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The embattled Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority sued the Trump administration on Monday to stop it from depriving the region of hundreds of millions of dollars in funding, saying the effort is unwarranted and violates federal laws.

The authority, better known as LAHSA, said in its Monday filing that cutting off the funds would put more than 11,000 people — 1,900 of them children — at risk of losing housing or other services.

LAHSA, a joint city-county agency overseen by political appointees, is seeking a temporary restraining order to bar the federal Housing and Urban Development Department from suspending the funds.

“The people who will be harmed by this decision are not bureaucrats,” said Gita O’Neill, LAHSA’s interim chief executive officer, in a statement Monday. “They are families, veterans, seniors, and formerly homeless Angelenos who rely on these resources to remain housed.”

The filing in federal court comes nearly three weeks after HUD officials said they were suspending LAHSA from applying for or receiving federal funds, citing financial mismanagement, fraud and a lack of safeguards to prevent conflicts of interest.

In its 46-page lawsuit, LAHSA pushed back on HUD’s allegations, saying they were not supported by the evidence. Lawyers for LAHSA portrayed HUD’s actions as part of a larger political agenda — elimination of the federally approved “Continuum of Care” system, which makes LAHSA the overarching applicant for most federal homelessness funding across Los Angeles County.

The Trump administration “has made clear it wants to scrap the program entirely in favor of a homelessness policy favoring criminal enforcement, drug treatment, institutionalization and civil commitment of the mentally ill,” the lawsuit states.

HUD officials have said they are barring LAHSA from applying for funds on behalf of the Continuum of Care, which covers 85 cities, including Los Angeles. LAHSA secured $220 million in federal funds for various agencies in 2024 and $944 million since 2021, according to the June 11 letter from HUD Deputy Secretary Andrew D. Hughes.

HUD did not immediately respond to a request for comment. In the letter, Hughes said his agency had received information that LAHSA “may have committed violations of federal law” while carrying out its obligations as part of its HUD grant agreements.

“HUD has evidence that LAHSA’s repeated false statements and its irresponsible actions and failures, including its lack of financial management, internal controls, and safeguards against conflicts of interest, pose a threat to HUD, the public, and those living on the streets of Los Angeles,” he wrote.

In the letter, Hughes said that HUD’s inspector general had opened an investigation. Depending on the outcome, the money could be restored or LAHSA could be permanently barred from receiving funds.

LAHSA, in its lawsuit, said HUD has not provided any investigative findings to show violations of the funding agreements. Instead, agency lawyers said, federal officials relied on “a mash-up of old news articles, comments from public officials taken out of context, and findings from routine public audits that included recommendations that were all appropriately actioned.”

Lawyers for LAHSA contend that HUD’s actions violate the U.S. Constitution and override the dictates of Congress, which established many of the processes for distributing federal homeless funds.

The vast majority of the federal funds secured by LAHSA as a grant applicant goes toward permanent housing, agency officials said.

LAHSA, created in 1993, is overseen by a 10-member commission, half from the city and half from the county. Among those commissioners is L.A. Mayor Karen Bass, who has made homelessness a central part of her agenda. Each of the five county supervisors has an appointee.

At stake in the battle between HUD and LAHSA is an array of services affecting some of the region’s most vulnerable residents.

LAHSA oversees the Homeless Management Information System, the federally-mandated software that tracks homeless people across the county. It has 8,000 individual users and is used by more than 300 agencies, according to the lawsuit.

HUD’s plan to suspend the funding would prevent LAHSA from using the system to match Angelenos — those on the street and in shelters — with housing and services, the lawsuit said.

LAHSA also oversees the annual “point in time” homelessness count across the county. Agency officials have pointed to the results from those counts as evidence that they have been making steady headway, with homelessness decreasing 4.3% countywide and 5.5% within Los Angeles between 2023 and 2025.

Unsheltered homelessness, which tallies the people living outside or in their vehicles, fell by a larger margin, declining 14% across the county and 17.5% within L.A. during that period.

Despite those numbers, LAHSA’s reputation has been battered by some highly critical assessments.

Last year, a global consulting firm retained as part of a federal lawsuit over the city of L.A.’s response to homelessness found that homeless services provided by LAHSA and the city lacked adequate financial controls, leaving the system vulnerable to waste and fraud.

Several months earlier, county auditors identified lax accounting procedures that resulted in LAHSA’s failure to pay its contractors on time. Even after that report was issued, nonprofit groups with LAHSA contracts continued to report that payments were behind schedule.

Last year, the county Board of Supervisors reached a breaking point, pulling more than $300 million — the vast majority of its funds — out of LAHSA and creating its own homelessness department. City officials have been weighing a similar move in recent months.

The Dodgers won the World Series last year, and the year before that. Their lead is the largest in any division this year. That success, and the money that nourishes it, has battalions of fans beyond Los Angeles all but marching outside ballparks with picket signs reading “SALARY CAP NOW.”

It’s a reasonable thought: The Dodgers can’t possibly keep winning if they can’t keep outspending the competition.

Or can they?

“There are a lot of little things that happen behind the scenes that people don’t see,” pitcher Will Klein said. “I understand where people are coming from. It’s easy to be a fan of a smaller team and get mad at other teams outspending you.

“But I think there’s a level of care here, and wanting to win, that exceeds other groups.”

The obvious disclaimer: Any team would be better with Shohei Ohtani and Freddie Freeman and Mookie Betts and Yoshinobu Yamamoto, at a combined price of $1.6 billion. The counter argument: The Angels had Ohtani and Mike Trout and, well, you know.

It takes a roster. In Klein and pitcher Eric Lauer, the Dodgers have done something they do well besides spend: develop valuable contributors out of players discarded by other teams.

The Dodgers grabbed Lauer last month, desperate to fill a hole in their starting rotation. The Toronto Blue Jays had cut him, and he would be joining his seventh major league organization. The logical thought: The Dodgers had found a healthy arm to eat up some innings until they could find someone better.

That still might happen. But Lauer, who is set to pitch Monday, has put up a 3.22 earned-run average in four starts with the Dodgers. Four starts is a small sample size, but in that time, Lauer is a career league-average pitcher performing 28% above league average.

“They got me immediately,” Lauer said. “They figured me out right away, and they knew exactly what was going to help me.”

For Lauer, the changes affected his delivery, but the specifics were not as important as finding a kindred spirit in Connor McGuiness, the Dodgers’ assistant pitching coach.

“I’ve always had a really hard time explaining myself and what I do, because I think a little differently,” Lauer said.

