TWO earthquakes have rocked Granada, causing destruction across the region and the closure of popular attractions.
With a series of aftershocks also recorded, is it safe to travel to Spain? Here’s everything you need to know.
Granada in Andalusia has been affected by multiple earthquakes in the last five days.
The first earthquake hit the region over the weekend with a magnitude of 5.0 with its epicentre in Alhendín.
On August 15, a state of emergency was declared in the southern city as parts of buildings collapsed, rocks crushed cars and residents and holidaymakers were evacuated.
The tremor was felt across Andalusia and as far as Madrid, with locals reporting shakes in Malaga, Seville, Cordoba, Jaen and Almeria.
It was then followed by a series of aftershocks.
On August 18 another powerful 4.6-magnitude earthquake hit Granada which left at least three people injured.
At the very centre of the earthquake was the small town of Gojar, a municipality around five miles south of the city of Granada.
Hotels and council buildings open to the public were forced to evacuate following the scare.
In a statement on X, the Granada City Council said: “In response to the latest seismic movements recorded in the province, the Granada City Council has agreed, as a preventive measure, to the temporary closure of all municipal buildings and facilities open to the public.”
One of the attractions that closed was parts of Alhambra, a fortress which is now a popular tourist attraction.
In Calle Navas, which is one of the most popular tourist streets in the city, bars were closed as authorities were concerned about falling debris.
Granada Cathedral remains closed while its exterior is examined.
Two 4 and 4.2-magnitude aftershocks also hit nearby Churriana de la Vega and Alhendín.
The travel advice for Spain remains unchanged. You can find all general information on the official FCDO website.
Yes, Granada Federico Garcia Lorca Airport remains open with flights operating as scheduled.
As the Foreign Office has not warned against travel to Spain, there are no special circumstances in place for holidaymakers to cancel their trip and receive a full refund.
Depending on what travel insurance you have, your policy might include natural disaster cover.
If so, your insurance policy should cover you for when you are unable to reach your holiday destination due to natural disasters, like wildfires and earthquakes.
So it is worth checking your travel insurance policy.
If you want to cancel your trip or holiday, it is best to contact your airline and/or holiday provider.
Companies do not have an obligation to refund bookings unless Government advice changes.
Beirut, Lebanon – Not long after the fall of the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in December 2024, the new government was keen to hunt down members of the former regime.
Al-Assad and his brother fled the country hours before the capital Damascus fell to the advancing armed opposition, leaving many top officials and military commanders to fend for themselves.
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Many of them reportedly fled and crossed to neighbouring Lebanon where some top officials were spotted openly in capital, Beirut.
Now the Syrian government is trying to get them extradited for war crimes committed during the uprising, which began in 2011.
“We are seeking to boost the international judicial cooperation to pursue members of the former regime and extradited to Syria to complete judicial procedures and process,” judge Mustafa al-Qassem, an aide to the Syrian justice minister, said in an interview with state television.
Former officials felt they were safe in Lebanon due to their close connections with Hezbollah or their network with figures in Lebanon’s military. Some had built connections in Lebanon over the years, including during Syria’s occupation of Lebanon, which ended in 2005.
But that’s no longer the case.
Adel Issa, a former major general in al-Assad’s Syrian Army, was arrested recently in Lebanon after staff at the Syrian embassy reportedly tipped off authorities after he came in to do paperwork. A top Lebanese prosecutor announced on Tuesday that Issa would be extradited to Syria to face trial due to alleged crimes he committed during his military service.
But there are other former al-Assad regime officials who are in Lebanon and whom Syrian authorities also want returned to face justice.
Last week, al-Assad, his brother Maher and his cousin Atef Najib were all sentenced to death by a Damascus court. Bashar and Maher al-Assad were sentenced in absentia because they are in exile in Moscow, where they fled after the regime fell.
Their presence in Russia likely protects them from extradition. But the case brings to attention important issues about remaining regime figures in Lebanon and their potential extradition to Syria.
On December 8, 2024, the five-decade reign of the al-Assad regime ended when Bashar left Damascus for Moscow. As rebels entered Damascus, al-Assad fled without telling many of his top officials who then had to sort out their own escapes.
Sources with knowledge of the whereabouts of former regime members said the top figures – such as the al-Assads or the former head of the National Security Bureau Ali Mamlouk – are in Moscow or the United Arab Emirates.
However, Jamil al-Hassan, the former head of the Air Force Intelligence Directorate, is thought to be in Lebanon. Last year, media reports suggested that Syria and France have called on Lebanon to arrest and extradite al-Hassan.
Aside from him, Bassam al-Hassan, a former Republican Guard commander who was in al-Assad’s inner circle, was tracked down to a Beirut apartment by a US broadcaster last year. He had been responsible for procuring weapons and liaising with Syria’s chemical weapons programme, which the regime used against its own people.
Syrian and European sources intimately familiar with the details said most former regime officials still in Lebanon are now in Tripoli’s Jabal Mohsen neighbourhood or in parts of the northern region of Akkar, which borders Syria. Estimates on the number of former regime officials in Lebanon are imprecise, experts said, because many have either moved to third countries, sometimes with false passports, or have been smuggled back into Syria.
One source familiar with the issue, speaking on background because he wasn’t authorised to share information publicly, said that in the early days after the fall of the regime, former government figures set up training camps in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley. However, the source said, the camps have since been shut down by Hezbollah and the Lebanese army.
On August 4, Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem said his party was open to a meeting with Syria’s leadership. The group fought side by side with the al-Assad regime in Syria’s war and is, therefore, viewed negatively by many Syrians. But Hezbollah has said it has no desire for bad relations with Syria’s new government.
“Russia shelters the family and its fortunes while so far declining to fund a restoration [of the al-Assad regime], and Hezbollah, under disarmament pressure, needs calm with Damascus more than it needs a [battle on the] Syrian front,” Nanar Hawach, the International Crisis Group’s senior analyst on Syria, told Al Jazeera.
Syria has been under pressure from the United States to intervene in Lebanon against Hezbollah although experts believe Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa and his government are aware that such a move could lead to widespread regional unrest and undermine the domestic authority they are working to establish, including from figures still in Lebanon.
For years, Syria had a paternal relationship and view towards neighbouring Lebanon. The Syrian military entered Lebanon in 1976 when Bashar’s father, Hafez al-Assad, was in power and occupied large swaths of the country until 2005 when a popular uprising pushed Bashar al-Assad to withdraw his troops.
The younger al-Assad and Syria still exerted their influence in Lebanon via local allies, including Hezbollah, until the regime’s demise in 2024. Since then, Syria’s new government under al-Sharaa has indicated a willingness to have a more balanced and egalitarian relationship with Beirut.
To date, no Syrian regime figures accused of committing atrocities have been returned from Lebanon. That’s why, with extradition approved, Issa’s case could be so groundbreaking. While they have not yet faced trial, many former regime officials are either under foreign sanctions and/or worked in key regime roles that contributed to severe crimes against the Syrian people.
Earlier this year, Syrian authorities asked Lebanese security forces to hand over more than 200 senior officers who fled to Lebanon after the fall of Bashar al-Assad, according to a Reuters agency investigation that showed how the neighbouring country was a hub for insurgent plotting.
Lebanon’s parliament has passed a law to abolish capital punishment, making it the first country in the Middle East to do so. That has contributed to the controversy over the extradition process with Syria, which does apply the death penalty.
