ANOTHER airline has announced that it will have free Wi-Fi on board its planes from this week.
Emirates, which was voted by Sun readers as their favourite airline of year, in the Sun Travel Awards 2025, will soon feature Starlink on board its planes.
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Emirates is adding free Starlink Wi-Fi to its flightsCredit: Getty
Starlink Wi-Fi is beamed down toEarthfrom satellites and will make in-flight internet up to 50 times faster than normal.
This means it will allow passengers on board Emirates flights to stream content, game, make calls, work and browse social media.
The airline will introduce the Wi-Fi on 232 of its planes, which is the airline’s entire in-service fleet.
In fact, the first Emirates flight with Starlink is set to take off later this week, with the airline then fitting out around 14 aircraft per month.
Initially, Emirates’ Boeing 777 will be the first aircraft in the fleet to get Starlink and roll-out is expected to be complete by mid-2027.
The airline is then aiming to install Starlink beginning on the Airbus A380 fleet in February next year.
Emirates is also set to make live TV available via Starlink, which will initially be on personal devices before launching on seatback screens from late December 2025.
The Starlink Wi-Fi services will be free across all Emirates flights, no matter what cabin you are in.
Access requires one click and there is no payment or membership needed for using Starlink.
Sir Tim Clark, President Emirates Airline said: “We’re introducing the world’s fastest Wi-Fi, elevating what passengers can expect from in-flight connectivity, like seamless productivity, real-time communication with loved ones, and uninterrupted connection to their digital lives.
“But that’s just one piece of the transformation happening across our fleet.
“Starlink is being installed in tandem with the most ambitious cabin refurbishment programme in aviation including brand new Premium Economy cabins, an enhanced Business Class, refreshed First Class, expanded and upgraded entertainment system technologies, and now, industry-leading connectivity.”
Chad Gibbs, VP of Starlink Business Operations, SpaceX, said: “With Starlink onboard your Emirates flight, you’ll be able to stream, game, and have seamless video calls, just as you can do on the ground.
“We’re excited to transform Emirates’ travel experience and support the rapid installation of Starlink while maintaining focus on delivering overall quality of service.”
Emirates isn’t the first airline to introduce Starlink on its flights.
The first flight with Starlink installed onboard will take off later this weekCredit: Alamy
At the beginning of this month, British Airways also confirmed it would be launching Starlink on board all its planes next year.
BA boss Sean Doyle, British Airways said: “Launching Starlink on both our long-haul and short-haul aircraft is game-changing for us and our customers, elevating their experience on board our flights by offering them seamless connectivity from gate to gate.
“Especially on short-haul, this will really differentiate us from our competitors.”
Back in March, United Airlines also confirmed that they would be adding the free Wi-Fi service to more than 40 aircraft.
And Qatar Airways completed its installation of Starlink onboard its flights back in July – they even FaceTimed a flight attendant to show how fast it will be.
President Trump has publicly split with one of his most stalwart MAGA supporters, calling Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene “wacky” and saying he would endorse a challenger against her in next year’s midterms “if the right person runs.”
His attack on the Georgia Republican — who has been a leading champion of his “Make America Great Again” movement, sporting the signature red cap at President Biden’s 2024 State of the Union address and acting as a go-between for Trump and other Capitol Hill Republicans — appeared to be a resolute break in a dispute simmering for months as Greene has criticized some of the president’s policies and actions.
The three-term U.S. House member has increasingly dissented from Republican leaders, attacking them during the just-ended federal government shutdown and saying they need a plan to help people who are losing subsidies to afford health insurance policies.
Accusing Greene — one of the most right-leaning members of Congress — of going “Far Left,” Trump wrote that all he had witnessed from Greene in recent months is “COMPLAIN, COMPLAIN, COMPLAIN!” adding, of Greene’s purported irritation that he doesn’t return her phone calls, “I can’t take a ranting Lunatic’s call every day.”
In a response on X, Greene wrote Friday that Trump had “attacked me and lied about me.” She added a screenshot of a text she said she had sent the president earlier in the day about releasing the Jeffrey Epstein files, which she said “is what sent him over the edge.”
Greene called it “astonishing really how hard he’s fighting to stop the Epstein files from coming out that he actually goes to this level,” referencing next week’s U.S. House vote over releasing the complete files related to the late convicted sex offender.
The Epstein saga has placed increasing pressure on the president. Epstein emails released this week named Trump several times and indicated that he knew about Epstein’s abuse of underage girls, a claim the president denies.
Greene wrote that she had supported Trump “with too much of my precious time, too much of my own money, and fought harder for him even when almost all other Republicans turned their back and denounced him,” adding, “I don’t worship or serve Donald Trump.”
Trump’s post suggested a firm break with Greene after fissures that widened following this month’s off-cycle elections, in which voters in the New Jersey and Virginia gubernatorial races and elsewhere flocked to Democrats in large part over concerns about the cost of living.
Greene told NBC News this month that “watching the foreign leaders come to the White House through a revolving door is not helping Americans,” saying that Trump needs to focus on high prices at home rather than his recent emphasis on foreign affairs. Trump responded by saying that Greene had “lost her way.”
Asked about Greene’s comments earlier Friday as he flew from Washington to Florida, the president reiterated that he felt “something happened to her over the last month or two,” saying that, if he hadn’t gone to China to meet leader Xi Jinping, there would have been negative ramifications for jobs in Georgia and elsewhere because China would have kept its curbs on magnet exports.
Claiming that people have been calling him wanting to challenge Greene in the primary next year, Trump added, “She’s lost a wonderful conservative reputation.”
Greene’s discontent dates back to at least May, when she announced she wouldn’t run for the Senate against Democratic incumbent Jon Ossoff, while attacking GOP donors and consultants who said they feared she couldn’t win. In June, she publicly sided with Tucker Carlson after Trump called the commentator “kooky” in a schism that emerged between MAGA and national security hardliners over possible U.S. efforts at regime change in Iran.
That only intensified in July, when Greene said she wouldn’t run for governor. Then, she attacked a political “good ole boy” system, alleging it was endangering Republican control of the state.
In recent weeks, Greene has embarked on a wide-ranging media campaign, doing interviews and appearances on mainstream programs aimed at people who aren’t hardcore Trump supporters. Asked on comedian Tim Dillon’s podcast if she wanted to run for president in 2028, Greene said in October, “I hate politics so much” and just wanted “to fix problems” — but didn’t give a definitive answer.
That continued with an appearance on Bill Maher’s HBO show, “Real Time,” followed days later by a Nov. 4 appearance on ABC’s “The View.” Some observers began pronouncing Greene as reasonable as she trashed GOP House Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana for not calling Republicans back to Washington to end the shutdown and coming up with a healthcare plan.
“I feel like I’m sitting next to a completely different Marjorie Taylor Greene,” said “The View” co-host Sunny Hostin.
“Maybe you should become a Democrat, Marjorie,” said co-host Joy Behar.
“I’m not a Democrat,” Greene replied. “I think both parties have failed.”
Kinnard writes for the Associated Press. AP writer Jeff Amy in Atlanta contributed to this report.
NEW ORLEANS — LeBron James is making progress in his return from injury, and that’s a good sign for a Lakers team that has performed unevenly over a five-game trip.
Before the Lakers’ 118-104 win over the New Orleans Pelicans, Lakers coach JJ Redick said James, who has been dealing with sciatica, took part in an individual workout on Friday following consecutive days of five-on-five practice with the South Bay Lakers.
The Lakers finish their trip against Milwaukee on Saturday night. James will then practice with the Lakers on Monday. If all goes well, the NBA’s all-time leading scorer could start his league-record 23rd season Tuesday against Utah at Crypto.com Arena.
When he does return, how will James, who turns 41 next month, adjust to the chemistry the Lakers have established with Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves at the center of the offense?
“I’ve certainly thought about it,” Redick said about how James’ return will affect the team. “The reality is, next week will be a great week for all of us to assess where we’re at and figure out what we want to work on. It’s rare that you have one game over the course of a week, so probably will think about it more then. But typically when you’re playing every other day, you’re using your time until 3 a.m. to review the game that you just played and then using the time the next day until 3 a.m. to get ready for the next game.”
Last season, James averaged 24.4 points per game, 7.8 rebounds and 8.2 assists last season, while shooting 51.3% from the field and 37.6% from three-point range.
Lakers players don’t think James’ return will cause any issues.
Jarred Vanderbilt said James “can bring an element that we need, essentially, knowing that he can provide that.”
“I know it’s probably tough,” Vanderbilt said. “But even just the integration, trying to integrate himself as a player, as a team mid-season is kind of tough. But we’re excited for his return, whenever he comes back, and I know he can provide exactly what we need for this team.”
Reaves led the way against the Pelicans, finishing with 31 points and seven assists as the Lakers (9-4) improved to 2-0 in NBA Cup play.
Doncic scored 20 of his 24 points in the first half and finished with 12 assists and six rebounds.
Deandre Ayton was a force for the Lakers inside with 20 points and 16 rebounds. Trey Murphy III led the Pelicans (2-10) with 35 points and six rebounds.
Etc.
Lakers rookie Adou Thiero, who has been out all season recovering from left knee surgery, was activated, but did not play against Pelicans, but did not play. Redick said he hopes to potentially give Thiero some playing time against the Bucks.
