soar

Published on
27/07/2026 – 9:03 GMT+2

CXMT’s shares surged 472% in their market debut and were trading up 462% by early afternoon in Asia, making it the most valuable company listed on a mainland Chinese exchange, with a market capitalisation of about 3.3 trillion yuan (approximately €415 billion). Even so, its market capitalisation remains below that of South Korean and US memory chipmakers Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix and Micron Technology.

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CXMT is among a growing number of chipmakers that have benefited enormously from the artificial intelligence boom. The company has also prospered as China pushes for greater self-sufficiency in advanced technologies while grappling with restricted access to cutting-edge chipmaking equipment under US-led export controls.

The company raised at least $8.6 billion (approximately €7.3 billion) in the offering, which was priced at 8.66 yuan (about €1.10) a share, in its listing on the Shanghai Stock Exchange’s Nasdaq-like STAR Market, also known as the Science and Technology Innovation Board.

It was mainland China’s second-largest initial public offering after Agricultural Bank of China’s 2010 dual listing in Shanghai and Hong Kong, which raised $22.1 billion (approximately €18.8 billion).

Founded in 2016 in the eastern city of Hefei, CXMT is one of the world’s largest makers of DRAM, or “dynamic random access” memory chips, a kind of semiconductor used in everything from AI servers to autos and consumer electronics like smartphones and personal computers.

“CXMT plays a critical role in China’s AI push, particularly in the face of US export controls,” Kyle Chan, a fellow at the Brookings Institution and an expert in China’s technology policies, said. US restrictions have also barred China from importing powerful HBM, or high-bandwidth memory chips – a type of DRAM chip.

The company’s revenue surged to 50.8 billion yuan (approximately €6.4 billion) in the first three months of 2026, up more than 700% year on year as booming demand driven by the rapid adoption of artificial intelligence fuelled growth.

Soaring use of AI has led to a global memory chip shortage, driving up prices for some computers and smartphones. One big question, Chan said, is whether CXMT could help with the broader shortage.

CXMT is seen as China’s best shot at developing its own cutting-edge HBM chips to power Chinese AI models, Chan said. But it also faces many challenges, including supply chain bottlenecks in scaling up manufacturing capacity, since its access to the world’s most best chipmaking tools is highly restricted, forcing it to depend on Chinese equipment makers.

According to Counterpoint Research, a technology research firm, CXMT was the world’s fourth biggest DRAM memory chipmaker in 2025 by shipments, taking up roughly 8% of the global market. Samsung Electronics accounted for 36%, SK Hynix 29% and Micron about 24%.

In the first three months of this year CXMT accounted for approximately 9% of global shipments. By 2028, its market share is forecast by Counterpoint Research to reach about 11%. But the research firm estimated CXMT will likely need at least a 15% global market share to be competitive in the long term.

“Trade restrictions on tools are remaining as the key challenge for CXMT,” MS Hwang, a research director at Counterpoint who specialises in memory semiconductors, said. Some US lawmakers have also recently called for President Donald Trump’s administration to block American companies from buying CXMT’s memory chips over national and economic security concerns.

CXMT, among many other Chinese companies, has been designated by the Pentagon as having links to the Chinese military. Beijing has rejected such designations in most cases.

CXMT’s public share offering followed South Korean chipmaker SK Hynix’s $26.5 billion (approximately €22.5 billion) Nasdaq listing earlier this month.

Additional sources • AP

Ukraine replaced its top military and political defence personnel in the past week even as its armed forces arguably achieved their best performance in three years.

Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov’s ouster on July 15 was followed six days later by the replacement of Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskii. Both men were followed out the door by some of their most capable lieutenants.

Ukraine seemed to have found a winning formula, making 2026 Russia’s worst year of the war for manpower losses, territory and economic performance at home.

Some 193,500 Russian troops have been killed or seriously wounded so far this year, said Ukraine’s Ministry of Defence – averaging losses of 32,000 a month for the first time, according to Syrskii – and Ukraine’s Foreign Intelligence Service estimates Moscow is unable to reach recruitment targets.

This pain has produced a net gain of just 81.1sq km for Russia, according to the Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank that assesses territorial movements using geolocated open sources, and the trend of gains to losses is improving in Ukraine’s favour.

If June was a disastrous month for the Russian operation, netting it just 30sq km, July has so far been worse, with Russian forces making net losses of 1.6sq km a day, according to the ISW.

Meanwhile, Russia’s war economy, which boomed in 2022-24, has seen growth this year flatten at just 0.2 percent, Russian President Vladimir Putin admitted.

Ukraine has replaced defence ministers and commanders-in-chief before, but this was the first simultaneous shake-up of the war and seems to have come amid an internal debate about strategy.

On the day after Fedorov’s ouster, which produced street protests against the move, Syrskii spoke of “an effective strategy that is currently demonstrating concrete results”.

