WASHINGTON — A federal judge on Monday ruled that a recently revamped version of a federal tool central to the Trump administration’s election integrity strategy is unlawful and can no longer be used.
U.S. District Court Judge Sparkle L. Sooknanan sided with advocacy groups that argued the recent upgrades to the program, called Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements, or SAVE, aggregated Americans’ sensitive personal data in a way that could result in voters being wrongly purged from voter rolls.
“All in all, the federal government has knowingly trampled on the privacy rights of American citizens in a manner that threatens the sacred right to vote,” Sooknanan said in an order explaining the decision. “This Court cannot stand idly by while that happens.”
She said Congress had expressly prohibited the government from centralizing Americans’ personal identifying information and that the federal agencies that created the SAVE program “knew that the database violates those statutory protections.”
The decision is a major legal setback for President Trump in his efforts to use federal agencies to encourage a nationwide crackdown on noncitizens illegally on state voter rolls. The modified SAVE system, which critics had referred to as an unlawful centralized federal database of voter information, had been a key pillar of the second election executive order the Republican president signed earlier this year. The ruling leaves its future uncertain.
“It’s amazing how hard the Left will fight to stop us from solving problems they insist do not exist,” James Percival, general counsel at the Department of Homeland Security, said of the ruling in a social media post.
The department referred to his post as its comment on the ruling. The Department of Justice did not immediately return a request for comment.
The SAVE program was created under an immigration law mandating that Homeland Security help federal, state and local agencies prevent government benefits from going to noncitizens. At least 25 states used it to check their voter rolls since April 2025, after the Trump administration significantly expanded its search abilities. Since then, at least 67 million registrations have been scanned through the program, but critics worry it could end up purging valid voters from the rolls.
The plaintiffs, including the League of Women Voters, the Electronic Privacy Information Center and five unnamed U.S. citizens, had alleged the revamped SAVE program violated Americans’ privacy and voting rights. The groups also alleged the Trump administration violated federal privacy laws by ignoring transparency requirements about the changes to the system.
“The agencies were scrambling to comply with an Executive Order aimed at reshaping federal elections, which directed them to create a system for mass voter verification,” the judge wrote. “So they haphazardly combined and repurposed the private information of millions of Americans, including citizenship data that they knew to be unreliable.”
Plaintiffs attorney Nikhel Sus told the court during the October hearing that naturalized citizens face a greater risk of unlawfully being purged from voter rolls.
“They are uniquely vulnerable to errors in the database,” said Sus, an attorney for Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.
Sus said Monday he sees Sooknanan’s ruling as an “across the board victory” and noted the plaintiffs were pleased the judge’s ruling reinforced their argument that the federal government doesn’t have implied authority to freely share sensitive data across agencies.
Swenson and Hussein write for the Associated Press. Swenson reported from New York.
The Westside subway extension has long been L.A’s most stubborn urban fantasy: an infrastructural mirage chugging toward the sea, and then, with less sex appeal, Westwood. Stalled since the ‘80s, the first western leap of the elusive project is now real. And in the month or so since the Metro D Line pushed beyond Wilshire/Western to three new stations — Wilshire/La Brea, Wilshire/Fairfax, and Wilshire/La Cienega — multiple rides have made the benefits, and shortcomings, clear.
Suddenly the city feels different. Not transformed, exactly. But more connected. The fracturing grip of the city’s incomprehensible expanses, clogged arteries, and stagnant governance — all intimidating barriers to healthy civic life — feels a little looser. The dense belt tying the city together more complete, a critical mass of movement, still expanding, where there used to be a vestigial nub.
The stations, too, feel more connected, with art, architecture and infrastructure blending seamlessly into a cohesive experience, a tribute to Metro’s sharpened design approach and its ever-evolving commitment to public art. But above ground, it’s a tale of two (transit) cities. Outdoor plazas lack the kind of textured civic presence that’s been created below. Metro, which has become the most dominant regional force for urban transformation, is still less ambitious once it leaves the station box.
Passengers wait to board the first train to arrive at the Metro D Line at the Wilshire/Fairfax station in Los Angeles in early May.
(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
Before descending into the new stations, you might want to take a moment to appreciate that they exist at all, surviving, among other trials, a massive methane explosion, federal and local bans, major delays, and a battalion of lawsuits. Then notice how their myriad components work together. Art, for instance, is not simply attached to walls, but forms them, its patterns tracing your descent through space. Lighting doesn’t just illuminate surfaces, but becomes an artful complement to what’s around it. Escalators are not just conveyances, but reflective surfaces forming a utilitarian palette for art and light. The line between each piece becomes blurred, creating a sense that all is working together — a layered place that is intuitively easy to use.
This fluent incorporation of art builds on the long-running L.A. Metro Art program (formerly Metro Art in Transit), which since the early ‘80s has commissioned and installed over 200 artworks across the sprawling system, from mosaics and photography to multi-story murals. In fact, it’s quietly hummed along as one of the most successful public art programs in the country.
Artist Fran Siegel’s artwork at the Wilshire/La Brea Metro station is part of one of the most successful public art programs in the country.
(Carlin Stiehl / For The Times)
In many of its earlier iterations, art and architecture were conceived together to create strange, jaw-dropping, one-of-a kind spaces, like Peter Millar and Ellerbe Becket’s Santa Monica/Vermont station. Opened in 1999, this Red line stop featured among other things, a goliath stainless steel wing canopy topping a 42-foot-tall, raw concrete-clad escalator cavern, lit by massive skylights, etched with row after row of enigmatic questions.
Another personal favorite is Stephen Antonakos’ “Neons for Pershing Square,” a postmodern wonderland of suspended neon sculptures in the depths of downtown’s Pershing Square station that creates a kind of 3-D sculpture playing off the ‘80s gridded ceilings and Miami Vice white columns.
Wild creativity aside, these 20th century stations are marked by inconsistency in quality, comfort, and maintenance — and the lack of predictability can be confusing. (Wait, where do I go now?) This includes Metro’s inaugural A line, in which art-driven architecture, though fun, often feels like a quixotic gesture, unable to compete with loud, uncomfortable, concrete-dominated settings.
A man waits for a train on a platform at the Wilshire/Vermont station, which is along Metro’s B Line, formerly the Red Line.
(Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)
Lines opened in the 2010s had their own issues. The Expo line (now the E line), barely 14 years old, features rather tentative wavy canopies and surface wraps and comparatively small spaces for artworks. With the new extension, Metro has found a balance between completely foregrounding art and relegating it to background. The new designs are guided by a “kit of parts,” a shared language of materials, lighting, signage, and wall systems that was developed first by local architects Johnson Fain and later by the global architectural firm Gensler, which served as the D Line’s systemwide station designer.
Yes, I miss the epic scale and immersive feeling of those older stations. But the tradeoff is a cleaner, brighter, more legible and human-scaled version, lending long-needed coherence to both the stations themselves and the system at large. And by the way, the art is still fantastic.
At the descending entryway of Wilshire/La Brea, for instance, the cosmic, angled lines of Eamon Ore-Giron’s “Infinite Landscape: Los Angeles Para Siempre,” which are embedded into porcelain enamel, channel not only the geometric forms of Wilshire’s Art Deco Buildings, but the visceral one-point perspective of a train speeding into a tunnel, and even the angled geometries of adjacent escalators.
Artist Eamon Ore-Giron’s “Infinite Landscape: Los Angeles Para Siempre,” at the Wilshire/La Brea Metro station.
(Carlin Stiehl / For The Times)
Heading down allows you to ponder its shifting mysteries. Circular abstractions might suggest headlights zooming along Wilshire, or perhaps a train’s fast-approaching lights? Its artfulness expands outward. Frosted glass panels wrapping the entry portal are clad with a similarly mystical language, accentuated by neon strips of light, with the lightweight canopy above reflecting the colorful lines. Art and architecture are working together, each feeding off the other.
A particularly fertile locale for drama at each station are the wide bands of art topping the tunnels themselves: beacon-like destinations for your eyes, not to mention invitations to occupy more of the platform. In the same station, Mark Dean Veca’s “Miracle of La Brea” takes its cues from the curvy ornament and stepped motifs of the nearby Wilshire Tower’s Art Deco façade. Look closer, and those crisp patterns dissolve into swirling, viscous forms that evoke the La Brea Tar Pits, flowing oil, and even barley-shaped references to the area’s agricultural past. The mural’s repeating forms also mirror the station’s rigorous order, its clean, syncopated forms and linear perspectives.
Another hallmark of the new stations is how they subtly make infrastructure itself into art. Celebrating — whether intentionally or not — the improbable engineering feat of carving a subway under one of the most dense, congested, and geologically and politically complicated parts of Los Angeles. Jogging white lines along concourse floors, meant as tactical guides for the vision impaired, rhythmically and playfully lead you forward. Glinting stainless steel railings, gridded perforated metal ceilings, and thin bands of suspended light bouncing off polished terrazzo floors, pull you forward on stairs and platforms, tracing the speed and linear movement of trains. Corduroy concrete walls, etched with endless vertical grooves, give tunnels a tightly rhythmic texture while still exposing their hefty bones.
The Wilshire/La Brea Metro station is part of the D Line extension and features evenly lit spaces, with porous surfaces and long sight lines to improve navigation and safety. Glass fare gate doors organize entry without turning the stations into fortresses.
(Carlin Stiehl / For The Times)
The quality of surfaces and experiences has been upgraded too. Unlike most older Metro stations, where low light and heavy surfaces can feel tired and oppressive, spaces are more evenly lit, with porous surfaces and long sight lines to improve navigation and safety. Glass fare gate doors organize entry without turning the stations into fortresses. Glass elevators and large cuts between levels create a sense of connected, kinetic openness.
Sometimes this palette feels too uniform and predictable. The heroic scale and quirkiness of older stations can be more exciting; more unique to their place. A surprise or two never hurt anyone. But overall it’s a good balance of unity, utility and identity, allowing the art to sing, but as part of a chorus, not a soloist.
The tune, however, shifts dramatically above ground. Station plazas wrap handsome modern architecture—clean, controlled, well-detailed portals of beveled stainless steel, frosted glass, and art peeking above entryways and on peripheral panels. But the hard plazas themselves are barren; lacking enough shade, art, greenery and invitation. Benches, where they exist, are tiny and defensive.