Wadih al-Asmar, cofounder and president of the Lebanese Centre for Human Rights, said a number of the Syrian officials in Lebanon would have committed crimes during the occupation period and, therefore, the Lebanese judiciary “has a duty and obligation” to prosecute some of these figures.
Al-Asmar said his organisation has received asylum requests from Syrians afraid to return to their country but none had been military figures connected to the former regime.
But other ex-regime officials, particularly those in Europe, could have those connections. And the landmark trial in Damascus last week that sentenced the al-Assad brothers and their cousin to death could be a concern for European and other states when extraditing wanted figures to Syria.
Experts said Beirut’s desire to have a positive relationship with Damascus will likely supersede human rights concerns related to the death penalty for former regime figures. Still, al-Asmar said: “Lebanon cannot, without violating international law and its own law, send back any person to a country where he can face the death penalty.”
He added: “It’s a very complicated situation, and I believe the only way out for the Lebanese government and the Syrian government with respect to the state of law is for Syria to abolish the death penalty.”
BELGIUM is currently seeing its largest wildfire on record, causing hundreds to evacuate.
Shifting winds have even caused smoke to drift as far as France and Germany as well.
The fire first started on August 14 after temperatures reached 37C.
Here’s everything you need to know about the current situation and what to do if you are due to travel to Belgium:
The wildfires in Belgium are currently concentrated in the High Fens nature reserve, which is in the Liege province in the eastern part of Belgium, close to the German border.
The reserve is Belgium’s largest nature protection.
Read more on travel inspo
Currently, surrounding impacted areas include Waimes, Bütgenbach, Jalhay and Malmedy.
Some smoke and fire is also evident near the German border in the town of Monschau.
Currently, the wildfires have impacted around 7,400 acres, making it the largest wildfire in Belgium’s history.
In parts of Waimes and Bütgenbach, around 600 residents have been evacuated so far.
Major tourist hubs such as Brussels, Bruges, Ghent and Antwerp are entirely unaffected.
However, if you are planning or due to travel to the east of Belgium or the Ardennes region, you must exercise caution.
A recent rainfall and drop in temperature has helped to slow the fire spreading, but thick smoke has drifted widely and as far as eastern France.
Visitors and residents are currently being warned to not travel to the nature reserve, hiking trails or surrounding forests in eastern Liège.
Flights are still operating as normal to Belgium.
The current fire zone is around 85 miles east of Brussels, and while the smoke has caused locals to evacuate it has not caused disruption to flights.
As the Foreign Office has not warned against travel to Belgium, there are no special circumstances in place for holidaymakers to cancel their trip and receive a full refund.
Depending on what travel insurance you have, your policy might include natural disaster cover.
If so, your insurance policy should cover you for when you are unable to reach your holiday destination due to natural disasters, such as wildfires.
So it is worth checking your travel insurance policy.
It is also worth noting, that once in Belgium, open fires, disposable barbecues and wild camping outside official campsites are banned across Wallonian forests and nature reserves at the moment.
If you want to cancel your trip or holiday, it is best to contact your airline and/or holiday provider.
Companies do not have an obligation to refund bookings unless Government advice changes.
Los Angeles mayoral candidate Nithya Raman is expected to lose her leadership role on the L.A. City Council’s Housing and Homelessness Committee, which she has chaired since 2023, according to people familiar with the situation.
Council President Marqueece Harris-Dawson is planning to announce this week that the committee will be split into a housing committee and a homelessness committee — neither of which will be led by Raman, the people said.
Harris-Dawson is a close ally of Mayor Karen Bass, whom Raman is challenging for re-election. He declined to comment.
“It’s hard to imagine that it’s not related to politics. The timing of it would be too much of a coincidence,” said Zev Yaroslavsky, a former Los Angeles City Councilmember and Los Angeles County supervisor who now serves as chair of the Los Angeles Initiative at the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs.
Raman’s campaign didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on the impending shakeup, which was reported earlier by the California Post.
The move comes at a pivotal moment in the mayor’s race on homelessness.
The city’s unsheltered homeless population increased this year after two straight years of decreases, the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority reported last month.
While the citywide number has increased, the number of homeless people living on the street in Raman’s district decreased by 49%, a fact she has touted as she challenges Bass.
Raman and Bass have presented starkly different takes regarding the situation citywide and in Raman’s district.
The mayor has posited that her signature program, Inside Safe, which addresses homeless encampments by moving homeless individuals into temporary housing, was largely responsible for the drop in Raman’s district and that federal and state budget cuts partially led to the increase citywide.
She also attacked Raman’s performance as the chair of the Housing and Homelessness Committee.
“While Raman takes credit for the City’s work in her district, ignoring the fact that she’s the Chair of the Homelessness & Housing Committee for ALL of Los Angeles, Mayor Bass is working to move our city forward and address years of neglect,” said Bass’ campaign spokesperson Alex Stack in a statement last month about the homeless numbers.
Raman claimed that there have only been three Inside Safe operations in her district and that her committee has been stifled by inaction from the mayor.
“Council can pass legislation… move motions forward, but it is the mayor that has charge of the implementation and outcomes, she said at a press conference last month.
Abigail Aguirre has been sleeping terribly.
Too many times, she said, residents of a nearby homeless encampment have partied late into the night — sometimes yelling, sometimes blasting music. The noise is especially hard on her husband, who frequently leaves for his job before 5 a.m.
“Oh my God, they don’t let us sleep,” said Aguirre, whose home sits just east of the 110 Freeway in South Los Angeles. “They do drugs in there. They play the loud music. They don’t care.”
Three years ago, workers with Mayor Karen Bass’ Inside Safe program moved dozens of homeless people from Aguirre’s neighborhood into nearby hotels and motels. Sanitation crews cleared the streets and sidewalks of trash.
But more people, and their tents, kept arriving, not just near Aguirre’s home but on many of the east-west streets that pass over the 110 south of downtown: 43rd, 49th, 51st and Vernon Avenue, to name a few.
About This Story
The Times’ reporting on Mayor Karen Bass’ Inside Safe program was undertaken as part of the USC Annenberg Center for Health Journalism’s 2025 Data Fellowship.
Unsheltered homelessness — people living on the street or in their vehicles — went up nearly 8% citywide in this year’s homeless count, dealing a setback to Bass, who is running for reelection and has made homelessness a core part of her agenda.
The streets that line the 110 Freeway between 42nd and 58th are a potent symbol of the challenges facing Bass and her program. According to records obtained by The Times, outreach workers carried out Inside Safe operations 25 times on that one-mile stretch during her first three years as mayor, returning again and again to bring people indoors.
Frank Gordon, 51, has been living on Cahuenga Boulevard at the 101 Freeway in Hollywood. Mayor Karen Bass’ Inside Safe program has moved people indoors from that location several times since 2022.
During one operation, Inside Safe brought 42 people inside. A month later, 54 more people came indoors. On other occasions, progress was measured in single digits: two people during one visit, five on another, eight on the next.
Despite those efforts, many of the overpasses and side streets still have encampments. Things have been especially grim on the 51st Street overpass, where tents, makeshift structures and huge mounds of trash lined the sidewalks. In the street, a refrigerator missing a door was on its back, overflowing with garbage.
Joel Galarza, who lives in a house nearby, said the encampment has brought crime, fires, prostitution, open-air drug use and other problems. In May, a man was found stabbed on the overpass.