A day after his own sacking, Syrskii wrote a column on the Militarnyi news website saying, “The Minister should not … be a war strategist. This is not his task and not his responsibility.”

“War strategy, planning of operations, the situation on the front — by law, I am responsible to the Supreme Commander-in-Chief,” he said.

The nub of disagreement seems to have been unmanned warfare.

Syrskii created the world’s first Unmanned Systems Forces, the SBS, and fought the world’s first war in which First Person View (FPV) drones caused an estimated 95 percent of enemy casualties.

Ukraine’s middle and long-distance drones have devastated Russian logistics and oil supply, slackening the force it can deliver to the front.

Fedorov pressed hard in this direction during his six months on the job, buying more drones in four months than the Defence Ministry had bought in all of 2025, and even spending soldiers’ payroll money to swell orders.

Syrskii disagreed. “Against us is an enemy that is superior in everything, who fights, in particular, with artillery, aviation, and infantry. I cannot transfer a million-strong army ‘to drones’ in two months and say: now we are fighting like this,” he wrote on Militarnyi.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who recently told The Financial Times that “the sky will be decisive in this war,” said on July 20 he was “continuing to determine what adjustments should be made to Ukraine’s defence strategy and what priorities in production and supply to the military must be implemented as quickly as possible”.

What is Ukraine doing that is working?

Ukraine developed the use of short-range drones on the battlefield to reduce its own exposure and lower casualties. That strategy has yielded results, effectively halting Russia’s advance this year.

Syrskii said Ukraine gained more territory than it lost in May, the month in which it began to strike Russian logistics using the overland route from Russia into its southern regions of Zaporizhia and Kherson.

By the end of May, Ukraine was also disrupting logistics in the eastern regions of Luhansk and Donetsk, forcing Russia to float fuel and materiel across the Sea of Azov to Crimea. Ukraine then targeted those ships.

Since June 6, Ukraine’s commander of the Unmanned Systems Forces Robert Brovdi said, Ukraine had disabled 196 fuel tankers and destroyed three-quarters of Russia’s ferry capacity across the Kerch Strait, the closest crossing from Russia’s Krasnodar Krai to Crimea.

As an added benefit, Brovdi said, Russia had been forced to redeploy 200 units of its own unmanned forces command, called Rubicon, to protect an equal number of ships, weakening its frontline.

“That’s how many vessels will be destroyed by SBS “Birds” in the Black and Azov Seas during the remainder of July and the first half of August – it’s a matter of honor,” he wrote on his Telegram messaging channel.

The SBS has also struck 117 electrical substations and power stations this month, Brovdi said, most of them in Crimea, plunging much of the peninsula into darkness.

Apart from hampering the armed forces and the economy, that has been a drain on Moscow, which was earmarking five billion rubles ($64mn) in compensation for darkened homes and furloughed employees, in addition to measures announced the week before.

Ukrainian Navy spokesman Dmytro Pletenchuk said Russian shipping had been paralysed in the Sea of Azov, and that the Kerch Bridge was being allowed to stand “so that the Russians can leave the Ukrainian Crimea,” because “it will reduce our losses during possible future actions directly in Crimea.”

Ukraine’s long-range strikes this week destroyed a Tupolev-95 strategic bomber at the Engels airfield 800km from Ukraine, and a MiG-29 fighter plane at the Khalino airfield in Kursk, in addition to numerous air defence radars and launchers.

Ukraine also struck the Slavneft-Yanos refinery in Yaroslavl, which it described as the largest “in the central part of the country”.

In a shift from its usual military and energy targets, Ukraine struck four warehouses of the Wildberries online retail group, which it suspects Russian recruits use to order much of their protective gear and weapons.

Russia has retaliated this month by targeting Ukraine’s port infrastructure on the Black Sea, to prevent it from exporting the grain harvest.

Container shipper Maersk said on July 22 it was diverting container traffic originally intended to be offloaded at Odesa or Chornomorsk to Romania’s Constanta. This also meant that Ukrainian outbound container traffic waiting in Chornomorsk could not be loaded unless moved to Constanta.

Ukraine has retaliated in turn, claiming to have bottled up Russia’s grain exports coming down the Don river to the Sea of Azov, via which Russia exports 30 percent of its grain.

Russia is also retaliating by increasing the number of ballistic missiles in its nightly strikes on Ukraine’s cities.

Since June 26, Russia has included missiles in almost every strike, contrary to past practice, when it held back its missiles for one massive combined missile and drone strike a week.

Ukraine says it has learned how to intercept 95 percent of drones and 87 percent of cruise missiles, but fewer than half of Russia’s ballistics.

“You hope that ballistics will do for you what everything else has failed to do,” Zelenskyy wrote to Putin in June.

