KEMPTON PARK is still at risk of being closed and knocked down for housing.
The Jockey Club announced in January 2017 they were selling off the racecourse to developers in a bid to raise £100 million.
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Kempton Park has been at risk of redevelopment since 2017Credit: PA
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Builders Redrow have exclusive rights to buy the land at KemptonCredit: Dan Charity
But the track was given a reprieve when those plans hit the buffers in the face of opposition from Spelthorne Council and a number of high-profile racing industry figures.
So the Jockey Club sold an ‘option to purchase’ to builders Redrow in September 2018, Sunracing can reveal, meaning they can buy the land for development during a set timeframe whenever they want for a pre-agreed price.
The expiry date on the agreement is in 2028, though it can be extended a further two years if Redrow express interest in going ahead with the purchase of the 230-acre site, either in its entirety or part of it.
The Jockey Club has not hidden its desire to sell off land at Kempton for housing to raise much needed funds, and in February 2020 they announced revised plans to develop on part of the site which would not involve demolishing the home of the King George.
But those plans were also scuppered by the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic and the Jockey Club remains in a deep financial hole, with the last set of accounts published last summer showing they have around £54 million of debt.
Spelthorne Council said eight years ago the site was unlikely to be considered for housing eight as it was deemed ‘strongly performing’ green belt land.
But the new Labour government has relaxed planning laws to encourage house building, with the aim to build 1.5 million new homes before the next election.
The Jockey Club dismissed recent speculation on social media that the racecourse was to be closed at the end of next year, but there is a desperate need for housing in Surrey and Redrow is still interested in developing the site, for all they have yet to trigger their option to buy the land.
A Redrow spokesperson said: “We have an agreement with the Jockey Club to promote Kempton Park for development, lasting until 2030.
“Since this agreement was made, we have been reviewing whether the site, or parts of it, could assist with the delivery of much needed new housing in Surrey.”
The Jockey Club said: “Since 2018, Redrow have had the exclusive right to promote Kempton Park as a potential site for residential development, lasting until 2028.
“Since the agreement came into effect it has been entirely normal procedure for there to be ongoing discussions to see if the site, or parts of it, could play a part in addressing the need for houses in the local area.
“Given the recent changes in wider planning policy, it is no surprise that those discussions are continuing, but in real terms there has been no change in Kempton Park’s status.”
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Remember to gamble responsibly
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Establishes time and monetary limits before playing
Only gambles with money they can afford to lose
Never chases their losses
Doesn’t gamble if they’re upset, angry or depressed
WEIGHT loss jabs could prevent a medication taken by millions of women from working – and increase patients’ risk of cancer.
The British Menopause Society said the jabs could cause hormone imbalance in women taking hormone replacement therapy (HRT), particularly for those with obesity, putting them “at increased risk of womb cancer”.
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Women commonly take a progesterone pill along with oestrogen patches or creamCredit: Getty
That’s because weight loss drugs Wegovy and Mounjaro – as well as diabetes jab Ozempic – can delay the absorption of pills taken orally, as well slowing down the passage of food through the gut.
Guidance suggests women taking HRT in pill form may also be at risk.
The British Menopause Society (BMS) told doctors to closely monitor menopausal women on HRT who are also using weight-loss jabs.
The treatment tops up the hormones oestrogen and progesterone, which dip to low levels as the menopause approaches.
Data from 2023-24 showed that 2.6 million women in England rely on the drugs to alleviate hot flushes, night sweats, difficulty sleeping and mood changes.
“During the last two years, since semaglutide and tirzepatide [the active ingredients in Wegovy and Mounjaro] received licenses for weight loss, there has been an increase in uptake of these medications through private clinics, while NHS prescribing is limited to specialist weight management services,” the BMS guidance stated.
“There are no current data available about numbers of women receiving HRT concurrently with semaglutide or tirzepatide.”
The most common form of HRT is a progesterone pill alongside a skin patch or gel to deliver oestrogen, but some people opt for a combined pill.
Progesterone balances out the effects of oestrogen, which on its own stimulates the growth of the womb lining, and can cause “abnormal cells and cancer” to grow.
Women taking fat jabs need ‘effective contraception’ – as health chiefs warn of serious harm to unborn babies
The menopause experts expressed concern over the loss of the progesterone’s protective effect on the womb as a result of weight loss jabs.
They recommended that doctors move women taking progesterone orally to an intrauterine device, such as a Mirena coil, or increase their dose of progesterone.
Prof Annice Mukherjee, a consultant endocrinologist and member of the society’s medical advisory council, who led on the guidance, told The Telegraph that a hormone imbalance could put women “at increased risk of womb cancer” – particularly if they are obese.
“Oestrogen is almost always given through the skin for HRT in women living with obesity, but progesterone is frequently given as a tablet, and that formulation is thought to be the safest route for women who have complicated health issues,” she said.
“If we then start one of these injectable weight-loss drugs, then you’re preferentially stopping absorption of the progestogen that’s coming in orally, but you’re allowing plenty of the oestrogen through the skin.
“The rules are very clear that if you give a very high dose of oestrogen and you don’t give enough progesterone, however that happens, you’re putting that woman at risk of womb cancer,” she said.
Prof Mukherjee said there was currently a “culture of putting women on very high doses of oestrogen”, which can make the womb lining thicken.
“It’s like having a lawn in a woman’s womb. Oestrogen makes the lawn grow. Progestogen cuts the lawn. But if it’s not being cut, it grows thicker, and then you can get abnormal cells and cancer.”
Everything you need to know about fat jabs
Weight loss jabs are all the rage as studies and patient stories reveal they help people shed flab at almost unbelievable rates, as well as appearing to reduce the risk of serious diseases.
Wegovy – a modified version of type 2 diabetes drug Ozempic – and Mounjaro are the leading weight loss injections used in the UK.
Wegovy, real name semaglutide, has been used on the NHS for years while Mounjaro (tirzepatide) is a newer and more powerful addition to the market.
Mounjaro accounts for most private prescriptions for weight loss and is set to join Wegovy as an NHS staple this year.
How do they work?
The jabs work by suppressing your appetite, making you eat less so your body burns fat for energy instead and you lose weight.
They do this my mimicking a hormone called GLP-1, which signals to the brain when the stomach is full, so the drugs are officially called GLP-1 receptor agonists.
They slow down digestion and increase insulin production, lowering blood sugar, which is why they were first developed to treat type 2 diabetes in which patients’ sugar levels are too high.
Can I get them?
NHS prescriptions of weight loss drugs, mainly Wegovy and an older version called Saxenda (chemical name liraglutide), are controlled through specialist weight loss clinics.
Typically a patient will have to have a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or higher, classifying them as medically obese, and also have a weight-related health condition such as high blood pressure.
GPs generally do not prescribe the drugs for weight loss.
Private prescribers offer the jabs, most commonly Mounjaro, to anyone who is obese (BMI of 30+) or overweight (BMI 25-30) with a weight-related health risk.
Private pharmacies have been rapped for handing them out too easily and video calls or face-to-face appointments are now mandatory to check a patient is being truthful about their size and health.
Are there any risks?
Yes – side effects are common but most are relatively mild.
Around half of people taking the drug experience gut issues, including sickness, bloating, acid reflux, constipation and diarrhoea.
Dr Sarah Jarvis, GP and clinical consultant at patient.info, said: “One of the more uncommon side effects is severe acute pancreatitis, which is extremely painful and happens to one in 500 people.”
Other uncommon side effects include altered taste, kidney problems, allergic reactions, gallbladder problems and hypoglycemia.
Evidence has so far been inconclusive about whether the injections are damaging to patients’ mental health.
Figures obtained by The Sun show that, up to January 2025, 85 patient deaths in the UK were suspected to be linked to the medicines.