“When I was with the Brewers, it was running joke that it was ‘the language of Lauer,’ because I would describe things so differently and feel things so differently that, if you weren’t close to me and you didn’t know how I operate, it was very hard to understand what I was trying to do.

“Connor just immediately got it. It was like he’s been speaking it forever.”

At one point in his career, Lauer said, he struggled to explain the sensation of catching his heel on the mound as he completed his delivery toward home plate.

“I would describe it as, ‘I was falling backwards and I would catch myself,’ and it’s a really weird concept to think somebody was falling backwards when it doesn’t look like you’re falling at all,” he said. “It looks like you’re just moving forward.

“So they were like, ‘That’s not what you’re doing’ and I was like, ‘That’s what I’m feeling.’ We have to make the connection between the feel and the real so that we can understand each other.”

Klein, who joined his fourth organization when the Dodgers acquired him in a minor league trade last June, is in his first full major league season. He has a 2.37 ERA, and his 0.7 wins above replacement is better than any Dodgers reliever besides veteran closer Tanner Scott.

Klein said other teams had made suggestions on how to improve his game, and with the Dodgers, he has added a sweeper and dumped a slider. But what he needed to do most was throw more strikes, trusting that his lively fastball and curve were good enough to beat the best players in the world.

In the minors, Klein issued 6.9 walks per nine innings. This season, he has issued 3.6 walks per nine innings.

The credit, he said, should be shared with the Dodgers’ mental skills coaches.

“It’s easy to see the guys in the batter’s box — especially when you come up watching baseball and being fans of these guys, it’s easy to see them being above yourself,” Klein said.

“But you’re on the mound with them, so you have to see that too. There’s a lot on the mental side that’s helped me here.”

Dodgers pitcher Will Klein delivers against the Tampa Bay Rays at Dodger Stadium on June 16.

(Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Times)

The Dodgers did not include Klein on their postseason roster for the first three rounds last year, but he said coaches at all levels — in the majors, at triple-A and at the Arizona training complex — never stopped checking in on him, during the season and throughout October.

“When you’re down there, they don’t forget about you up here,” he said. “That kind of commitment and care was levels above what I had experienced.”

When the Dodgers added him to the World Series roster, Klein saved the season, with four scoreless innings to close out an 18-inning victory in Game 3.

Lauer called the communication in the Dodgers’ organization “miles ahead” of any other organization in which he has played.

“The training room, the weight room, the coaching staff, the players to each other,” he said. “Every form of communication is so seamless. Everybody knows what’s going on all the time. There’s no gray area.

“It’s all: ‘This is the plan, this is what we want to happen, this is how we’re going to make it happen,’ instead of: ‘This is the plan, this is what we want to happen, figure out a way to make it happen.’”

Klein raved about how the Dodgers treat player families, and about a high-tech pitching machine so lifelike that he could see what it would be like to bat against him. Lauer reflected on his experience as a first-round pick turned journeyman who went to South Korea to revive his career.

“I have a hard time saying anybody has done a better or faster job of helping me than the Dodgers,” Lauer said.

What Lauer and Klein say substantially echoes what Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said at last year’s World Series about turning the team into a preferred destination for players, and not just because the team wins and spends.

“Communication, being honest, having a really strong player development group in place at the major-league level, and how you treat families and treat the players,” Friedman said then, “I think matters a lot in that.”

To be clear: There is no indication the players’ union is willing to consider, let alone approve, a salary cap.

But, if that were to happen, Klein believes the Dodgers would be just fine.

“Our owners want to win, so they want to get the best product on the field, so they go and spend money,” he said, “and then everyone is mad that they want to win.

“I think they’ll find ways to win more if they can’t spend as much money. Friedman was with the Rays when they weren’t spending as much money and still had success there.

“I think they’re just better at wanting to win than some other people.”

THERE’S enough going on this summer with EES checks and extreme heat – and your passport could cause problems as well.

Affecting millions, we’ve explained the two things you need to check before your next holiday.

Expiry Dates

You might think that expiry dates have been spoken about enough – but it is still catching people out.

Old rules let passports have more than 10 years on them, but these rules have since been scrapped.

To find the true expiry date, you need to check the start date rather than the expiry listed in the passport.

If your passport was issued in April 2016, but has an expiry of December 2026, your passport is out of date as it’s over 10 years old. The REAL expiry date is actually April 2026.

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These rules especially affect those still with burgundy passports with the last of these expiring in 2030.

Figures have shown that up to 100,000 holidaymakers a year face being turned away at airports if their passport is more than 10 years old.

Make sure to check the rules of the country you’re travelling to as well.

Some places like Dubai and Thailand require at least six months left on your passport to enter..

Dual National Passport Holders

The change in new rules for dual national passport holders is thought to affect as many as 1.2million people.

Since February 25, those with dual nationality can no longer use their foreign passport to enter the UK.

Travellers must enter with a valid UK passport or a certificate of entitlement, which costs £589.

This affects anyone trying to enter the country by plane, ferry or train, and anyone without these is likely to be refused boarding.

There have been multiple cases where people have been caught out by the change in rule.

One British woman was stopped from boarding a flight from Copenhagen to Manchester with her two children because she didn’t have the right documents.

Colette Bjorn-Alderson has lived in the UK for 28 years, but was trying to return to the UK with her two young children – both of which only had Danish passports.

She told The Times that she felt “unwelcome in my own country” after being turned away from the flight.

She added that her only two options were getting a new UK passport from Denmark – which can take three months – or the certificates, which can take up to eight weeks.

Bob Blumenfield would like to see Angelenos’ old banana peels and moldy bread stay local.

On Tuesday morning, the City Council member told a small crowd of waste advocates in front of city hall that he was introducing a motion to reduce the city’s greenhouse gas emissions by strengthening local composting infrastructure and decreasing reliance on distant facilities.

Currently, when city residents separate their food waste and yard clippings, chances are it’s being trucked to faraway processing facilities in Bakersfield or Lancaster.

The motion would help the city meet targets set by California’s Short-Lived Climate Pollutant Reduction Strategy, or Senate Bill 1383, which phases out sending green waste to the landfill, because it is a major source of the powerful climate pollutant methane.

It also would help meet Mayor Bass’ Climate Action Plan, which aims to use at least 50% of locally produced compost and mulch within Los Angeles by 2030. Currently, only 25% to 30% of the city’s material is applied to land locally.

