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SACRAMENTO — California Gov. Gavin Newsom has positioned himself as a national public health leader by staking out science-backed policies in contrast with the Trump administration.

After Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. fired Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Susan Monarez for refusing what her lawyers called “the dangerous politicization of science,” Newsom hired her to help modernize California’s public health system. He also gave a job to Debra Houry, the agency’s former chief science and medical officer, who had resigned in protest hours after Monarez’s firing.

Newsom also teamed up with fellow Democratic governors Tina Kotek of Oregon, Bob Ferguson of Washington and Josh Green of Hawaii to form the West Coast Health Alliance, a regional public health agency, whose guidance the governors said would “uphold scientific integrity in public health as Trump destroys” the CDC’s credibility. Newsom argued establishing the independent alliance was vital as Kennedy leads the Trump administration’s rollback of national vaccine recommendations.

More recently, California became the first state to join a global outbreak response network coordinated by the World Health Organization, followed by Illinois and New York. Colorado and Wisconsin signaled they plan to join. They did so after President Trump officially withdrew the United States from the agency on the grounds that it had “strayed from its core mission and has acted contrary to the U.S. interests in protecting the U.S. public on multiple occasions.” Newsom said joining the WHO-led consortium would enable California to respond faster to communicable disease outbreaks and other public health threats.

Although other Democratic governors and public health leaders have openly criticized the federal government, few have been as outspoken as Newsom, who is considering a run for president in 2028 and is in his second and final term as governor. Members of the scientific community have praised his effort to build a public health bulwark against the Trump administration’s slashing of funding and scaling back of vaccine recommendations.

What Newsom is doing “is a great idea,” said Paul Offit, an outspoken critic of Kennedy and a vaccine expert who formerly served on the Food and Drug Administration’s vaccine advisory committee but was removed under Trump in 2025.

“Public health has been turned on its head,” Offit said. “We have an anti-vaccine activist and science denialist as the head of U.S. Health and Human Services. It’s dangerous.”

The White House did not respond to questions about Newsom’s stance and Health and Human Services declined requests to interview Kennedy. Instead, federal health officials criticized Democrats broadly, arguing that blue states are participating in fraud and mismanagement of federal funds in public health programs.

Health and Human Services spokesperson Emily Hilliard said the administration is going after “Democrat-run states that pushed unscientific lockdowns, toddler mask mandates, and draconian vaccine passports during the COVID era.” She said those moves have “completely eroded the American people’s trust in public health agencies.”

Public health guided by science

Since Trump returned to office, Newsom has criticized the president and his administration for engineering policies that he sees as an affront to public health and safety, labeling federal leaders as “extremists” trying to “weaponize the CDC and spread misinformation.” He has excoriated federal officials for erroneously linking vaccines to autism, warning that the administration is endangering the lives of infants and young children in scaling back childhood vaccine recommendations. And he argued that the White House is unleashing “chaos” on America’s public health system in backing out of the WHO.

The governor declined an interview request, but Newsom spokesperson Marissa Saldivar said it’s a priority of the governor “to protect public health and provide communities with guidance rooted in science and evidence, not politics and conspiracies.”

The Trump administration’s moves have triggered financial uncertainty that local officials said has reduced morale within public health departments and left states unprepared for disease outbreaks and prevention efforts. The White House last year proposed cutting Health and Human Services spending by $33 billion, including $3.6 billion from the CDC. Congress largely rejected those cuts last month, although funding for programs focusing on social drivers of health, such as access to food, housing and education, were axed.

The Trump administration announced that it would claw back more than $600 million in public health funds from California, Colorado, Illinois and Minnesota, arguing that the Democratic-led states were funding “woke” initiatives that didn’t reflect White House priorities. Within days, the states sued and a judge temporarily blocked the cut.

“They keep suddenly canceling grants and then it gets overturned in court,” said Kat DeBurgh, executive director of the Health Officers Assn. of California. “A lot of the damage is already done because counties already stopped doing the work.”

Federal funding has accounted for more than half of state and local health department budgets nationwide, with money going toward fighting HIV and other sexually transmitted infections, preventing chronic diseases, and boosting public health preparedness and communicable disease response, according to a 2025 analysis by KFF, a health information nonprofit that includes KFF Health News.

Federal funds account for $2.4 billion of California’s $5.3-billion public health budget, making it difficult for Newsom and state lawmakers to backfill potential cuts. That money helps fund state operations and is vital for local health departments.

