office

Terrorists have attacked at various locations and soldiers are ‘currently engaged in eliminating the attackers’

The Foreign Office this afternoon said people should not travel to Mali after a sderies of attacks today. Officials co-ordinated attacks have struck the country.

Gunmen attacked several locations in Mali’s capital and other cities early on Saturday in a possible co-ordinated assault, residents and authorities said. Mali’s army said in a statement “unidentified armed terrorist groups targeted certain locations and barracks in the capital”. It added that soldiers were “currently engaged in eliminating the attackers”.

The Foreign Office told British citizens today: “A series of coordinated attacks occurred in multiple locations including Kidal, Gao, Kati, Sevare and in the vicinity of Bamako International Airport on 25th April, which has temporarily closed.

“If you are in Mali, you should stay indoors where possible, avoid crowded places and areas of military or police activity, and follow guidance issued by local authorities. We continue to advise against all travel to Mali.”

Previously the Foreign Office told people to only leave via the airport as overland routes are ‘too dangerous.’ It added: “This is due to terrorist attacks along national highways.

“Terrorist group Jama’a Nusrat ul-Islam wa al-Muslimin (JNIM) has implemented blockades on key routes throughout Southern and Western Mali, including the capital city of Bamako. These blockades are targeting fuel trucks and are enforcing checkpoints for individuals attempting to pass through them. Attacks can occur at any time.

“There is a high threat of kidnapping and criminal activity across Mali, including in the capital, Bamako. If you choose to remain in Mali, you do so at your own risk. You should have a personal emergency plan that does not rely on the UK government.

Mali has been plagued by insurgencies fought by affiliates of al Qaida and the so-called Islamic State group, as well as a separatist rebellion in the north.

An Associated Press journalist in the capital Bamako heard sustained heavy weapons and automatic rifle gunfire coming from Modibo Keita International Airport, around 15km (nine miles) from the city centre, and saw a helicopter over nearby neighbourhoods.

The airport is adjacent to an air base used by Mali’s air force. A resident living near the airport also reported gunfire and three helicopters patrolling overhead.

Residents in other cities in Mali reported gunfire and blasts on Saturday morning, suggesting a possible co-ordinated attack by armed groups.

Gunmen entered the northeastern city of Kidal, taking control of some neighbourhoods and leading to gunfire exchanges with the army, a former mayor of Kidal told AP over the phone.

The Azawad separatist movement has been fighting for years to create the state of Azawad in northern Mali. They once drove security forces from the region, before a 2015 peace deal that has since collapsed paved the way for some ex-rebels to be integrated into the Malian military.

Mohamed Elmaouloud Ramadane, a spokesman for the Azawad Liberation Front, said on Facebook its forces had taken control of several areas of Kidal and Gao, another northeastern city. The AP could not independently verify his claim.

A resident of Gao said gunfire and explosions started in the early hours of Saturday and could still be heard in the late morning.

“The force of the explosions is making the doors and windows of my house shake. I’m scared out of my wits,” the resident told AP by phone. He spoke on condition of anonymity. The resident said the gunfire came from the army camp and the airport, which are next to each other.

A resident of Kati, a town near Bamako that is home to Mali’s main military base, also said he was woken up early in the morning by the sounds of gunfire and explosions.

General Assimi Goita, the leader of Mali’s military junta, lives in Kati.

In 2024, an al Qaida-linked group claimed an attack on Bamako’s airport and a military training camp in the capital, killing scores of people.

Mali, alongside neighbouring Niger and Burkina Faso, has long been battling armed groups affiliated with al Qaida and the Islamic State group, a fight that has escalated over the past decade.

Following military coups, the juntas in the three countries have turned from Western allies to Russia for help combating Islamic militants.

But the security situation in Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso has worsened in recent times, analysts say, with a record number of attacks by militants. Government forces have also been accused of killing civilians they suspect of collaborating with militants.

A high number of cases were reported in the last 12 months – with a 5-fold increase in some areas – and 143 deaths

Travellers have been warned about the resurgence of a disease spread by mosquitos with ‘high risk’ in 42 countries. The Foreign Office-backed Travel Health Pro website this week issued an alert over the virus spreading in parts of Africa, Central and South America, and in Trinidad in the Caribbean.

Yellow Fever can cause a serious haemorrhagic illness that can be fatal for humans. Yellow fever vaccination and mosquito bite avoidance are important preventive measures against the disease, officials said. Yellow fevefr virus can cause an illness that results in jaundice , yellowing of the skin and eyes, and bleeding with severe damage to the major organs such as liver, kidneys and heart. The mortality rate is high in those who develop severe disease.

Travel Health Pro said yellow fever is a risk in areas of 13 countries and territories in South and Central America. A high number of cases were reported from this region in 2025, with 346 confirmed human cases (including 143 deaths) from seven countries.

This represents a 5.6-fold increase in cases compared to 2024. Since the beginning of 2026, a total of 41 confirmed cases (including 18 deaths) have been reported from four countries: Bolivia, Colombia, Peru and Venezuela.

In 2024, most yellow fever cases were reported from the Amazon region. Officials said: “While YF cases continue to be reported in this area, cases have since been reported in a wider geographic area, outside the Amazon region. This includes in Sao Paulo State in Brazil and Tolima Department in Colombia. In addition, reports suggest recent human YF cases in Venezuela have occurred in an area that had not previously been considered a risk for YF disease.

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“Risk of YF outbreaks in South America remains high. An outbreak in Colombia has been ongoing since mid-2024, with 153 confirmed cases (including 62 deaths) reported. The confirmed reporting of YF cases in a wider geographic area, including cases related to jungle transmission near to urban centres, increases the risk of urban outbreaks [1]. While YF vaccination is one of the most successful public health interventions to prevent YF disease, the COVID-19 pandemic, among other factors, has led to a reduction of YF vaccine cover in the local population.”

It added that yell;ow fever risk countries in Africa continue to report probable and confirmed cases. During 2024, confirmed cases of YF were reported in countries with no recent history of transmission and suboptimal vaccination coverage.

WHO also advise that in some African countries, there may be under-reporting of YF due to surveillance and data collection issues. The risk of YF transmission remains high in endemic areas of Africa. The mosquitoes (Aedes spp.) that transmit YF are common in many urban areas in Africa. This significantly increases the risk of YF spreading, especially in heavily populated areas, which could lead to the rapid onset of YF outbreaks.

Countries with a risk of yellow fever transmission as defined by the World Health Organization

Africa

• Angola
• Benin
• Burkina Faso
• Burundi
• Cameroon
• Central African Republic
• Chad*
• Congo
• Côte d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast)
• Democratic Republic of the Congo
• Equatorial Guinea
• Ethiopia*
• Gabon
• The Gambia
• Ghana
• Guinea
• Guinea-Bissau
• Kenya*
• Liberia
• Mali*
• Mauritania*
• Niger*
• Nigeria
• Senegal
• Sierra Leone
• South Sudan
• Sudan*
• Togo
• Uganda

Central and South America

• Argentina*
• Bolivia*
• Brazil*
• Colombia*
• Ecuador*
• French Guiana
• Guyana
• Panama*
• Paraguay*
• Peru*
• Suriname
• Trinidad and Tobago*
• Venezuela*

*Only some parts of this country have a risk of yellow fever disease. Remaining areas either have low potential for yellow fever transmission or no risk.

Signs and symptoms

YF varies in severity. The infection has an incubation period (time from infected mosquito feeding to symptoms developing) of three to six days. Initial symptoms include myalgia (muscle pain), pyrexia (high temperature), headache, anorexia (lack of appetite), nausea, and vomiting. In many patients there will be improvement in symptoms and gradual recovery three to four days after the onset of symptoms.

Within 24 hours of an apparent recovery, 15 to 25 percent of patients progress to a more serious illness. This takes the form of an acute haemorrhagic fever, in which there may be bleeding from the mouth, eyes, ears, and stomach, pronounced jaundice (yellowing of the skin, from which the disease gets its name), and renal (kidney) damage. The patient develops shock and there is deterioration of major organ function; 20 to 50 percent of patients who develop this form of the disease do not survive [22]. Infection results in lifelong immunity in those who recover.

Spain is the most popular holiday destination for Brits

Now that warmer weather is finally arriving, many of us are casting our eyes towards the summer months and planning holidays. Spain remains the most sought-after destination for British travellers, with millions descending on the European nation each year, eager to soak up the sunshine, lounge on its beaches and sample the local food.

When heading abroad, it’s crucial to familiarise yourself with any local laws or regulations you’ll need to abide by during your stay. And if Spain is on your radar this year, there’s one balcony rule you might not be aware of.

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) routinely issues travel guidance for Brits venturing to more than 220 countries and territories across the globe. Within its extensive advice for Spain, the FCDO makes specific mention of balconies.

While balconies are great for offering a view and giving guests a spot to unwind in the open air, holidaymakers are expected to conduct themselves appropriately. FCDO guidance for Spain reads: “Hotels and other establishments will evict you if you behave dangerously on balconies. You could also get a fine.”

Those heading to Spain are also reminded that they must produce ID if requested by a police officer. The FCDO adds: “This includes the Guardia Civil and national, regional and local police forces.

“The police have the right to hold you at a police station until they have confirmed your identity. Ignoring direct requests of a police officer can be considered as ‘disobedience’, which is a criminal offence.”

WASHINGTON — The Justice Department has ended its probe into Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell, clearing a major roadblock to the confirmation of his successor, Kevin Warsh.

U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeannine Pirro said on X that her office was ending its probe into the Fed’s extensive building renovations because the Fed’s Inspector General would scrutinize them instead.

