trip

BRITNEY Spears bares it all while showing off her risque dance moves to fans on social media. 

The toxic hitmaker, 44, stripped off to just trousers and a hat, a day after flashing her boobs on a horse riding trip.

In a number of dance videos uploaded to the popstars Instagram page, Britney was snapped performing some racy dance moves for the camera. 

One clip saw her twerk around on the floor whilst whipping her long blonde locks back and forth. 

Dressed in a cropped pink T-shirt and mini black shorts, Britney shows off a fast paced dance routine as she moves to the track Mi Gente.

Another video shows the star outside in a bikini as she stares into the camera lens.

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Britney prances around to piano music before abruptly smacking her behind. 

The series of video clips then take an even raunchier turn with Britney posting a video of her topless. 

The singer edited symbols over her breasts to conceal her modesty as they flash on and off the screen. 

Britney goes on to move her arms in a rhythmic style dance sliding her hands across her breasts and stomach, 

What seems to be a dance routine is met with occasional chants from the Star.

In some frames the hitmaker almost exposes herself multiple times throughout the racy display. 

The Gimme More songstress turned off the comments on the post, but it has already been liked by over 60k fans. 

Britney is no stranger to going topless on her Instagram page, just a day ago the singer flashed her boobs while on a horse riding trip. 

The clip, which sent fans into a frenzy, showed Britney sitting on a horse as she exposed her chest. 

She pulled her red top down whilst basking in the sun covering her modestly simply with just two diamond emoji’s. 

Sticking her tongue out she was all smiles as she galloped through a dirt road backdrop. 

Many fans took to X reeling over the video, one user said: “I really can’t believe that Britney posted her boobs on top of a horse on Instagram.”

“Brittney spears be riding horses in Malibu, top off in just a skirt I wanna be her,” penned another. 

“That top was so hanging on for dear life, we all know Britney doesn’t wear a bra a lot,” added a third. 

Many also came to the singer’s defence, one fan commented: “Leave her alone. Let her be naked. She’s ok.”

THEY say you should never meet your heroes . . . but I can heartily recommend meeting your villains.

At the Night With The Knights special event near Belfast, a crowd of Game Of Thrones fans joined a Q&A session with actors Ian Beattie (sadistic Kingsguard Ser Meryn Trant), Dominic Carter (weaselly Ser Janos Slynt) and Ian McElhinney (noble Ser Barristan Selmy).

Beattie stole the show with hilarious, sweary anecdotes about his time on the HBO fantasy series, with Ed Sheeran the target of some choice barbs.

But all three were amusing and gracious, posing for photos, signing autographs and coming round to chat during our dinner.

It was my first time at the GoT Studio Tour — which is planning more events with stars — and, as a megafan, I was not disappointed with all the costumes, weapons and sets.

Highlights were being able to scan my mug into the Hall of Faces, which Arya Stark’s assassins used to disguise themselves, posing with the giant Wun Wun and, of course, sitting on the coveted Iron Throne.

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Our evening was just one stop on a five-day tour of film and TV locations in Northern Ireland.

We’d started in Londonderry, home to Channel 4 comedy Derry Girls, spotting a giant mural featuring the five hellraising teens and visiting an exhibition showcasing a few sets and props.

From there, we travelled east around the coast, and in fair weather there are few places that can rival the scenery.

It’s easy to see why Northern Ireland is so attractive for filmmakers.

The route was packed with superb locations for memorable Thrones scenes, including:

• Downhill Beach — the clifftop temple where Red Priestess Melisandre burned heretics.
• Portstewart — where Jaime Lannister and Bronn encounter the Sand Snakes in Dorne.
• Dunluce Castle — Greyjoys’ home Pyke, with help from CGI.
• Ballintoy Harbour — where Theon Greyjoy meets sister Yara, and the neighbouring bay, where he is baptised for the Drowned God.
• Carnlough Harbour steps — where Arya Stark crawls to safety after her battle with the Waif.
• Hidden Village of Galboly — which doubles as the Vale of Arryn.
• Cairncastle’s hills — where Ned Stark beheads a deserter in the first episode.

The film scenery isn’t restricted to GoT, as the clifftop ruins at Dunseverick Castle were used for the live-action remake of How To Train Your Dragon.

At the centre of Glenarm Castle’s walled gardens, you can see areas used to film Dungeons & Dragons: Honour Among Thieves, and Thrones spin-off A Knight Of The Seven Kingdoms.

Nearby, in Glenarm village, is Steensons jewellers, which made many of the pieces used in GoT, then it was on to Carrickfergus Castle, a key location for Dungeons & Dragons.

I’d recommend having a guide — not just to get to the right places, but because locals love a good chinwag.

You’ll probably hear stories about the cast and crew (occasionally indiscreet, such as the actress despised by fellow thesps, or which actor appeared naked in a hotel lobby), and they are proud to show off their country.

Next stop Belfast, with locations for some of my other favourite non-fantasy TV series including Line Of Duty, which was shooting its seventh season while we were there, the Botanic Gardens where The Fall’s sexy serial killer, played by Jamie Dornan, stalks his victims, and Crumlin Road Gaol, now used for tours and filming.

We stayed in a different hotel every night and not a dud among them, but highlights were Harbourview in Carnlough, a destination whiskey property, and Slieve Donard in Newcastle, with an opulent pool.

South of Belfast we were back into the wild at Castle Ward, which served as the Starks’ seat of Winterfell and features the courtyard where Ned Stark taught his children archery, the stable where Tyrion Lannister romped with brothel beauties, and the window from which Jaime Lannister pushed Bran Stark.

Further around Strangford Lough is Audley’s Castle, a 15th-century tower that doubled (literally, as CGI was used to create two) as The Twins, treacherous Walder Frey’s stronghold.

Finally, at mystical Tollymore Forest, GoT scenes here include the creek where the direwolf pups are found, and where Arya hides from the Gold Cloaks.

Most bone-chilling, though, was the glade where Thrones’ opening scene was shot, where Night’s Watch rangers encounter a pit containing dismembered corpses that are not as dead as they appear.

So our tour’s end had brought us to the start, which just made me want to binge-watch it all again.

To paraphrase Jaime Lannister, the things we do for love of TV . . . 

Europe’s lakes and mountains have seen a huge surge in summer tourism in recent years, as holidaymakers look for alternatives to the crowded coastal resorts of the Med. Whether it’s a walking holiday in the Tirol, a lakeside cabin stay in Scandinavia, or a spectacular train journey through the Alps, we’d love to hear about your favourite experiences.

The best tip of the week, chosen by Tom Hall of Lonely Planet wins a £200 voucher to stay at a Coolstays property – the company has more than 3,000 worldwide. The best tips will appear in the Guardian Travel section and website.

Keep your tip to about 100 words

If you have a relevant photo, do send it in – but it’s your words we will be judging for the competition.