Funding cuts hurt all

Los Angeles County public health director Barbara Ferrer said if the federal government is allowed to cut that $600 million, the county of nearly 10 million residents would lose an estimated $84 million over the next two years, in addition to other grants for prevention of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections. Ferrer said the county depends on nearly $1 billion in federal funding annually to track and prevent communicable diseases and combat chronic health conditions, including diabetes and high blood pressure. Already, the county has announced the closure of seven public health clinics that provided vaccinations and disease testing, largely because of funding losses tied to federal grant cuts.

“It’s an ill-informed strategy,” Ferrer said. “Public health doesn’t care whether your political affiliation is Republican or Democrat. It doesn’t care about your immigration status or sexual orientation. Public health has to be available for everyone.”

A single case of measles requires public health workers to track down 200 potential contacts, Ferrer said.

The U.S. eliminated measles in 2000 but is close to losing that status as a result of vaccine skepticism and misinformation spread by vaccine critics. The U.S. had 2,281 confirmed cases last year, the most since 1991, with 93% in people who were unvaccinated or whose vaccination status was unknown. This year, the highly contagious disease has been reported at schools, airports and Disneyland.

Public health officials hope the West Coast Health Alliance can help counteract Trump by building trust through evidence-based public health guidance.

“What we’re seeing from the federal government is partisan politics at its worst and retaliation for policy differences, and it puts at extraordinary risk the health and well-being of the American people,” said Georges Benjamin, executive director of the American Public Health Assn., a coalition of public health professionals.

Robust vaccine schedule

Erica Pan, California’s top public health officer and director of the state Department of Public Health, said the West Coast Health Alliance is defending science by recommending a more robust vaccine schedule than the federal government. California is part of a coalition suing the Trump administration over its decision to rescind recommendations for seven childhood vaccines, including for hepatitis A, hepatitis B, influenza and COVID-19.

Pan expressed deep concern about the state of public health, particularly the uptick in measles. “We’re sliding backwards,” Pan said of immunizations.

Sarah Kemble, Hawaii’s state epidemiologist, said Hawaii joined the alliance after hearing from pro-vaccine residents who wanted assurance that they would have access to vaccines.

“We were getting a lot of questions and anxiety from people who did understand science-based recommendations but were wondering, ‘Am I still going to be able to go get my shot?’” Kemble said.

Other states led mostly by Democrats have also formed alliances, with Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts and several other East Coast states banding together to create the Northeast Public Health Collaborative.

Hilliard, of Health and Human Services, said that even as Democratic governors establish vaccine advisory coalitions, the federal Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices “remains the scientific body guiding immunization recommendations in this country, and HHS will ensure policy is based on rigorous evidence and gold standard science, not the failed politics of the pandemic.”

Influencing red states

Newsom, for his part, has approved a recurring annual infusion of nearly $300 million to support the state Department of Public Health, as well as the 61 local public health agencies across California, and last year signed a bill authorizing the state to issue its own immunization guidance. It requires health insurers in California to provide patient coverage for vaccinations the state recommends even if the federal government doesn’t.

Jeffrey Singer, a doctor and senior fellow at the libertarian Cato Institute, said decentralization can be beneficial. That’s because local media campaigns that reflect different political ideologies and community priorities may have a better chance of influencing the public.

A KFF analysis found some red states are joining blue states in decoupling their vaccine recommendations from the federal government’s. Singer said some doctors in his home state of Arizona are looking to more liberal California for vaccine recommendations.

“Science is never settled, and there are a lot of areas of this country where there are differences of opinion,” Singer said. “This can help us challenge our assumptions and learn.”

KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF — the independent source for health policy research, polling and journalism.

The birthday surprise was not subtle.

Eva Mendes and Ryan Gosling showed up together in public Thursday evening for the first time in more than a decade, with Gosling enlisting “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” host for help in surprising his longtime partner for her 52nd birthday.

Gosling was on the show to promote his upcoming film, “Project Hail Mary,” in which he plays a high school teacher tasked with saving the world. So he asked Fallon to arrange for an audience full of — you guessed it — high school teachers. Because Mendes absolutely loves teachers, he said.

And then there was the request that they surprise Mendes by singing “Happy Birthday” when she came out on stage. It was unclear whether Gosling also ordered up the marching band that played backup, but Fallon wound up crediting him for the whole deal, which we assume included the, um, confetti cannon.

So back to Gosling, who along with Mendes is very private about their relationship and hasn’t been seen at a public event with her (His partner? His wife? Who knows, who cares) since they promoted their 2013 movie “The Place Beyond the Pines.”

