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A parody AI chatbot designed by California congressional candidate Scott Wiener’s campaign to mock the record of his opponent attracted the attention politicians crave and criticism most loathe.

The short-lived experiment stirred controversy over the use of artificial intelligence in campaigns ads and drew sharp criticism from former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who has endorsed Wiener’s opponent for the coveted San Francisco congressional seat. Wiener quickly pulled the plug.

Candidates on both sides of the aisle have been testing the waters by integrating generative AI into campaign ads. It comes as no surprise to political sociologist Mindy Romero, the director of the Center for Inclusive Democracy, who said candidates have long used all tools at their disposal to reach voters, from the invention of the radio and TV to social media.

“Using AI is just part of the progression,” Romero said. Generative AI is particularly useful for political candidates since it allows them to subconsciously influence viewers by putting words in their opponents’ mouths, she said.

Even as political campaigns experiment with more outlandish applications of the technology, many have already been using AI in quieter ways, including to compose tailored mailings and participate in digital chat rooms, Romero said.

GOP gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton on July 24 released three cinematic ads made using generative AI, the first of which features fictional portrayals of Kamala Harris and Gavin Newsom, shown sharing a lavish meal.

The ad also depicts a fake Xavier Becerra, his Democratic rival in the governor’s race, who is heard saying, “I believe all the things that Newsom believes.” The ad ends with Hilton facing off against a massive red-eyed robot meant to represent the “Democratic machine.” An AI disclaimer appears in the last five seconds of the two-minute and 29-second video.

“Campaigns have always adopted new technology, from television to the internet to social media,” Hilton campaign spokesperson Hector Barajas said in a statement. “Generative AI is the next step, and we believe it would be irresponsible not to use every lawful, ethical, and innovative tool to communicate with California voters.”

Spencer Pratt, who unsuccessfully ran for L.A. mayor, in May reposted on X a viral Batman-inspired AI-generated video that depicted Mayor Karen Bass as the Joker, the clownish supervillain. Charles Curran, the filmmaker who made the fan video in support of Pratt, appears to now be working with Hilton’s campaign in a more official capacity, with his X account tagged on several campaign social media posts.

“I view this as the evolution of political satire,” Curran said, referring to his AI videos, in an interview with the Washington Times. “Like Mark Twain. Like Tammany Hall.” Curran did not respond to interview requests.

“We’re on the bleeding edge right now,” said Sacramento political consultant Tim Rosales, who ran Republican John Cox’s 2018 gubernatorial campaign. He said he anticipates that campaigns will more fully understand and use AI to its full extent in the next two election cycles.

California campaigns have long been at the forefront of adopting new technologies. In the 1980s, the late political strategist Clint Reilly was among the first political consultants to use voter roll data to segment and target pivotal voters for turnout and persuasion.

Rosales said that because campaigns in California are more expensive and raise more money than those in other states, “You have a lot more tools in your tool box and more toys you can play with.”

Lynn Vavreck, a political science and communications studies professor at UCLA, said the persuasive effects of Hilton’s AI videos are likely “limited” as they are most likely being watched by supporters. The videos, she said, are more akin to “content creation” than to ads.

Romero said AI technology can be beneficial for campaigns, particularly those with limited funds, that may use it to create outreach lists, assist with analysis or generate creative and campaign materials.

But AI-generated video, images and audio are a “double-edged sword,” Romero said. While effective at drawing attention, they may have the unwanted effect of making viewers uncomfortable by blurring the lines of reality — even if the AI use is disclosed. As a result, political campaigns must make a “strategic calculation” when they opt to use them, she said.

Those perils surfaced last week when the campaign of Wiener (D-San Francisco), who is running for the congressional seat held by the outgoing Pelosi, unveiled an AI chatbot that could be accessed on the ConnieChan.ai website.

The site referred to itself as “Connie, the world’s first AI trained to say no to anything you ask.” The footer included a note that the site is not affiliated with or endorsed by Chan, is meant as parody, and is paid for by Wiener’s campaign.

“Bring me an idea and I’ll explain why it can’t, shouldn’t, and won’t happen,” the site said, followed by a box encouraging users to type in a query. The chatbot would then produce a snide response parodying Chan.

When The Times entered the word “housing” into the text box last week, its response came seconds later.

“I built my career opposing new housing in San Francisco,” the chatbot’s response read. “I aggressively defend the status quo, and I’m fine with exploding rents and mass displacement.” It then rattled off examples including Chan’s opposition to Wiener’s state law to streamline housing projects.

Wiener campaign spokesperson Joe Arellano said Wednesday that he came up with the idea of making a chatbot ad shortly after the June primary election, when he saw a video showing a group of people putting up parody tech and AI advertisements in the New York City subway.

“I thought, this is an opportunity to do this right in the heart of innovation here in San Francisco,” Arellano said. “San Francisco right now is having this moment around AI and the billboards. … The overall craze around the industry has become a cultural moment.”

The chatbot cost $5,000 to make, a sum that includes the cost to secure the domain, host the site and obtain the pro version of Anthropic’s Claude AI model, plus staff time, according to Arellano. The campaign spent an additional $20,000 to rent two billboards in San Francisco promoting the bot.

The idea was to highlight Chan’s “record of obstructing progress” through a “chatbot that essentially says no to any kind of policy that you’re proposing,” Arellano said.

Chan’s campaign and her allies saw it differently.

“[It’s] never a good idea for a man to put words in a woman’s mouth — especially when they are falsities fraught with racist and sexist undertones,” Ian Krager, a spokesperson for Chan’s campaign, said in a text message. The chatbot, Krager said, showed Wiener was “bought and paid for by Big AI.”

