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MAY half-term is almost here and if you’re looking for a fun way to fill the days, there are a wide range of new theme park rides open across the UK.

Whether your little one is a thrill seeker or a Paw Patrol fan, you won’t be stuck for something to entertain them.

A number of new rides and attractions will be open across the UK’s biggest theme parks during the school break, including nine new additions.

Some of these exciting worlds and rollercoasters are already open to customers.

And there are even themed rooms available at some of these sites for the full experience.

So get planning now for a thrilling and memorable half term break.

SCALE UP

UK’s biggest dinosaur theme park to open its ‘longest ride to date’ this summer

RIDE ON

First look at £8million ride opening at UK’s best seaside theme park this month

Alton Towers

The world’s first Bluey rollercoaster, Bluey the Ride: Here Come The Grannies!, opened at Alton Towers’ CBeebies Land at the end of March.

This kid-friendly coaster features Bluey and Bingo dressed as Janet and Rita, a fun call-back to fan-favourite episode, and you can even book a Bluey-themed room at the park’s hotel this half term.

Blackpool Pleasure Beach

Blackpool Pleasure Beach will open its £8.72 million gyro swing ride Aviktas this Thursday (May 21).

Measuring a whopping 138 feet, the ride will be the tallest of its kind in the UK.

Chessington World of Adventures Resort

Chessington recently opened its highly-anticipated PAW Patrol land, which features four exciting new rides, and also has themed rooms available nearby.

Chase’s Mountain Mission is a rollercoaster suitable for young kids, while Skye’s Helicopter Heroes takes kids on a high-flying mission, and Marshall’s Firetruck Rescue lets kids take a ride on a shiny red truck, and Zuma’s Hovercraft Adventure offers the UK’s first “drifter” ride.

Crealy

Crealy in Devon recently opened an 80-foot drop tower called Pirates’ Plummet last month.

Previously located in Paultons Park under the name Magma, it has been rebuilt at Crealy, where the inverting air race ride Rotor is also set to open.

Paultons Park

And Paultons Park is not at a loss for attractions, with the new themed land Valgard: Realm of the Vikings officially opening its gates today (Saturday, May 16).

The exciting new land will feature new rides, Drakon, the park’s first inverting rollercoaster with a dramatic vertical lift and Vild Swing, which will swing riders 39 feet into the air.

On a recent weekday morning inside a studio in the heart of Hollywood, Rachel Lindsay and Van Lathan, co-hosts of The Ringer’s “Higher Learning,” were getting ready to roll.

By the time the podcasters came into the Spotify Sycamore Studios for their show, which covers all things in Black culture and politics, the overhead lights were set, and the cameras were precisely angled. Decorative books were propped up between their seats and a big red “Higher Learning” logo stood behind them.

As soon as everyone silenced their phones, the hosts began to banter like two old friends. Lindsay complimented Lathan on his recent foray into stand-up comedy at the Netflix is Joke Fest at the Laugh Factory.

“I just have to say … basically a star is born,” said Lindsay, grinning. “I have to talk about it. Now I never doubted you.”

The pair helms one of the many shows on The Ringer podcast network, known for its roster of A-list celebrity hosts and sports and culture commentators that recently moved into Spotify’s newest podcasting studios.

The 11,000 square-foot space on Sycamore Avenue was designed as both a home base for The Ringer’s production and a video podcasting hub for select Spotify creators.

Since its opening earlier this year, the space has welcomed more than 25 podcasters and shows, on top of the dozens of shows that still record at Spotify’s Mateo studios in the Arts District.

The company estimates that over the last five years it has contributed more than $10 billion to the podcasting industry, including payouts to creators and investments in new content.

Podcasts are just one arm of Spotify’s business, as the audio giant has over 100 million songs and 700,000 audiobooks on its platform. But video podcasts have become an increasingly important way for the company to keep listeners tuned in — and paying for subscriptions amid growing competition from Apple Music and YouTube Music. Despite a surge in profits in the first quarter, Spotify’s share price has fallen 25% this year as investors worry about a slowdown in subscriber growth.

Van Lathan and Rachel Lindsay record their podcast, “Higher Learning with Van Lathan and Rachel Lindsay,” at Spotify’s Sycamore Studios in Hollywood on May 7. The podcast is distributed on Spotify through The Ringer.

(Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)

One of the main drivers behind opening the Sycamore studios was to create a central hub for The Ringer, a media company Spotify acquired for $250 million in 2020.

Geoff Chow, Spotify‘s head of podcast studios and The Ringer’s managing director, said the investment is already paying off “in terms of the productivity and the quality of the content we’re able to produce from here.”

The Ringer is one of the streamer’s most popular assets. Spotify includes nine Ringer shows in its list of the top U.S. podcasts.

“They’re pouring into this space and their creators,” Lathan said, before recording a new “Higher Learning” episode. “We really have the freedom to do so much.”

He and Lindsay said the studio has elevated their show by switching up their workflow and increasing in-person work.

Thanks in part to its centralized location, tucked between the offices of SiriusXM and music and sports entertainment company Roc Nation, they say guests are more eager to visit and record in person. Lathan joked that even while walking down the street, he’ll run into radio personalities like Sway Calloway, who hosts his own successful “Sway in the Morning” show on SiriusXM, and convince them to come up for a tour of the space.

Sycamore has already seen guest appearances from Snoop Dogg on “Game Over with Max Kellerman and Rich Paul,” Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro on “Higher Learning with Van Lathan and Rachel Lindsay” and “Project Hail Mary” author Andy Weir on “House of R.”

“This street is so cool,” Lindsay added. “It’s just a different energy here.”

The duo first started recording at Spotify’s Arts District campus, which is more focused on audio-driven programs. But as the podcasting landscape evolves and video becomes a more important element, “Higher Learning” is now able to maximize on the new studio’s video-first capabilities.

Chris Thomas, studio operator, works in the control room on the podcast, “Higher Learning with Van Lathan and Rachel Lindsay.”

(Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)

Spotify also employs a combination of full-time employees and freelancers that staff each show, including sound engineers, lighting specialists and set designers who help keep the place running.

The Ringer, founded by media mogul Bill Simmons, exists online as a website, a podcast network and video production house, anchored in sports, pop culture and politics coverage. Some of its most popular programs include “The Bill Simmons Podcast,” “The Rewatchables” and the inaugural Golden Globe winner “Good Hang with Amy Poehler.”

Many of the hosts overlap within The Ringer’s podcasting ecosystem. Just between Lathan and Lindsay, they host and appear as regular guests on as many as five shows, so they work from the studio three to five times a week. By being in close quarters together, a greater sense of collaboration has enveloped The Ringer’s team. Chow said there are some days when Simmons will walk onto four shows a day, just to share his thoughts on a topic.

“This is my dream of what The Ringer is. We’re all here talking, we’re all existing together,” Lathan said. “We’re all popping in and out of different rooms all the time.”

Exterior view of the building that houses Spotify’s new Sycamore Studios. The company takes up one floor of the facility.

(Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)

The Ringer was first founded in 2016. At the time, Simmons had recently been ousted from ESPN due to a strained relationship with higher-ups. Simmons had spearheaded the network’s Grantland sports blog, which focused on cultural commentary that is similar to what The Ringer does today. The Ringer soon established itself as one of the fastest-growing independent podcast networks.

The brand still keeps its roots in fandom — whether it’s through football or “Game of Thrones,” said Chow. So, to have a space that reflects the diversity of its programming often makes recording more fruitful, especially during key moments like the NFL draft or awards season.

As The Ringer continues to expand its roots in Hollywood, the network remains focused on maximizing its content.

In January, The Ringer started airing select podcasts on Netflix to reach a wider audience. Chow said the partnership is off to a promising start. Each of the five recording studios at the Sycamore site is fully equipped with live-streaming technology — making the weekly Netflix live shows possible.

“Podcasts have become like a cultural hub and curator of things that are happening in the world,” Chow said. “We always want to innovate and test. That’s something that was exciting to us to think about bringing our audience new content in different places.”

EUROVISION gets underway tonight in Vienna, as fans celebrate the 70th edition of the iconic music competition.

Here’s all you need to know about what time the competition starts and what to expect.

What time does Eurovision start tonight?

The Eurovision Grand Final gets underway at 8pm on BBC 1.

The final is taking place at Wiener Stadthalle in Vienna, Austria.

Austria are hosting this years edition after winning the 2025 contest in Switzerland.

What is the Eurovision 2026 running order?

The running order for tonight’s Eurovision 2026 Grand Final was confirmed after the conclusion of the second semi-final on Thursday.