Pedestrians walk past the Metro D Line at Wilshire and LaBrea, which features a barren plaza lacking the beauty and design of the art-filled stations below.
(Kayla Bartkowski / Los Angeles Times)
These places seem scared to let people linger — clearly trying to avoid some of the city’s intransigent challenges, like homeless encampments, disorder, maintenance burdens, and controversy. This is understandable, but in avoiding those risks, the areas also avoid the purpose of public space: to create a place for everyone, not just a zone for people passing through.
Yet life appears anyway. At Wilshire/Fairfax, a dance class from a nearby studio recently gathered in a thin sliver of shade around the station. It was beautiful, and improvised, but also indicative of the underlying problem. Civic life was there, but the space had failed to make enough room for it. Imagine if that plaza had real shade, generous seating, creative sculpture, plantings, water, and edges that encouraged people to stay.
Another unresolved question is service. On multiple visits trains were not crowded. They also didn’t come often enough. Ten or 12 minutes of stagnant wait time does not feel like freedom if you are trying to lure Angelenos out of cars.
The last-mile problem doesn’t help. There is no easy parking near stations for those who don’t live close, no seamless transfer or final step. The bikes that Metro provides still have share docks, meaning you’ll need to find another dock on the far end (good luck). This remains, as it should, a system for people who already need transit. But for an institution struggling to add ridership, you wonder if it can become a system for people who have choices.
The Wilshire/La Cienega Metro station is part of L.A.’s new D Line extension. The outdoor plazas are not conducive to community or gatherings.
(Carlin Stiehl / For The Times)
Still, we should not understate what has happened. Los Angeles finally has subway stops that serve some of its densest, most public destinations, and Metro is still growing. The D Line makes the Miracle Mile feel less like a traffic corridor and more like a metropolitan spine. It suggests a Los Angeles in which neighborhoods, jobs, cultural destinations, and sidewalks begin to connect physically and with surprising immediacy. (Twenty minutes from LACMA to downtown feels like light speed!) It makes the city feel more like a city.
It also reveals the imbalance of power and imagination in Los Angeles. Metro, for all its flaws, has the ability to marshal money, planning, engineering and art at a scale the city itself generally cannot. All the more reason to branch more boldly beyond its tracks and stations.
The question remains: Can the agency coordinate with government, developers, cultural institutions, and neighborhoods to make these stations into places rather than portals?
The new stops prove that Los Angeles can design infrastructure artfully below ground. Above ground, however, it too often retreats into caution. The subway has arrived. The city around it still has to catch up.
The first serious legal challenge to the House settlement will come courtesy of a USC freshman linebacker.
Talanoa Ili, a top-100 recruit in the Trojans’ vaunted 2026 class, joins Stanford quarterback Charlie Mirer as one of two lead plaintiffs in a class-action lawsuit that takes aim at the system implemented since the settlement ushered in a new era of direct payment from universities to athletes. The suit, which was filed Tuesday, accuses the NCAA, the Power Four conferences and the enforcement arm they created — the College Sports Commission — of participating in a “conspiracy” by creating a system of policies that have “direct anti-competitive effects, including the suppression of [name, image and likeness] compensation below competitive levels.”
Those policies, their attorneys argue, violate state laws in California that prohibit restrictions on NIL rights, as well as federal antitrust statutes. They’re seeking monetary damages, as well as an injunction that would upend the enforcement structure created to determine whether individual NIL deals over $2,500 meet criteria, including whether they have “a valid business purpose” or fall within a reasonable range of market value.
The clearinghouse, NIL Go, was created with the hope of eliminating an influx of booster-funded NIL deals that were basically direct payments from donors to the program. But since its inception, the system has been more restrictive and worked less efficiently than some schools and athletes might have hoped. As of last month, according to Yahoo Sports, more than $125 million worth of NIL compensation that had been promised to athletes had been rejected by the clearinghouse or was still under review.
In Ili’s case, the complaint states that he received a “substantial multi-year offer” from USC’s House of Victory collective in 2024 that led him to commit to the Trojans, only to have the offer disappear after approval of the House settlement.
“Absent the NIL Restrictions on Direct Pay NIL Compensation, Ili would have received more for his NIL rights than he now receives,” the complaint states. “The Agreement has thus injured Ili.”
Mirer, meanwhile, claims that he has received no NIL compensation from Stanford’s collective or revenue-sharing money from the university since 2024 as a result of the settlement.
Stanford quarterback Charlie Mirer during a game last season.
(Godofredo A. Vásquez / Associated Press)
“The [CSC agreement] has suppressed, deterred, and effectively terminated the economic relationships that had produced his prior NIL compensation,” the lawsuit says.
Even the plaintiffs in the House settlement, which created the CSC, are in the process of challenging the current system. On Wednesday, plaintiff attorney Jeffrey Kessler will argue in a hearing that school-affiliated businesses such as multimedia rights holders or corporate sponsors, should not be subject to the CSC’s rigorous criteria for NIL deals. That decision could also open the floodgates, with schools using those entities to circumvent the cap.
Two U.S. senators are hoping to pass legislation they believe would bring more stability to college athletics and thwart legal challenges. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Maria Cantwell (D-Texas) spoke with presidents and chancellors from the Big Ten Conference on Tuesday about a bipartisan bill, the Protect College Sports Act, which would codify some of the CSC’s policies into federal law.
As President Trump pushed unfounded allegations that California’s elections are rigged, the security of the ballot box became a major flash point in the state’s 2026 race for governor on Tuesday.
Republican Steve Hilton called for major reforms to how Californians cast ballots and how their votes are tallied, while sidestepping questions about the president’s claims that the state’s elections officials “were cheating.” Democrat Xavier Becerra defended the integrity of the state’s elections and argued that proposed restrictions would disenfranchise many voters.
The men appeared less than 20 miles apart in Southern California one week after a contentious primary election that prompted Trump to repeatedly make unfounded claims about the integrity of California’s slow vote-counting process, allegations triggered as Democrat Nithya Raman was about to overtake Republican Spencer Pratt for second place in the race for Los Angeles mayor.
Hilton, whose endorsement from Trump pushed him to the front of the GOP gubernatorial field, said he has not seen any evidence of impropriety in this month’s election results.
“We’re very, very focused on making sure that everything’s OK,” Hilton told reporters in Norwalk. “We’ve got teams standing by, we’ve got lawyers standing by, very focused on that. We don’t want to let anyone down, we don’t want to let anything slip away, and we’ve seen nothing.”
The two men emerged from a crowded field of candidates in the most unpredictable governor’s race in more than a quarter of a century. While Becerra on Friday nabbed a spot in the June 2 primary and will advance to the November general election, Hilton has not officially been declared a victor by the Associated Press, as of Tuesday afternoon.
Hilton, however, appears on the cusp of clinching the second spot on the ballot. Billionaire Democrat Tom Steyer is in third place in the current ballot tally, and the odds of him overtaking Hilton appear increasingly unlikely.
“I’m very pleased to say that we remain confident that I will make it into the top two and that California will have a real choice for change in November,” Hilton said at a news conference outside the Los Angeles County elections headquarters. “We’re not popping the champagne yet, but we’re very confident.”
Hilton called for electoral reform, including supporting a voter identification requirement that will appear on the November ballot, ending mail ballots being sent to every registered voter, no longer counting ballots that are received after election day — all of which are being pushed by Trump — and increasing resources at county vote counting centers.
“Voter ID [is] not the only thing, but it’s the biggest, quickest, simplest thing we can do to restore faith in the system and to have these elections completed quickly in a way that inspires confidence, and that’s why I hope that Xavier Becerra will join me in campaigning for it, so we can have a united front,” the former Fox News commentator and British political strategist told reporters.
Hilton did not directly address Trump’s unfounded claims of voter fraud in California. However, he noted that Bill Essayli, the first assistant U.S. attorney for the Central District of California, has the full resources of the Department of Justice and has found no proof of wrongdoing.
Essayli said Monday on NewsNation that his office is investigating voter fraud but doesn’t have a case. However, the voter rolls need to be audited, Essayli told host Chris Cuomo.
“That, to me, is the best way to alleviate most of people’s suspicion. We have a system that breeds skepticism and distrust,” Essayli said. “We should have a little transparency and confidence in our system.”
Becerra, a longtime elected official and a former Biden administration Cabinet secretary, questioned whether Hilton could be trusted to protect the state against Trump’s fraud claims.
“That’s who’s endorsing Steve Hilton,” Becerra told reporters at a South Los Angeles food hall, referring to Trump. “That’s who Steve Hilton is aligning himself with.”
Becerra, who was met with cheers of “Si se puede!” from diners, criticized the proposed voter ID ballot measure, arguing that it would create hurdles for many Californians to participate in the democratic electoral process. Led by Republican Assemblymember Carl DeMaio from San Diego and others, the measure would require elections officials to verify that voters are U.S. citizens to be eligible to cast ballots.
“I’m against voter suppression. I’m against anything that would try to limit a Californian’s right to vote,” said Becerra, who formerly served as California’s attorney general.
Told by reporters that Hilton wanted Becerra to campaign for the ballot initiative, Becerra responded, “Come join me here, where the real people are,” gesturing toward the packed food hall.
Becerra acknowledged his concern over the lengthy time that it takes to count votes in California. He suggested one issue is a lack of workers and equipment at county vote-counting centers.
Another problem is that the “votes get backlogged” because so many people wait until the end of the election to cast ballots, he said, likening last-minute voters to shoppers who go to Costco at the end of the day.
“If you wait till 7:00 p.m. when they’re getting ready to close, you’re probably gonna find more people there,” Becerra said.
The attacks on the elections process by Trump and his supporters appear to have a major effect on people’s confidence in the system. For years, Trump has made baseless claims that the 2020 election was stolen from him, which led his supporters to storm the U.S. Capitol as lawmakers were scheduled to certify the election results. Additionally, Trump’s allegations about California’s elections, as well as an upcoming U.S. Supreme Court ruling about ballot tallying, could have a significant effect on the midterm elections that will decide which party controls Congress for the final two years of Trump’s presidency.