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The competition closes on Monday 3 August at 10am BST

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NEW YORK — Dodgers reliever Will Klein had just induced the Mets’ Marcus Semien to whiff on a high fastball. So, he went there again, a little further inside. But Semien got a hold of it for a three-run home run that put the game thoroughly out of reach.

The Dodgers ended an impressive road trip on a sour note with the 8-3 loss to the New York Mets.

They went 6-3 on their East Coast swing and won series against the New York Yankees, Philadelphia Phillies and Mets.

“It’s great,” manager Dave Roberts said Saturday night. “It seems like we’ve been on the road a long time, but the travel has been nice as far as staying in this time zone. We’re finding ways to win. So that’s the main thing. That’s the object of the game.”

The Dodgers’ All-Stars, as well as Roberts and his coaching staff, left for Philadelphia two weeks ago. The rest of the team met them in New York for three games against the Yankees. Then they traveled to Philadelphia for a three-game set, took a detour to Washington to visit the White House before returning to New York.

“It’s been a long road trip — especially for the guys who went to Philly for the All-Star Game,” right fielder Kyle Tucker said. “Being able to come out of the break and play some really good teams and put together really competitive at-bats and great innings from our pitching staff is huge. Some of the guys are kind of grinding in terms of how long they’ve been away from L.A. It’s kind of part of it. You’ve got to come out and play regardless and they’ve done a great job of that.”

Even so, the Dodgers (67-39) played cleaner baseball on this extended road trip — a couple baserunning mistakes aside — than they did in the homestand before the break.

Maybe the Dodgers just needed time off to reset.

Against the Mets (44-62) on Sunday, the first couple innings didn’t look promising. After Shohei Ohtani led with a double and Max Muncy drew a two-out walk, both were left stranded.

A.J. Ewing’s lead-off double against Dodgers starter Emmet Sheehan, however, almost immediately led to a run. Francisco Lindor then sent a low changeup into shallow right field for an RBI single.

The Dodgers’ three-up, three-down second inning ended when Teoscar Hernández tried to stretch a single into a double and ran into an out. Then, Sheehan hit Tyrone Taylor with a pitch to start the bottom half of the inning.

Sheehan retired the next three batters as the Dodgers started to take control. They pulled into the lead with a two-run third inning, powered by doubles from Eliézer Alfonzo — his second double in as many appearances — and Freddie Freeman.

The Dodgers manufactured another run the next inning with a pair of singles, an error by Mets first baseman Jared Young, and a run-scoring double play.

As the Dodgers bullpen took over in the sixth, however, the game slipped away. Jack Dreyer walked two batters and recorded just one out in the sixth inning before Roberts replaced him with Evan Phillips.

In a 1-1 count, Phillips threw a sinker on the inside edge of the strike zone, and Taylor lifted it into the left-field stands for a go-ahead three-run homer. Phillips, who last week talked about rewiring his rehab mindset, has already surrendered four home runs in just seven outings.

A run-scoring passed ball from Dalton Rushing and Semien’s three-run blast in the seventh ultimately sealed the win for the Mets.

KATIE Price has shared a sweet snap from a day out with her boys after Princess broke her silence on the former glamour model’s truce with their dad Peter Andre.

Katie, 48, Junior and Harvey looked as though they were having the best time as they soaked up the sun.

The trio appeared to be spending some quality time together at the stables amid Katie’s rocky relationship with conman Lee Andrews.

Podcast host Katie posed resting her arm affectionately on Harvey’s shoulder as they smiled at the camera.

Junior, who is following in his dad’s footsteps as a musician, was seen grinning ear-to-ear in the background of the pic posted on Instagram.

Harvey, 24, recently moved back in with Katie after “hating” living in his own flat.

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She confessed her son was “happiest” living at home and that certainly rang true as he enjoyed the fresh air with his family.

Katie captioned the sweet post: “Summer,” followed by a horse emoji, sun emoji and a yellow love heart.

This comes as it was revealed that both Katie and Peter are set to appear on their daughter’s reality show The Princess Diaries.

The formerly warring pair – who were married between 2005 and 2009 – called a truce earlier this year for the sake of their kids.

They announced the new chapter in a bombshell joint statement on Instagram back in February.

It said they’d reached an “understanding” and they wanted to focus on “creating a calm and supportive environment” for Junior and ­Princess.

Katie will appear in the first episode of Princess’ show, taking a glamping trip with her children to celebrate her birthday.

But, we are some way off ever seeing the former glamour model and her singer ex on screen together.

Princess said: “To be honest, I don’t think that would happen anyway. I don’t think divorced parents would sit in a room and have a conversation, but it’s not to say it would never happen.”

Junior, 21, went on: “The main thing is, it’s amicable. They’ve got a truce, but they’re not best friends and they don’t need to be.

“The fact that they’re both in it is great because it’s our parents. We love them, and want everyone to be involved. But yeah, they don’t need to cross paths.”

Princess told how she values ­having her loved ones on the show, adding: “It is way more fun for me . . . because I like having my family there.

“I guess it shows people they are calm — that yes, they’re not best friends but they don’t need to be.”

WASHINGTON — The Dodgers arrived at the White House on Thursday to celebrate their 2025 World Series championship following an invitation from President Trump.

The ceremony took place in the Rose Garden, with manager Dave Roberts selected to give a speech on behalf of the team.

It was the back-to-back champions’ second visit in as many years, but this trip came with scheduling complications. The timing for a visit didn’t work out when the Dodgers were in town to play the Nationals in April for a day-game laden series. So, they used their single off day on a three-city East Coast trip to make a pit stop in Washington, wedging the visit between games against the Phillies and Mets.

The decision to again visit the White House raised debate among Dodgers fans, who argue Trump’s anti-immigration policies have harmed many of the team’s supporters. But Roberts has continually tried to downplay the political messaging associated with the visit.

Mookie Betts and Kiké Hernández did not join the team for the visit, with Betts telling reporters he preferred to spend the day with his family and Hernandez saying he had a rehab assignment conflict but wouldn’t have joined the team if he was available. Hernández previously offered his support to fans affected by ICE raids in Los Angeles, while Betts said he didn’t want his decision to be viewed as political.

The Dodgers donated more than $1 million to local organizations assisting those affected by the ICE raids.

“This took a long time to get both sides together, and, honestly, like I’ve always said, my company line, my personal line is I hope that we get this invitation every year,” Roberts said when the trip was finalized this month. “Because that’s the goal: to win a championship, to get this invitation to the White House. And I’m not a politician, and I’m doing something that teams have done for decades. And so that’s where I stand, really. I’m a baseball coach. That’s what I do.”

The visit falls days after Bloomberg reported that two insurance companies controlled by Dodgers chairman Mark Walter, as well as Guggenheim Partners, where Walter is chief executive, are being investigated by federal prosecutors for potential financial improprieties.

No charges have been filed. Representatives from the parent company of the insurance firms as well as from TWC Global — the Walter business empire that controls his sporting investments, including the Dodgers and Lakers — have told reporters they are cooperating with the investigation.