Chan’s campaign shared several screenshots of interactions with the chatbot with The Times, including one in which the chatbot was asked if it was “from China.” (Chan was born in Hong Kong.)

According to the campaign’s screenshot, the chatbot replied that its “origins are classified under about seventeen different committee review processes.”

Then, it pivoted: “But I’d love to help obstruct something *else* you’re curious about! Here are some of my favorite topics,” and spat out a menu of topics to choose from, which included “blocking housing” and “derailing public transit.”

Wiener’s campaign said the chatbot was created with “strict guardrails” and designed to ignore controversial and malicious prompts and pivot back to Chan’s policy record.

Pelosi, who has endorsed Chan in the race, released a statement Thursday criticizing Wiener’s campaign for the chatbot, calling its use of AI to “fabricate a woman’s voice for ridicule or attack” a “gross misuse of technology.”

At first, Wiener defended himself, writing on X Thursday evening that his rival’s campaign inundated the chatbot with “malicious questions” about her accent, race and citizenship that the chatbot refused. The next day, Wiener reversed course.

“[Our] use of an AI chatbot clearly missed the mark,” Wiener said in a statement Friday. “The conversation became about the tactic instead of the issues that actually matter to San Franciscans.”

Wiener’s campaign on Friday took the chatbot offline and announced plans to take down the billboards.

Romero said experts began to have widespread discussions about how AI could be used to sway voters and affect democracy in the lead-up to the 2024 election when a company sent deceptive phone messages that used AI to mimic President Biden’s voice and discourage people from voting.

Since then, there have been several efforts by California lawmakers to rein in AI-generated advertising.

Gov. Gavin Newsom in September 2024 signed several AI-related bills. They include AB 2839, which banned the distribution of materially deceptive content that could harm a candidate’s reputation or electoral prospects, with exceptions for satire and parody, and AB 2355, which requires a committee that creates a political ad to disclose if it was generated or substantially altered by AI.

U.S. Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Fremont) have renewed an effort to update the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to clarify that existing bans on “fraudulent misrepresentation of campaign authority” and the “fraudulent solicitation of funds” also extend to AI-generated content.

“Fraudulent AI advertising has already proliferated in races across the country, and if Congress does not act, this runaway challenge will only get worse as AI becomes increasingly capable of blurring the lines between fact and fiction,” Schiff said in a statement.

Elena Kuhn, a spokesperson for Schiff, said the proposed legislation applies to material that attempts to “speak on behalf of other candidates,” meaning Hilton’s AI-generated cinematic clip of himself fighting a robot would be not be banned — contrary to the Republican candidate’s claims that it would be.

A MAJOR American-style attraction, with 13 venues across the globe, is moving to the UK for its first ‘flagship’ site.

The venue is set to span over 26,000 sq ft, and is based at the heart of a renowned tourist destination.

London is getting its very first Time Out Market, as the acclaimed city guides brand expands to the UK.

Based in the heart of London’s West End, the market is set to take over 55 Regent Street, a three-floor building overlooking Piccadilly Circus.

Inside, the market will span over 26,000 sq ft, featuring a curated selection of London’s best food and drinks.

Time Out has previously found success with its markets across the globe, with its 13 destinations welcoming over 12million annual visitors.

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First opening in Lisbon in 2014, the concept now features in New York, Dubai, Cape Town, Osaka, Budapest and more.

The London site is expected to have approximately 15 restaurants, bars, and food businesses, paired with a live entertainment programme.

Development of 55 Regent Street is part of a wider regeneration scheme of 10 Piccadilly, overseen by the Crown Estate.

The Grade II listed building, based in the heart of Piccadilly for over a century, is being modernised into a 65,000 sq ft contemporary workspace.

Time Out was founded as a print magazine in London back in 1968, moving to be entirely digital in 2022.

This is not the first time Time Out has looked for a market location in its origin location, initially proposing a site in Waterloo in 2021 and Spitalfields that were both later scrapped.

Chris Ohlund, chief of Time Out Group plc, said: “Securing this partnership with The Crown Estate to create our global flagship in the heart of Piccadilly Circus is one of the most significant milestones in Time Out’s nearly 60-year history.

“Bringing the globally recognised Time Out Market concept home to London is both a celebration of where we began and a statement of where we are going.

“London is one of the world’s greatest cities for food and culture, and there is no better location than Piccadilly Circus to showcase everything that makes it extraordinary.”

Time Out Market in Piccadilly is set to open in 2028, with the company also planning new venues in Delhi, Abu Dhabi, Sao Paulo, Prague, and Riyadh.

A 15-year campaign led by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art to conserve Watts Towers has run out of budget at the same time that a $22-million renovation of the campus is poised to take flight. The situation highlights what community organizers and the site’s leadership say is a piecemeal approach to the protection and preservation of one of the city’s most important cultural landmarks.

For decades, the city of Los Angeles and private foundations have invested in preserving the towers, the 102-year-old masterpiece of folk art built by Italian immigrant Sabato “Simon” Rodia. But while the landmark itself underwent years of painstaking conservation, which was recently halted at 90% complete, the arts campus surrounding it evolved in fits and starts.

Now, after 14 years of planning, an equally ambitious investment is being made to transform the Watts Towers Arts Center Campus (WTACC), which has served as an essential cultural and educational center for more than 50 years. The work will mark the first major upgrade of the WTACC since it opened in 1970, and leaders hope the transformation continues uninterrupted until it reaches the finish line.