A poll released Friday by the Institute of Governmental Studies at UC Berkeley found that 41% of California voters were “not confident” that this year’s elections would be free of federal interference. Although 48% had confidence that there would be no meddling, the concerns expressed were still significant, said political scientist Eric Schickler, co-director of the institute.
Among Democratic registered voters, 79% said they trusted elections officials to provide an accurate vote count. Among Republicans, 55% said they were not confident that would occur, the survey found.
NEW biometric checks for UK travellers at European borders may not “stabilise” for another two years, officials have warned.
The new EES system has caused chaos and long queues at airports with no plans to relax the checks during the busy summer period.
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EES system has caused chaos for UK travellersCredit: Alamy
The Entry Exit System (EES) involves people from third-party countries such as the UK having their fingerprints registered and photographs taken to enter the Schengen Area.
This Area consists of 29 European countries, mainly in the EU, and around 1,700 border crossing points requiring the use of EES.
For most UK travellers, the process is done at foreign airports with the digital record being kept for three years.
The airline body International Air Transport Association recently warned border queues could reach six hours this summer.
Airports in Spain, Portugal, France and Italy have been reported to be among the worst affected.
This comes after more than 100 easyJet passengers missed a flight from Milan Linate to Manchester in April because of delays at passport desks caused by the ramping up of EES.
Uku Sarekanno, deputy executive director of EU border agency Frontex, said some member states are “struggling” to adopt the new system.
During a summit of travel industry leaders organised by Abta in Westminster, Sarekanno said: “We expect that the situation will stabilise in one or two years.
“The most challenging part is the first enrolment, that is the moment where fingerprints and facial images will be taken.
“If a person is visiting the EU again (within three years), they don’t have to go through the same process, so they can have a more fast track of entry.”
Experts say queues are going to get even worse for British holiday makers this summer with queue times potentially stretching to as much as six hours.
According to The Times, Rafael Schvartzman warned that the EES systems are being operated differently between airports, which is causing the problem.
Schvartzman said: “What we are seeing is a very hard risk of really challenging times or waiting times, talking about expectations of three, four, five, six hours which is unacceptable.
“We know for a fact there are many cases where people have lost flights or their connectivity.”
More to follow… For the latest news on this story keep checking back at The Sun Online
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Welcome back to the Times of Troy newsletter, where USC baseball’s charmed season came to a devastating end in the bottom of the ninth of a decisive Super Regional matchup with North Carolina on Sunday. But no matter how brutal it may have been in the moment — with black-stained tears streaming down Trojan cheeks in Chapel Hill — the fact that USC was in position to have its heart broken at all is a testament to what Andy Stankiewicz has built in his four seasons at the helm.
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It was barely a year ago that I sat with Stankiewicz in an unfinished concrete dugout at new Dedeaux Field, discussing the importance of building a foundation for a program that had lacked one for so long. The metaphor wrote itself at the time. His team was on the cusp of clinching its first NCAA berth in a decade, just as its new stadium was finally rounding into form. But as triumphant as that tournament invite would be when it finally happened, Stankiewicz was already thinking bigger.
“We want to build this thing for the long haul,” he said then. “And to build a home, you have to build a strong foundation so it can withstand the weather. The same thing applies here. I want to be here for a long time. This is where I grew up. This is where I’d love to be.”
A year later, the foundation hasn’t just been built. The house is finished. The front door is open. All that’s left is for the Trojans to walk through it.
They had their chance Sunday in Chapel Hill. Andrew Johnson twirled another postseason gem. The Trojan bats, again, delivered in big moments, with clutch solo shots from Kevin Takeuchi and Andrew Lamb. Through 8.2 innings, USC had given up just a single run.
But the bullpen, which had been one of the Trojans’ few weak points all season, couldn’t finish the job. Sax Matson came in for just a single pitch and was pulled. Adam Troy faced three batters, walked one who scored and was pulled in the middle of a 3-0 count for another. Chase Herrell faced four batters after that, walked one and gave up two other hits, including the walk-off winner.
Just two outs stood between the Trojans and a trip to Omaha. At one point, all they had to do was catch a fouled pop fly to send the game to extras.
“That was a tough one,” Stankiewicz said after. “As best we can, we’re gonna move forward. But again, I got some disappointed young men in our dugout. As the head coach, you think, ‘Dang it, what could I have done differently?’”
Surely, the Trojans coach might be thinking all season about how close his team was to reaching that next rung as a program. The truth, though, is it’s a wonder they got here this fast in the first place. USC won 48 games, its most in a quarter century. It had to climb its way back from the loser’s bracket in its regional, then, on the road in Chapel Hill, it took one of the national title favorites to the brink.
Not only that, but USC rose to that level in a still-unfinished stadium, without anything resembling the NIL firepower that other college baseball teams, particularly in the SEC and ACC, are wielding. USC has tried to make up for that by funding more scholarships, but when other teams are handing kids hundreds of thousands more in NIL offers, it makes competing with the Joneses especially difficult.
Stankiewicz has managed to make it work, anyway. And as more talent rolls into Troy, there’s every reason to believe that we’ll look back on this moment, not as a devastating end, but the start of something particularly special for USC baseball.
“We got to the finals of the Regional last year. Now the finals of a Super Regional,” Stankiewicz said. “We’re not going away.”
Calling all questions …
With the summer here and college sports now on hold for the next two months, it’s a perfect time to answer any questions you have about the upcoming year at USC. So please send anything on your mind about Trojan sports to ryan.kartje@latimes.com. When the newsletter returns in a couple of weeks, I’ll answer the best ones in this space.
USC pitcher Andrew Johnson.
(Laura Wolff / For The Times)
—A standing ovation for Johnson, whose pitching performance through the postseason was nothing short of Herculean. Johnson spent most of the season as the Trojans’ forgotten No. 3 option in the rotation, with Mason Edwards and Grant Govel ranking among the best pitchers in the nation. But it was Johnson who came up the biggest in the postseason. Twice he pitched well in relief, only to throw seven-plus innings two days later. This felt like a breakthrough moment for Johnson, who should pair with Govel to give USC an outstanding 1-2 punch on Fridays and Saturdays next season.
—There’s been talk about alternate jerseys at USC over the last several years. The conversation about alternates actually dates back to before Jennifer Cohen took over as athletic director. But as was the case before, the conversation has been tabled for the time being. Athletic departments are always looking for added revenue these days, but the juice just hasn’t been worth the squeeze to date, considering the many fans that would surely be offended by changes to the Trojans’ classic uniforms.
Olympic sports spotlight
After going on a tear to close out the season, USC women’s golf was on the precipice of snagging the school’s second national title this year … before it ran into a buzzsaw in No. 1 Stanford.
But an NCAA runner-up finish is still a great result for a program that hasn’t won an NCAA title since 2013. The Trojans have now finished second six times in their past 38 seasons, which is to say they’ve been the runner-ups basically 15% of the time over the last four decades.
That’s a lot of years being the bridesmaid, not the bride. But there’s no reason to think that Justin Silverstein, the Big Ten’s Coach of the Year in 2026, shouldn’t have this program back in the mix as soon as next season.
What I’m Watching This Week
Matthew Rhys and Stephen Root in “Widow’s Bay.”
(Apple)
If you’re in the mood for something creepy, boy do I have the content for you. “Widow’s Bay” on Apple TV follows Mayor Tom Loftis, played by Matthew Rhys, who’s desperate to revive his struggling island community of Widow’s Bay. But the locals on the island are convinced the town is cursed, and don’t necessarily approve of bringing tourists into the mix.
As you might imagine, the locals appear to be right. And Loftis finds himself in some horrifying situations. Enough to convince me that maybe this isn’t the best show to be watching alone, late at night. But if that’s in your wheelhouse, then this is as good as it gets.
That concludes today’s newsletter. If you have any feedback, ideas for improvement or things you’d like to see, email me at ryan.kartje@latimes.com, and follow me on X at @Ryan_Kartje. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.
Weekly insights and analysis on the latest developments in military technology, strategy, and foreign policy.
A recent video out of Russia once again highlights the drastic efforts being taken to provide Moscow with additional air defense coverage against the threat of long-range Ukrainian drones. While we have seen examples of the Pantsir short-range air defense system installed on buildings in Moscow before, the footage shows the counter-drone-optimized SMD-E variant being lifted onto the top of a skyscraper by helicopter.
The ruSSians are using a Mi-26 heavy-lift helicopter to deliver a Pantsir-SMD-E air defense system onto the roof of the Nordstar Tower business center in downtown Moscow.
Well thanks, now everyone knows where the next Ukrainian drone is going to hit 🎯 👍 pic.twitter.com/hgeIPJUwSq
— 𝔗𝔥𝔢 𝕯𝔢𝔞𝔡 𝕯𝔦𝔰𝔱𝔯𝔦𝔠𝔱△ 🇬🇪🇺🇦🇺🇲🇬🇷 (@TheDeadDistrict) May 28, 2026
The viral video appeared on social media this week and shows a Russian Aerospace Forces Mi-26 Halo heavy transport helicopter lowering a Pantsir-SMD-E system onto the top of a building in Moscow. The tower has been identified as the 42-story Nordstar Tower, an office building completed in 2009, with a roof height of 563 feet. The building is located in central Moscow, not far from the Kremlin.
A Mil Mi-26 Halo at the Victory Day parade in Moscow, Russia, on May 9, 2015. Photo by Host photo agency / Rossiya Segodnya / Handout/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images Anadolu
For the Mi-26, which can lift a load of more than 44,000 pounds, internally or as a slung load, moving the Pantsir-SMD-E is no problem at all.
As we have explained in the past, the Pantsir-SMD-E, with its self-contained static configuration, is designed to help protect critical static infrastructure from uncrewed aerial threats. For this, it can be loaded with as many as 48 small TKB-1055 anti-drone interceptors.
A close-up of the Pantsir-SMD-E. Rostec
Alternatively, the SMD-E variant can fire up to 12 of the larger 57E6 short-range command-guided surface-to-air missiles, suitable for more traditional threats. A mix of effectors can also be used.
While the TKB-1055 has a stated maximum range of just over four miles, the 57E6 is claimed to be able to hit targets at nearly 12.5 miles.
The SMD-E’s turret also features two integrated radars, one for detecting and tracking targets and another fire-control type for directing the command-guided missiles.
Unlike earlier Pantsir systems, no cannons are included.
