further seen popular museums such as the Young V&A, a children’s museum in Bethnal Green, close entirely, as well as the Sir John Soane’s Museum in Holborn closing at 1pm.

The Old Royal Naval College in Greenwich will shut both its Painted Hall and Chapel tomorrow as a result of heatwave warnings in place for the capital.

London’s free open water lido, The Royal Docks Summer Splash on the banks of the Thames, has said on its Facebook page that they “expect” to shut completely tomorrow.

In Twickenham, the gothic-style Strawberry Hill House & Garden will also close in its entirety tomorrow “due to extreme heat warnings”.

Attractions that are set to close tomorrow are expected to reopen as usual on Friday (August 14) morning.

Louise Goodridge went to Butlin’s with her pal, only for that friendship trip to end with a blazing row. A sad direction for the holiday to go in, but one that would lead Louise to love

The Amalfi Coast. Paris. Venice. Butlin’s.

It’s at the last of these romantic places that Louise Goodridge met the love of her life.

The now 59-year-old went to the resort with her pal, only for that friendship trip to end with a blazing row. A sad direction for the holiday to go in, but one that would lead Louise to love.

Louise decided to head to the Minehead holiday camp through Gingerbread, which organises activities for single parents, including short breaks.

“I’d originally gone down with a friend and I hadn’t noticed him at first!” Louise said of the man who would soon take her breath away.

“It’s a really stupid story, but I had an argument over a loaf of bread with my friend. She ended up leaving me at Butlins and drove off in her car. I’d given her fuel money and everything.”

In the wake of the fallout, Louise was looking for someone to give her a lift to her home in Watford. Enter Gary, who, as luck would have it, lived ten miles away in Amersham.

“So I got left alone, with no way of getting back to Watford, which is where I was living. I had to go to the group and say, ‘Do you think anyone could give me a lift back?’ And that’s when Gary volunteered to drive me. He invited me out afterwards for a cup of tea and a piece of cake whilst we were on this trip out,” Louise explained.

“We’ve not been separated since that day.”

For the single mum, it wasn’t Gary’s appearance that initially won her over.

“I can’t say I really liked the look of him, but I liked his personality! I’m an honest person. He was funny, and we had a lot in common, so we had lots to talk about,” she said.

Louise knew she really liked Gary after their first date, on which they’d spent an entire night not doing anything other than talking and then singing through the Simon and Garfunkel catalogue. Just a handful of weeks later and they were living together.

“This year we will have been together for 34 years and we got married on our first anniversary of meeting. So we met on the 24 October 1991, and we got married on the 24 October 1992,” Louise added.

While the couple were sure of one another, others close to them weren’t so convinced.

“My mum wasn’t a huge fan of Gary. He was 10 years older. I was only 25 then, so I was 25 years old and he was 34. My grandparents also didn’t like him either. My friends were alright about it. Gary’s family were much more tolerant than mine,” Louise said.

Gary has a quicker summary of their romance.

“Well, it was a case of, ‘Oh, she looks alright.’ She looked slightly rattled on the day and I then invited her out for a cup of tea and a piece of cake. And that was it,” he said.

As to why she chose Butlin’s, Louise said: “It was cheap, and as a single parent on benefits, there’s no way I could have afforded to go on a big holiday. It was a no brainer really.”

The White House has formally registered its opposition to a move by Congress to block work on the nuclear-powered Trump class battleship unless the U.S. Navy provides assurances that key weapon systems are “sufficiently mature.” The House Armed Services Committee has already demanded a report from the Secretary of the Navy outlining the steps the service is taking to ensure the battleship program won’t exacerbate existing construction delays on aircraft carriers and submarines.

Earlier this week, the White House’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB) issued a Statement of Administration Policy regarding the latest draft of the annual defense policy bill, or National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), for Fiscal Year 2027 that is now making its way through the House of Representatives. The document offers support for and opposition to various sections of the proposed legislation, which is also known as H.R. 8800.

“The Administration appreciates that H.R. 8800 would provide authorization of the 18 ships requested in the Budget. These ships are a direct commitment to restoring America’s maritime dominance and maritime industrial base,” OMB’s statement, which was published on July 21, declares. “In addition, the Administration appreciates the bill’s support of the Battleship program by fully authorizing the $1 billion in advance procurement necessary to accelerate the delivery to the Fleet.”