The city produces approximately 350,000 tons of organic material a year, Blumenfield told the crowd, which he said equates to roughly 1.2 to 1.5 million metric tons of carbon dioxide.

“That’s a big number, and when you do the math,” he said, that’s roughly the same amount of carbon dioxide released by the entire country of Belize, the entirety of Humboldt County or the equivalent of burning 1.6 billion pounds of coal per year.

As the announcement was underway, in the background a fire burned for a sixth day in a Boyle Heights warehouse, where 85 million pounds of frozen food was thawing and beginning to rot.

Signed into law in 2016, the state’s composting bill mandated a gradual increase in the amount of organic waste that must be diverted away from landfills. It required 50% of all green and food waste be diverted by 2020; by 2025, that number was supposed to hit 75%.

But it hasn’t. Although Los Angeles has pushed to get a residential curbside bin program in place — recall the “Great Green Bin Apocalypse of 2025” — it has struggled to get people to comply.

According to reports for the recycLA program, a commercial and multifamily waste collection franchise program, only about half of households and business are separating their compostable waste.

Alex Helou, assistant general manager of L.A. Sanitation & Environment, provided a much brighter picture of the city’s food waste situation. L.A. is the first major city to provide green bins to 750,000 residential customers, he said. The city has “exceeded expectations” in food recovery, he said, saving 80 million meals that would have been thrown out and redirecting them to people in need.

Helou said Blumenfield’s motion completes the loop by keeping food waste close to home, creating more local composting and reducing greenhouse gas emissions from transporting waste outside of the city. It doesn’t directly affect the city’s compliance with SB 1383, but that isn’t necessary, he said. “We’re meeting that and exceeding that at multiple fronts.”

Blumenfield’s initiative directs the Bureau of Sanitation to develop a plan for expanding local composting across the city. It would also increase the use of locally produced compost and mulch.

For instance, the motion would encourage using the compost on urban farms and at community gardens and city parks. It also would be used to replace artificial grass and turf.

It will support a “citywide transition away from artificial turf and towards nature-based solutions, such as California native plants and natural grass plant fields, and ensure everyone has access to safer, cooler, and sustainable parks, schools, and communities,” said Terry Saucier, a Tarzana resident and member of the Neighborhood Council Sustainability Alliance and the Tarzana Neighborhood Council.

The state’s composting law has proved challenging on several fronts.

The Antelope Valley has become a dumping site for many of the city’s haulers looking to cut transport and facility costs — causing concern among environmentalists and others who say the material is destroying fragile ecosystems.

Complying has been particularly difficult for Los Angeles and much of coastal Southern California, where there are few large composters and low demand for compost. Unlike areas to the north, there is little agricultural demand for compost and mulch.

Experts say dumping in the desert has always been a problem, but the law made it worse by making it more expensive and difficult to deal with.

In addition, composters are struggling with the amount of plastic and other debris that people and businesses put in the food waste bins.

According to a report by Closed Loop Partners, which partners with companies such as Pepsico and McDonald’s, nearly 4% of food waste is contaminated with other materials — most of it plastic. State law requires that finished compost contains no more than 0.5% by dry weight of physical contaminants.

The federal government can’t block benefits from the nation’s largest food aid program from being used to buy candy, soda and other sugary drinks, a judge ruled.

Monday’s ruling scuttles restrictions now in place or planned for the federally funded and state-run Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program in 23 states. President Trump’s administration has not said whether it will appeal to a higher court.

U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson, who sits in Washington and was nominated to the bench by former President Obama, said in her opinion that the ruling was because the federal government did not follow its own definition of “food.” She said it wasn’t a comment on whether the restrictions are a good idea.

“The federal defendants and the states may have a genuine desire to improve the health of SNAP households by encouraging healthy choices at the store, and they can take lawful steps to meet those goals,” she wrote. “But what they cannot do is violate the law and their own regulations along the way.”

The restrictions are part of the Make America Healthy Again campaign

Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. have encouraged states to limit what the food aid can be used to buy as part of the “Make America Healthy Again” campaign.

They reason that soda and candy fuel obesity, diabetes and chronic disease epidemics — and taking them off the menu would encourage healthier food choices.

The Agriculture Department has given 23 states so far permission to implement restrictions. Some have been implemented already, while others are queued to take effect in the coming months and years.

At least one state that was set to limit soda and candy purchases changed course earlier this year. Colorado’s human services board voted against implementing the ban after a March hearing in which SNAP beneficiaries and advocates said people would face stigmas if they mistakenly tried to use the benefits on prohibited items. They also said the rules were confusing because they would have allowed buying drinks with at least 50% fruit or vegetable juice, but not those with less.

While the goals are similar, the exact rules vary by state. Some wanted to ban both sugary drinks and candy, while others only sought to ban sugary beverages.

A legal challenge to the candy and soda ban — which includes items such as sports drinks in some states — was filed by SNAP beneficiaries in Colorado, Iowa, Nebraska, Tennessee and West Virginia.

Judge says government ignored a definition of food

Jackson said the main legal misstep in restricting what SNAP benefits could buy came because it ran contrary to Congress’s definition of “food.”

Under the law, SNAP benefits — formerly known as food stamps — can be used for “any food or food product for home consumption except alcoholic beverages, tobacco, hot foods or hot food products ready for immediate consumption.”

The government can waive requirements, but limiting use of the benefits to improve nutrition isn’t listed as a reason to do so. Yet when states asked the Agriculture Department to let them restrict purchases, their requests included using alternate definitions of “food.”

This may not be the final word

The Agriculture Department has not said whether it intends to appeal the ruling.

The case is among scores of challenges to Trump administration policies that hinge on whether the administration has the authority to change policies without congressional approval.

While it’s a big program helping nearly 39 million Americans — about 1 in 9 — buy groceries, SNAP is normally relatively low-profile. That’s been different since Trump returned to office last year.

Under his big tax and policy law signed last year, more recipients are subject to work requirements and states are being required to pay a larger share of administrative costs — and could be on the hook for benefit costs if their error rates are too high.

During a government shutdown last year, courts blocked the administration from cutting off benefits. Meanwhile, Rollins has said that there’s rampant fraud in the program.

Mulvihill writes for the Associated Press.

Next game: Senegal, Tuesday 01:00 BST

Haaland had to wait until the age of 25 not just to make his World Cup debut, but his international tournament bow too.

And the Leeds-born striker is clearly eager to make up for lost time.

“He’s the opposite of Mbappe and Messi,” Williams said. “He’ll beat you without the ball, which makes it even more dangerous.

