Los Angeles Unified School District incumbents — Rocio Rivas, Kelly Gonez and Nick Melvoin — surged strongly ahead in early returns Tuesday night for three seats on the Board of Education.
The first reported results were trending toward one-sided outcomes because the major political forces of recent years declined to do battle against each other: The teachers union supported Rivas, who represents a largely Eastside district; a charter-friendly retired businessman supported Melvoin, whose district is centered on the Westside. And the largest union representing nonteaching employees all but avoided the fray.
The third incumbent, Gonez, was the only candidate on the ballot in District 6, and faced one write-in challenger, Jose Sagredo. Thus, Gonez is poised to continue to represent a district centered in the east San Fernando Valley for a third and final term.
With no challengers boosted by high special-interest funding, the three incumbents had a virtually unobstructed campaign path.
If the early returns hold as expected, the Los Angeles Board of Education will continue to lean against charter schools and would stand in general agreement on most policies — including assertive support for immigrants and a continued holding pattern on the future of Supt. Alberto Carvalho, who remains on administrative leave as a federal investigation proceeds.
District 4, Westside
Well ahead in District 4 was two-term incumbent Melvoin. His challenger was Ankur Patel.
The funding advantage in Melvoin’s campaign was sizable through just before election day: Melvoin, $378,803; Patel: $22,662.
In addition, Melvoin benefited from an independent expenditure of $367,093 on his behalf by retired businessman Bill Bloomfield, who has been a major funder in recent campaigns, typically for candidates who also are acceptable to charter-school advocates.
Charters are privately operated public schools, most of which are nonunion. About 1 in 5 L.A. public-school students is enrolled in an independent charter operating within L.A. Unified.
District 2, downtown and Eastside
Also with a huge funding advantage was Rocio Rivas, who was headed toward a second term in District 2.
LAUSD Board Vice President Rocio Rivas was headed toward a second term in District 2. Her major funding source was $889,469 in an independent-expenditure campaign on her behalf, nearly all of it from the United Teachers Los Angeles union.
(Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)
Rivas’ own campaign raised $66,218. But the major funding source was $889,469 in an independent-expenditure campaign on her behalf, nearly all of it from the United Teachers Los Angeles union. The union also spent more than $4,000 in communications to its members about the election.
These figures compare with $2,525 raised by challenger Raquel Zamora, who reported spending $5,089.
In Rivas’ successful 2022 run, her main funding opponent was Local 99 of the Service Employees International Union, which backed Maria Brenes for an open seat. Historically, Local 99 has not been inclined to oppose an incumbent, which Rivas has become. And, true to history, Local 99 has endorsed Rivas, but without spending money on her behalf.
An end to charter school wars
More broadly, this election cycle marks the end to a generation of bitterly contested Los Angeles school board races that became the most expensive in the country, with the L.A. teachers union and charter school advocates slugging it out to advance their vision for public education.
Charter school supporters — who had poured tens of million of dollars into races to elect board members sympathetic to their cause — largely stepped aside, a reflection of their diminished resources and evolving strategy.
The bottom line is that, if current vote-count trends hold, the board will be unchanged for the next two years.
This situation is less than ideal for charter schools. Charters with a mixed record face a tough review when they come up for renewal — about once every five years. Charter opponents want the board majority to move more aggressively to shut down charters when possible and to force them off district campuses — where, under state law, they have a legal right to operate.
Big board decisions looming
Big decisions before the board include how to manage a projected structural deficient — with union leaders calling the dire predictions an accounting mirage.
Meanwhile, Supt. Alberto Carvalho remains in limbo after a February FBI raid of his home and office. The investigation relates at least in part to a failed district chatbot project.
Carvalho maintains his innocence and would like to return to work. The board, however, has turned the reins over temporarily to acting Supt. Andres Chait.
This election cycle marks the end to a generation of bitterly contested Los Angeles school board races that became the most expensive in the country, with the L.A. teachers union and charter school advocates slugging it out to advance their vision for public education. Above, LAUSD headquarters in downtown Los Angeles.
Los Angeles County’s half-cent sales tax to fund healthcare services was trailing Tuesday, with early returns showing a majority of voters rejecting the measure.
The tax — a half-penny of every dollar spent in the county — is meant to prop up local hospitals and clinics that are hemorrhaging funding after recent federal cuts.
The sales tax, which needs a simple majority to pass, would take effect Oct. 1 and last five years. Officials say it would pull in $1 billion annually to help plug the budget holes hitting local hospitals and clinics.
L.A. County health officials anticipate the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, signed into law by President Trump last summer, will slash more than $2 billion from the county’s health services budget within the next three years. Due to eligibility changes, the county will no longer be able to get reimbursements for many Californians who have lost Medi-Cal.
The measure was championed by a coalition of healthcare advocates called Restore Healthcare for Angelenos who warned that mass layoffs and emergency room closures could be imminent if new funding didn’t come fast. The Department of Public Health recently closed seven clinics — a grim sign, supporters said, of service cuts to come.
Voters haven’t rejected a sales tax hike since 2012, when a transportation measure fell just short with 66.1% support. It needed 66.7% to pass.
A majority of county supervisors had supported the new tax proposal, voting 4 to 1 this February to put it on the ballot. But the measure faced significant opposition from local cities, with opponents arguing the sales tax hike would unfairly burden the poorest county residents and encourage people to spend their dollars across the county line.
Supervisor Kathryn Barger, the board’s lone opponent of the tax, said she was concerned it was a “general” tax, meaning the money wouldn’t be earmarked for healthcare costs. Instead, she argued, politicians would have final say over how the money gets spent.
The supervisors have created a plan for spending the tax money, with the largest chunk of the money meant to cover the costs for patients without insurance. The measure also asked voters to sign off on a nine-member oversight committee.
The county currently has a base sales tax rate of 9.75%, and cities impose local taxes on top of that.
AFTER returning to Instagram Katie Price has found herself with one less loyal follower – her husband Lee Andrews.
Katie was previously left fuming after her account with a whopping 2.6 million followers was removed from the platform.
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Lee has unfollowed his wife Katie Price on Instagram after she was banned over the weekendCredit: mistraesthetics/InstagramLee Andrews now follows nobody on the social media platformCredit: Instagram
The ban came at a tumultuous time for the former glamour model, following a man hunt for Lee, who is currently thought to be jailed in Dubai’s Al Awir prison.
But after regaining access to her page earlier today, she was met with a mystery.
Katie’s conman hubby Lee has hit the unfollow button on the star, something that usually points towards trouble in paradise.
Things between the pair have certainly been a rollercoaster these past few weeks as she claimed to have told him he was the “most hated man in Britain” over the phone.
The reality TV legend told fans last week that she and Lee had a two-minute phone call from which he dialled in from a prison call box.
Authorities confirmed to us he was NOT being held over spying charges and we understand he’s behind bars over claims relating to a private, civil matter.
Lee, who has “three phones” and bragged about being an “arms dealer,” is due for release today but must pay a four-figure fine.
She was furious with Lee when he “made her look a d**k” after failing to show up for their joint GMB interview but this could be the ultimate betrayl.
Podcast host Katie had her Instagram account taken away over the weekend due to her flashing her boob in one post, alongside a flurry of promotions for CBD products.
Meta, the company behind the social media giant, removed her entire profile as it investigated.
Athens, Greece – Bashir is a Syrian Muslim who has lived in Greece since 2014. He married a fellow Syrian in the country, and three months ago, they had a son. After years of picking olives and oranges, learning Greek and a trade in metalwork, and finally buying his own equipment to start work as an independent trader, Bashir felt his life was finally coming together.
Two months ago, the authorities handed him a piece of paper asking him to restate his reasons for coming to Greece and why he should now return to Syria.
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Bashir, who requested to withhold his surname, had been granted asylum in Greece in 2015 because of the civil war then raging in Syria. The war ended in December 2024, and Bashir became one of 1,200 Syrians whose asylum cases were reopened in February.
“It’s a catastrophe,” he told Al Jazeera. “I don’t understand how this can happen. If they decide I should leave the country, should my family stay here?”