But she also stressed that the biggest risk factor for womb cancer was obesity – meaning that on the whole, weight loss jabs can cut the risk of disease.
“These drugs reduce the risk of cancer,” Prof Mukherjee said.
“But if they are prescribed to a woman who’s on oestrogen through the skin, and she might already have womb thickening because she’s living with obesity, and she’s not absorbing the progesterone because she’s been put on a weight-loss injection, she’s potentially getting loads of oestrogen on top of her thickened womb lining, and that could potentially unmask cancers that are there or drive an early cancer to a more advanced stage.”
The BMS put together the guidelines after calls from GPs for advice to give to patients.
Dr Janet Barter, the president of the Faculty of Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare, told The Telegraph that weight loss jabs can cause side effects such as “vomiting and severe diarrhoea in some patients”.
“Obviously this could render any medication, such as HRT tablets or oral contraception, ineffective if there hasn’t been enough time for them to be fully absorbed,” she said.
“If these side-effects are occurring, then people should discuss the matter with their doctor or specialist clinician to find the combination of drugs that’s right for them.”
Sun Health has contacted Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly – the makers of Wegovy and Mounjaro – for comment.
It follows warnings from the Medicines and Healthcare products Agency (MHRA) that GLP-1 weight loss drugs could reduce the absorption of contraceptives, due to the fact they slow down the emptying of the stomach.
The watchdog also said the jabs should not be used during pregnancy, while trying to conceive orbreastfeeding, over fears they could lead tomiscarriageorbirth defects.
The MHRA explained: “This is because there is not enough safety data to know whether taking the medicine could cause harm to the baby.”
Dr Bassel Wattar, a consultant gynaecologist and medical director of clinical trials at Anglia Ruskin University, told The Sun: “It’s not the medication itself, but the weight loss that helps regulate a woman’s hormones allowing her ovaries to function properly again.
Brits heading on holidays to the likes of France, Spain, Portugal and Greece need to check their passports including blank pages before heading to the airport
Brits are being urged to check the blank pages in their passport (Image: Getty Images)
Before heading on holidays abroad, most people will check their passports are still in date and damage-free, but travel insiders are warning UK travellers to also cast their eyes over blank pages in their documents.
That’s because one simple mistake could mean your holiday is over before it even starts, as you could be denied boarding at the airport, or turned away at border control.
The travel insurance experts at Tiger.co.uk have warned: “With Brits now getting stamped every time they travel through the EU, travel enthusiasts and those who travel for work may potentially run out of blank pages in their passports. All passport holders must have at least two blank passport pages when they travel, otherwise the document could be seen as invalid. Those travelling more frequently can opt for a jumbo passport that has 54 pages instead of a normal one with 34 pages.”
Check your passport’s blank pages (Image: Education Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
It’s not just how many blank pages you have left; you’ll also want to check for any damage. The experts added: “If any of your passport pages are torn or missing, your passport is considered damaged and will likely not be accepted at the border, especially if it affects the personal details page or any visa stamps.”
Meanwhile, you’ll also want to check two key dates on your document; the date of issue and the expiry date. That’s because following Brexit, passport requirements have changed for Brits heading to the EU. Your passport now needs to have been issued less than 10 years ago, and must be valid at least three months beyond the date of departure.
These easy errors could also be costly, as if you’re turned away because you don’t have a valid passport, then it’s unlikely that your travel insurance would cover the costs, leaving you out of pocket.
Ian Wilson, travel insurance expert and Managing Director, added: “With passport fees increasing and queues likely getting longer this summer due to the introduction of the EU’s new Entry/Exit System, we urge holidaymakers to carry out essential passport checks now to avoid last-minute hassle and potentially being turned away at the airport.
“Post-Brexit travel changes are still confusing for many of us, so it’s important for Brits to familiarise themselves with the validity requirements before jetting off to Europe.
“Travellers also need to ensure their passports are in good physical condition, as things like damage from water or ink, rips in pages and laminate peeling from the personal details page can mean that your passport may not be accepted as a valid travel document.
“If you’re denied access to your flight for issues such as an invalid passport, your travel insurance is unlikely to protect you. That’s why it’s so important to double-check these things well in advance of your departure date.”
Gaza is the “hungriest place on Earth” and its entire population is at risk of famine, warns the United Nations, as desperate Palestinians are shot at, starved, and forced from their homes by the Israeli forces.
Calling on Israel to stop its campaign of deliberate starvation and allow food into the besieged enclave, the UN on Friday said its mission to help Gaza’s Palestinians is the “most obstructed in recent history”.
“The aid operation that we have ready to roll is being put in an operational straitjacket that makes it one of the most obstructed aid operations, not only in the world today, but in recent history,” the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) spokesperson, Jens Laerke, said.
He said out of 900 aid trucks that were approved to enter from the Israeli side of the Karem Abu Salem crossing, known as Kerem Shalom in Israel, fewer than 600 have been offloaded in Gaza, adding that a lower amount of aid had been picked up for distribution.
“I have no flour, no oil, no sugar, no food. I collect mouldy bread and feed it to my children. I want to get a bag of flour for my children. I want to eat. I’m hungry,” a Palestinian told Al Jazeera.
Reporting from Gaza City, Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud said the northern part of the Strip, which includes Gaza City, “has not seen a drop of aid coming in that has been allowed in the past few days”.
“People in the central area, in the [southern] city of Khan Younis and Rafah are also struggling on a daily basis to find food supplies, particularly when it comes to flour and other basic necessities to help them survive these difficult conditions,” he added.
Palestinians leaving aid points empty-handed
After a nearly three-month blockade, Israel, under pressure from Western governments and international humanitarian organisations, allowed limited aid to enter the enclave and the resumption of limited UN operations.
However, Israel also pushed for the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a shadowy United States-backed private aid distributor, to provide essential food aid to starving Palestinians.
The UN and other aid groups have refused to work with GHF, saying it lacks neutrality and its distribution model forces the displacement of Palestinians.
Still, UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric told reporters on Friday that while any aid that gets to those who need it is “good”, aid deliveries are having “very, very little impact”.
“The catastrophic situation in Gaza is the worst since the war began,” he said.
With only three of the four distribution points set up to receive aid from the GHF, people like Layla al-Masri, a displaced Palestinian, are leaving empty-handed.
“What they are saying about their will to feed the people of Gaza is all lies. They neither feed people nor give them anything to drink,” she said.
‘Parents giving children water’
Abdel Qader Rabie, another displaced Palestinian, said his family has nothing to eat. “No flour, no food, no bread, we have nothing at home,” he said.
“Every time I go to get aid, I hold a box and hundreds of people crowd over me. Earlier, UNRWA [UN agency for Palestinian refugees] used to send me a message, [and] I would go and get aid. Now there’s nothing. If you are strong, you get aid. If you are not, you leave empty-handed,” Qader Rabie said.
Eri Kaneko, UN humanitarian affairs spokesperson, also criticised the type of aid that UN agencies are being allowed to bring into Gaza.
“Israeli authorities have not allowed us to bring in a single ready-to-eat meal. The only food permitted has been flour for bakeries. Even if allowed in unlimited quantities, which it hasn’t been, it wouldn’t amount to a complete diet for anyone,” Kaneko said.
Palestinians who received GHF aid said their packages included rice, flour, canned beans, pasta, olive oil, biscuits, and sugar.
Meanwhile, the UN special rapporteur on the right to food, Michael Fakhri, described the GHF as a “bait to corral people” which “violates every principle of international law”.
“This is aid being used … to push people out from the north into militarised zones … and it’s about humiliating people, and it’s about controlling the population. This has nothing to do with stopping starvation,” he said.