He talked about the movie, of course, sharing some funny video from a promotional spot he recorded.

“This was crazy,” the “Crazy, Stupid, Love” actor told Fallon and the “Tonight Show” audience. “I swear, this is not a paid ad. I swear this happened. This was not planned. I had to do a little thing with Alexa, where I just was supposed to ask her facts about the movie. … And this is what happened. This is what she said, I swear.”

In the video, Gosling quizzed Alexa about why people should see the movie in theaters instead of waiting for it to stream at home.

“Because the Imax visuals are absolutely stunning,” Alexa said. But it was what she said next that warmed Gosling’s heart.

“Plus, Eva Mendes herself called it a masterpiece that brings back the magic of the big screen experience that you just can’t get the full impact of on your couch at home,” Alexa said.

“That Eva Mendes is great, isn’t she?” Gosling said in his trademark slight-smirk delivery.

“Absolutely. She’s got this incredible range that people don’t always give her credit for” — at this point Gosling blurted an enthusiastic “Thank you!” — “from her breakthrough in ‘Training Day’ to that beautiful performance in ‘The Place Beyond the Pines’ with Ryan Gosling, she brings this authentic vulnerability to every role.”

At this point, Gosling kissed Alexa, who was made out of red plastic and had a “Project Hail Mary” image emblazoned on her speaker.

“Plus, she’s been smart about stepping back from acting to focus on family,” Alexa continued, “which shows she’s got her priorities straight.”

“I couldn’t agree more,” said Gosling, who’s been with Mendes since 2011 and welcomed two daughters with her. Whether they are officially married is, of course, a mystery. And he did kiss Alexa, which could complicate things. That Alexa, she’s a hustler.

But married or not, Gosling was 100% committed to surprising Mendes on her 52nd trip around the sun. Turns out she was backstage at the show, thinking she was going to get the opportunity to tell the audience full of teachers how much she appreciated what they do every day. So someone brought her to the set, where Gosling greeted her with a “Hi, sweetheart” and held her hand as he pulled her to center stage.

Mendes, apparently thinking her appearance wouldn’t be part of the show, immediately burst into a paean to teaching, telling the educators who were assembled, “I love teachers so much, you guys. We owe so much to you guys. You’re so underpaid and you’re so — I just — thank you so much. I had so many amazing teachers.”

Then she turned to Fallon and said, “You’ll cut all this, right?” Seems she hadn’t put two and two together when Gosling pointed her toward the mark on the floor where she was supposed to stand for the cameras.

Nope, the host said. We love this.

So Mendes went on. “I had so many amazing teachers mentor me,” she said, speaking rapidly and enthusiastically, “and I just want to say thank you to you guys.”

But Fallon reminded her that this was her day — her birthday. And Gosling pointed out that among the educators there were some band directors.

“Yes, we have band directors from North Bergen High School,” Fallon announced. “Ladies and gentlemen, here to play ‘Happy Birthday’ to Eva Mendes, we have the North Bergen High School marching band.”

And there they were, a dozen or two members of that marching band, in full regalia, with two people holding a “Happy Birthday Eva!” banner and the rest blasting out the familiar tune. The entire audience joined in serenading the woman of the hour as they clapped along. Mendes clapped along as well.

As a finale, yup, confetti blasted out over those onstage. And Fallon gave credit where it was due.

“That’s all him,” he said, indicating Gosling, which prompted Mendes to grab her beau’s face and start whispering into his ear. And that’s the most fans are likely to see the twosome behaving like a twosome in public, at least until maybe 2039 or so. Maybe for her 65th birthday. Or her 70th. Or perhaps their AI holograms will one day reveal whether they said “I do.”

By the way, all those teachers were the ones who got the birthday gift last night. Fallon announced they would be going to a special screening of “Project Hail Mary” after the taping, and the teachers’ delight was palpable.

Very nice, “Tonight Show.” You and Ryan Gosling made some people very happy Thursday. Including one Eva Mendes.

“Project Hail Mary” hits theaters March 20.

WASHINGTON — A federal panel reviewing President Trump’s plans to build a ballroom at the White House has set April 2 for a final vote on the project, the chairman said as the agency prepared to give additional consideration to the construction plans.

Will Scharf, chairman of the National Capital Planning Commission and a top aide to the Republican president, made the announcement Thursday at the start of the panel’s March meeting.