Bashir’s lawyer said only men are currently receiving such notices – and not just from Syria but Afghanistan, another country whose civil war is deemed to have ended, with the Taliban’s sweeping victory in August 2021.
But neither Syria nor Afghanistan is necessarily safe to return to, said the lawyer, Angeliki Theodoropoulou.
“We believe this has to do with the European Union’s stance towards Syria and Afghanistan, and with the fact that there are quite a few voluntary returns, which encourages authorities to say, ‘Let’s see if these people can return’,” Theodoropoulou told Al Jazeera.
She said the entire regime of international protection was being tightened for these two nationalities. “We’re also seeing asylum being given in very few cases, and a lot of rejections,” she said.
“We don’t understand on what criteria they decided Syria is safe,” Bashir said.
Earlier this year, renewed clashes erupted between the Syrian government and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), while Israel has continued attacks on the country sporadically.
Bilal said he feels uncomfortable about the idea of living in Syria for cultural and political reasons, having spent 15 years away.
“Many of the refugees here are like me,” he said.
Jihad, who requested to withhold his surname, has similar concerns but for the opposite reason. He has lived in Greece legally since 2001 and runs a small clothes shop. When the regime of Bashar al-Assad fell, the rest of his family also fled, because he and his family were Assad supporters.
He fears that he would be mistreated in Syria over his views.
“If they just look at my Facebook page or look at things I wrote in the past, they will send me to jail for sure,” Jihad said. “I’m afraid even to go to the embassy. I have never held a gun, I have never killed anyone, I just have an opinion.”
Both men have clean criminal records, pay taxes and social security contributions, and have nurtured families in Greece. Both say they would flee to another country rather than return to Syria. So why is Greece considering their eviction?
Greece’s turn to exclusion
Greek Migration Minister Thanos Plevris announced in February that he had ordered a reopening of any asylum cases that could be revoked. As a temporary status, it can be.
Last year, Greece revoked the asylum of almost 200 people, compared with 400 in the previous decade. Dozens more cases are under review this year. And there appears to be a religious element to the policy.
Greece suspended asylum applications for mainly Muslim asylum seekers arriving from Libya for three months last year. Most of the people whose asylum is being revoked are from majority-Muslim countries.
At a recent parliamentary committee hearing, Plevris stated clearly that Greece prefers non-Muslim migrant workers.
“There are countries with which we don’t have common values, and that’s mainly because of religion, let’s be clear, it’s because of hardcore Islam,” Plevris said. “So, you have to pick countries that are religiously neutral or Christian. We’re talking to Georgia, the Philippines, Armenia, India.”
Greece has been tightening its migration policy in other ways as well.
In September 2025, it adopted what Plevris described as “the strictest returns policy in the whole EU”, empowering the government to imprison people who refuse to be deported. Rejected asylum applicants can be fitted with ankle monitors and given just two weeks to remove themselves voluntarily. If they don’t, they face a 5,000-euro fine ($5,870) and two to five years’ confinement in closed camps.
In February, the governing conservative New Democracy party passed a law stipulating that if any aid worker is charged with helping to smuggle asylum seekers into Greece, their entire aid organisation can be delisted from the ministry’s registry. That means they could lose their funding and access to refugee camps, and could shut down.
The broader context
Europe is undergoing a transition as it prepares to put into force an Asylum and Migration Pact next month. The pact demands a hard-border policy and a returns policy for rejected asylum seekers, both of which each member state must manage itself.
“We’re at a pivotal point in time. We’re about to see the implementation of the European pact. This will fundamentally change the way that migration works,” Kristin Fabbe, chair in Business and Comparative Politics at the European University Institute, recently told a Delphi Economic Forum event in Athens.
The largest bottleneck, she said, “is that Europe has not yet figured out how to do returns at scale … in order to reform asylum and reform migration, you have to execute returns at scale, and the data show that that has been impossible”.
Greece, an EU front-line state, already has 938,000 legally resident migrants in a population of 10.3 million, a relatively high number. Of these, more than 137,000 are recipients of asylum or international protection.
As the Middle East and North Africa region remains unstable, the government is worried about the potential scale of future refugee flows.
More than a million asylum seekers crossed the Greek borders in 2015. In the years that followed, certain EU members took on thousands of asylum cases from Greece and Italy in a show of solidarity, and tens of thousands more asylum recipients in Greece moved to other EU states. Those states have agreed to keep them, but that would not necessarily happen again under the pact.
Observers say this explains Greece’s hardline attitude.
Commenting on the political mood in Europe, Fabbe said, “The legality, the sanctity of the [returns] solutions is being challenged, but I think we’re going to see the proliferation of those solutions and new institutional mechanisms.”
Nicaragua’s government said it will return mining company BHMB Mining to its original owners after the operation was confiscated in September 2025. File Photo by Christobal Herrera-Ulashkevich
May 28 (UPI) — Nicaragua’s government said it will return mining company BHMB Mining to its original owners after the operation was confiscated in September 2025 and later transferred to Chinese firms.
The announcement came from Nicaragua’s Attorney General’s Office and follows what local media and analysts described as efforts by President Daniel Ortega and Vice President Rosario Murillo’s government to avoid additional sanctions from the Trump administration.
According to the government, officials reached an agreement with BHMB Inc., a U.S.-British company incorporated in Florida, allowing operations to resume at the BHMB Palacaguina processing plant in northern Nicaragua.
“As a result of a process of dialogue and coordination carried out in an atmosphere of cooperation and mutual respect, an understanding has been reached aimed at the orderly and secure normalization and operational reactivation of the BHMB Palacaguina plant,” the government said in a statement.
The government added that the specific terms and conditions of the agreement remain confidential.
Nicaraguan newspaper La Prensa previously reported that authorities seized the facilities in September 2025. The company operated a gold processing plant in northern Nicaragua valued at more than $80 million under a 10-year operating permit.
The owners said that after the expropriation, Nicaraguan authorities transferred the plant to Chinese companies Zhong Fu Development and Santa Rita Mining.
Environmental and Indigenous rights advocate Amaru Ruiz wrote on X that “the Ortega-Murillo regime announces an agreement with BHMB Mining Nicaragua to free itself from the complaint filed before ICSID over the expropriation suffered by the company.”
Ruiz later told Nicaraguan outlet 100% Noticias that the decision represented an unusual reversal by the government. He said the administration “feared losing the case before ICSID” because of growing international pressure and the possibility of economic sanctions.
The International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes, or ICSID, is a World Bank institution that resolves legal disputes between sovereign states and foreign investors.
On April 16, the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control announced sanctions targeting individuals and entities tied to Nicaragua’s gold sector.
According to the Treasury Department, the sanctions responded to what it described as the Ortega-Murillo government’s use of the gold industry as a major source of financing for repression and corrupt enrichment of the ruling family.
Nicaraguan journalist Miguel Mendoza said the government’s decision to return the plant to BHMB appeared aimed at avoiding political and economic pressure from the U.S. Congress.
U.S. lawmakers are scheduled to hold a hearing June 4 titled “Confronting the Ortega-Murillo Totalitarian Regime,” focused on democratic backsliding in Nicaragua and rising tensions with Washington.
Mendoza added that BHMB shareholder Baruch Rapoport maintains relationships with figures in the Trump administration, including diplomat Richard Grenell, who served as Trump’s special envoy for Venezuela.
According to Mendoza, those ties may have contributed to recent U.S. sanctions against seven Nicaraguan mining companies, targeting one of the government’s most profitable sectors.
Dodgers utility man Kiké Hernández’s said he was hoping for “somewhat good news tomorrow” after leaving Tuesday’s game with an oblique injury.
But on Wednesday, an MRI exam showed a “significant tear” in his left oblique, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. Hernández is expected to be out six to eight weeks, but recovery timelines for oblique strains vary, depending on how long it takes the player to become symptom-free.
“You don’t really know what the timeline is, but it’s certainly warranting an IL stint,” Roberts said.
In a corresponding move, infielder Alex Freeland was called up from triple-A Oklahoma City.