Al Jazeera’s Hind Khoudary, reporting from Deir el-Balah in Gaza, said not much food is coming into the enclave as the number of trucks entering and the aid they are carrying is very limited
“Despite the trucks’ entry over the past few days, Palestinians say they have not really received any food because there have not been any normal distribution points,” she said, adding that many are going back with their pots empty.
“Some parents say they are giving their children water just to make them feel full. People say they are willing to do anything for one bag of flour or one food parcel. They are very desperate.”
A new law will make it illegal to do something that’s common in the UK – and holidaymakers could face a hefty fine if they are caught breaking this rule.
Tourists visiting France this summer will need to be aware of the new rules – or risk fines(Image: Getty Images)
People jetting off to France for their summer getaway must be aware of this crackdown on a common behaviour that some won’t think twice about. From July, French police could hand out fines every time they spot someone breaking the rule.
A BBC report shared that, from July 1, France will get tougher on smokers and implement a major ban on smoking in public places, including beaches, parks and outside schools. The clampdown aims to protect children from the harmful effects of second-hand smoke, reports Wales Online.
According to the NHS, second-hand smoke or passive smoke can damage their health of those around you. The health trust claimed: “People who breathe in secondhand smoke regularly are more likely to get the same diseases as smokers, including lung cancer and heart disease.”
Ignorance won’t be an excuse for rule-breakers who could face a €135 penalty (that’s about £113 or $153). France’s minister for children, health and family, Catherine Vautrin, said enforcement duties have been passed onto the police, but with a nudge that the public should also aim to “self-regulate.”
She told Ouest-France daily: “Tobacco must disappear where there are children”. With around 16.4 million residents in France over the age of 15 smoking, it is a habit deeply ingrained in French culture, revealed by a Global Action to End Smoking stat.
France’s minister for children, health and family Catherine Vautrin(Image: Thierry NECTOUX/GAMMA RAPHO via Getty)
The French government isn’t taking this ban lightly, and plans are in the works to ensure people take note through signs and campaigns promoting good practice. This move extends the smoke-free zones already in place across parts of France, which has seen smoking banned in restaurants and clubs since 2008.
Brits visiting France may find it tricky to break their habits with the new rule, as the UK’s smoking laws only apply indoors. Since July 2007, smoking in enclosed public spaces and workplaces has been banned in the UK.
However, in 2024, the BBC reported that the UK Government is contemplating similar measures by extending legislation in England to outdoor areas like playgrounds and hospital grounds to “protect children and the most vulnerable from the harms of second-hand smoke”.
The ban will take effect from July 1, 2025(Image: Dazeley via Getty)
In France, once the new law is in place, smoking will still be permitted in outdoor areas of cafes and bar terraces. While electronic cigarettes are not included in the ban, the country is set to tighten vaping regulations soon.
Hotels typically allocate a few rooms for smokers. If you don’t specify you want one upon booking, you’ll be placed in a non-smoking room, according to the French Rivera Traveller.
The BBC said that, according to the French Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction, nearly a quarter (23.1%) of the French population smokes daily. France’s National Committee Against Smoking adds that over 75,000 smokers die annually from tobacco-related illnesses – 13% of all deaths.
A recent report by the French cancer association La Ligue Contre le Cancer reveals that almost 80% of French people support a ban on smoking in public places like woodlands, beaches, parks, and terraces.
Across the UK, pro-Palestinian protests in reaction to the war in Gaza have placed universities’ response to human rights concerns under the spotlight. But concerns about links between Britain’s higher education institutions and human rights abuses are not limited to one area.
A new investigation by Freedom from Torture has found that UK universities are offering postgraduate security and counterterrorism education to members of foreign security forces, including those serving some of the world’s most repressive regimes. These institutions are offering training to state agents without scrutinising their human rights records, or pausing to consider how British expertise might end up being exploited to silence, surveil or torture.
The investigation reveals that British universities may not just be turning a blind eye to human rights abuses, but could also be at risk of training some of the abusers. Some universities have even partnered directly with overseas police forces known for widespread abuses to deliver in-country teaching. Others have welcomed individuals on to courses designed for serving security professionals from countries where torture is a standard tool of state control. All of this is happening with virtually no oversight of the risks to human rights.
These are not abstract concerns. They raise serious, immediate questions. What happens when the covert surveillance techniques taught in British classrooms are later used to hunt down dissidents? Why are universities not investigating the backgrounds of applicants from regimes where “counterterrorism” is a common pretext for torture and arbitrary detention?
Freedom from Torture’s investigation found that universities across the UK are accepting applicants for security education from some of the world’s most repressive states. Yet just one university in the study said they are screening out applicants who they believed have either engaged in human rights violations or “intend to”.
Torture survivors in the UK have spoken out about their shock that members of the security forces from countries they have fled can access UK security education without meaningful human rights checks. British universities, long considered beacons of liberal values and intellectual freedom, appear to be overlooking the fact that the knowledge they produce may be used to further oppression and state violence.
Meanwhile, student activists across the country are staunchly positioning themselves as stakeholders in their university’s human rights records. The recent Gaza protests indicate that that when students believe universities’ conduct does not align with their values, they won’t hesitate to hold them accountable.
Across the world, the global student body has a rich history of activism. From anti-apartheid solidarity campaigns to the student protests that sparked Myanmar’s 1988 uprising, young people have long stood at the front lines of struggles against repression. Today’s generation – often described as the most socially conscious and globally connected in history – is no different. It shouldn’t come as a surprise to universities that their human rights performance is a hot topic for the young people they serve.
In the corporate world, businesses are now routinely judged on their human rights records. Terms like “ethical sourcing,” “responsible investment,” and “human rights due diligence” are standard parts of doing business. Universities, which pride themselves on being forward-thinking and socially responsible, should be held to no lower standard. The fact that many have no policy at all on overseas human rights risks is indefensible.
It’s time for that to change.
Torture survivors seeking safety in the UK should not have to worry that the nation’s educational institutions are offering training to the security forces of the very regimes they fled. Universities should be able to provide reassurance to anyone expressing real concern, whether that is those with lived experience of the most terrible abuses of power, or their own students.
In order to do this the university sector must get its house in order. This starts with adopting transparent human rights policies across the sector and undertaking effective due diligence to manage risks to human rights. Failure to take these necessary steps leaves the sector at risk of contributing, however unintentionally, to global human rights violations.
Universities must ask themselves: Who is sitting in our classrooms? Who benefits from our training? And what consequences might flow from what we teach? These are amongst the many urgent questions, but not ones the sector appears to be asking.
UK universities must take meaningful steps to ensure they avoid inadvertently sharpening the tools of global repression and move towards building a human rights record they can be proud of. Not only will it appeal to a new generation of activist students, but it’s the right thing to do.
*Full details of FfT’s investigation, including responses from universities, can be found here.
The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera’s editorial stance.
DONALD Trump’s sweeping global tariffs are now at risk after a court has said he doesn’t have the power to impose the levies himself.
A US federal court in New York on Wednesday blocked most of the import taxes from going into effect, ruling that the president had overstepped his authority.
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The US President held up a chart of the tariffs he was implementingCredit: AFP
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Trump’s tariffs caused a sharp response in CanadaCredit: Reuters
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Tariffs are levies paid on bringing a good or service into a countryCredit: Getty
The Court of International Trade ruling is a big setback for Trump, who has sought to reshape global trade and put America first by using its economic heft to cut deals.
Trump has started a global trade war with nearly every country by instituting a minimum 10 per tariff on their exports into the US.
He also slapped a 25 per cent tariff on Mexico and Canada, saying he needed to levies to stop the flow of illegal immigrants and the horror drug Fentanyl.
The court’s order could spell an end to Trump’s international trade war as it bars Trump’s most sweeping tariffs, effectively erasing most of the trade restrictions Trump has announced since taking office.