Galarza said his family has called the city and the LAPD many times, only to see the situation get worse.
“It feels like there’s no more hope, that your voice doesn’t matter,” he said.
Since taking office, Bass has made the removal of street encampments a top priority, arguing that they are unsafe both for unhoused residents and for the neighbors. She said early on that Angelenos will not view her work as a success until their communities are free of tents.
Inside Safe, her signature homeless program, has moved more than 6,200 people into hotels, motels and other interim housing. But by June 30, 43% of them were back on the street, with some getting kicked out and others walking away.
Los Angeles City Councilmember Traci Park, left, and residents of Venice thank Mayor Karen Bass in 2023 for overseeing efforts to move more than 100 people into temporary housing from sidewalks in Venice.
Bass, in an interview, said she understands the frustration of people who live near the encampments. She said she hopes to overhaul the city’s approach to the crisis in the coming months by securing greater control over services such as medical care, addiction treatment and case management.
At the same time, she contends that her administration has made major strides, keeping about 80% of the locations visited by Inside Safe free of tents in recent weeks.
“Inside Safe has been a success in terms of getting people off the streets and clearing encampments,” Bass said. “What Inside Safe has not been able to do is reach the scale that is needed.”
Bass said Inside Safe has conducted 137 encampment operations so far, when many more are needed. To expand the program’s reach, the city will need to move away from expensive hotels and motels and toward high-quality homeless shelters, the mayor said.
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1. A man sits with his belongings on Cahuenga Boulevard under the 101 freeway in Hollywood. (Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times) 2. A torn copy of a notice announcing a cleanup of homeless encampments hangs from a stop sign along Grand Avenue at 51st Street in South Los Angeles. (Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times)
The repopulation issues have not been limited to the 110 corridor. By December, the end of Bass’ third year, 23 Inside Safe areas across the city — about a fifth of the total at that time — had received at least five visits from the mayor’s outreach team, records show.
Inside Safe went to a handful of streets just east of MacArthur Park 10 times over two years. In Hollywood, around Franklin and Argyle avenues, the program conducted eight operations over 18 months.
By the fourth quarter of 2025, 80% of Inside Safe encampment operations — 36 out of 45 — involved areas that had repopulated, records show. Nine were new to the program.
City Councilmember Nithya Raman, who is running for mayor against Bass, said Inside Safe is ineffective and too expensive, forcing taxpayers to pay a premium to “shuffle people around rather than get them housed for good.”
“When 40% of the people who participated in the program return to homelessness, and some locations need repeat outreach visits five, 10, even 25 times, it tells us that something is wrong,” she said in a statement.
Bass and her team said many of the most problem-plagued Inside Safe locations are at freeway overpasses, which are attractive to homeless people because they provide shelter from scorching summer sun and the winter’s pouring rain. Freeways and industrial areas are also popular because they provide some degree of privacy, they said.
In some cases, people move to an Inside Safe location hoping to be offered housing, just as previous residents were, Bass said.
In other cases, she said, people have returned to the street because they need intensive care, such as a psychiatric bed. Those beds, which are provided by L.A. County, are not always available, Bass said.
Estela Lopez, head of the Downtown Industrial Business Improvement District, which represents businesses in Skid Row, said repopulation happens for a simple reason: a lack of enforcement. Once an encampment is cleared and people are moved indoors, police should be allowed to enforce city laws and make sure an area stays clear, she said.
A pedestrian walks into the street to get around a homeless encampment on Alameda Street. The Inside Safe program went to that area 12 times over a single year.
Lopez said she regularly receives complaints about a row of encampments on Alameda Street between 4th and 6th streets. Inside Safe visited that two-block stretch 12 times last year, records show.
Last month, the area had about a dozen tents, which forced pedestrians to leave the sidewalk and walk on Alameda, where large trucks travel to and from nearby industrial businesses.
Lopez offered another reason that homeless people keep coming back.
“That’s where the drugs are,” she said. “It’s Skid Row, and Skid Row is where the drugs are, and has the fewest consequences for open-air drug use and sales.”
Bass’ first Inside Safe operation, more than three years ago, hit a stretch of Cahuenga Boulevard under the 101 Freeway in Hollywood, an area represented by Raman.
Inside Safe went to Cahuenga and the 101 six times over 18 months, according to the city’s records. Two blocks south, the program made five separate visits to Franklin and Cahuenga.
Frank Gordon said that he and his girlfriend lived in an RV on Cahuenga next to the 101 during the COVID era, when the streets were lined with encampments. Outreach workers eventually moved them into the Stuart Hotel in Westlake, he said.
From there, the couple relocated to the Highland Gardens, a hotel in Raman’s district converted into homeless housing. Gordon said they left the facility after one of their rooms was destroyed in a fire, going to yet another interim housing site.
Last month, they were back at Cahuenga and the 101. He called it “familiar ground.”
Sanitation crews remove belongings from a homeless encampment during an Inside Safe operation on Laurel Canyon Blvd. in North Hollywood in March.
Kevin Paz, who has been sleeping on the 51st Street overpass in South L.A., said he used to live a few blocks away. He still has friends in the area, including high school classmates.
“It made more sense to stay here than to live anywhere else,” he said.
Seated on the overpass on a swelteringly hot day, the 32-year-old said he picked his particular strip of sidewalk for the shade it gets from the elevated 110 Freeway carpool lane. He said he would accept a motel room if offered one.
“Honestly, nobody wakes up in the morning and says, ‘Hey, I wanna go live on that street,’” he said.
Bass’ team has highlighted the scores of locations where encampments have not returned. They pointed to the success of an Inside Safe operation at 6th and Fairfax, where the sidewalk was later narrowed and new landscaping was planted, making it difficult to camp there.
West of downtown, streets and sidewalks also remain clear around Angelus Rosedale Cemetery, where 48 people were brought indoors in April 2025. To keep people from living in their cars at that location, city crews turned a stretch of Washington Boulevard into a no-parking zone, Bass’ team said.
Even some places that had severe repopulation issues are now clear of tents.
In Harbor City, Inside Safe went to the same intersection a dozen times between 2023 and 2025. That location has been free of encampments for 17 months, said Councilmember Tim McOsker, who represents the area.
McOsker credited the mayor’s team, as well as his staff, for going to the location over and over to offer interim housing to new arrivals. He also asked a group that delivers glass pipes and clean hypodermic needles to relocate, saying the service was attracting newcomers to an area that had been cleared.
In Baldwin Hills, Inside Safe workers went to Jim Gilliam Park 14 times over three years. Last week, encampments no longer occupied the grassy area around the tennis courts on La Brea Avenue or the sidewalks along the nearby Michelle and Barack Obama Sports Complex.
Johnnie Raines III, who serves on the local neighborhood council, knows some of the people Inside Safe brought indoors. He said the program has been “life-changing” for them.
Still, Raines, 79, has no illusions about the challenges the city faces.
“If you house these three people that are in this space today, three more will show up,” he said. “That doesn’t mean that you were not successful in housing the first three people. That just means that three more people come.”
Elmer Roldan, who lives in South Los Angeles, points out the spot where an encampment burned on Grand Avenue near 54th Street.
In the neighborhoods that abut the 110 in South L.A., some residents have lost patience.