After returning from a offseason surgery on his left elbow, the 34-year-old Hernández went four for four, including a home run and two RBIs.
However, Hernández said he tweaked his oblique during batting practice Monday, though he felt fine enough to play. The pain returned after his third-inning home run swing, and he was pulled in the top of the fifth Tuesday.
In his absence, the Dodgers will be splitting time between Freeland and Hyeseong Kim, with Freeland getting the majority of the reps. The Dodgers are also navigating third baseman Max Muncy’s return.
“Right now, he’s earned the opportunity to get some looks consistently, and it’s a credit to him to go back down and play well,” Roberts said of Freeland.
In 33 games with the Dodgers, Freeland collected 23 hits and 2 home runs, walking 11 times.
But his time in the minor leagues was productive, as he hit .265 with four home runs and 16 RBIs in 11 games with the Comets.
“It was great, that’s what we talked about doing is going down there and knocking the door down and taking that frustration out on those pitchers,” Roberts said. “And that’s what he did.”
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Freeland’s next step is to show he can make those improvements against Major League pitching. His first chance will be against the Colorado Rockies’ Tomoyuki Sugano as Freeland was inserted into the starting lineup at second base.
“You know you’re in a big room, and you’re trying to find your way, not make mistakes,” Roberts said of Freeland. “[He has to] give himself some grace and go out there and play hard and be a tough out. Go out there and play defense, and then good things happen.
With Freeland playing, Kim will take a backseat. In the 27-year-old’s 42 games with the Dodgers, Kim hasn’t reached his previous successes from last season. Currently, he is batting .254 with 29 hits and 11 RBIs.
When asked about how the Dodgers plan to balance also getting Kim some at-bats, Roberts replied: “Hyeseong’s gotten a lot of runway, certainly versus right-handed pitching, and I think that right now it’s skewing towards Alex getting more of the opportunities.”
The Trump administration has sought to pressure international officials who scrutinise reported abuses by Israeli forces.
Published On 28 May 202628 May 2026
The United States government has returned UN human rights expert Francesca Albanese to a list of sanctioned individuals after a judge had granted a temporary injunction against the designation.
On Wednesday, an update appeared on the US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) website, indicating that Albanese had been added to the agency’s list of Specially Designated Nationals (SDN), without offering further details.
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Albanese serves as the UN’s special rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territory, and her criticism of Israeli policies has made her a target under US President Donald Trump.
In July 2025, Secretary of State Marco Rubio issued a statement announcing sanctions against Albanese, accusing her of “lawfare” and “biased and malicious activities” against Israel.
He also cited her recommendation that the International Criminal Court (ICC) should issue arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Minister of Defence Yoav Gallant, which it ultimately did in November 2024.
The announcement was one in a series of actions the Trump administration has taken against critics it sees as hostile to US and Israeli interests.
The sanctions barred Albanese from entering the US and froze her assets in the country. They also prevented any US-based entity from doing business with her.
Albanese, an Italian citizen, has close ties to the US: Her daughter is a US citizen, and the family maintains a residence in the country.
In February, members of Albanese’s family filed a lawsuit on her behalf, stating that the sanctions had disrupted her life, even preventing her from accessing her bank account.
The lawsuit also accused the Trump administration of trying to intimidate those who speak out against Israeli rights abuses.
Albanese has been vocal in her assessment that Israel has committed genocide in Gaza, a view echoed by leading human rights experts around the world. More than 75,000 Palestinians have been killed in the territory since 2023, when Israel launched its genocidal war on the Strip.
Albanese is not alone in facing economic penalties for her work. Since taking office for a second term, Trump is estimated to have issued sanctions against nine ICC judges, as well as prosecutors for the court.
The judges and prosecutors were reportedly involved in probes into abuses by US and Israeli forces.
Legal experts have condemned the sanctions as an assault on international law and an effort to shield the US and its allies from scrutiny.
On May 13, US District Judge Richard Leon, an appointee of former President George W Bush, ruled in favour of the Albanese family’s lawsuit, granting a temporary injunction against the sanctions.
Leon found that the Trump administration had used the penalties to curtail Albanese’s constitutionally protected speech. He also stated that Albanese could not be blamed for the ICC’s actions.
“It is undisputed that her recommendations have no binding effect on the ICC’s actions,” Leon wrote. “They are nothing more than her opinion.”
As a result of the ruling, Albanese was removed from the sanctions list this month.
But the Trump administration appealed Leon’s order. It also said it would restore her to the sanctions list as soon as it was able, though it is unclear what prompted Wednesday’s change.
Australian Federal Police have not made any arrests but say inquiries are ongoing.
A group of 19 women and children with alleged links to ISIL (ISIS) has returned to Australia, with the government warning that anyone found to have engaged in criminal activity will be prosecuted.
The six women and 13 children arrived from a Syrian refugee camp on Tuesday, with one group landing in Sydney and the other in Melbourne.
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It is the second cohort of Australian women and children to return from Syria this month. Responding to criticism over their arrival, the Australian government said it had not assisted them in any capacity.
“These are people who have made the horrific choice to join a dangerous terrorist organisation and to place their children in an unspeakable situation,” Minister for Home Affairs Tony Burke said.
Australian women began travelling to Syria to marry members of ISIL in 2012, with some allegedly taken against their will.
At the height of its power in 2015, ISIL controlled territory across Syria and Iraq roughly equivalent in size to the United Kingdom.
Australian Federal Police did not arrest any members of the group upon their arrival but said that investigations were ongoing.
The group’s return has sparked anger in some sections of Australian society.
According to local media, a large police presence was deployed at Melbourne airport, where a scuffle reportedly broke out as the group of women and children was escorted out through a side entrance.
Australia is one of several Western countries that have shown reluctance to repatriate citizens who travelled to the Middle East to join ISIL about a decade ago.
Both France and the UK have expressed opposition to allowing former ISIL members to return.
In 2022, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child said that France’s failure to repatriate children born to French nationals in Syria violated their right to life and exposed them to inhumane treatment.
Meanwhile, the UK stripped British national Shamima Begum of her citizenship in 2019 on national security grounds.
In February, the Australian government issued a temporary exclusion order against a woman in Syria, preventing her from returning home.
Her child, who was not barred from returning, chose to stay with her.
The order prevents the woman from returning to Australia until February 2028, and her family is currently challenging the decision.
Afzal Ashraf, a visiting fellow at Loughborough University specialising in international relations and security, said the risk posed by people returning from countries including Syria needs to be viewed proportionately.
“There will be some security challenges, because people like this are likely to suffer from issues such as PTSD,” Ashraf told Al Jazeera.
“The fact of the matter is that there are security challenges in Australia and other countries, but statistically speaking, the return of these nationals doesn’t increase that risk very much, while the threat to life from terrorism is far lower than the threat posed by road accidents, for example.”
“That said, these threats can be reduced by providing comprehensive mental health support for returnees and ensuring they are reintegrated into society in a positive way, with follow-up programmes to address any dangerous ideas they may have adopted,” Ashraf said.
“It’s worth remembering that ISIL has killed far more Muslims than Westerners.”
Earlier this month, four women and 13 children arrived in Australia from Syria. Three of the women were arrested upon arrival.
FORMER Coronation Street star Helen Flanagan has shared an emotional post with fans saying she’s returned to a “special place” after moving out of her ex Scott Sinclair’s home.
Helen parted ways from her long-term fiancé in 2022 after 13 years together – and she’s been open about how it isn’t always plain sailing.
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Helen Flanagan posted a cryptic quote as she returned to her ‘special place’ after moving out of ex Scott Sinclair’s homeCredit: Instagram/hjgflanaganThe model looked as though she was having an amazing time with her kidsCredit: Instagram/hjgflanagan
The model shares three children with footballer Scott – Matilda, 10, and Delilah, seven, and five-year-old son Charlie.
She posted a slew of selfies with her little loves at the lake and clips of the peaceful mountainous views.
Helen captioned the post: “No weapon used against me shall prosper.