“You want to help your midfield by squeezing up, so they don’t have to cover too much distance.

“But as soon as you leave the space in behind, he’s going to exploit that straight away.”

One of the keys to limiting Haaland’s influence, Williams says, is to prevent his team mates getting the ball to him.

“You’ve got to stop the balls in behind first and foremost,” Williams said. “Stop the supply going into him.

“If you can play your distances between your midfield and limit his chances, you’ve got half a chance.

“There’s not many times when he actually drops in, gets the ball, beats four players, and scores his own goal, so he does feed off what he’s getting served.”

Haaland is the most clinical of the four, with 57 goals in just 51 caps.

“He’s more lethal,” Williams added. “If he gets a chance, it’s probably going to be a goal.”

What about dealing with Haaland one on one?

“Around the box, you’ve got to get tight and try to get him on his right foot,” Williams said.

“Then you’re just going to have to be as strong as you can, don’t be clever, just get the ball away and buy time.”

On June 14, the United States and Iran agreed to a framework to end their war. The Strait of Hormuz is to reopen, the bombing of Lebanon is to end and – most importantly – the killing is to stop. After more than 100 days of war that killed thousands, including Iran’s most senior leaders, and pushed the world economy to the brink, even a fragile truce feels like first light.

Let us welcome it, but also let us understand it. To grasp why this war happened, and the string of wars before it, we must name their common cause. That cause is “Greater Israel” – not the country of Israel but an idea of it – a terrible one. The idea of “Greater Israel” has been the cause of wars in Iraq, Gaza, Lebanon, Syria and Iran.

It holds that Israel should stretch over all of historic Palestine – from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea – and to parts of neighbouring countries as well.  According to United States Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, a fundamentalist Protestant whose geopolitical compass is set by biblical texts from 500 BC, “Greater Israel” stretches from the Nile to the Euphrates. Last summer, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu professed to be “very” attached to a vision of “Greater Israel” that, he said, takes in the Palestinian territories and neighbouring Arab lands.

This absurd and dangerous doctrine has two parents. The first are secular hardliners like Netanyahu who say that Israel must control all the land from the river to the sea to be safe, and damn the eight million Palestinians in the way.

The second is the Jewish supremacist creed of Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir that God gave the land to the Jews alone: There is, in Smotrich’s words, “no such thing as a Palestinian”. Asked recently how Israel should answer its collapsing global standing, Smotrich vowed Israel would not relinquish military control of the West Bank, Gaza, Lebanese or Syrian territory: “We won’t commit suicide to make them happy.”

“Greater Israel” is paranoia, megalomania and religious zeal braided into a single programme. The doctrine should have been repudiated on its first airing decades ago. Instead, it has driven Israel’s foreign and military doctrine for three decades – and has survived until today because Netanyahu has taken the US for a ride.

He has done it with two American constituencies: Jewish Zionists who love Israel and will forgive it anything and Christian Zionists who love the prophecy of the End Times and the Second Coming of Christ more than they love any living Palestinian or, for that matter, any living Israeli.

Delusion has led on to delusion, and the road has run from one war to the next.  We are 30 years into this fiasco now.

The war on Iran was simply the latest “Greater Israel” fantasy. The government of 90 million people was to be toppled in a single, glorious day. Of course, it did not happen. Israeli and American bombs killed Iran’s leaders on February 28, but that did not deliver the promised collapse. It resulted instead in thousands of dead, a choked Strait of Hormuz and a global oil shock.

We have seen this film before. The Israel-US plan to bring down President Bashar al-Assad in Syria was also meant to be quick, one or two years at the most. Instead came a dozen years of carnage, fed by a covert war armed and financed by the CIA with Israel’s ardent backing. The result was an ancient country reduced to rubble. The promised one-day victories always become decade-long graveyards.

US President Donald Trump has been battered by joining the “Greater Israel” delusion, and he knows it. The new agreement with Iran is his escape valve, a way out of a fatuous war that was never his to win.

That is precisely why Israel’s “Greater Israel” politicians are trying to strangle the new agreement in the cradle, for peace with Iran is a defeat for “Greater Israel”. Even after the deal was sealed, Israel has continued to bomb Lebanon, killing 47 people in a single day on Friday and another 32 on Saturday hours after a Lebanon-Israel ceasefire took effect.

Here is the deeper truth: “Greater Israel” is not saving Israel. It is killing it. The friction now visible between Trump and Netanyahu is only the surface. Beneath it lies the collapse of Israel’s standing throughout the world. According to a recent Pew opinion survey, the world now holds an overwhelmingly unfavourable view of Israel. In the US, Israel’s indispensable patron, six in 10 adults view it unfavourably.

A state that makes itself hated by the world, and by its only protector, is not pursuing security. It is threatening its own survival to feed a delusion.

So the way to peace in West Asia is to stop “Greater Israel”. End the war on Iran, stop the genocide in Gaza and halt the strangulation of the West Bank. Most importantly, do the thing the doctrine forbids, which is to create the State of Palestine as the 194th United Nations member state alongside the State of Israel on the 1967 lines with genuine security for both countries and a regional framework to guarantee it, which should include Israel’s withdrawal from Lebanon and Syria.

The Iran ceasefire makes the case in miniature: It was won not on the battlefield but through mediation. It became possible when Washington decided it wanted peace more than it wanted “Greater Israel’s” war.

Israel can survive, but not as “Greater Israel”, a disastrous idea that has marched it and the US from one war to the next.

The glimmer of hope today is real. Whether it becomes a true dawn depends on whether the US finally lets Palestine be born, and thereby lets Israel live. The Arab world and Iran need to keep insisting to the US that breaking with “Greater Israel” is the only path to lasting peace.

The views expressed in this article are the authors’ own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera’s editorial policy.

BRITS heading to Spain need to be aware of a new rule update that could get them banned from entering the country.

Currently, Brits visiting Spain need to show they have a certain amount of money in their bank at the border.

However, an upgrade to this rule means all travellers from non-EU countries must be able to prove they now have at least €1,098.90 (£948.12).

For longer trips, the figure will rise in line with how many days you are in the country for, working out to around an extra €121.10 (£104.48) per day.

For example, if you intend to stay in Spain for 10 days, you will need to prove you have €1,220 (£1,052.79) in funds.

Brits can prove they have the money in several ways including having the cash, presenting debit or credit cards accompanied by bank statements, showing cheques or providing a letter of credit.

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However, it is worth noting that screenshots of online bank statements are not accepted.