An analysis by Militarnyi suggested Russia was dipping into its missile reserves to achieve this, using more than its monthly production capacity in the first two weeks of July.

A giant mountain swing is sending visitors soaring more than 2,000 metres above the Swiss Alps as ski resorts look for new ways to attract visitors beyond the winter season

Thrill-seekers can now soar over the Swiss Alps on a giant mountain swing that launches riders over the edge of a cliff.

Visitors to the Villars ski resort can now brave the BalancAIR swing, a 12-metre-high attraction perched 2,110 metres above sea level that sends up to three people at a time soaring out above a dramatic Alpine drop. Riders are strapped into saddle-style seats fixed to a structure resembling an Alpine Ibex before being hauled backwards to a 90-degree angle and released high above the valley below.

Alexandra Henchoz, 37, admitted she was nervous before testing the attraction with her husband and 10-year-old daughter. She said she: “I had a bit of a pit in [her] stomach” before she was strapped in to the harness.

“But once it is happening, it is just incredible. You feel like a bird flying,” Alexandra added.

The swing, which opened earlier this month, forms part of the resort’s efforts to attract more visitors outside the traditional ski season as Alpine destinations adapt to the effects of climate change. Martin Deburaux, head of the Villars-Gryons-Diableret ski area, said: “We are really trying to diversify our offering.”

The 12-metre swing “provides us with a source of attraction that can function independently of snow conditions”, he said. Although the resort has enjoyed record winter visitor numbers over the past two seasons, Martin said warmer conditions meant planning for the future was essential.

He added: “But we know we are facing climate change. We are looking for substitutes to conserve jobs, the dynamism and the tourist economy built up around our ski lift facilities.”

The resort currently welcomes more than 700,000 visitors during winter but around 100,000 over the summer, now busses hope the new attraction will help draw more visitors outside the ski season in a bid to boost off-season tourism.

Among those giving it a go was Marc Truffer, 70, who admitted the experience left him both frightened and amazed. He said: “It was so scary… I didn’t even scream.

“It took my breath away going down, but then the view was magnificent.”

The number of babies born in South Korea shot up 18 percent in April from a year earlier, reaching the highest level in seven years, government data showed Wednesday.

A total of 24,521 babies were born in April, up from 20,787 a year earlier, according to data from the Ministry of Data and Statistics. It marked the highest figure for any April since 26,104 babies were recorded in 2019.

Over the January-April period, the total number of births came to 99,534, also the highest in seven years, up a sharp 15.5 percent from a year earlier.

The number of births grew at a record rate for both April and the January-April period.

The country’s total fertility rate, the average number of children a woman is expected to have in her lifetime, rose by 0.13 from a year earlier to 0.93 in April.

The number of newborns has been on an upward trend since July 2024.

Experts attribute the recent growth to an increase in the number of marriages, along with a more positive perception of childbirth.

The rate still remains well below the 2.1 births per woman needed to maintain a stable population without immigration.

The number of marriages in April rose 9 percent from a year earlier to 20,622. It was also the highest figure since 22,844 was recorded in April 2016.

The number of divorces, meanwhile, rose 7.3 percent from a year earlier to 7,829.

The data showed the number of deaths fell 1.3 percent from a year earlier to 28,405, resulting in a natural population decline of 3,884.

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The value of Iran’s currency has risen by more than 15 percent against the US dollar, and its stock market has shattered records in the wake of the memorandum of understanding agreed between the United States and Iran on Sunday.

However, Iranians suffering for years from extremely high inflation and a plunging rial have found little economic relief as the prices of basic goods, such as food, remain high despite the diplomatic breakthrough.

The Iranian economy has suffered due to decades of US sanctions. The economic crisis was exacerbated after the US and Israel launched a war against Iran on February 28. As subsequent US naval blockade on Iranian ports further added to the misery of Iranians.

In Ferdowsi Street, the beating heart of Tehran’s foreign exchange market, the scene on Thursday was a stark departure from the panic of recent months. Exchange office boards flashed rapidly changing numbers as foreign currencies, led by the dollar, took a sharp dive.

“We closed our doors just hours before the official announcement of the US-Iran understanding at a rate of 1.8 million rials to the dollar,” Amir, a 35-year-old exchange office worker who asked to remain anonymous, told Al Jazeera. “Now it has fallen to 1.54 million rials, and we expect further declines.”

Amir noted a significant increase in sales volumes although buyers remained scarce as many anticipated the rial would strengthen further, potentially dropping to 1.4 million to the dollar or lower.

The recent gains mark a sharp turnaround. After the outbreak of the war, the exchange rate jumped to a historic peak of 1.9 million rials (190,000 tomans) to the dollar in March before settling at about 1.685 million just before recent attacks carried out despite a ceasefire.