Helen shared a slew of selfies and snaps of the lakes in ScotlandCredit: Instagram/hjgflanaganStunning Helen was praised by her celeb pals for being the ‘best mummy’Credit: Instagram/hjgflanagan
“Love wins.
“I found this spot at Loch Lomond in lockdown and it’s just special to me, I don’t know why but I suppose we all take comfort in things and if it makes sense to us then that’s enough and every time I go to Scotland I go there.”
It seemed Helen was taking a swipe at Scott over the house drama as she recounted her trip away.
FORMER Little Mix star Jade Thirlwall has returned to social media after a break from the online world – and fans are certain she’s been cooking up new music in the studio.
The 33-year-old released her debut solo studio album, That’s Showbiz Baby, back in September 2025.
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Jade Thirlwall has returned to social media after taking a breakCredit: TikTok/@jadethirlwallFans are convinced the British singer is releasing new music just seven months after her debut solo studio albumCredit: Capitalbuzz/Instagram
It hit number three on the UK Album Chart and produced her popular singles Fantasy, FUFN, Plastic Box, and Unconditional.
Jade has now surprised fans by making a comeback on TikTok after five months of being away.
In the video, the British singer could be seen opening a door and twirling around a room to the song Keeping Your Head Up by Birdy.
The lyrics said: “Hold tight you’re slowly coming back to life, I’ll be keeping your head up, I’ll be keeping your head up.”
She then flicked her curly brunette locks over her shoulders as she walked towards the camera.
Jade wrote in text over the video: “Me returning to TikTok after a menty b social media break x”
Jade appeared to make light of the few days she spent feeling down in the dumpsCredit: TikTok/@jadethirlwallThe former Little Mix star’s album That’s Showbiz Baby hit number three on the UK Album ChartCredit: Getty
The star appeared to be making light of having a few days feeling down in the dumps.
Despite the singer telling fans she took a break due to mental health, they were convinced it was because new music is on the way – just seven months on from her last album.
She captioned the post: “We’re back! Did you miss us? Because we missed you!”
One fan wrote under the clip: “Soooo word on the street is your back in the studio.”
Another said: “I think it might be album 2 time.”
A third fan penned: “I’m dying can’t wait for the new single.”
While Jade took an extensive break from TikTok, she was only missing from Instagram for six days.
The award winning series will air another intense episode tonight that is not to be missed
999: Critical Condition is an award winning Channel 5 series(Image: Channel 5)
A fly on the wall medical series that is not for the faint of heart returns with another brutal episode.
Titled 999: Critical Condition, the medical series has returned for its sixth run, this time filmed in the Birmingham Queen Elizabeth Hospital.
Airing on Channel 5, the show follows patients and staff at a major trauma hospital as cameras are given unprecedent access to film what most people do not see.
Viewers witness an intense and unfiltered look at what doctors and nurses do to save lives. Having returned to screens last week, tonight (May 19), Channel 5 will air yet another brutal instalment at 9pm.
Tonight’s episode (Tuesday, May 19) will take viewers into another high stakes environment as one farmer is airlifted to hospital after crashing head first into a tree. Elsewhere, one woman is rushed to hospital with life threatening stab wounds as medical teams fight to save lives.
A Channel 5 synopsis reads: “A farmer faces potentially life-changing injuries after an accident shatters his skull.”
999: Critical Condition was previously filmed in Stoke for the first five instalments as it has become a firm favourite for those who enjoy medical TV programmes, especially 24 Hours in Police Custody.
The Channel 5 show does not shy away from the realities faced by staff in the hospital and the life saving work they do for patients.
Spanning across one hour, new episodes will be released weekly, with instalments then being made available to stream online.
Previously, one viewer praised: “Watching 999: Critical Condition. Very fascinating.” Another said: “#999CriticalCondition about to start on C5, this is a brilliant TV show.”
A third added: “Watching last night’s #999CriticalCondition, not for the squeemish (sic) but the operation to rebuild the guys head & face after his quad bike crash is fascinating, proper ‘face off’ shit to reveal his damaged skull. The 3d printed skull showing the extent of his fractures was amazing.”
A fourth echoed: “Watching #999CriticalCondition and this guy has landed on his face and his eyeball is hanging out of the socket. HIS ENTIRE EYEBALL. I’ve never been squeamish with programs like this, but I actually felt sick.”
In a previous article, the Guardian confirmed it was a “hardcore” documentary series in which every case “will stick with you”.
999: Critical Condition airs tonight at 9pm on Channel 5.
Welcome back to the Times of Troy newsletter, where USC and Notre Dame are back at the bargaining table — as you first read in this space last Monday — and also back to bickering about who’s to blame for blowing up their century-old rivalry in the first place. One step closer to order being restored!
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I have less faith in the rest of college football and its leadership, which now appears to be mobilizing around a playoff format that’s almost universally disliked by actual consumers of college football. The 24-team playoff is a great deal for coaches, who want to be able to point to as many playoff berths as possible for job security. It’s probably a good deal for athletic directors, digging through couch cushions for extra NIL dollars. And for the TV networks, it’s especially juicy. Twenty four teams means more than double the number of games, and each of those games is pulling in an average of between 10 million and 20 million viewers. That’s a lot of eyeballs and a lot of advertising dollars. (For everyone but ESPN, which currently has exclusive rights up to 14 teams.)
It’s also a good deal for Notre Dame, whose athletic director Pete Bevacqua came out this week in support of the 24-team playoff in an interview with the Athletic. The Irish would essentially assure themselves of a bid in most years, which, per Bevacqua, would make it easier to clear the way for USC and Notre Dame to play again.
Big Ten commissioner Tony Pettiti has been leading the charge on the 24-team playoff. So while USC athletic director Jennifer Cohen hasn’t said anything about her preference, it would be a surprise to hear her publicly oppose what the rest of the conference has been pushing.
But why do we have to push anywhere? Why do we have to keep fixing the playoff? And if you must keep tinkering with college football, well, there are plenty of ways to fix it that won’t water down the product and devalue the regular season the way playoff expansion does. Plus, who’s to say that after two seasons at 24 teams, the conference commissioners don’t decide they want to expand again? To 28 teams? To 36 teams?
The 12-team playoff already makes a lot of money. But like everything now, it has to make the mostpossible money or be as big as possible. I actually long for the days when college football’s leaders did whatever they could to keep the game from changing.
Now it’s the only thing that feels inevitable these days around college football.
Back to school
Marqise Lee at his graduation ceremony.
(USC)
Marqise Lee stepped to the lectern Friday, in full cap and gown, looked out over a full crowd at Galen Center, and cleared his throat. For so many reasons, the former USC wideout still couldn’t quite believe he was standing there.
Growing up, no part of Lee thought that college would even be available to him. He was brought up in the most difficult of circumstances in Inglewood. Separated at a young age from his sister and his mother, who was deaf. Thrust alone into the foster care system. He ended up living in a motel for three years.
When he did make it to USC, class hadn’t been a priority. Football was his focus from the start, and it would ultimately lead him to the NFL, where he’d never really taken the idea of returning to school that seriously. A counselor would try to convince him on a few occasions and even got him onto campus to set up a schedule.
“But it just never happened,” Lee told me.
Then, his football career ended, and his daughters started getting older. They never got to see him play football. He started thinking about what it would mean to show them what he could accomplish. So Lee decided to go back.
It wasn’t easy at first. He was taking five classes, a full course load. He felt uncomfortable being the oldest student in the class.
“When I first sat in there,” he said, ”I was like, I really don’t need to come back.”
His statistics class, especially, was daunting. He looked for any reason to leave. Then, he thought of his daughters.
“To go back to school and tell my daughters, yeah, I went back, but I wasn’t successful — and expect them to succeed?” Lee said. “Yeah, I can’t.”
But before long, Lee found that he actually liked his classes now. He enjoyed the group projects where he used to only do the bare minimum.
After sloughing off his final semester the first time around at USC, Lee needed at least three B’s and two A’s. No easy feat at USC.
Lee ended up getting A’s across the board. At the end of the semester, the school asked him to be the speaker at its student athlete commencement. Which is what led Lee to that stage, where he delivered a hell of a speech Friday.