The money must be shown in euros or the equivalent amount in your own currency, so for Brits, this would be in pounds.

Despite the requirement not being new, the amount tourists need to prove has been updated to be in line with 10 per cent of Spain’s minimum wage, which recently increased.

The rule was first introduced in 2021, at the end of the Brexit transition period.

Brexit meant that Brits became “third-country nationals” and therefore have to follow the rules for entering the EU when travelling to European countries.

Similar proof-of-funds requirements are in place across all Schengen countries.

The amounts do vary though – for example, in France, travellers must be able to prove they have €65 (£56.08) per day, yet in Latvia, the figure drops to €14 (£12.08) per day.

Even though proof-of-funds can be enforced by border officers in Spain, checks are not usually carried out on every traveller entering the country.

But if a border force officer asks you to prove your funds and you do not have the amount needed, then they can refuse you entry into Spain.

Advice from the UK Foreign Office states: “Make sure that you have access to enough money to cover all of your costs when travelling abroad, including unforeseen costs, e.g. medical care.

“To avoid getting into financial difficulties abroad, you should take prepaid travel cards, traveller’s cheques, local currency, credit and bank cards with you.

“Check what you can use in the country you are visiting and ensure you have enough money.

“Make a note of how to stop any credit cards or traveller’s cheques being used if lost or stolen, and of traveller’s cheque numbers.

“[And] get comprehensive travel insurance, ensure it provides you with adequate financial cover for your personal needs, and check for any exclusions.

“If you don’t have adequate travel insurance, you will need to pay any costs you are charged.”

BEIRUT — Israel and Iran traded fire on Monday, all but derailing a brittle two-month ceasefire that had largely stopped the fighting in the U.S and Israel’s assault on Iran.

The tit-for-tat attacks between the two sides threaten to widen the scope of a conflict that has already killed and wounded thousands, displaced more than a million people and rattled economies across the globe — even while embroiling the U.S. in a war with no clear off-ramp.

“Israel and Iran must immediately stop ‘shooting.’ ” wrote President Trump early Monday on his social media platform, Truth Social.

Later, he wrote, “Both sides, Israel and Iran, are looking to do an immediate CEASEFIRE!”

“Final negotiations on ‘Peace’ are proceeding, subject to ignorance or stupidity getting in its way. The Blockade will remain in place, and in full force and effect, until a ‘Final Deal’ is reached. Things should move quickly.”

The latest escalation came after Israel attacked the suburbs of Lebanon’s capital Beirut on Sunday in what it said was a targeted strike against Hezbollah, an Iran-supported paramilitary faction and political party.

In recent days, Iran conditioned a ceasefire agreement with Israel and the U.S. on a cessation of hostilities across all fronts, including Lebanon, threatening it would respond to any Israeli action on the Lebanese capital. Israel rejects linking both battlefields, and insists on having a free hand to attack Hezbollah.

A number of U.S.-brokered ceasefires between the Lebanese and Israeli governments — but without Hezbollah involvement — failed to stop most of the fighting, with Israeli warplanes pounding wide swaths of Lebanon’s south while Hezbollah launched drones and missiles on northern Israel. Nevertheless, the Lebanese government has rejected being included in Iran’s negotiations with the U.S.

By Sunday night, Iran’s threats came to pass with several waves of Iranian ballistic missiles, which caused no injuries and were the first Tehran had fired at Israel since a ceasefire took hold in April. Iran’s military said the fusillade was a warning. But Israel said it would retaliate.

President Trump initially downplayed the Iranian attack on Sunday, saying in an interview with the Financial Times Iran’s barrage was “not going to have any impact on the deal.”

“We’ll see how it ends up. But they [the Iranian strikes on Israel] were attacks that did not kick at all,” he said.

“The deal may make it on its own merit, or not, but this will not have any effect on it.”

Trump also told the Axios news site he would talk to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to stop him retaliating against Iran’s barrage.

He also told the Financial Times that Netanyahu “won’t have any choice” but to accept the deal Trump negotiates with Iran.

“I call the shots. I call all the shots. He [Netanyahu] doesn’t call the shots,” Trump said.

Yet by the early morning on Monday, dozens of Israeli warplanes were striking western and central Iran. They hit a petrochemical complex in Mahshahr in southwestern Iran, and waged extensive strikes on “strategic defense systems,” according to Israeli military statements, in what observers said was a prelude to a wider offensive. Residents in Tehran, Isfahan, Tabriz and Shiraz reported powerful explosions.

The Israeli military said in a statement it expected several days of fighting with Iran but was prepared for a prolonged campaign. It said the strikes on Iran were conducted by Israel on its own, but that they had been done in “full coordination” with U.S. Central Command, which also helped in intercepting Iranian missiles launched at Israel.

But that distinction appeared to matter little to Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson, Esmail Baghaei, who said in a press conference on Monday that the U.S held direct responsibility for recent ceasefire violations and Israel’s action “cannot be looked at in isolation from the U.S.”

“No one believes the Israeli regime would take any action without coordination with the United States,” he said.

“The U.S. bears responsibility for the Israeli regime’s aggression, and it will also be responsible for the consequences of any escalation in tensions.”

Iran launched additional barrages throughout Monday, targeting Israeli airbases in Nevatim and Tel Nof and a petrochemical plant in Haifa, according to a statement from Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps. It added Israel was engaging in “a dangerous game by targeting civilian and oil infrastructure — a game that will now encompass all regional energy targets, with global economic consequences resting on America.”

The renewed hostilities also saw Yemen’s Houthis — who receive support from Iran and Hezbollah, and are part of a regional network of Iran-backed factions — enter the fray with a pair of ballistic missiles lobbed at Israel. The Israeli military said one of the missiles was intercepted; the second fell short of Israel.

Houthi spokesman Brig. Gen. Yahya Sarea confirmed the attack in a televised statement on Monday, and said Israeli maritime navigation in the Red Sea would be targeted.

During the Gaza war, the Houthis attacked commercial shipping in the Red Sea — including ships with no link to Israel — to pressure Israel into lifting its blockade on the enclave.

But, unlike Hezbollah, which attacked Israel on March 2, three days after the U.S. and Israeli campaign on Iran, the Houthis had refrained from helping their ally, until Monday.

Their involvement now raises the specter of another squeeze on energy markets already beleaguered by closures on the Strait of Hormuz. Since the U.S.-Israeli assault, the Red Sea has acted as the main alternative conduit for energy supplies, especially for those from Saudi Arabia. If the Houthis closed the Bab Al-Mandab Strait, it would all but paralyze commercial flows.