A disconnect in the grocery aisles

Despite the rial’s recovery, a walk through Tehran’s grocery stores reveals a starkly different reality. For Iranians grappling with the economic fallout of crippling sanctions and the US naval blockade, the diplomatic thaw has yet to lower the cost of living.

Reza, a 42-year-old Tehran resident, told Al Jazeera that prices for daily staples like milk, cheese, cooking oil and flour remain unchanged. “They say the dollar dropped, but my shopping basket costs the same as last week,” he said. “This means the agreement hasn’t reached our pockets yet.”

From behind the cash register, 55-year-old shop owner Ramin echoed his customer’s frustration. He explained that while the government continues to distribute subsidised goods like bread, the fluctuations of the free-market dollar do not immediately impact basic food prices.

The value of the dollar on the free market varies from the official exchange rate.

Pointing to a shelf of imported goods, another shopkeeper named Karim noted that items like shampoo, toothpaste and laundry detergent are still locked at inflated prices.

“Distributors say they bought these goods two months ago at the old dollar rates,” Karim explained. “Prices will remain high until the old stock runs out and new goods enter at the lower exchange rates.” He estimated it would take at least two weeks for the market to adjust, meaning Iranians will continue to face compounding inflation in the interim.

Euphoria on the trading floor

While Main Street struggles, Tehran’s stock market is experiencing an unprecedented boom amid expectations of improved economic conditions. The trading floor has been awash in green since the initial leaks of the Washington-Tehran agreement emerged.

On Monday, the main index jumped by a record-breaking 161,000 points in a single session, marking the highest-ever influx of cash from individual investors.

By Tuesday, the market continued its staggering ascent, climbing another 112,000 points to cross the psychological barrier of 5 million, ultimately settling at a historic high of 5.1 million.

Saeed, a 40-year-old investor, called it a “historic day”. He noted that investors are rushing to buy shares in the energy and petrochemical sectors, betting heavily on the resumption of exports and the reopening of global markets.

However, Saeed remained cautiously optimistic. “The stock market is often driven by rumours,” he warned. “I don’t want to repeat the experience of the 2015 nuclear deal when the market soared and then collapsed after the US withdrawal.”

He was referring to US President Donald Trump’s 2018 withdrawal from the agreement, under which Iran agreed to restrictions on its nuclear programme in exchange for sanctions relief.

Stagnation in real estate and electronics

The wait-and-see approach in effect has paralysed other sectors of the economy. In central Tehran’s electronics hubs, 38-year-old shop owner Reza reported that while the prices of imported appliances have dropped in tandem with the dollar, sales have stalled because customers are holding out for steeper discounts.

A similar freeze has gripped the housing market. Nasrin, a 36-year-old real estate agent in northern Tehran, observed that a recent price surge that accompanied the initial truce has now given way to stagnation. Many property owners are clinging to inflated prices, seemingly unaware that the market dynamics have shifted, bringing property transactions to a virtual standstill.

‘Not a magic wand’

For macroeconomic experts, the mixed market signals are entirely expected. Hossein Selahvarzi, the former head of the Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture, cautioned that the new agreement is “not a magic wand” capable of instantly fixing years of structural issues in the economy.

While the war severely damaged Iran’s infrastructure, Selahvarzi emphasised that the roots of the country’s economic malaise were firmly planted well before the bombing began.

“War is the enemy of investment, production, trade and public welfare,” Selahvarzi told Al Jazeera. He warned against the analytical mistake of believing that a peace memorandum alone would revive the economy.

“Ending the military confrontation does not necessarily mean the beginning of economic prosperity,” he said, stressing that restoring stability to the business environment remains the country’s most urgent priority.

“What we have before us is a limited and fragile opportunity to correct course and rebuild the economy, and this opportunity could be lost quickly if not managed correctly.”

ONE of Britain’s biggest holiday park operators is offering to cover the cost of customers’ fuel to get to their sites as prices continue to skyrocket.

With oil prices hitting their highest since 2022 due to ongoing tensions in the Middle East, petrol, diesel, and plane fuel costs are being passed on to consumers. 

As a result, Hoseasons is offering to pay back the money spent travelling to their sites via its newly launched ‘Fuel Cover’ scheme this summer.

It follows research which found 15.4 million Brits (28 per cent) have changed holiday plans this year due to rising costs. 

Nearly six in 10 of the 2,000 adults polled said the hidden costs of going away, including travel, fuel and expenses while there, are putting them off booking a trip this summer.

Simon Altham, chief operating officer for the brand, which commissioned the poll, said: “UK breaks remain a hugely popular option for families looking for flexibility, value and quality time together, giving people the chance to properly switch off and reconnect closer to home.

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“We know rising travel costs are becoming a bigger consideration for many holidaymakers this summer.