NEW YORK — Acceding to President Trump’s demands, U.S. Atty. Gen. Pam Bondi said Friday that she has ordered a top federal prosecutor to investigate sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s ties to Trump political foes, including former President Clinton.
Bondi posted on X that she was assigning Manhattan U.S. Atty. Jay Clayton to lead the probe, capping an eventful week in which congressional Republicans released nearly 23,000 pages of documents from Epstein’s estate and House Democrats seized on emails mentioning Trump.
Trump, who was friends with Epstein for years, didn’t explain what supposed crimes he wanted the Justice Department to investigate. None of the men he mentioned in a social media post demanding the probe has been accused of sexual misconduct by any of Epstein’s victims.
Hours before Bondi’s announcement, Trump posted on his Truth Social platform that he would ask her, the Justice Department and the FBI to investigate Epstein’s “involvement and relationship” with Clinton and others, including former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers and LinkedIn founder and Democratic donor Reid Hoffman.
Trump, calling the matter “the Epstein Hoax, involving Democrats, not Republicans,” said the investigation should also include financial giant JPMorgan Chase, which provided banking services to Epstein, and “many other people and institutions.”
“This is another Russia, Russia, Russia Scam, with all arrows pointing to the Democrats,” the Republican president wrote, referring to special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation of alleged Russian interference in Trump’s 2016 election victory over Bill Clinton’s wife, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
Big names in Epstein’s emails
Trump, Bill Clinton, Summers and Hoffman were all mentioned in the documents released this week — a collection of emails Epstein exchanged with friends and business associates, news articles, book excerpts, legal papers and other material.
Epstein kept in touch with Summers and Hoffman via email, according to the documents, and wrote to other people about Trump and Clinton being in his company at various times over the years — though nothing in the messages suggested any wrongdoing on the men’s part.
Clinton has acknowledged traveling on Epstein’s private jet but has said through a spokesperson that he had no knowledge of the late financier’s crimes. Neither Clinton nor Trump has been accused of wrongdoing by any of the women who say Epstein abused them.
Summers, who served in Clinton’s Cabinet and is a former Harvard University president, previously said in a statement that he has “great regrets in my life” and that “my association with Jeffrey Epstein was a major error of judgment.”
Messages seeking comment were left for Hoffman through his investment firm, Greylock, and with a spokesperson for JPMorgan Chase.
After Epstein’s sex trafficking arrest in 2019, Hoffman said he’d had only a few interactions with Epstein, all related to his fundraising for MIT’s Media Lab. He nevertheless apologized, saying that “by agreeing to participate in any fundraising activity where Epstein was present, I helped to repair his reputation and perpetuate injustice.”
None of Epstein’s victims has accused Hoffman of misconduct.
Bondi, in her post, praised Clayton as “one of the most capable and trusted prosecutors in the country” and said the Justice Department “will pursue this with urgency and integrity to deliver answers to the American people.”
Clayton, the chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission during Trump’s first term, took over in April as U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York — the same office that indicted Epstein and won a sex trafficking conviction against Epstein’s longtime confidante, Ghislaine Maxwell, in 2021.
Trump changes course on Epstein files
Trump has raised questions about Epstein’s death in jail a month after his arrest and suggested while campaigning last year that he’d seek to open up the government’s case files.
But Trump has changed course in recent months — blaming Democrats and painting the matter as a “hoax” — amid questions about his own friendship with Epstein and what knowledge he may have had about Epstein’s years-long exploitation of underage girls.
On Wednesday, Democrats on the House Oversight Committee released three Epstein email exchanges that referenced Trump, including one from 2019 in which Epstein said the president “knew about the girls” and another from 2011 in which he said Trump had “spent hours” at his house with a sex trafficking victim.
The emails did not say what Trump knew and did not give any details of what Trump did while at Epstein’s house. White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt accused Democrats of having “selectively leaked emails” to “create a fake narrative to smear President Trump.”
Soon after, Republicans on the committee disclosed what they said was an additional 20,000 pages of documents from Epstein’s estate. Among them were emails Epstein wrote, including many where he commented — often unfavorably — on Trump’s rise in politics and corresponded with journalists.
Other emails show Epstein keeping up friendly relationships with academic and business leaders, including Summers and Hoffman, well after he pleaded guilty in 2008 and served 13 months in jail for procuring a person under 18 for prostitution.
Epstein and Summers discussed politics, arranged calls with each other and spoke on more intimate matters, according to the emails, including about a woman Summers had interactions with. Epstein’s advice to him: “You care very much for this person. You might want to demonstrate that.”
During the last government shutdown six years ago, the main narrative when it came to public lands was the damage caused by unsupervised visitors. Trash cans and toilets overflowed with waste. Tourists reportedly mowed down Joshua trees to off-road in sensitive areas of Joshua Tree National Park.
This time around, national parks were directed to retain the staff needed to provide basic sanitation services, as I reported in a recent article with my colleague Lila Seidman. But meanwhile, something bigger and more coordinated was unfolding behind the scenes, said Chance Wilcox, California Desert program manager for the National Parks Conservation Association.
“We’re not seeing Joshua trees getting knocked down, things getting stolen, damage to parks by the American people, but we are seeing damage to parks by this presidential administration on an even larger scale,” Wilcox told me last week before lawmakers struck a deal to reopen the government.
(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
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Wilcox and other public lands advocates allege that President Trump’s administration used the shutdown to expedite an agenda that prioritizes extraction while slashing resources dedicated to conservation and education. What’s more, they fear the staffing priorities that came into sharp relief over the past 43 days offer a preview of how these lands will be managed going forward, especially in the aftermath of another potential mass layoff that could see the Interior Department cut 2,000 more jobs.
When I asked the Interior Department about its actions during the shutdown, a spokesperson responded via email that the administration “made deliberate, lawful decisions” to protect operations that sustain energy security and economic stability. “Activities that continued were those necessary to preserve critical infrastructure, safeguard natural resources, and prevent disruption to key supply chains that millions of Americans rely on,” the spokesperson wrote.
As a resident of the Mojave Desert on the outskirts of Joshua Tree National Park, I’ve taken particular interest in this topic. Out here, summer days can top 110 degrees, a trip to the grocery store is an hours-long excursion and there are rattlesnakes. Lots of rattlesnakes. But one huge bonus is the proximity to public lands: We’re surrounded by the park, the Mojave National Preserve and hundreds of miles of Bureau of Land Management wilderness.
These spaces not only provide endless entertainment for residents like my 3-year-old daughter, who would rather be turned loose in a boulder field than a jungle gym, but they play a key role in drawing visitors from around the world who support the stores, restaurants and other establishments that underpin our local economy.
Sentinel Rock in Hidden Valley, Joshua Tree National Park.
(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
In short, the health of our community depends on the health of these landscapes. Now, their future seems increasingly uncertain.
During the shutdown, roughly 64% of National Park Service employees were furloughed, according to a Department of the Interior contingency plan. At Joshua Tree National Park, those sidelined included Superintendent Jane Rodgers, along with most of the staff responsible for scientific research, resource management and educational and interpretive programs, according to a source at the park who asked not to be named out of fear of retaliation.
Over at the BLM, roughly 26% of staffers were furloughed. Among those who were allowed to keep working: employees responsible for processing oil, gas and coal permits and leases, along with items related to other energy and mineral resources, according to the contingency plan, which cited the president’s declared national energy emergency as rationale. As a result, the federal government issued 693 new oil and gas drilling permits and 52 new oil and gas leases on federal lands during the shutdown, according to tracking by the Center for Western Priorities.
And in Utah, the BLM is now reconsidering an application, which has been rejected seven times, to build a four-lane highway through desert tortoise habitats in the Red Cliffs National Conservation Area.
There’s real fear among federal employees and advocates that this dynamic — an emphasis on developing public lands, as stewardship and research efforts languish — will become the new reality, said Jordan Marbury, communications manager for Friends of the Inyo. What’s more, he said, is that some worry the administration will point to the shutdown as proof that public lands never really needed all that staffing in the first place.
“It could get to the point where conservation is totally an afterthought,” he said.
Homes sit in the shadow of the Inglewood Oil Field.
(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)
Five California tribes have established an intertribal commission to co-manage Chuckwalla National Monument, marking a historic step toward tribal sovereignty over sacred desert lands. Times environment reporter Tyrone Beason examines how this will work — and why it’s a big deal.
President Trump has tapped former New Mexico Rep. Steve Pearce to lead the BLM — which manages about 10% of land in the U.S. — after his first pick, oil and gas lobbyist Kathleen Sgamma, withdrew her name from consideration in the wake of reporting on comments she made criticizing Trump’s role in the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. Industry trade organizations are praising Pearce’s nomination, while environmental groups allege that the former Republican Party of New Mexico chair is a climate change denier with a record of supporting expanded oil and gas drilling on public lands and shrinking national monuments, the Santa Fe New Mexican reports.
The Trump administration plans to allow new oil and gas drilling off the California coast, but energy companies may not be interested in battling the state’s strict environmental rules to try and tap into limited petroleum reserves, our climate policy reporter Hayley Smith writes. Citing these obstacles, some experts told Hayley the move may be politically motivated: It’s likely to set up a fight with California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who has said that any such proposal will be dead on arrival.
Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks to reporters at the COP30 Climate Summit in Belém, Brazil, on Tuesday.
(Alessandro Falco)
Speaking of Newsom and Trump, the California governor is in Belém, Brazil, for the annual United Nations climate policy summit, which the Trump administration is sitting out. My colleague Melody Gutierrez, who’s also there, looks at how California hopes it can fill in the gap left by America’s absence as Newsom positions himself for a 2028 presidential run.
Meanwhile, diplomats have accused top U.S. officials of threatening and bullying leaders from poorer or small countries to defeat a historic deal to slash pollution from cargo ships that was slated by be approved by more than 100 nations, according to a bombshell New York Times report. Federal representatives denied that officials made threats but “acknowledged derailing the deal and repeated their opposition to international efforts to address climate change,” the paper reported.
This is the latest edition of Boiling Point, a newsletter about climate change and the environment in the American West. Sign up here to get it in your inbox. And listen to our Boiling Point podcast here.
Donald Trump “spent hours at my house” and “knew about the girls,” Jeffrey Epstein, the disgraced financier accused of orchestrating sex trafficking of young girls, wrote in private emails House Democrats released Wednesday.
“Of course he knew about the girls,” Epstein said of Trump in an email to author and journalist Michael Wolff in early 2019, when Trump was nearing the end of his first term as President.
After months of political bickering over the well-connected sex offender’s documents, dubbed “the Epstein files,” Democrats on the House Oversight Committee publicly released some of Epstein’s emails to Wolff and Epstein’s longtime associate Ghislaine Maxwell, who was convicted of sex trafficking after Epstein’s death.
The emails are just a small part of a collection of 23,000 documents Epstein’s estate released to the committee and are sure to revive questions about what the president knew about Epstein’s sexual misconduct with girls and young women.
Trump has denied knowing anything about Epstein’s crimes and no investigation has tied Trump to them.
“The more Donald Trump tries to cover up the Epstein files, the more we uncover,” California Democrat Robert Garcia (D-Long Beach) said in a statement as he released the documents.
“These latest emails and correspondence raise glaring questions about what else the White House is hiding and the nature of the relationship between Epstein and the President,” Garcia added. “The Department of Justice must fully release the Epstein files to the public immediately. The Oversight Committee will continue pushing for answers and will not stop until we get justice for the victims.”
Epstein, 66, died by suicide in a New York jail in August 2019, weeks after he was arrested and federally charged with sex trafficking and conspiracy to commit sex trafficking of minors. A watchdog report released last year found that negligence, misconduct and other failures at the jail contributed to his death.
More than a decade earlier, Epstein evaded federal criminal charges when he struck a plea deal in a south Florida case related to accusations that he molested dozens of girls.
As part of the agreement, Epstein pleaded guilty to state charges, including soliciting prostitution. He registered as a sex offender and served 13 months in jail but was allowed to leave six days a week to work at his office.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — For once, Luka Doncic had to serve the punishment. For not hitting any half-court shots during his pregame warmup, Doncic had to drop to the court and give his coaching staff push-ups.
The exercise seemingly powered him up for the two-handed dunk to come.
Doncic dazzled in the Lakers’ 121-111 win over the Charlotte Hornets on Monday at Spectrum Center, scoring 38 points with seven assists, six rebounds and one emphatic third-quarter dunk to help the Lakers flush the memories of a blowout loss in Atlanta.
Austin Reaves returned from a three-game absence with 24 points and seven assists while Rui Hachimura scored 21 points with perfect three-for-three shooting from three-point range.
Reaves, who was out with a right groin strain, announced his presence by throwing a lob to Deandre Ayton for the Lakers’ first basket. After Charlotte (3-7) blitzed the Lakers with eight three-pointers in the first quarter to take a 40-36 lead, Reaves answered by scoring seven of the Lakers’ first 10 points in the second. He gave the team a jolt of energy by racing for a transition layup to beat the halftime buzzer, giving the Lakers (8-3) a two-point lead.
“He’s an All-Star-level player,” coach JJ Redick said before the game. “He’s, along with Luka, an incredibly dynamic offensive player. I think our depth increases, the lineup optionality increases, so not having him in the lineup really, really hurts us.”
The Lakers went 2-1 in games without Reaves, but the 20-point loss to Atlanta on Saturday was so striking that Redick was left questioning the identity of his team. The Lakers looked lifeless. Redick waved the white flag by the middle of the third quarter after the starting unit let the deficit balloon to 25.
Lakers guard Austin Reaves shoots over Charlotte Hornets forward Miles Bridges during the first half Monday.
(Chris Carlson / Associated Press)
With Doncic and Reaves back, the Lakers wouldn’t repeat their third-quarter woes.
The Lakers started the second half with an 11-4 run that forced the Hornets to call a timeout. Reaves then assisted a three-pointer from Hachimura that pushed the lead into double digits. Doncic hit a step-back three to put the Lakers up by 12. Doncic’s assist to Hachimura extended the lead to 17.
A driving, two-handed dunk was the exclamation point, stunning the Charlotte crowd as he hung on the rim and screamed. With two dunks this season, he already doubled his total from last year.
Doncic assisted a Reaves three with 8:01 remaining in the fourth quarter and Reaves put up his arms and threw his head back in relief. He had missed his first seven three-point attempts and finished two for 10 from three-point range.
Reaves’ return gets the Lakers one player closer to their full roster. LeBron James is scheduled to practice with the South Bay Lakers this week as he progresses through his return from right sciatica.
Rookie Adou Thiero (left knee surgery recovery) is also nearing his return as Redick estimated the forward could make his NBA debut during this road trip, which continues Wednesday at Oklahoma City and ends with a back-to-back set in New Orleans on Friday and Milwaukee on Saturday.
ATLANTA — With the Lakers down by 20 in the third quarter at Atlanta, the only sound coming from their bench was Nick Smith Jr.’s hollow claps of encouragement. The rest of the Lakers sat with slumped shoulders on the bench or loitered with blank faces in a semicircle waiting for their coaches to join.
There wasn’t much that could be said.
The Lakers’ five-game winning streak ended in a blowout as the Hawks dominated 122-102 on Saturday at State Farm Arena.
Playing a third consecutive game without Austin Reaves, Luka Doncic tried to keep the Lakers (7-3) in it with 22 points, 11 assists and five rebounds, but all his points came in the first half and he came out after only 27 minutes as the Hawks built a 25-point lead by the middle of the third quarter. Forward Jake LaRavia had 13 points, five rebounds, two assists and two steals, and Jarred Vanderbilt had 18 rebounds, one shy of his career high.
“This isn’t the identity of this team,” LaRavia said. “This game was an outlier of the first 10 games that we played. [We have to] just not let it break us and be ready to play the next game.”
The Lakers, who won their first four road games, started their five-game trip on a sour note and now need to bounce back when play Charlotte on Monday.
The Hawks (5-5) were playing the second game of a home back-to-back after losing to the Toronto Raptors on Friday. They had four of five starters sidelined, including Trae Young (knee), Kristaps Porzingis (rest) and Nickeil Alexander-Walker (back).
The Lakers should know the dangers of a desperate, shorthanded team. Only five days ago they ended Portland’s three-game winning streak without Reaves, Doncic or LeBron James. Coach JJ Redick said he would reiterate the lesson before Saturday’s game to avoid a letdown.
Then the Lakers fell behind by 13 in the first quarter. Their deficit ballooned to 26 after three quarters. Redick began sitting his starters by the middle of the third.
“Just not a lot to like tonight,” Redick said matter-of-factly.
Facing a cross-country trip, the Lakers arrived in Atlanta on Thursday and scheduled a practice Friday with a team-bonding activity that night. They held a shootaround in the arena Saturday morning.
Yet even with the extra time to prepare, Redick could tell within the first two minutes that the team didn’t have the necessary energy to win. What did the coach see during that fateful stretch?
“Nothing,” Redick said.
Atlanta Hawks guard Vit Krejci shoots between Lakers center Deandre Ayton and forward Rui Hachimura in the first half Saturday.
(Mike Stewart / Associated Press)
It was the final word of his news conference, which lasted 100 seconds.
Doncic helped lead a quick third-quarter surge, assisting on three consecutive baskets in a 7-0 run that cut the lead to nine, but the Hawks responded by scoring seven unanswered points and forcing two turnovers. Center Deandre Ayton subbed out for the last time with 8:49 to go in the third.
“They played phenomenal,” said Ayton, who had 11 points on five-for-five shooting and five rebounds. “But us not even damn near competing in a sense, it looks bad on paper and it looks bad on film. This is one of them games where yeah, food’s going to taste bad tonight.”
Doncic and Marcus Smart, another veteran leader, were not made available to reporters after the game.
Atlanta’s Mouhamed Gueye torched the Lakers for 21 points on eight-for-12 shooting and made four three-pointers. The Lakers, who had credited their connection and chemistry for carrying them through long stints without their stars, suddenly fell silent when faced with a large deficit in front of a rowdy crowd.
With most of Atlanta’s fans streaming toward the exits in the final two minutes, the Hawks’ most dedicated fan group, the “404 Crew,” echoed through the mostly empty arena with a final chant: “Where is LeBron?”