Oil prices spiked in the wake of the exchanges, with Brent Crude rising 5% to hit $98 a barrel.

June 8 (UPI) — British Prime Minister Keir Starmer issued an ultimatum on Monday to tech companies, including Apple and Google, to prevent explicit images from being taken or viewed on children’s mobile phones within three months or face legislation compelling them to comply.

Speaking at the London Tech Week show, Starmer said the initiative, requiring operating system developers to enable nudity-detection software or other technical fixes, was a global first that would make Britain the first country where children would not be able to shoot, share or view naked images.

“For too long, people have been told that [children sharing explicit images] is simply the price of modern tech — that nothing could be done. That government is powerless. That parents just have to accept it,” said Starmer.

“I reject that completely because tech should adapt to the needs of society, not the other way round. If we are serious about unlocking the opportunities that tech can bring then we must also be serious about preventing those who want to abuse it — the online predators.

“That is why today, I am calling for tech companies operating in this country to introduce vice controls that prevent children from sending and receiving sexually explicit images. Because this is not an impossible challenge. If they choose not, then we will act and we will change the law,” he added.

Adult phone users are exempted from the changes, but will be required to complete an age-verification process to prove they are over the age of 18.

The phone companies have until September to make the change or legislation will be introduced to Parliament requiring the appropriate software is installed on all phones and tablets sold in the four countries of the United Kingdom.

Starmer’s move came four weeks after Minister for Safeguarding and Violence Against Women and Girls Jess Phillips resigned, citing his failure to act on her recommendations to remove the ability for children to take explicit photos of themselves or others.

The government dismissed criticism from advocates of privacy and the right to expression, accusing it of trampling on people’s democratic freedoms.

“The government mandating that all phones in Britain require ID and surveillance software is a crossing of the Rubicon that would make the U.K. one of the most authoritarian internet regimes in the world,” said Big Brother Watch director Silkie Carlo.

Silkie warned it also raised the specter of spyware in the pocket of every person with a phone that would end up being “exploited for other purposes before long.”

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said the government’s motivation was stopping the coercion and sextortion of children and that it was not interested in “surveilling or policing” people’s phones.

“There is no reporting, no data collection, no monitoring, and no images leaving the device,” she explained.

The leader of the Conservative opposition Kemi Badenoch questioned how it would be achieved and said the approach was piecemeal, saying there needed to be a total ban that included social media for children younger than 16.

The BBC’s science team said the technical hurdles were considerable because so much of the child sexual abuse material was shared via encrypted apps such as WhatsApp, Signal and Discord, where the content being sent cannot currently be detected.

In April, the government announced it will pass legislation banning children from using smartphones in schools in England. The law will only apply to England because education policy is devolved to the parliaments and assemblies of the other countries of the United Kingdom — Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

The law, an amendment to the government’s flagship education and child well-being bill, formalizes what is already policy in many schools but introduces a “clear legal requirement” that would empower them to enforce it — including removing phones from children before class.

The government is currently also running a public consultation on whether to implement an Australia-style ban on social media for children younger than 16 and a separate initiative to develop screen-time guidance for children older than 5, including the minimum age at which a child should be given first phone and how much time they should be on it.

Legal challenge claims US president did not seek proper approval for fighting event to be held on his 80th birthday.

A lawsuit is seeking to stop United States President Donald Trump from hosting an Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) match at the White House.

The lawsuit, lodged on behalf of two Virginia residents, is the first known legal challenge to the mixed martial arts event, which is set to be hosted on June 14.

The event will take place on Trump’s 80th birthday. It is also pegged to the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, which the US will commemorate on July 4 of this year.

The legal challenge filed on Saturday maintained that Trump did not receive proper authorisation to host the fight.

It argued that the event violated US National Park Service regulations prohibiting sporting events on federal parklands, that Congress did not consent to the construction of a towering arch overlooking the event space, and that no environmental review was conducted before the construction.

“This is fundamentally a private, commercial, corrupt use of our most sacred national monuments for private gain,” said Brendan Ballou, a lawyer for the plaintiffs. “And that is what is motivating this lawsuit.”

In a statement to the Associated Press, the White House dismissed the lawsuit as “obstructionist, baseless, and dilatory”.

The White House maintained the UFC fight was “no different than the various other White House-hosted events on the South Lawn and properly permitted events on the Ellipse and National Mall throughout the year”.

Crews have been erecting an octagon-shaped fighting cage on the South Lawn of the White House, with Trump saying the project will include a “5,000-seat arena right outside the front door of the White House”.

Attendance at the fight will be invite-only and closely monitored. The Military Times news site reported earlier this week that 1,200 service members given tickets to the event must meet certain waist-to-height ratio standards.

Public viewing areas will also be set up at the nearby Ellipse.

Trump has long been closely involved with both professional wrestling and UFC, with his casinos and event spaces hosting past events.

He regularly appeared as a version of himself in World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) events throughout the 1990s and early 2000s. His current secretary of education, Linda McMahon, is a co-founder of the WWE.

Trump has more recently embraced UFC, which is currently owned by the same company, TKO Group Holdings, as the WWE.

UFC president Dana White has been a close ally of Trump’s.

Political analysts have credited Trump’s embrace of the sport with reaching disaffected male voters in the US, particularly during his 2024 election campaign.

The Palestinian Authority condemned Israel’s decision to build 2,162 illegal settlement units in the occupied West Bank, calling for US intervention to halt the Israeli “madness.”

“All settlement activity is illegal under international law and does not confer legitimacy to anyone,” the authority said in a statement carried by the official news agency Wafa.

It said the Israeli decision constitutes a “blatant challenge to international law and UN resolutions,” particularly UN Security Council Resolution 2334, which affirms the illegality of the Israeli settlements in all occupied Palestinian territories, including East Jerusalem.

It held the Israeli authorities responsible for the “serious consequences” of the settlement policies, warning that they would push the region toward “further cycles of violence and escalation.”

READ: Situation worsening in West Bank, warn Italy, UK, France, Germany

The authority called on the US administration to intervene immediately “to stop the Israeli madness if it genuinely seeks to promote security and stability in the region and globally.”

It stressed that the Palestinian people would remain “steadfast on their land and committed to their legitimate national rights,” saying the illegal settlement plans would not deter them from continuing their struggle to establish an independent Palestinian state on the June 4, 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital.