“However, the Administration opposes the bill’s excessive reporting requirements in section 131 regarding the Administration’s priority Battleship program,” it continues. “The Administration strongly opposes any reporting requirements that delay the Battleship program without supporting national security requirements.”

On July 21, USNI News also reported that OMB was pressing members of Congress to include funding to start work on the first Trump class battleship in a proposed temporary spending bill, or Continuing Resolution. A temporary funding package could be needed if legislators cannot pass a more formal budget by September 30, when the current fiscal year ends.

When it comes to Section 131 of H.R. 8800, the provision is brief, but pointed. At the time of writing, it reads, in full:

“The Secretary of the Navy may not enter into a contract or other agreement that includes a scope of work for the construction of the lead ship of the Battleship program until the date on which the Secretary certifies to the congressional defense committees that the weapon systems planned for inclusion in such lead ship are at a sufficiently mature technology readiness level.”

The section does not name any particular weapon systems or define what level of technological readiness would be deemed sufficient. To date, the Navy has described the planned Trump class battleship as a 35,000-ton-displacement warship with a diverse array of weapons. The ship is set to be able to fire nuclear and conventional missiles, including hypersonic types, from several very large Vertical Launch System (VLS) arrays. It will also have an electromagnetic railgun, a pair of traditional 5-inch naval guns, various laser directed energy weapons, and additional weapon systems for close-in defense.

TWZ previously reported on this provision, which has been in the proposed legislation since at least May. As we wrote in the past:

“In terms of technological maturity, the railgun presents particular questions. Between 2005 and 2021, the Navy had an active railgun program. Despite promising developments, plans for an at-sea test were repeatedly pushed back before the entire effort was shelved. Major technical hurdles were cited as a key factor in that decision. The railgun itself was effectively placed in storage at White Sands Missile Range (WSMR) in New Mexico.“

“However, it emerged earlier this year that the Navy had conducted a new round of testing of the railgun at WSMR in February 2025. Whether the Navy has any plans to pick up where it left off with this prototype design, which was developed by BAE Systems, or pursue a new one remains unclear. General Atomics, which previously supported U.S. Army railgun efforts, has publicly expressed interest in being involved in arming the Trump class.”

“While the Navy has been very active in developing and fielding laser directed energy weapons, this is another area where the service has faced continued challenges in expanding their operational use. The plans for the Trump class specifically call for a 300-kilowatt-class laser, which is far more powerful than any of the designs the Navy has integrated on its warships to date. The service currently has eight Arleigh Burke class destroyers with the Optical Dazzling Interdictor, Navy (ODIN), as well as another one of those warships with the High Energy Laser with Integrated Optical-dazzler and Surveillance (HELIOS). HELIOS is a 60-kilowatt-class design, though there has been talk about scaling up its power rating to 150 kilowatts. ODIN’s power rating does not appear to be officially confirmed, but it is understood to be significantly lower than that of HELIOS. You can read more about all of this here.”

“The Intermediate Range Conventional Prompt Strike (IRCPS) hypersonic missile, another key component of the future Trump class arsenal, is also still in development. The first test launch from a warship, the stealth destroyer USS Zumwalt, is expected to come next year. IRCPS is the Navy half of a joint program with the U.S. Army, which is working to field a land-based version of the same missile. The Army refers to its complete weapon system as the Dark Eagle. The Army had suffered significant setbacks in the past with the Dark Eagle, but the service had blamed those issues on the launcher rather than the missile.”

For its part, OMB’s July 21 statement does not respond to any particular concerns that might be raised by Section 131, either.

Section 131 represents just one small portion of the questions, concerns, and criticism that members of Congress have leveled at the Trump class battleship program. The first one of these ships, currently set to be named the USS Defiant, has an estimated price tag of $17 billion. This would make the vessel more expensive than each of the next three Ford class aircraft carriers. The future USS Defiant is also not currently expected to enter service until 2036. The Navy has already outlined plans to order 14 more of these battleships between Fiscal Years 2029 and 2055, as well.

