American Gauff, who has been unwell with a stomach virus, will drop from third to fourth when the updated world rankings are released, with Poland’s Iga Swiatek replacing her.
The reigning French Open champion was ruthless in the second set after losing the first and looked a safe bet to advance to the next round at the expense of Noskova, after breaking the 21-year-old for a second time in the third set.
But world number 13 Noskova produced an impressive comeback in front of the Spanish crowd as Gauff faltered andwill face Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk in the quarter-finals on Wednesday.
Kostyuk, 23, won 6-2 6-3 against American Caty McNally to celebrate her ninth victory in a row and back-to-back Madrid quarter-finals.
“Sometimes I get lost on court, especially in the second [set], as it happened today,” said Noskova. “I had to find my rhythm all over again in the third [set].”
Meanwhile, Sabalenka will take on American Hailey Baptiste, who defeated Belinda Bencic 6-1 6-7 (14-16) 6-3 in her fourth-round match, on Tuesday.
She defeated Baptiste, 24, in the quarter-finals of the Miami Open on her way to winning the title last month.
Fifa is poised to change the rules around suspensions for accumulated yellow cards at this summer’s World Cup.
BBC Sport understands world football’s governing body is planning to add a second amnesty stage, wiping all yellow cards at the end of the group stage as well as after the quarter-finals.
Under current rules a team would play five matches to reach the quarter-finals, and any two bookings in those games would lead to a suspension.
The revamped World Cup, with 48 teams instead of 32, includes an extra round and it is felt the jeopardy for a ban is too high.
Without a change to the regulations, Fifa fears that many more players would be walking a suspension tightrope by playing six fixtures through to the last eight – and potentially miss a semi-final.
The topic is on the agenda for discussion when the Fifa Council meets in Vancouver, Canada on Tuesday.
Two bookings will remain the suspension threshold, but the rule change will mean there are only two small pockets of games for players to pick up a ban.
It would require cautions in two of the three group games, or in two of the last 32, last 16 and the quarter-finals, to miss a match.
A HUGE new “world class new visit destination” is set to open in the UK.
Xanadoo is a new indoor attraction concept that has been designed by some of the people behind the Eden Project.
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A huge new ‘world class’ attraction is set to open in the UKCredit: XanadooXanadoo hopes to open in South Wales, and is being created by some of the former Eden Project teamCredit: XanadooInside will be art, science attractions and playgroundsCredit: Xanadoo
They claim it will be “unlike any other museum” with massive playgrounds, art areas and food halls, as well as being educational.
When guests arrive, the will be a market hall with food and drink stalls.
The first area is the “Road to Happiness” with a series of art installations along the way.
Then there is “The Gallery of Marvellous Situations” which they say will take people “back in time” using immersive experiences.
The Playground in the third area, with images showing slides, a huge helter skelter, climbing structures, mazes, and even a life-size snakes and ladders.
Then in the fourth area is “Tomorrow’s World” with futuristic designs showing the world in hundreds of years time.
“Call to Action” is the final area, which has a life-size “game” with levers and dials that show the impact on the current world.
The entire attraction ‘will bring “science and art” together, and be for all ages.
The cost of the project hasn’t been revealed, but it is thought that £840million will be brought to the local economy, they predict.
They hope it will encourage year-round visitors, including families and school trips as well as locals.
Where it will be built is also yet to be revealed, although they are looking at locations across South Wales.
Gaynor Coley, co-founder of the Eden Project, told local media: “We believe Xanadoo can do the same for South Wales as the Eden Project did for Cornwall.
“An economic impact assessment has just been carried out and it has bought £6 billion to Cornwall and the West Country which is more than the whole of European funding and we’d like to do the same for South Wales.
“It will bring sustainable tourism, support hospitality and creativity, storytelling, digital and health and wellbeing.”
There will also be market halls and space for traders and studentsCredit: XanadooTomorrow’s World will have experiences showing the world in hundreds of yearsCredit: XanadooThere is no confirmed opening date or location yetCredit: Xanadoo
Germany’s Dax, France’s CAC 40, Italy’s FTSE MIB and the UK’s FTSE 100 are expected to open in the green, according to IG data, despite peace talks between the US and Iran coming to a halt.
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The White House called off plans to send envoys to Pakistan for more negotiations and US President Donald Trump cited a lack of progress over the weekend.
“If they want, we can talk but we’re not sending people,” Trump told Fox News on Sunday. He said earlier on social media: “All they have to do is call!!!”
In addition to monitoring progress in the Middle East, investors will also be keeping across central bank decisions this week, including from the ECB and Federal Reserve.
Asia-Pacific markets mixed
Meanwhile, markets were mixed overnight in the Asia-Pacific region. Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index hit a fresh record, surging 1.4% to 60,564.18. The Kospi in South Korea jumped 2.1% to 6,617.94. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index edged 0.1% lower to 25,951.86 and the Shanghai Composite index was up 0.2% at 4,089.04. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 slipped 0.3% to 8,759.40.
Taiwan’s Taiex rallied 2.6%, helped by a revival of buying of tech shares driven by the boom in artificial intelligence.
Oil prices rise again
In other dealings early Monday, the price for a barrel of Brent crude to be delivered in July, rose $1.44 to $100.57, while US benchmark crude oil added $1.28 to $95.65.
The dollar fell to 159.34 Japanese yen from 159.59. The euro climbed to $1.1723 from $1.1701.
Lainey Wilson didn’t seem too worried about the high winds that temporarily shut down Stagecoach on Saturday night.
Headlining the festival’s main stage after an hour-long delay — during which fans were ordered to evacuate Indio’s Empire Polo Club before being allowed back in — Wilson looked out at the crowd in front of her and said of the unplanned break: “I hope y’all sat in your cars and drank some tequila.”
Lainey Wilson performs.
(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
The whoops across the field suggested that might’ve been what happened.
Only the third woman to headline Stagecoach in the past five years, Wilson offered a tight, punchy showcase of the riff-heavy country-rock that’s made her one of Nashville’s biggest stars (after a decade-long come-up in which she’s said she lived in a camper trailer).
“Can’t Sit Still” and “Wildflowers and Wild Horses” were swaggering and Stones-y; “Country’s Cool Again” rode a funky down-home groove. To fill the big stage — it evoked a kind of desert oasis with a glittering horseshoe and a couple of prop cacti — Wilson brought along a horn section and background singers who turned “Dreamcatcher” into a psychedelic roots-soul fantasia.
Not long into the show, Wilson welcomed Little Big Town and Riley Green for an appealingly sloppy rendition — complete with drinks in plastic cups — of Merle Haggard’s “I Think I’ll Just Stay Here and Drink.” Then she let Green, whose scheduled performance was scotched because of the wind, stick around to do his “I Wish Grandpas Never Died.” (Also called off Saturday was Journey’s set on the Mustang stage.)
Wilson’s only other guest was the little girl she ushered onstage and pronounced “cowgirl of the night” during “Things a Man Oughta Know.” After that came the singer’s dreamiest hit, “Somewhere Over Laredo,” and an especially sultry take on “Watermelon Moonshine,” the nostalgia-drunk love song from 2023 that’s probably still her finest moment.
WASHINGTON — President Trump was preparing to take the stage at the White House Correspondents’ Assn. dinner Saturday night, eager — by his own account — to “let it rip” before a room of Washington’s elite and reporters he has spent years calling the enemy of the people.
Then shots were heard. Secret Service agents rushed him off the stage. And within hours, the president was at the White House calling for unity, offering overtures to a press corps that he had long clashed with.
“I just want to say you did a fantastic job, what a beautiful evening and we are going to reschedule,” Trump told Weijia Jiang, the president of the White House Correspondents’ Assn., at a news briefing after the shooting at the dinner.
His magnanimity did not last long. On Sunday night, sitting down for an interview with Norah O’Donnell of CBS’ “60 Minutes,” Trump reacted with fury to her reading of the suspected shooter’s manifesto, calling her a “disgrace.”
The manifesto characterized his targets as rapists and pedophiles.
“You’re horrible people. Horrible people,” Trump said. “He did write that. I’m not a rapist. I didn’t rape anybody.