The statement came after Israel’s Higher Planning Council approved the construction of 2,162 new settlement units across several illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank.

The plans include 1,006 units in the Gevaot settlement within the Gush Etzion bloc south of Bethlehem, 922 units in the Har Brakha settlement south of Nablus, and 234 units in Kiryat Arba settlement built on land belonging to the city of Hebron.

Palestinians view the new plans as part of an accelerated Israeli policy aimed at expanding illegal settlements, confiscating Palestinian land and creating new facts on the ground.

READ: Israeli authorities issue order to seize 74 acres East of Bethlehem

Tourists have been urged to stop making a common packing mistake as it could lead to “ruining holidays”. The advice comes as vacation season begins to kick off

The prospect of jetting off somewhere keeps most of us motivated, so the last thing anyone wants is for something to spoil their well-earned break. Yet, as many may not realise, a straightforward packing blunder could land you in trouble, and may even affect whether you’re able to fully enjoy your time away.

If you’re hoping for a smooth and stress-free trip, there’s some vital travel information you really ought to be aware of. It’s essential to steer clear of a simple packing error, as it could prove costly and seriously disrupt your holiday — something nobody wants to experience.

It’s not the first expert guidance of this nature to emerge recently, either. Previously, holidaymakers were cautioned about another common luggage blunder to avoid.

According to pharmacist Seema Khatri at Roseway Labs, the vast majority of medication-related holiday mishaps stem from a handful of easily preventable errors, with most occurring before the trip has even begun.

Seema said: “People spend weeks planning itineraries and what to take, but medication is often an afterthought. And that causes problems.”

Travelling with medication can be a minefield, as regulations differ from country to country. As a general rule, ensuring your medication is clearly labelled is always a sensible precaution.

For certain medicines, particularly injectables or controlled substances, a doctor’s letter may also be required. She added: “Always keep your medication in your carry-on luggage.

“It reduces the risk of loss, delays or temperature damage.” What you might not realise is that medication can cause problems at airports if it’s not packed and documented properly.

In fact, it can result in hold-ups, questioning, confiscation or you could even be refused permission to fly in certain situations. Issues typically occur with controlled substances, liquid medications that exceed particular limits or absent prescriptions.

To make sure you pack yours appropriately, check the regulations at your airport and in the country you’re visiting. Seema said: “Most holiday medication problems are preventable.

“With a bit of planning, you can focus on enjoying your trip instead of dealing with avoidable health issues.” That said, there are several general guidelines people ought to follow to be on the safe side.

What you need to know

Always keep medication in your hand luggage in its original, properly labelled packaging. Store a spare supply in your checked baggage in case your bags go missing.

Additionally, make sure you carry a copy of your repeat prescription and, in certain cases, a signed letter from your doctor outlining the medication, dosage and duration of travel. It’s always advisable to verify what you require before you pack your bags.

A doctor’s note is recommended for large quantities of over-the-counter medicines to prevent complications at border control. You also need to make certain that liquid medication exceeding 100ml is readily accessible, as it will probably be screened separately.

If your medication is classified as a controlled drug, such as powerful painkillers or particular sedatives, specific rules apply. Therefore, check what applies to you before you travel.

Rules can differ from country to country, so always ensure you verify this before travelling, and declare that you’re carrying medication at the airport. After all, nobody wants to face delays at security, or be refused the right to travel, because of a straightforward packing error.

Israeli air strikes on southern Lebanon have continued, a day after US President Donald Trump said the ‘shooting’ would stop. Raids targeted areas across the Nabatieh district, causing destruction and leaving several people injured.

WASHINGTON — Joe Biden sued the Justice Department on Tuesday in an effort to block the release of audio recordings and transcripts of the former president’s interview with a ghostwriter that were obtained by the special counsel who investigated his handling of classified documents.

Biden’s lawyers said in a lawsuit filed in Washington’s federal court that the Justice Department plans to release the files to Congress and a conservative group, the Heritage Foundation, after the department had previously argued that they were exempt from disclosure under the public records law.

Biden’s lawyers argued that the disclosure would “constitute an unwarranted invasion of President Biden’s privacy.”

“Every American, including a sitting or former Vice President, has a right to privacy in the personal conversations he has within his own home,” his attorneys wrote. “And when the U.S. Department of Justice obtains that private information through a criminal investigation, the Department bears a particular responsibility to protect it from disclosure.”

At issue in the case are audio recordings and transcripts of Biden’s interviews at his home in 2016 and 2017 with Mark Zwonitzer, who worked with Biden on his two memoirs. The files were scrutinized by special counsel Robert Hur as part of his investigation into the president’s improper retention of classified documents, from his time as a senator and as vice president.

Hur’s yearlong investigation led to a 345-page report that questioned Biden’s age and mental competence but recommended no criminal charges against the then-81-year-old. Hur said he found insufficient evidence to successfully prosecute a case in court.

Biden has separately fought the release of the audio of his interview with Hur. The House in 2024 voted to hold Biden Atty. Gen. Merrick Garland in contempt of Congress for refusing to turn over that audio after the White House exerted executive privilege, shielding it from Congress.

The transcripts of five hours of Biden interviews with federal prosecutors was released that same year. While Biden was adamant that he treated classified information seriously, the transcript shows that he was at times fuzzy about dates and details and he said he was unfamiliar with the paper trail for some of the sensitive documents he handled.

Republicans have argued Biden was being given a pass by his own Justice Department and that Trump had been unfairly victimized by prosecutors. Democrats, for their part, stressed Biden’s cooperation in the investigation and strongly contrasted that with the separate criminal case against Trump, who was accused of refusing to return classified documents requested by the National Archives that he had at his Florida estate.

Richer writes for the Associated Press.

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration wants all current and future federal employees to sign nondisclosure agreements, part of a continuing crackdown on leaks to the media.

The notice in the Federal Register from the Office of Personnel Management posted Tuesday asked for comment on a draft NDA to be used by federal agencies for “both new and existing employees.”

“The form is intended to document Federal employees’ acknowledgment of, and agreement to comply with, current legal obligations to safeguard non-public, confidential, or proprietary information, created or obtained through their official duties, while expressly preserving the right to make disclosures authorized by law,” the notice said.

The Office of Personnel Management noted “several recent instances” where internal agency communications related to rulemaking and policy development were disclosed without authorization. It also discussed specific instances in which federal employees at the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security disclosed information without authorization about planned immigration enforcement actions.