The superstar has yet to play a single minute this season because of a bout with sciatica.
For Zuri Crawford, the last several weeks have been an emotional whirlwind — swinging from fears to frustration to now partial relief.
A 20-year-old single mother and Riverside City College student, Crawford depends on the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program to buy groceries for herself and her young son. Earlier this week, she braced herself for the possibility that — because of the federal shutdown — she would not receive the $445 that typically gets loaded onto her state-issued debit card on the sixth day of every month.
“I really feel like I’m going to be burnt out. I feel like it’s going to be hard on me because I am a single mom,” she said on a recent afternoon. “I have to push through, but I am going to be overwhelmed.”
On Thursday, however, Crawford was surprised to learn that the $445 payment had showed up on her card. Soon after, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced that, because of a court victory, “food benefits are now beginning to flow back to California families” — at least temporarily.
Crawford is one of roughly 5.5 million statewide who depend on this food aid — known in California as CalFresh — and one of 42 million people nationwide. In recent weeks, this group has been caught in the crosshairs of a political battle that has shifted from Congress to courtrooms amid a federal shutdown that has now lasted more than five weeks.
As of early Friday, two federal judges had ordered the U.S. Department of Agriculture to use billions of dollars in contingency funding to continue providing SNAP support — the reason Crawford and many others nationwide received their full benefits Thursday. On Friday the Trump administration asked a federal appeals court to block one of those orders. The appeals court let the order stand, and then late Friday the Trump administration succeeded in persuading the Supreme Court to block the judicial rulings and — at least temporarily — withhold food benefits from millions of Americans.
Many recipients in California already have their payments, but the legal drama late Friday may add to their anxieties. Many were already improvising, and may have to do so again.
Zuir Crawford, 20, loads groceries bought using gift cards supplied by Riverside City College.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
In Crawford’s case, she already juggles college coursework, picks up shifts as an UberEats driver and cares for her 1-year-old. When she learned her food aid would be delayed this month, she made a plan: She would drop two classes and then pick up additional work as a caregiver so she and her son could afford to eat. She would use that money to supplement the support she is receiving from her school and community.
Even with food aid, she depends on food pantries to help her obtain items such as canned ravioli, Rice-a-Roni and frozen dinners for the last two weeks of the month.
Single parents could be hit especially hard by the delay in food benefits. Nationwide, single-adults make up nearly two-thirds (62%) of all SNAP households with children, according to the USDA. In California, almost a quarter of single working parents (23.2%) are in poverty, according to the Public Policy Institute of California.
Households headed by single mothers are especially vulnerable amid a worsening gender wage gap and rising costs for education, housing and child care, said Jesseca Boyer, vice president of policy and strategic initiatives for the Institute for Women’s Policy Research. “All of those factors require a single mother to stretch their already limited dollars even further,” she said.
In the Bay Area city of Mountain View, Abigail Villavicencio usually gets between $500 and $700 each month loaded onto her CalFresh cards, she said. It depends on her fluctuating income delivering food for apps such as Uber Eats. A single mom with three children, she first qualified for SNAP in 2021, and at that time was able to stretch the money to cover groceries for an entire month.
“But over the last year, it hasn’t been enough. I spend $500 in 2 weeks. I noticed prices were going up,” she said, and her weekly grocery trip often now costs $200 to $300. “I have two weeks when I have to figure out what to do.”
Villavicencio said she augments her benefits by collecting donated food at her son’s school twice a month.
The last few weeks have been particularly hurtful, she said, when she sees commenters on social media deriding food stamp recipients as “lazy.” She notes that she has to show her bank accounts every six months to qualify for CalFresh. For the past three years, she’s been home with her twin daughters as they went through intensive behavior therapy for autism.
News of the delayed SNAP benefits gutted her carefully calibrated food plan. She dipped into her savings for the last grocery trip and bought enough to make meals she could sell to construction workers to earn a few extra dollars.
Now that her twin daughters are in kindergarten, she’s also been searching for more consistent work — but it’s been challenging, she said, to find one that will allow her to drop off and pick up her children from school.
Holding her dog Bear, Zuir Crawford, 20 fears losing her SNAP benefits because of the federal government shutdown. “I really feel like I’m going to be burnt out. I feel like it’s going to be hard on me because I am a single mom,” she said on a recent afternoon. “I have to push through, but I am going to be overwhelmed.”
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
As for Crawford, she said she experienced “trauma after trauma” growing up, bouncing between homes in Los Angeles and Riverside counties. She has sought stability since becoming a teen mom to her son, whom she affectionately calls Baby Z.
She is in her second semester at Riverside City College, where she is taking prerequisite courses to pursue a nursing career. She makes “little to nothing” driving for Uber Eats, she said, “but it’s enough for me to at least put gas in my tank.”
Without the financial support of her family or a partner, she relies on a patchwork of government programs.
Two months ago, she, her son and her fluffy white dog Bear moved into a one-bedroom apartment that she obtained through a county housing program for the homeless. She uses the nearly $900 a month she receives through CalWorks, a state welfare program, to cover her rent, utilities and phone bill. Along with CalFresh, she gets a monthly allotment of healthy food through the Women, Infants and Children program.
She said she’s also sustained by her Christian faith. She attends regular Bible studies and uses a portion of her food budget to make meals for the homeless.
Inside the college’s Basic Needs Resource Center on Wednesday afternoon, Crawford filled a black basket with peanut butter, jelly, oatmeal, a can of pozole and hygiene products. While students can typically access the pantry every two weeks, they can collect staples once a week during the shutdown, a volunteer explained.
Crawford is in her second semester at Riverside City College, where she is taking prerequisite courses to pursue a nursing career.
With SNAP beneficiaries becoming pawns in the shutdown fight, she said she’s grateful for the public assistance, which she views as a “stepping stone” to a more financially secure life.
“It’s not my fault that I was born into the family I was born into,” she said later that day, as she sliced and spiced chicken and steamed vegetables for a low-cost meal. “I can’t control that. But what I can control is my outcome. And I know that if I keep on working hard, if I keep on persevering through all the hardships, I’m going to be OK.”
Zuir Crawford, 20, carries groceries from a local market and also from a food pantry to her apartment in Riverside.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
Up until Thursday, both Villavicencio and Crawford were preparing for hard times. The Mountain View mom was worried about telling her children about a diminished Thanksgiving this year. Crawford was calculating how to further improvise on using her food budget wisely.
Both women were relieved that, on the sixth day of the month, their benefits had fully reloaded.
“I can breathe now,” Villavicencio said Friday.
“I’m super-shocked,” added Crawford with a laugh. “I feel relieved. I just feel happy.”
This article is part of The Times’ equity reporting initiative,funded by the James Irvine Foundation, exploring the challenges facing low-income workers and the efforts being made to addressCalifornia’s economic divide.
Christmas day trips could be taking families to some of the most iconic locations, as experts share the top festive itineraries less than two hours from the UK
Cologne’s Christmas markets are world-renowned(Image: GETTY)
As the festive season approaches, families could be jetting off to Europe for a Christmas adventure without even needing to book time off work or splurge on hotel stays, thanks to extreme day tripping. This travel trend sees holidaymakers spending 24 hours or less in a destination before heading back home.
Travel gurus at Iglu Cruise have pinpointed three of the top European destinations for yuletide celebrations, all within two hours by plane or train from London, and they’ve even crafted the perfect itinerary to make the most of your Christmas escape.
Cologne, Germany
This captivating city is home to some of the world’s most famous Christmas markets, and it’s just an hour and 20 minutes by plane from London. The experts suggest kicking off the day exploring Cologne’s museums, such as Museum Ludwig and the Fina Frangrace Museum.
Next, pop over to Ehrenfeld for a quick cafe stop and an afternoon Kölsch before embarking on a boat tour along the Rhine River to soak up the Christmas magic of Cologne.
Come evening, Heinzels Christmas Market comes alive with ice skating, shopping and the KölnTriangle observation deck offering stunning views of Cologne’s illuminated cathedral and twinkling Christmas lights.
Basel, Switzerland
Just an hour and 40 minutes away from London by plane, this snow-dusted fairytale town awaits, boasting a charming medieval old town that serves as the ideal starting point for your extreme day trip.
From the old town, visitors can admire the beautifully decorated courtyards, called “Magische Höfe” or “Magical Courtyards”. The city hall courtyard features a Wish Book where guests can record their Christmas wishes.
The experts then recommend visiting the Barfüsserplatz Christmas Market to sample Swiss cheese or the famous local gingerbread biscuit, followed by Christmas shopping and mulled wine from the 13-metre high Christmas Pyramid.
There’s also a free Advent production at Basel Theatre worth catching. These daily performances, running from 1st to 23rd December at 5:00 PM, feature a varied programme of small opera, drama and ballet productions.
During these dates visitors can also climb St Martin’s Tower for a small fee to enjoy a bird’s eye view of the market and the illuminated old town.
Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Just an hour and 10 minutes’ flight from London brings you to Amsterdam, where you can begin your day trip admiring the city’s iconic canals and bridges in the Jordaan district whilst enjoying breakfast.