With this in mind, as noted, the House Armed Services Committee has separately asked for a report from the Secretary of the Navy, to be delivered no later than March 1, 2027, on the potential industrial impacts. A particular issue is the strain that work on the Trump class could have on America’s limited nuclear shipbuilding enterprise. Currently, there are only two U.S. shipyards qualified to build nuclear-powered vessels and only one supplier of naval reactors. Currently, the only nuclear-powered ships in the Navy are aircraft carriers and submarines. The service has not operated a nuclear-powered surface combatant in decades, and it has been even longer since one was built in the United States.

TWZ has repeatedly raised questions about the basic industrial capacity to support the battleship program since it was first rolled out to the public in December 2025. It is worth noting here that third, fourth, and fifth Ford class carriers now under construction – the future USS Enterprise (CVN-80), USS Doris Miller (CVN-81), and USS William J. Clinton (CVN-82) – have all suffered delays. Concerns are also regularly voiced about potential setbacks in the construction of new Virginia class and Columbia class submarines. Navy officials have been saying for years now that there is little, if any, margin left in the Columbia class delivery timeline, which is a critical matter of national security. It is essential for those boats to be delivered on a tight schedule to ensure there is no gap in the ability of the leg of America’s nuclear triad to meet operational requirements.

The battleship effort is of particular significance to President Donald Trump and has been presented as a signature program for his administration. At the same time, the schedule that has been laid out so far means that major decisions about how to proceed in acquiring these ships, if at all, will run into the next administration. Any delays will only push that timeline further to the right at a time when there are already major competing priorities for defense spending. Some members of Congress have openly questioned whether the battleship effort is the best use of available resources already.

The annual NDAA is still far from being finalized. The House’s version will need to be reconciled with the one being advanced in the Senate before the bill can be put to a vote, let alone sent to Trump’s desk to be signed into law (or vetoed). This is a process typically marked by lengthy negotiations, and Section 131, as well as other provisions, could change in the future or be removed entirely.

Whether or not a larger political fight around the Trump class battleship emerges remains to be seen. However, OMB has now made clear publicly that the administration is against the inclusion of the guardrails around the program that the current version of H.R. 8800 proposes to establish.

Contact the author: joe@twz.com

MUNICH, Germany — Nicholas Brownlee had just fallen in love with opera and was eager to see if his emerging bass-baritone voice could handle Richard Wagner’s music. It did not go well.

“I kept reading how you have to wait to sing this big repertoire,” Brownlee said. But there was one bit of Wagner — Wolfram’s “Song to the Evening Star” from “Tannhäuser” — that’s “a little bit lighter. I figured it was more appropriate.”

So he brought it to his teacher, Thomas Rowell, at the University of South Alabama and asked what he thought.

“I just laughed at him and told him to go away,” Rowell recalled. “He knew that big voice was there, and he was so eager to try on the clothes, but they didn’t fit for a while. It was still a very young instrument.”

Reminded of that exchange nearly 20 years later, Brownlee smiles. “I was a bit ambitious,” he said. “But this was just me.”

Now that ambition — what he calls “a fire in my belly that burns brighter every day,” — has helped propel Brownlee to the very top of his profession at age 37. And he’s done it by singing a lot of Wagner.

Brownlee recently made his debut as Wotan, embattled king of the gods, in “Die Walküre” at the Bavarian State Opera House, part two of a complete “Ring” cycle directed by Tobias Kratzer. He had previously sung the role in “Das Rheingold,” the opera that opens the cycle.

The critics reached for superlatives. “A heroic baritone straight out of a textbook,” wrote Markus Thiel in Merkur, “with a powerful, resonant voice, a force of nature.” Carlota Moseguí in Platea Magazine praised his voice and said Brownlee “possesses all the qualities to become the definitive Wotan of his generation.”

Next, Brownlee heads to the Wagner shrine in Bayreuth, Germany, where he will star as the title character in “Der Fliegende Holländer” (“The Flying Dutchman.”) And his upcoming season is one Wotan after another.

“It’ll be ‘Siegfried’ time in Munich, then ‘Walküre’ time in Buenos Aires, then ‘Rheingold’ time in Barcelona,” he said. Add to that two of the “Ring” operas in Frankfurt and then two complete cycles next summer back in Munich.

“It’s a once-in-a-lifetime thing to have a student who goes that far, especially from a small regional state university like ours,” said Rowell, who remains close friends with Brownlee and officiated his wedding to mezzo-soprano Jennifer Feinstein. “I have to pinch myself. I’m enjoying it vicariously.”