But Trump is likely to appeal and take the fight all the way to the Supreme Court.
White House spokesman Kush Desai said: “Foreign countries’ nonreciprocal treatment of the Unites States has fueled America’s historic and persistent trade deficits.
“These deficits have created a national emergency that has decimated American communities, left our workers behind, and weakened our defense industrial base – facts that the court did not dispute.
“It is not for unelected judges to decide how to properly address a national emergency. President Trump pledged to put America First, and the Administration is committed to using every lever of executive power to address this crisis and restore American Greatness.”
The ruling does not state that tariffs themselves are illegal, but that the executive branch does not have the authority to impose them without Congress.
The president used a 1977 federal economic emergency law to justify a range of levies.
Trump’s Liberation Day Tariffs signed in on Executive Order
The three-judge panel wrote in an unsigned opinion: “The question in the two cases before the court is whether the International Emergency Economic Powers Act of 1977 (“IEEPA”) delegates these powers to the president in the form of authority to impose unlimited tariffs on goods from nearly every country in the world.
“The court does not read IEEPA to confer such unbounded authority and sets aside the challenged tariffs imposed thereunder.”
One of Trump’s key aides, Stephen Miller, attacked the ruling in a post on social media saying: “The judicial coup is out of control.”
Trump memorably held up a board showing rates he was about to set individual trading partners in the White House’s Rose Garden when he announced the tariffs as part of a “liberation day”.
China was clobbered with 34 per cent tariffs, Vietnam 46 per cent, Thailand 36 per cent and Cambodia 49 per cent.
Tariffs on China were eventually increased to a whopping 145 per cent as Trump sought to begin negotiations.
The ten per cent on Britain was at the bottom of the sliding scale devised by Trump’s officials.
Markets were thrown into turmoil but calmed after he paused the larger tariffs for 90 days.
He also suspended some of the higher duties pending negotiations with individual countries and blocs.
Britain has signed a new trade deal with Trump following the imposition of the tariffs – how that will be affected is not yet clear.
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US and Chinese representatives at trade talksCredit: Reuters
When It All Burns: Fighting Fire in a Transformed World
By Jordan Thomas Riverhead Books: 368 pages, $30 If you buy books linked on our site, The Times may earn a commission from Bookshop.org, whose fees support independent bookstores.
Jordan Thomas didn’t want to just research and write about fire, he wanted to see it up close, and he has turned that experience into the exceptional new book, “When It All Burns.” A specialist in the cultural forces that shape fire, Thomas joined the Los Padres Hotshots, a crew that might be viewed as the Navy SEALs of firefighting. He spent 2021 battling wildfires extreme and treacherous even by the standards of these globally warmed times.
A first-person account would be compelling enough, especially given Thomas’ gift for terse, layered expository writing. But Thomas has more on his mind here. He alternates sequences of harrowing action and macho team-building with deep dives into the ecology, science, economics and, most important, Indigenous cultural practices related to fire. In Thomas’ hands these subjects are interconnected, and his writing brings new heat to an ubiquitous subject.
If you live anywhere near Los Angeles, you may very well prefer not to read “When It All Burns.” But you should. Just this last January, a series of wildfires ravaged the region, fed by gusting Santa Ana winds, drought conditions and low humidity. Projected damage from the fires had ballooned to more than $250 billion in damages in January, The Times reported. At least 30 people were killed in the fires, with economic ramifications expected to stretch into the unforeseeable future. “When It All Burns” was written well before any of this happened, and it sometimes carries the force of prophecy. The fire next time has already burned, though there will surely be more.
Thomas sets the table early on: “In the past two decades, wildfires have been doing things not even computer models can predict, environmental events that have scientists racking their brains for appropriately Dystopian technology: firenados, gigafires, megafires. Scientists recently invented the term ‘megafire’ to describe wildfires that behave in ways that would have been impossible just a generation ago, burning through winter, exploding in the night, and devastating landscapes historically impervious to incendiary destruction.”
In other words, it’s only going to get worse. As a member of the Hotshots crew, Thomas hacked away at undergrowth with a chainsaw as the firefighters made their advance, and he found himself fascinated by the subculture of people, mostly men, assigned to combat these otherworldly infernos. But the education and knowledge he carries also makes him deeply ambivalent about the very nature of fire suppression.
Author Jordan Thomas.
(Sari Blum)
For centuries, Indigenous peoples the world over have used controlled fires, or “cultural burning,” for any number of purposes, from agriculture to reducing the risk of uncontrolled fires. But such practices didn’t jibe with increasingly modern economies, and colonialists, especially in North America, saw burning as both barbaric and a threat to industrialized capitalism. Fire surpression was more than a byproduct of Native American genocide, it was part of the master plan: “In California, fire had always connected people to their food, and Americans set about its suppression with unprecedented brutality.” Researchers who tried to bring this history to light often had their work suppressed like one more controlled fire. And as the practice declined, wildfires entered the breach.
As you might expect, life as a Hotshot is fraught with medical risk: Hotshots tend to work sick and injured, loathe to pass up the overtime and hazard pay on which they depend. As Thomas writes, “The precarious lives of Hotshots are one flashpoint in an expanding field of self-reinforcing social and environmental crises. Scientists call this a sacrifice zone — a place where low-income people shoulder the burden of industrial misconduct.”
Every time “When It All Burns” threatens to get dry, like a combustible piece of brush, Thomas brings it back to his own firefighting travails, and the cast of Hotshot characters who showed him the ropes, berated him and bailed him out.
The two Los Padres leaders are Edgar, a stern drill sergeant-type who rides everyone with equal venom, and Aoki, just as demanding but with more of a shaman-warrior demeanor. Aoki conducts Thomas’ job interview as the two men hike a steep hill; Thomas eventually has to decide between asking questions, which takes up oxygen, or concentrating on the task at hand.
“At a certain level of physical suffering, the pain becomes almost comedic,” he notes, as he assesses his condition before hiking a mountain to carry an injured firefighter back downhill. “My feet were torn and oozing within my elk leather boots, and every inch of my skin was a rash of poison oak. Hours before I had been incapacitated by muscle cramps.” And moments later: “The only antidote to the discomfort was to return to the level of exhaustion where the body becomes numb.”
“When It All Burns” is one of those books that immerses the reader in the nuances of a world most of us know only through the lens of tragedy and destruction. Thomas’ visceral, crystalline prose only adds fuel to the fire.
Economists echo Dimon’s concerns as US credit downgrade and tariff-driven uncertainty continue.
JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon has warned that he can’t rule out the possibility that the United States will fall into what is called stagflation— an economic term that refers to a period when inflation and unemployment are high as economic growth is slow.
In an interview with Bloomberg Television on Thursday, Dimon said, “I don’t agree that we’re in a sweet spot” in response to a question about some US Federal Reserve officials saying that the US economy was in a sweet spot.
Dimon made his comments while at JPMorgan’s Global China Summit in Shanghai. His comments come against the backdrop of the US facing increasing geopolitical tensions, rising deficits and pressure on consumer prices from changing government policies on tariffs that have led retailers to announce a need to raise prices and left businesses in a wait-and-watch mode over all the economic uncertainties.
Economists like Stuart Mackintosh, executive director of the financial think tank Group of Thirty, echoed Dimon’s concerns to Al Jazeera.
“Stagflation is a real risk we cannot rule out. We’re in a circumstance where we have uncertainty on tariffs, uncertainty on many policies that increase the downward pressure on growth in America.”
Last week Moody’s Ratings downgraded the US economy’s credit rating. The firm lowered its gold-standard Aaa to an Aa1 credit rating for the US, citing its growing national debt.