When Sebastian Dollinger and his colleagues first drove into Yosemite National Park, they felt like they were entering the world at its finest — a prehistoric beauty of hulking rocks with every waterfall flowing in the valley.

It reminded Dollinger, who lives in Sweden, of the Swiss Alps in summer.

The moment didn’t last long.

As the group, in the park in early May for a fashion shoot for California luxury brand Robert Talbott, neared Mirror Lake in Yosemite Valley, Dollinger’s party felt like it had been overtaken by a massive swarm of bees as droves of other tourists buzzed around them, he said.

A tourist stands in front of an overlook near Yosemite Valley during a sunrise in mid-June in Yosemite National Park.

Tourists wait at the Yosemite Falls bus stop.

“I could have taken up climbing and gone up El Capitan just to escape the people,” Dollinger said, referencing Yosemite’s famous rock wall, “but I’m just a creative director.”

This summer, Yosemite is seeing a significant uptick in visitation, driven by the park’s internationally known splendor, its popularity on social media and a lack of its politicized reservation system. As droves of tourists flock to Yosemite, it raises the question: Is it still possible to have a fun time there despite the crowds?

Hopefully, yes, but that answer comes with a few heavy asterisks. Park-goers and local business owners say it’s crucial for those venturing into Yosemite this summer to plan their excursions outside peak times to avoid the worst of the crowds, and even then, pack their patience. The best-laid plans can still result in visitors facing significant lines at the park’s gate and restaurants, crowded hiking trails and a relentless search for parking.

By the end of June, Yosemite had seen at least 183,000 more visitors than last year, according to preliminary park visitor data. Just over 2 million people visited the park by the end of June, a 10% increase compared with last year’s visitation data.

Crowds pose for photos on the Mist Trail.

The increase in visitors is, in part, because the National Park Service is not using a timed-entry reservation system this year.

The National Park Service announced in February — after the agency under the Biden administration studied extensively how to best implement a reservation system — that officials would instead use “targeted management.” This has included sending congestion alerts to visitors’ mobile phones and encouraging visitors to venture outside the valley, as it represents only a fraction of its almost 1,200 square miles of parkland.

When asked how the agency planned to address overcrowding in Yosemite this summer, a National Park Service spokesperson who declined to give their name to The Times said in an emailed statement that temporary traffic delays can occur during peak times but aren’t evidence of “operational failure.”

“They reflect the reality of managing one of the nation’s most visited national parks while keeping visitors safe and protecting park resources,” the spokesperson said. “Claims of widespread ‘overcrowding’ are not an accurate characterization of current park operations. Visitors have benefitted [sic] from expanded access for months now, and we are seeing operational efficiency from managing traffic only when and where necessary, rather than blanketing the park with restrictions for entire seasons.”

Dozens of tourists hike their way up the Mist Trail in mid-June, one of the more popular trails in Yosemite National Park.

Visitors like Dollinger say this new approach is not working.

“After we hiked for about three hours, we met a couple from Japan, and when I talked to them they were almost in tears,” said Dollinger, who has visited other state and national parks in California. “They saved for five years to do this trip, flew to San Francisco from Tokyo, stayed in San Francisco and hired a car, and went to the park for five days, which I can only describe as hell.”

Not every Yosemite visitor that The Times spoke to for this story had as bad of a time as Dollinger, but no one disputed crowds being an issue.

Chidumebi Ajaero, who lives in L.A., said he was “very concerned” when he and his friends left for their trip in mid-April over how crowded the park would be.

It was Ajaero’s first time to visit Yosemite after moving to California about 2½ years ago from Houston. He has been to other national parks and said he knows they can get “quite chaotic” when busy.

Tents set up in Upper Pines Campground on a June weekend in Yosemite National Park.

Ajaero and his friends arrived in Yosemite on a Friday afternoon and were surprised to find there was no line to enter the Big Oak Flat entrance.

They set their campsite up at Upper Pines, a campground in the valley, and headed out early on the Mist Trail, which takes hikers to Vernal and Nevada falls via its large stone steps. There were a considerable amount of people on the trail with them, he said.

“It’s not until you get to the waterfall itself and you have the steps, and everybody is taking pictures,” Ajaero said. “There’s actually a line to move up. You’re just waiting for your turn to step up” to capture the waterfall.

Ajaero said he’s glad he went before Memorial Day, when visitation started to increase more significantly.

But because of how curated Yosemite Valley is, with a grocery store, souvenir shops and restaurants, Ajaero said it felt more like an amusement park than his trips to Joshua Tree National Park, where visitors are far more on their own.

Hikers walk on a boardwalk designed to prevent erosion in sensitive meadows.

“I didn’t love it as much as the other because of the commercialized feeling of it, and just the fact it never felt you were alone in Yosemite,” he said. “I think there’s too much going on.”

How developed Yosemite should be for its visitors has been a debate since the park’s existence.

Michael W. Childers, author of “The Mountains Are Calling: Tourists and the Unmaking of Yosemite National Park” (Nebraska), said people often use the metaphor of not wanting to turn the park into Disneyland, but a more apt comparison is how closely Yosemite resembles a resort.

Concessionaires have been in Yosemite since its beginnings, as the federal government didn’t have the money to construct its own amenities in the 1850s, he said. Yosemite Hospitality, a subsidiary of hospitality giant Aramark, manages much of Yosemite’s lodging, dining and activities (including the park’s Starbucks inside the valley).

Childers, an associate professor of history at Colorado State University, said his concern is that, since the late 1970s, conservative intellectuals have pushed to privatize the park even further.

He said the chaos being created by the Trump administration through cutting park staff and ending the reservation system is “very intentional” in the quest to argue the only way to manage the park is to privatize Yosemite.

“If you privatize the entirety of a national park, that means that your only one measuring stick is profit, and arguably, national parks are not solely designed for profit,” said Childers, an environmental historian of the American West. “They’re for experience. They’re for democracy. They’re for preservation of natural resources.”

Vehicles stop to pay the fee at the El Portal entrance gate.

Vehicles line the road near El Capitan in Yosemite National Park.

One of park officials’ most significant management challenges started when tourists began entering Yosemite by automobile. Since 1913, people could enter in a personal vehicle, but visitation numbers remained reasonable until 1926 when the “All Year Highway,” a segment of the 140 Highway, opened.

This new thoroughfare created an easy and direct route to reach the park by car that avoided steep mountain roads, according to park history. The road’s opening resulted in a near doubling of total cars visiting the park in just one year, park staff said in an Instagram post.

“The summer of 1927 has clearly demonstrated that parking is one of the most urgent, menacing problems of the entire Yosemite Valley,” said Don Tresidder, president of the Yosemite Park & Curry Co., that year, according to the park.

And has thus remained for 100 years.

The first attempt in recent years to get a handle on car traffic was the reservation system, implemented initially to spread guests out during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 but rolled out in 2021, 2022 and 2024 as the park service tested how to best employ it to cut down on traffic and help more visitors enjoy the park.