“Fuel, in particular, can quickly add to the overall cost of a trip, especially for families travelling during peak holiday periods.

“That’s why we wanted to help ease some of that pressure and support people continuing to take the UK breaks they were already planning this summer.”

The study also found, 7.6 million (27 per cent) of those planning a UK break admitted they would travel shorter distances for a UK getaway this year. 

Those travelling by car expect to spend an average of £68 on fuel for their next UK holiday journey.

Rising costs are also influencing where people travel, with 28 per cent now more likely to choose a UK break over going abroad.

Among those still looking to get away, 26 per cent have set a lower overall budget for their trip, while 23 per cent are looking for self-catering accommodation. 

A similar proportion (23 per cent) said they’re actively seeking cashback or money-saving deals before booking. 

Despite the financial pressures, the research carried out through OnePoll found 56 per cent of those planning to holiday this year are still likely to book a getaway this summer. 

And 61 per cent believe holiday companies need to do more to encourage people to book trips in the current climate. 

Hoseasons customers can claim back up to £75 in fuel costs through its new Fuel Cover initiative per booking between 20 May and 30 August for travel before 30 September. Bookings must be made by phone and quoting the code “FUEL75”.

Simon Altham from Hoseasons added: “Travel costs are one of the biggest considerations for holidaymakers at the moment.

“Fuel, in particular, can quickly become one of the biggest extra costs for families travelling during peak holiday periods.

“That’s why we’ve designed the offer to ease some of the pressure and help families make the most of their summer breaks.”

Temperatures will continue to soar across the bank holiday weekend following the hottest day of the year so far on Saturday.

Temperatures reached 30.5C at Frittenden in Kent, beating the previous day’s maximum temperature of 28.4C in London.

The Met Office said it was very rare for the UK to record temperatures above 30C in May, with the last time being on 25 May 2012.

The heat is forecast to intensify throughout the long weekend, reaching heatwave criteria in a number of locations.

Daytime highs are forecast to reach the upper 20s Celsius in many areas, with the low 30s Celsius likely in the week ahead.

Amber heat health alerts remain in effect for the Midlands, eastern and south-east England.

Amber alerts mean there is a risk of a significant impact across health and social care services, with children and those aged over 65 at risk of negative health implications.

The remainder of England is under yellow heat health alerts, meaning adverse weather is “likely to affect vulnerable groups”.

PORTLAND, Ore. — Appealing to voters’ anxieties about the soaring cost of living is central to Democrats’ messaging in their hopes of big wins in this year’s midterm elections. In Oregon, a question on the primary ballot is complicating that strategy.

The Democratic-controlled Legislature raised the state gas tax and a range of fees last fall as a way to pay for road improvements and plug a hole in the state’s transportation budget. Republicans responded with a petition to repeal the increases, leading to a referendum that will land before voters just as the Iran war is causing the price of gas to skyrocket around the United States.

“It is a hell of a time to be raising gas taxes on people,” said Jeanine Holly, filling up her tank on a recent morning in Portland.

The gas tax repeal on the state’s May 19 primary ballot comes amid widespread disruptions in the oil industry from the war with Iran started by Israel and President Trump. Discontent is high among U.S. consumers across the political spectrum, with the price of gas topping $4.50 a gallon nationally on Friday and averaging about 80 cents more per gallon in Oregon.

The referendum will give voters a chance to weigh in on a hot-button issue hitting them directly in the pocketbook at a time when prices remain elevated for everything from housing to groceries. Nationally, Democrats have focused on the affordability concerns similar to those that helped propel Trump to victory in 2024. Some of their candidates have even proposed ways to cut taxes as a way to promote their agenda and counter a traditional GOP strategy.

“It’s difficult to imagine a worse situation for … a gas tax increase than right now in American politics,” said Chris Koski, professor of political science and environmental studies at Portland’s Reed College.

Republicans sense an opportunity

Republicans wasted no time in appealing to voters after the Legislature and Democratic governor signed off on the tax increase, which also included a higher payroll tax for transit projects and a boost in vehicle registration and title fees.

They needed 78,000 voter signatures to qualify the referendum for the ballot. They quickly got 250,000.

“That is a remarkable number,” Republican strategist Rebecca Tweed said.

Republicans in Oregon have countered Democrats’ affordability messaging by portraying the tax and fee increases as further fueling the high cost of living.

“Do Oregonians want to pay more? The answer is no,” said GOP state Sen. Bruce Starr, who helped lead the referendum campaign. “Everything they’re looking at is expensive.”

Under the legislation, Oregon’s gas tax would rise from 40 cents to 46 cents a gallon. That would make it tied with Maryland for the eighth-highest gas tax of any state when factoring in other state taxes and fees, according to figures from the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

At the Portland gas station, Michael Burch said he used to spend $70 to fill three-quarters of his pickup truck’s tank, but now pays $80 for just over half a tank.