The running order for tonight is as follows:

1. Denmark: Søren Torpegaard Lund – Før Vi Går Hjem
2. Germany: Sarah Engels – Fire
3. Israel: Noam Bettan – Michelle
4. Belgium: ESSYLA – Dancing on the Ice
5. Albania: Alis – Nân
6. Greece: Akylas – Ferto
7. Ukraine: LELÉKA – Ridnym
8. Australia: Delta Goodrem – Eclipse
9. Serbia: LAVINA – Kraj Mene
10. Malta: AIDAN – Bella
11. Czechia: Daniel Zizka – CROSSROADS
12. Bulgaria: DARA – Bangaranga
13. Croatia: LELEK – Andromeda
14. United Kingdom: LOOK MUM NO COMPUTER – Eins, Zwei, Drei
15. France: Monroe – Regarde !
16. Moldova: Satoshi – Viva, Moldova!
17. Finland: Linda Lampenius x Pete Parkkonen – Liekinheitin
18. Poland: ALICJA – Pray
19. Lithuania: Lion Ceccah – Sólo Quiero Más
20. Sweden: FELICIA – My System
21. Cyprus: Antigoni – JALLA
22. Italy: Sal Da Vinci – Per Sempre Sì
23. Norway: JONAS LOVV – YA YA YA
24. Romania: Alexandra Căpitănescu – Choke Me
25. Austria: COSMÓ – Tanzschein

How can I watch Eurovision 2026?

Coverage will start in the UK on the BBC and BBC iPlayer at 8pm, with Graham Norton returning to his regular commentary role.

The show will last for almost three hours, coverage ending at 11.50pm, when the BBC will switch to the news.

Who is UK entrant Look Mum No Computer?

Look Mum No Computer is the alias of Sam Battle, originating from the name of his YouTube channel dedicated to creative audio electronics projects.

The artist also uses it as his stage name when performing as a musician.

The name is inspired by the phrase “look mum, no hands”, used by kids when they are learning to cycle.

It highlights the artist’s bold, anti-digital approach to making music where he builds his own synthesizers and hardware, such as his famous Furby organ.

Claudine Longet, the French-born star and ex-wife of crooner Andy Williams who became notorious for the fatal shooting of Olympic skier Vladimir “Spider” Sabich, has died. She was 84.

Her death was confirmed by her nephew, Bryan Longet, who posted a social media tribute on Thursday. Translated from French by The Times, he wrote, “You have been a true inspiration in my life and you will always be. … Another star in the sky. Thank you for everything, my aunt.”

Born in Paris on Jan. 29, 1942, Longet was the daughter of a doctor and an X-ray manufacturer. From a young age, she showed a knack for singing and dancing and envisioned her name on the marquee. In 1960, when she turned 18, American impresario Lou Walters (father of Barbara Walters) saw Longet dancing on French television and hired the ingénue to join the Tropicana casino’s flashy new production. She bid Paris adieu and sashayed to Las Vegas, where she starred in the Folies Bergère revue.

While working as a showgirl in Sin City, Longet met then-fellow Vegas performer Andy Williams one evening when her car broke down on the side of the road. Williams happened to be passing by as the young dancer was pushing her car down the highway with a friend, and Williams along with his manager stopped to help and was quickly charmed. The two were married on Christmas Day the following year, in 1961.

In 1962, Williams released “Moon River,” and the crooner’s career took off. The newlyweds left Las Vegas and moved into an oceanfront mansion in Malibu where they started a family, and over the next several years welcomed daughter Noelle and sons Christian and Robert, or “Bobby,” who was named after the couple’s close friend Robert F. Kennedy. Also in 1962, Williams’ eponymous variety show debuted and quickly became a hit. Longet was a regular on the show, and the family-oriented Christmas TV specials, often featuring the entire Williams clan, were a ratings juggernaut.

In addition to her regular appearances on “The Andy Williams Show,” Longet acted in television and film. Notably, the chanteuse captivated audiences singing Henry Mancini and Don Black’s “Nothing to Lose” in the 1968 comedy “The Party,” in which she played an aspiring actress. From 1967 to 1972, she released seven studio albums, five with A&M Records, including her debut single and album titled “Claudine,” and two with Barnaby Records. Her music was known for its breathy, lounge-pop quality, and she sang in both English and French.

By 1970, Williams and Longet’s marriage was on the rocks, and the pair separated. They officially divorced in 1975. The Emmy-winning host chalked it up to the pair growing apart. He told CBS’ “This Morning” during a 2009 appearance that he was never home. “It was all my fault, and I just didn’t take care of my marriage,” he said, noting that he regretted the split. The two stayed friendly afterward, and Williams stood by Longet when tragedy and scandal struck a year later, in 1976.

Longet met Olympian skier Sabich in Bear Valley at a celebrity skiing exhibition in 1972. There was an instant attraction between the two, and Longet relocated to Aspen, Colo., and ultimately moved into the pro skier’s ritzy Starwood chalet around 1975. On March 21, 1976, Longet shot Sabich in the abdomen with an imitation World War II .22-caliber German‐made pistol. Her daughter, Noelle, who was in the house at the time, testified that she heard Sabich yell out, “Claudine! Claudine!”

According to The Times’ archives, Longet told authorities that she found the handgun and asked Sabich how to use it. During Longet’s trial, Aspen Det. David Garms testified that Longet insisted the shooting was an accident. Garms said that Longet told him she’d pointed the gun at Sabich and then “jokingly said ‘bang, bang.’” She told investigators she thought the safety was on, and a ballistics expert said the safety did not work.

Longet was with Sabich in the ambulance when he died en route to the Aspen hospital. The “Love Is Blue” singer was subsequently questioned by investigators and charged with felony reckless manslaughter weeks later. She initially faced up to 10 years in prison. But in January 1977, after four days of testimony and 3½ hours of deliberations, Longet was acquitted of the felony charge and convicted of a misdemeanor charge of negligent homicide.

Ex-husband Williams accompanied Longet to her trial and told “This Morning” years later that he supported his ex-wife because he believed in her innocence.

“I did because I thought it was unfair,” he said. “I thought she was innocent. I thought it was an accident.”

During the trial, she testified in her signature French accent that she and Sabich were the “best of friends.”

“There were times over the four years that we would disagree. … [T]here would be times he would be a little bit offended by the attention I got and I would be a little bit offended by the attention he got, but we were the best of friends and we loved each other very much,” she told the court, per The Times’ archives.

Longet was sentenced to serve 30 days in jail “at a time of her own choosing.”

“There is not really much to say,” she told reporters outside the courtroom, per The Times’ archives. “Only that I have too much respect for living things to do that. I’m not guilty.”

The parents of Sabich filed a $1.3-million civil suit against Longet later the same year, but the case was settled out of court two years later. Longet was reportedly forbidden from speaking or writing about the shooting. As for her career in show business, she was finished.

The Sabich case became an absolute sensation in the media, not just in America but also globally, and Longet was internationally labeled Aspen’s femme fatale. Pop culture had its way with the incident as well. The Rolling Stones’ song “Claudine” was withheld from their 1978 album, “Some Girls,” because of legal considerations but was featured on the 2011 reissue of the album.

“You’re the prettiest girl I ever seen / I want to see you on the movie screen / I hope you never try to make a sacrifice of me, Claudine,” belted Mick Jagger in what may have been considered a diss track or a tribute, depending on whom you ask. “Nah ah / Don’t get, don’t get trigger happy with me, Claudine.”

In an April 1976 episode, “Saturday Night Live” also took aim at the deadly affair with a sketch titled “The Claudine Longet Invitational,” in which Chevy Chase and Jane Curtin play sports commentators who offer a play-by-play of a competition in which male skiers are “accidentally” shot by Longet as they race down the slopes.

The producers read an apology on air the following week.

Aspen attorney Ron Austin, who was on Longet’s defense team, left his wife shortly after the trial concluded to be with the embattled starlet. The two married in 1985 and remained in Aspen afterLonget’s conviction but also spent time at their second home in Hawaii. In 2023, the pair listed her $60-million Red Mountain Ranch estate, according to Robb Report.

Longet’s last known public appearance was in 2003 on the A&E channel’s Andy Williams “Biography” documentary, in which she recorded only voice-over. “To this day people stop me in the street and say how much they loved the Christmas show.”

WASHINGTON — The head of U.S. Border Patrol, the agency tasked with securing the nation’s frontiers and increasingly tapped by the Trump administration for immigration operations in American cities, announced his resignation Thursday.

Michael Banks’ decision, announced in a Fox News interview and later confirmed by the Department of Homeland Security, is the latest leadership shake-up of officials implementing President Trump’s immigration crackdown and comes as the Republican administration appears to be recalibrating its approach.