The Museum Quarter provides plenty to occupy your morning before heading to the Winter Paradise RAI festival, where you’ll discover indoor and outdoor ice rinks, a Ferris wheel, live music, Dutch waffles and cosy winter bars.
Amsterdam’s Light Festival also transforms the city at this time of year, and the experts suggest taking an evening cruise for the best views as the spectacular decorations shimmer across the water.
NEW YORK — U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik, a close Republican ally of President Trump, announced Friday that she’s running for governor of New York, a place she depicted in a campaign launch video as being “in ashes” because of lawlessness and a high cost of living.
In her video, a narrator declares “The Empire State has fallen” as it paints a grim picture of urban, liberal leadership and life in New York City, though the message appeared to be aimed at audiences in other, more conservative parts of the state.
Her candidacy sets up a potential battle with Gov. Kathy Hochul, a centrist Democrat, though both candidates would have to first clear the field of any intraparty rivals before next November’s election.
Stefanik, 41, has teased a run for months, often castigating Hochul, 67, as the “worst governor in America.” She’s also assailed Hochul for endorsing the ascendent, democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani, now the mayor-elect of New York City.
In a written statement, Stefanik said she is running to make “New York affordable and safe for families all across our great state.”
“Our campaign will unify Republicans, Democrats, and Independents to Fire Kathy Hochul once and for all to Save New York,” she said.
Hochul’s campaign released its own attack ad Friday against the Republican, dubbing her “Sellout Stefanik,” and blamed her for enabling Trump’s tariffs and federal funding cuts to education and health care.
“Apparently, screwing over New Yorkers in Congress wasn’t enough — now she’s trying to bring Trump’s chaos and skyrocketing costs to our state,” said Hochul campaign spokesperson Sarafina Chitika.
Representing a conservative congressional district in northern New York, Stefanik had once been a pragmatic and moderate Republican who would avoid uttering Trump’s name, simply calling him “my party’s presidential nominee.”
But in recent years she has reshaped herself into a brash disciple and ardent defender of Trump’s MAGA movement, rising through the ranks of the Republican Party’s congressional hierarchy as it molded to Trump’s political style.
Last year, Stefanik was tapped to become the president’s ambassador to the United Nations, though her nomination was later pulled over concerns about her party’s tight margins in the House. She then began to angle toward a run for governor, and very quickly got a public nod of support from Trump.
Her announcement video, which was titled “From the Ashes,” casts New York as a dangerous place plagued by “migrant crime” and economic crisis, placing the blame on “Kathy Hochul’s failed policies,” as urgent, ominous music plays in the background.
New York City police officials have long touted drops in crime and this week said the city is in its eighth consecutive quarter of major crime decline.
The Republican primary field remains unclear ahead of the 2026 race.
On Long Island, Republican Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman has said he’s weighing a run for governor. In a statement Friday, he said he has “tremendous respect” for Stefanik but that the GOP needs to nominate a candidate who has “broad based appeal with independents and common sense Democrats.”
“The party must nominate the candidate with the best chance to defeat Kathy Hochul and I have been urged by business, community and political leaders across the state to make the run and I am seriously considering it,” said Blakeman, who handily won reelection to another four-year term on Tuesday.
U.S. Rep. Mike Lawler had been contemplating a run but instead decided to seek reelection in his battleground House district in the Hudson Valley.
Hochul faces a contested primary, with her own lieutenant governor, Antonio Delgado, running against her.
Democrats have a major voter registration edge in New York. The state’s last Republican governor was former Gov. George Pataki, who left office about two decades ago.
Still, Republican Lee Zeldin, a former Long Island congressman and current head of the Environmental Protection Agency, made a serious run for the office in 2022, coming within striking distance of upsetting Hochul.
Izaguirre writes for the Associated Press. AP writer Philip Marcelo contributed to this report.
The Trump administration spent Friday fighting to avoid restoring $4 billion in food assistance in jeopardy due to the government shutdown, suggesting it might need to “raid school-lunch money” in order to comply with court orders.
The claim was part of a break-neck appeal in the 1st Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday, where the government hoped to duck a court order that would force it to pay out for food stamps — formally called the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP — through November.
“There is no lawful basis for an order that directs USDA to somehow find $4 billion in the metaphorical couch cushions,” Assistant Atty. Gen. Brett A. Shumate wrote in the appeal.
The administration’s only option would be to “to starve Peter to feed Paul” by cutting school lunch programs, Shumate wrote.
On Friday afternoon, the appellate court declined to immediately block the lower court’s order, and said it would quickly rule on the merits of the funding decree.
SNAP benefits are a key fight in the ongoing government shutdown. California is one of several states suing the administration to restore the safety net program while negotiations continue to end the stalemate.
Millions of Americans have struggled to afford groceries since benefits lapsed Nov. 1, inspiring many Republican lawmakers to join Democrats in demanding an emergency stopgap.
The Trump administration was previously ordered to release contingency funding for the program that it said would cover benefits for about half of November.
But the process has been “confusing and chaotic” and “rife with errors,” according to a brief filed by 25 states and the District of Columbia.
Some states, including California, have started disbursing SNAP benefits for the month. Others say the partial funding is a functional lockout.
“Many states’ existing systems require complete reprogramming to accomplish this task, and given the sudden — and suddenly changing — nature of USDA’s guidance, that task is impossible to complete quickly,” the brief said.
“Recalculations required by [the government’s] plan will delay November benefits for [state] residents for weeks or months.”
On Thursday, U.S. District Judge John McConnell Jr. of Rhode Island ordered the full food stamp payout by the end of the week. He accused the administration of withholding the benefit for political gain.
“Faced with a choice between advancing relief and entrenching delay, [the administration] chose the latter — an outcome that predictably magnifies harm and undermines the very purpose of the program it administers,” he wrote.
“This Court is not naïve to the administration’s true motivations,” McConnell wrote. “Far from being concerned with Child Nutrition funding, these statements make clear that the administration is withholding full SNAP benefits for political purposes.”
The appeal could extend that deadline by as little as a few hours, or nullify it entirely.
But the latter may be unlikely, especially following the appellate court’s decision late Friday. The 1st Circuit is currently the country’s most liberal, with five active judges, all of whom were named to the bench by Democratic presidents.
While the court deliberates, both sides are left sparring over how many children will go hungry if the other prevails.
More than 16 million children rely on SNAP benefits. Close to 30 million are fed through the National School Lunch Program, which the government now says it must gut to meet the court’s order.
But the same pool of cash has already been tapped to extend Women, Infants and Children, which is a federal program that pays for baby formula and other basics for some poor families.
“This clearly undermines the Defendants’ point, as WIC is an entirely separate program from the Child Nutrition Programs,” McConnell wrote.
In its Friday order, the 1st Circuit panel said it would issue a full ruling “as quickly as possible.”
ATLANTA — JJ Redick was already preaching one type of Japanese philosophy, harping to his team about the concept of “kaizen” to improve each day. Off the court, the head coach found inspiration in another Japanese phrase.
Lakers players and coaches have used PechaKucha presentations to facilitate team bonding this season. The slideshows, which come from the Japanese word for chitchat, could be a secret to the team’s hot start as the Lakers (7-2) have won five consecutive games entering a five-game road that starts Saturday in Atlanta at 5 p.m. PST against the Hawks.
The Lakers have pieced together one of the NBA’s most efficient offenses despite injuries keeping LeBron James, Austin Reaves and Luka Doncic in and out of the lineup, relying on a strong team bond that’s developed quickly through an even faster form of communication.
PechaKucha presentations are traditionally 20 slides, each with a photo. The speaker has 20 seconds to explain each slide for a total presentation time of 6 minutes and 40 seconds.
The Lakers’ version consists of five slides: where you’re from; favorite basketball memory; person, event or thing that has impacted your life; your non-basketball happy place; and dealer’s choice.
“A lot of times most of the interactions you’ll have with your teammates is on the basketball court,” forward Jake LaRavia said. “So it’s good to just kind of either learn some stuff about them outside of basketball, like hobbies and stuff like that, where they come from. And that just helps you kind of understand who the person is a little bit better.”
Assistant coach Scott Brooks started his presentation with a photo of a walnut, symbolizing the walnut farm he worked on during the weekends to help his family make ends meet. LaRavia showed a photo of his driveway as the origin of his basketball journey. Doncic spoke about how his daughter Gabriela changed his life.
One coach and one player present, and then they each nominate the next coach or player to go. With about half of the players and coaches left, Redick said he’s already noticing the holdouts actively planning their presentations before their nominations.
“We’re just constantly encouraging and empowering our guys to get connected,” Redick said. “I believe if you’re connected off the floor, you’re connected on the floor. You need buy-in to that. I’m not trying to take credit for my staff here. It’s the guys on the team, they’re bought into that.”
Doncic, for one, isn’t sold. He deadpanned that he doesn’t think the exercise helps.
Just the fact that Doncic made the joke meant it’s working.
Settled after last season’s jarring trade, the 26-year-old’s personality has started to emerge among his teammates. He is a sarcastic jokester who expresses love for his teammates by threading passes to them through pinhole-sized gaps in the defense and then trash talking them right soon after.
Lakers coach JJ Redick, with injured forward LeBron James next to him, questions a call along with guard Marcus Smart during the game against the Spurs on Wednesday.