“I’m not a pedophile. You read that crap from some sick person? I got associated with all — stuff that has nothing to do with me,” he added. “You should be ashamed of yourself reading that because I’m not any of those things.”
It marked a return to the familiar dynamic between the president and the press after a night of shared crisis and purpose — raising doubts about how long the goodwill would last.
Just hours before, at the briefing, Trump expressed dismay at the violent outburst at the Washington Hilton, where the black-tie event has been held for more than 50 years.
“I will tell you, I fought like hell to stay, but it was protocol,” the president said. On Sunday he repeated his desire to reschedule the event, telling Fox News that he is committed to attending it in the near future, even proposing to do it within 30 days.
Trump appeared to be enjoying himself moments before Cole Tomas Allen, a 31-year-old tutor from Torrance, allegedly ran past a security checkpoint at the hotel and fired off two shots. Oz Pearlman, a mentalist and the entertainer for the night, seemed to be doing a trick for the president and the first lady when the shots were fired, videos show.
Trump was preparing to deliver remarks at the end of the night. His team was excited about it, and the president had been making tweaks to his speech on Air Force One up until Saturday morning.
“It will be funny. It will be entertaining,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said at a red carpet event ahead of the dinner.
The speech was going to mark Trump’s first at the White House correspondents’ dinner. He told Fox News on Sunday that he was “really going to let it rip,” and that he had considered the moment an “important event” until it came to a halt.
Trump said he would like to reschedule the event within the next month, adding that he will make an “entirely different speech” — one that he said will be focused on “love.”
It is unclear how long Trump’s media-friendly tone will last, but some Republicans continued to blame reporters for the violent act. Kari Lake, the senior advisor to the U.S. Agency for Global Media, said some reporters attending the event “have spent a decade spreading absolute lies” about Trump.
Trump, for his part, used the security breach at the event to make the case for his White House ballroom project, claiming that the Washington Hilton is “not a particularly secure building” and is a prime example of why legal challenges holding up its construction need to be dismissed.
“We need the ballroom,” Trump told reporters. “Today, we need levels of security that probably nobody’s ever seen before.”
However, the annual dinner’s venue is picked not by the White House, but by the White House Correspondents’ Assn., an independent organization of journalists who cover the president.
Trump has vowed to return to the event in the near future, and has called for it to take place within the next month to show that “bad people” cannot “change the course of the country.” But the ballroom project could not be ready that quickly.
It remains under construction and “ahead of schedule,” Trump has said. Earlier this month, a federal appeals court allowed construction on the project to continue through early June, as legal challenges remain ongoing.
The construction of the $400-million ballroom on the White House grounds has come under searing scrutiny. The National Trust for Historic Preservation, which sued last year to stop the project, has argued that Trump lacked authority to make architectural changes to the White House grounds.
Carol Quillen, president and chief executive of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, has argued the White House is “the most evocative building in our country” and any changes should go through a review process, including a public comment period. Trump on Sunday described the lawsuit as one brought by a “woman walking a dog.”
The attempted attack, which marks the third time in less than two years that Trump has faced the threat of a gunman, has reignited questions about the tense political environment besetting the United States.
Trump, for his part, called his job a “dangerous profession” and said he believed he has become the target of attacks because of his presidency’s own consequence.
“The people that do the most, the people that make the biggest impact, they are the people that they go after,” Trump told reporters at the White House after being rushed out of the hotel.
In an interview with Fox News on Sunday, he added: “If you’re a consequential president, you’re in much more danger than if you’re not a consequential president.”
As an example, Trump pointed to his war in Iran, a conflict that recent polling shows has contributed to his approval rating falling to around 40%. The president said the war “should’ve been done by previous presidents … but nobody did anything about it.”
At Saturday night’s dinner, people infiltrated the hotel to protest the Iran war and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
Two demonstrators, wearing suits, crashed a red carpet photo shoot in the hotel lobby and called for Hegseth to be arrested for war crimes, underscoring how the foreign conflict is fueling the political rhetoric at home.
In the hours after the shooting, Trump remained defiant. In an interview, he said he was determined to show a unified front and not let “one nut” derail his agenda or events.
“I hate it when a sick, bad person,” he told Fox News on Sunday. “I hate someone like that changing the course of our country.”
After a break of 83 from Higgins in the ninth frame, O’Sullivan won two in a row, thanks to runs of 116 and 80, to hold a dominant five-frame advantage at 8-3.
Higgins won the 12th, but O’Sullivan’s break of 91 left the Englishman 9-4 in front.
But the final three frames were very dramatic. Higgins looked in control of the 14th, with O’Sullivan needing a snooker to have any chance, which he then got, although he could not capitalise.
Higgins took the 15th on a black-ball finish, with O’Sullivan then punching the table in frustration after missing a red early on in the last frame of the night.
His mood was not improved when he potted a long red but then saw the cue ball follow it into the same pocket, with that foul proving crucial as Higgins took the frame to give himself some hope.
O’Sullivan is fighting to make the Crucible quarter-finals for a 24th time and looking for an eighth world title, which would be a record in the modern era.
He was watched by former Manchester United footballer Paul Scholes during his 10-2 win over Chinese debutant He Guoqiang and, this time, UFC fighter Paddy Pimblett and Liverpool defender Milos Kerkez were in attendance.
They, along with the rest of the crowd at the Crucible, would have left thoroughly entertained.
We went back for a second day of Stagecoach and spent most of the day holding on to our hats. Before strong winds resulted in the short-lived nighttime postponement and evacuation of the festival, Day 2 had plenty of gusto that carried us through the afternoon and evening, including sets from Bush and Teddy Swims along with some high-octane cooking with Guy Fieri. When crowds were called back after the wind-related fiasco that pushed everything back for headliner Lainey Wilson and caused Journey and Riley Green to cancel their performances, fans who returned still got to witness Wilson triumph over the elements and get down and dirty with Pitbull at Diplo’s Honky Tonk. Luckily the unexpected havoc didn’t blow away all the good vibes. Here are the best, worst and windiest from Day 2.
Guy Fieri features his latest smokehouse dish during the Stagecoach Country Music Festival.
(Evan Schaben / For The Times)
Food lessons from the Guy Fieri fever dream
Stagecoach is known for strange bedfellows (see: Emo Nite with Ashlee Simpson Friday) but Guy Fieri with Wynonna Judd, Billy Bob Thornton, Gavin Rossdale and Gavin Adcock is so odd it seems like an AI hallucination. I promise you it happened Saturday afternoon.
“Everybody loves food. That’s the common denominator,” Fieri told the crowd, which included a woman who impressively dressed up as Fieri, fake mustache/goatee and a flame-covered bowling shirt.
“Flavortownnnnn!” Judd said as she walked onto the demonstration stage at Guy’s Stagecoach Smokehouse.
“Just so you know, we could do our own cooking show,” Fieri said as he introduced her.
Each of the stars was paired with a chef, which included Eric Greenspan, Mark Murphy, Aaron May and Hunter Fieri.
Thornton made salmon and fried okra with spicy hummus with Hunter Fieri. The “Landman” star said the key for good fried okra is to use cornmeal. He also shared his favorite chili, which isn’t hot for the sake of being hot.
“Calabrian chili has a flavor,” Thornton said.
He also told the crowd of a new delicacy he discovered: white grapes dipped in spicy Dijon mustard.
“It blew my mind,” Thornton said.
Adcock, meanwhile made a giant prime rib sandwich and beer-battered onion rings.
“I’m a big beef guy,” Adcock said.
Meanwhile, Bush frontman Rossdale was doing what Fieri said was a first for Stagecoach — he made an Asian dish of smoked chicken dredged and flash-fried and shared with two sauces: one a Japanese rice wine and the other a sweet sauce.
Speaking of strange things, here’s my pitch for an “Odd Couple” reboot: Rossdale and Adcock with Fieri as the wacky neighbor. Someone point me to the Paramount+ tent so I can pitch it. (Vanessa Franko)
Teddy Swims performs Saturday on the Mane Stage during the second day of Stagecoach in Indio.
(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
Does Teddy Swims just live here now?