“It’s just time,” Banks was quoted as saying in a report on the Fox News website. “I feel like I got the ship back on course from the least secure disastrous chaotic border to the most secure border this country has ever seen,” he said.

In a statement, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection commissioner, Rodney Scott, thanked Banks for his service “during one of the most challenging periods for border security.”

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

It was not immediately clear who will replace Banks. He led an agency at the forefront of Trump’s high-profile immigration enforcement efforts but kept a lower profile than some other officials such as Gregory Bovino, a now-retired commander who became a public face of the city operations.

CBP is one of the federal agencies that participated since last year in a series of immigration enforcement operations, carried out primarily in cities governed by Democrats —an effort that triggered a spike in arrests and led to the fatal shooting of two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis this year at the hands of federal immigration officers.

Banks’ resignation takes place two months after Markwayne Mullin, a former Republican senator from Oklahoma, became homeland security secretary. DHS oversees CBP and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, also known as ICE.

Banks is stepping down at the same time that ICE is also going through a leadership transition. Todd Lyons, the acting ICE director, is leaving later this month and will be replaced by David Venturella, who worked for years for private contractors before returning to government service.

CBP was established in 2003 and handles customs, immigration, and agricultural regulations to secure U.S. borders.

Banks returned to the Border Patrol last year after a long agency career that had never landed him in its senior ranks. His star had risen as border czar to Gov. Greg Abbott, R-Texas, during a period when illegal crossings reached record highs and the state launched a multibillion-dollar enforcement surge that led to turf battles with the Biden administration.

Banks kept a relatively low public profile as arrests for illegal crossings that have plunged to their lowest levels since the mid-1960s, a trend that began toward the end of that Democratic administration.

Banks did not appear publicly at the Border Security Expo this month in Phoenix, an annual conference at which government officials update contractors on the state of the border. Scott, who was Banks’ supervisor, is a close ally of Trump border czar Tom Homan and has acted more as the agency’s public face.

In the interview with Fox News, Banks said that after 37 years, “it’s time to enjoy the family and life.”

WASHINGTON — Senators unanimously approved a resolution Thursday to withhold their pay during government shutdowns, an attempt to make federal closures financially painful for lawmakers after a string of record-breaking impasses in the past year.

The bipartisan support for the measure comes at a time when federal closures have become longer and more frequent, frustrating lawmakers who say there should be punishment when Congress fails at its most basic legislative duty.

Under the resolution, senators’ pay would be withheld by the secretary of the Senate whenever a government shutdown affects one or more agencies, then released once funding is restored. It will take effect the day after the Nov. 3 general election.

“Shutting down government should not be our default solution to our refusal to work out our issues and our differences,” said Sen. John Kennedy, the bill’s sponsor, in a floor speech Wednesday.

“This is about putting our money where our mouth is,” said Kennedy, R-La.

Two shutdowns in the past year created significant financial hardship for tens of thousands of federal workers, particularly at the Department of Homeland Security. The department reopened last month after a 76-day partial shutdown, the longest agency funding lapse in history.

The Homeland Security shutdown came just a few months after a 43-day lapse of the entire federal government, which was the longest such closure on record.

The Constitution stipulates that lawmakers must be paid so they have received salaries during shutdowns even as federal workers went without paychecks. When the full government shutdown began in October amid a dispute over health care subsidies, Sen. Lindsey Graham proposed a constitutional amendment to require members to forfeit their paychecks when the government is closed.

“If members of Congress had to forfeit their pay during government shutdowns, there would be fewer shutdowns and they would end quicker,” Graham, R-S.C., said at the time.

Graham said his legislation was the most “constitutionally sound” way to deal with the problem, but the process would have been much more laborious as three-fourths of states must ratify an amendment.

Lawmakers in previous shutdowns have often pledged to forgo their paychecks while federal workers went unpaid.

Kennedy told reporters Wednesday that he pushed his measure to ensure there is “shared sacrifice” during shutdowns. He added that it does not go as far as he would like, but that it’s a start.

Asked why it does not extend to the other chamber of Congress, Kennedy said “the House’s business is the House’s business” while also touching on the tensions between the Senate and House.

“There’s a very strong undercurrent of animosity among some of my friends in the House,” Kennedy said.

“It’s quickly becoming like two kids fighting in the back of a minivan,” he said.

Cappelletti and Jalonick write for the Associated Press.

THE UK’s largest dinosaur themed adventure park is set to open its longest ride yet – and it’s just in time for summer.

Families will be able to enjoy the new attraction from July onwards.

ROARR! theme park in Norfolk has revealed a new 105-metre long attraction, dubbed the site’s “longest ride to date.” 

The Fossil Falls experience will allow visitors to soar down a winding slope, set inside the park’s 85 acres of natural woodland.

The course also features a launch platform, brake ramp and 12-metre tunnel, which riders will be able to glide down inside of an inflatable ring.

The £250,000 investment marks the latest addition to the adventure park’s 25 other attractions.

SMOOTH OPERATOR

Britain’s longest outdoor tubing slide measuring 288ft is opening this May

PARK UP

Inside the huge new £12million land opening at the UK’s ‘theme park of the year’

Other rides include the Swing-o-saurus and Dippy’s Raceway, with an off-peak day pass priced at around £60 for a family of four.

Ben Francis, park director at ROARR!, told Eastern Daily Press: “Fossil Falls is a fantastic new addition to ROARR! and one we’re really excited to open this summer.

“At 105 metres, it’s our longest ride to date, and we think it’s going to be a real highlight for families visiting the park.

“We’re always looking at ways to invest in and improve the ROARR! experience for our visitors, and Fossil Falls is a brilliant example of that – adding real value for the families who choose to spend their day making memories with us.”

The Dino adventure park is located in just off the A47 and A1067 near Lenwade, and can be reached in just 25 minutes from Norwich by car.

It also holds a variety of activities suitable for children aged zero to 12 years old.

The park will be open from 10am to 5pm, seven days a week, in July and August.

May 13 (Asia Today) — South Korea’s employment rate fell for the first time in 16 months in April as hiring growth slowed amid higher oil prices, weaker consumer sentiment and continued external uncertainty tied to the Middle East war.

The number of employed people aged 15 and older stood at 28.96 million in April, up 74,000 from a year earlier, according to employment data released Wednesday by Statistics Korea.

The increase was the smallest since December 2024 and the first time this year that job growth fell below 100,000.

The employment rate fell 0.2 percentage point from a year earlier to 63.0%, marking its first decline in 16 months.

Youth employment remained weak. The number of employed people aged 15 to 29 fell by 194,000 from a year earlier to 3.42 million, extending its decline for a 42nd consecutive month since November 2022.

The youth employment rate dropped 1.6 percentage points from a year earlier, marking its 24th straight month of decline.

By industry, wholesale and retail jobs fell by 52,000 from a year earlier, while accommodation and food service jobs declined by 29,000. Manufacturing employment dropped by 55,000.

Officials attributed the slowdown to weaker consumer sentiment and continued external uncertainty related to the prolonged Middle East war. Transportation and warehousing jobs, which are sensitive to oil prices, rose by 18,000, but the pace of growth slowed.

Agriculture, forestry and fisheries employment fell by 92,000 amid population aging, while professional, scientific and technical services dropped by 115,000 because of a high base from last year.

Health and social welfare service jobs increased by 261,000, supported by rising care demand and government-backed direct job programs for older people.

“Employment gains were led by health and welfare services, arts, sports and leisure, and real estate,” said Bin Hyun-joon, head of social statistics at Statistics Korea. “By age group, employment increased among people aged 60 and older and those in their 30s, but the pace of growth slowed from the previous month.”

— Reported by Asia Today; translated by UPI

© Asia Today. Unauthorized reproduction or redistribution prohibited.

Original Korean report: https://www.asiatoday.co.kr/kn/view.php?key=20260513010003376

How often do you look down and wonder who created the path your feet are following? Or ask the cause of its curves and dips? Formed over thousands of years, paths form an “internet of feet” – a web of bridleways and hollow ways, drove roads and ridgeways, coffin tracks, pilgrimage trails and city pavements. Whether you’re hiking a National Trail or pottering along a National Trust footpath, there’s a good chance you’re following ancestral steps.

It’s thoughts like these that led me on a journey to track the evolution of British paths for my book, The Path More Travelled. Eleven thousand years ago ice age hunter-gatherers arrived from Europe’s heartlands, moving through the wilderness along broad “routeways”, that later widened to tracks when horses and then wheels were adopted in the bronze age. For more than 2,000 years, traffic moved no faster than the speed of a horse, until the internal combustion engine drove pedestrians off the road just over a century ago.