“It was just like, this is something that you never ever dreamed about,” Lee said. “You never dreamed about graduating from college. So like to get that done was amazing. And then, I have an opportunity to sit up here and say to these kids and get them prepared for their future, by at least letting them understand where I come from and how hard it is. So they know that we actually can fight through anything that comes our way.”
Next up for Lee?
“I’m about to try and go get my master’s degree after this,” he said.
Cofie’s plans changing?
Jacob Cofie reacts after a layup and a foul during a win over Washington State last season.
(Steve Galluzzo / For The Times)
A month ago, USC basketball announced that Jacob Cofie, one of its starters from last season, planned to return next season. It was a huge coup for Eric Musselman, who had a grand total of two returning players in two seasons as USC’s coach.
Cofie decided to still take part in the G League scouting combine. But in the process, he became one of five players who earned invites to the NBA scouting combine last weekend.
While in Chicago, Cofie was asked if he’d considered keeping his name in the draft. And he didn’t say no. “I’m leaving that up to my agent right now,” he said.
But even with the combine invite, I don’t expect that Cofie could climb any higher than the second round of this NBA draft. And depending on where he would be drafted, if he’s drafted at all, he might actually stand to make more at USC in revenue sharing dollars and NIL.
Cofie has nine days, technically, to make a decision. But I expect we’ll hear sooner than that on his future, and I’d be shocked to hear he’ll be spending next season anywhere but USC.
—USC baseball locked up the fourth seed in the Big Ten tournament. But what about hosting a regional? The Trojans managed to take one of three against Oregon to at least lock up a bye until Friday in the Big Ten tournament. But right now, USC is likely on the outside looking in at hosting its first NCAA regional since 2002. All that could change with a run in the Big Ten tournament. Doing so, though, probably means pulling off an upset of No. 1 UCLA. If USC wins its first tournament matchup against whomever emerges out of Illinois, Iowa, Michigan State and Purdue, then the Bruins will almost certainly be on tap. Win that game, and their hosting fate could change fast.
—Pete Carroll is coming back to teach “The Game of Life” at USC. The former USC coach delivered the commencement address for the Marshall School of Business last Friday, and in the process, announced that he’ll be making his triumphant return as Professor Pete next school year. A spot in Carroll’s class was one of the most coveted on campus in his first go-round — good luck getting off that waitlist the second time!
—Honor Fa’alave Johnson, USC’s top commit in 2027, reaffirmed his plans to sign with USC. That was after a group of USC coaches flew down to the safety’s hometown of San Diego via helicopter. Not a bad way to show you mean business — especially as Texas was doing its best to flip Fa’alave Johnson.
—Some Big Ten championship results from the weekend: The USC men finished fourth in the Big Ten track and field championships, while the USC women finished third. Meanwhile, women’s rowing placed sixth at their Big Ten championships.
What I’m Reading This Week
Patrick Radden Keefe writes for the New Yorker.
(Manuel Balce Ceneta / Associated Press)
It’s a quiet time for new TV, so I took the radical step of picking up a new book this week. (Crazy, I know.) That said, I’m always game for reading something new from New Yorker staff writer Patrick Radden Keefe, who, for my money, is one of our greatest living nonfiction writers. His latest book, “London Falling” follows an American family investigating the death of their 19-year-old son, who they find was living a secret life within London’s criminal underworld mysteriously before he jumped mysteriously from a building into the Thames River in 2019.
Keefe is a tremendous reporter and writer, capable of turning a nonfiction narrative into a roller coaster, page-turning story that reads like a crime novel. This book, like “Say Nothing” and “Empire of Pain” before it, is one I won’t forget any time soon.
Scheduling note
I said I’d be off this week, however the Lee graduation was so nice that waiting to report on it seemed wrong. But the newsletter will be on hiatus the next two weeks.
That concludes today’s newsletter. If you have any feedback, ideas for improvement or things you’d like to see, email me at ryan.kartje@latimes.com, and follow me on X at @Ryan_Kartje. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.
WASHINGTON — President Trump on Monday moved to withdraw his $10 billion lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service over the leak of his tax returns after reports that his administration was poised to create a fund to compensate some of his allies.
The disclosure was made in a filing in federal court in Florida, where the lawsuit was filed last year.
ABC News first reported last week that Trump was prepared to drop his lawsuit as part of a deal that would create a $1.7 billion fund to pay allies of the president who believe they were wrongly investigated and prosecuted.
The court filing did not mention terms of any potential deal.
News that the Trump administration was contemplating a fund to pay Trump allies drew an immediate backlash from Democrats, including Rep. Jamie Raskin, who called the idea “unconstitutional.”
“This, of course, is a political grievance fund that Donald Trump can use to pay off his friends,” Raskin, the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, said in an interview Sunday on ABC’s “This Week.”
“If these people have a valid cause of action, they should bring it to the court like every other American does, and use the system of due process, and proving things by clear and convincing evidence, or a preponderance of evidence, go and prove it. But the idea that Donald Trump can just pass it out like a pardon is absurd,” he added.
It was not immediately clear who precisely will stand to benefit from the fund but its creation reflects Trump’s long-running claims that the Biden administration Justice Department was weaponized against him.
He has cited as proof the since-dismissed criminal charges he faced between his first and second terms of conspiring to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election he lost and of retaining classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. Several aides of his were also prosecuted, as were hundreds of Trump supporters who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
Merrick Garland, who served as attorney general during the Biden administration, has repeatedly denied allegations of politicization and has said his decisions followed facts, the evidence and the law. His Justice Department also investigated Biden for his handling of classified information and brought separate tax and gun prosecutions against Biden’s son Hunter.
Nonetheless, Trump’s current Justice Department has actively pursued the president’s retribution campaign and grievances, bringing criminal charges against some of his perceived adversaries and initiating a wide-ranging investigation that aims to establish a years-long conspiracy between law enforcement and intelligence officials to destroy Trump’s political prospects and keep him power.
No charges have been brought in that investigation and it is not clear that any ever will be.
Trump filed a lawsuit earlier this year in a Florida federal court, alleging that a previous leak of his and the Trump Organization’s confidential tax records caused “reputational and financial harm, public embarrassment, unfairly tarnished their business reputations, portrayed them in a false light, and negatively affected President Trump, and the other Plaintiffs’ public standing.”
The president’s sons, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, are also named plaintiffs in the suit.
Hussein, Tucker and Richer write for the Associated Press.
BBC One’s crime comedy Death Valley is back for a hotly anticipated second series, and a whole lot of new ‘whodunnits’ that need to be solved
Angie Quinn Screen Time Reporter
22:39, 17 May 2026
Death Valley: Official trailer
Death Valley has made its eagerly awaited return for a second series.
BAFTA-winning performer Timothy Spall stars alongside Gwyneth Keyworth in the comedic murder-mystery programme, portraying the improbable pairing of actor John Chapel, formerly her hero as TV detective Caesar, and determined detective Janie Mallowan.
The series maintained a robust average of 4.6 million viewers over 28 days, and amongst Welsh audiences, Death Valley claimed the top comedy spot across all channels and platforms throughout 2025.
Given the programme’s triumph, it came as little shock when plans for a second series were swiftly revealed, with Death Valley series two now scheduled to debut on Sunday, 17 May at 8:15pm on BBC One. Audiences can also stream the complete box set on iPlayer from the same date, reports the Express.
The second series resumes several months following the conclusion of series one. Janie has secured promotion to Detective Inspector and finds herself more overwhelmed than ever, with administrative duties mounting faster than she can manage them.
Complicating matters further, she’s been avoiding John since discovering he’s been romantically involved with her mum, Yvonne (Melanie Walters), and the pair are compelled to make amends when DCI Barry Clarke (Steffan Rhodri) enlists John’s assistance to crack a murder investigation.
They must set aside their complicated personal relationships when tasked with examining a suspicious death within a community service group, following the fatal plunge of one of its members from atop a crumbling castle.