A video showing the previous Pantsir-S1 with combined gun/missile armament:
On the other hand, it’s worth noting that previous members of the Pantsir family have earned a very mixed reputation since their introduction in the early 2010s. This has been underscored by reportedly poor performance in Syria and Libya, although the Pantsir is still widely fielded by Russia, and has even been adapted as a ‘quick-fix’ maritime air defense system. It has also been widely exported.
The previous versions of the Pantsir have also become popular choices for the counter-drone mission, especially in terms of defending Russia’s critical military, government, and industrial facilities.
In early 2023, Pantsirs began to appear on rooftops in Moscow, and another was deployed close to one of President Vladimir Putin’s official residences just outside the capital. Earlier this month, German media reported that Russia had significantly expanded its air defense network around the capital, deploying more than 40 additional Pantsir systems in 2025 alone.
An earlier Pantsir system is seen deployed on top of the Ministry of Defense headquarters in Moscow in early 2023. via X
In Moscow, a Russian Pantsir-S1 anti-aircraft missile system has been placed on the roof of a building of the Central District Department of Education on Teterinsky Lane, for the reasons so far unknown.
— Status-6 (War & Military News) (@Archer83Able) January 19, 2023
Of course, these are just elements of a much larger array of additional layered air defenses deployed in and around the Russian capital. This extends from S-400 long-range surface-to-air missile batteries to attack helicopters tasked with gunning down drones in midair.
The recent development of the Pantsir-SMD-E means that it very likely incorporates lessons from experience using the earlier versions in the counter-drone role.
Putting the system on a skyscraper provides a safer firing location, although it doesn’t remove the risk of interceptors going astray, or debris from destroyed drones causing damage or injury.
At the same time, this rooftop perch does ensure a clear line of sight for the radar, extended reaction time, and offers a much wider range of firing angles. For this reason, Russia has previously also built elevated towers for Pantsir batteries around the Moscow region.
The emergence of the system underscores just what level of danger Ukraine’s drone attacks have come to pose to Russia. Since Ukraine first began to employ long-range one-way attack drones, their designs have been optimized and their ranges extended, putting highly prized facilities deeper and deeper inside Russia within their crosshairs. The threat to Russia is only set to grow, as Ukraine expands production and capabilities, including adding long-range cruise missiles to its inventory.
A video showing the homegrown Ukrainian FP-5 Flamingo cruise missile in action:
Випробувальний пуск ракети “Фламінго”
It is also worth noting that Russia, while at war, is not alone in these concerns. In the United States, since 9/11, Washington, DC, has quietly evolved into one of the most heavily defended urban airspaces in the world. This includes systems like Stinger missile turrets positioned atop key government buildings. The planned air defense capacity for the new White House Ballroom is a glaring example of this same trend. This is being spurred primarily by major concerns about the growing drone threat.
Speaking earlier in the Oval Office, President Trump called the ballroom being constructed to replace the White House East Wing a “gift,” while adding that it will have bulletproof glass and walls, along with a “drone port” which Trump says was supposed to be Top Secret. pic.twitter.com/1zP9KaFxFc
Depending on the success of the Pantsir-SMD-E in protecting the Russian capital, we may well see more of these systems deployed both in Moscow and elsewhere. As we have discussed before, the system apparently offers the potential to be fitted on vehicles and vessels, as well.
The appearance of the Pantsir-SMD-E on a Moscow skyscraper hammers home the reality of the drone threat, not just in Russia, but also more generally, on the battlefield, as well as against critical infrastructure, military and civilian.
Czech club Bohemians 1905 are recruiting fans to play for a C team that will enter the country’s football league system next season.
The Prague-based club intend to enter a team of supporters in the ninth tier of Czech football.
Fans have been encouraged to express interest by email.
“The goal of this unique project won’t be to advance as high as possible, but to offer Bohemians fans the joy of football and the pride of wearing the kangaroo on their chest,” a club statement read.
The club, also known as Bohemka, have a kangaroo emblem that stems from their tour of Australia in 1927, when they were gifted two of the animals to take home.
Bohemians, whose honorary president is former Czechoslovakia midfielder Antonin Panenka, went bankrupt in 2005 but have been ever present in the Czech top flight since 2013 thanks to a revival that was helped by the fundraising of supporters.
“Thanks to the fans, Bohemka continues to play football. Now it’s time for Bohemka to enable the same for its fans,” the club said.
The new C team are unlikely to ever face the club’s first team in competitive competition as only sides in the top four divisions of Czech football qualify for the Czech Cup.
Bohemians are currently crowdfunding for the complete reconstruction of their Dolicek stadium, which will cost an estimated 350 million Czech Koruna (£12.4m).
Employees check power demand and supply at the regional office of the Korea Electric Power Corp. in Suwon, 30 kilometers south of Seoul, South Korea. Photo by YONHAP / EPA
May 21 (Asia Today) — Korea Electric Power Corp.’s AI-based preventive diagnostics technology will be introduced to Germany’s power equipment market under the company’s largest-ever single technology transfer deal.
Korea Electric Power said Wednesday it signed a $1.34 million, or about 2 billion won, contract with German power equipment company Maschinenfabrik Reinhausen in Berlin on Tuesday. The South Korean utility will receive technology transfer fees from the German company over seven years.
The technology, called SEDA, analyzes about 100,000 pieces of substation equipment data a day. The system uses AI to detect abnormalities in power facilities by linking data from Internet of Things sensors, facility specifications and maintenance records.
Maschinenfabrik Reinhausen, founded in 1868, specializes in transformer load tap changers, sensors and digital solutions. The company has annual revenue of about 19 trillion won, or $12.6 billion.
The German company plans to apply SEDA to its TESSA 2.0 power equipment asset management platform. The platform monitors the condition of transformers, switchgear and other power equipment.
Korea Electric Power began using SEDA in South Korea in 2021. The system has been applied to 359 of the country’s 925 substations, or about 40%, and the company is gradually expanding its use.
The company said SEDA has detected an average of 15 abnormal signs per year over the past five years. Last year, the system helped prevent equipment damage worth 36.6 billion won, or about $24.3 million.
“This technology transfer is highly significant because it gives Korea Electric Power a key foothold for entering global markets, including Europe and North America,” said Yeo Geun-taek, head of the company’s transmission and substation operation office.
Welcome back to the Times of Troy newsletter, where USC and Notre Dame are back at the bargaining table — as you first read in this space last Monday — and also back to bickering about who’s to blame for blowing up their century-old rivalry in the first place. One step closer to order being restored!
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I have less faith in the rest of college football and its leadership, which now appears to be mobilizing around a playoff format that’s almost universally disliked by actual consumers of college football. The 24-team playoff is a great deal for coaches, who want to be able to point to as many playoff berths as possible for job security. It’s probably a good deal for athletic directors, digging through couch cushions for extra NIL dollars. And for the TV networks, it’s especially juicy. Twenty four teams means more than double the number of games, and each of those games is pulling in an average of between 10 million and 20 million viewers. That’s a lot of eyeballs and a lot of advertising dollars. (For everyone but ESPN, which currently has exclusive rights up to 14 teams.)
It’s also a good deal for Notre Dame, whose athletic director Pete Bevacqua came out this week in support of the 24-team playoff in an interview with the Athletic. The Irish would essentially assure themselves of a bid in most years, which, per Bevacqua, would make it easier to clear the way for USC and Notre Dame to play again.
Big Ten commissioner Tony Pettiti has been leading the charge on the 24-team playoff. So while USC athletic director Jennifer Cohen hasn’t said anything about her preference, it would be a surprise to hear her publicly oppose what the rest of the conference has been pushing.
But why do we have to push anywhere? Why do we have to keep fixing the playoff? And if you must keep tinkering with college football, well, there are plenty of ways to fix it that won’t water down the product and devalue the regular season the way playoff expansion does. Plus, who’s to say that after two seasons at 24 teams, the conference commissioners don’t decide they want to expand again? To 28 teams? To 36 teams?
The 12-team playoff already makes a lot of money. But like everything now, it has to make the mostpossible money or be as big as possible. I actually long for the days when college football’s leaders did whatever they could to keep the game from changing.
Now it’s the only thing that feels inevitable these days around college football.
Back to school
Marqise Lee at his graduation ceremony.
(USC)
Marqise Lee stepped to the lectern Friday, in full cap and gown, looked out over a full crowd at Galen Center, and cleared his throat. For so many reasons, the former USC wideout still couldn’t quite believe he was standing there.
Growing up, no part of Lee thought that college would even be available to him. He was brought up in the most difficult of circumstances in Inglewood. Separated at a young age from his sister and his mother, who was deaf. Thrust alone into the foster care system. He ended up living in a motel for three years.
When he did make it to USC, class hadn’t been a priority. Football was his focus from the start, and it would ultimately lead him to the NFL, where he’d never really taken the idea of returning to school that seriously. A counselor would try to convince him on a few occasions and even got him onto campus to set up a schedule.
“But it just never happened,” Lee told me.
Then, his football career ended, and his daughters started getting older. They never got to see him play football. He started thinking about what it would mean to show them what he could accomplish. So Lee decided to go back.
It wasn’t easy at first. He was taking five classes, a full course load. He felt uncomfortable being the oldest student in the class.
“When I first sat in there,” he said, ”I was like, I really don’t need to come back.”
His statistics class, especially, was daunting. He looked for any reason to leave. Then, he thought of his daughters.
“To go back to school and tell my daughters, yeah, I went back, but I wasn’t successful — and expect them to succeed?” Lee said. “Yeah, I can’t.”
But before long, Lee found that he actually liked his classes now. He enjoyed the group projects where he used to only do the bare minimum.
After sloughing off his final semester the first time around at USC, Lee needed at least three B’s and two A’s. No easy feat at USC.
Lee ended up getting A’s across the board. At the end of the semester, the school asked him to be the speaker at its student athlete commencement. Which is what led Lee to that stage, where he delivered a hell of a speech Friday.
“It was just like, this is something that you never ever dreamed about,” Lee said. “You never dreamed about graduating from college. So like to get that done was amazing. And then, I have an opportunity to sit up here and say to these kids and get them prepared for their future, by at least letting them understand where I come from and how hard it is. So they know that we actually can fight through anything that comes our way.”