The decision ends an investigation, one of several undertaken by the Justice Department into President Trump’s perceived adversaries, that for months had failed to gain traction as prosecutors struggled to articulate a basis to suspect criminal conduct.

A prosecutor handling the case conceded at a closed-door court hearing in March that the government hadn’t yet found any evidence of a crime, and a judge subsequently quashed subpoenas issued to the Federal Reserve. The judge, James Boasberg, said prosecutors had produced “essentially zero evidence” to suspect Powell of a crime. Boasberg prosecutors’ justification for the subpoenas as “thin and unsubstantiated.”

More recently, prosecutors made an unannounced visit to a construction site at the Fed’s headquarters but were turned away, drawing a rebuke from a defense attorney in the case who called the maneuver “not appropriate.”

The move could lead to a swift confirmation vote by the Senate for Warsh, a former top Fed official whom Trump, a Republican, nominated in January to replace Powell, whose term as chair ends May 15. Sen. Thom Tillis, a North Carolina Republican, has said he would oppose Warsh until the investigation was resolved, effectively blocking his confirmation.

Warsh said Tuesday that he never promised the White House that he would cut interest rates, even as the president renewed his calls for the central bank to do so.

“The president never once asked me to commit to any particular interest rate decision, period,” Kevin Warsh, a former top Fed official, said under questioning by the Senate Banking Committee. “Nor would I ever agree to do so if he had. … I will be an independent actor if confirmed as chair of the Federal Reserve.”

Warsh’s comments came just hours after Trump, in an interview on CNBC, was asked if he would be disappointed if Warsh didn’t immediately cut rates and responded, “I would.”

HARRISBURG, Pa. — Pennsylvania’s treasurer refused Thursday to approve payments for more than $1 million in security systems and other upgrades to the private home of Gov. Josh Shapiro, changes that were made after an intruder set fire to the state-owned governor’s residence last year in an attempt to kill the Democrat.

The treasurer, Republican Stacy Garrity, said there is no legal authorization to use taxpayer dollars to reimburse contractors for the security upgrades on private property, even the private home of a governor.

The Pennsylvania State Police submitted the reimbursement requests to the Treasury Department but “appear to have simply ignored the statutory limits and restrictions on spending and procurement,” Garrity said during a news conference in her offices.

The state police agency has other options to get taxpayer dollars to underwrite the work, which has already been done. The agency could ask lawmakers to explicitly authorize the payments or enter the state’s settlement process for disputes between contractors and state agencies, Garrity said.

Shapiro, who is considered a potential top-tier contender for the White House in the 2028 presidential election, is running for reelection this year for a second term as governor. After last year’s attack, he emerged as a prominent voice in condemning political violence.

Garrity is expected to be Shapiro’s main opponent in the fall election. She is both endorsed by the state GOP and uncontested for the GOP nomination in Pennsylvania’s May 19 primary election.

The treasurer said the decision wasn’t political and that “I don’t play these kind of political games.”

But Shapiro’s office blasted Garrity’s decision as a “shameful political action without legal basis” and said the state police was exploring options to ensure it protects its authority and that the contractors get paid.

“The Treasurer should put partisanship aside, follow the law, and show some humanity for a family that has experienced real trauma, the state troopers who protect them every day, and the vendors and workers who the treasurer has now refused to pay,” the governor’s office said in a written statement.

Garrity said the security and well-being of public officials and their families is of the “utmost importance” to her and that “an attack on the governor is an attack on all of us.”

Still, she said, her department does not have the legal authority to issue the payments.

The security upgrades at Shapiro’s home were something of a secret until his administration informed lawmakers about them in a letter last fall. In it, the Cabinet official in charge of state property told lawmakers that “the threat to a high-profile elected official like Governor Shapiro does not end when he leaves the Governor’s Residence.”

State officials haven’t detailed those upgrades, citing safety reasons. Shapiro, his wife and two of his four children still live in the private residence, in Abington, a Philadelphia suburb.

However, plans for a security fence there spawned dueling lawsuits between the Shapiros and a neighbor over who rightfully owns a sliver of land abutting the two properties.

So far, the Treasury Department said Thursday it has paid more than $26 million in security upgrades and remediations at the governor’s state-owned residence in Harrisburg, where the Shapiros often stay. Those renovations included an “anti-climb” iron fence that is much higher than the one scaled by the intruder, Cody Balmer.

Balmer last year pleaded guilty to the attempted murder of Shapiro. Under a plea deal, Balmer was sentenced to 25 to 50 years in prison, far less than he could have faced if the case had gone to trial.

He climbed over a 7-foot iron security fence in the middle of the night, eluded two state troopers stationed at the residence and used beer bottles filled with gasoline to set fire to the residence, just hours after Shapiro had hosted a Passover Seder to celebrate the first night of the Jewish holiday.

The fire forced Shapiro, his wife, children and members of his extended family to flee, as firefighters battled the blaze. The residence, built in the 1960s along the Susquehanna River about 2 miles north of the state Capitol, was badly damaged but has since been renovated.

Levy writes for the Associated Press.

In the aftermath of a recent data breach that saw hackers make off with a vast trove of confidential police records, Los Angeles leaders have sought an explanation from the city’s top lawyer, whose office was targeted.

What they have gotten so far, according to Councilmember Ysabel Jurado, are answers that only leave more questions.

In an interview, Jurado said she had expected City Atty. Hydee Feldstein Soto to appear before the Government Operations committee this week, but instead had received an internal report offering a “high level view” of the breach that left many key details unaddressed.

“When did the city attorney’s office become aware, what actions were taken, and why were city officials not notified promptly?” Jurado said. “Right now, we’re still left to question and trying to assemble the information.”

The Times reported the existence of the hack last week, prompting further scrutiny by public officials — some of whom, like Jurado, said they hadn’t previously been informed. Since then, The Times has reviewed an inventory of 337,000 files that were compromised.

The documents amount to millions of pages, and appear to mostly come from civil lawsuits against the city that have been resolved in court. They range in nature from trip-and-fall cases to police excessive force.

During a brief discussion at the council committee Tuesday morning, Jurado said she had received information that an internal link used by the city attorney’s office to access the files had been clicked at least 5,000 times on the first day of the breach, which is thought to have occurred sometime in March.

The files were not secured by a password, according to sources who spoke previously with The Times and requested anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the ongoing investigation. A senior police official last week assured the department’s civilian bosses, the Police Commission, that none of the department’s own systems had been compromised.

Jurado said she wanted answers for why and how the city had managed to leave exposed sensitive records, such as medical reports, autopsy photos and witness names.

“It’s just horrific to think that that was out there,” Jurado said.

The city attorney’s office responded to questions from The Times by referring to a public report issued April 17, which said a preliminary investigation indicated that “the incident was contained to that third-party environment, and that no other City applications, systems, or department records were accessed or affected.”

The report noted that the hackers teased “small samples” of the data on its dark web site over a week starting March 20, before publishing the whole thing on March 27. The data were taken down after about eight hours, and then reappeared again twice in early April, the report said.

In a separate letter to the police union, the office said it would begin notifying people whose information was compromised “without unreasonable delay.”

The inventory reviewed by The Times shows personnel files for LAPD officers who were accused of using excessive force against a Black military veteran during a traffic stop in 2021. Another file included the identities of witnesses who saw a man die after LAPD officers knelt on him during an arrest, the records reviewed by The Times showed.

Thousands of hours of uncut body camera footage were released. There were also medical records from thousands of cases in which police and other city employees were accused of misconduct. At least 1,060 of the files are labeled as confidential, the inventory says.

The city attorney’s office has said that it alerted senior LAPD officials and the city’s IT department as soon as they discovered the leak, and has in the weeks since been in regular contact with other city departments to assess the scope of the leak. The FBI has begun investigating the matter.

The situation has already cost Feldstein Soto, who is up for reelection, the endorsement of the powerful union for the LAPD’s rank-and-file officers, which withdrew its support after accusing the city attorney of failing to disclose the full extent of the breach.

The leak follows Feldstein Soto’s efforts to weaken the state’s public records law after the release of many police officer photos and other materials, which she demanded be returned.

Several attorneys whose cases were included in the list of compromised files told The Times they have not yet heard from city officials. Some said they could foresee the records leaked being used as justification to reopen old cases — or initiate new ones.

“I’m curious to know what exactly it is that the city attorney’s office had that they may not have disclosed to us in discovery,” Arnoldo Casillas, an attorney for the family of Eric Rivera, a 20-year-old man whose family sued after he was killed by police in Wilmington in 2017 and whose files are among those included in the leak, according to the inventory reviewed by The Times.

The case was later dismissed, but the family has filed an appeal.

Other attorneys whose lawsuits against the city and LAPD were listed among the hacked materials said they wanted to know exactly what was included in the files.

Robert Glassman, who successfully sued for $18 million last year on behalf of two elderly brothers who were badly injured when a speeding LAPD squad car broadsided their vehicle, said he also hadn’t heard from the city attorney’s office.

“You’d think that they would notify [the affected parties] and tell them that they’re working to get their information back,” he said.

Experts said similar cyberattacks on government offices across the country have shown it can take months or years for the dust to fully settle and the full scope of the damage to emerge.

James E. Lee, president of the Identity Theft Resource Center, a nonprofit organization that provides advice and assistance related to identity theft, said last year alone the center documented an all-time high of 3,322 hacks.

That’s almost certainly an undercount, given the number of cases that go undetected or unreported, Lee said. Of the recorded incidents, roughly 165 targeted government agencies — up from 47 in 2020, he said.