“Over the past decade, many parks have seen significant increases in visitation and crowding in popular areas, especially during peak seasons,” the agency wrote in 2024 as it sought public comments on park management. “In some parks, the level of demand is exceeding the capacity for which infrastructure was designed or is outpacing the National Park Service’s ability to sustainably support visitation.”

The park service planned to use visitor feedback and research to guide how reservations would be rolled out in 2025. Environmental and park advocates argued for the reservation system, saying that it not only protected the wildlife and land, but also that it was popular among guests.

But when Trump started his second term in office, not only did park management strategy change, so did the way the federal government viewed the park service. Hundreds of park workers were laid off, although some got their jobs back. Others took buyouts, and overall there was a 24% decline in permanent workers, according to the National Parks Conservation Assn.

One of the reservation system’s biggest critics is Rep. Tom McClintock (R-Elk Grove), who said the system was decimating the economies of local gateway communities, the term used for the small mountain towns around Yosemite.

Parking lots are filled to capacity during peak hours, creating traffic congestion in Yosemite National Park.

“This is not to say that crowding in the valley hasn’t been a big problem, but the solution is better management and more capacity, not restricting access,” McClintock said on the House floor in June, noting the park had more parking, rooms and campsites before the 1997 flood destroyed infrastructure that he said wasn’t replaced.

Under the timed-entry system, visitors could still enter the park without a reservation if they arrived early — before 6 a.m. in 2021 and 2022 and 5 a.m. in 2024 — or after 4 p.m., and would be required to pay an entry fee for a three-day pass allowing them to reenter outside of peak hours.

But entering the park early or late in the day still wasn’t doable for everyone, including Ronny Shields, a father of two children from Ventura.

Shields, a lifelong Southern California resident, struggled to book a reservation when Yosemite implemented the system until he finally snagged one in 2024. His family had a great time and was eager to return.

In early June, Shields, his wife and kids, ages 4 and 7, made the trek back to Yosemite, staying outside the park at Tenaya at Yosemite in Fish Camp. Shields had researched and found information online suggesting the nearby southern entrance was less crowded.

His family arrived on a Saturday afternoon and entered the park without a wait. They found the valley was quieter than they’d ever seen it as people left.

Tourists stand in a meadow with a perfect view of Yosemite Falls.

For the rest of their trip, they entered the park before 8 a.m. or after 3 p.m., except for one day when they entered later in the morning and waited 40 minutes to enter. The other times, they found no wait.

Once inside the park before 8 a.m., their first stop was the Bridalveil Fall Trail, a short trek that takes visitors right to the base of the thundering cascade. When Shields and his family left the trail about 9:30 a.m., they noticed other guests couldn’t find parking.

They faced the same problem after they went to get food and then tried to park near the Lower Yosemite Falls trailhead. After 20 minutes, they found a spot — and joined the masses.

The trail “doesn’t feel like a hike — it feels like you’re in a crowded mall, but I think that’s the nature of the beast because it’s very short and very scenic,” Shields said.

Comparing his two visits to Yosemite, Shields said he preferred not having to deal with the reservation system, but that came with some caveats. He noticed far more visitors, although he’d expected even more. He saw more trash, several guests going off trail and trampling plant life, and far fewer park rangers to tell them to stop.

He said he didn’t see any park staff in the outdoor areas, and instead, he and his wife made sure to take their kids into the park’s buildings so they could speak to the rangers.

Tourists swim and play in the Merced River in Yosemite National Park.

“It’s nice for the kids to be able to ask questions and learn from people that love it,” Shields said. “Even I learned something.”

Jennifer Liu, a Moreno Valley resident, was at the park the same time frame as the Shields family and was able to mostly avoid the crowds on her backpacking trip through the park’s backcountry.

Liu meandered through the park using a few different trails, including the Sunrise Lakes route, to reach her ultimate destination: Half Dome on her birthday. She left her backcountry campsite about 4:30 a.m. to reach Half Dome by 6 a.m., catching the sunrise at 8,800-feet elevation from the granite monolith.

“I got lucky — the clouds cleared out and there was a nice sunrise,” she said.

Not in a hurry, Liu stayed at the top for four hours. Her fellow hikers sang her happy birthday, and she witnessed a couple get engaged.

Sunset over the Half Dome lookout in Yosemite National Park.

“By 10, when I headed back down, that’s when the crowd was starting to pick up,” Liu said, adding that she was grateful there was still space to navigate the dome’s cable system without being rushed by others.

As a means of crowd control, the National Park Service has attempted to funnel people out of the valley, where the majority of tourists spend their time and into its less frequented locations.

Park officials have tried to rebrand Hetch Hetchy, a massive reservoir surrounded by glacier-carved rock walls, by claiming that “many have compared Hetch Hetchy’s grandeur to the more well-known Yosemite Valley,” according to a recent update on the park’s website. (Previous versions of the Hetch Hetchy page made no such claim, according to archived versions of the website viewed through the Internet Archive.)

The park service doesn’t cite a source for such claims. California naturalist John Muir compared the two valleys’ beauties, but that was before Hetch Hetchy Valley was transformed by the O’Shaughnessy Dam into a massive reservoir.

“John Muir lost the fight over Hetch Hetchy, and the dam was built. And people who live in San Francisco today drink the water of Hetch Hetchy,” historian William Cronon said in the Ken Burns national parks documentary. “Muir died feeling that he’d been defeated by that, and that was a great tragedy at the end of his life.”

Still, Hetch Hetchy has long been whispered among Yosemite regulars as a place to find a little quiet.

That’s changed too.

An empty road under El Capitan in Yosemite Valley National Park.

“We used to have these secret spots we could tell people about,” said Elisabeth Barton, owner of Yosemite Basecamp in Groveland, which offers lodging, trips by local outfitters, gear and more. “‘Go to Hetch Hetchy,’ you’d say quietly and look over your shoulder. ‘Go to this waterfall’ or ‘Do this hike.’ … One of the things we’re noticing is, very quickly on a weekend, [the park] is sending out that alert that Hetch Hetchy is full or that Hetch Hetchy has ‘extreme visitation.’ It’s weird.”

Barton, whose company runs a visitor center in downtown Groveland, said there’s not much she and her team can recommend for people coming Thursday through Sunday into the park. It will be crowded regardless.

On a recent Saturday, Barton met a hiker who was devastated he couldn’t easily enter the valley without dealing with crowds. Barton let him in on a less popular trip that involved a great swimming hole, fish tacos at Whoa Nellie Deli, an adventure around Mono Lake and a drive through a stunning mountain pass. She recommended that he take a long way to reenter the park, enabling him to see the valley at a time he’d miss the crowds.

He called her a week later and told her to never recommend that to anyone ever again. He’d had a great day until he tried to reenter the park and instead waited four hours at the Tioga Pass in a line that stretched for miles. “You’re right, it was beautiful,” he told her, “but to what end?”