In search of the capillaries that gave life to every community in Britain, I revisited coast paths, tramped shepherds’ trails and followed the serpentine curls of rivers. Here are a few of my favourite paths that bring history to life.

Sweet Track, Somerset Levels

The hunt for prehistoric paths took me deep into the wetlands of the Somerset Levels, where the Sweet Track was discovered in 1970. Built nearly 6,000 years ago (3806BC) by early farmers who needed access to an island, the collapsed boardwalk was preserved in peat. But a short walk from the Avalon Marshes centre (with an excellent cafe and open-air museum), woodland paths explore Shapwick Heath nature reserve, where a replica section of the Sweet Track teeters through the reeds. Visitors can walk in single file along this narrow, timber causeway and imagine the world of the Neolithic pioneers who colonised Somerset’s reflective waterways long before they were drained and converted to farmland. For modern versions of the Sweet Track, visit the Norfolk Broads and Norfolk coast path, where stilted, planked boardwalks wend their way through reedbeds, salt marshes and swamp woodland known locally as alder carr.

Street of the Dead, Iona

Writing this book led me to the far west of Scotland and the tiny island of Iona, where, after decades of tramping Britain’s paths, I walked for the first time along Sràid nam Marbh, the Street of the Dead. Across Britain, coffin roads, or corpse ways, were used by remote communities to convey their dead to cemeteries. Iona’s is no more than a few hundred metres in length, and most of it takes the form of a narrow, kinking lane leading from the ancient landing beach of Port nam Mairtear (Martyr’s Bay) to the site of a monastery founded in 563. Along this ancient road came the bodies of great Gaelic lords, bound for burial close to the monastery. For many, it’s a “thin place”, where the space between this world and the next narrows. You pass the ruins of an Augustinian nunnery established in around 1200, and the MacLean’s Cross, whose intricately carved floral and animal motifs and outstretched Christ captivated pilgrims. Then the abbey appears and the Street of the Dead, angling across the grass, the final section a short avenue of red granite slabs, sunken by the weight of time into the turf of the abbey precinct. There are very few roads in Britain where you can place your feet on to slabs that have been trodden by so many generations.

Bure Valley Path, Norfolk

One of my favourite walks traces the banks of the River Bure between the market town of Aylsham and the railway village of Hoveton. It’s a typical, gentle Norfolk valley of slow meanders, cascading willows, kingfishers and herons. It was like this 100 years ago, when huge timber sailing barges, wherries, used to glide silently upriver to Aylsham’s mills. Close to the river ran a steam railway line linking Hoveton and Aylsham. Today, the nine-mile Bure Valley Path is a shared walking and cycling route that follows the course of the old railway, now relaid as a narrow-gauge steam line, the Bure Valley Railway. Cycling the path is fun, but a superb walk awaits those who take the steam train from Hoveton to Aylsham then walk back towards Hoveton on the Bure Valley Path for about two miles, where a footpath on the left drops down to the waterside church of St Mary’s in Burgh-next-Aylsham. From here, riverside footpaths head downstream past white-painted watermills and old navigation locks while occasional steam locomotives contribute to the sylvan backdrop. At Coltishall, you can rehydrate at The Rising Sun, stroll along Anchor Street where wherries were built, and then return to the Bure Valley Path for the final two miles back to Hoveton. I know of no other walk so closely related to the eras of wind and steam.

The Ridgeway, Hertfordshire to Wiltshire

The Ridgeway runs for 87 miles from Ivinghoe Beacon high in the Chiltern Hills to the prehistoric stone circle at Avebury in deepest Wiltshire. On its rolling heights, you can walk back to the iron age, when formidable hill forts commanded the vales. The ghosts of warrior-farmers can be sensed most powerfully on the western end of the Ridgeway, where the chalky trail climbs past the ramparts of Uffington, whose banks and ditches – once braced with timber and chalk rubble – enclose an area twice the size of a football pitch. Right beside the fort, a 110-metre long white horse gallops across the down, cut deep into the turf during the late bronze age or early iron age. One mile to the west, the Ridgeway passes the chambered long barrow known as Wayland’s Smithy, which once contained the remains of 14 people dated to between 3590 and 3550BC. The Ridgeway’s knack of time travel has long appealed to writers and photographers, from Thomas Hardy and Richard Jefferies, to Richard Mabey and Fay Godwin, whose book The Oldest Road: The Ridgeway (1975), unravelled the path connecting deep history with a modern national trail.

Holloways, Surrey Hills

A holloway is a sunken path, an old way worn into the land by centuries of feet and hooves. Holloway walls can be almost vertical, cut back to raw rock and roots. Some are like ravines. Others are virtual tunnels, roofed with living trees. Some appear unexpectedly as gentle troughs in the landscape. They occur most dramatically in softer geologies like chalk, sandstone and greensand. Most are just a few minutes’ walk in length, but there are parts of the country where exploration will produce some very enjoyable clusters. There are three modest holloways right beside the White Horse of Uffington on the Ridgeway, cut perhaps in prehistoric times by cattle being moved from their winter quarters in the vale to the summer grasses of the high downs. In Holloway (2012), Robert Macfarlane wrote so poetically of a buried path in the Chideock valley of south Dorset that it’s become a cause of pilgrimage for those of us who look for these places. The Surrey Hills are laced with secretive holloways. Among my favourites are the sunken tracks on the greensand of Leith Hill and farther west, the old holloways of Hascombe Hill and Hydon’s Ball. It’s along these semi-subterranean trackways that you’re most likely to detect the steady plod of Saxon cattle. Or Hobbits.

The Mass Trespass Walk, Derbyshire

The story of countryside access is written in the grit of Kinder Scout, whose frowning sandstone forms the highest point in the Peak District. In April, 1932, an excited gaggle of hikers climbed the footpath from the Derbyshire village of Hayfield up towards the brow of Kinder Scout, where they clashed with squads of gamekeepers intent on preventing public access to the moorland. Legislation followed and today the path up William Clough is described on the National Trust website as the Kinder Scout Mass Trespass Walk. A vigorous eight-mile loop along the crags and back down to Hayfield, it offers the full Pennine repertoire in a single outing, from glittering reservoir to whispering moorland and monumental rocks. It includes Kinder Downfall cascade and a section of the Pennine Way, the earliest of Britain’s national trails. I walked the trail one blustery December day, ambushed by snow flurries and sunshine that spotlit Manchester like spilt crystals on the dark plain. I’ve climbed Kinder from many directions, but this is the route that tells the best story.

Nicholas Crane’s new book, The Path More Travelled, The Secret History of Britain’s Footpaths, is published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson (£25). To support the Guardian, order your copy at guardianbookshop.com. Delivery charges may apply.

Travellers to the continent may soon be able to board a new direct route to Europe on Eurostar, removing the need to change trains and cutting the journey time by around two hours overall

Eurostar could soon offer a new direct route from London St Pancras to three European cities, offering a faster and easier way to get to central Europe.

The plans were unveiled in a press release by Eurostar, confirming that a memorandum of understanding (MoU) had been signed between Eurostar, SBB (Swiss Federal Railways), and French-operator SNCF Voyageurs to potentially offer a direct connection between London and Switzerland.

The move was described as “an important milestone” in the planning of the new route, which could see services from London to Zurich offered direct with a six hour travel time, direct trains to Basel taking five hours, and a route to Geneva which would take around five-and-a-half hours.

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Currently, passengers can book London to Switzerland trains with Eurostar, although this currently necessitates a change at Paris Gare du Nord, and means travelling across the city to Paris Gare De Lyon to get a connecting TGV train. Not only is this less convenient, as it means taking your luggage on the metro, it also adds an hour or more to most journey times between London and Switzerland.

Eurostar’s press release explained: “The signed MoU is an important milestone. The next step is to analyse potential timetables and operational concepts. Based on this, the key steps and milestones for the potential introduction of such a direct connection from London to Switzerland.

“The three partners aim to offer the potential direct connection to London as soon as possible and are continuously driving the project forward.”, adding: “Implementation would be feasible at the earliest sometime in the course of the 2030s.”

Eurostar currently offers direct trains from London St. Pancras to five destinations: Paris, Brussels, Lille, Rotterdam, and Amsterdam. However, passengers can book connecting trains to more than 20 destinations, including cities in Germany, Belgium, France, and the Netherlands.

READ MORE: EasyJet latest update for Brits heading to France, Spain and Portugal amid new travel rulesREAD MORE: Spain’s beaches and bars set to be packed as Brits rush to book ‘safe’ holidays

Eurostar has previously raised the possibility of running longer direct routes from London, with Marseille in the south of France and Milan in Italy mentioned among potential expansions of its rail routes.