Has anyone checked on Teddy Swims’ house in whatever city he lives in besides Indio? The tattooed soul-rock singer played Stagecoach on Saturday night after doing both weekends of Coachella, and once again he brought out David Lee Roth to sing Van Halen’s “Jump” — an indelible ‘80s staple these guys are double-handedly willing into a Gen Z anthem. (Mikael Wood)
Diplo introduces Sydney Sweeney, who gave out her Syrn lingerie to the crowd at Diplo’s Honkey Tonk on the second day of Stagecoach.
(Evan Schaben / For The Times)
Theo Von crowd surfs, Sydney Sweeney tosses out lingerie and Shaboozey parties in Diplo’s Honky Tonk
If the first Stagecoach fever dream of Saturday was the unlikely cast of Billy Bob Thornton, Wynonna Judd, Gavin Rossdale and Gavin Adcock cooking and chopping it up with Guy Fieri at the Stagecoach Smokehouse, a close second was Diplo’s early evening set in the Honky Tonk.
Already billed as Diplo with podcaster-comedian-Ella Langley duet partner Theo Von and Barstool Sports media personality Caleb Pressley, it also attracted some special guests. Actor Sydney Sweeney showed up to toss panties from her Syrn lingerie brand into the crowd. (She has a pop-up Syrn saloon on the festival grounds).
The “Euphoria” star wasn’t the only surprise during the set — “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” hitmaker Shaboozey also made an appearance. Even though they played some of his songs, he didn’t perform. Like Sweeney, Shaboozey also has a pop-up saloon at the festival, his promoting upcoming record “The Outlaw Cherie Lee & Other Western Tales.”
And when you think things couldn’t get any weirder, Von went crowd-surfing. Stay weird, Stagecoach. (VF)
Singer and guitarist Gavin Rossdale and drummer Nik Hughes of Bush perform on the Mustang Stage at sunset as extreme weather begins to move in during the second day of Stagecoach.
(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
Catching up with Bush’s blustery Saturday evening set
Just before we were told to evacuate Friday night, I was about to write about Bush’s Stagecoach debut on the Mustang Stage.
Even as the weather turned colder and the winds turned gnarlier, Gavin Rossdale seemed to be having a great time as the band ripped through a 50-minute set packed with hits including opener “Machinehead,” “Everything Zen,” “Swallowed,” “Glycerine” and set-closing sing-along “Comedown.”
Stagecoach festivalgoers evacuate the Mane Stage after announcements were broadcasted to evacuate the area due to extreme high wind gusts during the second day of Stagecoach.
(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
The wind advisory and short-lived postponement nearly blew the fest away
Due to high winds, Stagecoach promoter Goldenvoice postponed the festival Saturday night until further notice and crowds were evacuated. An “emergency evacuation” message showed up on screens on the festival’s Mane Stage saying “the festival has been postponed until further notice. Please move quickly and calmly to the nearest exit.”
At 8:42 p.m., the festival advised via its mobile app that Stagecoach would resume momentarily. “We are working to open doors and prep the site for your safety,” the alert said. Just before 9 p.m. the gates were reopened. Stagecoach updated its schedule for Saturday night after a temporary evacuation due to high winds. Journey, which had been scheduled to play the Mustang Stage, did not perform; Riley Green, set to play the Mane Stage, also didn’t perform. Lainey Wilson, who was set to headline the Mane Stage, played an hour later than originally scheduled at 10:30 p.m. (VF/MW)
Lainey Wilson performs on the Mane Stage during the second day of Stagecoach.
(Evan Schaben / For The Times)
Lainey Wilson takes the stage after the wind After an hourlong delay due to high winds, Lainey Wilson kicked off her headlining set at Stagecoach on Saturday night with a one-two punch of “Can’t Sit Still” and “Wildflowers and Wild Horses” — each a solid example of the riff-heavy country-rock that’s made Wilson one of the biggest stars to come out of Nashville in the last 10 years.
“Y’all ready to sing it loud tonight?” she asked the crowd, which was maybe a bit thinner than it might’ve been thanks to fans who left before the festival announced it was reopening. Those who stuck around seemed plenty willing to bellow along. (MW)
The one item on Pitbull’s Stagecoach agenda
Pitbull hit the Mustang Stage an hour later than expected Saturday night after gusty winds forced Stagecoach to evacuate attendees for more than an hour, but Mr. Worldwide didn’t let a delay stop the fun.
“We came here to do one thing and one thing only,” he said from the stage early in the set.
The one thing? Party.
After an intro featuring his DJ and full band that included Metallica’s “Enter Sandman” and Beastie Boys’ “(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (To Party!),” Mr. Worldwide appeared, flanked by a half dozen dancers in revealing costumes, to open the raucous set with “Don’t Stop the Party.”
After the song he thanked everyone at Stagecoach for staying and also name-checked some Goldenvoice employees, including Stagecoach booker Stacy Vee, as well as Lainey Wilson, who had just wrapped her headlining set on the Mane Stage.
He followed up the moment of gratitude with “Hey Baby (Drop It to the Floor)” and “Hotel Room Service.”
Later on in the set, Lil Jon joined Pitbull for “Jumpin” before being showered with more gratitude from Pitbull and the crowd. Then the pair performed “Damn I Love Miami.”
I’d like to start a petition for Stagecoach to book Pitbull every year — and bring him to Coachella too! (VF)
After a brief reprieve following the end of Coachella, we find ourselves in the desert again for Stagecoach — hot, dusty and eager to be amused. The first day of the weekend offered plenty of top-tier country performances including Cody Johnson, Ella Langley, and Bailey Zimmerman along with a dose of nostalgia courtesy of ‘90s stars Counting Crows and Emo Nite featuring Ashlee Simpson. Let’s also not forget that Stagecoach is a place to catch celebrity cameos—we’re looking at you, Sydney Sweeney. Here’s our recap of all the fun we experienced on Day 1 of the festival.
Jessie Erickson, of Anchorage, Alaska, sings “more than my home town” by Morgan Wallen at the SYRN Saloon during the Stagecoach Country Music Festival at Empire Polo Club, in Indio, CA on April 24, 2026.
(Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)
I found a karaoke bar at Stagecoach — but it was Sydney Sweeney’s lingerie pop-up
En route to the press tent this sunny Friday, I saw a spot with saloon doors boasting karaoke. It didn’t click that the air-conditioned pop-up was a bar connected to Sydney Sweeney’s Syrn brand until I was inside and saw the lingerie hanging from the bar.
It was early in the day, so not much karaoke was happening, but you could scan a QR code and sign up via a Karafun link. I contemplated doing “A Long December” from the Counting Crows since they’re playing the Mustang Stage this evening, but thought it would No.1 bring down the mood and No.2, not really fit in with the Coyote Ugly vibes.
However, I saw dartboards on the wall and a sign to ask the “brand ambassador” about darts and I immediately thought — the hard drinkin’ Stagecoach crowd should probably not have sharp objects. They don’t. I found a “brand ambassador” and he showed off the darts, which were magnetic. It still might not be the best idea to let people throw projectiles as the night goes on, though. (Vanessa Franko)
Emo nite featuring Ashlee Simpson performs at Diplo’s Honkytonk during the Stagecoach Country Music Festival at Empire Polo Club, in Indio, CA on April 24, 2026.
(Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)
Emo Nite with Ashlee Simpson and 3OH!3 made Stagecoach dance with their feelings
How is the giant country festival channeling the SoCal-born traveling punk festival, you ask? The popular Emo Nite DJ set was booked at Diplo’s Honky Tonk. (Emo Nite is no stranger to the Goldenvoice desert fests, by the way. They played the Sahara Tent at Coachella a few years back, too.)
Emo Nite’s Morgan Reed and T.J. Petracca opened up with Fall Out Boy’s “Sugar We’re Goin Down” to set the sing-a-long tone before blistering through a set of remixes to songs by beloved emo and pop-punk artists such as Panic! At the Disco, Paramore, All-American Rejects and My Chemical Romance. They also played some emo-adjacent and not-so-emo-adjacent tracks, such as the Killers’ “Mr. Brightside,” System of a Down’s “Chop Suey” and Justin Bieber’s “Baby.” (Bieberchella lives even at Stagecoach!)