The panel will hear additional details about the project from the White House as well as its own staff, and had been expected to vote on Thursday.

But Scharf announced that the vote was switched to April to give every member of the public who wants to comment a chance to do so. More than 100 people had signed up to comment at Thursday’s meeting, which was being conducted online as a result.

The panel has also been flooded with scores of written comments about Trump’s plans to build a 90,000-square-foot addition where the East Wing of the White House once stood. Trump has said it will cost about $400 million and be paid for with private money. Trump had the East Wing demolished in October.

Scharf said the meeting was being conducted online to ease the public testimony portion, which he said was likely to extend into Friday given the number of people who had signed up to speak.

“They are taking time out of what I presume are busy schedules to join us,” he said. “One way or the other, we are going to make sure that members of the public have the opportunity to be heard on this project.”

Critics of the project have argued that Trump should not have demolished the East Wing until the National Capital Planning Commission and a separate panel, the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts, had reviewed and voted on his plans. The fine arts panel approved the project last month.

The National Trust for Historic Preservation, a private, nonprofit group, asked a federal judge to temporarily halt construction until the White House submitted the plans both to federal panels and to Congress for approval, and allowed the public to comment.

U.S. District Judge Richard Leon rejected the request last week, and the trust has said it plans to file an amended lawsuit.

Superville writes for the Associated Press.

WHEN you think of beautiful attractions to go to on holiday, toilets are rarely top of the list.

But a shopping centre’s bogs have been called the most beautiful in the world – and they hardly look like the ones in Westfield.

The toilets are on the sixth floor of the Deji Plaza Mall in Nanjing in China.

Dubbed the world’s most beautiful bathroom by Architectural Digest, they opened back in 2022 and were designed by X+Living, a Shanghai-based architecture firm.

Inside, are seven relaxation areas as well as male and female toilets.

Visitors enter through what is known as the ‘Experience Hall’ with dark greens and nods to insects and plant life.

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For example, black and white tiles on the floor mimic butterfly wings with touches of gold meant resemble bees.

There’s even a lounge between the men’s and women’s loos, with plush pink sofas designed to look like a ‘flower blooming’.

Guests can make use of glowing vanities too, as well as wireless charging points, with a dressing room per loo.

For mums there is a nursery room and in case of an incident, there is a medical room as well.

The same shopping mall has more themed toilets on other floors.

For example, on the second floor the toilets have a retro style, on the third floor the theme is futuristic.

The fourth floor has a Japanese theme and on the fifth floor the design is ‘extravagant’ and even features a piano.

The sixth floor toilets have several viral videos on social media with people commenting: “That’s a toilet? It looks so much better than most hotels.”

Another person said: “It’s an experience, so much outfit of the day spots.”

A third person commented: “Never thought toilets would be a public attraction but those toilets are very beautiful.”

While nowhere near as grand, London‘s has new loos as well.

New public toilets were unveiled at the Grade-II listed, Piccadilly Circus Tube Station this week, described as “London’s newest tourist attraction”, according to The Standard.

Inside the loos, visitors are greeted by bold blue, pink and yellow tiles.

Murals have been designed by London-based artist James Lambert, with each tile hand-painted and hand-made.

The design of the toilets is inspired by Anteros, the god of requited love and features winged-figures and an arrow motif, meant to show “energy, spectacle, and connection”.

The motif of different lines and shapes is meant to reflect the Art Deco history of the area.

This includes the redesign of the underground station in the 1920s by Charles Holden.

Other venues nearby that feature an Art Deco design include Brasserie Zedel, which has gilded columns and a lavish American cocktail bar.

To see the toilets (or actually use them) at Piccadilly Circus Tube Station, you’ll need to pay the 80p entrance fee.

The toilets are part of a £12.7million council project to upgrade a total of eight public toilets in London including at Green Park, Covent Garden and Leicester Square.

For more toilet-based tourist destinations, last year a Victorian public toilet was turned into a hotel – in the middle of a historic city.

Plus, Tripadvisor’s top-ranked UK toilet is in Scots seaside town and even has its own visitors’ book.

ONE of the UK’s most popular beaches has been forced to close to the public indefinitely.

Access to Durdle Door beach, famous for its unique rock formation and fossil hunting, remains shut until further notice due to storm damage.

The beach on the Jurassic Coast has been closed after storms destroyed part of the steps.

The bottom section was swept away leaving a steep drop.

Lulworth Estate announced that the path to Durdle Door beach has been temporarily closed for “public safety”.