Dimon’s Thursday comments were underscored by his remarks at the company’s investor day on Monday.
“Credit today is a bad risk,” Dimon said.
While at the summit, Dimon also offered comments on US President Donald Trump’s “big beautiful bill”, the tax and spending bill passed by the US House of Representatives that includes key parts of the Trump administration agenda including tax cuts, slashes to Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), increased funding for immigration enforcement, and new taxes on colleges and universities.
“I think they should do the tax bill. I do think it’ll stabilise things a little bit, but it’ll probably add to the deficit,” Dimon said in a record first obtained by the Reuters news agency.
The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office has said that the tax bill would add $3.8 trillion to the national debt.
‘Inflation going up’
In the Bloomberg interview, Dimon added that the US Federal Reserve is doing the right thing to wait and see before it decides on monetary policy. The central bank opted to hold rates steady at its last policy meeting, which was largely in line with economists’ expectations.
Policymakers weighed a stable labour market at the time, even as they acknowledged that could be short-lived.
“This is unsustainable. We might get into a much worse economic picture almost immediately,” Mackintosh said.
More information on the state of the US labour market is expected in the next couple of weeks as both the US Department of Labor and the payroll and human resources firm ADP are slated to release their monthly report on the rate of job growth.
Dimon has also long warned that inflation and stagflation will continue to increase.
“I think the chance of inflation going up and stagflation is a little bit higher than other people think,” he noted.
On Wall Street, JPMorgan Chase’s stock has trended up following Dimon’s remarks. As of noon in New York (16:00 GMT), it was 0.2 percent higher than yesterday’s market close after opening lower this morning.
From Ryan Kartje: With the contract between USC and Notre Dame set to expire and one of college football’s most storied rivalries in serious danger of ending, officials at USC extended an offer to Notre Dame earlier this month in hopes of continuing the historic series for at least one more season — through the fall of 2026 — a person familiar with the negotiations not authorized to discuss them publicly told The Times.
The future of the rivalry beyond that, in the eyes of USC’s leaders, hinges in large part on what happens with the format of the College Football Playoff — namely, the number of automatic qualifiers guaranteed to the Big Ten in future playoff fields. And until those questions are answered, USC leaders agree the best course forward for its century-old rivalry with Notre Dame would be to continue their arrangement one season at a time.
Anything else would be “a strategically bad decision,” a USC source said.
That timeline is where the two rivals find themselves at an impasse. Notre Dame is seeking a long-term extension of the series, and in an interview with Sports Illustrated earlier this week, Irish athletic director Pete Bevacqua not so subtly suggested that it was USC putting the rivalry at risk.
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NBA MVP
The case for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was simple. He’s the best player on an Oklahoma City Thunder team that had the best record this season and set a league mark for margin of victory. As if that weren’t enough, he also won the scoring title.
That’s an MVP season.
Gilgeous-Alexander was announced Wednesday as the NBA’s Most Valuable Player, his first time winning the award. It’s now seven consecutive years that a player born outside the U.S. won MVP, extending the longest such streak in league history.
It ultimately was a two-person race. Gilgeous-Alexander received 71 first-place votes and 29 second-place votes; Denver’s Nikola Jokic got the other 29 first-place votes and the other 71 second-place votes.
Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo was third, getting 88 of the 100 possible third-place votes. LeBron James of the Lakers came in sixth, James Harden of the Clippers was 11th.
No. 1 Oklahoma City vs. No. 6 Minnesota at Oklahoma City 114, Minnesota 88 (box score) Thursday at Oklahoma City, 5:30 p.m., ESPN Saturday at Minnesota, 5:30 p.m., ABC Monday at Minnesota, 5:30 p.m., ESPN Wednesday at Oklahoma City, 5:30 p.m., ESPN* Friday, May 30 at Minnesota, 5:30 p.m., ESPN* Sunday, June 1 at Oklahoma City, 5 p.m., ESPN*
Eastern Conference
No. 3 New York vs. No. 4 Indiana Indiana 138, at New York 135 (OT) (box score) Friday at New York, 5 p.m., TNT Sunday at Indiana, 5 p.m., TNT Tuesday at Indiana, 5 p.m., TNT Thursday, May 29 at New York, 5 p.m., TNT* Saturday, May 31 at Indiana, 5 p.m., TNT* Monday, June 2 at New York, 5 p.m., TNT*
A day after Teoscar Hernández returned to the Dodgers’ lineup, activated from the injured list Monday following a two-week absence because of an adductor strain, Roberts decided to sit the veteran slugger for the second of a three-game series against the Arizona Diamondbacks.
It was a surprise choice, but with a simple reason.
Knowing Hernández would play only twice this week coming off his injury, Roberts wanted to ensure he would be available Wednesday to face former Cy Young Award winner Corbin Burnes.
“I just felt like having him in there tomorrow,” Roberts said Tuesday, “I feel good with.”
Twenty-four hours later, the result was even greater than he expected.
In the Dodgers’ 3-1 rubber-match victory over the Diamondbacks, Hernández delivered the night’s biggest swing in the bottom of the sixth, taking a wrecking ball to what had been a flawless outing from Burnes with a three-run home run that turned the game upside down.
Logan O’Hoppe hit two home runs and drove in three runs, Jo Adell and Zach Neto also homered and the Angels beat the Athletics 10-5 on Wednesday night for their season-high sixth straight victory.
O’Hoppe led off the fourth with his second homer of the game, third in two nights and 13th of the season, just before Adell hit his sixth. Neto’s two-run homer in the third, his eighth, gave the Angels the lead for good at 4-3. The Angels had five two-run innings.
Taylor Ward had three hits, including a triple and double. Jorge Soler had three hits, with two doubles and two RBIs.
Satou Sabally scored 25 points, Alyssa Thomas added 19 and the Phoenix Mercury held off the Sparks89-86 on Wednesday night.
Two free throws from Kelsey Plum had the Sparks, who trailed by 14 early in the fourth quarter, within one at 78-77 with 2 1/2 minutes to play in a game of long runs but Thomas scored the next six Phoenix points.
Plum kept pace, scoring the last 11 points of the game for the Sparks. That included the 500th 3-pointer of her career and then a shot with four seconds left. On that tightly contested desperation shot from the left wing, her foot was on the line so the Mercury led 87-86.
A second later Sabally made two free throws and Plum’s half-court heave wasn’t close.
From Chuck Schilken: NFL owners have decided to keep the “Tush Push,” the signature short-yardage play of the defending Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles, after a vote Wednesday at their spring meeting in Eagan, Minnesota.
Multiple media outlets are reporting that the vote was 22-10 in favor of the ban, falling short of the 24 votes it needed to go into effect. The teams that are said to have joined the Eagles in voting against the proposal were the Baltimore Ravens, Cleveland Browns, Detroit Lions, Jacksonville Jaguars, Miami Dolphins, New England Patriots, New Orleans Saints, New York Jets and Tennessee Titans.
The “Tush Push” is a version of a quarterback sneak in which two or three players line up behind the signal caller and help drive him forward in short-yardage situations.
The USC and UC Irvinecoaching legend guided Orloff for two years as an Anteater, watching Orloff become the baseball program’s all-time hits leader with his peak bat-to-ball abilities. But it wasn’t Orloff’s eye-popping swing or swift speed on the basepaths that captivated Gillespie the most. It was the future he imagined for his star infielder, the then-Big West Conference player of the year.
“I don’t know how else to say it: His instincts, his clue, his feel for the game, his baseball IQ, is like nothing else,” Gillespie said as Orloff’s collegiate career wrapped up in 2009. “He should be a major league manager. He might be wasted as a major league manager, because they can do so little, in terms of all these little things.”
The American Baseball Coaches Assn. Hall of Famer, who died in 2020, continued: “He probably should be a college coach, a college head coach.”