It’s also announced that it has ordered up to 50 Celestia double-decker trains, which will be introduced onto its routes from May 2031, allowing it to offer increased capacity along popular routes. Eurostar also unveiled ambitious expansion plans last year for St Pancras International. The plans could allow the station to handle 5,000 passengers per hour by 2028.

By 2030, it’s expected that arrivals will be moved upstairs to increase capacity. At the time, Richard Thorp, chief operating officer at London St. Pancras Highspeed, said the station was ‘delighted’ to be joining forces with Eurostar to expand its capacity. “With growing passenger demand for international train travel, it is important that St. Pancras International station is future-proofed and optimised to accommodate this.”

Have a story you want to share? Email us at webtravel@reachplc.com

Comedian Conan O’Brien will return to host the 99th Academy Awards set for March 14.

O’Brien, known for his self-deprecating humor, emceed the Oscars this year and in 2025.

“Conan has created remarkable energy around the Oscars,” President of Disney Television Group Craig Erwich said in a statement Tuesday announcing O’Brien’s return. “His singular comedic voice makes Hollywood’s biggest night one of the most entertaining celebrations of the year. We’re proud to welcome him back and look forward to what he and the producing team deliver next.”

Raj Kapoor and Katy Mullan are set to return as the show’s executive producers for the fourth consecutive year.

Major changes are in store for the entertainment industry’s biggest night.

Starting in 2029, the Oscars will move from Hollywood’s Dolby Theatre, its home for nearly a quarter century, to the L.A. Live in downtown Los Angeles. The ceremony will also stream on YouTube, ending a five-decade run on ABC, beginning that year.

Oscars viewership has been in flux as younger audiences prefer to view clips of the ceremony on social media, rather than on television.

ABC’s telecast of the 2026 ceremony averaged 17.9 million viewers, down 9% from the previous year, when it garnered 19.7 million viewers. Ratings for the Oscars reached an all-time low of 10.5 million viewers in 2021.

Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Chief Executive Bill Kramer and President Lynette Howell Taylor announced the news at its upfront presentation Tuesday.

All three Butlin’s resorts across the UK can expect to see these new additions to their sites, perfect for your family holidays and adult-only weekend breaks

The Brits’ favourite holiday resort has launched something new just in time for the school holidays, and it’s set to provide an experience you can’t get at other family parks.

It’s known as the ‘home of entertainment‘ for a reason, with its iconic Butlin’s live performances, rides, arcades, and waterparks all leading the way for family fun for decades. Now, a whole new experience has been added to the resorts that will amplify the fun for very little added cost.

Butlin’s has launched a whole new private sing-along experience, taking you away from the stage and audiences of the park and into your very own space with Karaoke Pods – bookable, just for you. Now, you can give the performance of a lifetime in the comfort of your own friendship group or amongst your family at whichever Butlin’s resort you choose.

As of now, the pods are open at all three Butlin’s resorts, including Bognor Regis, Minehead and Skegness, and can be booked for groups of up to 12 people.

Inside the Karaoke Pods, you can choose from an impressive catalogue of songs made up of over 5,000 chart-topping hits and throwback tunes carefully picked for guests to have the utmost fun.

Each session is set to last for a whole 55-minute session and should be booked in advance or, on the day when you decide to give it a spontaneous go, for £36.

If you want the drinks to keep on following, there’s no need to leave the pod, as they’ve thought way ahead of the curve. Any drinks can be ordered and delivered directly to your very own karaoke room.

During your sing-along session the pods, which Butlin’s describes as ‘high-tech’, capture each moment with videos, photos and even gifts. Meaning, you can sing your heart out in the soundproofed room without a care in the world and remain present as the pod does all the memory capturing for you.

Heidi Watson, head of innovation at Butlin’s, said: “We’re thrilled to have partnered with the Coca-Cola brand to bring this exciting, new karaoke experience to all three of our resorts. It’s the perfect activity for families or groups of friends to create unforgettable memories together while singing their hearts out to their favourite tunes.

“We’re confident the new Karaoke Pods will be popular with our guests, and an amazing addition to the activities already on offer across all of our different breaks.”

There’s no better time to book the karaoke pods than now, in time for your May half-term getaway as schools close for the week beginning May 25. Alternatively, you can get ahead of the curb and book in time for your summer holidays.

As LeBron James sat at the podium following the Lakers’ season-ending loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 4 of the Western Conference semifinals on Monday night, he was asked about his future.

He had just completed his 23rd season in the NBA at 41 years old and he will become a free agent this summer.

James has been asked about retirement all season — and if he would return to the Lakers next season or play for another team.

So after finishing with 24 points and 12 rebounds in the 115-110 loss, James addressed the situation again.

“With my future, I don’t know, honestly,” James said. “It’s still fresh from obviously losing. And I don’t know. I don’t know what the future holds for me, obviously. As it stands right now, tonight, I got a lot of time. I’ll sit back, like I think I said last year after we lost, I think to Minnesota, to go back and recalibrate with my family and talk with them, and spend some time with them. And then when the time comes, then obviously you guys will know what I’ve decided to do.”

James said he’ll talk to his wife, Savannah, his daughter, Zhuri, and his son, Bryce.

James was asked what his decision process will be like.

“I don’t know,” he said. “If I can commit to still being in love with the process of showing up to the arena five-and-a-half hours before a game to start preparing for a game, giving everything I got, diving for loose balls and doing everything that you know that it takes to go out and play. Showing up to practices, 11 o’clock practice, I’m there at eight o’clock preparing my body, preparing my mind, preparing to practice, to put the work in.

“So I think for me, I’ve always been in love with the process and not the aftermath of, OK, we won that game, or we won a championship. I’ve always enjoyed the process and not the outcome. So, I think that would be a big factor.”

LeBron James, center, celebrates with his Lakers teammates after defeating the Miami Heat for the NBA title on Oct. 11, 2020.

(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

James has been with the Lakers for eight seasons. He helped the team win an NBA championship in 2020 in the COVID-19 bubble in Orlando, Fla.

James was asked what has stood out during his time with the Lakers.

“Obviously winning a championship in 2020 would stand at the top,” James said. “That was the reason why I came here, to restore that level of play and restore this franchise back to what it was known for, winning championships and playing at a high level. … So that would be at the top.”

After the loss to the Thunder, James shook hands with All-Star guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Alex Caruso, Lou Dort before walking off the court.

James was asked if those were the last handshakes of his career.

“Last handshakes? No, I don’t know. ‘Cause I don’t, I have no idea,” James said. “None of us even know what the future holds. None of us.”

The Lakers know that they could have eight unrestricted free agents in their immediate future.

After James, the next biggest potential free agent is Austin Reaves. He is expected to opt out of his deal that will pay him $14.8 million and become a free agent, according to people familiar with the situation not authorized to comment. The Lakers can pay Reaves a maximum deal of $241 million over five years, with a starting salary of about $41.5 million next season.

The Lakers value Reaves and are expected to meet his demands. Reaves could sign with another team that has salary-cap space, but that deal would be for four years and about $178 million.

“I take life day by day and I’m just blessed to have an opportunity to play for this organization, play a kid’s game,” Reaves said. “I make good money. But like I said, don’t think about what I’m really going to do in the future. Just day by day.”

Center Deandre Ayton had an inconsistent season, averaging 12.5 points on 67.1% shooting and 8.0 rebounds. He can opt out of his deal that pays him $8.1 million next season and become a free agent. But Ayton hasn’t yet made a decision, according to people familiar with the situation not authorized to comment.

Lakers star Austin Reaves celebrates after shooting a three-pointer against the Thunder on Monday.

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

Marcus Smart, a locker room leader and their best defensive player, also has a player option for next season at $5.3 million. He hasn’t made a decision yet on whether he’ll test the free-agent market. According to several NBA executives, a few teams probably will show interest in him.

The deadline to exercise or decline an option is June 29.

Rui Hachimura’s ($18.2 million), Luke Kennard ($11 million), Maxi Kleber ($11 million) and Jaxson Hayes ($3.4 million) are also in the final year of their deals.

Doncic, who missed the playoffs and the last five games of the regular season with a Grade 2 left hamstring strain, signed a three-year, $165-million extension last summer, keeping him under contract through the 2027-28 season.

Jarred Vanderbilt ($12.4 million), Jake LaRavia ($6.0 million), Dalton Knecht (4.2 million), Bronny James ($2.2 million) and rookie Adou Thiero ($2.1 million) are under contract for next season.