Does Brownlee worry at all about damaging his voice from so much heavy singing?

“I don’t think you’re supposed to say this, but no, not really,” he replied. “We like to put this big stamp on Wagner and say ‘Be Careful!’” But he said he finds the demands of each opera different enough to help him avoid burnout.

Still, he promises that his roles the following season will be more varied, including a return to one of his favorites — Baron Scarpia in Puccini’s “Tosca.” And down the road are two Verdi roles — the villainous Iago in “Otello” and the comic Falstaff.

Of the latter, he said, “I want to flex a different muscle. I talk fast, I’m a bubbly, fun guy, but what I do on stage is so serious all the time. Boy it would be fun to just be a jolly fat guy!”

Just how did a boy from a working-class family in a small town outside Mobile, Ala., become one of a handful of go-to singers in the world for these demanding roles?

His first success as a vocalist actually came as the youngest grandchild in a large extended family, performing Conway Twitty imitations to grab attention. Classical music had to wait until he fell under the spell of his high school choral director.

When he went to college, he planned to study conducting, but Rowell heard him sing and cajoled him into joining the Mobile Opera chorus.

“I went in the first day and I hated it,” Brownlee recalled. “I said, this is in Italian, who cares? That’s for stuffy elite people, not for us blue-collar fellas.”

Still, his curiosity made him determined to figure out why some people loved the art form. So he sat by the side of the stage one night to watch the emotional final scene of Verdi’s “La Traviata,” when the heroine dies after being reunited with her lover.

“When she said, ‘O, gioia!’ and she fell into his arms, and now she’s dead, Alfredo’s weeping over her, and Germont is feeling half-responsible, I was weeping uncontrollably,” he said. “And I didn’t even know what they were saying.”

That’s when he started taking voice lessons, and from there followed years of study and apprenticeships both in the U.S. and later in Germany. Along the way he competed twice in the Metropolitan Opera’s National Council Auditions.

The first time, still in his early 20s, he made it to the semifinals in New York. “I did not go on to the finals, which was absolutely correct,” he said. “Failure is a great lesson.” (Coincidentally, one of the winners that year was Ryan Speedo Green, who performed Wotan in May at Walt Disney Hall and will bein the Met’s upcoming “Ring” cycle.)

Brownlee returned in 2015, and this time he took home one of the top prizes. Other awards have followed, including in 2025, best male singer at the International Opera Awards and the Richard Tucker Award for most promising American singer.

Yet this American singer is still barely known to most opera audiences in his native country. Brownlee’s career has so far been largely in Germany, where he and Feinstein are raising their two daughters and are currently applying for dual citizenship.

“I can perform anywhere in Europe and be home in two hours to see my girls,” he said. “In America that’s just not something you can do.”

He may be rooted in Europe for now, but major U.S. houses are beckoning with increasing urgency.

When he appeared at Chicago’s Lyric Opera this past spring as the prophet Jochanaan in Richard Strauss’ “Salome,” general director John Mangum called his performance “absolutely thrilling.” He said Brownlee is “definitely going be at the top of our list” as the company charts its future Wagner performances.

And Peter Gelb, the Met’s general manager, who heard him sing a major role for the first time during the Munich run of “Walküre,” said “I was blown away. … We’ll definitely be offering him big roles at the Met in upcoming seasons.”

Silverman writes for the Associated Press.

A punishing heatwave affected many parts of the country during the last week of the month.

Last month was provisionally the warmest June in England since records began, as well as the second-warmest for the United Kingdom, according to figures published by the country’s Met Office.

Rare extreme heat warnings were issued for several days last month, with “exceptionally warm overnight temperatures”, the weather agency said on Wednesday.

England registered an average temperature of 17.1C (62.78 degrees Fahrenheit) last month – the highest since records began in 1884.

“The exceptional warmth was driven by an intense and record-breaking heatwave at the end of the month,” the Met Office said in a statement.

The previous record of 16.9C (62.4F) was set in June 2025, nearly 3C (5.4F) above the long-term average. It means England’s top three warmest Junes since data began in 1884 have all occurred this decade, with the third being in 2023.

A punishing heatwave affected many parts of the country during the last week of the month, with temperatures topping 30C (86F) at some places in the UK for seven days in a row from June 21-27.