Next up for Lee?
“I’m about to try and go get my master’s degree after this,” he said.
Cofie’s plans changing?
Jacob Cofie reacts after a layup and a foul during a win over Washington State last season.
(Steve Galluzzo / For The Times)
A month ago, USC basketball announced that Jacob Cofie, one of its starters from last season, planned to return next season. It was a huge coup for Eric Musselman, who had a grand total of two returning players in two seasons as USC’s coach.
Cofie decided to still take part in the G League scouting combine. But in the process, he became one of five players who earned invites to the NBA scouting combine last weekend.
While in Chicago, Cofie was asked if he’d considered keeping his name in the draft. And he didn’t say no. “I’m leaving that up to my agent right now,” he said.
But even with the combine invite, I don’t expect that Cofie could climb any higher than the second round of this NBA draft. And depending on where he would be drafted, if he’s drafted at all, he might actually stand to make more at USC in revenue sharing dollars and NIL.
Cofie has nine days, technically, to make a decision. But I expect we’ll hear sooner than that on his future, and I’d be shocked to hear he’ll be spending next season anywhere but USC.
—USC baseball locked up the fourth seed in the Big Ten tournament. But what about hosting a regional? The Trojans managed to take one of three against Oregon to at least lock up a bye until Friday in the Big Ten tournament. But right now, USC is likely on the outside looking in at hosting its first NCAA regional since 2002. All that could change with a run in the Big Ten tournament. Doing so, though, probably means pulling off an upset of No. 1 UCLA. If USC wins its first tournament matchup against whomever emerges out of Illinois, Iowa, Michigan State and Purdue, then the Bruins will almost certainly be on tap. Win that game, and their hosting fate could change fast.
—Pete Carroll is coming back to teach “The Game of Life” at USC. The former USC coach delivered the commencement address for the Marshall School of Business last Friday, and in the process, announced that he’ll be making his triumphant return as Professor Pete next school year. A spot in Carroll’s class was one of the most coveted on campus in his first go-round — good luck getting off that waitlist the second time!
—Honor Fa’alave Johnson, USC’s top commit in 2027, reaffirmed his plans to sign with USC. That was after a group of USC coaches flew down to the safety’s hometown of San Diego via helicopter. Not a bad way to show you mean business — especially as Texas was doing its best to flip Fa’alave Johnson.
—Some Big Ten championship results from the weekend: The USC men finished fourth in the Big Ten track and field championships, while the USC women finished third. Meanwhile, women’s rowing placed sixth at their Big Ten championships.
What I’m Reading This Week
Patrick Radden Keefe writes for the New Yorker.
(Manuel Balce Ceneta / Associated Press)
It’s a quiet time for new TV, so I took the radical step of picking up a new book this week. (Crazy, I know.) That said, I’m always game for reading something new from New Yorker staff writer Patrick Radden Keefe, who, for my money, is one of our greatest living nonfiction writers. His latest book, “London Falling” follows an American family investigating the death of their 19-year-old son, who they find was living a secret life within London’s criminal underworld mysteriously before he jumped mysteriously from a building into the Thames River in 2019.
Keefe is a tremendous reporter and writer, capable of turning a nonfiction narrative into a roller coaster, page-turning story that reads like a crime novel. This book, like “Say Nothing” and “Empire of Pain” before it, is one I won’t forget any time soon.
Scheduling note
I said I’d be off this week, however the Lee graduation was so nice that waiting to report on it seemed wrong. But the newsletter will be on hiatus the next two weeks.
That concludes today’s newsletter. If you have any feedback, ideas for improvement or things you’d like to see, email me at ryan.kartje@latimes.com, and follow me on X at @Ryan_Kartje. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.
A new survey from Booking.com has revealed three in five people going on holiday to Europe are concerned about the long delays from the EU’s new border checks
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Holidaymakers fear they will miss their flights due to checks(Image: Anadolu via Getty Images)
Three in five UK holidaymakers heading to Europe this year expect to be caught up in delays linked to the European Union’s new entry-exit system (EES).
Figures from a recent survey show that 59% of travellers believe they’ll be held up by the new system and fear they could miss their flights due to the border checks. EES involves people from third-party countries such as the UK having their fingerprints registered and photograph taken to enter the Schengen Area, which consists of 29 European countries, mainly in the EU.
For most UK travellers, the process is done at foreign airports. A poll commissioned by Booking.com revealed the worrying figures.
The representative body Airports Council International recently reporting that EES was causing delays of up to three hours, with airports in Spain, Portugal, France and Italy among the worst affected. Last month more than 100 easyJet passengers missed a flight from Milan Linate to Manchester as the border checks were ramped up at passport desks.
The survey indicated that 56% of UK travellers plan to arrive at airports earlier than usual in an attempt to avoid disruption, with 12% intending to arrive at least four hours before departure. More than half (52%) of respondents who have travelled to the EU since the introduction of EES said they experienced delays during their journey.
Meanwhile 43% said they were not delayed. Families and holidaymakers travelling to Europe during the May half-term break were told to make sure their passports are eligible for their dates and to keep items such as portable phone chargers and medication in their hand luggage.
Ryan Pearson, regional manager for the UK and Ireland at Booking.com, said: “May half-term is a key moment in the travel calendar, and we know many people are feeling anxious about how the new entry-exit system could impact their trip. We want to help travellers feel informed and prepared before they leave, whether that’s checking travel documents in advance or packing the right essentials in hand luggage in case of longer queues.
“Changes to the way we travel can understandably feel daunting, but we’re already seeing that many journeys are running smoothly. The key is preparation.”
Advantage Travel Partnership, a network of independent travel agents, reported earlier this month that demand for holidays in Greece has surged since the country revealed on April 17 it will not impose the requirements on UK travellers this summer. The south-eastern European country’s market share of UK holiday bookings rose from 7.7% in mid-April to 9.98% by the end of the month, Advantage Travel Partnership said.
EES was first introduced in October last year, with its roll out ramped up on April 10. EU rules currently allow the checks to be temporarily halted to avoid queues at peak periods.
U.S. President Donald Trump announces he has selected the path forward for his Golden Dome missile defense system in May 2025 in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C. A report by a nonpartisan office said Tuesday said the system could cost $1.2 trillion, far more than Trump said during this announcement. File Photo by Chris Kleponis/UPI | License Photo
May 12 (UPI) — A nonpartisan office said Tuesday that President Donald Trump‘s proposed Golden Dome missile defense system could cost $1.2 trillion over two decades – far more than the $175 billion he said it would cost last year.
The Congressional Budget Office said in a report that this analysis isn’t based on final blueprints, as full details of the system’s architecture haven’t been announced, Time reported. It said this estimate shows the price of “one illustrative approach rather than an estimate of a full Administration proposal.”
The CBO said that acquisition costs for the system would alone cost more than $1 trillion, and of that, about 70 percent of the cost would be for the interceptor layer, orbital weapons meant to destroy missiles after they’re launched, The Hill reported. This would include about 7,800 satellites.
Gen. Mike Guetlein, the Pentagon official in charge of the project, said in March that it would cost about $185 billion. The CBO report said that this difference in estimated price may mean that the “objective architecture is more limited” for the project than the system accounted for by the CBO, The Hill reported.
Congressional Republicans have earmarked $25 billion for the project in the 2025 One Big Beautiful Bill Act. The Pentagon has asked for $17 billion more in a reconciliation bill this year.
The Trump administration’s fiscal 2027 budget request, which includes $750 billion earmarked for the Golden Dome system, says the system “keeps Americans safe, while using innovative program management and acquisition approaches to prudently employ taxpayer dollars,” The Hill reported. Trump has said he wants the system operational by the end of his term.
The CBO said the system it used in its estimate could counter a limited attack but would be overwhelmed by a large-scale one, Time reported. Israel’s similar air-defense system, often called the Iron Dome, has intercepted missiles from Iran and other localized groups but is meant for a smaller area and shorter-range threats, as opposed to the United States’ need to defend a much larger area from long-range attacks, it said.
Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., requested the CBO report. He said Tuesday that the report shows the Golden Dome project “is nothing more than a massive giveaway to defense contractors paid for entirely by working Americans” that will “do little to advance American national security.”
When Gavin Newsom ran for California governor in 2018, his support for a state-run single-payer healthcare system was considered a risky move and earned him hefty labor endorsements.
Today, leading Democrats in the wide-open race to succeed Newsom have embraced single-payer healthcare as a political necessity, an answer to voters fed up with rising premiums and other spiraling healthcare costs.
But with no clear front-runner, they are sparring among themselves in debates and political ads over who is most committed to a government-run model. No candidate has outlined how California would fund comprehensive health coverage for its 40 million residents, leaving voters unable to discern which candidate has a concrete plan for the nation’s most populous state.
Healthcare and political experts said the concept of single-payer has shifted from progressive pipe dream a decade ago to today’s mainstream talking points in a state where Democrats outnumber Republicans nearly 2 to 1. Democrats have pledged the model as the best way to lower costs in an attempt to woo voters worried about affordability as ballots arrive for the June 2 primary. The top two Republicans, meanwhile, have dismissed government-run healthcare as a “disaster” and “socialism.”
“In many ways, single-payer healthcare has become a progressive litmus test,” said Larry Levitt, a former White House policy advisor and a healthcare expert at KFF, a health information nonprofit that includes KFF Health News.
Few voters fully understand the term single-payer, let alone expect the next governor to achieve it, Levitt said. Rather, he added, the term has become more of a signal to voters about a candidate’s approach to healthcare reform.
Xavier Becerra, the former U.S. Health and Human Services secretary, who for decades backed single-payer healthcare in Congress, has come under criticism from opponents for a nuanced but clear shift away from single-payer. It came after Becerra secured an endorsement from the California Medical Assn., a powerful group representing doctors and a longtime opponent of single-payer healthcare bills in California.
At a May 5 debate put on by CNN, Becerra declared his support for “Medicare for All,” a proposal for a federally run system that’s been stalled for years, but he declined to say whether he’d pursue a California-led effort. He said his immediate focus would be on mitigating the drastic federal cuts expected to hit low-income and disabled enrollees in Medi-Cal, the state’s Medicaid program, which covers more than a third of residents.