A spokesperson told the BBC: “Weather conditions may continue to affect the coastline and the Lulworth Estate team encourages everyone to exercise caution and respect temporary closures put in place for public safety.”

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Visitor access to nearby Man O’ War beach remains open.

Lulworth Estate said storms had resulted in “significant disruption to coastal access” and the safety of visitors remained its “highest priority”.

There’s no timeline for the reopening of the path – but Lulworth Estate said it would provide updates.

The beach is a popular spot with approximately 500,000 visitors going to see the impressive coastline every year.

Last summer, Durdle Door was named by National Geographic in the list of must-see beaches, which includes some in Australia and the Seychelles.

National Geographic declared Durdle Door as a beach “worth travelling for” because of its “showstopper” shore and rock formations.

Some have even compared Durdle Door to beaches overseas.

One person wrote on Tripadvisor: “Lulworth Cove and Durdle Door: Reminded me of the Algarve in Portugal!”

Another added: “You don’t feel like you are in the UK. It seems more like Portugal or California.”

Assistant Travel Editor Sophie Swietochowski reveals what it’s actually like to visit Durdle Door – and why you should visit when it’s back open.

She said: “Despite the Jurassic Coast being one of the most well-known spots for rambling in the UK, it has managed to remain gloriously peaceful.

“I barely passed another soul during a Sunday hike along the rugged coastal path above Durdle Door a few years back – only a herd of cows munching on the unkempt grass at the top of the cliff.

“Admittedly, things grew a little busier as I approached Lulworth Cove. But that’s no surprise with a horseshoe-shaped pebble bay and turquoise waters that could rival those in the Caribbean.

“Make sure to wander over to Fossil Forest while you’re here too, where you can observe ripples of an ancient sea floor within the rocks and fossilised remains of old tree stumps that date back to the dinosaur era.”

For more beaches, here are our 26 must-visit ones for 2026 – including tropical-feel spots and family-friendly finds.

And here are five British beaches that are even better in winter – with warmer waters, most sunshine hours and no tourists.

A strange quirk at San Quentin state prison is that most of those incarcerated behind its towering walls are unable to see the San Francisco Bay that literally laps at the shore a few yards away.

That changed recently with the completion of new buildings — holding among other accouterments a self-serve kitchen, a library, a cafe and a film studio — and third-floor classrooms that look out over that beautiful blue expanse, long a symbol of freedom and possibility.

In the new San Quentin Rehabilitation Center, along with learning job skills and earning degrees, incarcerated men can do their own laundry, make their own meals, and interact with guards as mentors and colleagues of sorts, once a taboo kind of relationship in the us-and-them world of incarceration.

“You want to clothes wash? You wash them,” said Gov. Gavin Newsom, debuting the new facilities, including laundry machines, for reporters last week. “You want to get something to eat. You can do it, whenever.”

“All of a sudden, it’s like you’re starting to make decisions for yourself,” he said. “It’s called life.”

Listen closely, and one can almost hear President Trump’s brain exploding with glee and outrage as his favorite Democratic foil seemingly coddles criminals. A cafe? C’mon. Bring on the midterms!

March 2024 of the East Block of San Quentin’s former death row.

(Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)

But what Newsom has done inside California’s most notorious prison, once home to the largest death row in the Western Hemisphere, is nothing short of a remarkable shift of thinking, culture and implementation around what it means to take away someone’s freedom — and eventually give it back. Adapted from European models, it’s a vision of incarceration that is meant to deal with the reality that 95% of people who go to prison are eventually released. That’s more than 30,000 people each year in California alone.

“What kind of neighbors do you want them to be?” Newsom asked. “Are they coming back broken? Are they coming back better? Are they coming back more enlivened, more capable? Are they coming back into prison over and over?”

When it comes to reforming criminals, “success looks like more and more people gravitating to their own journey, their own personal reform,” Newsom said, sounding more like a lifestyle influencer than a presidential contender. “It’s not forced on you, because then it’s fake, man. If it’s coerced, I don’t buy it.”

Of course, coming back better should be the goal — because better people commit fewer crimes, and that benefits us all. But coming back over and over has become the norm.

Traditional incarceration, a lock-’em-up and watch-them-suffer approach, has dramatically failed not only our communities and public safety writ large, but also inmates and even those who guard them.

Incarcerated people come out of prison too often in California (and across the country) with addictions and emotional troubles still firmly in place, and no job or educational skills to help them muddle through a crime-free life. That means they often commit more crimes, create more victims and cycle back into this failed, expensive, tough-on-crime system.