“This is about investing in the people of Watts and creating a space the community can be proud of,” Mayor Karen Bass wrote in an email. “Thanks to the dedication of our state, county and local partners, philanthropic supporters and community organizations, we’re one step closer to creating a greener, healthier and more vibrant campus that honors the legacy of Watts while serving generations of Angelenos to come.”

The campus renovation is slated to break ground in October, with completion targeted before the 2028 Summer Olympics. The project is funded through a patchwork of public and private sources, including a $10.1 million investment from the Bezos Earth Fund, the climate philanthropy organization founded by Amazon Executive Chair Jeff Bezos.

The redesign will reshape how visitors experience the campus. More than 30,000 square feet of park space will be added along E. 107th Street, while climate-resilient landscaping will reduce flooding, improve stormwater management and create cooler public spaces. More seating and shade will be added to its amphitheater, new public art will be commissioned, and additional walkways, gathering areas and 200 trees will make the towers the physical centerpiece of what will be a 5-acre campus.

“It’s been the right time for a long time,” said WTACC Director Rosie Lee Hooks of the project’s long gestation during a recent interview.

A girl plays near the Watts Towers at the Watts Towers Arts Center Campus, which is poised to undergo a $22-million renovation just as funding for the restoration on the towers themselves has run out.

(Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Times)

The center offers free art, film and music classes for students and seniors, houses an art gallery and hosts two annual music festivals. Thousands of artists, filmmakers and musicians have passed through its doors as students and instructors.

Hooks, who has led the center since 2010, said the project’s long timeline reflects more than bureaucracy.

“It took so long because we’re in Watts,” she said, noting that the neighborhood has faced decades of disinvestment dating back to the 1965 Watts uprising. “People are still scared to come down here. However, our community is very, very rich in culture.”

That history of underinvestment is reflected in the campus itself, supporters say.

“This is the story of development in Watts and other communities of color in Los Angeles, where racist planning practices, combined with a lack of investment in the city’s arts and culture facilities, create a haphazard approach to management and design,” Tori Kjer, executive director of the Los Angeles Neighborhood Land Trust (LANLT), wrote in an email. The organization has partnered with the city on the campus’ redesign since 2012, when planning began to incorporate a vacant lot adjoining the towers into the campus.

The landscape design echoes Rodia’s own artistic process. Over the course of 33 years beginning in 1921, he transformed thousands of disparate objects — including mosaic tiles, plates, glass, shells and pottery — into 17 interconnected structures, one of which rises more than 99 feet.

“Assemblage is the practice of creating something meaningful from many distinct parts,” Sara Zewde, founder and principal of Studio Zewde, the landscape architecture firm designing the campus, wrote in an email. “Rather than erase those histories and make the campus feel as though it had always been a singular space, we wanted the landscape to celebrate them.”

A model created by landscape design firm Studio Zewde of the proposed renovations to the Watts Towers Arts Center Campus. Groundbreaking is set to begin in October on the $22-million project.

(Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Times)

The campus’ landscape has remained largely unchanged since WTACC opened. Since then, several buildings and public artworks have been added, but LANLT’s Kjer described the site as a “hodgepodge of concrete, worn-out planting areas and grass … with a disjointed flow and limited way-finding.”

Around the time that LANLT partnered with the city, a separate proposal to build a skate park on the adjoining lot drew community opposition and, according to Kjer, delayed the project by about four years. The skate park ultimately opened a few blocks away, allowing the parcel to become part of an expanded campus.

The WTACC project gained momentum in 2021 when California’s Proposition 68 Statewide Park Program awarded a $4.5 million grant. The following year, Assemblymember Mike A. Gipson (D-Carson) secured an additional $4 million in the state budget.

Once that funding was committed, “it was just a domino effect,” Gipson said, helping attract additional public and private investment.

“This will be a space that will be nourishing for the soul,” said Daniel Tarica, general manager of the city’s Department of Cultural Affairs, which manages the towers. “We’re finally going to be able to make the whole campus useful.”

A building at the Watts Towers Arts Center Campus, which will receive a $22-million renovation beginning in October. Community members and supporters say the work has been a long time coming.

(Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Times)

Watts Towers attract about 40,000 visitors a year, according to the California Department of Parks and Recreation, and were designated a U.S. National Historic Landmark in 1990. In June, the site was added to the World Monuments Fund’s “Irreplaceable America” list of 10 endangered historic sites in the United States.

While Gipson hopes the renovated campus will attract additional international visitors, he also wants more Angelenos to discover one of the city’s defining cultural landmarks.

“The towers tell a story about Los Angeles,” Gipson said. “We want people to know that the Watts Towers are part of who Los Angeles is.”

Tarica said the project is designed to serve neighborhood residents as much as tourists.

“It’s a huge resource, and we have fought as a department, and as a city, to make sure that we have the funding to continue teaching … and programming,” he said.

A statue of Watts Towers creator Sabato “Simon” Rodia stands at the entrance to the Watts Towers Arts Center Campus, which is getting a $22-million renovation beginning in October, with the goal of completion in time for the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.

(Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Times)

For Hooks, however, the renovation’s success will ultimately be measured by its impact on the surrounding community.

She sees the campus as filling a void left by decades of cuts to arts education while providing a place where residents can gather and learn.

“Our community cannot afford art, especially now with all of the issues around health, around food, around jobs, around ICE separating families,” she said.

The project’s funding is restricted to renovating the campus and does not include the conservation of the Watts Towers themselves. LACMA Deputy Director Diana Magaloni said about $412,000 is needed to finish the project. The city has allocated $150,000 for ongoing maintenance and monitoring, and both Magaloni and Tarica said they remain optimistic the conservation campaign and campus transformation will be completed before Los Angeles welcomes the world for the 2028 Summer Olympics.