“I just wasn’t prepared for that,” Barton said. “It just broke me.”

Even sacred sites — with signage directing visitors away from the area — have been trampled by crowds.

The American Indian Council of Mariposa County, also known as the Southern Sierra Miwuk Nation, fought for decades to establish Wahhoga Village, which is an ancient village site and the last place that Indigenous people lived in Yosemite Valley before being driven out by the National Park Service.

Today, Wahhoga Village includes a traditional roundhouse, traditional cedar bark houses known as umachas and the only cabin that the park service didn’t burn when it evicted the remaining families from the site in 1969.

Wahhoga is not listed on Yosemite maps and is not intended to be used by those who aren’t either authorized or invited by the council to be there, said Deborah Tucker, a council member whose father advocated for years for Wahhoga.

But, Tucker said, in recent weeks, tourists have been found picnicking in the site. Hikers were tromping right through the middle of the village, led by a user-generated route on a popular outdoors adventure app, she said.

And while there, someone peed all over the village’s grinding stones, which are used for processing acorns into flour, along with other foods, said Tucker, whose father is Paiute and Shoshone and her mother was Choinumni, a branch of Yokut, tribes indigenous to the region.

Tourist beat the heat and float on tubes in a river in Yosemite National Park.

Under the current administration, “it’s a free-for-all,” Tucker said. “You can come up there and do what you want, park where you want and you’re disrupting not just sacred sites but other park sites that the park service has [established],” leading to littering and other pollution, noise that harms the birds and speeding cars that threaten the safety of bears and other wildlife.

Tucker said because the current administration seems fixated on money over conservation, she hopes that when people visit the park this summer, they will at least hold themselves accountable, showing respect for the land and its inhabitants.

“Clean up after yourself, maybe clean up after one another, and don’t take anything home with you that you didn’t bring,” Tucker said when asked what she’d say to the park’s visitors. “Enjoy that experience, and [you’re] welcome to come back again.”

Hi, and welcome to another edition of Dodgers Dugout. My name is Houston Mitchell. Ranking the summer movies I’ve seen this year: 1. Supergirl. 2. Young Washington. 3. Disclosure Day. 4. Masters of the Universe. 5. The Devil Wears Prada 2.

Here we go again

Before you go any further, if you don’t like politics in your Dodgers newsletter, which is a perfectly respectable opinion, THEN SKIP TO THE NEXT ITEM!

OK. The Dodgers are visiting President Trump and the White House on July 23 to celebrate their 2025 World Series title. This has caused quite a controversy, again, just like when they visited last year to celebrate the 2024 World Series title. Should the Dodgers visit the White House?

Here are some things I know:

1. The Dodgers have the largest Latino fan base of any team in baseball. Many of them despise Trump because of what ICE has done to their communities, which includes rounding up and detaining people who are here in the country legally, many of whom were born here.

2. Many Latinos who were born in L.A. and lived here their whole lives have been stopped and asked to provide identification merely because they are Latino. That’s not how this country is supposed to work.

3. Even if you somehow have no problem with the above, on a business level the Dodgers risk turning those fans into non-fans by visiting this White House.

4. There are players and members of the organization who are supporters of President Trump and would like to visit this White House.

5. This is the organization of Jackie Robinson and Fernando Valenzuela. Do I have to say more?

So, here’s what I would do if I owned the Dodgers. “The Dodgers thank President Trump for his invitation to visit him at the White House. As a policy, the Dodgers as an organization no longer accept political invitations of any kind. However, any member the the organization, be it player or front office personnel, is more than welcome to accept the invitation on their own behalf and visit.”

And, according to Dave Roberts, no one is being forced to go. “I’m sure a lot of guys are going to participate and be there, and this is an individual choice,” Roberts said. “But I do expect a lot of our guys to be there.”

It will be interesting to see who isn’t there.

No matter who is in office, the trip to the White House is a photo op to show how the president is a person of the people, especially a person of the people of the city that team represents. It’s all for show.

What I do find interesting is Roberts. In 2020, he said this when George Floyd was killed: “It’s disappointing to see my generation and the generation prior failing the younger generation. And that’s what’s really sad. You always hope for progress, but that just, unfortunately, isn’t the case.

“For me, the leaders of our country, unfortunately, aren’t good listeners and that’s how you impose change. People of color want to be heard. And when you have leaders that are put in positions to make change and don’t want to have those uncomfortable conversations, then change isn’t going to happen. There’s a difference between being educated and being ignorant. You have to understand that these situations happen every single day to people of color.”

And this is Roberts this year: “For me, I stand by: I’m a baseball manager. That’s my job.

“I was raised — by a man who served our country for 30 years — to respect the highest office in our country. For me, it doesn’t matter who is in the office, I’m going to go to the White House. I’ve never tried to be political. . . . For me, I am going to continue to try to do what tradition says and not try to make political statements, because I am not a politician.”

From making a giant political statement in 2020 to “not try to make political statements” in 2026 is quite a shift.

And Kiké Hernández will not be there, because he is going to be on a rehab assignment: “It’s going to be hard to be in two cities at the same time,” Hernández said. “If I was active, I probably wouldn’t have gone anyways.” And then he said why:

“I’d rather take a day off than do team activities.”

Which didn’t stop him from going last year. However, during the height of the ICE raids in L.A., he wrote this on Instagram: “This is my second home. And I cannot stand to see our community being violated, profiled, abused and ripped apart. ALL people deserve to be treated with respect, dignity and human rights.”

So, that’s a summation of something that used to be a fun day. And that ends the political discourse for this newsletter.

For another viewpoint on this, please read Bill Plaschke’s column.

Do the Dodgers’ first draft picks pan out?

The draft was last weekend, and with their first pick (40th overall) the Dodgers selected shortstop Bo Lowrance of Christ Church Episcopal High in Greenville, S.C. Lowrance was expected to be chosen well before 40, so the Dodgers were pleased. Why was the Dodgers’ first pick at 40? Because they were penalized 10 spots in the draft for exceeding the second surcharge threshold of the Competitive Balance Tax.

Lowrance told reporters he has modeled himself after Freddie Freeman. “He’s obviously a first baseman, and I’m on the left side, so defensively a little different,” Lowrance said. “But he’s still unbelievably athletic, and a big thing that I’ve watched for years is his approach and how he uses the whole field. … [Freeman is] somebody that I’m always trying to emulate.”

Pretty good guy to emulate. But how well does the first pick by the Dodgers do? Let’s take a look.

2010
Zach Lee, pitcher
Pitched only 12.2 innings in the majors with an 8.53 ERA. Was traded for Chris Taylor though, so there’s that.

2011
Chris Reed, pitcher
Was traded four years later to Miami for pitcher Grant Dayton. Reed pitched four innings for Miami and was released in 2018.

2012
Corey Seager, shortstop
Perhaps you’ve heard of him. World Series MVP in 2020, now with the Texas Rangers.

2013
Chris Anderson, pitcher
Was released four years later, signed by the Minnesota Twins and released by them. Never pitched in the majors.