Elmer Roldan, who lives on 55th Street, said some of his homeless neighbors have been causing fires — sometimes by accident, sometimes on purpose. Earlier this year, he called 911 after seeing a man set fire to vines hanging from the freeway’s sound wall.
Roldan, who ran unsuccessfully for City Council in June, said he sees plenty of people living in their vehicles, but fewer tents. Still, he said, it’s been demoralizing to have so many come back.
“I certainly don’t want it to get worse,” he said.
Times staff writer Doug Smith contributed to this report.
Even though it was late October, I couldn’t help but feel jealous as I watched my best friend Jenny swim into the calm, clear water of the American River near downtown Sacramento.
I was in town to cheer Jenny on as she competed in a long-distance triathlon. Although the race was such a fun experience, that moment on that tree-lined river bank stuck with me. In my home state of Oklahoma, I regularly swam in lakes and kayaked and rafted in rivers. But freshwater recreational opportunities were harder to come by once I moved to L.A.
This all led me to wonder: Will it ever be safe to swim in the Los Angeles River?
A large white bird stands along the L.A. River in the Glendale Narrows area of the waterway near Elysian Valley a.k.a. Frogtown.
(Jaclyn Cosgrove / Los Angeles Times)
This felt like an especially relevant time to discuss this question, as Friends of the L.A. River will host its annual (free!) RiverFest this Sunday from 2:30 to 7:30 p.m. at L.A. State Historic Park in Chinatown. This year also marks the organization’s 40th birthday.
After reading this edition of The Wild, our weekly outdoors newsletter, I hope you feel as fired up as I do about how we can work toward a day when the answer to my question is “Yes!” But we aren’t there yet. Let’s explore why.
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The L.A. River is a 51-mile waterway that flows from the confluence of Bell Creek and Arroyo Calabasas in Canoga Park, ending in Long Beach as it flows into San Pedro Bay near the Queen Mary.
Candice Dickens-Russell, chief executive at Friends of the L.A. River, told me that her organization’s founder spent decades trying to persuade Angelenos to understand that our local watercourse was not a manmade concrete flood channel but actually a river that has been surrounded by concrete.
“I’m feeling like we’re at a tipping point for people to understand that the L.A. River is really a river, which is wonderful because our founder spent his entire life trying to get people to understand that,” she said.
Channelization of the L.A. River started in the mid-1930s after a number of devastating floods and was completed in 1960.
In an early 1936 article, Times real estate editor Charles C. Cohan seemingly praised the channelizing of a nine-mile stretch of the river from Fletcher Drive westerly to Lankershim Boulevard, calling it “one of the greatest stream-channel transformations ever undertaken in the West.”
Ducks hang out in the Glendale Narrows area of the L.A. River.
(Jaclyn Cosgrove / Los Angeles Times)
Cohan went on to write: “Men and machinery directed by the United States Army engineers are changing that vitally important length of the river from an irresponsible water course into a far larger, thoroughly conditioned channel that will be a vitally important flood protection while at the time conforming to the well-ordered, picturesque region through which it passes.”
It didn’t have to be this way.
Before the devastating flooding of 1938, the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce commissioned two major landscape architecture firms in 1927 to develop a report analyzing how the region could develop more parkland in an already park-poor city.
“The report imagined an ‘emerald necklace,’ an urban paradise of parks and rivers and open spaces and public beaches encircling L.A. County, and it also laid out the practical, political and financial mechanisms to make it happen,” Times columnist Patt Morrison wrote in May.
The Glendale Narrows area of the L.A. River.
(Jaclyn Cosgrove / Los Angeles Times)
The report’s authors wrote about how flood-prone land would make for better park space than business and residential developments, as anything built in these areas would inevitably be damaged during floods. The parks could also serve as their own kind of protection.
“Parkways along the river were intended to reduce the need for structural flood protection features,” according to a 2001 state report.
For political and financial reasons explored in the book “Eden by Design,” that plan was shelved and long forgotten after it was published in 1930. Around 1938, local officials worked with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to channelize the L.A. River, literally paving the way for what we experience today and what we’ve seen on film in everything from “Grease” to “Drive.”
In recent years, local groups have started advocating for a “rewilding” of the L.A. River, removing some level of concrete and instead using our natural environment and watershed as a means of flood control.
A large bird that appears to be a type of heron flies over the L.A. River.
(Jaclyn Cosgrove / Los Angeles Times)
“If we develop and retrofit land to capture water, we can reduce the intensity of flood waters and peel back concrete to enable all of the essential functions healthy rivers and soil provide,” according to the local nonprofit the River Project.
This would certainly also change the swimming experience to a much more natural opportunity, rather than feeling like you’re floating about in a large, flowing swimming pool.
The future of the river becoming swimmable, though, depends in large part on how much water is left for recreation, a complicated equation for officials to develop in a region constantly grappling with how to rely less on imported water.
A person rests in the shade of trees along the L.A. River.
(Jaclyn Cosgrove / Los Angeles Times)
Presently, the L.A. River is fed, in part, by rain and snowmelt in the wet months.
In the dry months, its main water source is three water reclamation plants that release tertiary treated water into the river. “These plants take all the wastewater from apartment buildings, houses and commercial operations and cleans it. Some of that water is used for irrigation at city parks and golf courses. Some feeds Lake Balboa,” my former Times colleague Deborah Netburn wrote in 2018. “But most of it — more than 30 million gallons each day — ends up in the river.”
Dickens-Russell of Friends of the L.A. River said for the last three years, she has sat alongside leaders from government agencies, local nonprofits and more to discern, among other things, just how much water our river needs. (For my fellow nerds who want to Google their hearts out, the full name of this effort is the Los Angeles River California Environmental Flows Framework Project, or CEFF.)
The Glendale Narrows is one of three soft-bottomed areas of the L.A. River.
(Jaclyn Cosgrove / Los Angeles Times)
For example, the L.A. River has three soft-bottomed areas where plant and animal life thrives. If the river were starved of reclaimed water in the dry months, what would happen to those ecosystems?
“No one is saying the river doesn’t need water — there is no debate about whether there should be water in the river — the debate is … how much water does the river need?” Dickens-Russell said. “We’re trying to establish that baseline.”
The CEFF group will meet for the last time in less than two weeks, and afterward, its members will send their findings to the state water board, which oversees any changes to river flow in California, she said.
The Glendale Narrows area of the L.A. River.
(Jaclyn Cosgrove / Los Angeles Times)
Even as officials discern the amount of the water the river needs for its multitude of uses, the L.A. River also has to be clean enough to swim in.
And humans and our behaviors are one of the biggest reasons our river water becomes polluted.
When it rains in cities, that water runs off buildings, driveways and roads, picking up fertilizer from our yards and farmlands, motor oil spilled on our streets and highways, pesticides sprayed on our plants, dirt and bacteria. This untreated runoff makes its way through storm drains and ditches into our local streams and rivers and eventually, the ocean.
Additionally, for years, runoff from industrial sites along the river have added to the problem, an effort that’s been highlighted as climate justice activists work to develop the former Taylor Yard, a railroad maintenance yard, into a park.
This is all part of a much larger problem beyond the banks of the L.A. River. “Polluted runoff is one of the greatest threats to clean water in the U.S.,” according to the federal Environmental Protection Agency.
The river is especially gnarly after its so-called “first flush,” when L.A. experiences its first big rain after a lengthy dry spell, and everything that’s built up on our roadways flows into the river.