Still, it’s a favorite trope of Trump, and the justification for both his immigration roundups and his deployment of National Guard troops in Democratic cities, that policies such as Newsom’s are weak on crime and have led to the decline of American society.

This narrative of fear and grievance goes back decades, recycled every election by the so-called law-and-order party because it’s effective — voters crave safety, especially in a chaotic world. And locking people up seems safe, at least until we let them go again.

But, as Chance Andes, the warden of San Quentin, pointed out last week, “Humanity is safety,” and treating incarcerated people like, well, people, actually makes them want to behave better.

Here’s where the tough-on-crime folks will begin composing their angry emails. Why are we paying for killers to have a view? Why should I care if a rapist has a good book to read? Our budget is bleeding red, why are tax dollars being used for prison lattes? (To be fair, I do not know whether they actually have lattes.)

But consider this: The prison guards back Newsom.

“Done right, it improves working conditions for our officers and strengthens public safety,” said Steve Adney, executive vice president of the California Correctional Peace Officers Assn., the union that represents guards, of the California model, as Newsom calls his vision.

Faced with high rates of suicide and other ills such as addiction, corrections officers have long been concerned about the stress and violence of their jobs. A few years ago, some union members traveled to Norway to see prisons there. I tagged along.

A correctional officer at Halden prison in Norway checks out the ice cream freezer in the grocery store inside the facility.

(Javad Parsa/For The Times)

The American officers were shocked to see Norwegian prisoners access kitchen knives and power tools, but even more shocked that the guards had built relationships with these criminals that allowed them to do their jobs with far less fear.

Rather than jailers, these corrections officers were more like social workers or guides to a better way of living. Of course, the corrections officers aren’t dumb. That only works with vetted inmates, such as those at San Quentin, who have proved they want to change.

But when you have officers and incarcerated people who are able to coexist with respect and maybe a dash of kindness, you get a different outcome for both sides.

“If we are capable of building this at San Quentin, then we are capable of making the workplace safe for every officer who walks in the gates,” said CCPOA President Neil Flood, a startling statement in favor of radical reform from a law enforcement officer.

But in a moment when most Democrats with ambitions for national office (or even an eye on replacing Newsom) are backing away from criminal justice reform, it would be naive to think the California model won’t be used to bludgeon Newsom in a presidential race, and provide further fuel to the dumpster-fire narrative about the state.

Soon — before the midterms — many expect Congress to move forward on Trump’s expressed desire for a crime bill that would empower police with even greater immunity for wrongdoing, create longer sentences for crimes including those involving drugs and further erode criminal justice reform in the name of public safety.

Trump is going hard in the opposite direction, toward more punishment, always the easier and more understandable route for voters fed up with crime (even though crime rates have been declining since President Biden was in office).

The California model is “a political liability in this environment,” said Tinisch Hollins, a victims advocate who worked on the San Quentin transition and heads Californians for Safety and Justice.

But she retains faith that “the majority of people don’t believe that shoving everyone into prison is how we resolve the problem.”

Newsom deserves credit for standing by that position, when simply backing away and dropping the California model would have been the simpler and safer route — it’s complicated and messy and oh-so-easy to make it sound dumb.

I refer you back to the cafe. If construction had been cut at San Quentin, the budget cited as the reason, no one would have noticed and few would have complained.

Instead, sounding a bit like Trump, Newsom said he “threatened the hell out of them if they didn’t get it done before I was gone.”

“This is not left or right,” he said. “This is just being smart and pragmatic and you know, I just … I believe people are not the worst thing they’ve done.”

Politically at least, San Quentin is a legacy for Newsom now, the best or worst thing he’s done on crime, depending on your personal views of second chances.

But it is undeniably a vision of public safety starkly at odds with Trump, one Newsom will carry into his next political fight — where it is certain to cause him some pain.

Beirut, Lebanon – Anger in Lebanon is growing after the government of Prime Minister Nawaf Salam announced increases in petrol taxes and value-added taxes (VATs) last week.

The rises in what economists and analysts have called “regressive” taxes led to two protests on February 17 and an array of criticism against the government, including from media and voices that had previously been friendly to Salam’s reformist administration.

“The government lost its mind,” Megaphone News, an independent, progressive news outlet published on a social media account in response to Salam’s government announcing a 300,000 Lebanese pound ($3.35) price increase on 20 litres (about 5.3 gallons) of petrol or gasoline and a one percent increase from 11 to 12 percent on VAT – a consumption tax charged on goods and services at each stage of production.