There will be ‘island’ items on the menu

Holidaymakers will be able to buy a Greggs sausage roll at Tenerife South airport from later this month when the baker opens its only international outlet. Greggs last operated shops abroad in Belgium in 2008, but said Tenerife was “the ideal location to test spreading our wings in an overseas setting”.

While the exact date for the opening is not yet set, Greggs said the shop in the international departures area of the airport will stock a range of bakes, rolls and sweet treats, as well as freshly-made sandwiches. A Spanish omelette roll will be available as part of the breakfast menu alongside freshly squeezed orange juice, prepared and bottled in-shop daily, “giving customers a refreshing taste of island life”, the baker said.

Tenerife South airport welcomes around 13 million holidaymakers every year, with around 50% flying to and from the UK. Greggs said the location made it the “perfect way to round off a trip without breaking the bank”.

The shop will also offer seating for up to 92 customers. Greggs chief executive Roisin Currie said: “Tenerife South Airport is a hub for millions of UK and international passengers each year, making it the ideal location to test spreading our wings in an overseas setting.

“It’s an exciting milestone for Greggs as we bring a slice of home to the Canaries, and we’re confident our great-value offering will resonate just as well under the Spanish sun as it does on the UK high street.”

The new shop will open in partnership with Lagardere Travel Retail, which operates more than 5,000 stores in airports, railway stations and other locations in over 50 countries worldwide. Javier Cagigal, chief executive of Lagardere Travel Retail Spain and Portugal, said: “We’re delighted to partner with Greggs to bring such a well-loved brand into Tenerife South Airport for the very first time.

“As passengers head home, this new opening gives them a familiar, comforting choice in departures – whether that’s a last treat, a relaxed sit-down moment or something to ease the journey home.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

Republicans sense an opportunity

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Democrats blame the Iran war

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

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

She recently acknowledged the challenging timing of the referendum.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Rush writes for the Associated Press.

Eileen Wang, an Arcadia city leader facing charges of acting as an illegal foreign agent of China, resigned Monday after reaching an agreement to resolve the federal case.

Wang, who served as mayor of the San Gabriel Valley suburb, entered into a plea agreement with prosecutors over charges that she acted under the control of the People’s Republic of China to promote propaganda in the U.S. between 2020 and 2022, according to court filings.

Wang, who was previously elected to the City Council in November 2022, stepped down as mayor on Monday hours after the plea agreement was unsealed. Arcadia officials and Wang’s attorneys said the conduct described by federal authorities occurred before Wang was elected.

Wang appeared in federal court in downtown Los Angeles during a brief hearing Monday, where a judge instructed her lawyers to set a date when she would formally enter a guilty plea.

The maximum sentence for the charge is 10 years in prison.

Dressed in a blue suit jacket and skirt and accompanied by four lawyers, Wang listened to the proceeding through a Mandarin interpreter. She sniffled throughout the hearing, wiping at her eyes and her nose with her hand and a tissue.

The magistrate judge ordered a $25,000 bond and for her to surrender all of her passports and travel documents. Assistant U.S. Attorney Amanda B. Elbogen asked that the judge order Wang to refrain from any communication with the Chinese government, including consular officials in the U.S.

“Individuals in our country who covertly do the bidding of foreign governments undermine our democracy,” said First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli in a statement Monday. “This plea agreement is the latest success in our determination to defend the homeland against China’s efforts to corrupt our institutions.”

In a statement, Wang’s attorneys, Brian A. Sun and Jason Liang, said “she apologizes and is sorry for the mistakes she has made in her personal life.”

“Her love and devotion for the Arcadia community have not changed and did not waver. She asks for the community’s understanding and continued support,” her attorneys said.

The city of Arcadia’s website said Wang was “vacating her position” and the process of selecting someone to step in as mayor would begin at the next City Council meeting.

“We understand this news raises serious concerns, and we want to be direct with our community about what we know and where we stand,” City Manager Dominic Lazzaretto said in a statement. “The allegations at the center of this case, that a foreign government sought to exert influence over a local elected official, are deeply troubling. We take them seriously.”

From late 2020 through at least 2022, Wang worked with Yaoning “Mike” Sun, her former fiance, to run a website called U.S. News Center that branded itself as a news source for Chinese Americans, according to the plea agreement unsealed Monday. Both Wang and Sun “executed directives” from Chinese government officials, posting requested articles and reporting back with screenshots showing how many people viewed the stories, the agreement says.

On June 10, 2021, the agreement says, Wang received a message from a government official about “China’s Stance on the Xinjiang Issue,” which included a link to a letter to the editor in the Los Angeles Times from the consul general of the People’s Republic of China in Los Angeles. The consul general had been responding to a Times editorial supporting a boycott of products made with cotton produced in the Xinjiang region of China.

At the time, news reports were highlighting the Chinese government‘s campaign of incarceration, persecution and “reeducation” of Uyghurs in the Xinjiang province.

“There is no genocide in Xinjiang; there is no such thing as ‘forced labor’ in any production activity, including cotton production. Spreading such rumor is to defame China, destroy Xinjiang’s safety and stability,” read the message from the Chinese government official, according to the plea agreement.

Minutes after receiving the link, Wang posted the article on her website and responded to the Chinese government official with a link to the article on her website, according to the court filing.

“So fast, thank you everyone,” the government official responded, the court records show.

Prosecutors also say Wang edited articles at the request of officials and shared information showing the reach of the posts.

“Thank you leader,” she wrote on Aug. 20, 2021, after being complimented for a post that was viewed more than 15,000 times, according to the plea agreement.

Wang never disclosed that the Chinese government had directed her to post the content, according to court documents.

Wang’s attorneys stressed in their statement “that the conduct underlying the information and the agreement with the government relates solely to Ms. Wang’s personal life — i.e., a media platform that she once operated with someone whom she believed to be her fiancé — and not to her conduct as an elected public official.”

Prosecutors charged Sun, a resident of Chino Hills, in December 2024 with conspiracy and acting as an illegal agent of a foreign government. Wang said her relationship with Sun ended in the spring of 2024.

Sun had also served as campaign manager for her City Council campaign to lead Arcadia, a landing spot for many Chinese and Taiwanese immigrants. Prosecutors accused Sun and his Chinese government contacts of cultivating Wang in hopes that she would rise in politics and help them strengthen China’s influence in California.

“We broke up the fiance relationship,” Wang told the City Council after he was charged. “We keep the friendship.”

Sun was sentenced in February to four years in federal prison after pleading guilty in October 2025 to one count of acting as an illegal agent of a foreign government.

Sun worked as an illegal agent for the People’s Republic of China, submitting reports to high-level government officials about work he was doing on the government’s behalf, according to a federal sentencing memorandum. This activity included combating Falun Gong, a spiritual practice banned in China, and supporters of Taiwanese independence. Sun also was accused of monitoring the then-president of Taiwan during her April 2023 trip to the U.S.

Facing calls for her resignation on the heels of her former fiance’s indictment, Wang vowed at the time not to step away from the council, emphasizing that she was “not responsible for the action of others.”

Wang said in a 2024 interview that she moved to Southern California from China 30 years ago. Her mother was a Chinese medicine and acupuncture doctor and her father was a physician in Sichuan province before working at USC, she said.

Wang appeared as usual at last week’s city council meeting, shepherding along discussions on street paving, the upcoming budget and a potential e-bike ordinance. Lazzaretto, the city manager, said in his statement that the city has conducted an internal review related to the charges and found no wrongdoing.

“We can confirm that no City finances, staff, or decision-making processes were involved,” Lazzaretto said in a statement. “We have found no actions that require reconsideration or that are invalidated as a result of these developments.”

Clara Harter contributed to this report.

MAURA Higgins turned heads at Cannes film festival as she was seen for the first time since quitting Love Island USA.

The brunette beauty looked as flawless as ever as she put on a leggy display in France.

Reality TV star Maura has confirmed she’s walked away from her Love Island USA: Aftersun hosting job after three years.

As she continues to make big moves cracking America, Maura has revealed she’s ready for a fresh start.

The 35-year-old stepped out today at the festival wearing an incredible structured white shirt dress.

She flaunted her sizzling figure as the dress, with pops of aqua and hot pink, cinched her waist and flashed her legs.

Read more on Maura Higgins

casa no maur

Maura Higgins QUITS huge Love Island USA gig after three years

MAUR!

Maura Higgins proves she’s cracked US as she walks red carpet with Emily Ratajkowski

Maura kept the rest of her ensemble simple, donning a pair of matching white heels, some silver studded earrings and opted for no bag.

The Celebrity Traitors US star had her locks scrapped back into a sleek bun, leaving one piece to frame her face.

She gave the cameras a sultry pout as she posed for snaps.