2014
Grant Holmes, pitcher
Was part of the 2016 trade that brought Rich Hill to the Dodgers. Ended up with the Braves, made the majors in 2024 and is in Atlanta’s starting rotation.

2015 (Andrew Friedman’s first draft with the Dodgers)
Walker Buehler, pitcher
Perhaps you’ve heard of him too. Got the last out of the 2024 World Series. Now with the San Diego Padres.

2016
Gavin Lux, shortstop
Snakebit by injuries. Has been on the IL with Tampa Bay all season.

2017
Jeren Kendall, outfielder
Hit .209 in five minor league seasons before retiring.

2018
J.T. Ginn, pitcher
Did not sign and went to Mississippi State. Was selected by the New York Mets in the second round of the 2020 draft and signed. Currently pitches for the Athletics.

2019
Kody Hoese, third baseman
Spent six seasons in the minors, hitting .255/.323/.395 in 514 games. Became a minor league free agent after last season and remains unsigned.

2020
Bobby Miller, pitcher
Had a great 2023 season with the Dodgers but hasn’t pitched well since then. Currently on the 60-day injured list.

2021
Maddux Bruns, pitcher
On the IL for double-A Tulsa, where he had a 14.94 ERA in 15.2 innings. In six minor league seasons, he is 4-20 with a 5.71 ERA.

2022
Dalton Rushing, catcher
Much like this season, the Dodgers did not have a first-round pick in 2022, but had the 40th overall pick and drafted the player who has become their backup catcher.

2023
Kendall George, outfielder
Ranked as the No. 13 prospect for the Dodgers, he is hitting .342/.428/.409 at double-A Tulsa. He is only 21.

2024
Kellon Lindsey, shortstop
The No. 15 prospect for the Dodgers, Lindsey is 20 and hitt slashing .341/.421/.476 for class-A Ontario.

2025
Zach Root, pitcher
Also selected with the No. 40 pick, Root, 22, is 3-2 with a 2.37 ERA in 49.1 innings for class-A Great Lakes.

As you can see, it’s quite the crapshoot when you pick players in the draft, which is a main reason the MLB draft doesn’t draw the same attention as the NBA or NFL drafts.

All-Star news

Shohei Ohtani will not play in the All-Star Game as he deals with a troublesome knee. After Sunday’s loss to Arizona he was scheduled to have his left knee drained and likely will receive an injection. That sounds like a lot of fun. He is not expected to miss any time after the All-Star break.

In the good news department, Justin Wrobleski has been added to the All-Star roster. He is 10-2 with a 2.69 ERA and is a worthy addition.

All-Star numbers

By popular demand, a look at Dodgers All-Star game career leaders:

At-bats
Steve Garvey, 22 (9 for 22)
Roy Campanella, 20 (2 for 20)
Jackie Robinson, 18 (6 for 18)
Pee Wee Reese, 17 (2 for 17)
Maury Wills, 14 (5 for 14)

Hits
Steve Garvey, 9 (22 at-bats)
Jackie Robinson, 6 (18)
Maury Wills, 5 (14)
Mike Piazza, 4 (12)
Gil Hodges, 4 (12)
Billy Herman, 4 (9)

Runs
Jackie Robinson, 7
Steve Garvey, 6
Gil Hodges, 3
Duke Snider, 3

Doubles
Jackie Robinson, 2
Steve Garvey, 2
8 players tied with 1

Triples
Steve Garvey, 2
No other Dodger has tripled

Home runs
Steve Garvey, 2
Mike Piazza, 2
Jackie Robinson, 1
Gil Hodges, 1
Jim Wynn, 1
Shohei Ohtani, 1
Willie Davis, 1
John Roseboro, 1
Mickey Owen, 1
Jim Gilliam, 1

RBI’s
Steve Garvey, 6
Mike Piazza, 4
Jackie Robinson, 4
Shohei Ohtani, 3

Stolen bases
Steve Sax, 2
Maury Wills, 1
Will Smith, 1
Shawn Green, 1
Orlando Hudson, 1

Walks
Pee Wee Reese, 3
Roy Campanella, 3
Wally Moon, 3
Steve Garvey, 2
Jackie Robinson, 2
Ron Cey, 2
Augie Galan, 2
Duke Snider, 2

Strikeouts
Roy Campanella, 5
John Roseboro, 4
Pee Wee Reese, 3
Steve Garvey, 3
Cody Bellinger, 3
Yasiel Puig, 3

Batting average (Min. 6 at-bats)
Billy Herman, .444
Steve Garvey, .409
Maury Wills, ,357
Jackie Robinson, .333
Gil Hodges, .333
Mike Piazza, .333
Duke Snider, .300

Innings pitched
Don Drysdale, 19.1
Don Newcombe, 8.2
Don Sutton 8
Fernando Valenzuela, 7.2
Clayton Kershaw, 7.2
Sandy Koufax, 6
Claude Osteen, 5

ERA (minimum 5 IP)
Claude Osteen, 0.00
Don Sutton, 0.00
Fernando Valenzuela, 0.00
Don Drysdale, 1.40
Sandy Koufax, 1.50
Clayton Kershaw, 3.52
Don Newcombe, 4.15

Strikeouts
Don Drysdale, 19
Fernando Valenzuela, 9
Don Sutton, 7
Zack Greinke, 6
Clayton Kershaw, 6
Don Newcombe, 5

Saves
Don Drysdale, 1
Jonathan Broxton, 1
Jim Brewer, 1

Current Dodgers in the All-Star game
Numbers with Dodgers only

Shohei Ohtani, .400 batting average, 2 for 4, 1 homer, 3 RBIs
Mookie Betts, .333, 1 for 3, 1 RBI
Will Smith, .200, 1 for 5, 1 double, 1 steal
Freddie Freeman, .000, 0 for 4
Teoscar Hernández, .000, 0 for 2
Max Muncy, .000, 0 for 4

These names seem familiar

How notable players who were with the Dodgers the last couple of seasons are doing with their new teams (through Sunday). Click on the player’s name to be taken to their full stats page:

Anthony Banda, Twins: 2-0, 4.46 ERA, 2 saves, 34.1 IP, 31 hits, 15 walks, 33 K’s, 97 ERA+, out for the season

Cody Bellinger, Yankees: .254/.345/.421, 403 PA’s, 19 doubles, 3 triples, 11 homers, 51 RBIs, 114 OPS+

Walker Buehler, Padres: 5-5, 5.36 ERA, 89 IP, 93 hits, 35 walks, 81 K’s, 77 ERA+

Mike Busch, Cubs: .239/.368/.395, 424 PA’s, 17 doubles, 2 triples, 11 homers, 49 RBIs, 115 OPS+

Michael Conforto, Cubs: .243/.331/.486, 160 PA’s, 10 doubles, 8 homers, 22 RBIs, 126 OPS+