In the past, according to Lee, many attacks of government entities were carried out by state-sponsored actors, but the emergence of AI-powered hacking tools have allowed everyday people to carry off such incursions.

“They want data that they can repurpose: anything that’s going to have financial information, anything that’s going to have driver’s license information is going to be very valuable to them,” he said.

Matthew McNicholas, a lawyer who has represented many officers in their lawsuits against the city, said he has fielded numerous calls from clients worried their personnel and medical records were exposed.

The leaked records, the inventory shows, include a case in which McNicholas sued the city on behalf of a victim who said they’d been sexually molested as a minor by an employee at a city-run recreational center.

McNicholas said he is worried that the leak will expose the private information of police whistleblowers who came forward to reveal discrimination and other misconduct.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

ORLANDO, Fla. — White men have been discriminated against through diversity, equity and inclusion programs, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said Wednesday after signing legislation which prohibits counties and cities from funding or promoting DEI initiatives.

The Republican governor defined DEI at a news conference as “an ideological construct that is designed to promote a particular political agenda, particularly to the detriment of disfavored groups.”

“The disfavored groups, No. 1, obviously, would be white males, and I think they’ve been discriminated against,” DeSantis said in Jacksonville. “And it’s like a lot of people are, ‘Oh that’s fine. That’s fine.’ No, it’s not fine. It’s wrong.”

While the governor is entitled to his opinion, his views differ from “everyone else’s,” said Evelyn Foxx, president of the NAACP branch in Gainesville.

“If you talked to 100 white men, they wouldn’t feel the same way” as DeSantis, Foxx said when asked Wednesday about his comments. “The governor is out of touch with people, and that is the bottom line.”

Supporters say the purpose of DEI is to remedy the effects of long-term discrimination against certain groups. A nationwide push by conservatives to limit diversity programs has led many companies, schools and governments to pull back on those initiatives, particularly during the current Trump administration, and DEI has been a frequent target for the governor.

DeSantis also said Wednesday that Asian Americans had faced discrimination in university admissions and that people should be judged on their merits. During his two terms in office, DeSantis’ administration has championed legislation which prohibits public colleges and universities from spending money on DEI programs and promoted the “Stop WOKE Act,” which restricts how race and sex are taught in schools.

Democratic lawmakers have warned that the legislation was overbroad and potentially unconstitutional.

Under the legislation, residents can sue local governments for violations. If local officials are found to have funded DEI initiatives in violation of the law, they can be removed from office.

“When people know there is accountability, they are much more apt to toe the line,” DeSantis said.

Schneider writes for the Associated Press.

Former Fox News host and ex-Trump advocate Tucker Carlson is feeling remorse for the role he and others played in publicly promoting Donald Trump as a candidate and as the president.

“In very small ways, but in real ways, you and me and millions of people like us are the reason this is happening right now,” Carlson said Monday on his podcast, “The Tucker Carlson Show.” He was chatting with Buckley Carlson, his brother and a former Trump speechwriter, about the erosion of conservative values within the Republican Party under Trump.

“I do think it’s a moment to wrestle with our own consciences,” Carlson said. “You know, we’ll be tormented by it for a long time. I will be, and I want to say I’m sorry for misleading people. It was not intentional, and that’s all I’ll say.”

After nearly 10 years of yammering nightly about the greatness of Trump, Carlson picks now to cut the conversation short?

There’s a lot more to say, but this time, it’s about Carlson’s too-little, too-late mea culpa. His claim that he did not intentionally mislead the public is in itself misleading. While Carlson promoted Trump and the Big Lie ad nauseam on his prime-time Fox News show, “Tucker Carlson Tonight,” he was privately disparaging the president and discrediting Trump’s claims that the 2020 election was stolen.

His off-camera thoughts were revealed when internal communications between Fox staffers went public in 2023 due to Dominion Voting Systems’ defamation lawsuit against Fox News for knowingly broadcasting false claims that its machines rigged the 2020 election. Texts and emails from Carlson and other high-profile hosts suggested they knew Trump’s election fraud claims were unfounded, yet they still pushed the “rigged” narrative on air.

In one such example, Carlson texted that Trump needed to concede, and agreed that “there wasn’t enough fraud to change the outcome” of the election, according to the filing. Yet three nights later, he was on air claiming that there were “legitimate concerns” about election integrity. There were several more communications from Carlson where he expressed doubt about Trump’s claims. But in the public eye, he continued to assail the election results and the legitimacy of Biden’s win.

The Fox News host also privately scorned the first Trump presidency as a “disaster,” then turned around and stumped for Trump in 2024, praising him as a “national leader” at the Republican National Convention and campaigning with him in Arizona just days before the election.

If that’s not intentionally misleading the public, then what is?

Perhaps Carlson should have heeded his initial instincts about Trump. Before gaining notoriety with his Fox show, he posted on the website Slate about Trump in 1999, referring to him as “the single most repulsive person on the planet.”

Today the podcaster is among a growing number of right-wing influencers who have turned on their former leader. Former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones want to push Trump out of office by invoking the 25th Amendment. Carrie Prejean Boller, who was a Trump-appointed member of the Religious Liberty Commission up until February, simply called him an “evil psychopath”.

Carlson has criticized the Trump administration’s decision to go to war in Iran, calling it “absolutely disgusting and evil” in March, and later said it was the “single biggest mistake” of Trump’s presidency. And when Trump demanded on Truth Social that Iran “open the F—– Strait, you crazy bastards,” Carlson said the post was “vile on every level” and “the most revealing thing the president has ever done. … Who do you think you are? You’re tweeting out the F word on Easter morning?” Carlson said in his podcast.

The president has responded to criticism from Carlson by telling the New York Post that his detractor is a “a low-IQ person” who has “absolutely no idea what’s going on.”

But Carlson is hardly the only American with buyer’s remorse. A recent NBC poll found that Trump is facing the lowest job approval rating of his second term, largely due to strong disapproval of how the president has handled inflation and the cost of living. Carlson, unlike the rest of the country, rode the MAGA wave to prosperity. His show kicked off in 2016, within weeks of the election, and he rose to prominence on the fervor of Trumpism. Supporting Trump was a family business. From his brother, a Republican operative who previously wrote speeches for Trump, to his son, who worked until recently in Vice President JD Vance’s press office.

Now Carlson is making his way back into the conversation by opposing the man he once claimed to revere.

He is asking for forgiveness for backing a faulty product, while also claiming to be a victim of its beguiling charms. “You and I and everyone else who supported him … you wrote speeches for him, I campaigned for him. We’re implicated in this for sure,” Carlson told his brother on the podcast. “It’s not enough to say, ‘Well, I changed my mind,’ or ‘Oh, this is bad. I’m out.’”

True, that’s not enough. Carlson should apologize for misleading the public, intentionally.

Infrastructure damage caused by a fire suspected to have been set by a homeless person at Encino Franklin Fields in January has not been repaired and is still months away from being completed, according to an update from from Councilmember Imelda Padilla.

A tunnel damaged underneath a parking area has created issues with use of the fields and limited parking despite a temporary pedestrian bridge built to let people travel to softball fields used by teams from Harvard-Westlake, Sherman Oaks Notre Dame and Louisville. The teams have resumed using the fields.

Here’s the statement provided to The Times and attributed to Padilla: “Since the fire our office has continued to lead coordination efforts with the Bureau of Engineering, the Mayor’s Office, and the CAO, to move this project forward as quickly as possible. With the design phase complete, we are now actively working to identify and secure the necessary funding to begin construction.

“Once funding is secured, construction is expected to begin within approximately two months, and we are working to ensure the project is funded and underway within the current fiscal year. We are in ongoing communication with Encino Franklin Fields stakeholders to ensure their needs are reflected throughout this process. Student athletes, families, and community members deserve safe, functional facilities, and we are committed to delivering a coordinated and timely solution.”

Harvard-Westlake athletic director Matt LaCour released a statement as well: “We are grateful to the Council Office, Encino Franklin Fields, and all stakeholders for their continued commitment to supporting our student-athletes and broader community. Their leadership and collaboration are critical in ensuring there is a clear path forward to restore these facilities.

“These fields are more than just a place to play — they are a vital resource for students, families, and community members. We appreciate the shared urgency to restore full access for everyone who depends on them.”

Following a major change made by Greece, the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) has updated the country’s travel advice for British holidaymakers

The Foreign Office has issued an update on travel to Greece for Brits, and it’s good news.

Since the European Union’s (EU) Entry/Exit System (EES) was fully rolled out earlier this month, there have been major travel disruptions. Holidaymakers have reported substantial queues and delays at airports across Europe, with some lasting up to four hours, while hundreds have missed flights as they try to pass through the new digital border system.

In a bid to ease travel chaos, Greece has chosen to waive the EU requirement for Brits to submit fingerprints and facial scans at airport border controls. In a statement from the Greek Embassy, they announced: “Update for British passport holders travelling to Greece.

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“In the framework of the implementation of the Entry/Exit System, as of 10 April 2026, British passport holders are exempt from biometric registration at Greek border crossing points.” There was no suggestion of how long the exemption would remain in place, but soon after, the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) revised its travel guidance for Greece.

In an update on Monday, 20 April, the FCDO stated: “Greek authorities have indicated that they will not collect biometric data (fingerprints and photos) for UK travellers as part of EES. Follow the advice of authorities on the ground. If you are a resident in Greece, make sure to show your residence documentation at passport control to ensure you are not registered in EES.”