Maura looked very glamourous, opting to have her makeup glowy and bronzed and finished with a nude pink lipstick.

The Irish star – who is heading for the Dancing With The Stars ballroom – told Vulture that she won’t be returning to Fiji for the upcoming eighth season.

She said: “You won’t. I’ve done it for three years, and they’ll always be family to me, but I think it’s time to try something different.

“I’ve got amazing opportunities coming in the door.

“I think it’s time to say good-bye. But you know what? I won’t say forever.

“I’ll still be watching from afar and I love them and miss them. It’s just time to move on.”

Maura has been dominating the US since her successful stint on Celebrity Traitors US.

She has certainly been busy, appearing on US chat shows, red carpets and has even been seen rubbing shoulders with Sex and the City star Sarah Jessica Parker and model Emily Ratajkowski at industry events.

Irish beauty Maura skyrocketed to fame after debuting on season five of Love Island in 2019 – she’s among the show’s most successful participants.

If another female trainer makes history Saturday in the Preakness, no one can say they weren’t warned.

Unlike Golden Tempo, who pulled off a 23-1 shocker to make Cherie DeVaux the first woman to train a Kentucky Derby winner, Taj Mahal will start at a much lower price for Brittany Russell.

The undefeated and untested son of Nyquist was made the co-second choice on the morning line when post positions were drawn Monday afternoon at Laurel Park, the temporary home of the Preakness while Pimlico — about 30 miles north — is being rebuilt. Laurel Park, located halfway between Baltimore and Washington, D.C., has never hosted the Preakness, which will start just after 4 p.m. PDT on NBC.

With Golden Tempo becoming the second straight Kentucky Derby winner and third in the last five years to race in the Preakness, there will be just three runners from the Derby — Ocelli (third), Incredibolt (sixth) and Robusta (14th).

Among the full field of 14 starters, though, only Taj Mahal can complete the “Triple Crown” for women trainers, with Russell seeking to follow DeVaux and Jena Antonucci, who captured the Belmont three years ago with Arcangelo.

“It would sort of feel like probably a fairy tale,” Russell said. “ … It would mean an awful lot.”

Taj Mahal was one of three horses listed at 5-1 on the morning line behind lukewarm 9-2 favorite Iron Honor. He is the only Preakness starter who has raced at Laurel; in fact, he has never run anywhere else, going three for three there, including an 8¼-length triumph last month in the Federico Tesio.

His Beyer Speed Figure that day was 92, just two points (equal to about a length) behind Ocelli’s number in the Kentucky Derby. Chip Honcho, with a 92 for his runner-up effort in the Risen Star in February, is the only other Preakness horse with a Beyer number above 90 in a route race.

Taj Mahal was in the same yearling sale as Iron Honor (also a son of Nyquist) in September 2024 at Keeneland and sold for $50,000 more than his rival this week ($525,000 to $475,000). The colt originally was trained by Bob Baffert but was sent to Russell last fall when he wasn’t progressing.

“When he first showed up, it took some time for him to come around,” Russell said. “And, honestly, that’s why he was sent my way. If horses aren’t progressing or need a change of scenery, luckily for me it’s kind of become their place [for the owners] to send them.

“… The first time I worked him, did I think he would become a star? No, it took some time, but he developed and he progressed.”

Taj Mahal won a maiden race Feb. 6, then came back 15 days later to win a minor stakes race. He had almost two months between that race and the Tesio on April 18.

Russell’s husband, Sheldon, will ride Taj Mahal, who will break from the rail.

“To be fair, he’s a good gate horse,” Sheldon Russell said. “He broke so sharp last time. If he were to do the same thing again, he’d put me in a great spot. We’ve just got to hold that spot until we get to the bend, but we’ve got a longer run this time. He’s going to have to overcome a few things, but good horses overcome things.”

Iron Honor, who joins Taj Mahal as the most inexperienced horses in the field with three starts each, won his first two races, including the Gotham at Aqueduct. But he finished seventh last month in the Wood Memorial, his only try around two turns. He will be ridden for the first time by Flavien Prat.

“[He] got bothered in the first turn from a bad post and … just never really relaxed,” said his trainer, Chad Brown, who won the Preakness in 2017 (Cloud Computing) and 2022 (Early Voting). “We took the blinkers off the horse, gave him a chance to get over that experience and he seems to be in a good place right now, training just the way we want.”

The other horses listed at 5-1 were Incredibolt, who wasn’t even mentioned as a possibility for the race until Monday, and Chip Honcho, who finished ahead of Golden Tempo in the Risen Star but skipped the Derby after a poor showing in the Louisiana Derby. Ocelli is 6-1, and Napoleon Solo, the only Grade 1 winner in the field (last year’s Champagne Stakes), is 8-1.

Incredibolt, trained by Riley Mott, at least spares the Preakness from not having a single graded-stakes winner in a two-turn race. The son of Bolt d’Oro captured the Grade 3 Street Sense last fall over 1 1/16 miles at Churchill Downs. (He also won the ungraded Virginia Derby this year at 1⅛ miles at Colonial Downs.)

Chip Honcho will break from the No. 6 post under Jose Ortiz, who won the Derby. Ortiz’s brother, Irad Ortiz Jr., who was second in the Derby with Renegade, will be next to him in the No. 5 post aboard Talkin.

Ocelli is the most experienced horse in the race, with seven starts. He’s also the only starter not to have won a race. No maiden has won the Preakness in the modern era, with the last victory coming in 1888. Bodexpress was the last to try, in 2019, but he reared leaving the starting gate and dumped his jockey.

EUROSTAR has taken the next step to launch trains to a new European country – for the first time ever.

A new agreement has been signed between the international train operator as well as Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) and French SNCF Voyageurs.

The agreement would allow direct trains between London and Switzerland, with “significant potential” for the route.

The journey would take about five hours from London to the city of Basel, with other cities slightly longer such as Geneva (5.5 hours) and Zurich (six hours).

London is currently the ‘no.1 flight destination’ for Switzerland, with airlines such as Swiss, British Airways and easyJet operating direct flights.

If the new direct trains go ahead, they are likely to launch by the 2030s, although a confirmed date is yet to be revealed.

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The current train route from the UK requires a change in Paris, with the whole journey taking around 7hr30.

It isn’t the only new route Eurostar is planning with other cities such as Frankfurt and Cologne in Germany.

Routes could even go as far as Milan in Italy.

Currently Eurostar operates trains to France (Paris and Lille) along with the Netherlands (Amsterdam and Rotterdam) and Brussels.

Virgin also confirmed last year that they would be launching rival trains to Europe, the first to do so alongside Eurostar.

Along with routes to the same destinations, they could also launch trains from Manchester and Birmingham, as well as restore routes from Ashford and Ebbsfleet.

Nick Pasqual, an actor who appeared in “How I Met Your Mother,” has been found guilty of the attempted murder of L.A.-based makeup artist Allie Shehorn.

Following a jury trial, Pasqual was also convicted of counts of injuring a spouse or partner, first-degree burglary and rape, according to court documents.

The incident occurred in May 2024, when Pasqual repeatedly stabbed Shehorn, his ex-girlfriend, in her Shadow Hills home. Prosecutors claimed that he broke into her home, attacked her with a knife and fled California. Pasqual was later stopped by authorities at a border checkpoint in Sierra Blanca, Texas, the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office said.

At the time, Shehorn’s friends speculated that she had been stabbed more than 20 times. Following the attack, she underwent emergency surgery and spent days in intensive care.

The pair first met on the set of Zack Snyder’s film “Rebel Moon.” Pasqual worked as a background actor, with credits including “How I Met Your Mother” and “Archive 81,” and Shehorn worked as a makeup artist on movies including “Family Switch” and “Babylon.”

Prior to the stabbing, Shehorn had filed a restraining order against Pasqual, which detailed acts of sexual and physical assault.

Pasqual will be sentenced on June 2. He could face a maximum sentence of life in state prison.

Former L.A. Times staff writer Nathan Solis contributed to this report.

I swear, if Luka Doncic was playing, this second-round series against the Oklahoma City Thunder would be going differently.

The Lakers wouldn’t be losing …

… second halves by so much.

But if his hamstring allowed their offensive engine to drive, the offense might not be humming. But the Lakers could probably keep it running.

They might not be keeping pace, but with the league’s leading scorer contributing, the gap wouldn’t be a year wide by every game’s end.

The Lakers really miss Doncic. Duh.

But it’s not only because, without him, they’re stuck reliving a recurring nightmare; in all three games, the Lakers have played Oklahoma City tough in the first half, including taking the lead into halftime in Games 2 and 3, only for it to be yanked away.