A sunflower-like plant resembling California brittlebush grows among invasive plants in the L.A. River.
(Jaclyn Cosgrove / Los Angeles Times)
Addressing this pollution to the extent that would make the L.A. River swimmable is not an impossible task, but it’s one that would require significant investment in our local infrastructure — like implementing creative solutions to keep out or remove trash from the river. That’s where public opinion and advocacy come into play, Dickens-Russell said.
Cities across the world like Portland and Copenhagen have successfully transformed their urban rivers into green spaces that offer reprieve from intense and increasingly frequent heat waves in our climate-changed world. Unlike Paris, which made a $1.5-billion investment in cleaning the Seine, our river won’t be ready — unless something substantial changes — for the 2028 Olympics.
The possibility of swimming in the L.A. River, though, is far from a new idea.
“Towards a swimmable, fishable, boatable river,” read the first page of the Friends of the L.A. River’s first “State of the Los Angeles River” report, published in 2005.
Lino Jubilado using a tenkara-style fly fishing rod in the L.A. River in Long Beach.
(Jerry Hsu / For The Times)
Swimming in our river isn’t going to happen with just “one good project,” but instead a mix of people changing their behaviors and also pushing for change, Dickens-Russell said.
“Looking at your question, ‘When will we be able to swim in the L.A. River?’” Dickens-Russell said, “I don’t know that that’s the question. I think the question is what we’re willing to invest to make that possible. A swimmable river is an achievable goal, but it’s going to require sustained investment in water quality and things like habitat restoration and safe and equitable public access. Every project that reduces pollution and restores natural function brings us a little bit closer to that. And yeah, we should be planning for a future where Angelenos can safely swim in the L.A. River. Why not?”
While digging through The Times’ archives for this story, I found a new visual of a river to inspire me: Three boys swimming in the L.A. River in 1936.
“Viewing the dusty Los Angeles River bed last week no one would have thought of swimming in connection with it,” the caption read. “But yesterday Bob Henderson, Stanley Hayden and Archer Bolton frolicked in the flood waters near Bell, thanks to the week-end rain.”
Ninety years later, I’m dreaming of one day doing the same. How long will that take exactly? It’s up to all of us to find out.
Hikers learn about their local ecosystem on a previous hike with environmental educator Jason Wise and others.
(Jason Wise)
1. Celebrate the full spectrum of the animal kingdom in L.A.
Environmental educator Jason Wise and biological anthropologist Natalia Reagan will host a sunset queer ecology walk from 6 to 8 p.m. Aug. 13 in Griffith Park. The co-hosts will dive deep into the world of animal homosexuality, bisexuality, asexuality, polyamory and more. Suggested donation of $30. Register at eventbrite.com.
2. Churn up hills in L.A.
Labyrinth, a trail run club, will host Dirt & Dessert from 7:30 to 10 a.m. Saturday in Griffith Park. Participants will tackle a 5K trail run while churning their own ice cream. Runners should bring their own bag, vest or backpack to hold ice cream-making materials, which will be included in the $14 event fee. Register at eventbrite.com.
3. Nurture native habitat in Northeast L.A.
We Explore Earth needs volunteers from 8 to 10:30 a.m. Saturday at Ascot Hills Park to beautify the park’s hillsides and trails. Participants will remove invasive species and support native habitat recovery. Register at eventbrite.com.
Marc Papas cycles past graffiti next to the L.A. River.
(Kayla Bartkowski / Los Angeles Times)
Cyclist Marc Papas is on a mission to bike every public street in L.A., an estimated 7,516.07 miles. Papas moved to L.A. in late 2020 after completing his PhD at Georgia Tech, freelance journalist Oren Peleg wrote for The Times. Papas was initially scared to ride his bike around L.A., fearful of all he’d been told about our city’s car-filled and dangerous streets. Then he found himself asking: “With perfect weather year-round, and a mostly flat topography, why wasn’t everyone in L.A. riding bikes?” His passion evolved into “The Project,” of which he’s already ridden over 78% (about 5,840 miles) of our city’s streets.
Who else feels inspired to jump on their bike?
Happy adventuring,
After my friend Maria told me she’d signed up for $10 kayaking classes after learning about them from my Instagram Stories, it made me realize that there were likely many others who’d like to know that information. L.A. County Parks and Recreation is hosting stand-up paddleboard and kayaking classes, and they’re only $10 per session. Instructors will teach participants about proper paddling technique, balance and coordination, and water safety. The classes will be offered at Santa Fe Dam, Bonelli Regional Park and Castaic Lake. August classes have sold out at Santa Fe Dam and Bonelli, but several spots remain at Castaic Lake, which sits north of L.A. and offers amazing views of the San Gabriel Mountains. Sign up by searching “kayak” or “stand” on the county’s activity registration website. A great way to have fun and stay cool this summer!
For more insider tips on Southern California’s beaches, trails and parks, check out past editions of The Wild. And to view this newsletter in your browser, click here.
Eighty-three lawsuits filed against the Trump administration in 18 months, at a cost of more than $20 million.
California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta announced those stats this week, part of an annual report to the Legislature on how we’re spending a special fund set aside to combat President Trump’s overreach.
That doesn’t include more than 120 friend of the court briefs the Golden State has written in legal matters brought by others, or the multitude of cases in which the Trump administration has sued California and Bonta’s office is defending us.
That’s a whole lot of litigation. Is it worth it? Are we huffing and puffing for political points, or do all these lawsuits actually do something positive for the average Californian?
I’m going to sound like a bus bench ad for the legal profession, but, at this point, “the courts are standing as the only barrier to the president doing anything that the president wants to do,” Hiroshi Motomura, a professor of law at UCLA, told me.
And what the president apparently wants to do is make the poor and vulnerable poorer and more vulnerable. And don’t think there’s a middle-class exemption. In his second term, Trump has attacked healthcare coverage, special education, education in general, reproductive rights, gender rights, the environment, endangered species, immigrants and more.
“The disastrous impact of Trump’s lawlessness isn’t theoretical or hypothetical. It’s not imagined. It is real. It is hurting real people,” Bonta said. “It is hurting Californians, real families, real businesses, real communities every single day.”
You name it, if it’s not rich and connected, it’s probably under attack. President Lyndon B. Johnson launched a very different war on poverty in 1964 with social programs such as Medicare, Medicaid and Head Start. This new war on poverty seems intent on increasing it, not eradicating it.
It would be nearly impossible for the people affected by these attacks on government services to fight them on their own, said Richard Abel, a professor emeritus of law at UCLA and the author of multiple books on the Trump presidency.
“They don’t know why it’s happening,” he said. “They don’t have access to lawyers. Many of them are undocumented or afraid to mobilize the legal system.”
That leaves the states, which are often the only other entities that have a legal right to sue, because they too are being harmed by the cuts.
So yeah, our $20 million is well spent. Bonta said his legal work has protected about $207 billion in funding. But I’ll argue the true return on investment is California residents who have been protected in ways they don’t even realize.
Take Massachusetts vs. Department of Agriculture, one of the cases California is involved in. This is Trump’s attempt to put new rules on USDA grants for food programs including emergency food assistance, school lunches and food stamps. It would tie compliance with his right-wing, discriminatory policies on immigration, gender ideology and diversity issues to receiving those funds.
California and other states sued and won a preliminary injunction stopping them in June — meaning most recipients kept their benefits without ever realizing they were at risk.