Greece opted to ditch the new biometric security measures amid concerns about the significant travel chaos they were causing at airports, severely impacting holidaymakers. The relaxed EU rules from Greece are now hoped to improve travel for Brits into the country, allowing for a smoother journey without gruelling wait times and unnecessary delays.

Noting the impact of the EES, Luke Petherbridge, director of public affairs at ABTA, said: “While for many the travel experience remains smooth, we’re disappointed and frustrated to see some passengers being caught up in delays due to EES.

“Abta has been warning destinations and the (European) Commission for some time about the need for proactive steps to be taken to avoid delays, including the full use of contingency measures to stand down biometric checks at busier times, and adequate staffing, especially at peak times.”

The EES was fully implemented across European airports on April 10, 2026, and requires all Brits travelling to the Schengen area to “create a digital record” and register their biometric details, such as fingerprints and a photograph. It’s needed for their first arrival at the airport border in the Schengen area, and after the initial registration, the EES remains valid for three years.

Countries in the Schengen area include: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland.

However, as it stands, Greece is the only country to relax the EU requirements for Brits. The EES system is not required for travel into the Republic of Ireland and Cyprus, as they are not within the Schengen area.

For more information on the new EES system, visit the government website.

Do you have a travel story to share? Email webtravel@reachplc.com

April 17 (UPI) — British Prime Minister Keir Starmer fired the most senior civil servant in the Foreign Office for failing to disclose that former ambassador to the United States Peter Mandelson failed his security check.

Starmer called the official, Olly Robbins, on Thursday and informed him that he had lost confidence in him, as did Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper. Starmer said Friday that he was “absolutely furious.”

“I was not told that he failed security vetting,” Starmer said Friday in Paris. “No minister was told that he failed security vetting. Number 10 wasn’t told that he failed security vetting.”

Mandelson was named ambassador to the United States in December 2024 and assumed the role in February 2025.

He was fired in September after the U.S. House Oversight Committee released a batch of files from the investigation into convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein which included correspondence between Epstein and Mandelson.

The British government said Thursday that Starmer was unaware Mandelson had failed the security vetting process and the Foreign Office defied the recommendation of the Cabinet Office to allow him to assume the ambassador role.

Foreign Affairs select committee chairwoman Emily Thornberry has requested that Robbins speak before the committee on Tuesday about Mandelson. Robbins has been questioned by members of parliament about the Mandelson security clearance incident once before.

Thornberry said members of parliament have only been told “half the story.”

“Perhaps he can tell us — was it his own idea or was he being leant on elsewhere,” Thornberry said of Robbins not alerting of Mandelson’s vetting failure. “Or was he, being a civil servant, was he getting direction from elsewhere, and if so, by whom?”

PHOENIX — The top election official in Arizona’s most populous county will get more authority in running elections after a judge sided with his office in a prolonged legal fight with the local board that shares responsibility for overseeing the vote.

The decision could have broad implications in one of the nation’s most prominent battleground states, which will have several high-profile races this fall. Maricopa County, which includes Phoenix, has been roiled by election conspiracy theorists ever since President Trump lost the state to Democrat Joe Biden during his bid for reelection in 2020.

Justin Heap, the Republican recorder in Maricopa County, sued the predominantly Republican county board of supervisors last summer, alleging it had illegally taken control of certain aspects of election administration. Heap claimed the board transferred funding, IT staff and some key functions — including management of ballot drop boxes and establishing early voting sites — away from his office through an agreement negotiated with his predecessor, whom he had recently defeated in a GOP primary.

Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Scott Blaney mostly sided with Heap’s office in his ruling, which was filed Thursday but appeared on the public docket Friday. The board of supervisors “acted unlawfully and exceeded its statutory authority by seizing the Recorder’s personnel, systems and equipment and refusing to return them” to the recorder, he wrote.

Blaney also ruled that the recorder’s office is responsible for overseeing in-person early voting, among other duties, while the board is responsible for other operations, such as selecting election day voting locations, supplying polling locations and hiring poll workers.

“The Board’s assertion of plenary authority over election administration through its general supervisory powers is inconsistent with Arizona law,” the judge wrote.

Board Chairwoman Kate Brophy McGee said the board will consider an appeal.

“I disagree with other portions of the ruling, and I will explore all options with the Board of Supervisors, including an expeditious appeal,” McGee, a Republican, said in a statement. “From day one, the Board of Supervisors has provided Recorder Heap the resources and staffing needed to fulfill his statutory duties. We will continue to do so because voters always come first.”

In a statement, Heap praised the ruling as a “clear and decisive victory for the rule of law and for the voters of Maricopa County.”

“The court confirmed that the Board cannot override state law, use funding as leverage, or take control of election duties assigned to the Recorder,” Heap said. “This ruling restores both the authority and the resources necessary for my office to do its job.”

Heap, a former Republican state lawmaker, was elected in 2024 after unseating incumbent Stephen Richer in the GOP primary and defeating a Democratic candidate in the general election. In the past, Heap has stopped short of repeating false claims that the 2020 and 2022 elections were stolen but has said voters don’t trust the state’s voting system and that it’s poorly run.

False claims of fraud since the 2020 presidential election led to threats of violence against Richer and others in the Maricopa County elections office. Richer blamed Heap for contributing to an atmosphere of distrust and vitriol directed toward the office.

“He catered to the really ugly stuff that the people in that office had to live through,” Richer said of Heap, in an interview last month. “And he allied with people who were very much in the eye of the storm in terms of creating it.”

Once he took office, Heap terminated a previous agreement that was reached between Richer and the board that had revised how election operations were divided between the two offices. Heap filed his lawsuit with the backing of America First Legal, a conservative public interest group founded by Stephen Miller, now deputy chief of staff in the White House.

Kelety writes for the Associated Press.

Calling for the PM to stand down earlier, Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said: “It is either, he knew that Mandelson failed the security vetting and lied to us in Parliament, on TV repeatedly, or he didn’t know, didn’t ask and said he had passed the security vetting – which means he is hopelessly incompetent.”

ATLANTA — An Atlanta man has been charged in a string of attacks over a matter of hours that left two women dead and a man in critical condition, drawing the Trump administration’s attention after one of the victims was identified as a Department of Homeland Security employee who was walking her dog.

The killing of the Homeland Security worker, Lauren Bullis, and shootings of the two other victims on Monday led Homeland Secretary Markwayne Mullin to issue a statement raising concerns that the 26-year-old defendant, U.K.-native Olaolukitan Adon Abel, was granted U.S. citizenship in 2022, when Democrat Joe Biden was president.

“These acts of pure evil have devastated our Department and my prayers are with the families of the victims,” Mullin wrote in a statement posted on social media, cataloging a litany of the defendant’s previous alleged crimes but not specifying whether they happened before he was granted citizenship.

Authorities have said they believe at least one of the victims, the man who was wounded, was targeted at random. They said they were still looking into whether the other two victims were also picked randomly.

A morning of violence

The first victim was found with multiple gunshot wounds near a restaurant in the Decatur area around 1 a.m. Monday. She was taken to a hospital but died, DeKalb County Police Chief Gregory Padrick said at a news conference. Police have not publicly identified her.

About an hour later in Brookhaven, another Atlanta suburb less than 15 miles northwest of the first attack, a 49-year-old homeless man who was sleeping outside a grocery store was shot multiple times, city Police Chief Brandon Gurley said. The man, whose name hasn’t been released, remains hospitalized in critical condition.

“It is apparent to us that it was a completely random attack on a member of our unhoused community,” Gurley said.

Just before 7 a.m. and more than 10 miles away in the suburb of Panthersville, officers responding to a call found a woman with gunshot and stab wounds, Padrick said. The woman, Bullis, died at the scene. Investigators in Brookhaven determined that the three attacks were connected, Gurley said.

Adon Abel was taken into custody later Monday during a traffic stop in Troup County, which borders Alabama. He is charged with two counts of malice murder, aggravated assault and firearms counts, court records show. He waived an initial court appearance Tuesday. Court records don’t list an attorney who might speak on his behalf.

Reached by phone Wednesday, Toyin Adon Abel Jr. said he didn’t want to talk about his brother. But he expressed sympathy for the victims: “I feel terrible for the victims, their families and their connections. It’s a horrible thing,” he said.

Remembered for her warmth and compassion

Bullis served in multiple roles at Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General, including as an auditor in the Office of Audits and as a team leader in the Office of Innovation, the department posted on social media, saying she brought “warmth, kindness, and a genuine sense of care to her colleagues each day.”

In a statement, Bullis’ family remembered her as “selfless, kind and compassionate.”

“She deeply loved her family and found joy in running, reading and traveling,” the family said. “Her warmth and generosity touched everyone surrounding her.”

Fellow Homeland Security auditor Ashley Toillion of Denver said she met Bullis at a work conference last year. The two became fast friends as they bonded over running and quickly made plans for Bullis join Toillion in a race at Walt Disney World.

“You couldn’t meet her and not be her friend,” Toillion said, choking back tears. “She was just the nicest, sweetest, most encouraging person I’ve ever met.”

Mullin, who took over Homeland Security last month after Kristi Noem was fired, said in his statement that Olaolukitan Adon Abel has a criminal record that includes a sexual battery conviction, though he didn’t say which year he was convicted. Online court records show that someone listed as Adon Olaolukitan, who has the same birth date as Adon Abel, pleaded guilty in June in Chatham County, Ga., to four misdemeanor counts of sexual battery.