Actress Sydney Sweeney takes photos with fans during the Stagecoach.
(Evan Schaben/For The Times)
Sydney Sweeney takes pictures with fans at Stagecoach
Actress Sydney Sweeney snapped photos with fans during BigXThaPlug’s set at the Mustang Stage Friday at Stagecoach. Sweeney also has a pop-up bar promoting her lingerie line Syrn at the festival. (Evan Schaben)
Ella Langley performs on the Mane Stage during the Stagecoach Country Music Festival at Empire Polo Club, in Indio, CA on April 24, 2026.
(Evan Schaben/For The Times)
Ella Langley takes a victory lap
“I’m gonna go ahead and burst your bubble,” Ella Langley said about halfway through her main-stage set Friday night. She’d just teed up her brand-new single, “I Can’t Love You Anymore,” a shimmering roots-soul duet with country’s biggest star, Morgan Wallen. “Morgan is not here,” she continued. “He’s on dad duty this weekend. Can’t blame a man for being a good dad.”
And you can’t blame Langley for managing expectations. But she didn’t need Wallen (or anybody else) to show why she’s the biggest thing in country music right now: This was an effortlessly cool performance by a deeply vibey singer and songwriter who’s absorbed more than Stevie Nicks’ predilection for lightweight shawls. (“Broken” was extremely Fleetwood Mac-coded.)
Langley did bring out a special guest: the podcaster Theo Von, who did Riley Green’s part in “You Look Like You Love Me” for some reason. (Big podcaster energy is what I’ll say.) She played “Choosin’ Texas” — her dreamy pop-country smash that’s currently at No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot 100 — not last but next to last, leaving “Weren’t for the Wind” as her closer. Baller move. (Mikael Wood)
Counting Crows will perform on Sept. 3 at the Rady Shell at Jacobs Park.
(Courtesy of the San Diego Symphony)
Counting Crows and the perfect Stagecoach sunset
I am very into the ‘90s alt acts playing Stagecoach 2026 (I see you, Third Eye Blind) and Counting Crows got things off to a sublime start as the sun set Friday.
While the band played its breakout hit, “Mr. Jones,” early in the set, singer Adam Duritz let the crowd take the lead and almost did some spoken word in the second verse.
“How was your first day at country Coachella? They only call it Stagecoach because Count-chella doesn’t sound good,” the singer asked the crowd before the band launched into the “Shrek 2” ditty “Accidentally in Love.”
The hits kept coming, including “Round Here” and “Rain King.”
But the perfect moment under cotton candy skies happened during the band’s penultimate song, “A Long December” off 1996’s “Recovering the Satellites.” With the crowd singing along, the sun setting behind the mountains and good feelings all around, it was nothing if not a vibe. (VF)
Bailey Zimmerman performs on the Mane Stage during the Stagecoach Country Music Festival at Empire Polo Club, in Indio, CA on April 24, 2026.
(Evan Schaben/For The Times)
Bailey Zimmerman with an encouraging word
Bailey Zimmerman brought his puppy-ish energy — and an encouraging self-help message — to Stagecoach’s main stage Friday night ahead of Cody Johnson’s headlining set. “I grew up with nothing, and I worked my ass off to be where I am,” he bellowed before ripping off his shirt to punctuate the point. (MW)
Cody Johnson performs on the Mane Stage during the Stagecoach Country Music Festival at Empire Polo Club, in Indio, CA on April 24, 2026.
(Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)
Cody Johnson closes Night 1 with Boyz II Men
Cody Johnson opened his headlining set Friday night by promising to “bring a little Texas to California if that’s all right with y’all.” Yet the most surprising moment of his 90-minute show actually brought a bit of Philadelphia to Stagecoach when Boyz II Men dropped in to join Johnson for a rendition of the veteran R&B crew’s “On Bended Knee.”
If we’re being honest, the vocal mix was … not the evening’s finest. But the selection was appealingly unexpected from a down-the-middle country star like Johnson, who spent much of the rest of his set recounting his long music-industry come-up and urging folks to see past their differences in the name of unity.
He also lamented the three months he had to take off the road after busting his eardrum last year — “I was depressed about it,” he said — before acknowledging that the unanticipated break meant he got to be home for the birth of his youngest child. (MW)
ONE of the UK’s busiest airports is set for travel chaos over the May bank holiday weekend due to strike action.
Around 100 workers at London Stansted Airport – the UK’s fourth busiest airport – will walk out between May 3 and 6.
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Staff at London Stansted Airport are set to walk out between May 3 and 6Credit: Alamy
The walkout, which has been called by Unite the Union, will mainly involve staff who help passengers with disabilities at the airport and onto their flights.
Action was called after staff rejected a “substandard” pay offer.
Delays are expected as a result of the strike, as it will take longer to board passengers who need help to get to their flights.
Last year the airport handled 2.74 million passengers across May, with thousands travelling across both May bank holiday weekends.
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “ABM staff do a vital job for passengers at the airport, yet they are struggling with low pay while their employer makes huge profits.
“This situation is unacceptable and workers at ABM continue to have Unite’s full support.”
Unite regional officer Steve Edwards added: “Workers at ABM are increasingly given bigger workloads and deserve pay that reflects this.
“Their employer can afford to come back with an offer workers would accept and could end this dispute easily by doing so. But until then, Unite members will strike until their voices are heard.”
A previous strike was planned for April 17 to 20 but was called off.
Sun Travel has contacted London Stansted Airport for comment.
In March, the fee to use the express drop-off (up to 15 minutes) at the airport rose from £7 to £10.
The fee for longer stays of up to 30 minutes also rose from £25 to £28.
The changes made Stansted Airport the second most expensive airport for drop-off fees in the UK, only beaten by Gatwick Airport where the fee is £10 for 10 minutes.
Flight compensation rules
A look at your rights if a flight is delayed or cancelled, when your entitled to compensation and if your travel insurance can cover the costs.
What are my rights if my flight is cancelled or delayed?
Under UK law, airlines have to provide compensation if your flight arrives at its destination more than three hours late.
If you’re flying to or from the UK, your airline must let you choose a refund or an alternative flight.
You will be able to get your money back for the part of your ticket that you haven’t used yet.
So if you booked a return flight and the outbound leg is cancelled, you can get the full cost of the return ticket refunded.
But if travelling is essential, then your airline has to find you an alternative flight. This could even be with another airline.
When am I not entitled to compensation?
The airline doesn’t have to give you a refund if the flight was cancelled due to reasons beyond their control, such as extreme weather.
Disruptions caused by things like extreme weather, airport or air traffic control employee strikes or other ‘extraordinary circumstances’ are not eligible for compensation.
Some airlines may stretch the definition of “extraordinary circumstances” but you can challenge them through the aviation regulator the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).
Will my insurance cover me if my flight is cancelled?
If you can’t claim compensation directly through the airline, your travel insurance may refund you.
Policies vary so you should check the small print, but a delay of eight to 12 hours will normally mean you qualify for some money from your insurer.
Remember to get written confirmation of your delay from the airport as your insurer will need proof.
If your flight is cancelled entirely, you’re unlikely to be covered by your insurance.
Brothers Leo and Oliver Kremer visited karaoke spots around the globe and almost always had the same impression.
“The drinks weren’t always great, the aesthetics weren’t always so glamorous, the sound wasn’t always awesome and the lights were often generic,” says Leo, a former bassist of the band Third Eye Blind.
As devout karaoke fans, they wanted to level up the experience. So they dreamed up Mic Drop, an upscale karaoke lounge in West Hollywood that opens Thursday. It’s located inside the original Larrabee Studios, a historic 1920s building formerly owned by Carole King and her ex-husband, Gerry Goffin — and the spot where King recorded some of her biggest hits. Third Eye Blind band members Stephan Jenkins and Brad Hargreaves are investors of the new venue.
Inside the two-story, 6,300-square-foot venue with 13 private karaoke rooms and an electrifying main stage, you can feel like a rock star in front of a cheering audience. Want to check it out? Here are six things to know.
The Kremer brothers hired sculptor Shawn HibmaCronan to create an 8-foot-tall disco-themed microphone for their karaoke lounge.