Then there’s New York vs. Administration for Children & Families, in which Trump goes after child welfare funds; Washington vs. Department of Education, which attacks mental health grants that help hire school psychologists and counselors; and Illinois vs. Vought, which targets California and three other states run by Democrats for cuts to transportation and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention funding for no other reason than politics, the states argue.
Food benefits, access to mental health care, lead poisoning prevention. Just a few more things most of us didn’t realize could be at risk for some of us.
In each of those cases, Bonta and the other Democratic attorneys general stopped the federal actions, even if only temporarily. Some of those cases are ongoing, but with restraining orders or injunctions in place.
Then there’s United States vs. Baass, Trump’s attempt to force Michelle Baass, the director of the California Department of Health Care Services, to turn over a bunch of applications for Medi-Cal benefits for the last five years so the federal government can go on a witch hunt for undocumented folks.
Supposedly these applications, which Baass and her agency were subpoenaed for, are needed for an immigration investigation in the Central Valley. California won in court in March, when a judge denied the federal government’s petition to enforce that subpoena.
Now, the feds are appealing to the 9th Circuit — and California continues to fight to protect the privacy and maybe even safety of the residents who just needed medical care, but could see their sensitive information, including addresses, turned over to immigration authorities if Trump had his way.
How could they possibly fight that on their own?
Then there’s a lawsuit in which Trump is trying to prevent California from continuing to give in-state tuition to Dreamers — undocumented immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as youngsters.
In battles such as that one, fought because it’s the right thing to do, Motomura sees a benefit greater than just protecting funding.
It forces us to push back against the federal government’s framing that immigration is “about invaders, you know, climbing walls,” Motomura said.
“This is about people who live in our communities,” he said. “And I think that when Bonta claims that space, he’s not just pushing back. He’s saying, ‘Let’s think about this in terms of building stronger communities,’ and I think that’s a significant shift.”
The rule of law may be battered and bruised, and even at times a bit hinky. But so far, it has held — in no small part because of Democratic attorneys general like Bonta who aren’t just filing lawsuits but have built the staffs and networks to do it effectively. It’s a much larger effort than we give it credit for, but one that has fundamentally protected our everyday lives so well that many have barely noticed the wolves at the door.
I’m sure there will be losses, wolves that crawl through windows, and we will all feel the bite of that. But 83 lawsuits will soon likely be 84, 94, whatever it takes to protect Californians.
Each one is a fight worth having, because every Californian is worth fighting for.
George Skelton and Michael Wilner cover the insights, legislation, players and politics you need to know. In your inbox Monday and Thursday mornings.
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The must-read: From decorated U.S. Marine to arrested at Trump golf course: What we know about Jeanine John Taele
The deep dive: The obscure financial maneuver at issue in Dodgers owner probe explained
The L.A. Times Special: New park under neglected 6th Street Bridge stirs up hope, Boyle Heights gentrification fears
Stay Golden,
Anita Chabria
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GREECE continues to be affected by the wildfires hat have already seen thousands evacuated across Europe.
A dry climate along with strong and high winds have been causing fires to spread quickly – so here is everything you need to know about the latest travel advice.
Currently, some of the worst wildfires in Greece are concentrated around the regions of both Boeotia (Viotia) and West Attica, which is west of Athens.
Over the weekend, firefighters have been on the front line trying to control the blaze which has been picked up due to high winds.
Yesterday, two crew members onboard firefighting helicopters died as they collided while trying to extinguish the flames.
There are active fires near Agios Nektarios, Megara, and Mount Kithairon.
It’s not just the mainland, as the Greek islands have been affected too.
Crete has seen huge fires, particularly in the Rethymno area, with thousands of residents and tourists being evacuated for safety.
On the island, more than 5,700 hectares of land have been burnt.
Fires have also broken out on the islands of Paros, Lesvos, Andros and Kalymnos.
Yesterday, a wildfire in the south of Kefalonia forced evacuations late at night as the fire spread through multiple villages.
Earlier in the week, a firefighter died after battling flames near the Peloponnese port town of Gytheio.
Kyriakos Mitsotakis, the Greek Prime Minister, has warned of “extremely difficult” days ahead.
There is a further threat of more fires as wind gusts have exceeded 78mph in the last few days.
The UK Foreign Office (FCDO) hasn’t issued any specific warning regarding the wildfires in Greece, but does have some advice.
It does read: “There is a high risk of wildfires during the summer season from April to October. Ensure that your mobile phone is registered to receive emergency alerts to warn you of wildfires near your location.”
The advice from GOV.UK says:
“Wildfires are highly dangerous and unpredictable. The situation can change quickly.
“To avoid starting wildfires:
“Causing a wildfire or a forest fire is a criminal offence in Greece – even if unintentional. If you see a fire, call the emergency services on 112.
“Be cautious if you are in or near an area affected by wildfires:
Flights to airports such Athens International Airport and Heraklion in Crete remain unaffected.
If you are due to fly in and have concerns, it may be worth contacting your airline to check if they are operating normally.
If you do choose to cancel your trip, it is best to contact your airline or holiday provider.
There is no obligation for companies to refund bookings unless government advice changes.
The jet went down near the Miramar airbase in San Diego and aerial video showed a plume of black smoke rising from the wreckage in a dirt field.
Published On 1 Aug 20261 Aug 2026
An F-35B stealth fighter plane has crashed in California, but its pilot ejected and is expected to survive, the US Marine Corps said.
The jet went down on Friday near the Miramar airbase in San Diego. “The pilot ejected, was transported to a local medical facility in stable condition for evaluation and treatment of non-life-threatening injuries,” the Marine Corps said in a statement.
list of 3 itemsend of list
Aerial video from a news helicopter showed a plume of black smoke rising from the wreckage in a dirt field, with multiple military and firefighting vehicles and people standing nearby. What appeared to be white flame retardant covered the ground, and at least one person was spraying the wreckage with a fire hose.
Candace Hadley, a spokesperson for San Diego Fire, said firefighters were on scene to respond to a vegetation fire that sparked near the crash site. She referred additional questions to Marine Corps Air Station Miramar.
The base used to host the Navy fighter pilot training school depicted in the original Top Gun movie and was known as “Fightertown USA” in its heyday. The school was relocated to Naval Air Station Fallon in Nevada in 1996 after the base was transferred to the Marine Corps.
The US Marine Corps, Navy and Air Force together have more than 630 F-35s, according to a 2024 analysis by the Government Accountability Office. The F-35B is one of several versions, and has an engine designed for short takeoffs and vertical landings. A single F-35B costs about $109m. The report estimated that the overall F-35 programme will cost roughly $2 trillion after the military buys more than 1,800 more jets and operates them for decades to come.
At least seven other military aircraft have crashed in the United States this year, according to the Flight Safety Foundation’s Aviation Safety Network database.
The most serious incident involved a B-52 bomber that crashed shortly after taking off in California’s Mojave Desert in June, killing all eight people on board.
WILDFIRES are continuing to sweep across Europe and Turkey is one of the latest countries to battle the blazes.
Here’s everything you need to know right now about travelling to Turkey.
Fires have broken out in various parts of Turkey.
One location which is popular for holidays is Antalya, and within the province there are multiple wildfires.
Currently, these are further inland than the coastal resorts popular with tourists.