Becerra is counting on voters not to distinguish between the often-confused terms single-payer, Medicare for All, and universal coverage, noting during the debate that “Californians don’t care what you call it, so long as they have affordable healthcare.”
“A lot of people aren’t clear what single-payer is, and they need a metaphor to understand it,” said Celinda Lake, a Democratic strategist and one of the lead pollsters for former President Biden’s 2020 campaign.
Billionaire activist Tom Steyer, who’s touted his self-funding as a signal he can’t be bought, has emerged as the race’s most vocal advocate of single-payer after opposing it during a short-lived 2020 presidential bid. As governor, Steyer has said, he would pass legislation backed by the California Nurses Assn. that has failed to come to fruition under Newsom’s tenure. Pressed on how he would cover the estimated $731.4-billion cost, Steyer told KFF Health News that “God is going to be in the details.”
At a forum last year, former U.S. Rep. Katie Porter said she didn’t believe achieving such a system was realistic in the near term, but the Orange County Democrat later told party delegates that she would “deliver single-payer.” Former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan, Democrats who are trailing their competitors in the polls, don’t support single-payer. The top two vote-getters — regardless of party — advance to the November general election.
Some of the most seasoned politicians have failed to deliver single-payer. Newsom, who campaigned on the promise of being a “healthcare governor,” dialed back his ambitions upon taking office, choosing instead to pursue “universal access” to health coverage under a series of Medi-Cal expansions and efforts to contain healthcare spending.
The campaign bus for billionaire activist Tom Steyer, who has made single-payer healthcare a central pillar of his run for governor, in downtown Oakland.
(Christine Mai-Duc/KFF Health News)
Vermont, which remains the only state to pass a single-payer healthcare law, reversed course when leaders there couldn’t identify a funding source.
To enact single-payer, California would need permission from the federal government to redirect billions of dollars from Medicaid, Medicare and other funding that currently flows to the system — approval not likely to come from the Trump administration.
More than half of adults nationally say healthcare costs will have a major impact on whom they vote for in November, according an April KFF poll.
Danielle Cendejas, a Los Angeles-based Democratic consultant who works with state legislative candidates, said single-payer healthcare increasingly appears on candidate questionnaires from small-business advocates as well as hyperlocal Democratic clubs, in state legislative races and national union endorsements. What most California voters want to hear, Cendejas said, is how candidates plan to give them more immediate relief from higher premiums, expensive drug costs and long waits to access care.
The high price tag doesn’t faze Jennifer Easton, a 63-year-old Democrat from Oakland, who said other countries with similar models have proved they can lower costs. She said she supports a single-payer health system because it’s clear to her that Americans have reached the limits of working within the existing system. But she isn’t expecting any of the current candidates to succeed in implementing one, and she hasn’t decided whom to support.
“No one can in four years,” she said. Seeing a candidate enthusiastically support the concept gives her a good idea of their philosophy. “It is, if we’re lucky, a 20-year, 25-year plan.”
Rob Stutzman, a Republican political consultant who advised former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, said while Americans may be supportive of single-payer in polls, focus groups suggest that approval drops quickly when voters realize it could mean losing their current doctor or insurance plan.
At the CNN debate, Steve Hilton, the Republican candidate President Trump has endorsed, said Californians would end up with subpar patient care and “taxes sky high to pay for it,” like in his native United Kingdom. Instead, Hilton suggested the state stop providing “free healthcare for illegal immigrants who shouldn’t even be in the country in the first place.”
Mai-Duc writes for KFF Health News, anational newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF—an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism.
Simon Calder described the EU’s Entry Exit System (EES) as ‘passport roulette’
13:20, 05 May 2026Updated 13:20, 05 May 2026
EES has been causing problems at certain European airports(Image: Getty)
A leading travel journalist has suggested the European Union’s new Entry/Exit System (EES) could be put on hold for the entire summer following reports of chaos and significant delays at airports. Speaking on BBC Breakfast, Simon Calder – who has branded the system ‘passport roulette’ – acknowledged that while some locations had performed ‘really well’, others were ‘struggling’.
EES is an automated system gradually replacing the traditional passport stamp. It requires people from third-party nations such as the UK to have their fingerprints registered and photograph captured before entering the Schengen Area, which encompasses 29 European countries, predominantly within the EU.
For the majority of UK travellers, the procedure takes place at foreign airports. The system saw a soft launch in October 2025 and was meant to be fully operational across all borders by April 10, 2026.
Yet there have been numerous accounts of passengers missing flights and enduring lengthy queues at airports as systems buckle under the sheer volume of people attempting to register. Several countries have suspended EES at various points, with Greece postponing the system for UK travellers over the summer to enhance the travel experience.
Portugal has halted EES for extended stretches to ease travel to and from the country, with speculation mounting that Italy may do likewise. Mr Calder indicated it was not beyond the realms of possibility. “It was always going to be really exciting to see what happens when you roll out a digital borders scheme and you ask 29 national governments to implement it,” Mr Calder said. “They have all gone their own way.
“Some of them have done it really well. Others, well, they are still struggling and we might find that, actually, the whole scheme gets put on a sort of hold for the rest of the summer.
“That’s certainly what a lot of airlines and train operators would like, not to mention the Port of Dover, where they haven’t even started taking biometrics from motorists yet.”
Headlines were made in April 2026 when passengers travelling with both Ryanair and easyJet missed their flights from separate Milan airports owing to EES complications. Footage from one incident revealed a crowd gathering at Milan Bergamo, with exasperated passengers informing staff they had been held at the gate for over an hour, demanding to know what action to take.
It’s understood that approximately 30 passengers were left behind. Ryanair said in a statement: “Due to passport control delays at Milan Bergamo Airport on 16 April, a number of passengers missed this flight from Milan to Manchester.” One passenger claimed they were kept waiting until the aircraft had departed, only to then be informed they would need to arrange their own return flights. A number of travellers on a Ryanair service from Tenerife South to East Midlands on 10 April also missed their homeward journey, once again blaming hold-ups at passport control.
Ryanair recently issued a blistering statement on social media, demanding the EES rollout be postponed until September. The low-cost carrier tore into France, Portugal, Poland, Italy, Spain, and Germany for their failure to ‘ensure that adequate staffing, system readiness, or kiosks are in place’.
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Branding the system as ‘half-baked’, the Ryanair statement said: “Despite knowing for over three years that EES would become fully operational from 10 April 2026, France, Portugal, Poland, Italy, Spain, and Germany have failed to ensure that adequate staffing, system readiness, or kiosks are in place.
“As a result, passengers are suffering long passport control queues and, in some cases, missing their flights.
“Ryanair calls on these EU Governments to suspend the rollout of the EU’s passport control Entry/Exit System (EES) until September to ensure that passengers are not needlessly forced to suffer long passport control queue delays at European airports during the peak summer season.”
Welcome back to the Times of Troy newsletter, where the spring sports calendar is quickly coming to a close at USC. Saturday saw a trio of Trojan teams upended in the NCAA tournament. The women’s beach volleyball team fell in a brutal quarterfinal shutout by No. 5 Florida State. Men’s volleyball faltered in the second round to No. 3 Hawaii, and the men’s tennis team was shut out 4-0 by No. 9 Oklahoma.
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But at USC, there’s a lot of excitement about what’s coming next. The year ahead is a critical one, and not just for Lincoln Riley and the football program. Eric Musselman enters Year 3 with no tournament invites to date, but the most talent he’s had yet as USC’s men’s basketball coach, while the women’s basketball program could be more talented next season than it has ever been.
That abundance of star power has made for a much different offseason for Lindsay Gottlieb this spring. At this time last year, the women’s basketball coach was scrambling to put pieces together in the transfer portal after JuJu Watkins’ knee injury derailed the Trojans’ plans of a title run. The vibes …. were not great. Two promising young guards, Avery Howell and Kayleigh Heckel, left. Some potential transfers who hoped to play with Watkins went elsewhere. All setting up for an up-and-down season.
But with Watkins set to return to full-go this summer and a trio of five-star prospects set to join her, Gottlieb entered this offseason facing polar opposite circumstances. Watkins is set to retake her throne as the most dominant player in women’s college basketball. Jazzy Davidson, already the national freshman of the year, should only get better as a sophomore. And Saniyah Hall, the nation’s top recruit in 2026, would be the best player on most college basketball teams. She may only be the Trojans’ No. 3 next season.
So when Gottlieb set out to survey the transfer portal this spring, she wanted to take a much more selective, intentional approach to building out an already-stacked roster.
“We wanted players that fit,” Gottlieb said. “It takes the person to have the courage to understand that they can really contribute with these really talented players that we have. And also a humility to know that we’re trying to win a national championship, so you’ve got to [be] confident and believe in your abilities. But it can’t necessarily be where they want something crafted around them only, you know? Because we’re trying to win a national championship.”
Pania Davis with Florida State last season.
(Gary McCullough / Associated Press)
She wanted more size, to split time with five-star freshman Sara Okeke at center and found 6-foot-6 center Pania Davis, a towering rim protector who played last season at Florida State.
“We were studying the best bigs that fit us, and 6-6 just jumps out at you,” Gottlieb said. “The way she moves we were really excited about.”
Gottlieb also set out to add an experienced guard in the portal after nearly all of USC’s backcourt depth departed in the offseason and landed on one that she’d known since her first year as the Trojans’ coach.
Gottlieb met Ryann Bennett at a camp during that first season, and when she became available last month after two seasons at UC Davis, her skills just happened to fit USC’s needs perfectly.
“She’s just a really good all-around player,” Gottlieb said. “She can create and pass. She plays some point guard. I don’t think she’s going to be afraid of taking or making a big shot.”
USC could add another player or two in the portal from here, Gottlieb said, but she also doesn’t want to upset the balance that she has right now, on a roster that should already be among the best in the nation.
The question now isn’t so much who USC adds, but how Gottlieb will manage the needs of a roster full of star players. Though, she scoffs at any concern that there’s only one ball to be shared among USC’s star-studded group.
“There’s one ball for South Carolina. There’s one ball for LSU. There’s one for UCLA,” Gottlieb said. “We’ve gotta play in a way that values winning. I don’t think it should take away anyone’s individual skills. But the priority has to be playing the best possible basketball.”
A joyous title run
USC women’s water polo players celebrate after defeating California for the NCAA title last month.