“I’m sick and tired of taxes,” the 76-year-old retiree said. “Gas is certainly dampening the spirits and the coffers of folks that aren’t as well off.”

Hannah Coe, a 30-year-old student, said she was not sure how she would vote on the primary ballot referendum.

“I think I would be in favor of it if it was going to go to the things that it was saying it was going to go to, such as fixing our roads,” she said. “I also kind of feel like that’s just a grab at trying to get more money from the people who live here.”

Democrats blame the Iran war

Oregon Democrats spent much of last year fighting to pass a transportation funding bill to help raise money for services such as road paving and snow plowing. The debate came amid projections of declining gas tax revenue as more people adopt electric, hybrid and fuel-efficient cars.

They finally passed a narrower version of their plan during a special session called by Gov. Tina Kotek.

She recently acknowledged the challenging timing of the referendum.

“Certainly, the conversation at the ballot this year … is a tough sell right now, because I think everyone is feeling a pinch on their household budgets,” she told reporters.

But she and other Democrats said the root cause of the jump in gas prices is Trump’s decision to go to war with Iran. She suggested the federal government consider reducing the federal 18-cent-a-gallon gas tax if it wants to provide relief at the pump for Americans.

Some Oregonians are receptive to the Democrats’ reason for passing the legislation last year. Kurt Borneman, 68, said he would support the gas tax increase, even though he’s now paying at least $10 more to fill up his tank.

“I realize that money’s tight and roads need to be improved,” he said at the Portland gas station. “I want less government, but I also want nice roads.”

Democratic state Rep. Paul Evans said his party lost the battle over how to frame the gas tax increase to the public. So far, there has been no organized effort from Democrats and their allies to oppose the ballot referendum.

“When anything is reduced to, ‘Do you want a tax or not?’ Most people are going to say no,” he said. “The messaging got away from us, and it became focused upon the price instead of the value.”

Rush writes for the Associated Press.

BRITISH Airways passengers face higher fares after its parent company warned rising oil prices will add about £1.72billion to its fuel bill this year.

International Airlines Group (IAG), which also owns Iberia and Aer Lingus, said it expects to pass on part of the extra cost through ticket prices, with business class and other premium long-haul passengers among those most likely to be affected.

Chief executive Luis Gallego said airlines need to increase fares to help offset fuel costs, which make up about a quarter of their spending.

The rise follows disruption linked to the Middle East conflict and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, which normally carries about a fifth of the world’s oil and gas shipments.

IAG warned the crisis could deepen if the strait remains blocked, with global jet fuel supplies potentially restricted.

However, the group said it does not expect any disruption to summer fuel supplies.

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Mr Gallego said there is less jet fuel coming from the Middle East, but there are “other places with record supply” such as the US.

He said IAG has been “planning for situations like this for many years”, and has invested in its own jet fuel supply at its “main hubs”.

The company recorded a pre-tax profit of £365million during the three months to the end of March.

That was a 76.6% increase from £207million a year earlier.

The group now expects its annual fuel bill to reach £7.78billion.

Mr Gallego attributed the firm’s “strong first quarter” to “continued strong demand for our networks and airline brands”.

He added: “IAG is uniquely positioned to navigate the current headwinds created by the Middle East conflict thanks to our leading positions across diverse markets, strong brands, structurally high margins and strong balance sheet, as well as a strong track record of execution.”

IAG said about 3% of its capacity was “exposed to the Gulf region” at the start of the war on February 28, mostly with British Airways flights.

A large part of this has been redeployed, including boosting capacity at destinations where there are now fewer flights by Middle East carriers such as Bangkok, Singapore and the Maldives.

British Airways has also announced additional flights this summer on routes with higher demand for direct flights, such as India and Nairobi.

Not too long after Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge opened at Disneyland in 2019, the land brought me to tears.

It was a summer weekend evening, and I was strolling the 14-acre area, mainly to people watch. I caught a commotion in the crowd out of the corner of my eye, and decided to follow the activity.

There, crouched along one of the walls of the fictional town of Black Spire Outpost, was an actor playing the role of Rey, the hero of the most recent trilogy of “Star Wars” films. Behind her was a crowd of more than a dozen, many of them young children. Rey turned to tell them to be quiet. They followed her as she shuffled along the walls, decoratively designed to look decades old and scarred with blaster fire and cracks.

They turned a bend and came upon two Stormtroopers, who jumped in surprise, and signaled that Rey was the person they were after. That’s when Rey held out her hand, palm up, to the troopers. She instructed those with her to do the same and to repeat after her. She and the crowd, now quickly growing, were collectively using the Force.

The “Star Wars” character of Rey leads guests in using the Force at Disneyland in the summer of 2019.