“It would be amazing to have this funding to be able to do the campus restoration and [the towers restoration] in preparation for us to be on the world stage,” Tarica said.

AN AWARD-WINNING visitor attraction in the UK is at risk of closing.

The Jodrell Bank Observatory in Cheshire – home to the UK’s largest telescope and several attractions for the last 70 years – could soon close.

According to the BBC, the attraction has lost its funding, which could mean that the attraction is forced to close, which scientists describe as “heartbreaking”.

The UNESCO World Heritage Site observatory features a number of telescopes that have been used to study galaxies and to train astronomers.

There are four pavilions in total to explore, including one that features a science exhibition.

Outside, visitors can then also venture around 35 acres of gardens including an arboretum, as well as picnic areas, ponds and a playground.

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The attraction has a number of cafes and a gift shop too.

General tickets cost £15 per adult and £10.50 per child.

In addition to this, there are a number of events that run at the observatory including shows such as The Great Solar System Adventure, where young space explorers can see the journey and life of stars.

Most shows cost from nothing to around £5 per person to watch.

And the site isn’t just used for science – it has also made an appearance in Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy as well as Doctor Who.

Unless funding can be found for the attraction, all scientific investigations are expected to stop at the observatory on April 1, 2028.

The observatory was first launched in 1945 and played a key role in the Cold War to monitor Soviet missiles.

The BBC added that the UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) agency is expected to make a statement regarding the loss of the observatory’s annual £2.8million budget.

One recent visitor said: “We had a really lovely experience at Jodrell Bank Centre for Engagement. It’s a fantastic place to visit with children.

“There is an indoor museum, activity room as well as playgrounds, so it works well even if the weather isn’t great.

“The Dome cinema was a real highlight — the film was excellent and very engaging.”

GONE are the days of dingy caravans in the drizzling rain – because the UK’s hottest holiday parks feel more like multi-million pound mega resorts.

Today, the best coastal holiday parks have been transformed into massive, all-action playgrounds that easily rival an overseas holiday.

We’re talking huge parks boasting their own on-site Wetherspoons for cheap family meals, massive indoor waterparks the kids will love and even theme parks right on your doorstep.

Best of all, you don’t need to blow your savings to get in on the action.

We’ve rounded up the ultimate action-packed resorts across the UK, with stays starting from an unbelievable £3.06 per person, per night – which, let’s face it, is probably cheaper than a pint at that on-site Spoons.

Here are the best mega holiday parks to book right now for a budget-friendly family staycation.

Hopton Holiday Village, Norfolk

Haven’s Hopton Holiday Village in Norfolk is hard to beat – especially since it holds the current title for AA’s Holiday Park of the Year.

Fresh from a massive makeover, the park now has its very own Wetherspoons pub – The White Clover – as well as a newly-upgraded pool complex that has literally doubled in size.

This holiday park sits on the golden sands of Hopton-on-Sea, and is just 12 minutes down the road from the legendary Golden Mile of Great Yarmouth.

There you can grab a bag of hot, sugary donuts and stroll the pier, drop spare change into traditional two pence machines, or even tackle Pleasure Beach’s legendary wooden rollercoaster – one of only two in the UK.

When it comes to activities on-site, this site packs in everything from crazy golf and Segway tours, to a heated indoor pool complete with high-speed flumes and slides.

Once the day is done, you can head straight to the buzzing lounge bar to grab a drink and catch the fun-filled Seaside Squad entertainment.

Unity Beach, Somerset

You don’t just get a holiday park stay at Unity Beach in Somerset – you get a holiday park, theme park and a newly-revamped waterpark rolled into one.

Brean Theme Park is the UK’s largest free-entry theme park, and it packs in over 40 attractions – from outdoor rollercoasters and classic dodgems to a splashing log flume.

This summer also sees the reopening of the upgraded Unity Splash waterpark, which included both indoor and outdoor splash zones, waterslides, and rubber ring rides.

Kids can burn energy at the trampoline park, indoor soft play, crossbow shooting, or even axe throwing.

Not the mention you’ve got the epic, seven-mile stretch of Brean Sands beach right on your doorstep.

Trecco Bay, Porthcawl

As the UK’s biggest holiday park – and one of the largest in Europe – Trecco Bay is a colossal coastal playground.

Situated in the seaside town of Porthcawl, here you’ve got a classic promenade, a seaside funfair, and a choice of stunning Blue Flag beaches right on your doorstep.

But there’s no need to leave site when you’ve got a NERF gun battlefield, bumper zorbing, pirate-themed crazy golf, and a Make a Bear station and more to pick from.

Plus the pool complex has high-powered aqua jets that twist you through the water, as well as inflatable jet skis and mini aqua paddler boats for little ones.

Even the pickiest of eaters can find something here, with top-tier high-street brands like Burger King, Papa Johns, Thunderbird Fried Chicken, and Costa Coffee ready to refuel the whole family.

Craig Tara, Ayrshire, Scotland

Haven’s flagship Scottish resort, Craig Tara, is a colossal playground built for non-stop family fun.

This holiday park is home to Splashaway Bay, one of Scotland’s biggest indoor waterparks, which has its own lazy river, multi-lane slides and an enormous tipping bucket.

Kids can race down a speed-tracking flume to see their name on the daily leaderboard, or zip down a twisting waterslide lit up with vibrant neon lights.

Over in the Lighthouse Harbour Adventure Village, brave kids can scale the aerial ropes course or take a literal leap of faith from the six metre-high platform ‘The Jump’.