(Derrick Tuskan / NCAA)
The first season that Casey Moon took over USC’s water polo program, he freely admits that “I fell on my face.”
The Trojans lost in the NCAA tournament quarterfinals of the 2024 season, their worst finish in decades. And in the weeks that followed, Moon tried to step back and reevaluate what he wanted to be as a head coach. He had no choice but to be away from the pool, which was under construction all summer.
“The thing that kept coming up,” Moon says, “is this aspect of joy.”
Two years later, Moon has USC water polo back on top again, winners of their seventh national title. He and his players say “joy” is the reason why.
“We’re really unserious, and I think it helped us a lot this year,” said goalkeeper Anna King, who had a career-high 14 saves in the national title win. “We’re trying jokes the whole time. We’re just, like, making fun of each other. We keep it light.”
Maggie Johnson, a senior attacker, points to a moment between the third and fourth quarters of USC’s narrow title win over California.
“We are up by one, and they zoom in on our huddle, and we’re all just dancing,” Johnson said. “And I think that just encapsulates, like, what our team is.”
—The NCAA is primed to change its eligibility rules in a big way. The new rules would eliminate the notion of “redshirts” or eligibility waivers — and hopefully stop the cascade of legal challenges — by giving athletes five years to play, with only few exceptions. Eligibility issues have been a disaster as of late for the NCAA, and president Charlie Baker said last week that he’s “pretty optimistic” that the changes will pass when a vote happens later this month. Lincoln Riley has said in the past that he favors the five-year rule, though it’s been a while since we asked.
—The Big Ten distributed a record $1.7 billion in 2024-25, USC’s first year in the league. That was a 55% increase from the previous year, before USC, UCLA, Washington and Oregon joined and the most money ever distributed by a college football conference. And from that pile of conference cash, USC should bring in somewhere between $76 million and $80 million. That’s nearly three times as much as the school got in its last year of the Pac-12. In case you needed reminding why USC left.
—USC lost a key member of its football front office. Zaire Turner came with general manager Chad Bowden in 2025 to be the Trojans’ new director of recruiting operations and played a key part in putting together the nation’s No. 1 class in 2026. Now, after a year, Turner, a Dallas native, is off to Southern Methodist where she’ll be senior director of recruiting.
—USC baseball notched its second straight Big Ten sweep. That brings the Trojans to 37-12 on the season, which still leaves them within striking distance of second place in the Big Ten with one conference series — and two overall — remaining in the regular season. With five more wins out of their seven remaining games, the Trojans would lock up their best regular season in a quarter century.
—A shout-out to USC women’s golf, who I unfortunately overlooked in last week’s newsletter, even after they’d won the school’s first Big Ten title and 10th conference title overall. And not just that, sophomore Jasmine Koo won the individual Big Ten title. She was already the winningest player in USC women’s golf history, but added her most distinguished honor yet by becoming the school’s eighth individual conference champion.
What I’m watching this week
Oscar Isaac as Josh Martin, Carey Mulligan as Lindsay Crane-Martin in “Beef.”
(COURTESY OF NETFLIX)
When its first season debuted on Netflix in 2023, there weren’t many shows out there that could build anxiety-inducing tension quite like “Beef.” And I’m happy to report that it’s still got it.
Season 1, which starred Ali Wong and Steven Yeun, centered on a road-rage dispute that escalated out of control. Season 2 has a totally new story, even better actors — Oscar Isaac and Carey Mulligan are the couple at the center of the beef — and even higher stakes. This time, a younger couple played by Charles Melton and Cailee Spaeny witness Isaac and Mulligan, who run the country club they work at, get into a raging fight, the optics of which don’t look so great.
This problem maybe could’ve been solved with a little communication. But judging by the name of the show, you can probably guess which direction it went.
That concludes today’s newsletter. If you have any feedback, ideas for improvement or things you’d like to see, email me at ryan.kartje@latimes.com, and follow me on X at @Ryan_Kartje. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.
Repression in Venezuela has continued under interim President Delcy Rodriguez, Amnesty International says. File Photo by Henry Chirinos/EPA
April 22 (UPI) —Amnesty International said Venezuela has not dismantled its “repressive apparatus” nearly four months after former President Nicolás Maduro was arrested in a U.S. military operation.
During the presentation of its annual report in Bogotá, the organization said the country’s system of repression remains fully operational under the interim government led by Delcy Rodríguez.
Valentina Ballesta, research director for the Americas at Amnesty International, said Tuesday that Venezuela’s repressive structure continues to operate despite the political transition, according to reports by Infobae.
According to the report, Maduro’s government maintained a policy of systematic repression throughout 2025, with all branches of the state acting in coordination.
Amnesty International said authorities continue to use arbitrary detentions, forced disappearances and torture as tools of social control.
“These are not isolated incidents, but rather a pattern that amounts to crimes against humanity,” the report said.
The organization documented hundreds of cases in which detainees faced judicial proceedings without basic legal guarantees, including ineffective public defenders, the use of special anti-terrorism courts, lack of access to charges and repeated violations of due process rights.
Amnesty International also criticized the implementation of the Amnesty Law approved in February, saying its enforcement has been arbitrary and selective.
Many requests for relief were rejected without explanation, while some people initially granted benefits later had those measures reversed, according to Venezuelan news outlet Efecto Cocuyo.
While the nongovernmental organization Foro Penal and other groups confirmed the release of 673 political prisoners between Maduro’s capture and mid-April, Rodríguez’s government has reported much higher figures as part of what it described as “peace and reconciliation” measures.
In March 2026, government spokespeople said as many as 7,000 people had been granted full release or alternative legal measures. That figure, however, includes common criminals and people already serving conditional release.
Foro Penal said nearly 500 political prisoners remain in detention.
The Amnesty International report said impunity remains the driving force behind Venezuela’s repressive system and warned that the lack of an independent judiciary prevents victims from obtaining justice inside the country.
Analist also pointed to the recent restructuring of the Attorney General’s Office as an example of political control. The move replaced an official close to Maduro with another figure aligned with the Rodríguez political faction, which currently controls both the interim presidency and the National Assembly.
About 7.9 million Venezuelans have fled the country since 2015. Nearly 2 million people depend on international humanitarian aid, while severe shortages in basic services such as water, electricity and food persist, the report said.
Amnesty International further warned about the growing use of new technologies and artificial intelligence for population surveillance, along with continued harassment of journalists and human rights advocates.
Without a genuine dismantling of coercive state structures, Amnesty International said, Venezuela will not be able to restore fundamental freedoms.
Proposed electoral reform revives one of Argentine President Javier Milei’s campaign promises. File Photo by Demian Alday Estevez/EPA
BUENOS AIRES, April 22 (UPI) — President Javier Milei said he will send Congress a bill Wednesday to overhaul Argentina’s electoral system, including eliminating primary elections and changing the way political parties are financed.
The proposal revives one of Milei’s campaign promises and places renewed focus on a contentious issue in Argentina: how candidates are selected and how political campaigns are funded.
Milei announced the initiative on X, where he defended the reforms and intensified his criticism of the country’s traditional political establishment.
“We are eliminating the PASO: enough of forcing Argentines to pay for the internal elections of the political caste,” Milei wrote.
MAÑANA ENVIAMOS LA REFORMA ELECTORAL AL CONGRESO
ELIMINAMOS LAS PASO: basta de obligar a los argentinos a pagar internas de la casta.
CAMBIAMOS EL FINANCIAMIENTO: se termina la política viviendo de tu bolsillo.
PASO, the Spanish acronym for Open, Simultaneous and Mandatory Primaries, is a nationwide system used in Argentina to determine candidates ahead of general elections. Under the current model, all political parties participate in a unified primary election to select candidates for national offices.
The government proposal would eliminate the mandatory national primary process and allow each political party to choose its candidates through its own internal mechanisms.
The PASO system has been in place since the 2011 elections and applies to national offices. The primaries are held every two years in August and determine party lists for congressional races, as well as presidential tickets that compete in the October general elections.
If approved, the reform would mark a significant change to Argentina’s electoral structure. Since its implementation, the PASO system has served both as a mechanism to organize internal party disputes and as an early measure of political strength before general elections.
The government also proposes changes to political financing, an issue that has long generated controversy in Argentina amid concerns over campaign funding sources and the use of public resources. A bill seeks to reduce public financing for political parties and strengthen oversight mechanisms.
Another central component of the proposal is the so-called “Clean Record” initiative, which would bar individuals with final corruption convictions from running for elected office.
In his post, Milei sharpened his confrontational rhetoric.
“Impunity is over. The party is over. Long live liberty, damn it,” he wrote.
According to Argentine newspaper La Nación, the bill also includes broader disqualifications for candidates. Those barred from the electoral registry under existing laws would be ineligible to run, as would people charged with serious crimes that include genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and human rights violations.
The proposal also would prohibit members of the armed forces and security services, judges, judicial officials and executives or representatives of companies holding public service concessions or linked to gambling operations from seeking elected office.
The measure further provides that people affected by these restrictions could not hold key executive branch positions, diplomatic posts or leadership roles in state-owned companies.
With the proposal, Milei adds another measure to his broader reform agenda and shifts the debate to Congress, where lawmakers are expected to face intense negotiations in a politically divided environment.
The country has chosen to abandon the new biometric security measures over concerns about queue chaos and flights taking off without passengers
07:21, 20 Apr 2026Updated 07:45, 20 Apr 2026
The new entry and exit system (EES) has led to huge delays for passengers, with some missing flights(Image: Getty)
Greece has suspended EU fingerprint and facial scans for British holidaymakers. The country has chosen to abandon the new biometric security measures over concerns about queue chaos sweeping across the continent. Queues have been hitting the country with four hours reported in many destinations, including Greece.
All travellers from the UK and other non-EU countries are supposed to be photographed and fingerprinted at EU airports and border crossings under the new entry and exit system (EES) introduced by Brussels.
Holidaymakers have been cautioned that the new security measure, which is now fully operational, could trigger airport delays of up to four hours. Eleni Skarveli, director of the Greek National Tourism Organisation in the UK, stressed that the decision would “ensure a smoother and more efficient arrival experience in Greece” and would “significantly reduce waiting times” while alleviating congestion at airports.