It’s mid-May and Orloff sits in the office Gillespie once occupied. Orloff is bald with a bright smile. He’s just 38, and yet this is his 12th season on the UC Irvine coaching staff — and his seventh as the Anteaters’ head coach.
Orloff settles down at a table, crosses his legs and is ready to reminisce, talk shop — and praise the mish-mosh ballclub that’s set the Big West aflame for the second consecutive season in which it won its second regular-season conference championship under the coach.
From Kevin Baxter: A bipartisan group of Congressional representatives are calling on Secretary of State Marco Rubio to streamline the government’s visa processing system to ensure visitors from abroad will be able to attend next year’s FIFA World Cup as well as the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
The World Cup, which kicks off in less than 400 days, is expected to generate $3.75 billion in economic activity in the U.S. With SoFi Stadium in Inglewood hosting eight games, the economic impact on Southern California is estimated at nearly $600 million.
But cost-cutting measures proposed by Rubio could threaten that by reducing staff and closing some embassies and consulates, increasing visa wait times and making an already cumbersome system more complicated and costly. That could keep tens of thousands of fans at home.
Central 2 Dallas vs. Pacific 3 Edmonton at Dallas 6, Edmonton 3 (summary) Friday at Dallas, 5 p.m., ESPN Sunday at Edmonton, noon, ABC Tuesday at Edmonton, 5 p.m., ESPN Thursday, May 29 at Dallas, 5 p.m., ESPN* Saturday, May 31 at Edmonton, 5 p.m., ABC* Monday, June 2 at Dallas, 5 p.m., ESPN*
Eastern Conference
Metro 2 Carolina vs. Atlantic 3 Florida Florida 5, at Carolina 2 (summary) Thursday at Carolina, 5 p.m., TNT Saturday at Florida, 5 p.m., TNT Monday at Florida, 5 p.m., TNT Wednesday at Carolina, 5 p.m., TNT* Friday, May 30 at Florida, 5 p.m., TNT* Sunday, June 1 at Carolina, 5 p.m., TNT*
* If necessary
THIS DAY IN SPORTS HISTORY
1877 — Baden-Baden, ridden by C. Holloway, catches Leonard just before turning into the stretch and wins the Kentucky Derby by two lengths.
1885 — Tecumseh, ridden by Jimmy McLaughlin, wins the Preakness Stakes by two lengths over Wickham.
1902 — Mastermam, ridden by John Bullman, wins the Belmont Stakes by two lengths over Renald.
1906 — Whimsical, the favorite ridden by Walter Miller, wins the Preakness Stakes by four lengths over Content.
1954 — Hasty Road, ridden by Johnny Adams, edges favored Correlation by a neck to win the Preakness Stakes.
1963 — European Cup Final, Wembley Stadium, London: José Altafini scores twice as AC Milan edge Benfica, 2-1 for first title to an Italian club.
1975 — Artis Gilmore scores 28 points and grabs 31 rebounds to lead the Kentucky Colonels to a 110-105 victory over the Indiana Pacers for the ABA championship.
1988 — Atlanta’s Dominique Wilkins trades bucket for bucket with Boston’s Larry Bird in the fourth quarter of Game 7 of the 1988 Eastern Conference semifinals until the Celtics escape with a 118-116 victory. Wilkins finishes with 47 points and Bird has 34 — with 20 of his points scored in the fourth quarter. The teams shoot a combined 58.8% from the field, the second highest mark in playoff history.
1988 — LPGA Championship Women’s Golf, Jack Nicklaus GC: Sherri Turner birdies final 2 holes to win her only major title, 1 stroke ahead of runner-up Amy Alcott.
1991 — NFL Owners agree to add 2 teams in 1994.
1993 — Riddick Bowe successfully defends his IBF and WBA heavyweight titles with a second-round knockout of Jesse Ferguson at RFK Stadium in Washington.
1994 — Toronto NBA franchise unveils name “Raptors” & logo.
1996 — 4th UEFA Champions League Final: Juventus beats Ajax (1-1, 4-2 on penalties) at Rome.
1997 — The Chicago Bulls win the lowest-scoring playoff game in NBA history, a 75-68 victory over the Miami Heat. The 143 combined points were two fewer than the previous postseason low set by Syracuse and Fort Wayne in 1955.
2003 — Annika Sorenstam becomes the first woman to play in a PGA Tour event in 58 years when she shoots a 71 in the first round of the Colonial in Fort Worth, Texas. Sorenstam misses the cut the next day by four shots.
2004 — English FA Cup Final, Millennium Stadium, Cardiff (71,350): Manchester United beats Millwall, 3-0; Ruud van Nistelrooy scores 2 and Cristiano Ronaldo 1 in Red Devils’ 11th title win.
2005 — Paula Creamer, 18, makes a 15-foot birdie putt on the final hole to win the Sybase Classic by one stroke and become the second-youngest first-time winner on the LPGA Tour.
2006 — Pat Summitt becomes the newest millionaire coach — and the first in women’s basketball. Tennessee raises Summitt’s salary to $1.125 million for next season and extends her contract six years.
2009 — Dara Torres sets an American record in the 50-meter butterfly at the Texas Senior Circuit No. 2 meet at Texas A&M. The 42-year-old, breezes to victory in the 50 fly, touching the wall in 25.72 seconds to beat her record time of 25.84 seconds from the morning preliminaries. Both her times beat Jenny Thompson’s American record of 26.00 seconds, set in Barcelona in 2003.
2010 — UEFA Champions League Final, Madrid: Internazionale beats Bayern Munich, 2-0; Inter’s 3rd title and first treble (Italian Serie A & Cup).
2016 — The Tradition Senior Men’s Golf, Greystone G&CC: Germany’s Berhard Langer wins sixth of 13 Champions Tour majors by 6 strokes from Olin Browne.
2021 — 30 year old Scottish light-welterweight boxer Josh Taylor becomes Britain’s first undisputed world champion in the four-belt era by beating Jose Ramirez by unanimous decision in Las Vegas.
2022 — PGA Championship Men’s Golf, Southern Hills CC: 2017 champion Justin Thomas beats Will Zalatoris by 1 stroke in a 3-hole playoff after 54-hole leader Mito Pereira double bogeys the 72nd hole.
THIS DAY IN BASEBALL HISTORY
1933 — Joe Sewell of the New York Yankees struck out for the first time this season, during a 3-0 win over Cleveland. Sewell would strike out only three more times in 524 at-bats.
1942 — Ted Williams is sworn into the U.S. Navy, but will remain with the Red Sox until he is called for active duty.
1957 — The Boston Red Sox hit four home runs in the sixth inning of an 11-0 win over Cleveland. Gene Mauch, Ted Williams, Dick Gernert and Frank Malzone connected. All the homers came on the first 16 pitches from Cal McLish.
1958 — Ted Williams hits his 16th career grand slam to provide the Red Sox with the margin in an 8-5 win over the A’s. Ted’s 4th-inning blast, off Jack Urban, ties him with Babe Ruth for second place on the career slam list.
1959 — Baltimore’s Hoyt Wilhelm pitched a one-hitter against the New York Yankees for a 5-0 win. Jerry Lumpe’s single in the eighth spoiled the no-hit bid.
1963 — Mickey Mantle hit a pitch from Kansas City’s Bill Fischer off the right-field facade at Yankee Stadium in an 8-7 victory over the A’s.
1968 — Willie Stargell of the Pittsburgh Pirates hit three home runs, a double and a single in a 13-6 victory over the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field. Stargell’s double just missed going out, as it bounced off the railing of the left-field bleachers.
1976 — St. Louis’ Reggie Smith hit three home runs — two right-handed and one left-handed — and drove in five runs in a 7-6 win over the Philadelphia Phillies. Smith’s third homer came with two out in the ninth and broke a 6-6 tie.