The latest series of Death Valley also sees John hesitantly return to the acting world, appearing on the set of a grand Welsh fantasy television production, though another killing soon demands attention.
Additional murders occur in a seaside fishing community, at an eco-friendly commune, and within a rugby club, as John and Janie persist in delivering justice throughout the mid-Wales area.
Throughout the series, there’s also an impressive roster of guest appearances, featuring Outlander’s Mark Lewis Jones, Game of Thrones legend Owen Teale, and Killing Eve’s Alexandra Roach.
Jane Horrocks (Here We Go, Chicken Run) also appears in the programme alongside Hammed Animashaun (Black Ops, SNL UK), Alexandra Roach (Killing Eve, Bodies), Roisin Conaty (After Life, Last one Laughing), Jim Howick (Ghosts, Here we Go), Asim Chaudhry (People Just Do Nothing), Lynn Hunter (Pushers & End of the Fxx World), Rhiannon Clements (Small Prophets, Pushers), Mike Bubbins (Mammoth) and Liz Carr (Silent Witness, Good Omens).
Death Valley series 2 launches on Sunday, 17 May at 8:15pm on BBC One and iPlayer.
Staying true to the spirit of the original show, audiences will see three contestants and their pros battle it out in three rounds of trick shots to reach the dramatic finale.
14:38, 12 May 2026Updated 14:49, 12 May 2026
Jim Davidson and John Virgo were an unlikely combination(Image: BBC)
The BBC has announced the return of iconic snooker show Big Break.
The show originally ran from 1991 to 2002 and was hosted by Jim Davison with the late John Virgo as referee. But the new look show will see it moved from BBC1 to BBC2 and now co-hosted by Paddy McGuinness and Stephen Hendry. They will be joined in the studio by professional snooker players, from across the globe, straight off the competition circuit, in a bid to win their contestants the cash prize.
New co-host Paddy McGuinness said: “I am absolutely delighted to be a part of Big Break. It is one of those shows everyone knows and loves so to be hosting it alongside legend Stephen Hendry will be something special. Bring it on!”
The show originally aired on Saturday nights but the new version will air on BBC2 in daytime. The hosts will be joined in the studio by professional snooker players straight off the competition circuit in a bid to win their contestants the cash prize.
Stephen Hendry, who will co-host and also show off some trick shots and skills on the show, said: “Big Break was a unique mix of trick shots and great entertainment and I can’t wait to be back at the table and bringing this incredible show to a whole new audience and who knows, we might inspire the next generation of snooker players to get into the sport.”
Fans of snooker have long been calling for the return of Big Break, although whether they will like the new format and hosts remains to be seen. Paddy McGuinness was also previously the host of a revamped Question of Sport quiz which failed to win over viewers.
Rob Unsworth, Head of BBC Daytime and Early Peak Commissioning said: “Snooker fans and pros alike have been calling for Big Break’s return, so we’re excited to confirm they’ll get their wish – and can even apply to take part.
“This revamp will showcase some of the game’s best known and up-and-coming faces, as well as tapping into the deep well of snooker fandom online and already on the BBC. The recent World Championships pulled in 120million viewing hours, so pairing upcoming live coverage with the new Big Break will mean audiences can come together with the whole family to enjoy more of what they want.”
Big Break will return in the form of 20 episodes lasting 30 minutes each. Further details on how and when to watch Big Break will be announced soon.
The BBC promised a “brand-new look and feel to Big Break” with the new series, saying audiences will now be “put on the table, behind the ball and into frame, getting up close and personal with the professionals”.
They also insisted they are staying true to the spirit of the original show, so audiences will see three contestants and their pros battle it out in three rounds of trick shots to reach the dramatic finale. Filming begins shortly.
PROFESSOR Green has revealed his bowel hernia has returned after nine years with a painful-looking picture.
In snaps shared to Instagram, the rapper’s bowel can be seen “poking out” of his skin underneath a previous surgical scar.
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Professor Green has revealed his hernia has returned after nine yearsCredit: InstagramThe health issue comes after a number of benign tumours were found in Green’s bodyCredit: Instagram
Celebs Go Dating star Green — real name Stephen Manderson — nicknamed the hernia Henry and documented the latest in a long line of health issues, ending with a resigned: “Here we go again.”
The 42-year-old wrote: “Life’s been a lot lately… I’ve learned I’m not totally free from historic patterns, and in almost the same breath learned I catch things well before I ever did previously, and am (on good days) able to observe my thoughts spiralling without spiralling with them.
“This hernia recurrence happened yesterday and I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t a weight I could do without given everything else health wise that’s going on… out of my control though.”
Green went on to say that it’s up to him to take responsibility of the situation and embrace the latest setback.
Green is touring with pal ExampleCredit: AlamyHe’s pushed through his issues with a smile despite the physical impactsCredit: Splash
Turning to his music, and his supporting slot on pal Example’s UK tour, as an outlet for frustration, he said: “I’m playing the next single tonight, tomorrow, all through the Example tour and at every show till it drops.”
Following his first hernia removal in 2017, Green had a very rare allergic reaction — only the second person in the world at the time — to the mesh used to fix the issue.
It led to series issues including a a partially collapsed lung, distension and pneumonia.
Just last week Green revealed benign tumours had been found behind his eye and on his spine as part of a condition called schwannomatosis — a rare disorder in which tumours form on nerves around the body.
It followed surgery to remove four more tumours from his head and neck that had been causing him pain.
Among his four new growths is one the size of lemon around his S2 nerve, which is responsible for muscle movement in the lower body.
However, it wasn’t the physical symptoms he found to be the worst thing, rather than the mental torture of not knowing whether or not they were malignant, revealing he suffered trauma fretting over the ‘worst case scenario’.
The star was diagnosed with ADHD and autism when he was 40 and is also a mental health advocate.
Among his other health issues are lifelong struggles with his gut, which required a pyloromyotomy — the cutting away of pyloric muscle to aid the passing of food through the body — at six years old and he later went on to suffer from severe irritable bowel syndrome.
He also has the genetic clotting disorder haemophila B.
It’s hard to believe, as Matt Damon noted in his monologue in this week’s “Saturday Night Live,” that the actor of this summer’s “The Odyssey” has only guest hosted three times during his lengthy career. (In case you’re wondering, his frequent writing and acting partner Ben Affleck has hosted five times.)
That’s a shame because Damon checks all the boxes for what an A-list actor should do when they host the show: be super present, take every opportunity to do the silliest sketches without seeming uncomfortable, and bring at least some of their acting chops to bear to give otherwise lightweight sketches a little extra gravitas or emotion.
Damon did all that and helped start the show off with an extra jolt of energy by returning as Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh in the cold open, along with last week’s ringer, Aziz Ansari as FBI Director Kash Patel.
Not every sketch worked, like an early Godzilla parody set in a command center that was simply a series of increasingly anticipated spit takes on poor Mikey Day. Things improved when Damon played himself in a pre-taped sketch about a movie made just for moms ahead of Mother’s Day; mom’s fantasy? No conflict among the kids and a blissful marriage to Matt Damon.
Damon also played one of a trio of middle-aged men (including Marcello Hernández and Kenan Thompson) constantly getting beat up by “tough guys” who are sometimes just children. He also played a frustrated dad in a strange cat litter commercial, a substitute teacher trying to get a classroom of students to dance (unsuccessfully) and, memorably, an auctioneer in a fight with his auctioneer wife (Sarah Sherman). In these sketches in particular, Damon’s acting skills helped elevate the characters he played, grounding them in sadness or frustration. It definitely helped.
The “Odyssey” might turn out to be the summer’s biggest movie hit. If that’s the case, let’s hope Matt Damon isn’t kept from hosting “SNL” for so long after this week’s solid job.