The EES is intended to replace manual passport stamping and better monitor the 90-day visa-free limit, but its introduction has caused havoc at some of Europe’s busiest airports.
A statement on the website of the Greek Embassy and posts on official social media channels said: “Update for British passport holders travelling to Greece. “In the framework of the implementation of the Entry/Exit System, as of 10 April 2026, British passport holders are exempt from biometric registration at Greek border crossing points.”
There was no further detail of how long the exemption would last, and FCDO travel advice for Greece has not been updated.
“Abta has been warning destinations and the (European) Commission for some time about the need for proactive steps to be taken to avoid delays, including the full use of contingency measures to stand down biometric checks at busier times, and adequate staffing especially at peak times.”
A total of 122 passengers were reportedly unable to board the flight from Milan Linate to Manchester on Sunday because of delays at passport desks caused by the ramp up of the EU’s Entry Exist System (EES).The 11am departure was held for 59 minutes before departing with the majority of seats empty.
One of the affected easyJet passengers, Kiera, 17, from Oldham, Greater Manchester, said she and her boyfriend arrived at Milan Linate airport at 7.30am on Sunday. She told the BBC: “We got to Border Control and it was a massive queue of people. I wasn’t feeling great anyway because I think I’d got food poisoning.
“At about 10.50am they brought some water over for people, and when we got to the front of the queue someone asked us if we were going to Manchester, and told us our flight had just gone.”
Vicky Chapman, 26, from Wirral, Merseyside, was booked on the flight with her family, including her five-year-old son.
She told the Liverpool Echo they arrived at the airport “with more than enough time” but were “refused entry through passport control”.
She continued: “We were then told that we are a ‘no show’ on our flight because we did not get to the gate on time, even though passport control had issues and they would not let us through.
“We were passed from pillar to post for three hours and no-one helped us. “It was so hot in the airport, people were vomiting, people were almost passing out.
“We’re being told that Tuesday is the earliest we can get back, and that we have to fly to Gatwick. We’ve had to pay out of pocket for an Airbnb.”
An easyJet spokesman said: “Due to delays in EES processing by border authorities, some passengers departing from Milan Linate on Sunday experienced very long waiting times at passport control.
“We held flight EJU5420 from Milan to Manchester for nearly an hour to give passengers extra time but it had to then depart due to crew reaching their safety regulated operating hours.
“Customers who missed the flight have been offered a free flight transfer.
“We continue to urge border authorities to ensure they make full and effective use of the permitted flexibilities, for as long as needed while EES is implemented, to avoid these unacceptable border delays for our customers.
“While this is outside of our control, we are sorry for any inconvenience caused.”
Of the 156 passengers reportedly booked on the return flight to Manchester, just 34 made it on board – leaving a staggering 122 stranded in Italy. EasyJet subsequently issued an apology over the incident.
At three of the UK’s “juxtaposed” border controls in Dover, Folkestone and London St Pancras, the pricey EES kiosks remain unconnected to the French police aux frontières IT system. These issues are not expected to be resolved until September, according to the Independent.
Greece is heavily dependent on British tourism, particularly at its bustling island hotspots such as Corfu, Crete and Rhodes, which can welcome upwards of 2,000 UK passengers daily during peak season.
The decision by Athens is widely regarded as a move to offer reassurance to British holidaymakers, and could encourage other Mediterranean nations to follow its lead. Greece is yet to confirm an end date. for its EES exemption for British travellers.
Holidaymakers are already considering switching their summer holiday plans this year, according to travel industry experts.
“Because of the war in the Middle East, Europe is seeing a big increase in interest as a holiday destination this year,” an ABTA spokesman said.
ABTA added that Greece was anticipated to be the fifth most-visited destination by Britons this summer, trailing behind Spain, France, Italy and the USA.
The spokesman said: “I think it’s too early to say what this change might mean for the number of people visiting, particularly as decisions on where to go are based on a number of factors.”
It’s thought travellers now weighing up a continental break may pivot towards Greece to sidestep potential headaches caused by the new scheme. “Greece for me this summer then, was thinking of Tenerife, but no way I’m putting up with those queues and chaos,” one man posted on X.
Another person added: “I work in the travel industry, already had customers worried about this new system believe me, Greece will benefit from this stand!” While a third chimed in: “Perfect – off to the Greek islands this summer – common sense prevails!”
An F-2 fighter jet flies during a live fire exercise conducted by the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force (JGSDF) at East Fuji Maneuver Area in Gotemba, Shizuoka, Japan. Photo by Tomohiro Ohsumi / EPA
April 17 (Asia Today) — Japan is moving to strengthen a government-wide system to boost defense exports, including creating a centralized control structure and easing restrictions on what military equipment can be sold overseas, according to media reports.
The government plans to establish a director-general-level coordination body involving key ministries to oversee arms export policy and execution, the Asahi Shimbun reported Thursday.
Tokyo is also considering revising guidelines tied to its Three Principles on Defense Equipment Transfers to remove restrictions on five categories – rescue, transport, patrol, surveillance and mine countermeasures – that have limited exports so far.
According to Reuters, the government could move as early as this month to revise the guidelines, with the ruling Liberal Democratic Party already approving the direction at a party meeting Sunday.
The policy shift reflects a broader strategy with two main goals: expanding the range of weapons Japan can export and overhauling how those exports are managed.
Japan has effectively limited defense exports to non-lethal equipment in the past but is now moving to include systems with lethal capabilities. At the same time, the new coordination body would bring together the foreign, defense and industry ministries, along with private companies, to align export approvals, regulatory changes and sales support.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said in parliament that easing arms export restrictions would contribute to economic growth, signaling a shift toward treating defense exports as part of industrial policy rather than solely a security measure.
Japanese officials have argued that expanding exports is necessary to sustain the domestic defense industry, maintain production capacity and secure supply chains that are difficult to support through domestic demand alone.
Analysts say the move goes beyond regulatory changes and represents a broader effort to build a national system designed to facilitate arms sales.
If implemented, the revisions would significantly lower barriers to exporting finished weapons, marking a major shift from Japan’s traditionally restrictive defense export framework.
The FAA is considering bids to develop an artificial intelligence system that could help air traffic controllers predict and correct potential issues hours earlier than they currently can. File Photo by Caroline Brehman/EPA
April 18 (UPI) — The Federal Aviation Administration is working with three bidders to develop artificial intelligence software to help air traffic controllers manage flights across the nation’s airspace.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy discussed the effort during a media event on Friday, and said the goal is to help anticipate schedule conflicts and improve planning for bottlenecks at busy airports.
“This software, as they look at the flight paths, won’t see [potential issues] 15 minutes before it happens .. a controller will get a notice that they could change one of the airplane’s flight paths slightly and they can deconflict it an hour and a half or two hours before the conflict even happens,” Duffy said during a media event hosted by Semafor.
The program is aimed at fundamentally changing how airspace in the United States operates, The Air Current reported, and is a major part of the agency’s efforts at modernization and redesign.
The FAA has mounted an effort to see how AI can improve the functionality and safety of the country’s air traffic control systems, especially amid a growing shortage of controllers, at least partially because political debates that have hampered the agency’s funding.
The system that the FAA is looking to develop — called SMART, which stands for Strategic Management of Airspace Routing Trajectories — is part of a $32.5 billion modernization program that includes replacing hundreds of radars and growing its air controller staff, The Next Web reported.
Development of the new system, which follows a series of issues at airports across the country that have seen near-misses and actual crashes that have raised concerns among experts and travelers alike, is being bid on by the companies Palantir, Thales and Air Space Intelligence.
The system could begin to be operational some time later this year, with an update on progress expected from the Department of Transportation and FAA on April 21.
Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. speaks during a House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies hearing on the budget for the Department of Health and Human Services in the Rayburn House Office Building near the U.S. Capitol on Thursday. Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI | License Photo
The rise of Péter Magyar marks one of the most significant political shifts in Hungary’s modern history. His victory over Viktor Orbán ends a 16 year era defined by centralized power and strained relations with the European Union.
What makes Magyar’s ascent particularly striking is that he did not emerge from outside the system, but from within it.
From insider to challenger
Magyar was once closely associated with Orbán’s ruling Fidesz party and initially echoed many of its political themes, including nationalism and scepticism toward liberal European norms.
His turning point came in 2024, when he publicly broke with the government and sharply criticised corruption and the concentration of power. This positioned him as a credible reformist with insider knowledge of how the system operated.
Dismantling an illiberal model
Orbán’s “illiberal democracy” was built on gradually consolidating control over key state institutions, including the judiciary and media. Over time, checks and balances weakened, allowing the ruling party to dominate political life.
Magyar’s understanding of this structure allowed him to directly challenge its foundations, particularly by focusing on corruption and institutional accountability, issues that resonated with voters.
Building a broad coalition
Over two years of campaigning, Magyar evolved politically. He travelled extensively, engaging with voters across the country and broadening his appeal beyond a narrow ideological base.
According to Zsolt Enyedi, Magyar became a unifying figure for pro democracy forces, offering a platform that different groups could rally around. This ability to bridge divides proved crucial in defeating a deeply entrenched political machine.
A more pragmatic approach to Europe
Magyar is not an uncritical supporter of the European Union, but he is expected to take a more constructive approach than his predecessor. Economic realities, particularly the need to unlock suspended EU funds, will push his government toward cooperation with Brussels.
This creates a pragmatic dynamic where reform is driven not only by political vision but also by financial necessity.
A difficult transition ahead
The transition of power is likely to be complex. Magyar has already expressed concern about actions taken by elements of the outgoing administration, suggesting resistance within the system he now seeks to reform.
Rebuilding institutions, restoring trust, and dismantling entrenched networks will take time and political capital.
Analysis
Péter Magyar’s victory highlights a key dynamic in political change within entrenched systems: transformation often comes from insiders who understand the machinery of power.
However, electoral success is only the first step. The deeper challenge lies in restructuring institutions that have been shaped over more than a decade. This process is inherently slow and politically sensitive.
Magyar must navigate competing pressures. Domestically, he faces a conservative and somewhat eurosceptic electorate. Internationally, he is expected to repair relations with the European Union and align more closely with its standards.
This balancing act will define his leadership. While his victory opens the door to democratic renewal, the outcome will depend on whether he can convert political momentum into lasting institutional change.