In his statement, Mullin noted that since President Trump took office, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, which Homeland Security oversees, has worked to ensure that people with criminal histories don’t attain citizenship. But the U.S. has long barred people convicted of most violent felonies from becoming citizens, and it wasn’t immediately clear whether Adon Abel — or Adon Olaolukitan, if it’s the same person — had a criminal record that predated him becoming a citizen in 2022.

In response to a request for further details about the case and the defendant’s criminal history, Homeland Security referred the Associated Press to its post about Bullis and her death.

Brumfield and Rico write for the Associated Press. Brumfield reported from Cockeysville, Md. AP writer Rebecca Boone in Boise, Idaho, contributed to this report.

WASHINGTON — Federal prosecutors made an unannounced visit this week to a construction site at Federal Reserve headquarters that is the focus of an investigation into a $2.5-billion renovation project, according to two people familiar with the visit.

Two prosecutors and an investigator from U.S. Atty. Jeanine Pirro’s office were turned away on Tuesday by a building contractor and referred to Fed attorneys, one of the people said. The two people familiar with the visit spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to publicly discuss an ongoing investigation.

The visit underscores that the Trump administration is not backing down from its investigation of the Fed and its chair, Jerome Powell, even though the probe has delayed the confirmation of a new chair nominated by President Trump. The investigation is focused on cost overruns and brief testimony about the project last summer by Powell. Trump confirmed in an interview that aired Wednesday on Fox Business that he wants to continue the probe.

Last month, during a closed-door hearing before a federal judge, a top deputy from Pirro’s office conceded that they hadn’t found any evidence of a crime in their investigation of the headquarters project.

Robert Hur, an attorney for the Federal Reserve board of governors, sent an email to Pirro’s prosecutors about their visit and their request for a “tour” to “check on progress” at the construction site. Hur’s email, which the Associated Press has viewed, noted that U.S. District Judge James Boasberg concluded that their interest in the Federal Reserve’s renovation project was “pretextual.”

“Should you wish to challenge that finding, the courts provide an avenue for you; it is not appropriate for you to try to circumvent it,” Hur wrote.

Republican Tillis is key vote

Sen. Thom Tillis, a North Carolina Republican who is a key member of the Senate Banking Committee, has vowed to vote against Kevin Warsh, Trump’s nominee to replace Powell as Fed chair, until the investigation is dropped. With the committee closely divided on partisan lines, Tillis’ opposition is enough to block Warsh.

The Banking panel said Tuesday that it will hold a hearing on Warsh’s nomination April 21. Powell’s term as Fed chair ends May 15, but Powell said last month he would remain as chair until a replacement is named.

Powell is serving a separate term as a member of the Fed’s governing board that lasts until January 2028. Chairs typically leave their posts as governor when their terms as chair end, but they can remain on the board if they choose.

Last month, Powell said, “I have no intention of leaving the Board until the investigation is well and truly over, with transparency and finality.” If he remains in his seat, even after Warsh is confirmed, it would deny Trump the oppotunity to fill a seat on the seven-member board.

Late Tuesday, Tillis posted a link on social media to the Wall Street Journal’s article on the visit below an image of the Three Stooges and wrote, “The U.S. Attorney’s Office for D.C. at the crime scene.”

Investigation centers on building renovations

The investigation by Pirro’s office centers on an appearance by Powell before the Senate Banking Committee last June, when he was asked about cost overruns on the Fed’s extensive building renovations. The most recent estimates from the Fed suggest the current estimated cost of $2.5 billion is about $600 million higher than a 2022 estimate of $1.9 billion.

“It is probably corrupt, but what it really is, is incompetent,” Trump said on Fox Business. “Don’t you think we have to find out what happened there?”

The president’s support for the investigation threatens a time frame set out by Sen. Tim Scott, a South Carolina Republican who chairs the Banking Committee. Scott said Tuesday on Fox Business that he believed the investigation would be “wrapped up in the next few weeks,” allowing Warsh to be confirmed soon after.

Threat to fire Powell

News of the unannounced visit by prosecutors comes as Trump has again threatened to fire Powell, if the Federal Reserve chair decides to stay on the central bank’s governing board after his term as chair expires next month.

“Well then I’ll have to fire him, OK?” Trump said when reminded that Powell has said he won’t leave the Fed while the Justice Department investigates a $2.5-billion renovation project at the bank. Powell has also said he will remain as chair of the Fed’s rate-setting committee until a replacement is confirmed by the Senate, following the precedent of previous chairs.

Trump has for months wanted to remove Powell as chair of the Fed, saying he has been too slow in orchestrating interest rate cuts that would give the U.S. economy a quick boost. Powell has said the investigation is a pretext to undermine the Fed’s independence to set rates.

Supreme Court weighing another Trump removal

Trump’s threat to fire Powell comes as the Supreme Court is weighing the president’s effort to remove another central bank governor, Lisa Cook. Lower courts have so far allowed Cook to remain in her job while her legal challenge to the firing continues. The Supreme Court also seemed likely to keep her on the Fed when the court heard arguments in January. A decision could come any time.

The issue in Cook’s case is whether allegations of mortgage fraud, which she has denied, is a sufficient reason to fire her or a mere pretext masking Trump’s desire to exert more control over U.S. interest rate policy.

The Supreme Court has allowed the firings of the heads of other governmental agencies at the president’s discretion, with no claim that they did anything wrong, while also signaling that it is approaching the independence of the nation’s central bank more cautiously, calling the Fed “a uniquely structured, quasi-private entity.”

Kunzelman and Rugaber write for the Associated Press. AP Writer Mark Sherman contributed to this report.

The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) has issued an update for a sun-soaked holiday hotspot and warned that there have ‘been fatal accidents’ in the area

The Foreign Office has issued a travel warning for a hugely popular holiday destination that welcomes thousands of Brits every year.

On Wednesday, 15 April, the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) updated its travel advice for the Maldives. They warned about swimming safety in the Indian Ocean, with the Maldives renowned as a hotspot for snorkelling, swimming and watersports due to its crystal-clear turquoise waters.

While the waters around the Maldives are appealing, the FCDO warned that they “can have strong tidal currents that can drag you away from the shoreline.” They noted that more than eight Brits have drowned in the area since 2021, and urged everyone to be aware of the risks and understand how to minimise them.

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In an updated warning, they said: “You should read the security information provided by your tour operator and make yourself aware of local swimming conditions on arrival at the resort. Keep in regular contact with resort staff to see if these conditions change.

“Only swim in well supervised areas, areas designated as safe for tourists, or where lifeguards are available. Pay attention to warning signs or flags and avoid swimming in areas with strong currents, high waves or dangerous underwater conditions. If something does not feel right, get out of the water at the earliest opportunity.”

They further highlighted: “Being aware of the potential dangers will help you to stay safe. Always take local advice before going into the sea.

“There have been fatal accidents involving boat propellers in the South Ari Marine Protected Area (SAMPA) and nearby whale shark tourism sites. Regulations requiring propeller guards are not yet fully enforced. Take extra care when swimming or snorkelling near boats and follow local safety instructions.

“See water safety on holiday from the Royal Life Saving Society.”

The FCDO doesn’t advise against travel to the Maldives, but it has warned that “escalation in the Middle East has caused widespread travel disruption”. This has resulted in airspace closures, delayed and cancelled flights, which could impact “connections to and from the Maldives.”

For anyone planning a trip to the Maldives, the Foreign Office advises the following before travelling:

• “Check travel advice for any countries or territories you are transiting through
• Check for the latest updates from your airline or tour operator before travelling
• Review your travel insurance policy to confirm what is covered
• Monitor local and international media and sign up for FCDO travel advice email alerts”

In further travel advice for safety in the Maldives, the FCDO highlight that terrorist attacks “cannot be ruled out”. They state: “Attacks could be indiscriminate, including in places visited by foreign nationals. Stay aware of your surroundings, keep up to date with local media reports and follow the advice of local authorities.”

For more information on travel advice to the Maldives, visit the Foreign Office website.

Do you have a travel story to share? Email webtravel@reachplc.com

Taylor Frankie Paul won’t face criminal charges in connection with alleged domestic violence incidents between her and her ex-boyfriend, the Salt Lake County district attorney’s office said Tuesday.

The embattled “Secret Lives of Mormon Wives” star’s cases were reviewed by multiple attorneys due to their high-profile nature, according to the district attorney’s office.

“After reviewing reports and evidence submitted to the Draper Police Department and West Jordan Police Department, the Salt Lake County District Attorney’s Office has declined to file charges against Taylor Frankie Paul,” the statement reads.

According to the news release, Dakota Mortensen, Paul’s ex and the father of her youngest child, reported several domestic violence incidents, “some of which occurred more than three years ago.”

“Any incidents of misdemeanor offenses which are alleged to have occurred more than two years ago are barred by the statute of limitations,” the district attorney’s office wrote, adding that “several incidents that were submitted do not rise to the level of criminal offenses.” The remaining incidents lack sufficient evidence to support filing criminal charges, according to the district attorney’s office.

Mortensen filed a report with the West Jordan Police Department in Utah in February alleging an incident of domestic violence that he said occurred in early to mid-2024. Utah’s Draper Police Department was also looking into a separate incident involving the former couple.

Days before the premiere of Season 22 of “The Bachelorette,” in which Paul was set to star, a leaked video of a 2023 domestic dispute between Paul and Mortensen circulated online.

That 2023 incident resulted in Paul being arrested. She eventually pleaded guilty in abeyance to aggravated assault, and Paul’s arrest was featured in the first season of “Secret Lives.”

Although the incident had already been addressed publicly and dealt with in court, the leaked video featured previously unseen footage of the dispute. As a result, Paul was hit with a restraining order, she temporarily lost custody of Ever, the 2-year-old son she shares with Mortensen, and ABC pulled “The Bachelorette.” Production on the hit reality series had already wrapped and the premiere was slated for March 22.