A peak of 37.7C (99.86F) was provisionally reached at Lingwood in Norfolk on June 26 – the highest maximum temperature ever recorded for the month.

This was more than 2C higher (3.6F) than the previous June record of 35.6C (96.08F), set in 1957 at Camden Square in London and equalled in 1976 at Mayflower Park in Southampton.

Last month also saw a provisional new June record for the highest overnight minimum, with temperatures at Cardiff Bute Park dropping no lower than 23.5C (74.3F) on June 25.

More than 1,000 schools and nurseries were closed during the heatwave, and there was disruption to public transport with overhead wires and signalling strained because of the heat.

Critics felt the country was ill-prepared to deal with the sweltering heat. Climate experts have urged the UK government to adapt its infrastructure to warming summers, with a surge in demand for fans and air conditioners, which remain rare in British homes.

The heatwave has also affected many countries in Europe, including France, Germany, Slovakia, Serbia, Croatia, Italy, Austria and western Ukraine, with more than 1,000 deaths linked to the scorching heat reported in France alone.

A group of scientists blamed climate change for the dangerous weather blazing across Europe. In a report by the World Weather Attribution, experts warned that the phasing out of fossil fuels is essential to reverse the extreme weather trend.

NEW wave icon Gary Numan has opened up about getting together with his superfan wife – and how it might be ‘illegal’ now.

The Cars singer, 68 – who has been married to Gemma O’Neill, 58, for nearly three decades – met his future spouse in an unconventional way.

The singer first ran into superfan Gemma at an event when he was a 22-year-old artist and she was a young admirer.

Six years later, he posed for a picture with the then 18-year-old and knew to pen it straight to “Gemma”.

Following the sudden loss of O’Neill’s mum, the familiar fan vanished from the crowd at his gigs.

Worried about her, Numan managed to get her number through his fan club to ring her up and make sure she was ok.

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“I used the fan club to get her phone number.

“That’s how I attracted her, which I think is illegal now,” he told The Times.

The star continued: “I rang her up and said, ‘Hello, it’s me,’ and she put the phone down – she thought it was somebody playing a cruel trick.”

He called again and was made to prove his identity.

Numan invited her along for a drive for a radio interview – where they had their first date.

He said: “I took her to a Little Chef because I’m very down to earth.

“I don’t do all that flash, rich man, pop star stuff.”

Gary and Gemma didn’t start their relationship until she was in her twenties.

In 1997, Gary married superfan Gemma from Sidcup and they share three daughters; Raven, 23, Persia, 21, and 19-year-old Echo.

His daughter Persia also added vocals to his song My Name Is Ruin.

Numan revealed that Gemma once told a career advisor: “I won’t need a job. I’m going to marry Gary Numan.”

Gary previously said of their relationship: “This is going to sound corny, given that it’s 30 years and four days since our first date, but I miss her even when she’s in a different part of the house.

“She’s everything I am not – which is most things, really.”

The singer, songwriter – who has an estimated net worth of around £5.5 million – toured last year to celebrate the 45th anniversary of his seminal album Telekon.

Sadly, he suffered the traumatic loss of his beloved younger brother John just after his show in Leeds – which he called the ‘worst news of my life’.

June 19 (UPI) — Cuba’s parliament approved a package of 174 economic reforms in just one week, marking the most significant shift in government policy in at least 15 years. Driven by President Miguel Díaz-Canel in response to the country’s deepening economic crisis and mounting pressure from the United States, the plan approved Thursday opens the door to private capital and reshapes the rules governing the island’s economy.

Economists and analysts, however, warned that the real impact of the measures will depend on their implementation and on broader institutional changes that remain absent from the government’s plans.

Cuban economist Alfie Ulloa, a professor at the University of Chile’s Law School, told UPI the reforms represent a significant change in official rhetoric but questioned whether they will translate into meaningful change.

“They are a profound adjustment in discourse and, if implemented, would represent an important adjustment to the model. But for now they are nothing more than another declaration like many made in the past. I do not believe they will be implemented, nor that they will truly free the private sector,” Ulloa said.

The package includes 23 areas of transformation and more than 170 measures aimed at loosening state control over the economy. Among the most significant are allowing direct foreign investment in small and medium-sized private businesses, reviewing activities currently prohibited to the private sector, authorizing direct imports and exports by both state and non-state actors, granting greater autonomy to enterprises and gradually replacing broad subsidies with targeted assistance for vulnerable populations.