1. Take your pick between a private karaoke experience or the main stage
A unique element of Mic Drop is that it offers both private karaoke rooms and a main stage experience for those who wish to sing in front of a crowd. The 13 private rooms range from six- to 45-person capacity. Each of the karaoke rooms are named after a famous recording studio such as Electric Lady, Abbey Road, Shangri La and of course, Larrabee Studios. There is a two-hour minimum on all rentals and hourly rates depend on the room size and day of the week.
But if you’re ready to take the center stage, it’s free to sing — at least technically. All you have to do is pay a $10 fee at the door, which is essentially a token that goes toward your first drink. Then you can put your name on the list with the KJ (karaoke jockey) who keeps the crowd energized throughout the night and even hits the stage at times.
Harrison Baum, left, of Santa Monica, and Amanda Stagner, 27, of Los Angeles, sing in one of the 13 private karaoke rooms.
2. Thumping, high sound quality was a top priority
As someone who toured the world playing bass for Third Eye Blind, top-tier sound was a nonnegotiable for Leo. “Typically with karaoke, the sound is kind of teeny, there’s not a lot of bass and the vocal is super hot and sitting on top too much,” he says. To combat this, he and his brother teamed up with Pineapple Audio, an audio visual company based in Chicago, to design their crisp sound system. They also installed concert-grade speakers and custom subwoofers from a European audio equipment manufacturer called Celto, and bought gold-plated Sennheiser wireless microphones, which they loved so much that they had an 8-foot-tall replica made for their main room. Designed by artist Shawn HibmaCronan, the “macrophone,” as they call it, has roughly 30,000 mirror tiles. “It spins and throws incredible disco light everywhere,” says Leo.
Karaoke jockeys Sophie St. John, 27, second from left, and Cameron Armstrong, 30, right, get the crowd involved with their song picks at Mic Drop.
3. A concert-level performance isn’t complete without good stage lighting and a haze machine
Each karaoke room features a disco ball and dynamic lighting that syncs up with whatever song you’re singing, which makes you feel like you are a professional performer. There’s also a haze machine hidden under the leather seats. Meanwhile, the main stage is concert-ready with additional dancing lasers and spotlights.
Brett Adams, left, of Sherman Oaks, and Patrick Riley of Studio City sing karaoke together inside a private lounge at Mic Drop.
4. The song selection is vast, offering classics and new hits
One of the worst things that can happen when you go to karaoke is not being able to find the song you want to sing. At Mic Drop, the odds of this happening are slim to none. The venue uses a popular karaoke service called KaraFun, which has a catalog of more than 600,000 songs (and adds 400 new tracks every month), according to its website. Take your pick from country, R&B, jazz, rap, pop, love duets and more. (Two newish selections I spotted were Raye’s “Where Is my Husband” and Olivia Dean’s “Man I Need,” which both released late last year.) In the private karaoke rooms, there’s also a fun feature on Karafun called “battle mode,” which allows you and your crew of up to 20 people to compete in real time. KaraFun also has an entertaining music trivia game, which I tested out with the founders and came in second place.
The design inspiration for Mic Drop was 1920s music lounges and 1970s disco culture, says designer Amy Morris.
5. The interiors are inspired by 1920s music lounges mixed with ‘70s disco vibes
A disco ball hangs from the ceiling.
If you took the sophisticated aesthetic of 1920s music lounges and mixed it with the vibrant and playful era of 1970s disco culture, you’d find Mic Drop.
When you walk into the lounge, the first thing you’ll see is a bright red check-in desk that resembles a performer’s dressing room with vanity lights, several mirrors and a range of wigs. “So much of karaoke is about getting into character and letting go of the day, so we had the idea to sell the wigs,” says Oliver. As you continue into the lounge, the focal point is the stage, which is adorned with zebra-printed carpet and dramatic, red velvet curtains. For seating, slide into the red velvet banquettes or plop onto a gold tiger velvet stool. Upstairs, you’ll find the intimate karaoke studios, which are decorated with red velvet walls and brass, curved doorways that echo the building’s deco arches, says Mic Drop’s interior designer, Amy Morris of the Morris Project.
Sarah Rothman, center, of Oakland, and friend Rachel Bernstein, left, of Los Angeles, wait at the bar.
6. You can order nontraditional karaoke bites as you wait for your turn to sing
While Mic Drop offers some of the food you’d typically find at a karaoke lounge such as tater tots, truffle popcorn and pizza, the venue has some surprising options as well. For example, a 57 gram caviar service (served with chips, crème fraîche and chives) and shrimp cocktail from Santa Monica Seafood. For their pizza program, the Kremer brothers teamed up with Avalou’s Italian Pizza Company, which is run by Louis Lombardi who starred in “The Sopranos.” He’s the brainchild behind my favorite dish, the Fuhgeddaboudit pizza, which is made with pastrami, pickles and mustard. It might sound repulsive, but trust me.
As for the cheeky cocktails, they are all named after famous musicians and songs such as the Pink Pony Club (a tart cherry pomegranate drink with vodka named after Chappell Roan), Green Eyes (a sake sour with kiwi and melon named after Green Day) and Megroni Thee Stallion (an elevated negroni named after Megan Thee Stallion).
ONE of the world’s biggest airlines has said they could soon increase the cost of flights due to ongoing conflict.
United Airlines has warned that fares could go up by as much as 20 per cent because of soaring jet fuel prices.
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United Airlines has said it might need to increase flight faresCredit: Reuters
The airline flies mainly to America from a number of UK airports including Edinburgh, Manchester and London Heathrow.
According to Reuters, the airline’s CEO Scott Kirby said on Wednesday that the airline could increase flight prices by between 15 and 20 per cent to offset the surge in fuel costs.
For example, if a flight was £500 before, after the price rise it could be as much as £600.
The airline added that it has already begun raising some prices, as well as higher baggage fees – all to offset increased fuel costs.
Kirby added that the airline has not yet seen a drop in demand, despite prices rising.
However, he also accepted that if the airline does introduce higher prices, it may test and put off travellers.
United Airlines has also already confirmed that five per cent of flights would be cancelled – or around 250 flights a month – because of rising fuel cost fears.
This news follows data released by The Transport & Environment (T&E) that disruption to jet fuel supplies has added as much as $100 (£77) per person to the price of long-haul flights from Europe.
As such, for a family of four heading on a long-haul holiday it would cost them an extra £308.
For short-haul flights within Europe, prices have increased by £25.26 per passenger – which would be more than £100 per family heading on holiday.
And a number of airlines have already raised their prices to offset the increasing cost of jet fuel.
For example, on Virgin Atlantic flights economy fares have been increased by £50.
Anyone flying in premium economy will pay an extra £180 and those in business class will pay an extra £360.
What does this mean for your upcoming holiday?
1. How will this affect my holiday?
Getaways should not be seriously impacted immediately as airlines bought fuel far in advance at a fixed rate.
But if the crisis continues into June, operators may start adding a surcharge to holiday prices.
A limited number of flights may be cancelled, but mostly on well-served routes with alternatives.
If supplies start to dry up, cancellations would increase.
2. Am I entitled to a refund?
IF some or all of your holiday is cancelled by the provider, your refund depends on whether you booked your trip as a package holiday, or individually.
Your money tends to be much better protected with a package deal.
3. Is now a bad time to book?
There are some great deals, but book with caution.
You must take out travel insurance as, if your flight is cancelled, you may have protection against the cost of other elements of your holiday, such as accommodation.
Air France and KLM, which are part of the same company, are also increasing round-trip fares by €100 (£87) on most of their long-haul flights.
Some airlines have cancelled flights as well.
For example, Lufthansa has cancelled 20,000 flights up to September, Air New Zealand and Scandinavian Airlines have cancelled around 1,000 flights, KLM has cancelled 160 flights and Cathay Pacific has cancelled two per cent of flights up to June.
Trade the flower crowns and sneakers for a cowboy hat and some boots, because Coachella has moved out of the Empire Polo Club in Indio and the Stagecoach Festival is moving in, April 24 to 26.
From what to know about the festival to how you can watch from home, here’s your guide to Stagecoach.
When is Stagecoach? Where is the venue?