And if that’s not enough, you’ve got the Airspace sports hall, which is loaded with a climbing wall, electronic target zones, and a giant soft play arena.

Toddlers are just as well looked after, with dedicated baby sensory rooms and their own interactive splash zone.

This holiday park makes for the ultimate rainproof staycation, where the unpredictable Scottish weather won’t affect your holiday plans.

Littlesea Holiday Park, Weymouth

If you’re after jaw-dropping sea views and a relaxing, slower-paced park, Haven’s Littlesea Holiday Park is a top choice.

With its own tranquil stretch of sand on Dorset’s Jurassic Coast, Haven Littlesea overlooks the serene Fleet Lagoon and has natural wonders like the stone arch of Durdle Door right on your doorstep.

On-site, kids can get their hands dirty with guided nature walks and bug hunts, plus there’s also creative pottery classes and lively games of beach bingo.

New additions to the park include the Football Fun Factory and The Tiger Club Show, making its return from the 90’s era of Haven entertainment.

As for food and drink, families can tuck into a pizza at Papa Johns, grab a burger from The Smash Shack, or tuck into some delicious fish and chips from Cook’s.

Thornwick Bay, Yorkshire

Haven’s AA 5 Gold Star-awarded Thornwick Bay sits right on the edge of the dramatic Flamborough Headland, giving you instant access to a breathtaking beach backed by moss-topped cliffs.

This coastal hotspot is a paradise for little explorers, who can spend their mornings rock pooling, hunting for fossils, and poking around hidden sea caves.

You don’t even have to head to the ocean to get out on the water, thanks to a private on-site lake where you can hire pedalos, go kayaking, or try stand-up paddleboarding.

Indoors, the Activity Barn packs in climbing walls, archery coaching, and slime-making workshops, plus there’s an indoor pool complex complete with a multi-lane waterslide.

When it’s time to refuel, you can grab a box of Chopstix noodles or head to the Lighthouse Bar & Restaurant where the kids can play in the garden’s sandpit.

Top it all off with a giant scoop from Bertie’s Ice Cream, and your next summer staycation is completely sorted.

Devon Cliffs, Exmouth

Devon Cliffs is one of Haven’s biggest resorts, sloping right down to its very own award-winning private beach, Sandy Bay, where dramatic red cliffs meet the sea.

This coastal holiday park boasts a massive indoor pool with a speedy four-lane slide, alongside a sea-kayaking and paddle-boarding school right on the shore.

Back up on the cliffs, families can tackle a high ropes course, bounce on bungee trampolines, race mini 4x4s, or hurtle down high-speed rubber ring tube slides.

Eating on a budget is a breeze too, thanks to the park’s on-site Wetherspoons, The Red Rocks.

Parents can also escape for a seaside pint to the beach bar, or grab a bite to eat in the South Beach Cafe for sunsets and sea views.

There’s also two live entertainment venues hosting everything from classic bingo to nostalgic 90’s tribute shows.

Sam Dimond, owner of event production company Spotlight Sound, said he had lost his livelihood in the fire. The headquarters of his business was based on the industrial site.

He said: “It’s gone, basically. Lots and lots of people have lost their livelihoods. We’ve got customers to serve, we’ve got employees that have a job, and at the minute they don’t have a place of work to go back to.”

Locals reported hearing the explosion on Friday afternoon.

Adrian Walker, 46, from Ashingdon, said: “The ground shook, buildings shook, windows rattled, birds flew off – and I am 15 miles away.

“I’ve never heard anything like it. At first, I thought it was the MoD in Shoeburyness trying out some new ordnance, but it was heard and felt for miles around.”

At least five people were killed after a massive landslide buried a tunnel construction site in Kerala during heavy monsoon rain. CCTV footage captured the dramatic collapse as rescuers search for several people feared trapped beneath the debris.

A military airport in the southwestern city of Gwangju was selected Monday as the site for a government-led project to create a semiconductor production cluster, a presidential official said.

The selection was made in a meeting earlier in the day between government officials and top executives of leading chipmakers — Samsung Electronics Co. and SK hynix Inc. — to discuss follow-up measures for the investment project, presidential chief of staff Kang Hoon-sik said at a press briefing.

The president will hold monthly meetings to personally check the progress in the massive investment project, he added.

The envisioned chip production cluster is part of the government’s “three megaprojects” initiative, centered on large-scale investments in semiconductors, physical artificial intelligence (AI) and AI data centers in regional areas.

Under the chip cluster project, the two leading chipmakers have pledged to invest a combined 800 trillion won (US$522 billion), marking the single-largest investment plan to date in the southwestern Gwangju and Honam area.

“Through consultations with related ministries, the government will promptly finalize the (administrative) process of designating the candidate site,” Kang said.

The presidential official noted that companies proposed the military site for the production complex, describing it as an 8.3 million-square-meter track of already leveled land that would save time for preparation.

Its proximity to the city’s downtown and railway station would also facilitate easy access for workers and the transportation of goods, the official said.

Kang noted that the president has decided to hold monthly meetings to review the progress of the projects and establish a dedicated body within Cheong Wa Dae to oversee them.

Copyright (c) Yonhap News Agency prohibits its content from being redistributed or reprinted without consent, and forbids the content from being learned and used by artificial intelligence systems.

For nearly a century, Sparkletts bottled its water in a vast building on Lincoln Avenue designed to look like a Moorish palace, or maybe an industrial oasis.

Now Sparkletts has moved out, the owners aren’t talking and L.A. city officials, hoping to save the building, have named the site a historic-cultural monument.