The reforms also eliminate broad price controls, a policy Díaz-Canel acknowledged had failed after years of inflation, shortages and expansion of the informal market.

While presenting the plan, the president admitted that part of the country’s current crisis stems from longstanding internal problems.

“There are obstacles that do not come from abroad or from the embargo. There is bureaucracy, delays, regulations that prevent people from producing and decisions that we have postponed,” Díaz-Canel said.

The proposal amounts to an implicit acknowledgment of economic policy failures that Cuban authorities had largely attributed to the U.S. embargo for decades. Analysts noted that several of the measures had been debated previously and rejected by the country’s communist leadership.

Many of the initiatives mirror reforms introduced decades ago in China and Vietnam, although they arrive as Cuba faces one of its worst economic crises since the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Cuban economist Mauricio de Miranda, a professor at the Pontifical Xavierian University in Cali, Colombia, argued in social media posts that the program points toward a transition from bureaucratic socialism to a form of capitalism controlled by political elites.

“It will become the fast track for relatives and close associates of those in power to become shareholders without anyone knowing where their capital came from,” he warned.

De Miranda said Cuba will inevitably need to privatize part of its state-owned assets to attract investment and rebuild its struggling economy. However, he argued that the process lacks the institutional safeguards needed to prevent wealth from being concentrated among groups close to the government.

“Something like this would require a capital market with clear rules, transparency and equal opportunity,” he said.

Questions about legal protections for investors have also emerged as a central criticism.

“None. Cuba is not a state governed by the rule of law. Citizens are completely defenseless before the state,” Ulloa said when asked about protections for potential investors.

He added that investing in Cuba remains highly risky because government power faces few constraints and judicial institutions lack independence.

Cuban economist Pedro Monreal also criticized the process, questioning the secrecy surrounding the package in a lengthy post on X.

“It should not be surprising that the first act of the ‘transformation proposals’ show has reaffirmed public frustration over the secrecy of those proposals,” Monreal wrote.

Monreal also pointed to the failure of the so-called “Monetary Reorganization Task,” a 2021 reform that eliminated the country’s dual-currency system but became associated with surging inflation and declining purchasing power. He argued that experience severely undermines the credibility of the new package.

Despite the skepticism, several specialists acknowledged that some measures could help address urgent problems if fully implemented.

Ulloa said a genuine opening to private investment, particularly from Cubans living abroad, could help revive agriculture, services and food production. He cautioned, however, that critical sectors such as energy, infrastructure, transportation and banking require investment levels that are unlikely to materialize in the near term.

The Cuban government said Thursday that former President Raúl Castro explicitly endorsed the reforms and expressed full support for the package, describing it as what “best serves the Revolution today.”

For critics, that endorsement highlights one of the process’ central contradictions.

The measures acknowledge problems that independent economists have identified for years, yet leave intact the political structure that many blame for creating the crisis.

“The most important point from my perspective is that we are not talking about deep reforms within a new globalized economy. We are simply talking about removing obstacles,” Manuel Cuesta Morúa, vice president of the Council for Democratic Transition in Cuba, told Radio Martí.

He said the reforms arrive too late because Cuba’s economy now operates under extensive U.S. sanctions.

According to Cuesta Morúa, progress will require political and diplomatic negotiations to make the measures viable. He argued that the package merely liberalizes some restrictions but does not yet constitute a genuine economic reform program.

He added that authorities must first address citizens’ immediate needs, create confidence through legal certainty and open Cuban society in broader ways.

Analysts agree that the central question is whether this latest reform effort will produce tangible change or join a long list of initiatives that were announced and later postponed.

Regarding the matter, Vice President JD Vance said, “Right now, we are talking with the Cuban government about how they might change their behavior to achieve that. We’ll see what they do and, obviously, if they do one thing, we’ll do another. If they make smart decisions, we’re going to have a much better relationship with that island.”

Just hours later, details of the measures emerged. For now, however, the White House has remained silent.