Stagecoach 2026 runs April 24 to 26 at the Empire Polo Club at 81-800 Ave. 51 in Indio.
Who is performing at Stagecoach 2026?
This year’s main stage headliners are Cody Johnson, Lainey Wilson and Post Malone.
You can also expect big sets from Brooks & Dunn, Bailey Zimmerman and more rock-centric acts like Journey, Counting Crows, Third Eye Blind and Bush. Then there’s Ludacris, Pitbull and Diplo, who is bringing back his HonkyTonk dance area as well as performing.
Fun fact: Mane Stage performer Teddy Swims played the main stage at Coachella the last two weekends, but we haven’t heard if he’s bringing out David Lee Roth again. And Diplo was also at Coachella with Major Lazer.
What’s new at Stagecoach this year?
The big thing is the new Mustang Stage. Back in the early years of Stagecoach, there was a tent with the same name that featured a lot of cowboy poets and bluegrass. It was much smaller than what we’re expecting of this new one, which is set up where the massive Sahara Tent is during Coachella.
Anyone who has tried to see one of the big artists over at the Palomino Stage during Stagecoach in recent years knows how it can easily overflow, so this should ease some of that congestion for artists like Journey, Hootie & the Blowfish and the Red Clay Strays.
It’s also taking over the late-night sets with Diplo, Pitbull and Ludacris that had previously been done at the Palomino.
Can I still get tickets to Stagecoach? How much are passes?
Yes, there are still passes available for Stagecoach 2026. A general admission three-day pass is $619. (There’s also a deal if you buy a six-pack of GA passes that comes out to $569 per pass.) You can get a GA combo pass that includes shuttle transportation starting at $699. There’s also a GA pass that gets you access to the Rhinestone Saloon adjacent to the Mane Stage and the Rose Garden Saloon next to the Palomino Stage for $974.
If you want to get close to the Mane Stage, a Corral Standing Pit pass is $1,899. Corral reserved seating runs from $1,199 to $2,299. The chairs are folding camping chairs, and the highest tier option has drink holders. If you purchase any of the seating options, you can take the chair home as a souvenir Sunday night. Corral passes (standing or seated) come with access to the more exclusive Corral Saloon as well as the Rhinestone and Rose Garden Saloons.
What’s the difference between general admission and Corral passes?
Stagecoach is different from Coachella in that if you want to be close to the largest stage, you will need to pay for a Corral pass. Those in the Corral Standing Pit will be the closest.
If you have a GA pass, be prepared to just see the biggest acts on a screen. For Stagecoach, there are multiple screens set up in the field for the general admission areas — and usually a feed with a screen over by the Beer Barn, too.
GA passholders who are willing to stand typically have access to an area closer to the Mane Stage than those with blankets or low-backed lawn chairs.
That being said, GA passholders have traditionally been able to get up close at all of the other stages.
When do gates open at Stagecoach? How late does the music go?
The parking lots open at noon daily and the gates open at 1. Everything ends at midnight or earlier.
As the venue opened, country music fans made a run across the field to secure good concert-viewing positions on the first day of Stagecoach in 2022.
(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
What’s the deal with parking? What about the shuttles? Can I take a rideshare? How’s traffic?
Who says you can’t get anything for free anymore? Day parking is free at Stagecoach.
Like I recommended for Coachella, drop a pin in your phone as soon as you park so you can find your car at the end of the night.
There is a rideshare lot. You can also purchase a shuttle pass for $130. There’s also preferred parking for $299.
Stagecoach doesn’t have as many people as Coachella, so the traffic usually isn’t as bad, but Monday can get congested as people head home from the desert.
If you want to avoid traffic or you’re looking for some off-site adventures during Stagecoach, check out these 14 fun desert side quests.
Where do I put my stuff? Are there lockers? Is there a place to charge my phone?
Stagecoach still has medium-sized lockers available to rent. They are $84 for the weekend and you can reserve them in advance. Small charging lockers for devices are $74 for the weekend.
Backpacks 18” x 13” x 8.5” or smaller are allowed inside the venue.
Beyond the charging lockers, there are places around the grounds where you can charge your own devices. Bring your own cable/plug.
A man drinks a beer from a woman’s boot while watching Willie Nelson & Family perform on the Mane Stage on the second day of Stagecoach 2024.
(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
What’s the weather going to be like for Stagecoach and how can I prepare for it?
It’s looking like we’ll hit a high of 90 degrees on Friday, 81 on Saturday and 78 on Sunday, according to Accuweather. The lows will dip into the 50s, though, so you might want to throw in a long-sleeved flannel shirt or hoodie for when the sun goes down and Brooks & Dunn sing about dancing under a neon moon. Since blankets and towels (50” x 70” max) are also allowed, you could also roll yourself up into a Stagecoach burrito, I suppose.
You can also bring in handheld fans (paper or battery-powered).
Plastic personal-sized water misters are allowed in, too, but they have to be empty when you get there.
The wind doesn’t look too bad right now, but it will inevitably kick up. Don’t bring a cough home as a souvenir. Bring a face covering like a bandanna or a PPE mask.
The desert is hot. Are there water stations?
I know lots of people enjoy the beer at Stagecoach, but it’s not the same as water. My mantra in April is dehydration is serious business. And if you’re drinking beer, you definitely want to keep drinking water.
The good news is that there are multiple refill stations around the grounds, and if you need to buy a bottle of water, it’s only $2.
Like Coachella, you can bring in an empty refillable container, but it needs to be plastic (no metal or glass) and 64 ounces or less. Empty hydration backpacks are allowed, too.
For a free boost of electrolytes, the Electrolit booth is back with free samples between the Mane Stage and Diplo’s HonkyTonk. (Pro tip: I stopped there every day on my way in during Coachella. Hydrate early, hydrate often.)
What’s the deal with food at Stagecoach?
If you like barbecue, you’re in the right place. There’s a whole lot of it at Stagecoach. Flavortown also comes to Stagecoach with cooking demos throughout the weekend courtesy of Guy Fieri and friends.
There are a fair number of vendors that were also at Coachella, including Prince St. Pizza, Irv’s Burgers, Love Hour and Oh My Burger, the latter two of which impressed Danielle Dorsey, one of our food editors, at Coachella this year.
If you’re buying food on site, plan on $20 and up for most entrees, with a few deals to be had.
If you’re looking for freebies, the Electrolit and Coca-Cola installations are still there from Coachella and Monster Energy also has a space where it’s giving out samples. (Monster Energy also has a meet and greet with Redferrin after his performance on Saturday and a surprise DJ set on Sunday.) As for free food, sometimes they pass out samples to the crowd after the Guy Fieri demonstrations.
What else can I do while I’m in the desert? Is there time to do anything outside of the festival?
I’m glad you asked. Earlier this month, we put together a collection of side quests around the desert. Some, like snapping a photo of the Forever Marilyn statue in Palm Springs or seeing the former Coachella festival art installation “Sarbalé Ke,” are easy to do before entering Stagecoach for the day. Others are more involved and can be a great way to miss that traffic coming back on Monday.
The streams start each day at 3 p.m. Pacific. There are two channels set up.
A specific schedule hasn’t yet been announced, but a press release from Amazon says the stream will include sets from Cody Johnson, Lainey Wilson, Post Malone, Third Eye Blind, Avery Anna, Ludacris, Michael Marcagi, Pitbull, the Red Clay Strays, Wynonna Judd and Diplo.
A group of Israeli settlers torched a Palestinian home overnight in the occupied West Bank and prevented the family from escaping. Eight people were injured in the attack, including a one-year-old.
MOUNTING fears of jet fuel shortages have US travelers on edge ahead of summer vacations.
The holiday industry is bracing for a major fallout due to the Iran war’s impact on global travel.
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Will US travelers end up stuck in an overseas airport over summer due to huge jet fuel shortages amid the Iran war?Credit: GettyExperts have warned travelers to be braced for chaos if flying to Asia or Europe over summerCredit: Getty
“Anxious” Americans are worrying about whether they can return home if they travel to Europe or Asia for their summer vacation, said one expert.
For example, will their their long haul-flight end up suddenly being chopped due to a lack of fuel while overseas?