At Martin’s Tavern in Washington, D.C., Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth (Colin Jost) returned yet again to shout-bark at those around him, brag about the Iran War he claims he started and, of course, talk about drinking alcohol. But this time, he was joined by his apparent drinking buddy Kavanaugh, who held a gavel and immediately ordered a “six-three decision” (six beers, three shots of Jameson whiskey). Glowing in their victories, Hegseth bellowed, “Can you believe I just started a war?” Kavanaugh replied, “Can you believe I ended abortion? Your body, my choice!” Kavanaugh went on to show off what at first looked like a dinosaur-shaped district map for Tennessee before revealing it’s his field sobriety test, when he was asked to draw a circle. Kavanaugh bemoaned the male loneliness crisis just before they were joined by Patel, who cried, “Does this bar take Kaaaaash?” Patel showed off the bourbon that bears his name. (“Somehow this is a real thing that I, the FBI director, have made. This is real!”) Kavanaugh revealed a secret: that the court is going to let Trump do a third term. “Trump found the original Constitution and on the end, he wrote, ‘Psych!’ ” The three ended the sketch by singing Chumbawamba’s “Tubthumbing” with its callouts of their drink orders.
Damon previewed his upcoming film, even though he had to mention several times that “The Odyssey” won’t be out for another nine weeks. He also had to break the news that the lovely “SNL” tradition of bringing on moms of cast members wouldn’t be happening this year due to Spirit Airlines shutting down. It turns out, after an audience member (“SNL” writer Jack Bensinger) asks, that only Hernández’s mom was able to make it. Damon then recorded a video message to moms out there for anyone who didn’t get a gift for them. “You deserve a night out… nine weekends from now,” he said, suggesting the movie would make a great date night.
Best sketch of the night: Do I hear best sketch of the night? Sold!
A sketch as gimmicky as this one — in which the premise is two auctioneers (Damon and Sherman) are having a marriage-ending fight — only works if the performers are up to the task, and luckily both Damon and Sherman navigated the super-fast dialogue expertly and without looking like they were eyeing cue cards the entire time. The two went back and forth, auctioneering a discussion about weight, infidelity, drinking, their sex life and, eventually, terms of their divorce in front of their four young sons (who, adorably, hold up little numbered signs. Yes, they were played by adult cast members.). Even for “SNL” and for the last-sketch-of-the-night slot, it was a bold sketch for live TV and Damon and Sherman expertly walked the tightrope on this one.
Also good: Your mom will only make it through 23 minutes of this
“SNL” is no stranger to spiky sketch comedy takes on motherhood: remember “Mom Jeans?” For this year’s Mother’s Day take, it presented “Mom: The Movie,” a film devoid of conflict or dramatic tension because “Moms have enough stress. Why not let them feel good for a day?” Ashley Padilla plays the mom in the film, enjoying argument-free time with her kids (Jeremy Culhane, Tommy Brennan and Veronika Slowikowska), who only deliver good news. She’s married to Matt Damon, making her Rhonda Damon, and they met when he noticed her giant turquoise necklace after a movie screening. The film is streaming where moms are expected to find it: on HomeGoods Plus.
‘Weekend Update’ winner: This ‘Update’ segment is bananas — the round kind
This week’s “Update” featured three guest segments. Hernández and Day played kamikaze dolphins who work for the government, giving them a sense of porpoise (their joke, not mine). Jane Wickline expressed her anger at people caring that she’s always late in a funny musical rant. But Culhane’s return as Tucker Carlson continued a dead-on impersonation that covered several topics, including the Met Gala’s wild outfits, the new Michael Jackson biopic, and why eating round bananas is less gay than eating traditionally shaped ones. Culhane’s impression is a thing of beauty, and this time it leaned harder into Carlson’s tendency to express things from a very white point of view. In describing ASAP Rocky’s pink robe from the Met Gala, he said the performer was, “Wearing my least favorite color … African-American.”
HOLIDAYMAKERS planning a trip to Europe this summer will now be able to tick two cities off their list in one train journey
Uncertainties surrounding the jet fuel crisis mean its the perfect time to take advantage of Europe’s train network.
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Travellers can now go from Prague to the Danish capital, Copenhagen, by trainCredit: AlamyThe launch of the new train line aims to encourage tourism despite the jet fuel shortagesCredit: Getty
A new train line between Prague and Copenhagen has officially opened to passengers, creating a direct link between two of Europe’s most popular cities.
Launched on May 1, travellers can commute between these unique locations for as little as £53 per ticket.
Starting from Prague’s main train station, Hlavní Nádraží, the train link will also stop at German stations, including Dresden and Berlin.
Two services will now run on a daily basis, with one making a return journey from Hamburg to Prague, and the other travelling to Copenhagen.
Starting in Prague, passengers can also get to multiple German cities, including BerlinCredit: AlamyThe overall journey will take over 13 hours between Prague and CopenhagenCredit: .ceskedrahy.cz
For those wanting to commit to the ultimate European journey, the service will begin in Prague at 6.30am, then arrive in Copenhagen for 7.38pm.
This 13-hour journey is considerably longer than flying between destinations, which takes just over an hour.
Between the Danish and Czech capitals, travellers will also be able to stop off in Dresden, Berlin and Hamburg.
For those exclusively wanting to travel from Prague to Germany, the total journey to Hamburg takes just over six hours.
Passengers will be travelling on Czech Railways (ČD), with their premium ComfortJet trains including onboard restaurants, WiFi, bike storage and a children’s cinema.
Onboard entertainment, air conditioning and quiet carriages will also be available.
Those wishing to travel will also be able to book on an extra summer service, departing from Prague at 4.30pm and travelling to Copenhagen.
The new Prague to Copenhagen route is one of ten new routes supported by the European Commission to improve cross-border rail travel.
Budding travellers can expect a Munich-Milan-Rome connected journey as soon as December 2026.
“Curly” Williams returned to his old high school campus last week for the first time in 76 years, but did so under his given name — the same name emblazoned on North Hollywood High’s newest attraction: the John Williams Performing Arts Center.
Williams, 94, attended the ribbon-cutting ceremony last Wednesday, which commenced with the composer’s rousing “Raiders March” played by the school’s marching band and accompanied by its blue-clad cheerleaders.
For the record:
9:37 a.m. May 4, 2026A previous version of this article said Michael Stebbins designed the John Williams Performing Arts Center. The center was designed by CO Architects. Stebbins served as project manager
“I think you played that better than we could have,” Williams said, speaking from a wheelchair under the sign of his namesake venue in front of other accomplished alumni and friends, including producer Kathleen Kennedy. “That’s a hard piece.”
The ambitious construction project, initiated in 2015 and designed by CO Architects occupies 35,000 square feet and seats 800. Michael Stebbins, project manager for the BroadStage in Santa Monica, served as project manager. The center is equipped with state-of-the-art amenities to host student performances and school assemblies, but also to train the next generation of theater technicians. Besides an enormous stage, blue velvet curtains, a mixing console and safe catwalks, the building also features new classrooms and rehearsal spaces.
Students, faculty and guests stand for the national anthem before a concert inside the new John Williams Performing Arts Center, named for one of North Hollywood High’s most famous alumni.
(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
A 75-foot hand-painted mural in the lobby, still in the works by artist Ian Robertson-Salt, is inspired by Williams’ formidable filmography, which serves “as a daily reminder to every student who walks these halls that greatness can begin right here,” remarked Andrés Chait, acting superintendent of Los Angeles Unified School District.
Due to health complications, Williams has made few public appearances in the last two years. He last conducted a concert in February 2024 — and he has also consistently turned down requests to name buildings after him, including at his beloved Tanglewood in Massachusetts, although the Hollywood Bowl did recently name its stage for Williams. It’s a testament to his affection for his time at North Hollywood High, and his regard for the next generation of students, that he not only blessed this dedication but showed up and spoke to a gathered crowd of hundreds.
“I’m sort of silly happy to be here,” he said, calling the dedication “a singular honor in my life.”
Other showbiz alumni on hand included “Beauty and the Beast” producer Don Hahn (class of ’73), “Independence Day” writer-producer Dean Devlin (’80), and Rob Friedman (’81), CEO of Ascendant Entertainment. Partly due to its proximity to the entertainment industry, North Hollywood High has produced a host of famous artists over the decades, including the late Michael Tilson Thomas, who attended in the early 1960s.