(Todd Martens / Los Angeles Times)

The Stromtroopers turned, muttered that there was nothing to see here, and walked away. Rey faced her audience and begin hugging and shaking hands with those closest to her. This is when I welled up.

The promise of Galaxy’s Edge was tremendous. Audiences were invited to pretend, to become a hero or perhaps a rogue in a land designed to facilitate interactivity, and most importantly play. That a crowd was able to become a little silly, be a bit vulnerable and share a collective moment with a gaggle of strangers reinforced to me the importance of theme parks as communal spaces, ones that can get us out of our head, our struggles and our stressors.

As of last week, Galaxy’s Edge forever changed. I still love the land, and believe it one of the triumphs of Walt Disney Imagineering. But I mourn what it once was and never came to be.

A change in the Force

Leia and Han are now meeting with guests at Disneyland’s Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge in an effort to infuse more classic characters into the land.

(Christian Thompson / Disneyland Resort)

Galaxy’s Edge has shifted its timeline. Out is Kylo Ren, and in is Darth Vader. Also new to Galaxy’s Edge are Han and Leia. Luke is there, too, returning after a limited run last year. The arrival of the so-called “classic” “Star Wars” characters will in fact breathe new life into Galaxy’s Edge. Already, they are pleasing crowds, as the Disneyland faithful last week cheered Vader’s entrance, heard now to a score of John Williams’ ominous “Imperial March.”

Rey still makes appearances, but when she does she is stationed near showcase attraction Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance. Ahsoka Tano, as well as the Mandalorian and Grogu, are among the other characters who will meet with guests in various spots throughout the area.

Galaxy’s Edge will now become what it was never built to be: a hodgepodge of “Star Wars” characters and nods to past works rather than undiscovered tales. While many saw the absence of the most recognizable “Star Wars” figures as a flaw, it was part of its intended design. For the land’s creators, it was a tradeoff they were willing to make, a bet guests would be active archetypal “Star Wars” tourists rather than spectative consumers. It was a grand theme park experiment.

“It was not an immediately intuitive decision,” Scott Trowbridge, the key Imagineer behind the land’s ideals, told me in 2022 when asked about the choice to set the land in the timeline of the most recent “Star Wars” films.

Said Trowbridge: “Luke’s story, or Leia’s story, that we saw 10, 20, 40 years ago, we know those stories. We love those stories. But there’s not room for us in that world. We wanted to make sure we were leaving room for you and your friends.”

When Galaxy’s Edge opened, we heard the roar of spaceships and musings of war. Traditional theme park trappings — character meet-and-greets, passive rides and musical scores — weren’t found. It was instead designed as an invitation, a new, unknown location filled with lesser-known characters like rebel spy Vi Moradi, meant to serve as a living playset for guests to create their own tales. I saw this happen, too. Once, when strolling the land with my former partner, she turned to me and lightly punched me in the arm, saying, “What’s a respectable guy like you doing with a scoundrel like me?” That was the moment I knew I would fall in love with her, and it was facilitated by Galaxy’s Edge.

A failed dream

The centerpiece of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge is the Millennium Falcon.

(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

If I’m being honest, I am aware that Galaxy’s Edge seldom lived up to this promise. Imagineers teased many characters — a bounty hunter, for instance, who would hang in the cantina — who never appeared. In order to play, we need people to play with, and this playland often felt empty. Droids, for instance, would show up, but often only for a limited time. Teased features, such as Bluetooth technology that would allow the land to track a guest’s reputation, courtesy of missions they completed in the Play Disney Parks mobile app, never reached their fruition. That game itself, which is still available, thus lacks any meaningful payoff.

Galaxy’s Edge was a theme park risk, asking how deeply guests would want to engage in physical spaces. But it came with challenges, namely that as these lands grow, the level of activity needed to maintain the illusion increases. A promised dinner theater was never built, and a stage for a special effects-laden stunt show has largely sat barren. Disney also relied not on actors but its retail staff — cast members, in park parlance — to do the heavy lifting when it came to performing.

I wrote in 2019 that Galaxy’s Edge may, in fact, be too ambitious for the Walt Disney Co. I’m bummed that I was right.

Many on social media are musing that Disney is now fixing Galaxy’s Edge. Let’s be clear, Galaxy’s Edge was never broken. It just needed Disney to be a better steward and to fully support the ambitions of its Imagineers.

Last week at Disneyland, when Darth Vader walked on a Galaxy’s Edge stage through a smattering of smoke, the crowd erupted as if at a sporting event. It was fun, and clearly something some fans had been craving.

So bring on Darth Vader and the rousing music of Williams, I reluctantly say. Disney should do what it does well, and that is to create memorable character experiences. Operationally, the park had abandoned the initial goals of Galaxy’s Edge long ago, and the presence of Han, Luke and Leia will excite guests and at last give attendees more characters to interact with. It will be a busy, bustling place, and that I do applaud.