Alternatively, “will my short-haul domestic flight to the international airport be canceled?” Patrick De Haan, GasBuddy’s head of petroleum analysis, told Forbes.
“It’s a level of anxiety that travelers have never really had to worry about, and absolutely it could worsen.”
People across the world are keen for the Strait of Hormuz to reopen to shipping, because of spiraling costs hitting everything from grocery shopping to global fertilizer supplies.
But, even if this vital, narrow corridor was to permanently reopen today, it’ll be too late to salvage this year’s summer holidays, experts have warned.
That’s because airlines have now got to stick to a hurriedly rejigged schedule with airports – which must be booked months in advance.
It comes as the global jet fuel shortage is ramping up fuel prices for US carriers, which in turn are axing cheap airfares and some flights to save money.
Some airlines are already passing on extra costs to travelers by increasing fees for baggage and other add-ons, via steeper ticket prices, and fuel surcharges.
It’s the largest energy crisis the world has ever facedCredit: Getty
And, unfortunately, it will take months for vital supplies of oil and jet fuel to return to normal, according to Kpler, an energy consulting firm.
“It’s going to take until at least July,” Matt Smith, head US analyst, warned CNN.
“And even that may be optimistic at this point.”
United, American, Delta and Southwest airlines spent about $100 million a day on average among them on fuel in 2025.
But jet fuel prices have roughly doubled since the war began, when the United States and Israel started bombing Iran on February 28.
Delta Air Lines — which frequently flies to destinations across Europe — said it was aware of the continent’s “potential jet fuel supply issue.”
The carrier has already slashed some flights this summer.
United Airlines announced in March that it was “tactically pruning flying that’s temporarily unprofitable in the face of high oil prices.”
It’s the “largest energy crisis we have ever faced,” IEA executive director Fatih Birol told Associated Press last Thursday.
“If we are not able to open the Strait of Hormuz… I can tell you soon we will hear the news that some of the flights from city A to city B might be canceled as a result of lack of jet fuel,” he warned.
It will take an estimated two years for the world to recover from energy shortages caused by the war in Iran, Birol added.
More than 110 oil-laden tankers and over 15 carriers loaded with liquefied natural gas are still waiting in the Persian Gulf.
In Europe, there are about six weeks of jet fuel leftCredit: Getty
America’s own jet fuel supplies aren’t currently a huge concern, as local carriers are insulated to a certain extent.
The US produces 13 million barrels of oil a day and imports some four million barrels a day from Canada, De Haan told Forbes on April 16.
However, it’s a different situation in Europe and Asia, both of which are facing a potential shortage because of the ongoing conflict.
In Europe, multiple countries are now relying on less than 20 days of coverage in their fuel supplies, warned the International Energy Agency (IEA).
Asia-Pacific countries are the most reliant on oil and jet fuel from the Middle East, followed by Europe.
“The strait accounts for around 40% of Europe’s jet fuel imports, but no jet fuel has passed the strait since the war broke out,” said Amaar Khan, head of European jet fuel pricing at Argus Media, last Friday.
America has this month come to Europe’s aid to help bolster jet fuel supplies due to the war, sending about 150,000 barrels per day in April.
This is about six times the normal level, according to Jacques Rousseau, managing director at financial firm Clearview Energy Partners.
Airlines chop flights and increase fees amid the Middle East crisis
Here are just some of the impacts on travelers due to the Iran war…
Air Canada:
From June 1 to October 25, 2026, Canada’s largest carrier will chop back flights to New York due to rocketing fuel prices.
Alaska Air:
Fees for the first checked bag have risen by $5 and by $10 for the second on its North American flights. A third checked bag has increased considerably, from $50 to $200.
American Airlines:
Baggage fees have risen by $10 for the first and second checked bags, and by $150 for the third checked bag on domestic and short-haul international flights.
Delta Air Lines:
The carrier is charging an increase of $10 on passengers’ first and second checked bags and a $50 increase on the third.
Frontier Airlines:
This carrier is reviewing its full-year forecast due to rising fuel prices.
Jetblue Airways:
Baggage prices will rise by either $4 or $9.
Spirit Airlines:
This budget US carrier has begged Donald Trump’s administration for hundreds of millions of dollars in emergency funding to offset rising fuel prices.
Southwest Airlines:
Checked baggage fees will rise by $10 for the first and second bags.
United Airlines:
The airline is slashing unprofitable flights.
Also, first and second checked bag fees will spike by $10 for customers travelling in the US, Mexico and Canada and Latin America.
Virgin Atlantic:
This carrier is reducing flights and raising fares.
Westjet:
The Canadian airline has chopped seat capacity for June.
A C$60 ($43) fuel surcharge will be slugged on some bookings.
Mira Costa put it all together over the final three sets of its Bay League boys’ volleyball showdown with Redondo Union on Monday night, prevailing 26-28, 25-13, 25-18, 25-22 to avenge a five-set loss in the teams’ first meeting and stake its claim for the No. 1 seed in the Southern Section Division 1 playoffs.
“Last time we didn’t think they were as good as they were, but we’ve watched a lot of film since then and saw where they like to go,” said outside hitter Mateo Fuerbringer, who finished with a match-high 27 kills and four of his team’s nine aces. “We didn’t pass that well in the first set, but after that we started spreading the ball around more and our serving was really good tonight. We got them out of system a lot.”
Colby Graham had nine kills and three blocks and ended each of the middle sets with a kill as the Mustangs (31-2, 7-1) totaled 15 stuff blocks. Wyatt Davis added eight kills and three blocks and Enzo Barker finished with five kills and two aces.
Redondo Union’s Vaughn Flaherty, left, and JR Boice try to block a hit from Mira Costa’s Colby Graham.
(Steve Galluzzo / For The Times)
Mira Costa snapped Redondo Union’s 18-match winning streak and evened up the league standings, but the Mustangs gained the tiebreaker by virtue of fewer sets lost head-to-head.
Mira Costa saved three match points in the first set before Mavrick Essert ended it with one of his eight kills for the visiting Sea Hawks (26-3, 7-1). His older brother Cash Essert had 11 kills and JR Boice added 10 but Redondo Union was unable to maintain its momentum, never leading once in the last three sets.
Redondo Union keyed on Fuerbringer to win the first encounter 27-25, 21-25, 25-22, 21-25, 15-13 on its home court March 26, but Monday’s match was a different story as Mira Costa varied its attack to keep the Sea Hawks on their heels.
“We were gassed the first time because that was right after we played Loyola,” Mustangs setter Jake Newman said. “Loyola took a lot out of us even though we won. So we weren’t prepared for Redondo, but this time around we had two weeks to practice and study their tendencies.”
Mira Costa libero Dane Del Riego returns a serve in a four-set victory over Redondo Union on April 20, 2026.
(Steve Galluzzo / For The Times)
Newman said closing the match in four sets was critical.
“At 24-22 we were telling each other we have to win, we’re not letting this go five,” he said. “We needed to beat them in four for the league championship.”
Mira Costa lost to Corona del Mar in tournament play early in the season but has since defeated the Sea Kings twice. It also has victories over Huntington Beach, Loyola and Newport Harbor — all of which will likely make the highest division.
Redondo Union won its own Varsity Invitational tournament Saturday, rallying to beat Loyola in the finals, and swept Newport Harbor at home March 21.
Coach Greg Snyder praised the Mustangs for executing the game plan to near perfection but warned it may not be the last time they have to face their archrival.
“That’s a really good team we just beat … we could very well see them again the playoffs,” he said. “I wouldn’t be surprised if that happens.”
B&M is selling the XL set ‘perfect for suitcases, backpacks, and carry-on luggage’
B&M is selling travel sets ahead of the summer holidays (stock photo)(Image: Getty)
B&M shoppers can save space in their cabin baggage and suitcases with a £6 set. Known for selling budget-friendly accessories, the retailer is stocking the travel items ahead of the summer holidays. The bargain chain is selling a new pack of XL packing cubes in stores now.
For shoppers interested in the Beach Club XL Packing Cubes, the four-piece set could help to ‘simplify packing’. There are also three colours available, so families looking to streamline their luggage can each choose their own set to separate their outfits.