John Williams smiles while applauding a performance by the North Hollywood High School band at the dedication ceremony of the John Williams Performing Arts Center on campus.
(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
“At some point you have to stop calling that a coincidence,” said Kennedy, a longtime collaborator of Williams who gave brief remarks before handing him the microphone. “Something happened here, and something can happen again.”
Williams moved to North Hollywood with his family in 1947, having grown up in Queens. He transferred to North Hollywood High as a 15-year-old sophomore, and joined the band and orchestra as a jazz-loving trombonist. His classmates included Susan Sontag (“I remember her teaching a class in civics, when the teacher would sit down and listen to her,” he told me in 2023) and many future actors, including Barbara Ruick, who played Carrie Pipperidge in “Carousel.” But his best friends were all music-inclined guys whose dads, like his, were famous musicians.
A poster board featured yearbook photos of John Williams, left, performing with the North Hollywood High School Band, class of 1950, in the lobby of the new John Williams Performing Arts Center on the North Hollywood High School campus.
(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
Williams embraced the nickname “Curly,” given to him by a fellow student in response to his curly red hair, and quickly created his own jazz band with classmates. Ruick sang with them at school events and dances, and they became the house band at a new teens-only venue in Van Nuys called the Dri-Nite Club. Broadcast on local radio, they caught the attention of Time magazine, which ran a story on “Curly’s” band in October 1949.
A newspaper story about John Williams’ high school band from the Los Angeles Unified School District’s archives.
(Los Angeles Unified School District)
Williams has said he fondly remembers his civics and French classes at North Hollywood High, but his time and passion were almost exclusively devoted to music. He rigorously practiced the piano at home, studying with a local concert pianist and MGM arranger named Robert Van Eps; on Wednesday nights he played in jam sessions with his father (Johnny Sr., a drummer) and the Columbia Pictures orchestra. He bopped around clubs in L.A. listening to jazz greats like Oscar Peterson (whose style influenced Williams’ recent piano concerto), and started making a name of his own as a wunderkind performer and arranger.
Long before he scored “Star Wars” or “Harry Potter,” Williams did his earliest arranging and orchestrating for theater productions at North Hollywood High. The impact of his time at North Hollywood High cannot be overstated.
John Williams featured with members of the class of 1950 in the North Hollywood High School Yearbook.
(Los Angeles Unified School District)
During his remarks about the performing arts center on Wednesday, Williams said he felt particularly overwhelmed because the school was “formative in my thinking and my professional work … This is a great, magical place, North Hollywood.”
Williams eventually married Ruick, his high school sweetheart and mother of his three children. Ruick was instrumental in making many of Williams’ earliest career connections. She died from a brain aneurysm in 1974, at the age of 41, just one year before Williams’ career catapulted with “Jaws.” The couple’s youngest son, Joseph, lead singer of Toto, stood proudly behind Williams during the theater’s dedication.
The John Williams Performing Arts Center (JWPAC) is the crescendo of a $319.5 million modernization project at North Hollywood High, which also includes modern classrooms and athletic facilities. It’s a reflection of the diverse public school’s commitment to the arts; students here can play in the orchestra, marching band or modern band, and study drama or modern dance.
“As I think about what else I might say to all of you younger people, students here,” Williams said at his homecoming Wednesday, “two words about this beautiful building: simply use it. Make sure you all use the place.”
Tim Greiving is the author of “John Williams: A Composer’s Life.”
EastEnders spoilers confirm big moments next week on the BBC soap including the return of a vile villain, Bea Pollard’s sinister next plan and target and some emotional scenes
It’s another drama-filled week on EastEnders next week(Image: CREDIT LINE:BBC/Jack Barnes/Kieron McCarron)
It’s another drama-filled week on EastEnders next week, as new spoilers tease twists, discoveries and revenge.
Nicola and George return home from hospital to a surprise welcome home party for the baby. Overwhelmed Nicola orders everyone to leave but she and Gina later share a heart-to-heart.
Soon the peace is shattered when George’s estranged father Eddie reveals he’s dying. Only Nicola knows this and she keeps it from George, but when he figures it all out he sees his dad, and is shocked by his fragility.
Soon, George faces questions from his family and heads to see Eddie one final time, while Nicola has a warning for Eddie. Phil attempts to adjust to life after Nigel’s death, but is rejected by Grant who is sad about his fractured relationship with Mark.
Julie prepares to head to Nigel’s care home to collect his belongings, where she is soon joined by Sam and Phil for support. Julie finds a letter from Nigel, but she can’t bring herself to read it.
Ian is consumed by his councillor campaign but is upset to discover that the majority of supporters are voting for Elaine. Ian turns to bribery, but Bea has other ideas when she starts a smear campaign against Elaine.
Ian and Elaine anxiously prepare for the Walford debate, but things go awry when Oscar swaps Ian’s speech, but Elaine steps in to sway his nerves. But a moment leaves Ian fuming, and he agrees to let Bea post the video about Elaine.
He regrets this but the damage is done. Also next week, a discovery saddens Kat and Alfie, Sam supports Denise, and Harry agrees to lend Gina some money landing them in trouble with Nicola.
Finally, Grant offers support to Linda amid her drama with Johnny, who is having money problems, while Linda is jealous of Max and Cindy. It’s soon clear Max is thinking about Linda, and he’s not happy to find out she’s slept with someone.
EastEnders isn’t the only soap with drama next week, as Hollyoaks spoilers tease there’s plenty in the village too. Vicky wakes up from her coma, and Charlie and Frankie plead with her to echo their lies about the crash.
Later, Vicky lets slip to Misbah that it was Gemma who has been prescribing her the skinny jabs. Knowing time isn’t on her side, Diane tells Tony they need to tell Eva, Sinead and Finn the truth.
Ro is worried it’s too much for his mum, while he’s also left torn when he finds out Ste cheated on Rex with James. Cleo is determined to get proof that Sienna has been swapping her psychosis medicine for multi-vitamins.
After a confrontation, Cleo wakes to find Sienna watching her, wanting to know if she still loves her. Cleo claims there’s a way back for them as long as she does what’s right. Soon, Mercedes and Warren make a shocking discovery.
April 25 (UPI) — President Donald Trump returned to the White House after a shooting incident at the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner in Washington, D.C.
There was a shooting incident near the main security screening area at the Washington Hilton, with one person in custody as law enforcement assesses the situation, Anthony Guglielmi, chief of communications for the U.S. Secret Service, said in a statement.
All protectees, Guglielmi said, are safe, including the president, first lady and members of the Cabinet who were at the dinner.
Trump said in a post on Truth Social that he wanted to return to the dinner and for the “SHOW TO GO ON,” but security insisted that they leave the hotel and return to the White House.
“Law Enforcement has requested that we leave the premises, consistent with protocol, which we will do immediately,” Trump posted about an hour after the incident.
“The First Lady, plus the Vice President, and all Cabinet members, are in perfect condition,” Trump posted. “I have spoken with all the representatives in charge of the event, and we will be rescheduling within 30 days.”
An announcement in the ballroom mirrored Trump’s announcement about rescheduling the dinner for next month.
The FBI confirmed that the suspect is in custody in a statement.
The suspect has been taken to the hospital, as has a Secret Service agent who was injured, The Washington Post reported.
Trump also said he would give an update from the press briefing room at the White House later this evening.
Dinner was being served at the annual gathering of the Washington press organization when shots could be heard from the ballroom before Trump was evacuated by security, according to video of the event.
President Trump, Melania Trump and other members of the administration on the dais and in the ballroom were evacuated within minutes of shots being heard over C-SPAN and other networks broadcasts.
As the officials were cleared from the room, Secret Service agents swarmed it and ordered other guests to stay in their seats.
Most of the other guests remained in the ballroom after organizers made an announcement that the show would continue shortly.
There was also speculation whether Trump would return to the dinner after the announcement the show would continue and the Presidential Seal was not immediately removed from the podium on the dais.
C-SPAN reported that waiters started to clear the salad portion of dinner as guests started to open wine while waiting for more information about the situation before the announcement that the dinner is going to be rescheduled.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