It’s also because they’re also losing data points on the scoreboard going into a pivotal offseason.

This whole Western Conference semifinal series against these defending champions has been a lose-lose proposition for the Lakers, who are now down 3-0 and staring into the elimination abyss in Game 4 on Monday.

But throw in the 33.5 points per game Doncic averaged this season, and the Lakers don’t get outscored by a combined 54 points after halftime.

Calculate for Doncic’s career 30.9 points per playoff game, and let’s assume their high-water mark would surely eclipse Saturday’s tally in their 131-108 Game 3 loss at Crypto.com Arena.

For whatever that’s worth.

Which is little compared to what else the Lakers miss with Doncic on the bench, nursing the Grade 2 hamstring strain he suffered on April 2 in Oklahoma City.

Lakers forward LeBron James, sliding backward across the baseline, looks for a foul call on a missed layup during Game 3 against the Thunder.

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

For the Lakers, this end-of-the-road series is most valuable as an evaluation period for next season. It’s a barometer reading: You are here. The Thunder are there.

The goal now is to build a team around Doncic that could conceivably keep pace with Oklahoma City, and so they’re evaluating who will help do that if they come along for the ride next year.

But the Lakers are doing these playoff measurements without Doncic on the court. They’re test-driving the wrong car toward vacation.

Doncic can expect a postcard in the mail: Wish you were there.

So does he, of course.

“It’s very frustrating,” Doncic said between Games 1 and 2, standing with his hands in his pockets, pained to report that he wasn’t close to returning, five weeks into his eight-week return-to-work timeline.

“I don’t think people understand how frustrating it is. All I wanna do is play basketball, especially this time. It’s the best time to play basketball. It’s very frustrating seeing what my team is doing. I’m very proud of them. It’s been very tough, to, just to sit and watch them play.”

He got to see the Lakers upset the Houston Rockets in a six-game, first-round series without him and, for four games, Austin Reaves — who is averaging 18.7 points and shooting 40% from the floor and 25% from three-point range this series, having become a higher priority of the Thunder’s physical defense without having to deal with Doncic.

On Saturday, Doncic had to watch another lead — and with it, another opportunity to steal a game — disappear as if by a cruel magic trick. As time wore down, Doncic sat on the bench next to Reaves, staring blankly, hands folded in his lap, like so many Lakers fans at the arena.

The Lakers’ latest deflating loss could have used Doncic’s energy,his showmanship, his fire. He’s among the league-leaders in that, too.

“Look, yeah, when you have the league’s leading scorer out there – if he was – it definitely changes the dynamic of a team,” said guard Luke Kennard, who scored 13 of his series-high 18 points in the first half Saturday.

“Obviously, we miss him. And we know he’s working his butt off right now [to return to play] … but yeah, I mean, he would definitely change it for us. But right now, he’s not.”

Kennard is right, of course. Things would be different if Doncic was out there dealing.

Not that different.

But the Lakers at least wouldn’t be running out of gas so far from getting home every game, and they’d also have a better idea of how much farther they have to go.

It’s hard to believe, as Matt Damon noted in his monologue in this week’s “Saturday Night Live,” that the actor of this summer’s “The Odyssey” has only guest hosted three times during his lengthy career. (In case you’re wondering, his frequent writing and acting partner Ben Affleck has hosted five times.)

That’s a shame because Damon checks all the boxes for what an A-list actor should do when they host the show: be super present, take every opportunity to do the silliest sketches without seeming uncomfortable, and bring at least some of their acting chops to bear to give otherwise lightweight sketches a little extra gravitas or emotion.

Damon did all that and helped start the show off with an extra jolt of energy by returning as Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh in the cold open, along with last week’s ringer, Aziz Ansari as FBI Director Kash Patel.

Not every sketch worked, like an early Godzilla parody set in a command center that was simply a series of increasingly anticipated spit takes on poor Mikey Day. Things improved when Damon played himself in a pre-taped sketch about a movie made just for moms ahead of Mother’s Day; mom’s fantasy? No conflict among the kids and a blissful marriage to Matt Damon.

Damon also played one of a trio of middle-aged men (including Marcello Hernández and Kenan Thompson) constantly getting beat up by “tough guys” who are sometimes just children. He also played a frustrated dad in a strange cat litter commercial, a substitute teacher trying to get a classroom of students to dance (unsuccessfully) and, memorably, an auctioneer in a fight with his auctioneer wife (Sarah Sherman). In these sketches in particular, Damon’s acting skills helped elevate the characters he played, grounding them in sadness or frustration. It definitely helped.

The “Odyssey” might turn out to be the summer’s biggest movie hit. If that’s the case, let’s hope Matt Damon isn’t kept from hosting “SNL” for so long after this week’s solid job.

Musical guest Noah Kahan performed “The Great Divide” and “Doors.”

At Martin’s Tavern in Washington, D.C., Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth (Colin Jost) returned yet again to shout-bark at those around him, brag about the Iran War he claims he started and, of course, talk about drinking alcohol. But this time, he was joined by his apparent drinking buddy Kavanaugh, who held a gavel and immediately ordered a “six-three decision” (six beers, three shots of Jameson whiskey). Glowing in their victories, Hegseth bellowed, “Can you believe I just started a war?” Kavanaugh replied, “Can you believe I ended abortion? Your body, my choice!” Kavanaugh went on to show off what at first looked like a dinosaur-shaped district map for Tennessee before revealing it’s his field sobriety test, when he was asked to draw a circle. Kavanaugh bemoaned the male loneliness crisis just before they were joined by Patel, who cried, “Does this bar take Kaaaaash?” Patel showed off the bourbon that bears his name. (“Somehow this is a real thing that I, the FBI director, have made. This is real!”) Kavanaugh revealed a secret: that the court is going to let Trump do a third term. “Trump found the original Constitution and on the end, he wrote, ‘Psych!’ ” The three ended the sketch by singing Chumbawamba’s “Tubthumbing” with its callouts of their drink orders.

Damon previewed his upcoming film, even though he had to mention several times that “The Odyssey” won’t be out for another nine weeks. He also had to break the news that the lovely “SNL” tradition of bringing on moms of cast members wouldn’t be happening this year due to Spirit Airlines shutting down. It turns out, after an audience member (“SNL” writer Jack Bensinger) asks, that only Hernández’s mom was able to make it. Damon then recorded a video message to moms out there for anyone who didn’t get a gift for them. “You deserve a night out… nine weekends from now,” he said, suggesting the movie would make a great date night.

Best sketch of the night: Do I hear best sketch of the night? Sold!

A sketch as gimmicky as this one — in which the premise is two auctioneers (Damon and Sherman) are having a marriage-ending fight — only works if the performers are up to the task, and luckily both Damon and Sherman navigated the super-fast dialogue expertly and without looking like they were eyeing cue cards the entire time. The two went back and forth, auctioneering a discussion about weight, infidelity, drinking, their sex life and, eventually, terms of their divorce in front of their four young sons (who, adorably, hold up little numbered signs. Yes, they were played by adult cast members.). Even for “SNL” and for the last-sketch-of-the-night slot, it was a bold sketch for live TV and Damon and Sherman expertly walked the tightrope on this one.

Also good: Your mom will only make it through 23 minutes of this

“SNL” is no stranger to spiky sketch comedy takes on motherhood: remember “Mom Jeans?” For this year’s Mother’s Day take, it presented “Mom: The Movie,” a film devoid of conflict or dramatic tension because “Moms have enough stress. Why not let them feel good for a day?” Ashley Padilla plays the mom in the film, enjoying argument-free time with her kids (Jeremy Culhane, Tommy Brennan and Veronika Slowikowska), who only deliver good news. She’s married to Matt Damon, making her Rhonda Damon, and they met when he noticed her giant turquoise necklace after a movie screening. The film is streaming where moms are expected to find it: on HomeGoods Plus.

‘Weekend Update’ winner: This ‘Update’ segment is bananas — the round kind

This week’s “Update” featured three guest segments. Hernández and Day played kamikaze dolphins who work for the government, giving them a sense of porpoise (their joke, not mine). Jane Wickline expressed her anger at people caring that she’s always late in a funny musical rant. But Culhane’s return as Tucker Carlson continued a dead-on impersonation that covered several topics, including the Met Gala’s wild outfits, the new Michael Jackson biopic, and why eating round bananas is less gay than eating traditionally shaped ones. Culhane’s impression is a thing of beauty, and this time it leaned harder into Carlson’s tendency to express things from a very white point of view. In describing ASAP Rocky’s pink robe from the Met Gala, he said the performer was, “Wearing my least favorite color … African-American.”