1977 — Boston and Milwaukee hit a combined 11 home runs in a 14-10 Red Sox victory at Fenway Park, tying a major league record. The Red Sox connected for six and the Brewers hit five in the first game of a doubleheader.
1983 — Cliff Johnson of the Toronto Blue Jays hit his 18th career pinch homer. The homer, off Baltimore’s Tippy Martinez, tied Johnson with Jerry Lynch on the career pinch home run list.
1990 — Andre Dawson sets a major-league record when he is intentionally walked five times during a 16-inning, 2-1 Cubs win over the Reds.
1998 — The Mets acquire catcher Mike Piazza from the Marlins in exchange for OF Preston Wilson, P Ed Yarnall and a player to be named. Piazza has barely spent a week with Florida, following a trade from the Dodgers.
1998 — Brian Cox went 6-for-6, including a grand slam in a 10-run third inning, as Florida State rolled past Delaware 27-6 in the NCAA Atlantic II Regional. Freshman Matt Diaz hit three home runs for the Seminoles.
2000 — Milwaukee beat Houston in the first game of a doubleheader, 10-9, coming back from a 9-2 deficit to tie the score with seven runs in the bottom half of the ninth inning. The Brewers won the game in the 10th on a home run by Jose Hernandez.
2001 — The Twins score 8 runs in the 3rd inning to give Brad Radke an 8-0 lead, then hold on to edge the Mariners, 12-11. The M’s will use the momentum to win their next 15 and set a franchise record.
2008 — Ken Griffey Jr. hits his 200th home run as a member of the Cincinnati Reds. He becomes the fourth player in major league history to hit 300 for one team and 200 with another. Preceding him are Mark McGwire, Rafael Palmeiro and Jimmie Foxx.
2008 — Boston’s J.D. Drew and Mike Lowell hit grand slams to help Daisuke Matsuzaka remain unbeaten as the Red Sox posted an 11-8 win over the Kansas City Royals.
2009 — Michael Cuddyer hit for the cycle and matched his career high with five RBIs as Minnesota defeated Milwaukee 11-3. Cuddyer hit a three-run homer in the first inning, doubled in the third and singled in the fourth before completing the cycle by tripling on a broken-bat liner into the left-field corner in the sixth.
2012 — C.J. Wilson and Ernesto Frieri combined on a one-hitter to give the Angels a 4-0 win over Oakland. Cliff Pennington had the only hit — a one-out single in the fifth — for Oakland.
Compiled by the Associated Press
Until next time…
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Edison International officers and directors misled the company’s investors about the effectiveness of its efforts to reduce the risk of wildfire in the months and years before the devastating Eaton fire, a shareholder lawsuit claims.
The lawsuit, filed last week in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, points to repeated statements that the utility made in federal regulatory reports that said it had reduced the risk of a catastrophic wildfire by more than 85% since 2018 by increasing equipment inspections, tree trimming and other work aimed at stopping fires.
The complaint also raises doubts about news releases and other statements that Edison made soon after the start of Eaton fire, which killed 18 people and destroyed thousands of homes and businesses in Altadena.
“We take all legal matters seriously,” said Jeff Monford, a spokesman for Edison. “We will review this lawsuit and respond through the appropriate legal channels.”
The lawsuit claims that Edison’s early statements on the Eaton fire — in which it detailed why it believed its equipment was not involved in the fire’s start — were wrong.
“Edison obfuscated the truth by making false and misleading statements concerning its role in the fire,” the lawsuit claims.
More recently, Pedro Pizarro, the chief executive of Edison International, said the leading theory for the fire’s start was the reenergization of an unused, decades-old transmission line in Eaton Canyon.
The investigation by state and local fire investigators into the official cause of the deadly fire is continuing.
The lawsuit was filed as a derivative action in which shareholders sue a company’s officers and directors on behalf of the company, claiming they had breached their fiduciary duties. It seeks financial damages from Pizarro, Chief Financial Officer Maria Rigatti and members of the company’s board of directors. Money recovered would go to the company.
It also directs Edison “to take all necessary actions” to reform its corporate governance procedures, comply with all laws and protect the company and its investors “from a recurrence of the damaging events.”
The lawsuit was brought by Charlotte Bark, a shareholder of Edison International, the parent company of Southern California Edison.
“Prior to the outbreak of the Eaton Fire, the Company had a long history of not prioritizing the safety of those who lived in the areas it serviced, and paying fines as a result,” the lawsuit states. Since 2000, it says, Edison has paid financial penalties of $1.3 billion for violating utility safety regulations.
The complaint points to an October regulatory report that was the focus of a Times report. In the article, state regulators criticized some of Edison’s wildfire mitigation efforts, including for falling behind in inspecting transmission lines in areas at high risk of fires.
The lawsuit lists the major destructive wildfires that investigators said were sparked by Edison’s equipment in recent years, including the Bobcat and Silverado fires in 2020, as well as the Coastal and Fairview fires in 2022.
“The recurring wildfire incidents connected to the Company display that the Board has repeatedly failed to mitigate a risk that materially threatens Edison,” the complaint states.
The lawsuit accuses Pizarro, Rigatti and the company’s board of directors of “gross mismanagement” and claims that the defendants “unjustly enriched” themselves.
“Because the Individual Defendants failed to carry out their respective duties, the compensation they received was excessive and undeserved,” the suit states.
It asks the court for an order that would require the officers and directors to pay restitution, including returning the compensation they received that was tied to how well the company performed.
Half a million people in the Gaza Strip, or one in five Palestinians, are facing starvation.
The entire rest of the population is suffering from high levels of acute food insecurity, according to a recent report by the UN’s Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC).
“The risk of famine in the Gaza Strip is not just possible – it is increasingly likely,” the IPC says.
For more than 73 days, Israel has blocked all food, water, and medicine from entering Gaza, creating a man-made crisis, with the IPC warning that famine could be declared any time between now and September.
(Al Jazeera)
What is famine and when is it reached?
Famine is the worst level of hunger, where people face severe food shortages, widespread malnutrition, and high levels of death due to starvation.
According to the UN’s criteria, famine is declared when:
At least 20 percent (one-fifth) of households face extreme food shortages
More than 30 percent of children suffer from acute malnutrition
At least two out of every 10,000 people or four out of every 10,000 children die each day from starvation or hunger-related causes.
Famine is not just about hunger; it is the worst humanitarian emergency, indicating a complete collapse of access to food, water and the systems necessary for survival.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), since Israel’s complete blockade began on March 2, at least 57 children have died from the effects of malnutrition.
(Al Jazeera)
What does starvation do to the body?
Israel is using starvation as a weapon of war. A report released by Doctors of the World (Medecins du Monde) this week states that in just 18 months, acute malnutrition in Gaza has risen to levels similar to those found in countries enduring protracted humanitarian crises spanning several decades.
Starvation is when the human body is deprived of food for so long that it suffers and often dies.
Estimates say the body can last up to three weeks without food, but the length of time varies between individuals.
Starvation occurs over three stages. The first begins as early as when a meal is skipped, the second occurs with a prolonged period of fasting where the body uses stored fat for energy.
The third, and often fatal, stage is when all stored fats have been depleted and the body turns to bone and muscle as sources of energy.
The effect on children
Children are most vulnerable to Israel’s continued blockade of essential food items.
More than 9,000 children have been admitted to hospital for treatment for acute malnutrition since the start of the year, according to the United Nations.
The IPC projects that between now and March 2026, nearly 71,000 children under the age of five will suffer from acute malnutrition, including 14,100 children facing severe cases of malnutrition.