(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
Doncic’s smiling antics, whether he’s trying to sit on Austin Reaves’ lap on the sideline or swishing halfcourt shots in a contest with Reaves, Maxi Kleber and staff members, show just how connected the superstar feels to the team.
“Honestly, the feeling is I’m enjoying, very much, playing with these guys,” Doncic said. “AR [Reaves] can’t play. We’re still missing LeBron. So this team has a big potential. But everybody who steps on court, gives maximum, man, everybody. So it’s very enjoyable to play.”
Reaves is present on the road trip but will miss a third consecutive game Saturday. The Lakers ruled him out after practice Friday as his right groin injury progressed to a strain after previously being categorized simply as soreness.
James did not make the trip to Atlanta. He progressed to on-court basketball activities this week after missing four weeks because of a sciatica on his right side. He was playing one-on-one with coaches, Redick said. A stint with the South Bay Lakers is on the table, but no decision has been made.
The NBA’s all-time leading scorer hasn’t played a single minute for the Lakers yet. Reaves, averaging 31.1 points and 9.3 assists, has missed the last two wins, and Doncic has played in only half of the games. But the Lakers are still fifth in the NBA in offensive rating.
“It shows how professional we are,” guard Marcus Smart said of the team’s chemistry despite constantly changing personnel. “I think a lot of people, especially who aren’t in the brotherhood, they forget that you build a relationship with guys, and then one guy or a couple guys, you get traded and you got to rebuild another one. You don’t understand how tough that is, how much of a toll that takes.”
Just as Smart spoke, Doncic appeared behind the group of reporters, clapping loudly. Then Doncic made sure to put on the record that he would beat Smart at a team-building competition that night. Both smiled as they walked away.
BOSTON — President Trump ’s administration asked a federal appeals court Friday to block a judge’s order that it distribute November’s full monthly SNAP food benefits amid a U.S. government shutdown, even as at least some states said they were moving quickly to get the money to people.
The judge gave the Trump administration until Friday to make the payments through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. But the administration asked the appeals court to suspend any court orders requiring it to spend more money than is available in a contingency fund, and instead allow it to continue with planned partial SNAP payments for the month.
The court filing came even as Wisconsin said Friday that some SNAP recipients in the state already got their full November payments overnight on Thursday.
“We’ve received confirmation that payments went through, including members reporting they can now see their balances,” said Britt Cudaback, a spokesperson for Democratic Gov. Tony Evers.
Uncertainty remains for many SNAP recipients
The court wrangling prolonged weeks of uncertainty for the food program that serves about 1 in 8 Americans, mostly with lower incomes.
An individual can receive a monthly maximum food benefit of nearly $300 and a family of four up to nearly $1,000, although many receive less than that under a formula that takes into consideration their income. For many SNAP participants, it remains unclear exactly how much they will receive this month, and when they will receive it.
Jasmen Youngbey of Newark, N.J., waited in line Friday at a food pantry in the state’s largest city. As a single mom attending college, Youngbey said she relies on SNAP to help feed her 7-month-old and 4-year-old sons. But she said her account balance was at $0.
“Not everybody has cash to pull out and say, ‘OK, I’m going to go and get this,’ especially with the cost of food right now,” she said.
Tihinna Franklin, a school bus guard who was waiting in the same line outside the United Community Corp. food pantry, said her SNAP account balance was at 9 cents and she was down to three items in her freezer. She typically relies on the roughly $290 a month in SNAP benefits to help feed her grandchildren.
“If I don’t get it, I won’t be eating,” she said. “My money I get paid for, that goes to the bills, rent, electricity, personal items. That is not fair to us as mothers and caregivers.”
The legal battle over SNAP takes another twist
Because of the federal government shutdown, the Trump administration originally had said SNAP benefits would not be available in November. However, two judges ruled last week that the administration could not skip November’s benefits entirely because of the shutdown. One of those judges was U.S. District Judge John J. McConnell Jr., who ordered the full payments Thursday.
In both cases, the judges ordered the government to use one emergency reserve fund containing more than $4.6 billion to pay for SNAP for November but gave it leeway to tap other money to make the full payments, which cost between $8.5 billion and $9 billion each month.
On Monday, the administration said it would not use additional money, saying it was up to Congress to appropriate the funds for the program and that the other money was needed to shore up other child hunger programs.
Thursday’s federal court order rejected the Trump administration’s decision to cover only 65% of the maximum monthly benefit, a decision that could have left some recipients getting nothing for this month.
In its court filing Friday, Trump’s administration contended that Thursday’s directive to fund full SNAP benefits runs afoul of the U.S. Constitution.
“This unprecedented injunction makes a mockery of the separation of powers. Courts hold neither the power to appropriate nor the power to spend,” the U.S. Department of Justice wrote in its request to the court.
In response, attorneys for the cities and nonprofits challenging Trump’s administration said the government has plenty of available money and the court should “not allow them to further delay getting vital food assistance to individuals and families who need it now.”
States are taking different approaches to food aid
Some states said they stood ready to distribute SNAP money as quickly as possible.
The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services said it directed a vendor servicing its SNAP electronic benefit cards to issue full SNAP benefits soon after the federal funding is received.
Benefits are provided to individuals on different days of the month. Those who normally receive benefits on the third, fifth or seventh of the month should receive their full SNAP allotment within 48 hours of funds becoming available, the Michigan agency said, and others should receive their full benefits on their regularly scheduled dates.
Meanwhile, North Carolina’s Department of Health and Human Services said that partial SNAP benefits were distributed Friday, based on the Trump administration’s previous decision. Officials in Illinois and North Dakota also said they were distributing partial November payments, starting as soon as Friday for some recipients.
In Missouri, where officials had been working on partial distribution, the latest court jostling raised new questions. A spokesperson for the state Department of Social Services said Friday that it is awaiting further guidance about how to proceed from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which administers SNAP.
Amid the federal uncertainty, Delaware’s Democratic Gov. Matt Meyer said the state used its own funds Friday to provide the first of could be a weekly relief payment to SNAP recipients.
On Thursday, Nebraska’s Republican Gov. Jim Pillen downplayed the effect of paused SNAP benefits on families in his state, saying, “Nobody’s going to go hungry.” The multimillionaire said food pantries, churches and other charitable services would fill the gap.
Lieb, Casey and Bauer write for the Associated Press. Lieb reported from Jefferson City, Mo., and Bauer from Madison, Wisc. AP writers Margery Beck in Omaha; Mike Catalini in Newark, N.J.; Jack Dura in Bismarck, N.D.; Mingson Lau in Claymont, Del.; John O’Connor, in Springfield, Ill.; and Gary D. Robertson in Raleigh, N.C., contributed to this report.
No one has won the City Section individual golf championship four times, but Layla Phillips has a chance to be the first.
The 14-year-old freshman from Harbor Teacher Prep carded a five-under-par 67 on Thursday at Balboa Golf Course in Encino, good enough for a six-stroke victory over Macy Lee of El Camino Real.
“She’s been playing since she was 2,” explained her father Kasey, who was there to watch his daughter’s round and could not have been more proud. “Our old house was right off of Maggie Hathaway Golf Course and balls were constantly flying onto our property. It was an annoying thing and my wife was afraid the kids might get hit playing in the backyard. So we complained about it and they offered us free lessons as kind of a peace offering.”
As fate would have it, Layla and her sister Roxanne, one year younger, both took to the sport like fish to water.
“We started taking lessons at Chester Washington Golf Course because they had a better driving range there,” said Layla, who started playing the Toyota Tour Cup series 18 months ago. “We get along great and we practice together everyday. She’s following in my footsteps. We’re opposites. I get really nervous but she just hits the ball and doesn’t care. At times, we have to take advice from each other.”
After bogeying the first hole, Phillips birdied the second, eagled the third and birdied the fourth to vault to the top of the leaderboard. She maintained at least a two-shot lead the rest of the way. A bogey on No. 6 was followed by two pars and three consecutive birdies that stretched the margin to six.
“I can’t be too mad with my performance today but there’s always room for improvement,” said Phillips, who got to six-under before bogeying 18 and who finished two strokes off the City finals record of 65 set last year by Palisades senior Anna Song, now a freshman at Stanford. “I’ve only played this course twice before and I’d never played the back nine.”
Phillips tries to get a round in once a week and plays a two-day tournament every month. She shot six-under (equaling her personal best) to win a Southern California PGA Junior Tour championship in Palm Springs in December. She has won around 50 SCPGA Junior events since she was 10. In March, Roxanne won the L.A. City Junior championship by 15 shots on the same course when she was only 12.
“School lets out at 3:30 so I’m practicing from 4 to 7:30 p.m. at Los Verdes [in Palos Verdes] or Victoria [in Carson],” said Phillips, who finished in the top 10 at the Junior World Golf Championship last year in San Diego.
Phillips longs to play college golf (maybe at USC, which is only a 30-minute drive from where she lives in Harbor City). When told she could potentially be the first four-time City champion, she said: Yeah, it’s a possibility. My best competition in City might be my sister. She’s beaten me a couple of times already.”