Last week, a Utah judge ruled that Paul can have supervised visits with Ever, until another hearing for a protective order later this month.

The exes are also ordered to appear remotely at a court hearing April 30 to review the merits of Mortensen’s protective order against Paul. Paul has also filed her own protective order against Mortensen, which a Utah judge signed off on last week.

Mortensen sought a protective order after two incidents in February that involved “grabbing, scratching, shoving, and striking” that allegedly left Mortensen with marks on his neck, according to police documents. A judge granted the order last month.

L.A. County officials want to put $2.7 million toward beefing up the team of people investigating fraud within a deluge of recent sex abuse lawsuits, suggesting a broadening probe at the district attorney’s office.

The funding allocation, part of the county’s $48.8-billion budget proposal unveiled Monday, would bring on 10 new people to the small team prosecuting alleged fraud within the county’s historic $4-billion sex abuse settlement. L.A. County Dist. Atty. Nathan Hochman announced the probe last November following a Times investigation that found nine people who said they were paid to sue.

The county has agreed to pay billions to settle more than 11,000 claims of sex abuse in juvenile halls and foster homes, a flood of lawsuits spurred by a 2020 law changing the statute of limitations. Since those settlements, more than 5,000 new lawsuits have been filed with an average of 150 new claims coming in per month, according to the county, raising the prospect of future costly payouts.

Acting Chief Executive Joseph Nicchitta said Monday the new filings would continue to be an “anchor” around the county’s finances.

“It is something that’s going to weigh on us going forward,” he said at a news conference announcing the new spending plan.

Hochman said in a statement that the investigation was a priority for his office and the money would be used to “pursue every credible lead and hold fraudsters accountable.”

“It is our pledge to the real survivors of childhood sexual abuse that we will root out and prosecute those who manufactured false claims and profited or tried to profit from those lies,” Hochman said. “As for those who filed fraudulent claims of sex abuse, the time is growing short for you to turn yourselves in before you are arrested, prosecuted and punished.”

Nicchitta made a pitch for legislative change, noting the county was looking to Sacramento to “eliminate loopholes allowing abusive practices by attorneys that inject weak and potentially fraudulent claims into settlement pools.”

The push by the county to change the law has been hotly criticized by some advocates who accuse government officials of trampling on victims’ rights.

“These reforms that we are seeking are anti-fraud,” said Nicchitta. “They are not anti-survivor.”

The payouts are yet another cloud looming over the budget proposal, along with rising labor costs and federal funding cuts. The recommended budget represents a 7% decrease in spending compared to the current plan.

But Nicchitta said Monday it wasn’t all doom and gloom, with the county managing to stave off layoffs and program cuts.

The upcoming budget proposal, he said, represented the calm before the next big wave of potential rollbacks.

“Remember, we’re in the eye of the hurricane,” he said.

The budget forecast was notably rosier than last year’s, in which the county was saddled with $2 billion in new wildfire costs and had made the first round of slashes to finance the sex abuse payouts. The county froze hiring at the time and made most departments shrink their budgets by 3%.

Those cuts, Nicchitta said, went deep enough that they can avoid major slashes this upcoming fiscal year, though he warned the fallout from the Trump administration’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” will soon wreak fresh havoc on the county’s finances. Health officials say they expect more than $2 billion to be cut from the budget for health services over the next three years.

Costs from wildfire will also continue to weigh on the county’s coffers. Officials say the federal government has yet to respond to a February request for rebuilding aid. Nicchitta said he was “optimistic” the money would soon be made available.

Growth from property taxes has given the county a small new pot of funds, which will be used largely to pay for increased salaries for county workers. An additional $12 million will go to public defenders, who say they’re buckling under untenably heavy caseloads, while the Office of Emergency Management will get roughly $10 million to add 44 positions, according to the proposal.

The office, which is responsible for coordinating during emergencies, was under scrutiny following the alert failures of the Eaton fire, and officials had promised in the aftermath to revamp the small office.

The supervisors will be briefed on the budget plan Tuesday.

NEW YORK — For decades, presidents avoided even the appearance of profiting from their office.

Harry Truman refused to lend his name to any business, even in retirement. Richard Nixon so feared a brother might profit off their ties, he had his phone tapped. And George W. Bush dumped his individual stock holdings before taking office.

President Trump is taking a different approach.

The family real estate business is undergoing the fastest overseas expansion since its founding a century ago, each deal potentially shaping everything including tariffs and military aid.

Led by Eric Trump and his brother, Donald Jr., the family business has expanded into cryptocurrencies with ventures that brought in billions of dollars but raised questions about whether some big investors received favorable treatment in return.

The brothers have also joined or invested in a number of companies that aim to do business with the government their father runs. Last month, they struck a deal giving them stakes worth millions in an armed drone maker seeking contracts with the Pentagon and with gulf states under attack by Iran and dependent on the U.S. military led by their father.

The White House and the Trump Organization deny there are any ethical problems. Asked about the issue at a recent crypto conference, Donald Jr. said, “Frankly, it’s gotten old.”

The problem of conflicts of interest goes back a decade to when Trump first ran for office, but some government ethics experts and historians argue it’s more pressing than ever as conflicts pile up in his second term that they consider unprecedented, blatant and dangerous to democracy.

“I don’t think there’s any line right now between policy decisions and political calculations and the interest of the Trump family,” said Julian Zelizer, a presidential historian at Princeton University.

Deal-making spree abroad

In Trump’s first term, the Trump Organization did zero deals in foreign countries. In a little over a year into his second term it did eight, all ostensibly complying with the Trump Organization’s self-imposed rule not to do business directly with foreign governments.

But governments in authoritarian and one-party states rarely take a hands-off approach — especially when the business belongs to a sitting president.

In Qatar, a Trump golf club and villa project is being developed in part by a company owned by the Qatari government. In Vietnam, where The New York Times reported the government pushed farmers off their land to make way for a Trump resort, the country’s deputy prime minister signed off on the deal at a ceremony. And in Saudi Arabia, a planned “Trump Plaza” resort on the Red Sea is being built by a Saudi real estate developer close to the ruling family.

Whether the deals played any role in changing U.S. policies in ways these countries sought is nearly impossible to know, but the countries did get what they wanted — access to advanced U.S. technology for Qatar, tariff relief for Vietnam and fighter jets for Saudi Arabia.

And the Trump Organization got something too: tens of millions in fees.

Asked about those projects, the Trump Organization said it has done no deals with governments so far, noting that the Saudi company was private, and has said it is “collaborating” with the Qatari business and had not struck a “partnership” with it that would have broken its self-imposed rules.

The UAE, crypto and Binance

Another deal raising conflicts of interest questions first came to light in a Wall Street Journal article in January — a year after it was struck.

Days before the inauguration, the Trump family sold nearly half of its World Liberty Financial crypto business to a UAE government-linked company run by a member of the UAE royal family for $500 million.

A second UAE entity, a government fund, invested in the offshore cryptocurrency exchange Binance using $2 billion worth of a digital currency called a stablecoin issued by World Liberty. That allowed the Trump company that received the dollars to put it in safe investments such as bonds or money market funds and keep the tens of millions of dollars in interest for itself.

Shortly after, the Trump administration reversed a Biden-era restriction and granted the UAE access to advanced U.S. chips. Binance’s founder, Changpeng Zhao, later got a pardon from Trump, despite having pleaded guilty to failing to stop criminals from using his platform to move money connected to child sex abuse, drug trafficking and terrorism.

A lawyer for Zhao denied any connection between Binance’s business with the Trump family and the pardon.

“Any claim of a quid pro quo by Binance or CZ, or preferential financial treatment by Binance, is a clear misstatement of the public record,” said Teresa Goody Guillen in a email to the AP, referring to Zhao by his initials.

Asked about the pardon, the White House said federal authorities had unfairly punished Zhao in what it called “The Biden Administration’s war on crypto.”

World Liberty dismissed the notion of a conflict, saying the UAE deal had no connection to the president’s chips policy.

Crypto billions

World Liberty has also provided a separate income stream to a new Trump limited liability corporation through sales of “governance tokens” that give owners certain voting rights in its business, though not equity stakes, raising $2 billion last year. That translates into hundreds of millions of dollars for the Trumps through their World Liberty ownership stake and a separate side deal allowing them a cut of these sales.

One big token investor was Justin Sun, a cryptocurrency billionaire who as a foreign citizen would be banned under U.S. law from making political donations to U.S. politicians. Between Trump’s election and inauguration, Sun spent $75 million on the tokens.

In February last year, a federal lawsuit charging Sun with duping investors was paused before being settled last month for a $10-million fine.

Then there are the souvenir-type “meme” coins stamped with Trump’s face that went on sale days before he took the oath of office last year.

Over the next four months, the coins generated $320 million, mostly going to Trump-related entities, according to blockchain tracker Chainalysis. That is more than double the money collected in four years running his Washington hotel in Trump’s first term.

Unlike the lobbyists or campaign donors trying to influence Trump, the coin buyers can buy anonymously. One who chose to make his purchase public was Sun, who spent $200 million on the coins and got access to Trump at a gala party he held for the biggest buyers.

Another family cryptocurrency business, American Bitcoin, went public in September, giving Donald Jr. and Eric about $1 billion in paper wealth at that time. Months earlier, their father announced a new national bitcoin reserve, sending the price for the cryptocurrency soaring to a record.