The effect of malnutrition on children varies, but the first 1,000 days of a child’s life, which includes the pregnancy up to two years, are critical for a child’s healthy development.
Malnutrition leads to an out-of-proportion height-to-weight ratio, stunted growth and eventually, death.
Earlier this month, at Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahiya, in northern Gaza, Dr Ahmed Abu Nasir said the situation has become worse than ever due to the blockade.
“Children are in their growing stage and badly need certain nutrients, including proteins and fats,” the paediatrician told Al Jazeera. “These are not available in the Gaza Strip, particularly in the north.”
Pregnant and breastfeeding women will also need to be treated for malnutrition, with 17,000 women facing this risk.
(Al Jazeera)
‘Finding a single meal has become an impossible quest’
The entire population of Gaza, about 2.1 million people that remain, are facing levels of food shortages that threaten their existence.
Earlier this month, Ahmad al-Najjar, a displaced Palestinian in Gaza City, told Al Jazeera, “Finding a single meal has become an impossible quest.”
Despite large numbers of trucks carrying vital supplies piling up on the border between Egypt and the Gaza Strip, Palestinians in Gaza have resorted to selling rubbish to afford the eye-wateringly inflated food prices.
Some 93 percent of Gaza’s population is at risk of levels of food insecurity above the crisis levels indicated by the IPC. If the situation does not change, the IPC has indicated that of those 2.1 million people:
470,000 people (22 percent of the population) will face catastrophic levels of food insecurity – the most severe phase, which indicates famine, leading to starvation and death.
More than one million (54 percent) will face emergency levels of food insecurity, the second most severe phase where there is a high risk of critical malnutrition.
500,000 people (24 percent) will face crisis levels of food insecurity, the third most severe IPC phase where households are dealing with inconsistent food consumption to the point of resorting to extreme measures to secure food.
In essence, in as little as a month, Gaza’s entire population could be starving.
The features of malnutrition and starvation are unmistakable in Gaza, with severely underweight children and babies. In children, severe protein deficiency causes fluid retention and a swollen abdomen.
Where in Gaza is most at risk?
Food insecurity across the Gaza Strip is severely affecting all areas of the blockaded enclave.
All 25 bakeries supported by the World Food Programme (WFP) closed at the beginning of April due to the lack of supplies, and food stocks for most of the 177 hot meal kitchens are reportedly exhausted.
Certain governorates are experiencing more severe levels of hunger. According to the IPC:
30 percent of North Gaza is facing catastrophic levels of food insecurity, 60 percent are facing emergency levels, while 10 percent are facing crisis levels.
25 percent of Rafah is facing catastrophic levels of food insecurity, 60 percent are facing emergency levels and 15 percent are facing crisis levels.
The IPC says Israel’s continued blockade “would likely result in further mass displacement within and across governorates”, as items essential for people’s survival will be depleted.
Hamas has released Edan Alexander, a dual United States-Israeli national and soldier, as it seeks to revive ceasefire negotiations and an end to Israel’s punishing blockade on the besieged and bombarded Gaza Strip.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) confirmed on Monday evening that it had facilitated the soldier’s transfer. An image was released showing Alexander with Hamas members and a Red Cross official.
Hamas said it had released Alexander as a goodwill gesture towards US President Donald Trump, who is visiting Arab Gulf nations this week.
Fighting briefly stopped to allow for the handover after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would permit safe passage for the release.
“Edan Alexander, American hostage thought dead, to be released by Hamas. Great news!” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.
“The government of Israel warmly welcomes soldier Sergeant Edan Alexander who has been returned from Hamas captivity,” a statement from Netanyahu’s office said.
“The government of Israel is committed to the return of all hostages and missing persons – both the living and the fallen,” the statement added. Families of the captives have accused Netanyahu of putting his own political survival above that of the captives still held in Gaza.
In a statement, ICRC President Mirjana Spoljaric welcomed Alexander’s release while calling for a lasting ceasefire in Gaza.
“We are relieved that one more family has been reunited today. This nightmare, however, continues for the remaining hostages, their families, and hundreds of thousands of civilians across Gaza,” Spoljaric said.
Alexander’s mother reportedly arrived in Israel on Monday and was flown to the Re’im military base, where the two were expected to be reunited later in the evening, according to Al Jazeera’s Hamdah Salhut, reporting from Amman, Jordan, because Al Jazeera is banned from Israel.
Despite the release, Israel has made no commitment to a broader ceasefire. “There’s nothing in exchange, no release of Palestinian prisoners, no pause in the fighting,” Salhut said. “If there are going to be any sort of negotiations, they’re going to happen under fire,” Salhut added, referring to the Israeli government’s prevailing line.
Akiva Eldar, an Israeli political analyst, said Alexander’s release has spurred joy as well as frustration in Israel. “What we see is that what President Trump can do, Netanyahu is not able – or not willing – to do,” he told Al Jazeera from Tel Aviv.
The Israeli prime minister has faced widespread calls to end the Gaza war to secure the captives’ release but has said he plans to expand Israel’s offensive.
“Today is a crucial point,” Eldar explained. “Because the Israeli public is aware of the fact that if you want a deal, if you want your sons back at home, you can do it. But for that, you have to be a leader like President Trump and not like Netanyahu.”
Release changes little for devastated Palestinians
Al Jazeera’s Hind Khoudary, reporting from Deir el-Balah in central Gaza, said there seems to be no change forthcoming in Palestinians’ daily suffering: “Palestinians are devastated. They’re exhausted. Palestinian families are unable to feed their children. They’re saying their children are going to bed hungry.”
“The IPC [Integrated Food Security Phase Classification] report issued today said 93 percent of Gaza’s population is living through acute food insecurity. This is because of the blockade that has been imposed on the Gaza Strip,” Khoudary said.
“Palestinians are asking, ‘What’s next? What is this release going to bring? Are there any positive negotiations? Is there any glimpse of hope of a ceasefire?’” she added.
And the bombardment continues, Gaza’s Ministry of Health said an Israeli strike on a school-turned-shelter killed at least 15 people on Monday.
Gaza on brink of famine
Humanitarian organisations have warned that Gaza is on the verge of mass starvation. The IPC reported that half a million Palestinians face imminent famine.
According to the IPC, 70 days after Israel blocked entry of essential supplies, “goods indispensable for people’s survival are either depleted or expected to run out in the coming weeks.”
The head of the UN’s World Food Programme, Cindy McCain, urged immediate international action. “Families in Gaza are starving while the food they need is sitting at the border,” she said. “If we wait until after a famine is confirmed, it will already be too late for many people.”
Catherine Russell, Executive Director of UNICEF, also issued a stark warning. “The risk of famine does not arrive suddenly,” she said. “It unfolds in places where access to food is blocked, where health systems are decimated, and where children are left without the bare minimum to survive.”
Hunger, she added, has become “a daily reality for children across the Gaza Strip”.
Gaza assault set to continue
Netanyahu and his hardline government remain committed to escalating the military campaign in Gaza.
Far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, a key coalition partner, reiterated his position that the war must continue and humanitarian aid should be blocked from entering the territory.
“Israel has not committed to a ceasefire of any kind,” Netanyahu’s office said in a statement, claiming military pressure had compelled Hamas to release Alexander. Critics have countered that the release came about purely because of direct US contacts with Hamas.
Netanyahu met US figures, including Trump envoy Steve Witkoff and Ambassador Mike Huckabee, on Monday. His office described the meeting as a “last-ditch effort” to push forward a captive-release deal before the fighting widens.
Huckabee said Trump and his administration “hope this long-overdue release” of Alexander “marks the beginning of the end to this terrible war”.
Israel plans to send a delegation to Doha on Tuesday for talks but made clear military operations would persist. “The prime minister made it clear that negotiations would only take place under fire,” his office said.