She will also have to contend with fellow ninth grader Lauren Song (Anna’s sister) who shot a 75 to finish alone in third Thursday to help Palisades (+55) win its fifth straight team title, one shy of the City record accomplished twice by Granada Hills. The Highlanders finished second by 64 shots Thursday but still advanced to next week’s SoCal Regionals.
A federal judge in Rhode Island ordered the Trump administration Thursday to find the money to fully fund SNAP benefits for November.
The ruling by U.S. District Judge John J. McConnell Jr. gave President Trump’s administration until Friday to make the payments through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, though it’s unlikely the 42 million Americans — about 1 in 8, most of them in poverty — will see the money on the debit cards they use for groceries nearly that quickly.
The order was in response to a challenge from cities and nonprofits complaining that the administration was only offering to cover 65% of the maximum benefit, a decision that would have left some recipients getting nothing for this month.
“The defendants failed to consider the practical consequences associated with this decision to only partially fund SNAP,” McConnell said in a ruling from the bench after a brief hearing. “They knew that there would be a long delay in paying partial SNAP payments and failed to consider the harms individuals who rely on those benefits would suffer.”
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Thursday.
McConnell was one of two judges who ruled last week that the administration could not skip November’s benefits entirely because of the federal shutdown.
The Trump administration chose partial payments this week
Last month, the administration said that it would halt SNAP payments for November if the government shutdown wasn’t resolved.
A coalition of cities and nonprofits sued in federal court in Rhode Island and Democratic state officials from across the country did so in Massachusetts.
The judges in both cases ordered the government to use one emergency reserve fund containing more than $4.6 billion to pay for SNAP for November but gave it leeway to tap other money to make the full payments, which cost between $8.5 billion and $9 billion each month.
On Monday, the administration said it would not use additional money, saying it was up to Congress to appropriate the funds for the program and that the other money was needed to shore up other child hunger programs.
The partial funding brought on complications
McConnell harshly criticized the Trump administration for making that choice.
“Without SNAP funding for the month of November, 16 million children are immediately at risk of going hungry,” he said. “This should never happen in America. In fact, it’s likely that SNAP recipients are hungry as we sit here.”
Tyler Becker, the attorney for the government, unsuccessfully argued that the Trump administration had followed the court’s order in issuing the partial payments. “This all comes down to Congress not having appropriated funds because of the government shutdown,” he said.
Kristin Bateman, a lawyer for the coalition of cities and nonprofit organizations, told the judge the administration had other reasons for not fully funding the benefits.
“What defendants are really trying to do is to leverage people’s hunger to gain partisan political advantage in the shutdown fight,” Bateman told the court.
McConnell said last week’s order required that those payments be made “expeditiously” and “efficiently” — and by Wednesday — or a full payment would be required. “Nothing was done consistent with the court’s order to clear the way to expeditiously resolve it,” McConnell said.
There were other twists and turns this week
The administration said in a court filing on Monday that it could take weeks or even months for some states to make calculations and system changes to load the debit cards used in the SNAP program. At the time, it said it would fund 50% of the maximum benefits.
The next day, Trump appeared to threaten not to pay the benefits at all unless Democrats in Congress agreed to reopen the government. His press secretary later said that the partial benefits were being paid for November — and that it is future payments that are at risk if the shutdown continues.
And Wednesday night, it recalculated, telling states that there was enough money to pay for 65% of the maximum benefits.
Under a decades-old formula in federal regulations, everyone who received less than the maximum benefit would get a larger percentage reduction. Some families would have received nothing and some single people and two-person households could have gotten as little as $16.
Carmel Scaife, a former day care owner in Milwaukee who hasn’t been able to work since receiving multiple severe injuries in a car accident seven years ago, said she normally receives $130 a month from SNAP. She said that despite bargain hunting, that is not nearly enough for a month’s worth of groceries.
Scaife, 56, said that any cuts to her benefit will mean she will need to further tap her Social Security income for groceries. “That’ll take away from the bills that I pay,” she said. “But that’s the only way I can survive.”
The next legal step is unclear
This type of order is usually not subject to an appeal, but the Trump administration has challenged other rulings like it before.
An organization whose lawyers filed the challenge signaled it would continue the battle if needed.
“We shouldn’t have to force the President to care for his citizens,” Democracy Forward President and CEO Skye Perryman said in a statement, “but we will do whatever is necessary to protect people and communities.”
It often takes SNAP benefits a week or more to be loaded onto debit cards once states initiate the process.
Mulvihill and Casey write for the Associated Press. AP writers Sara Cline in Baton Rouge, La.; Susan Haigh in Hartford, Conn.; and Gary Robertson in Raleigh, N.C., contributed to this report.
However, there is also plenty of strife, messy politics and difficult decisions. (My inbox reflects the high emotion. I get hate and love mail, just like other reporters.)
Take a saga I’ve been writing about for more than a year concerning a plan by federal wildlife officials to shoot up to nearly half a million barred owls over three decades to save spotted owls in California, Washington and Oregon. Even someone who knows nothing about the matter can guess it’s controversial.
Since the strategy was approved last year by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, animal rights groups have fought to stop it, gaining traction with some U.S. lawmakers. Bipartisan legislators signed onto letters urging the Trump administration to cancel it, citing costs they said could top $1 billion. Then, this summer, Republicans in the House and Senate introduced resolutions that, if successful, would overturn the plan for good.
It was a nightmare scenario for environmental nonprofits, which acknowledge the moral quandary involved with killing so many animals, but say the barred owl population must be kept in check to prevent the extinction of the northern spotted owl, which is being muscled out of its native territory by its larger, more aggressive cousin. They also dispute that ten-figure price tag.
Then, at the eleventh hour, there was an upset in alliances. Logging advocates said canceling the plan could hinder timber sales in Oregon, and threaten production goals set by the Trump administration. That’s right: Loggers were now on the same side as conservationists, while right-wing politicians were aligned with animal welfare activists. Talk about unlikely, uncomfortable political bedfellows.
The loggers’ plea may have tipped the scales. Louisiana Republican John Kennedy, who spearheaded the Senate resolution, said Interior Secretary Doug Burgum — whose portfolio includes timber — personally asked him to abandon the effort. Kennedy, in colorful terms, declined to back down. He called the planned cull “DEI for owls” and said Burgum “loves it like the devil loves sin.” The resolution didn’t pass, splitting the Republican vote almost down the middle.
You don’t have to go to Washington, D.C., to find epic battles over wildlife management.
In California, there’s been much discussion in recent years about the best way to live alongside large predators such as mountain lions and wolves.
Wolves in California were wiped out by people about a century ago, and they started to recolonize the state only 14 years ago. The native species’ resurgence is celebrated by conservationists but derided by many ranchers who say the animals are hurting their bottom line when they eat their cattle.
State wildlife officials recently euthanized four gray wolves in the northern part of the state that were responsible for 70 livestock losses in less than six months, my colleague Clara Harter reported, marking the latest flashpoint in the effort to manage them.
“Wolves are one of the state’s most iconic species and coexistence is our collective future,” said Charlton Bonham, director of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. “But that comes with tremendous responsibility and sometimes hard decisions.”
Even hulking herbivores such as wild horses stir passionate disagreement.
In the Eastern Sierra last month, I walked among dozens of multi-colored equines with members of local Native American tribes, who told me of their deep connection to the animals — and their heartbreak over U.S. government plans to send them away.
Federal officials say the herd has surged to more than three times what the landscape can support, and pose a safety hazard on highways, while also damaging Mono Lake’s unique geologic formations. Under a plan approved earlier this year, hundreds are slated to be rounded up and removed.
A coalition that includes local tribes — which have cultural ties to the animals that go back generations — disputes many of these claims and argues that the removal plan is inhumane.
“I wish I had a magic wand and could solve it all,” Beth Pratt, of the National Wildlife Federation, told me after my article on the horses was published.
Stay tuned. I’ll be writing this newsletter about once a month to dig into important wildlife stories in the Golden State and beyond. Send me feedback, tips and cute cat photos at [email protected].
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Speaking of wolves: The Trump administration ordered Colorado to stop importing gray wolves from Canada as part of the state’s efforts to restore the predators, a shift that could hinder plans for more reintroductions this winter, according to the Associated Press’ Mead Gruver. The state has been releasing wolves west of the Continental Divide since 2023.
More than 17,000 acres of ancestral lands were returned to the Tule River Indian Tribe, which will allow for the reintroduction of Tule elk and the protection of habitat for California condors, among other conservation projects, my colleague Jessica Garrison reports.
Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office called it “the largest ancestral land return in the history of the region and a major step in addressing historical wrongs against California Native American tribes.”
One year after the discovery of golden mussels in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, dense colonies cling to boats and piers, threatening water for cities and farms — and there’s no help on the way, reports CalMatters’ Rachel Becker. State agencies have prioritized protecting other areas in the state from the infested Delta, the hub of the state’s water supply.
Will traditional holiday fare such as crab cakes be on the menu this year? As fellow Times reporter Susanne Rust writes, the need to protect humpback whales in California’s coastal waters, combined with widespread domoic acid contamination along the northern coast, has once again put the brakes on the Dungeness crab commercial fishery and parts of the recreational fishery this fall.