The week in SoCal theme parks

Changes have been reported at Roger Rabbit’s Car Toon Spin.

(Christian Thompson / Disneyland Resort)

• You can now get a “Star Wars” ID card in Downtown Disney. Located inside the Star Wars Trading Post shop is a plastic ID-making machine (similar to the fake driver’s license one can get in the queue for Autopia) that will take your photo and allow you to pick a role in the “Star Wars” universe (bounty hunter, fighter pilot, etc.). It looks neat. I want one, even though I don’t know what I would do with it, but so far, lines have averaged 90 minutes to two hours or more.
• Roger Rabbit’s Car Toon Spin has lost its spin. Disneyland removed the ability for guests to twist and turn their cars, an operational-driven-tweak, as the ride now allows for lap seating for younger guests and will allow for more to experience the attraction. While I can see how some may miss the spinning feature, I often tried to keep the car steady to soak up the environment, so my initial reaction leans positive, especially if it improves a family’s Disneyland day.
• Celebrate the 25th anniversary of the first “Harry Potter” film in an all-encompassing environment. Inglewood’s Cosm isn’t a theme park, but its dome-like screen offers a theme park-like experience (think the golden days of Circle-Vision). Opening Thursday is a re-imagined “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” with newly added environmental effects. The core film remains untouched, but the screen surrounding you aims to come alive with enchanting movement.
• Magic Bands will soon disappear from Disneyland shelves. Disney reporter Scott Gustin, a friend of Mr. Todd’s Wild Ride, recently noted that Disneyland will not be replenishing its stock of the Magic Band+ once it sells through the remaining inventory. Those who have them (hand raised) needn’t worry, according to Disneyland officials, as Magic Band+ functionality, including the game Batuu Bounty Hunters in Galaxy’s Edge, won’t cease. But Magic Band+ has limited use cases at Disneyland, and never quite caught on here in the same way the wristbands have at Walt Disney World.
• Happy birthday to the Great American Revolution. Magic Mountain’s classic coaster turns 50 this week, having opened on May 8, 1976. As part of the anniversary festivities, the park has restored its original name of the Great American Revolution (it was recently operating as the New Revolution). The ride is known for being the first modern looping coaster with a tubular steel track, earning it landmark status from American Coaster Enthusiasts.

The best thing I ate at the parks

A scallop appetizer at Carthay Circle. Go easy on me, I’m not a food photographer.

(Todd Martens / Los Angeles Times)

No churros or treats for me this week. I hadn’t had a chance yet to check out the spring menu at the lounge at Carthay Circle, Disney California Adventure’s fine dining restaurant, so I made my way there Friday afternoon. Carthay Circle is always a welcome respite, a calming, relaxing environment where the theme park day tends to slow down.

I was after the scallops appetizer. Now, priced at $16, I knew this wouldn’t be a large portion, but I was longing for something light and breezy and this plate of six small scallops in a sea shell delivered. Drizzled with macadamia nuts, the citrus-forward dish is designed to bring out contrasts in texture. Overall, it’s a little zesty, a little nutty, and as a seafood person I’m happy an affordable, delicate dish exists at the resort. If you’re really hungry, though, you’ll need a second item.

Ride report

Space Mountain has begun its yearly, temporary overlay as Hyperspace Mountain.

(Todd Martens / Los Angeles Times)

It’s “Star Wars” season at the Disneyland Resort, which means Space Mountain has been remade into Hyperspace Mountain. Now, generally speaking, this is my rule when it comes to ride overlays: The original is almost always better. That’s the case for Space Mountain as well, as the 1977 classic still thrills, its near pitch-blackness keeping you guessing while its uplifting score seems to capture the exhilaration and optimism of space flight.

But Hyperspace Mountain has its charms. The projections of lasers and X-wings look great in the darkness, and the sudden dips and turns work well for the dogfight atmosphere. The John Williams score brings the energy, and there’s the right amount of chaos and shifts in direction to make us feel as if we’re in a “Star Wars” battle. I’m just relieved, however, it doesn’t stick around too long, as the original is such a magnificent coaster.

Tell us your stories. Ask us your questions.

Have a theme park tale to share? Whether it was a good day or less-than-perfect day, I would love to hear about it. Have a question? A tip? A fun photo from the parks to share? Email me at todd.martens@latimes.com. I may feature your note in an upcoming newsletter.

Ride on,

Todd Martens

P.S.

Love Soarin’ Over California? Then I point you to this piece from former Times staffer Sammy Roth, an environmental reporter who also appreciates Disney theme parks. Here, Roth goes scene-by-scene, looking at how Soarin’ represents a snapshot in time and analyzing how its locations have been touched by climate change.