The Trump businesses aren’t completely immune to crypto’s notorious volatility. The value of bitcoin and other digital tokens has since plunged and rattled investors. Both American Bitcoin stock and the value of Trump’s souvenir meme coins have collapsed 90% from their highs.

Last month, Trump announced he would hold another dinner with new top holders of his meme coins, giving the coin a boost before it fell back again.

“Whatever constraints there were in the first term appear to have completely disappeared,” says Columbia University historian Timothy Naftali. “Do you want future presidents to be open to the highest bidder?”

Trump thinks people don’t care

Asked to comment for this story, the White House said Trump acts in an “ethically-sound manner” and that any suggestion to the contrary is either “ill-informed or malicious.” It reiterated that his assets are in a trust managed by his children and stated he has “no involvement” in family business deals.

“There are no conflicts of interest,” said spokesperson Anna Kelly.

In a separate statement, the Trump Organization said it is “fully compliant with all applicable ethics and conflicts of interest laws” and added, “The implication that politics has enriched the Trump family is unfounded.”

Trump in January told the New York Times that when it comes to potential conflicts of interest, “I found out that nobody cared, and I’m allowed to,” alluding to an exemption the president gets from the federal statute banning federal officials from holding financial interests in businesses impacted by public policy they help shape.

It’s not clear he’s wrong about American attitudes, though they appear to be changing even among Republicans. In a Pew Research Center poll in January, 42% of those voters said they were confident that Trump acts ethically in office, down from 55% at the start of his second term a year ago.

Change of fortune

Forbes estimates Trump’s net worth is now $6.3 billion, soaring 60% from before he returned to office, a striking development given how much the Trump Organization struggled before.

The Trump International Hotel in D.C. never turned a profit before being sold. Two Trump hotel chains catering to middle-class travelers in his first term shut down for lack of demand. Condominium buildings stripped the Trump name off their facades after discovering that instead of attracting buyers, it was repelling them.

No new U.S. condominiums are putting the Trump name above their entrances in his second term, but his name is prized in Washington, where people have business before the federal government.

Donald Jr., Trump’s oldest son, opened a private club in the Georgetown section of Washington that is charging initiation fees as high as $500,000 for founding members.

One of the few clubs with comparable fees, the Yellowstone Club in Montana, offers access to multiple resorts, 50 ski trails and more than a dozen restaurants across a members-only area the size of Manhattan.

Donald Jr.’s club is in the basement of a building but offers something else — proximity to power.

The club’s name is “Executive Branch.”

Bibles, guitars and sneakers

Other presidents and their families have done things in pursuit of profit that stained that high office.

Hunter Biden got paid as a director of a Ukrainian gas company while his father was vice president. The Clinton Foundation got foreign donations, though after Bill Clinton had left office. And Jimmy Carter’s brother Billy cashed in on the family name by selling beer.

In Trump’s case, the president himself is hawking goods, including $59.99 “God Bless the USA” Bibles, $399 sneakers stamped “Never Surrender” and electric guitars priced up to $11,500 — shipping not included — for a model autographed by the president.

New year, new profits

In the first months of Trump’s second year back in the White House, the momentum hasn’t let up.

In January, the Trump Organization announced its third deal involving Saudi Arabia in less than a year, this time a “collaboration” with a company more directly tied to the government because it is owned by the country’s sovereign wealth fund chaired by its crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman. Asked by the AP whether the project outside Riyadh for Trump mansions, a hotel and golf course violated the company’s pledge not to strike deals with foreign governments, the Trump Organization said it doesn’t “conduct business with any government entity” but didn’t address the project specifically.

Meanwhile, as the two oldest brothers’ new drone company seeks Pentagon contracts, other government contractors in which one or both have gotten ownership stakes this past year are taking in tens of millions of dollars of new taxpayer money. That includes a rocket motor maker, an AI chip supplier and a data analytics company, according to government contracting records.

Asked about potential conflicts after the drone deal was announced, Eric said, “I am incredibly proud to invest in companies I believe in.” A spokesman for Donald Jr. said he doesn’t “interface” with the government on companies in his portfolio, adding that “the idea that he should cease living his life and making a living to provide for his five kids just because his dad is president, is quite frankly, a laughable and ridiculous standard.”

A new investment firm that the brothers joined as advisors last year has raised $345 million in an initial public offering to buy stakes in U.S. companies designed to help their father revive America’s manufacturing base. After the AP asked Trump’s chief business lawyer about language in a regulatory filing stating the firm would target companies seeking federal grants, tax credits and government contracts, he filed a new document with that language removed.

Zelizer, the Princeton historian, says he expects future presidents will show more restraint in enriching themselves, but worries about the message Trump is sending.

“He has shown politically there is no price to be paid to making money,” he said. “You know you can go there.”

Condon writes for the Associated Press.

The only player twice suspended under baseball’s domestic violence and sexual assault policy has yet to decide whether he wants to resume his career, according to his agent.

Former Dodgers pitcher Julio Urías, whose second suspension expired last July, has not signed with any team since then.

Scott Boras, the agent for Urías, declined to say whether any team had offered Urías a contract this year but said he has not solicited offers from any clubs.

“I have to have the authority from my client even to talk about the subject,” Boras said, “and I don’t have that yet.”

In January, the Mexican baseball site Puro Beisbol posted pictures of Urías throwing with children in the Mexican state of Chihuahua, with the Spanish-language site Diario AS calling it “the first time he had been seen throwing a baseball in public since September 2023,” the month he last pitched for the Dodgers.

Urías sat out the 2024 season during a Major League Baseball investigation. His suspension covered the first half of the 2025 season. When he was reinstated, Boras said Urías had “every intention to continue his career.”

When the suspension of former Dodgers pitcher Trevor Bauer ended before the 2023 season, Bauer signed to play in Japan that year and in Mexico the following year before returning to Japan in 2025. He has signed to play with the independent Long Island Ducks this year.

If Urías, 29, wishes to play this year, Boras said he believes Urías would have little trouble finding a job.

“Teams ask me about him all the time,” Boras said. “With the pitching market in this world, Julio could play in a minute. But I think it’s about him deciding if it’s something he wants to go do right now.”

The suspension resulted from a September 2023 incident outside BMO Stadium, in which witness video obtained by The Times showed Urías pulled aside his wife’s hair and shoved her against a fence. After the two were separated, the video showed Urías swinging at her with his left hand.

Urías was arrested on suspicion of felony domestic violence, but the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office determined that “neither the victim’s injuries nor the defendant’s criminal history justify a felony filing.” The city attorney’s office subsequently filed five misdemeanor charges against Urías. He pleaded no contest to one, the other four were dropped, and he agreed to enter a yearlong domestic violence treatment program.

He also agreed to complete a similar program in 2019, when he was arrested after an incident in the Beverly Center parking lot. Witnesses said he pushed his fiancee, she said she fell, and no charges were filed.

The league then suspended him for 20 games. Under its policy, the the league can suspend a player even if no charges are filed.

Urías recorded the final out of the Dodgers’ World Series championship in 2020. He led the National League in victories (20) in 2021 and earned-run average (2.16) in 2022.

SACRAMENTO — Embattled Rep. Eric Swalwell suspended his campaign for California governor on Sunday but continued to deny he sexually assaulted anyone.

His campaign to succeed Gov. Gavin Newsom has all but collapsed as key Democratic supporters, including Rep. Nancy Pelosi and Sen. Adam Schiff, abandon him.

“To my family, staff, friends, and supporters, I am deeply sorry for mistakes in judgment I’ve made in my past,” Swalwell wrote on social media Sunday.”

“I will fight the serious, false allegations that have been made — but that’s my fight, not a campaign’s.”

House ethics rules bar members from having sex with a subordinate, and House Democratic Leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries from New York is seeking an investigation into the allegations.

Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) announced plans to force a House vote to expel Swalwell, a motion supported by some House Democrats. Rep. Jared Huffman, a Democrat representing Northern California, is among those calling on him to resign.

The Manhattan district attorney’s office opened an investigation into sexual assault allegations against Swalwell by the former staffer, and the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office on Saturday said the office was in the process of evaluating “whether any alleged criminal conduct occurred” in the agency’s Bay Area jurisdiction.

The 45-year-old Democratic candidate established himself as a frontrunner in the race to succeed Gov. Gavin Newsom, despite not having a broad base of supporters in California.

A one-time member of the House Intelligence Committee and a savvy social-media user, Swalwell relished his role as a foil to President Donald Trump, using his many platforms to attack and taunt the twice-impeached, criminally convicted president.

He previously worked as a criminal prosecutor, and was elected to Congress in 2012 after he defeated Rep. Pete Stark, a fellow Democrat.

He cast himself as a centrist middle-class guy and featured his wife and three young children prominently in his campaign for governor. In an interview with the Times last year, he talked about his decision to continue in politics, despite the toll on his family.

Reports published in the San Francisco Chronicle and CNN offered a stark contrast to Swalwell’s wholesome image, alleging that he forced himself on a young staffer and sent women pictures of his penis and sexy messages.

CNN also reported on another woman’s alleged account of a sexual encounter with Swalwell that involved fending off his advances over drinks, and then waking up in his hotel room with no memory of how she got there.

Swalwell and his team threatened legal action against several individuals, Swalwell’s attorney Elias Dabaie confirmed to the Times. Swalwell himself took to social media on Friday night and called the allegations “lies” intended to hurt him in the race.

But campaign staffers resigned, his fundraising website went offline and even his self-described “best friend” in Congress, Sen. Ruben Gallegos from Arizona, withdrew his endorsement. Powerful labor groups, including the California Labor Federation, SEIU California and the California Police Chiefs Assn., withdrew their support.