The Fethiye–Antalya highway was temporarily closed due to smoke but later reopened under controlled conditions.
Another serious and active fire is in Seydikemer, 20-minutes away from the city of Fethiye, where 600 people have been evacuated from their homes.
It’s in the hills between Fethiye and Marmaris – the fire started on Wednesday morning and spread into woodland.
On the northwestern Aegean coast, three neighborhoods in the Ayvalık district – Hacıveliler, Tıfıllar, and Bağyüzü – have been evacuated.
This is as a precaution due to a wildfire spreading across Turkey’s western Balıkesir province.
Agriculture Minister Ibrahim Yumakli said on X: “We are continuing to fight the wildfires day and night.
He said emergency responders had tackled 169 fires across the country since Wednesday, and 163 of those have “been completely brought under control.”
Most of Turkey is still considered safe to travel to, excluding the areas of the Syrian-Turkey border.
But officials do heed warning about the natural disaster as there is a “high risk of wildfires during the summer season from April to October”.
It reads: “Wildfires happen frequently in Turkey during summer.
“You could get a fine or prison sentence for lighting a fire of any kind or discarding cigarettes in risk areas such as woodland. Look out for signs that tell you fires, barbeques, and smoking are prohibited.
“If there is a wildfire in your area, local authorities may tell you to leave your accommodation. Follow the directions of local authorities.
“If you see a wildfire, call emergency services on 112.”
GOV.UK adds that “extreme temperatures can affect many areas of Turkey over the summer months.”
Flights to Turkey remain unaffected.
If you are due to fly in and have concerns, it may be worth contacting your airline to check if they are operating normally.
As the Foreign Office has not warned against travel to Greece, there are no special circumstances in place for holidaymakers to cancel their trip and receive a full refund.
Depending on what travel insurance you have, your policy might include natural disaster cover.
If so, your insurance policy should cover you for when you are unable to reach your holiday destination due to natural disasters, like wildfires.
So it is worth checking your travel insurance policy.
If you do choose to cancel your trip, it is best to contact your airline or holiday provider.
There is no obligation for companies to refund bookings unless government advice changes.
Three times in three decades, Qana's shelters were bombed. AJLabs tracks a village the Israeli military keeps hitting.
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CRETE is the latest destination to be struck by wildfires and with it being a holiday hotspot for Brits, lots are asking – is it still safe to travel to?
Here’s everything you need to know right now about travelling to the Greek island.
The majority of the wildfires in Crete are on the south of the island.
On Wednesday, a large fire broke out in the south of the Rethymno regional unit where around 8,000 people have been evacuated.
A large fire is being tackled near the villages of Krya Vrysi, Orne and the coastal resort of Agia Galini.
Hotels in Rethymno have been placed on high alert.
It’s believed the fire that has been exacerbated by 125km per hour winds has destroyed a number of homes in the area.
According to the BBC, it’s one of the biggest active fires on the island, with its front exceeding 9.3miles.
Hundreds of residents and tourists were evacuated from Krya Vrysi on Wednesday.
Hundreds of firefighters have been deployed to battle the blaze, and two sadly died on Wednesday during high winds in Crete.
Forecasters warn fire-prone conditions will spread towards the centre of Europe this week, with Greece among one of the places most affected.
The travel advice for Greece remains unchanged.
But there are warnings on being prepared for wildfires which are “high risk” between April and October.
The advice from GOV.UK reads:
“Ensure that your mobile phone is registered to receive emergency alerts to be warned of wildfires near your location.
“Wildfires are highly dangerous and unpredictable. The situation can change quickly.
“To avoid starting wildfires:
“Causing a wildfire or a forest fire is a criminal offence in Greece – even if unintentional. If you see a fire, call the emergency services on 112.
“Be cautious if you are in or near an area affected by wildfires:
Flights to Crete remain unaffected.
If you are due to fly in and have concerns, it may be worth contacting your airline to check if they are operating normally.
As the Foreign Office has not warned against travel to Greece, there are no special circumstances in place for holidaymakers to cancel their trip and receive a full refund.
Depending on what travel insurance you have, your policy might include natural disaster cover.
If so, your insurance policy should cover you for when you are unable to reach your holiday destination due to natural disasters, like wildfires.
So it is worth checking your travel insurance policy.
If you do choose to cancel your trip, it is best to contact your airline or holiday provider.
There is no obligation for companies to refund bookings unless government advice changes.
Robert Way
Nvidia (NVDA) announced on Monday that it is teaming up with Safe Superintelligence, the new artificial intelligence lab created by former OpenAI (OPENAI) co-founder Ilya Sutskever, in a “long-term strategic partnership.”
Separately, Nvidia has made an additional investment in Safe Superintelligence. The
Los Angeles City Councilmember Nithya Raman, who is running for mayor against incumbent Karen Bass, seized on significant decreases in street homelessness in her district Friday while blasting increases citywide.
Street homelessness — people living outdoors or in their vehicles — went down by 49% in Raman’s district compared to the previous year, she said at a press conference Friday.
Citywide, street homelessness increased nearly 8%, while overall homelessness, which includes those living in shelters and other temporary facilities, increased 3.4%, according to numbers from the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority’s January point-in-time count that were released Friday.
The contrast between her district and the city overall offered Raman an angle to present herself as more effectively handling the homelessness crisis than Bass.
An estimated 45,194 homeless people live in the city, with about 36% of them in shelters, according to LAHSA.
“Far fewer people living outside. Far more people indoors,” Raman, who has served on the council since 2020 and is chair of the City Council’s housing and homelessness committee, said at the press conference. “As mayor, that is the approach, and the results, that I want to deliver citywide.”
The numbers across the city were a setback for Bass, who has made homelessness one of her signature issues and previously touted two straight years of drops in street homelessness.
Raman cited her office’s homelessness team and their “aggressive interventionist” approach as reasons her district — which extends from Los Feliz and Silver Lake into Studio City, Sherman Oaks and other parts of the San Fernando Valley — did not suffer the same increases as other parts of the city.
She said her team is very familiar with homeless individuals in the district and knows many by name. The team tracks homeless encampments on a map and makes sure that empty shelter beds are filled, she said.
Bass’ campaign said Raman was attacking the mayor’s Inside Safe program, which moves homeless people from the streets to shelter and motel beds, at the same time that it contributed to the decreases in her district.
Raman has critiqued Inside Safe as too costly and insufficiently transparent.
“Nithya Raman is taking credit for the results of Inside Safe while campaigning against it,” Alex Stack, a spokesperson for Bass’ campaign, said in a statement. “While Raman takes credit for the City’s work in her district, ignoring the fact that she’s the Chair of the Homelessness & Housing Committee for ALL of Los Angeles, Mayor Bass is working to move our city forward and address years of neglect.”
Raman responded to those critiques at her press conference, saying that her district only had three Inside Safe operations over the past four years — fewer than some other districts.
She deflected when asked Friday about her responsibility for citywide homelessness, as chair of the city’s housing and homelessness committee.
“Council can pass legislation … move motions forward, but it is the mayor that has charge of the implementation and outcomes,” she said.
Citywide, Inside Safe has moved more than 6,000 people into hotels, motels and other types of interim housing since Bass took office in December 2022. But by May 31, 41% of those people had returned to homelessness, according to LAHSA figures collected separately from this year’s homeless count.
Bass attributed the citywide homelessness increases in part to funding cuts by the state and federal government. She also said the county has not provided adequate mental health or substance counseling services.