“We’ve always had an eye on the building because it’s such an icon in the community,” said Frank Parrello, Landmarks and Advocacy chair for the Eagle Rock Valley Historical Society. “We want to make sure that whatever happens in the future, the building is considered.”

The plant, which drew water from subterranean springs and bottled it for distribution through Southern California, went up in 1929 on E. Lincoln Avenue along the Eagle Rock-Highland Park border, filling the block between N. Avenue 45 and N. Avenue 46. Designed by architect Richard D. King, its main building features arches, towers and domes, a white-washed brick exterior and wrought-iron lanterns.

The L.A. Conservancy calls it a bold example of Moorish Revival industrial style and a prime illustration of “the industrialization of drinking water in Los Angeles.”

Neighbors call it “the Taj Mahal,” resident Anthony Carmona says.

The Sparkletts building, built in 1929, was designed in a Moorish Revival style. The building, idle since 2025, has been added to the L.A. City Historical-Cultural Monument list.

(Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)

Questions about the building’s future began to multiply in 2025, when Sparkletts ceased operations on the site. A 4.4-acre portion of the property was listed for sale, then for lease. The L.A. Conservancy warned that the building was “at risk of redevelopment.”

The Instagram site Save Iconic Architecture also sounded an alarm, saying the Sparkletts building “tells the story of Los Angeles’ innovation, design, and relationship with its most precious resource: water.”

Meanwhile, the Eagle Rock Valley Historical Society nominated the building as a historic-cultural monument, which led to a site visit and votes by the city of Los Angeles Cultural Affairs Commission and City Council.

On June 24, the council voted to protect the building as a monument. The designation “does not guarantee that the building cannot be demolished,” but it does allow city officials to delay demolition for up to 360 days “to allow for time to preserve the monument.”

The city Planning Department staff report on the historic monument nomination lists the owners as Sparkletts Drinking Water Corporation and Foremost Water Corporation. Neither commented to the city on the monument nomination and Primo Brands (Sparkletts’ parent company) did not respond to requests for information Monday.

The city’s staff report on the site says the architect may have been influenced by a Moorish design trend in the 1920s that included the film “The Thief of Bagdad” (1924). The El Capitan Theater on Hollywood Boulevard and Shrine Auditorium near USC, both completed in 1926, are also known for their Moorish features.

Architectural historians David Gebhard and Robert Winter included the Sparkletts building in their “Architectural Guidebook to Los Angeles,” noting its mosque-like presence and saying “the best remaining element” is the tiled mosaic oasis scene over the entrance.

The building has seen some changes. As the Eagle Rock Valley Historical Society nomination notes, the building’s largest Sparkletts sign was removed in July 2025. City records show that decades ago, in the course of repairs after the 1971 San Fernando earthquake, at least one minaret was removed.

The entrance, however, remains largely intact, featuring three arches and a set of steps framed by a pair of tall palm trees. Just above the front door and beneath a surviving Sparkletts sign hangs the tilework that Gebhard and Winter enjoyed.

Moreover, “it’s very impressive inside,” Parrello said. “It’s a big open industrial floor plan, which could be used for a lot of things.”

The Sparkletts building, idle since 2025, has been added to the L.A. City Historical-Cultural Monument list.

(Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)

If public agency or nonprofit is able to play a role in the property’s future, Parrello added, “it could become a housing complex, or a community center for a housing complex.”

A similar answer came from Carmona, 51, a restaurant worker who lives in an RV about a block away from the Sparkletts building. Carmona said he’d love to see it become a gathering place where neighbors can trade products, services, ideas, “lemons, oranges, whatever.” In a perfect world, Carmona said, “there should be free water for everyone, but of course that’s not going to happen.”

The city of L.A. began designated historic-cultural landmarks in 1962 and has given that status to more than 1,000 buildings and other structures.

The closure of the Eagle Rock Sparkletts operation followed a 2024 merger between Sparkletts’ parent company, Primo Water, and another bottled water company, BlueTriton, to from Primo Brands.

WASHINGTON — President Trump’s remodeled Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool with its “American flag blue” bottom has turned chartreuse from an algal bloom that park service workers struggled to address Tuesday just days after its more than $14 million renovation.

The Washington Monument is once again visible in the refilled pool, but Trump’s vision of an azure expanse between the D.C. landmarks has been complicated by the harsh realities of chemistry and biology known to any backyard pool owner. The work has been confounded by the unique challenges posed by the scale of the structure, bigger than 10 Olympic-sized pools — which Trump has called a lake — and the source of its water: the often-fetid Tidal Basin.

Algae has plagued the site since it opened more than 100 years ago, but Trump set his sights on addressing it as part of his aggressive push to beautify Washington as the country approaches its 250th anniversary. Contracts worth at least $14.8 million have been awarded for the project, announced in April by Trump, who said he was inspired by complaints from a friend visiting from Germany who called the pool dark and disgusting.

Teams of National Park Service employees and contractors deployed chemicals and ozone nanobubbles Tuesday in a bid to keep the algae in check, not dissimilar from efforts to clean the pool before Trump’s renovation kicked off.

“What do you expect?” asked Cochise Wanzer II, president of the Pool Service Company in Arlington, Virginia. “You’re basically taking natural, untreated river water, pumping it in and expecting it to do something different from what it would do out in the open.”

And the new coat of paint on the bottom of the pool has added an additional twist to ensuring the cleanliness of one of Washington’s most memorable destinations: “Now that the bottom is nice and dark, it elevates the temperature and the algae grows better,” said Wanzer.