Justin Dean, Cubs: .400/.500/.800, 6 PA’s, 1 triple, 3 RBIs, 259 OPS+

Caleb Ferguson, Reds: 1-0, 2.41 ERA, 1 save, 18.2 IP, 19 hits, 7 walks, 17 K’s, 185 ERA+

Jack Flaherty, Tigers: 3-8, 4.48 ERA, 82.1 IP, 76 hits, 40 walks, 98 K’s, 96 ERA+

Kenley Jansen, Tigers: 1-4, 4.56 ERA, 11 saves, 23.2 IP, 16 hits, 13 walks, 25 K’s, 95 ERA+

Craig Kimbrel, Rays: 0-2, 4.82 ERA, 28 IP, 26 hits, 11 walks, 26 K’s, 90 ERA+

Gavin Lux, Rays: on the IL

Dustin May, Cardinals: 5-6, 4.55 ERA, 93 IP, 89 hits, 28 walks, 89 K’s, 89 ERA+

Zach McKinstry, Tigers: .197/.278/.298, 248 PA’s, 6 doubles, 2 triples, 4 homers, 19 RBIs, 60 OPS+

James Outman, Tigers: .152/.221/.288, 136 PA’s, 4 doubles, 2 triples, 3 homers, 13 RBIs, 40 OPS+

Joc Pederson, Rangers: .235/.334/.462, 294 PA’s, 8 doubles, 2 triples, 15 homers, 34 RBIs, 130 OPS+

Luke Raley, Mariners: .229/.288/.453, 259 PA’s, 9 doubles, 1 triple, 14 homers, 36 RBIs, 109 OPS+

Ben Rortvedt, Mets: in the minors

Corey Seager, Rangers: .182/.292/.374, 219 PA’s, 6 doubles, 10 homers, 25 RBIs, 94 OPS+, on the IL

Justin Turner, Tijuana (Mexican League): .282/.394/.475, 216 PA’s, 17 doubles, 6 homers, 28 RBIs

Trea Turner, Phillies: .236/.284/.355, 415 PA’s, 16 doubles, 10 homers, 33 RBIs, 71 OPS+

Miguel Vargas, White Sox: .245/.355/.493, 409 PA’s, 20 doubles, 1 triple, 21 homers, 59 RBIs, 135 OPS+

Kirby Yates, Angels: 0-4, 3.00 ERA, 3 saves, 21 IP, 14 hits, 7 walks, 28 K’s, 141 ERA+

In case you missed it

Shaikin: Love it or hate it: Would the Dodgers’ NL West rivals call a Tarik Skubal trade overkill?

How Dodgers’ Justin Wrobleski went from demotion to All-Star in less than two years

Shaikin: Inside the Shohei Ohtani Economy driving a wild auction for his worn cleats

Dodgers’ top MLB draft pick Bo Lowrance eager to emulate Freddie Freeman, Corey Seager

Dodgers pitcher Justin Wrobleski added to National League roster for All-Star Game

Kiké Hernández on why he’ll miss Dodgers’ White House visit

Shohei Ohtani scratched from pitching start, won’t play in MLB All-Star Game

Why 2026 MLB draft will be special for Dodgers coach Dino Ebel’s family

Plaschke: Are the Dodgers tone deaf? White House visit is an insult to their fans

Dodgers scheduled to visit White House in late July to celebrate 2025 World Series win

Dodgers’ collab with KAWS will put acclaimed artist’s unique ‘XX’ spin on jerseys, trading cards, more

And finally

Vin Scully discusses getting Babe Ruth‘s autograph. Watch and listen here.

Until next time …

Have a comment or something you’d like to see in a future Dodgers newsletter? Email me at houston.mitchell@latimes.com. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.

SOFIA Vergara stunned fans in a bikini snap on her birthday trip to Italy – and looks nowhere near 54.

The actress took to Instagram to post a stunning picture to mark her special day.

Sofia stripped off to a plunging red bikini while on a boat in the sea.

The star enhanced her natural beauty with a smoky eye look and a nude lip.

She captioned the post: “So happy for all the love from u guys yesterday! It was the best bday ever!!! And thank u Italy for all my 300 cakes!

“54 is a good number!!!!”

NATURAL BEAUTY

Sofia Vergara goes braless in low-cut top on solo vacation amid split rumors

VIVA COLOMBIA

Sofia Vergara goes braless as she backs Colombia in stunning World Cup pic

Many rushed to the comments section to post their birthday wishes and other shared how incredible she looks.

One said: “Still looking 25.”

Another added: “You look stunning! Red is your color.”

“You are truly breathtaking,” a third chimed in.

A fourth added: “You don’t look a day older than 30 wow.”

A fifth chimed in: “Look fabulous and so beautiful good you having a great time in Italy.”

Yesterday she shared a video of her living her best life getting gifted a huge cake with a fountain candle.

She was all smiles as she danced along to the music in a figure hugging red dress.

“15 cakes later!![laughing emoji], she captioned the post.

Earlier this week she looked stunning in a plunging floral dress as she posed in the sunlight by the sea in Italy.

The Despicable Me 4 actress let her brunette hair flow around her face in the sexy pics posted to Instagram.

Sofia went braless in the red halter dress as she boasted about her wonderful day in Italy while celebrating her 54th birthday.

“Una splendida giornata [a splendid day],” Sofia captioned the post.

Emmerdale stars Matthew Wolfenden and Roxy Shahidi suffered big losses on BBC’s Celebrity Antiques Road Trip

An Emmerdale icon suffered a massive financial loss during an episode of Celebrity Antiques Road Trip, leaving their co-star thoroughly unimpressed.

In a repeated episode of the BBC programme, originally broadcast in 2024, Matthew Wolfenden and Roxy Shahidi searched the Yorkshire Dales for antique treasures with the assistance of experts Hettie Jago and Steven Moore, hoping to turn a profit.

After spending money on various items, the auction arrived – but things went disastrously wrong for both Matthew, who portrayed Davide Metcalfe on the soap, and Leyla Harding actress Roxy. Matthew’s vintage stereoscope was first, which he’d purchased for £20, but disappointingly fetched just £7.

Next came Roxy, hoping her Derbyshire pietra dura paperweight – bought for £15 – would command an impressive sum. “If this doesn’t make a profit we were robbed because that’s worth at least £100,” Roxy’s expert Steven declared.

Sadly it sold for merely £14. A devastated Stephen confessed: “I need therapy,” while Roxy watched in disbelief.

Matters deteriorated further for the soap pair when bidding commenced on Matthew’s Art Deco rouge pot, purchased for £90. The opening bid was £10, prompting Matthew to gasp “oh no,” before it eventually sold for a paltry £16, reports the Express.

Matthew’s astonished teammate Hettie was left open-mouthed, while a stunned Matthew exclaimed: “I’m gobsmacked!” Meanwhile, Roxy’s final item was a magic lantern, which they had splashed out a whopping £236 on. Sadly, it failed to generate the interest she had anticipated.