“This crisis was ignored by city leaders for decades, it’s only now that we’ve seen a historic decline,” she said in a statement Thursday. “I will never stop fighting until we end street homelessness, because no Angeleno should be sleeping on the street.”
Times staff writer Doug Smith contributed to this report.
A SLEW of Howard Stern Show stars have confirmed they’re still employed just days after a dozen staffers were sacked in a series of layoffs last week.
In a video posted before the World Cup final on Sunday, several employees are seen inside the Stern wing of SiriusXM studios playing a very uncoordinated soccer game.
The Instagram post tagged several staffers, many of whom have played an on-air role on the show.
JD Harmeyer, Jon Hein, Steve Nowicki, Jason Kaplan, Will Murray, Sal Governale, Richard Christy and Mike Pearlman were tagged in the video.
On July 13, at least a dozen Stern Show staffers, including on-air personalities, were shown the door, after it was announced in a Zoom call that Stern would only be doing just one live show a week after his long summer break.
The layoffs included several on-air fan favorites such as Benjy Bronk, Jon Blitt, Memet Walker and Mike Trainor.
Insiders are calling the severance packages handed to these longtime staffers downright insulting, especially since some had been with Stern for his entire two-decade run at SiriusXM.
One source revealed that workers received barely more than a single week of pay for each year they put in.
“You would think Stern would have taken care of these guys after decades of loyalty,” the source said.
Every ten years on the job only earned them two months of pay, plus a strict NDA threatening to strip away even that tiny payout.
In the media world, standard severance usually runs closer to two weeks of pay per year worked.
The shocker comes right after the radio host locked in his latest SiriusXM extension in late 2025, after even admitting on air that he was not entirely sure he would sign on again.
During the announcement, he assured listeners the new agreement would give him more free time while keeping him on the airwaves.
Under the 2026 schedule, he was supposed to broadcast live Monday through Wednesday from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. Eastern.
Back in August 2025, sources indicated that Stern and Sirius management were unlikely to come to terms on his massive $100 million yearly deal, leaving many to believe the legendary show was finally coming to a close.
Although he did end up renewing with the network, this severely reduced broadcast schedule signals that Sirius is no longer throwing around that kind of massive payday.
FIRES across Spain have resulted in 11 deaths and widespread chaos, with tourists forced to flee their villas and evacuated from hotels.
Here is everything you need to know if you have a holiday to Spain coming up.
Extreme temperatures have resulted in wildfires in parts of Spain, along with France, Portugal and Greece.
The hot weather – expected to go over 40C this week – has resulted in dry forests and conditions, making them more prone to wildfires.
Local authorities have deployed over 150 firefighters and 200 military personnel to tackle them.
It is Spain’s worst wildfire in more than two decades and the Andalusia region’s most devastating in history
The fires in Spain are predominantly along the south of the country.
The blaze broke out in Los Gallardos, Almeria, southern Spain, and have since spread to areas including Cadiz.
Aragon, Catalonia and Valencia are the other regions tipped to be worst-affected.
All of Spain still remains safe to travel to, according to the UK Foreign Office.
However, they do have updated the travel advice.
The website states: “Local authorities have reported a wildfire in Los Gallardos, Almería, in Andalucía.
“If you are in an area affected by the wildfire:
The UK government also has wider information on them in general, saying: “Wildfires happen often in Spain, including on the islands, during the summer months.
“Be aware of your environment when visiting or driving through woodland areas. For information on wildfire risk visit the Spanish Meteorological Office (AEMET).
“Causing a wildfire is a criminal offence in Spain, even if unintentional. Make sure cigarette ends are properly extinguished, do not light barbecues and do not leave empty bottles behind.
“You can be heavily fined for not following the rules against lighting outdoor barbecues in forest areas. Make sure you know the rules if considering a barbeque.
“For information on what to do in the event of a wildfire, visit Civil Protection.”
Most holidays remain unaffected if you are heading to Spain in the next few weeks.
Passengers will be contacted by their tour operator or airline if this changes.
June 5 (UPI) — NASA briefly moved five of the seven crew members aboard the International Space Station to the docked SpaceX Crew Dragon “Freedom” while Russian cosmonauts planned to repair leaks in a transfer tunnel in the Russian module.
The Russian crew members decided to only perform measurements Friday, so Mission Control told the crew members it was OK to exit the safe haven configuration.
“Roscosmos has paused Friday’s structural repair efforts … as more measurements and data is assessed. Given this development, NASA has instructed the crew members inside the Dragon spacecraft to end the safe haven procedures and return to planned operations aboard the International Space Station. We look forward to working with Roscosmos on a collaborative approach to address the leaks,” NASA Spokesperson Bethany Stevens posted on X.
The cracks have created a small air leak on and off for about six years and is a safety risk.
“The Zvezda service module transfer tunnel, known as PrK, has suffered from cracks and leaks for some time, and has been mitigated by Roscosmos as much as possible to date. The cracks have always been a concern that NASA watches very closely. NASA and Roscosmos have been working to determine the root cause of the cracks, and Roscosmos manages the issue through operational mitigation measures and periodic partial-repair efforts,” Steven wrote in another post.
The NASA Crew-12 members on the ISS include: Jessica Meir, Jack Hathaway, Sophie Adenot and Andrew Fedyaev. Astronaut Chris Williams went to the Dragon spacecraft, Stevens said.
Roscosmos noticed a slow pressure drop in the tunnel last month after a Russian cargo ship arrived, CBS News reported. NASA and Roscosmos have been working on “operational mitigation measures and periodic partial-repair efforts.”
A HOLIDAY destination known for being home to one of the Wonders of the World is back open to Brits after being removed from the unsafe to travel list.
Earlier this year, the UK Foreign Office advised against non-essential travel to Jordan due to the Iran conflict.
However, earlier this week, the travel warning was downgraded to allow holiday travel again.
While this still excludes the 3km border of Syria, it means the popular destinations can welcome tourists again.
One of the main sites to see is Petra, one of the seven Wonders.
Nicknamed the Rose City, the ancient capital dates back to 300BC and is one of the most popular places visited by tourists, usually on day trips.
There is also Wadi Rum, which many compare to feeling like another planet and is where you can find amazing desert camps, or Wadi al Hasa, a 25-mile canyon that is popular with trekkers,
Or you can stay in the capital of Amman, where most UK flights operate to, or Jerash, called the “Pompeii of the East” for its ruins.
The Sun’s Alex Matthew’s visited. saying: “To get the most from your experience, you have to get up early — not just to beat the desert heat but to avoid the endless stream of families and elderly day-trippers wielding selfie sticks.
“Kick off your stay in Amman with a trip to the Citadel. Built on one of Jordan’s earliest settlements, these stunning ancient ruins include the impressive Temple of Hercules.
“A three to four-hour drive from the capital, a visit to Petra makes for a long day — but you won’t regret a single minute.
” The huge stone pillars and ornate figures of the Treasury will have you gawping in sheer disbelief. “
Flights to Jordan are with Royal Jordanian, which start from £270 return if travelling after summer.
Or you can book adventure packages, with Intrepid seven-day trips from £533pp.
Flights take around five hours, although try and avoid travelling in July and August – temperatures can hit 40C.
It can also drop to 11C or even freezing in the desert, but now is the best time to go with termpatures around 30C.