The chemicals and ozone nanobubbles — a water purification treatment used to avoid some harsh chemicals — were one part of the effort underway to clean the Reflecting Pool. Workers used a swimming pool-type vacuum cleaner to suck up algae from the bottom, leaving behind clean patches of American Flag Blue paint adjacent to enormous swaths of green algae in a pattern familiar to anyone who has ever vacuumed a carpet before.

The park service said in a statement it is also using hydrogen peroxide, a milder treatment than chlorine and one used in spas and natural swimming pools. “There are no harmful side effects to marine life or to the environment,” it said.

As the mitigation work continued, a contractor took off his socks and shoes and rolled up his pants to his knees and proceeded to wade into the pool to place an ozone nanobubble tube as tourists and locals milled about on a sunny morning.

Rick and Ariana Pettit, a couple from Las Vegas who are road tripping in their RV across the United States, posed for photos at the iconic site of protests and marches as cleaning continued. Dressed in American flag-themed leggings and a Make America Great Again leotard, Pettit remarked to her husband, attired in an “Veteran for Trump” American flag button-up: “Look, it’s already looking more blue.”

Wanzer was blunt in his assessment of what it would take to maintain the pool as an algae-free space: “They may want to drain it, hose it all down, and start from the beginning with fresh water and treat it as the water comes in.”

Vogel and Martin write for the Associated Press.

Al Jazeera’s Heidi Pett reports from the site of an Israeli attack on a residential building in southern Beirut, which Israel calls a Hezbollah command centre. The strike came hours before President Trump said a US-Iran deal was meant to be signed.

NEWARK, N.J. — The mayor of Newark imposed a curfew early Sunday around an immigration detention center in New Jersey after a series of intense clashes between protesters and police.

The curfew around Delaney Hall will be in place between 9 p.m. and 6 a.m. until further notice, Mayor Ras Baraka said in a statement.

The move came after another night of standoffs between law enforcement and demonstrators at the facility, as protesters could be seen in photographs and videos fighting over barricades as police used riot shields to push them back. A video posted on social media showed police on horseback marching into crowds, attempting to break up groups of demonstrators.

The high-profile demonstrations at Delaney Hall began this month after advocates said detainees launched a hunger strike over poor living conditions at the 1,000-bed facility, the latest focus of opposition over the federal government’s immigration crackdown.

The private company GEO Group operates the lockup under the supervision of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The shuttered facility reopened for immigration detainees in February 2025.

New Jersey state police on Friday replaced federal immigration enforcement agents who had been facing off against protesters at the facility for days.

In a statement Sunday morning, New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill said masked people attacked a barrier in a designated protest area set up by state police and were “throwing projectiles, utilizing the barriers as weapons, and lighting tires on fire in the street.”

“These actions put both peaceful protesters and law enforcement in danger,” Sherrill said, urging calm to focus on advocating for “better conditions for the detainees, for their families, and ultimately, for the closure of Delaney Hall.”

Sherrill also said that the federal government has reopened family visits at Delaney Hall starting Sunday.

Asked about visitations resuming, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security said in a statement, “To be clear: Visitation was only suspended because of violent riots. Now that we have a secure perimeter, visitation can resume.”

A HOLIDAY park with glamping pods and lodges could be built on an old torpedo site in Scotland.

The former testing area for missiles has been derelict for 40 years, but could soon be completely transformed and become a go-to staycation spot.

Follow The Sun’s award-winning travel team on Instagram and Tiktok for top holiday tips and inspiration @thesuntravel.

On the shores of Loch Long in Argyll & Bute is an old Ministry of Defence site that was used been 1912 and 1986.

It was predominantly used during World War Two, and as many as 12,000 torpedoes were fired down Loch Long.

Since its closure 40 years ago, the site in Arrochar has been abandoned and left derelict.

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A planning application to redevelop the area was first submitted in 2023.

Three years on, Loch Lomond & The Trossachs National Park Authority has approved a mixed-use tourism development by Ardnagal Estates.

Former proposals for the site included 14 holiday homes, 34 holiday lodges, and a 34-bedroom budget hotel.

Also included in the initial plans was a cafe, shop, a 40-bed bunkhouse, six motorhome pitches and 20 glamping pods as well as parking, composting toilets and shower block.

Another proposed feature was to revitalise the pier so that the public and community could access the loch.

Leisure on the site would include a play park that will add “family-friendly amenity for residents and visitors”.

Previous plans were to build a 130-bedroom hotel although it isn’t clear if this is part of the current plans.

Claire Chapman, the park authority’s planning and access committee chairwoman, said: “The approval of this long-standing derelict site’s redevelopment is a significant step forward in addressing what has been a blight on both the local community and the environment.

“The site has been identified in both the existing local development plan, which guides new development in the National Park, and in the community’s local place plan.”

Russia has launched one of its largest attacks on Kyiv since the war began, firing hundreds of drones and missiles across Ukraine overnight.

Speaking to Al Jazeera after visiting damaged sites, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy condemned the strikes and the targeting of civilian infrastructure, as Ukraine vowed retaliation.

KATIE Price’s missing hubby is back online after eight days and following a “biker babe”.

Lee Andrews’ Instagram only followed Katie until early today when it added a glam US Navy veteran called Marisol.

Katie is said to be disgusted and incensed after “kidnapped” hubby Lee reappeared online.

His shock return came on worried Katie’s 48th birthday. In the early hours fans spotted Andrews had added Marisol — and they alerted Katie.

It appears Marisol previously used an online matchmaking service for millionaires.