In one case, the New York Times and Washington Post received unauthorized information on the U.S. raid on Venezuela in January and delayed “publishing what they knew to avoid endangering U.S. troops,” the request for comment said.

Representatives for the two newspapers did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Ferreting out leaks that the administration deems harmful to its messaging has been a priority across multiple agencies since President Trump returned to the White House. As part of that crackdown, the FBI in January seized the electronic devices of a Washington Post reporter, a move that alarmed media organizations and advocates of press freedom.

One other notable incident occurred last year when dozens of reporters turned in their access badges at the Pentagon, rejecting new rules imposed by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth that would leave journalists vulnerable to expulsion if they sought to report on information — classified or otherwise — that had not been approved by Hegseth for release.

The American Federation of Government Employees did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

All tourists have been urged to follow a simple travel rule to avoid bringing bed bugs home from their holidays. It’s vital travel advice for people to take note of

As many of us begin planning trips abroad, there’s a crucial piece of advice you need to hear if you want to avoid bringing bed bugs back with you. It’s travel guidance worth heeding, as nobody wants to be landed with such an unpleasant problem after returning from their holidays.

The pests tend to dominate the headlines each summer, and now luggage is being hauled out of storage once more, the anxiety resurfaces for many travellers. Yet if you assume a swift inspection of your hotel bedding will suffice, James Rhoades, expert, founder and CEO of ThermoPest, cautions that we’re all searching in entirely the wrong place.

This isn’t the first expert guidance of its kind to emerge either. Previously, another tip was also shared to help prevent people carrying bed bugs home.

Peeling back the sheets to hunt for bed bugs might seem like common sense, but in practice, it’s largely futile. “The biggest mistake travellers make is checking the sheets,” said James.

“Bed bugs don’t hang around in open spaces; they hide in seams, frames and behind headboards. By the time you see one on the sheet, they’ve been there for a while.”

Put simply, you need to investigate more thoroughly if you’re serious about staying pest-free. Bed bugs are masters of concealment.

They don’t lurk in the centre of the mattress where they’re easily spotted. Instead, they gather in narrow, sheltered areas close to where people rest.

The key areas to inspect include mattress seams and piping, the edges and underside of the mattress, behind the headboard (a notorious hiding spot), cracks and joints in the bed frame, and gaps in nearby furniture.

What should you be looking for?

Not merely live bugs — which are small, flat and roughly the size of an apple seed — but also rust-coloured stains (their droppings), pale shed skins and tiny clusters of eggs.

Miss those, and you could miss the problem altogether. Until it quite literally bites you on the bum!

The real danger isn’t simply a disturbed night’s sleep; it’s what unfolds after you check out. Bed bugs are seasoned hitchhikers. They burrow into suitcase seams, clothing folds and even inside shoes — and it doesn’t take long, either.

James explained: “Even a single night’s stay in an infested room is enough for bugs to transfer into your luggage. Then, once you’re home, they spread quickly, into carpets, furniture and other rooms.”

Should you spot any signs of bed bugs, don’t simply request the room next door. He added: “Bed bugs can easily spread between rooms.

“Instead, it’s a much better idea to request a room in a completely different part of the building, ideally on another floor. And keep your luggage sealed until you’re sure the new room is clear.”

That’s the golden rule — don’t unpack immediately. Keep your suitcase on a luggage rack, positioned away from the wall, or even in the bathroom while you thoroughly inspect the room. Otherwise, you could end up bringing back more than you anticipated. It’s a straightforward travel rule to stick to.

A pilot’s wife has urged passengers to stop booking a certain seat to travel on planes. Laurie said it’s vital people avoid it if they want a smooth and comfortable journey

If you’re going to listen to advice from someone about travelling abroad, one person you should pay attention to is probably a pilot’s wife. After all, they know all the dos and don’ts when it comes to air travel and making the most of your holidays.

This is why Laurie, known as travelby_laurie on TikTok, is happy to offer advice whenever she can, and she recently turned her attention to the worst seats to book to travel on planes. According to her, there are particular rows you need to avoid to ensure your journey is executed as comfortably and smoothly as possible.

She’s not the only pilot’s wife to have made such a confession either. Previously, another woman opened up about the task she needs to complete every morning.

In the clip, Laurie said: “Do not sit in these seats the next time you’re flying in an airplane. Number one, the obvious seat to avoid is the very last row of any airplane, because they do not recline.

“There are two other reasons to avoid that back row seat. Number one, because you’ll be last off the airplane.

“Number two, if you have a connecting flight, where you are catching another airplane in that airport, to get to your final destination, avoid being in the back of the plane.

“The airlines do not tell you that 50 minutes is not enough time to connect to another flight but they are still going to allow you to book them.”

She also noted she doesn’t ever want to sit in the row that’s in front of the exit row. This is because the exit row may not recline, and the seat in front of the exit row also often does not recline.

This is an aviation safety measure put in place to ensure the seatbacks don’t block the aisle and impede a rapid evacuation in an emergency. However, even though the rule can be imposed for a reason, Laurie noted journeys can already be “uncomfortable”, so it’s best to do your research before booking a seat to see which areas are more comfortable.

If you have a lengthy flight ahead, these spots are probably best avoided. It’s worth noting that some airlines in America include row 13 in their fleets; however, several other airlines around the world often omit the number entirely to accommodate passenger superstitions about bad luck.

What you need to know

While some people avoid the row directly in front of an emergency exit row, as these seats typically have their recline mechanism disabled, there’s something else most people need to consider. Booking a seat at the back of the plane could be more problematic for passengers.

Usually, people tend to avoid them because seats often do not recline, are located directly next to noisy lavatories and galleys and will leave you feeling the most turbulence. As well as this, sitting there will take you longer to deplane, which means you may have limited meal options as service starts from the front.

Even though the very back row can sometimes be cheaper or less crowded on off-peak flights, the general consensus points to several major drawbacks. If you have a connecting flight, it could also cause issues too, as you may be last to get off the plane.

This is why Laurie generally advises against it. It’s a nugget of travel wisdom you may not have known before.

The Hague in the Netherlands hosts the world’s most powerful international courts, where judges speak for the conscience of humanity. Yet we consult them only after atrocities have erupted – after wars have shattered communities and legal battles begin.

In theory, law can hold power to account. But has it been enough? Can it truly confront militarism, prevent atrocities, and protect people before disaster strikes?

Join Ali Rae for episode two of All Hail the Military, a five-part series that reveals the systems, power, and hidden complicities that sustain global militarism – and the profound impact it has on us all.