On the morning of February 17, a handful of taxi drivers blocked the Ring Bridge in downtown Beirut to protest the rise in taxes. Later that evening, in Riad al-Solh Square, around 50 or so protesters gathered to express their discontent with the government’s decision.

“You have no housing, you have no loans, you have no safety, I mean, you live here in a prison, brother,” one angry protester told Lebanese television station Al Jadeed from the Ring Bridge protest.

His comments represent the frustration felt by many Lebanese – that the tax increases are yet another indignity the population must live through, including near-daily Israeli attacks and violations of the 2024 ceasefire, collapsing buildings in the north, and an ongoing economic crisis since 2019.

Salam doubles down

The last time a tax spike sent Lebanese people to the streets was in 2019. Anger in Lebanon had boiled after decades of economic and political mismanagement by the government. Then, as the country’s economy started collapsing, the government tried to implement a series of taxes, including on WhatsApp calls.

The response was widespread protests that collapsed the government, led at the time by then-Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri. But they failed to dislodge the wider sectarian system that many activists and experts say plagues Lebanon and prevents reform.

Last week’s protests were on a far smaller scale than 2019, however.

Then, protesters forced the government to walk back the taxes. But Salam, the prime minister, defended the tax hike on Friday. The government’s argument is that the taxes are necessary to pay salaries and pensions for state employees and retirees.

“We had to find a quick source to fund the raises,” he said. “These are exceptional measures… but the government wants to reform the tax system, not just impose new taxes.”

Salam also said that his government inherited a “very difficult” financial situation and promised that he would rebuild trust between the state and the people by working to establish a fair tax system.

Lebanon’s Finance Minister Yassine Jaber said the fuel price increase would take effect immediately, but that VAT increases would need parliament’s approval.

“More than 50 per cent of the budget today is allocated to salaries, and it was necessary to take steps to secure the funds,” he said.

VAT is a regressive tax

But not everyone agreed with the decision, including some ministers themselves. The right-wing Lebanese Forces bloc – which is part of the government coalition – voiced objection to the tax increase, calling for a study of the impacts.

Analysts, meanwhile, were heavily critical of the tax increase. They said that the rise of petrol prices and VAT would punish the country’s most vulnerable and would further widen the gap between rich and poor in Lebanon.

“The people who are most affected by value-added taxes are usually the poorest of the poor and the most vulnerable, given the type of their consumption, which is mostly filled of the goods and the services that are affected by taxation, and whereby the proportion of the taxation is significant,” Farah al-Shami, senior fellow and programme director for Social Protection at the Arab Reform Initiative, told Al Jazeera. “VAT is by nature the most regressive type of taxation. Studies have shown that it affects the full supply chain, meaning everything that goes into the production, for example, of a certain good is affected.”

A price increase at every step of the supply chain means that prices compound to end up being more expensive for consumers.

In 2019, decades of government mismanagement of the economy ended in the collapse of the banking sector and the depreciation of the Lebanese pound by over 90 percent. Before 2019, $1 was equivalent to 1,500 Lebanese pounds, whereas now $1 is valued at nearly 89,500 Lebanese pounds.

Many lost their life savings with the currency freefall. Banks quickly shut their doors and limited withdrawals. More than six years later, many Lebanese have not recovered, nor has the economy.

Scandalous undertaxing

The high cost of living is a regular talking point among Lebanese, particularly in the capital, Beirut. Many are struggling to make ends meet and rely on the $5.8bn in remittances from family or contacts abroad (these are 2024 figures).

With so many struggling, a tax increase that impacts the entire population is a recipe for anger. And analysts said that if the government is in need of tax revenue, there are plenty of undertaxed sources to draw from.

“Property in Lebanon remains scandalously undertaxed,” Dania Arayssi, a senior analyst at New Lines Institute for Strategy and Policy Luxury, told Al Jazeera. “Real estate in Beirut — some of the most expensive per square metre in the region — generates a fraction of the public revenue it could and should. Capital gains on property are minimal. Wealth held in land and assets is effectively sheltered. Similarly, luxury goods face no meaningful additional burden.”

Fouad Debs, a lawyer and member of the Depositors Union, a group founded after the 2019 banking crisis to protect the rights of depositors, said the decision went against the government’s stated goals of reform.

“All of this is to keep the [current] system intact and save the banks, instead of having them also pay the taxes that they should pay,” Debs said.