The product description says: “Simplify packing for your next trip with our space-saving Beach Club XL Packing Cubes. Great for organising and separating outfits and accessories. Perfect for suitcases, backpacks, and carry-on luggage.”
B&M is stocking a selection of travel accessories ahead of the summer holidays. For shoppers looking for more packing cubes, there’s also a pack of six Travel Packing Cubes for £5. The description explains: “This set includes six packing cubes in various sizes, great for separating outfits and accessories with ease, and for maximising your storage space.”
The retailer also sells small accessories such as travel pillows, suitcase locks, and adapter sets. Meanwhile, shoppers looking for luggage items, including cabin bags and suitcases, could be in luck.
B&M’s current selection includes a £15 Excel Foldable Cabin Case and a £55 Havana Suitcase. The product description for the cabin case says: “Designed for your next getaway, this stylish Foldable Cabin Case is built to make travelling a breeze. Features an adjustable handle and plenty of space for your trip away, whether for work or leisure.”
For holidaymakers looking for more options, there are several budget-friendly retailers such as Home Bargains and Dunelm selling travel accessories. For instance, Dunelm sells £12 Sophie Robinson Packing Cubes.
Dunelm says: “These colourful cubes are the perfect way to sort and store your essentials, making packing and unpacking a breeze. With vibrant prints that add a dash of fun, they’re the ideal match for the coordinating luggage from this collection (sold separately).”
The set is popular with reviewers, with 4.8 out of five stars online. One happy shopper said: “I love the patterns, they are really pretty and make me smile. Much easier to spot which one you need. I spent ages looking for some which didn’t cost too much but were good quality.”
Another fan wrote: “Really nice quality and love the colours – makes a difference to other more boring cubes on the market. Took them on holiday and had no issues, zips worked well and I fit lots of clothes inside.”
Someone else replied: “These colourful packing cubes are delightful. Fit beautifully in my case, smooth zip and easy to wash.”
For the first time, BBC will air the first ever full-length series of the show – six episodes filmed across six weeks – as the celebrities will face a range of weekly business challenges set by the business mogul
Zara Zubeidi Deputy Showbiz Editor
09:37, 19 Apr 2026Updated 09:38, 19 Apr 2026
The Celebrity Apprentice line-up has been confirmed(Image: RAY BURMISTON/BBC)
For the first time ever, BBC will air the first ever full-length series of the show – six episodes filmed across six weeks – as the celebrities face a range of weekly business challenges set by the business mogul.
Competing for the chance to win a £100,000 donation to a charity of their choice, they will each be hoping to prove their business acumen and ultimately be crowned The Celebrity Apprentice winner.
There will be another change to this star-studded series – the boardroom will relocate to a London City skyscraper, providing a distinctive new setting for Lord Sugar’s final deliberations.
The full line up includes Alexandra Burke, actor Danny Miller, presenter Gethin Jones, dancer and presenter Jordan Banjo, journalist Kay Burley, actress and online personality Maddie Grace Jepson, presenter, podcaster and content creator Max Balegde, Gladiator Sheli McCoy, UK garage legend DJ Spoony, TV and BBC Radio 2 presenter Richie Anderson, comedian and writer Laura Smyth and television personality Toni Laites.
Lord Sugar said: “We’ve not done anything like this before, and it’ll be entertaining to see these 12 celebrities being put through six weeks of some brilliant business challenges. But just because they’re celebrities, it doesn’t mean they’re going to get an easy ride, especially when there’s £100,000 at stake for their chosen charity.”
Kalpna Patel-Knight, Head of Entertainment Commissioning at the BBC says: “This brand-new full-length series of The Celebrity Apprentice takes everything audiences love about the format and turns the pressure right up. This year’s celebrities arrive with strong reputations – but in the boardroom, status counts for nothing.
“They’ll be tested on leadership, teamwork and commercial instinct, and only those who can truly deliver will make it through. It’s bold, unpredictable and hugely entertaining – and viewers are in for a brilliant ride.”
Broadcast details for The Celebrity Apprentice will be confirmed in due course. The announcement comes after Karishma Vijay was crowned the winner of the BBC business show last week after an all-female final, which saw her battle it out for Lord Sugar’s coveted investment against Pascha Myhill.
Karishma, from Surrey, recounted the moment Lord Sugar told her she had won and would be receiving his £250,000 investment, and said: “I was so blown away, so shocked – but I kept it very cool. Then, I got in my car and I was screaming. It was just insane – I can’t believe I’ve gone and done it after not having watched the show, I feel like that’s so cheeky.”
Explaining his decision on the hit BBC show, Lord Sugar said: “As always, it was close competition in the final after two outstanding pitches by two brilliant young businesswomen. But Karishma really impressed me throughout the process and has proven why she deserves my investment. She’s a proper grafter and she’s got that entrepreneurial spirit that I always look for. The cosmetics industry is one I know a lot about, and I know our partnership will pave the way for a bright future.”
Coronation Street couple David and Shona Platt could be about to split up after some worrying scenes aired during Friday night’s episode of the world’s longest-running TV soap
20:45, 17 Apr 2026Updated 20:46, 17 Apr 2026
David and Shona could be about to split up on Coronation Street
Coronation Street’s David and Shona Platt could be about to split up after worrying scenes aired on Friday night. The couple have been together since 2016 and met after it emerged that Shona was the mother of Clayton Hibbs, who murdered David’s first wife Kylie in broad daylight.
David (Jack P Shepherd) and Shona (Julia Goulding) tied the knot in 2019 and whilst the marriage has so far survived numerous ups and downs but their troubles really seem to have started since the mysterious and calculating Jodie Ramsey (Olivia Frances Brown) turned up earlier this year.
Having arrived in the soap’s crossover with Emmerdale, Shona immediately recognised Jodie as her long-lost sister, whom she had never mentioned before, and after moving into number eight, Jodie has insisted on meddling in their lives whilst posing as some sort of saint who takes care of household duties. This suited David and Shona nicely they went back and forth to the hospital to see their daughter Harper, who is currently in the neonatal intensive care unit after being born prematurely.
Over the last few months, Jodie has made a habit out of stealing various items that belong to other Weatherfield residents, and, earlier this week, she stole a tablet from a little girl by claiming she was a police officer. On Friday’s instalment of the world’s longest-running TV soap, Jodie decided to hand the stolen tablet over to her niece Lily and pass it off as a gift, much to Shona’s dismay.
Shona told her stepdaughter that she was not to accept the tablet, and the schoolgirl stormed off upstairs in the huff. Later that day, the conflict was clearly not resolved as David reasoned: “Look, I don’t want the hassle, babe. Can we not just let her keep it?”
Shona shot back: “We agreed not before her birthday. And if we decided not to get her one, no-one should be giving her one.” A row broke out as David said: “Can we not just let her keep the thing and save the headache?”
Shona raged: “Oh, a headache, am I?” as she stormed off. All this time, Jodie had pretended to be flicking through a magazine as she sat on the sofa in the living room but was listening in and rolling her eyes every time her long-lost sister spoke.
When Jodie apologised to David, he said: “To be honest, I don’t… I don’t care any more. I mean, when you’ve been at the hospital all day, there’s bigger things to be worrying about than flipping tablets. It’s not your fault. It’s just Shona. She’s only ever happy if everyone else is miserable.”
Jodie said: “Hey, come on, that’s a bit harsh, isn’t it?” But, with a concerning reply, David said: “Harsh? Just you wait. You’ll see.” Fans have previously suggested that the storyline could follow a similar path Single White Female, the 1992 thriller that starred Jennifer Jason Leigh and Bridget Fonda and followed a woman whose roommate decides to steal her identity.
One said: “I am getting some single white female vibes, I won’t lie,” and another said: “Shona and Jodie. Remember the movie ‘Single White Female’? Jodie has copied Shonas hair.”
Another said: “I’m convinced Jodie is gonna try and steal Shona’s life, first her clothes, then her kids, then her fella!” There is definitely some mystery surrounding Jodie, as she was previously seen suffering from a panic attack after being harassed by an intrusive caller.
Coronation Streetairs Monday to Friday at 8:30pm on ITV1 and is available to stream from 7am on ITVX.