Other Democrats in the race include billionaire Tom Steyer; former Orange County Rep. Katie Porter; State Supt. Tony Thurmond; former U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra,; San José Mayor Matt Mahan; former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, and former state Controller Betty Yee.

The top GOP gubernatorial candidates are Steve Hilton, a former Fox News commentator, and Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco.

The FCDO has all the latest travel warnings listed online, advising against all travel to multiple countries

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) provides regularly updated travel guidance for British nationals heading abroad. It’s vital to check the latest FCDO advice before your trip, as it could affect your holiday plans and travel insurance.

Choosing to travel against FCDO warnings can invalidate your travel insurance. You may also find that consular assistance is severely limited should you face an emergency. On its travel advice page, the government agency says: “No travel can be guaranteed safe. Read all the advice in this guide.”

To safeguard British nationals travelling overseas for work or pleasure, the FCDO provides up-to-date travel advice for every country worldwide. It’s essential to consult this guidance before every journey.

Should the FCDO consider a situation dangerous, it may advise against all travel or only non-essential travel to a particular country or specific regions within it. Alongside travel warnings, the FCDO provides useful information, including entry requirements, crime statistics, local laws and customs, and details regarding any forthcoming strikes or industrial action that could disrupt your holiday.

It’s important to be aware that if the FCDO issues a warning against all travel or all but essential travel to your chosen destination before your departure, your travel insurance is unlikely to provide cover. Consequently, any claims you make will in all probability be rejected.

Travel insurance is designed to safeguard you against unexpected and unforeseen risks. However, heading to a destination that the FCDO has declared dangerous carries a considerably greater risk than jetting off to a generally regarded safe country.

Should the FCDO issue a warning while you are already in an affected region, you will remain covered under the medical and personal accident sections of your travel insurance policy. However, this is provided you comply with the latest FCDO guidance for British nationals in that area.

While most travel insurance policies do not cover trips taken against official advice, there are a handful of exceptions. These particular policies were originally designed to protect individuals travelling to high-risk areas for professional reasons, such as journalists and aid workers. But, they are increasingly being taken up by leisure travellers keen to press ahead with their plans during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Political instability, natural disasters, and safety concerns are among the factors that can prompt an FCDO warning. The FCDO has issued numerous travel advisories, advising against “all travel” and “all but essential travel” to certain nations or regions across Europe, Africa, Asia, and South America.

Of the 226 countries featured on the FCDO’s travel advice page, certain destinations are currently marked as ‘do not travel’ zones owing to various concerns that ‘can not guarantee safety’, including security threats, health risks, and legal differences from Britain. Your travel insurance may be rendered invalid if you travel contrary to FCDO guidance concerning the following nations, as of April 2026.

Afghanistan

The FCDO advises against all travel to Afghanistan, saying: “Your travel insurance could be invalidated if you travel against advice from the FCDO.” The government agency says the security situation is volatile and tensions between Afghanistan and Pakistan have previously resulted in violent clashes in border regions.

It adds: “Travel throughout Afghanistan is extremely dangerous and a number of border crossings are not currently open. There is a heightened risk of British nationals being detained in Afghanistan. If you are a British national and you are detained in Afghanistan, you could face months or years of imprisonment. FCDO’s ability to help you is extremely limited and support in person is not possible in Afghanistan. For more details about the risks in Afghanistan, see Safety and security.”

Belarus

FCDO advises against all travel to Belarus. You face a significant risk of arrest if you have at any time engaged in any activity now considered illegal by the Belarusian regime. There is also a low risk that direct conflict linked to the war in Ukraine may spread to Belarus. Find out more about why FCDO advises against all travel.

Burkina Faso

FCDO advises against all travel to Burkina Faso. This is due to the threat of terrorist attacks and terrorist kidnappings, and the unstable political situation in the country.

It explains: “There is no British Embassy in Burkina Faso and all consular support is provided from the British Embassy in Accra, Ghana. They cannot provide in-person assistance. If there is serious violence, unrest or a deterioration in the security situation, it could be difficult to leave safely.

“Do not rely on the British government to evacuate you as they may not be able to do so. Have your own plans on how you would leave the country, make sure you keep all travel documentation up to date and monitor the local situation.”

Haiti

The FCDO advises against all travel to Haiti owing to the unstable security situation. There are presently no British consular officials in Haiti and the capacity to provide consular assistance is severely restricted and cannot be delivered in person in Haiti. British nationals may receive consular services assistance at our diplomatic mission in the Dominican Republic.

The government agency says: “If you choose to travel to or stay in Haiti against FCDO advice, try to avoid all crowds and public events, and take appropriate security precautions.”

Iran

FCDO advises against all travel to Iran. It says: “If you are a British national already in Iran, either resident or visitor, carefully consider your presence there and the risks you take by staying. British and British-Iranian dual nationals are at significant risk of arrest, questioning or detention.

“Having a British passport or connections to the UK can be reason enough for the Iranian authorities to detain you.” British nationals should:

• read if you’re affected by a crisis abroad. This includes guidance on ‘how to prepare for a crisis’ with suggestions on what you might include in your emergency supplies and ‘what to do in a crisis’
• sign up to FCDO Travel Advice email alerts
• monitor local and international media for the latest information
• stay away from areas around security or military facilities
• keep your departure plans under review, and ensure your travel documents are up to date
• if you are advised to take shelter, stay indoors or find the nearest safe building or designated shelter. An interior stairwell or a room with as few external walls or windows as possible may provide additional protection

Mali

FCDO advises against all travel to the whole of Mali due to the unpredictable security conditions. The FCDO says if you’re in Mali, you should leave immediately by commercial flight if you judge it safe to do so.

It explains: “The international airport in Bamako is open, and commercial flights are available. Do not try to leave Mali by overland routes to neighbouring countries, as this is too dangerous. This is due to terrorist attacks along national highways. Terrorist group Jama’a Nusrat ul-Islam wa al-Muslimin (JNIM) has implemented blockades on key routes throughout Southern and Western Mali, including the capital city of Bamako.

“These blockades are targeting fuel trucks and are enforcing checkpoints for individuals attempting to pass through them. Attacks can occur at any time. There is a high threat of kidnapping and criminal activity across Mali, including in the capital, Bamako. If you choose to remain in Mali, you do so at your own risk. You should have a personal emergency plan that does not rely on the UK government. If you are a British national already in Mali, either resident or visitor, carefully consider your presence there and the risks you take by staying.”

Niger

FCDO advises against all travel to Niger. This is due to the rise of reported terrorist and criminal kidnappings of foreign nationals, which have taken place this year in Niger.

There is an ongoing risk of terrorist attacks throughout Niger, including in the capital, Niamey. The political situation remains unstable following the July 2023 military coup. Further instability is possible.

Russia

FCDO advises against all travel to Russia due to the risks and threats from its continuing invasion of Ukraine, including:

• security incidents, such as drone attacks, and Russian air defence activity
• lack of flights to return to the UK
• limited ability for the UK government to provide support

There is an increased risk of British nationals being detained in Russia, including if the Russian authorities suspect you of engaging in or supporting activities against Russian law, even if the activities took place outside Russia.

Russia has a track record of targeting foreign nationals and holding them in detention as leverage over other countries. FCDO’s ability to assist you in these circumstances is extremely limited. There is also a high likelihood that terrorists will try to carry out attacks, including in major cities

South Sudan

The FCDO strongly advises against all travel to South Sudan owing to the threat of armed violence and criminal activity. The political and security situation remains unpredictable. Political tensions are high, and the security situation across the country could deteriorate rapidly and unpredictably.

If the unstable security situation deteriorates, routes into and out of South Sudan may be blocked. Juba airport may close or be inaccessible. Flights may be cancelled at short notice. Regional developments may also affect international transport. For example, in 2019 and 2023, events in Sudan caused South Sudan’s airspace to close temporarily. Consular assistance to British nationals is severely limited in South Sudan. In-person consular assistance is not available.

Syria

FCDO advises against all travel to Syria due to unpredictable security conditions and the threat of terrorist attacks. Regional escalation poses significant security risks and has led to travel disruption. British nationals should:

• read If you’re affected by a crisis abroad. This includes guidance on “how to prepare for a crisis” with suggestions on what you might include in your emergency supplies and “what to do in a crisis”
• follow advice from the local authorities and sign up to receive information and alerts
• sign up to FCDO Travel Advice email alerts
• monitor local and international media for the latest information
• stay away from areas around security or military facilities
• keep your departure plans under review, and ensure your travel documents are up to date
• if you are advised to take shelter, stay indoors or find the nearest safe building or designated shelter. An interior stairwell or a room with as few external walls or windows as possible may provide additional protection

Yemen

FCDO advises against all travel to the whole of Yemen due to the unpredictable security conditions. If you’re in Yemen, you should leave immediately.

It says: “Support for British people is severely limited in Yemen. British Embassy services in Sana’a are suspended, and all diplomatic and consular staff have been withdrawn. The UK government cannot help British nationals leaving Yemen. There are no evacuation procedures in place.

“FCDO cannot offer advice on the safety of travelling to any potential departure point. The UK government’s ability to help with onward travel is severely limited and you’ll be expected to cover the cost of visas, accommodation, insurance and onward travel yourself. If you choose to remain in Yemen, you should minimise movement around the country and within cities and towns, monitor developments in the local security situation and follow other precautions in this travel advice.”

If you’re a British national in Yemen and need help from the UK government, you can call FCDO on 020 7008 5000 (24 hours).