A couple who booked a trip to Barcelona shared their ‘expectations’ of the city, but soon discovered the ‘reality’ was vastly different from what they’d imagined

Barcelona, the capital of Catalonia in northeastern parts of Spain, is a popular for Brits looking for a weekend break or a summer escape, thanks to its mix of buzzing city life, Mediterranean coastline, and world-famous architecture. And it’s not only Brits who are drawn to the Spanish city, as it welcomed around 16 million tourists last year alone, a 2.9 per cent rise from 2024.

But officials in the city have warned that tourism levels have resulted in residents being priced out due to the number of homes being converted into holiday lets. In a bid to tackle the problem, the city ramped up its tourism tax in April 2026, with a charge of up to £10.91 (€12.50) per night for holiday rentals, up from £5.45 (€6.25) previously.

Yet this doesn’t appear to have deterred visitors, as countless holidaymakers regularly flock to social media platforms like TikTok to share their experiences in Barcelona.

But many have discovered it’s worlds apart from what they might have imagined. Among them are Lara and Laurens, a Dutch couple who chronicle their travels on TikTok.

In a recent clip, they revealed how their dream vision of Barcelona had been ‘ruined’ because of the sheer amount of roadworks under way during their stay.

The pair kicked off by outlining their ‘expectations’ for the trip. This included soaking up the stunning architecture across the city, enjoying sangrias, and people-watching while strolling along the lively streets.

And Lara went on to reveal the ‘reality’ of a trip to Barcelona, which featured an abundance of roadworks, building sites, and makeshift pedestrian routes flanked by wire fencing, all making way for construction projects taking place on the pavements and roads.

“Would you still visit Barcelona right now?” Lara and Laurens asked viewers in the caption of the video.

Lara wasn’t alone in her observations either, as viewers quickly descended on the comments section to share their own experiences of visiting the beloved Spanish city. “This! And every single water fountain was turned off when we went,” one person shared.

A second viewer chimed in: “Yep! I was there recently and tons of construction going on!” Another added: “Pffff no nice. I hope you can enjoy your travel.”

Not everyone agreed, however, with one person pointing out: “That’s ONE street.” Another echoed the sentiment, writing: “It’s just one street by the market! Everything else is great!”

“I’m here right now. It’s a beautiful city. All cities have construction here and there,” one further commenter remarked.

“How dare cities upgrade their infrastructure while you’re on vacation!” someone else wrote.

Lara was quick to respond, saying: “Haha no it’s great that they’re doing it. It was just a lot on the same time. Still love Barcelona.”

Nick Pasqual, the “How I Met Your Mother” actor who was found guilty of attempted murder of his ex-girlfriend last month, faces new legal fire.

Makeup artist Allie Shehorn, Pasqual’s ex-girlfriend, on Tuesday sued the actor for sexual battery, assault and negligence, among other counts, according to a lawsuit submitted in Los Angeles County Superior Court. The 17-page complaint echoes details about the May 2024 stabbing that led to Pasqual’s arrest two years ago and his attempted murder conviction. Pasqual was also convicted of injuring a spouse or partner, first-degree burglary and rape.

Legal representatives for Pasqual did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

According to the lawsuit, Shehorn and Pasqual began dating in 2023 and the actor “engaged in a continuing pattern of controlling, coercive, threatening and physically violent conduct” throughout their relationship. Shehorn alleges Pasqual “used force, threats, coercion and physical retraint” to rape and sexually assault her in April 2024. Pasqual also allegedly continued to engage in “escalating threatening” behavior, the lawsuit said.

The lawsuit resurfaces allegations that Pasqual unlawfully entered Shehorn’s home in Sunland a month after he raped her and stabbed her with a knife more than 20 times, “intending to kill her.” The Times previously reported that Shehorn’s friend Christine White found the makeup artist — who filed a restraining order against her former partner — lying in a pool of blood and that Shehorn underwent emergency surgery and remained in the ICU for several days.

Pasqual was arrested May 31, 2024, at a border checkpoint in Sierra Blanca, Texas. The actor, who met Shehorn on the set of Zack Snyder’s “Rebel Moon,” was convicted after a jury trial and will be sentenced on June 2. He could face a maximum sentence of life in state prison.

Shehorn is also suing Pasqual for gender violence, intentional infliction of emotional distress and violation of the Ralph Civil Rights Act. She seeks an unspecified amount in damages, including medical expenses and lost wages.

Time staff writer Cerys Davies and former Times staff writer Nathan Solis contributed to this report.