DAISY Lowe looked stunning in a sheer lace dress, as she made her first public outing since announcing her second pregnancy.

The model, 37, showed off her growing baby bump, just a week after she announced her and husband Jordan Saul’s happy news.

The soon-to-be mum-of-two, who already shares daughter Ivy, two, with Jordan, 31, looked incredible as she stepped out for London’s Fashion Week.

The Strictly Come Dancing star looked every inch the yummy mummy as she showed off her growing baby bump.

Daisy pulled out all the stops in the daring sheer outfit which revealed her black lingerie.

The pregnant star looked happy and relaxed as she posed for the photos in her stunning outfit.

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She wore her long black hair loose and her make-up was glowing.

Daisy thrilled fans when she revealed her and husband Jordan were set to welcome their second child.

She wrote: “Heading home from our honeymoon with an extra stowaway.

“Little bump is growing FAST & Ivy is so excited to meet *her* baby.”

Daisy and property developer Jordan married just seven months ago.

The model, whose dad is Bush rocker Gavin Rossdale, wed her new husband Jordan exactly five years after they met in June 2020.

The happy couple had a chance encounter while out walking their dogs on London’s Hampstead Heath.

After a whirlwind romance, Daisy announced her first pregnancy in October 2022, a month after getting engaged.

Daisy said at the time: “I wanted to share some news with you. Jordan and I are having a baby.

“We are absolutely bursting at the seams with happiness. I’m oscillating wildly between excitement & nervousness with a dash of morning sickness thrown in for good measure! Big love to all of you.”

Daisy then gave birth to their daughter Ivy the following year.

But now she is expanding her brood by another bundle of joy.

Two golfers in Washington, D.C., have sued the federal government to try to prevent the Trump administration from overhauling a more than 100-year-old public golf course, accusing the administration of violating environmental laws and polluting a park that is on the National Register of Historic Places.

The suit, which also claims the administration is violating a congressional act governing the property, is the latest in a series of legal battles challenging President Trump’s extraordinary efforts to put his mark on public spaces in the nation’s capital, including the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, which he ordered closed for renovation.

At the end of last year, a group of preservationists filed a similar lawsuit seeking to prevent the administration from demolishing the East Wing of the White House in order to build a ballroom — a project estimated to cost $400 million.

Trump, an avid golfer, also plans to renovate a military golf course just outside Washington that has been used for decades by past presidents.

The complaint filed against the Department of the Interior on Friday says that the Trump administration’s reconstruction of East Potomac Park — which includes the East Potomac Golf Course — would violate the congressional act that created the park in 1897. The act established the park for the “recreation and the pleasure of the people.”

The golf course has been recognized on the National Register of Historic Places in part for its efforts to racially integrate in the 1940s. Municipal golf courses make up only 18% of courses in America.

“East Potomac Golf Links is a testament to what’s possible with public land and why public spaces matter,” said Washington resident and plaintiff Dave Roberts. “It deserves better than becoming a dumping ground for waste and yet another private playground for the privileged and powerful.”

The lawsuit came after the Trump administration in December ended a lease agreement the nonprofit National Links Trust held for East Potomac and two other golf courses in Washington. The Interior Department said it did so because the nonprofit hadn’t implemented required capital improvements and failed to meet the terms of the lease.

The Interior Department press office said in an email Friday that it doesn’t comment on pending litigation, but that it would “ensure these courses are safe, beautiful, open, affordable, enjoyable and accessible for people visiting the greatest capital city in the world which is in line with President Trump’s agenda.”

The White House also didn’t respond to an emailed request for comment Friday evening.

Construction on the East Potomac course has already begun, according to the lawsuit. In October, the National Park Service began dumping debris from the demolition of the East Wing of the White House onto the golf course, the complaint said, raising concerns that the materials could contain contaminants that could pollute the air.

As a result, the plaintiffs argued, the administration also violated the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 by failing to consider the harmful environmental impacts of the project.

The National Links Trust said in December it was “devastated” by the decision to terminate the lease and defended its management of the courses.

The trust said that $8.5 million had gone toward capital improvements at the courses and that rounds played and revenue had more than doubled in its tenure managing the courses. It also said the termination of the lease jeopardized hundreds of local jobs.

The nonprofit has agreed to keep managing the courses for the time being, but long-term renovations will stop.

The first 18 holes of the East Potomac Park Golf Course were built from 1918 to 1923.

Riddle writes for the Associated Press. AP writer Audrey McAvoy in Honolulu contributed to this report.