A few last things in climate news
My colleague Ian James wrote about a big shift in where L.A. will get its water: The city will double the size of a project to transform wastewater into purified drinking water, producing enough for 500,000 people. The recycled water will allow L.A. to stop taking water from creeks that feed Mono Lake, promising to resolve a long-running environmental conflict.
California’s proposed Zone Zero regulations, which would force homeowners to create an ember-resistant area around their houses, have stirred backlash. One provision causing consternation may require the removal of healthy plants from within five feet of their homes, which some say isn’t backed by science. Those in favor of the rules say they’re key to protecting dwellings from wildfires. Now, as The Times’ Noah Haggerty explains, state officials appear poised to miss a Dec. 31 deadline to finalize the regulations.
Clean energy stocks have surged 50% this year, significantly outpacing broader market gains despite Trump administration policies targeting the sector, Bloomberg reports. Demand for renewable power to fuel artificial intelligence data centers and China’s aggressive clean-tech expansion are driving the rally.
If you’re not quite ready to let go of the Halloween mood, I have good news. November generally marks the end of tarantula mating season. As I reported, male tarantulas strike out every year from their burrows in search of a lover. Finding one can be fatal, whether she’s in the mood or not. Females are known to snack on their suitors. Gulp.
While the arachnids inhabit areas such as the Angeles National Forest and Santa Monica Mountains year-round, mating season — when the males are on the move — offers the best opportunity to spot one. Through the month of November, you can also gaze at them at the Natural History Museum’s spider pavilion.
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Netflix on Wednesday touted a surge in popularity for its low-cost streaming plan with ads, as it looks to tap into the lucrative the world of brands.
The streaming giant said it now has more than 190 million monthly active viewers watching ads through a plan that costs $7.99 a month. The lowest cost ad-free plan costs $17.99 a month.
However, the Los Gatos, Calif.-based company is now using a different methodology to measure its audience watching ads, making exact comparison’s difficult.
Netflix now defines monthly active viewers as customers who watched at least 1 minute of ads on Netflix per month. It then multiplies that by the estimated average number of people in a household. Previously, Netflix had measured monthly active users based on the number of Netflix profiles watching content with ads.
The streamer said its previous measurement didn’t illustrate all the people who were in the room watching.
“Our move to viewers means we can give a more comprehensive count of how many people are actually on the couch, enjoying our can’t-miss series, films, games and live events with friends and family,”wrote Amy Reinhard, Netflix’s president of advertising in a post on the streamer’s website on Wednesday.
On Wednesday, Netflix executives said the growth in ad viewers was in line with their expectations.
“We are very satisfied with where we are at,” Reinhard, said in a press briefing. “We think there is a lot of opportunity to grow on this plan around the world, and we’re going to continue to make sure that we are offering our customers a great experience and a great buying experience on the advertising side.”
Netflix began its foray into ad-supported streaming in 2022, after it received pressure from investors to diversify how it makes revenue. Previously, Netflix mainly made money through subscriptions and for many years had been ad-adverse.
The company said last month it was on track to more than double its ad revenue in 2025, but did not cite specific figures. Netflix Co-CEO Greg Peters said in an earnings presentation in October that the ad revenue is still small relative to the size of the company’s subscription revenues, but advertisers are excited about Netflix’s growing scale.
“We see plenty of room for growth ahead,” Peters said.
On Wednesday, Netflix said it is expanding its options for advertisers, including demographic targeting in areas such as education, marital status and household income.
Netflix also said it has partnered with brands including brewing company Peroni Nastro Azzurro in ads for its romantic comedy series “Emily in Paris,” and tested dynamic ad insertion with programs including WWE Raw this quarter and will offer that feature in the U.S. and other countries for NFL Christmas Gameday.
For a historian who writes about war, Rick Atkinson is surprisingly optimistic. The Pulitzer Prize-winning author and former journalist — who recently released the second volume in a trilogy of books about the American Revolution — believes that the bedrock of American democracy is solid enough to withstand any assaults on its founding principles.
As the guest of honor at a Sunday night dinner sponsored by the Library Foundation of Los Angeles as part of its biennial Literary Feasts fundraiser, Atkinson was the most upbeat person at the event, which took place just before Election Day. Speaking to about 18 guests gathered around two circular tables carefully laid out on the back patio at the home of fellow writers and hosts Meenakshi and Liaquat Ahamed, Atkinson buoyed the flagging spirits of those certain that the country was currently dangling on the precipice of disaster at the hands of the Trump administration.
Book lovers attend a Literary Feast dinner featuring Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Rick Atkinson at the home of writers Meenakshi and Liaquat Ahamed.
(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)
“We’re the beneficiaries of an enlightened political heritage handed down to us from that founding generation, and it includes strictures on how to divide power and keep it from concentrating in the hands of authoritarians who think primarily of themselves,” Atkinson said with the cheery aplomb of a man who has spent the bulk of his time burrowing deep inside archives filled with harrowing stories of the darkest days the world has ever seen. “We can’t let that slip away. We can’t allow it to be taken away, and we can’t allow ourselves to forget the hundreds of thousands who’ve given their lives to affirm and sustain it over the past 250 years.”
The questions and conversation that followed Atkinson’s rousing speech about the history of the Revolution — including riveting details about key players like George Washington who Atkinson noted had “remarkably dead eyes” in order to not give away a scintilla of his inner life to curious onlookers — was what the evening’s book-loving guests had come for.
“We’re the beneficiaries of an enlightened political heritage handed down to us from that founding generation,” said Rick Atkinson.
(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)
A total of 40 authors are hosted at salon-style events at 40 houses with more than 750 guests over the course of a single evening, raising more than $2 million for the Library Foundation, which is a separate entity from the public library. Founded in 1992 in the wake of the devastating 1986 fire at downtown’s Central Library, which destroyed more than 400,000 books, the foundation seeks to continue the community-driven mission of the library when funding runs short, including supporting adult education, early literacy programs for children, and services for immigrants and the unhoused.
“I often describe it as the dream-fueling work, the life-changing work,” said Stacy Lieberman, the Library Foundation’s president and chief executive. “Because it’s a lot of the one-on-one support that people will get.”
The Foundation typically raises about $7 million to $8 million a year, with an operating budget of nearly $11 million, so money raised through the Literary Feasts is a significant slice of the funding pie. The feasts began in 1997 and have continued apace every other year since then, featuring a who’s who of literary accomplishment across every genre. Writers past and present include Sue Grafton, Jane Fonda, Ann Patchett, Viet Thanh Nguyen, Abraham Verghese, Scott Turow and Michael Connelly.
Dinner hosts fund the events themselves — no small outlay considering the lavish offerings.
Guests were served steak with roasted carrots, turnips and potatoes.
(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)
The Ahameds delighted guests with a tangy grapefruit and greens salad, followed by tender steak with roasted carrots, turnips and potatoes; a dessert of hot apple tart à la mode drizzled with caramel sauce; and plenty of crisp red and white wine. Both hosts are literary luminaries in their own right: Liaquat, a former investment manager, won the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for history for his book “Lords of Finance: The Bankers Who Broke the World” and Meenakshi recently published “Indian Genius: The Meteoric Rise of Indians in America.”
The couple travels in bookish circles and enjoys hosting salons at their home, including one earlier this year in support of New Yorker political columnist Susan Glasser and her husband, New York Times chief White House correspondent Peter Baker. As friends of Atkinson, the Ahameds did their part to introduce him, and later tried their best to entice him to stop taking questions and eat his dinner.
The guest of honor could not be persuaded. There was too much to say. “The Fate of the Day,” which explores the bloody middle years of the Revolution from 1777 to 1780, was released in April, and Atkinson has spent the past eight months touring and speaking on panels with documentarian Ken Burns to promote Burns’ six-part documentary series “The American Revolution,” which premieres Nov. 16 on PBS.
Atkinson is a featured speaker in the series and has been involved with it for about four years.
The dinner featuring Rick Atkinson was one of 40 taking place across town that evening. The events raised $2 million for the Library Foundation of Los Angeles.
(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)
The week before the Literary Feast, Atkinson and Burns spoke to members of Congress in Washington, D.C., and also screened a 40-minute clip at Mount Vernon where Atkinson discussed Washington’s unique talents as a general.
“I’ve seen the whole thing several times and it’s fantastic,” Atkinson said of the 12-hour film. “It’s as you would expect: beautifully filmed, wonderfully told, great narrative.”
The country is now more than four months into its semiquincentennial, which Atkinson joked “sounds like a medical procedure,” but is actually the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States. It’s well known that Trump is planning a splashy party, with festivities and commemorations intensifying over the next eight months, culminating in a grand celebration in Washington, D.C., on July 4, 2026.
Rick Atkinson’s book “The Fate of the Day,” which explores the bloody middle years of the Revolution from 1777 to 1780, was released in April.
(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)
“My hope is that as a country, we use the opportunity to reflect on those basic questions of who we are, where we came from, what our forebears believed and what they were willing to die for,” said Atkinson. “I’m optimistic because I’m a historian, because I know our history. No matter how grim things seem in 2025, we have faced grimmer times in the past, existential threats of the first order, starting with the Revolution.”
The politically deflated might also consider World War II — the subject of Atkinson’s Liberation Trilogy — the second volume of which won the 2003 Pulitzer Prize for history. The writer knows his stuff. Guests — and readers — take heart.