Katie’s last contact with Andrews came when he claimed he had been arrested and taken to a “black site”.

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He has since blanked her messages.

A pal said: “Katie is incensed at what has played out.

“She is beyond furious.

“She was panic-stricken last week when Lee told her he was being kidnapped.

“She thought it was genuine.

“Now it’s all unravelling.

“Those close to her have warned it’s all an elaborate sham but Katie genuinely loves Lee.

“She was so worried and does hold out some hope he is going to reappear.

“Now she’s seen him following this woman, to say she was angry and confused is an understatement.

“The last thing Lee told Katie was that he was being bundled into a van with ties around his hands.

“Now he’s on social media appearing to be chasing other women. It’s disgusting.”

Marisol did not respond to our request for comment.

Last night she deleted a photo with friends she posted on Instagram on Thursday.

Those with knowledge of Andrews had a stark warning for Marisol.

A source said: “If she is somehow involved with Lee she needs to get out fast.

“His MO is finding women on social media then befriending them.

“It’s exactly what he did with Katie and look how that ended up.

“This Marisol appears to have used dating websites before with millionaires — so either she’s rich or she wants to meet a well-off partner.”

Dubai-based Andrews is understood to be on a travel ban.

Last month we revealed a business he was asking women to invest in was shut down in 2024.

Last week we told how he took £1,000 from The Sun’s Clemmie Moodie as part of another apparent sham investment scheme and has blanked her demands for its return.

The source added: “Women need to be aware of what Lee has done previously when it comes to taking money for investments.

“They should not give him a penny of their cash.”

Katie married Andrews days after they met in January.

His ex-fiancée Alana Percival later warned Katie off him and branded him a “narcissist”.

Last night a pal of Katie said: “She honestly thought she had found lasting love.

“She married him and got ‘owned by Lee’ tattooed on to her body.

“No matter how many times people tried to warn her about his behaviour she refused to leave him.

“Then he walked off the face of the planet.

“Now he’s back online and has started following some American bird.

“You couldn’t make it up.”

WASHINGTON — Shouting over the banging and clanging sounds from heavy construction equipment, President Trump on Tuesday gave a group of reporters a closer look at the construction for the White House ballroom he’s building on the site of the former East Wing to mount a defense for the project that has hit a speed bump in Congress.

The administration has asked for $1 billion from taxpayers for security additions on the White House campus, including for the ballroom. But the Senate parliamentarian ruled the proposal could not be included in a bill to fund immigrant enforcement agencies for three years, and several Republican lawmakers have balked at the price tag in an election year where voters are grappling with gasoline, grocery and other prices spurred to new heights by the Iran war and the disruption in oil supplies.

So Trump, ever the pitchman, surprised White House reporters by bringing them to a platform overlooking the construction site on a hot and breezy morning as workers in hard hats and fluorescent yellow vests milled about below.

Easels were set up to display renderings of the ballroom building and at least one of them blew off in the wind. “Give that to me, I’ll hold it,” Trump told an assistant.

“There will never be another building like this built, that I can tell you,” Trump told reporters.

He highlighted the security aspects of the building, notably its “dead flat” roof made of “very strong steel” and said it is “drone-proof” because “if a drone hits it, it bounces off, it won’t have any impact — but it’s also meant as a drone port, so it protects all of Washington, the roof of the building.”

He said the military will “stay on it” to keep watch over the city.

There’s no air conditioning or other equipment on the roof for safety reasons, Trump said, explaining that all duct work and equipment like it was hidden within the walls of the complex, which will serve as a “shield” for a military hospital, research facilities, offices for the first lady and her staff, and a full-service kitchen — in addition to a ballroom big enough for 1,000 people.

He said the ballroom building goes down six stories underground and is really “complex” because “everything is intertwined.”

“The roof goes with the ground floor, the ground floor goes with the roof. The roof also goes down into the basement,” the president said. “This is one well-knit building. One thing doesn’t work without the other.”

Trump says the ballroom is a ‘gift’ to the country

He reiterated that the $400-million ballroom cost will be covered by donors, including him, and that the work is being done “in strict coordination” with the military and U.S. Secret Service.

“This is not going to be paid for by the taxpayer,” Trump said. “This is a gift to the United States of America.”

But it’s somewhat of an unwanted present as polling shows most Americans oppose the ballroom, which is embroiled in litigation in federal court. A Washington Post/ABC News/Ipsos poll conducted in April found that a majority, 56%, of U.S. adults oppose Trump’s decision to tear down the East Wing to make way for the ballroom, while only 28% are in support.

The National Trust for Historic Preservation sued to halt construction until Congress approves plans for the building.

Trump insisted he will have “very little” time to use the ballroom. He recently announced that it will be ready in September 2028, less than six months before his term ends.

“This is really for other presidents,” he said.

Trump sidestepped a question about whether he’ll kick in any more of his own money if Congress rejects the $1-billion funding request.

White House spokesperson Davis Ingle said Trump’s tour was not in response to the difficulties brewing in Congress. “President Trump is the most transparent president of all time and was excited to showcase to the press and American people the amazing gift he is giving to the White House and generations of future presidents to come,” Ingle said.

Trump also touched on some of the other beautification projects he’s undertaking across the city, such as restarting dormant park fountains. He claimed to be spending much less to clean up the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool than did his immediate predecessors — both Democrats.

“I’m doing a job on the Reflecting Lake for a fraction of what they paid,” Trump said. He’s having the surface coated in a shade of blue and wants to reopen it by July 4. A separate nonprofit group, the Cultural Landscape Foundation, has sued to halt this project.

Superville writes for the Associated Press.