The lantern fetched a mere £30 at auction. Upon hearing the outcome, Matthew couldn’t resist a cheeky dig at his former soap co-star Roxy, chuckling away as Hettie told her: “I’m so sorry.”

When the auction wrapped up, the final tallies revealed who had come out on top financially. Roxy and Steven ended up making a loss of £284.38, meaning Matthew and Hettie were crowned the victors, having incurred a smaller loss of £225.46.

Afterwards, a triumphant Matthew teased Roxy: “Can you see the smile on my face?” Roxy replied: “Yeah I can see it.”

Matthew added: “Why’s that?” With gritted teeth Roxy said: “That’s because you won…” as Matthew erupted in celebration.

Celebrity Antiques Road Trip airs on BBC Two.

WASHINGTON — The Dodgers are scheduled to visit the White House on July 23 to celebrate their latest World Series title.

“President Trump is excited to welcome the Los Angeles Dodgers BACK to the White House to celebrate their World Series championship!,” White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers said in a statement to The Times.

The date falls on a scheduled off day in the middle of a nine-game East Coast road trip for the Dodgers. The team will play three games in Philadelphia against the Phillies July 20-22 before ending the trip with a three-game series against the New York Mets July 24 to 26.

The visit continues a tradition from the Dodgers’ two previous World Series championships. They were hosted by President Biden in 2021 and President Trump in April 2025.

After the Dodgers claimed their second consecutive World Series title with a dramatic Game 7 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays, a visit to the White House was planned, but it wasn’t until Thursday that a date was officially booked and confirmed.

Questions swirled around whether players would decline the visit this year after it did not happen during a scheduled visit to Washington in April.

Kiké Hernández said in 2018 he was unsure he would have gone had the Dodgers won the World Series the previous year. Mookie Betts said he was undecided and needed to talk it over with his family when last year’s visit was announced. After winning his first World Series with the Boston Red Sox in 2018, Betts skipped their trip to the White House the following year during Trump’s first term.

Both players, along with every returning member of the 2024 team who was with the team during its road trip, participated in the visit. The only notable absence was first baseman Freddie Freeman, who remained in Los Angeles to nurse an ankle injury.

Manager Dave Roberts, who indicated in comments to The Times in 2019 he might not go to the White House if Trump was president, also participated in last year’s ceremony.

Asked at the Dodgers’ fan festival in January about the possibility of returning to the White House, Roberts told The Times’ Bill Shaikin: “For me, I stand by: I’m a baseball manager. That’s my job.”

“I was raised — by a man who served our country for 30 years — to respect the highest office in our country,” Roberts said. “For me, it doesn’t matter who is in the office, I’m going to go to the White House. I’ve never tried to be political. … For me, I am going to continue to try to do what tradition says and not try to make political statements, because I am not a politician.”

Clayton Kershaw, who retired after last season but was on Team USA for this year’s World Baseball Classic, told The Times in the spring that he was aware Dodgers fans are split over whether the team should visit the White House again this year, but he said he is looking forward to it.

“I went when President Biden was in office. I’m going to go when President Trump is in office,” Kershaw said. “To me, it’s just about getting to go to the White House. You don’t get that opportunity every day, so I’m excited to go.”

Times deputy sports editor Ed Guzman contributed to this report.

President Donald Trump has left Turkey on an older VC-25A Air Force One jet. The U.S. Air Force’s new VC-25B Bridge aircraft had brought Trump to that country yesterday for the NATO Summit, but left without him on board earlier today. Trump had earlier confirmed that he would head from Turkey to RAF Mildenhall in the United Kingdom on the VC-25A rather than the Bridge aircraft “for old time’s sake.” The Bridge aircraft, a modified, Qatari-gifted Boeing 747-8i, flew to Mildenhall first. This is all highly unusual and has prompted questions about whether other factors, specifically changes in operational security, may be at play.

The VC-25A had followed the Bridge aircraft to the Turkish capital, Ankara, yesterday, as a backup. The change in planes follows a new round of U.S. strikes on Iran yesterday, which Trump reportedly ordered directly from the summit. Questions also continue to be raised about the full suite of communications, defensive, and other capabilities on the Bridge aircraft.

“To honor our brave men and women of the Military, we are sending the brand new, and truly spectacular, Air Force One [the VC-25B Bridge aircraft] to Mildenhall Air Force Base, in the United Kingdom, to give them a chance to tour the Aircraft – Everybody is so excited, and we thought that they should be the first,” Trump wrote earlier today on his Truth Social site. “For old time’s sake, we’ll be taking the former Air Force One, from Turkey to Mildenhall, a short trip that is totally worth doing in order to give our Great Military Heroes a chance to appreciate our beautiful new addition to the Air Force Fleet!”

“To honor our brave men and women of the Military, we are sending the brand new, and truly spectacular, Air Force One to Mildenhall Air Force Base, in the United Kingdom, to give them a chance to tour the Aircraft…” – President Donald J. Trump 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/Nf2qCGDKUs

— The White House (@WhiteHouse) July 8, 2026

While Trump referred to the VC-25As as “former” Air Force One aircraft in his Truth Social post, the Air Force has expressly confirmed to TWZ that they are set to remain in service and in the rotation despite the delivery of the Bridge jet. It’s also worth remembering that any Air Force aircraft that carries the President will use the Air Force One callsign.

RAF Mildenhall is a major hub for U.S. air operations and was heavily utilized to support strikes on Iran earlier this year. The President has also hinted that the Bridge aircraft may make stops elsewhere in Europe before returning home.

“It’s flying to Europe to one of the big bases, two or three of the big bases, where we can show it to the people,” Trump also said at a press conference at the NATO summit today in response to a question about his travel plans. “We’ll be going home by normal methods.”

Q: But why aren’t you flying the new plane home?

TRUMP: Uh, it’s flying to Europe to one of the big bases where we can show it to the people. And we’ll be going home by uh normal methods pic.twitter.com/rWXV3bsGla

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) July 8, 2026

“We are boarding the old, big plane. No eyes on POTUS / no under wing gaggle.” Politico‘s Megan Messerly, a member of the press pool accompanying Trump, also shared before the VC-25A left Ankara. “We have been advised to keep our window shades in the press cabin closed. See you on the other side.”

Travel pool note #25 // Wheels up 🛫

We are wheels up from Ankara as of 8:43 p.m. We have been advised to keep our window shades in the press cabin closed. See you on the other side.

Megan Messerly
POLITICO
Wed. Jul. 8, 8:44 PM

— White House Press Pool Reports (@WHPressPool) July 8, 2026

Travel pool note #24 // Boarding AF1 ✈️

We arrived to Ankara Esenboga Airport at 8:25 p.m.

We are boarding the old, big plane. No eyes on POTUS / no under wing gaggle.

Megan Messerly
POLITICO
Wed. Jul. 8, 8:28 PM

— White House Press Pool Reports (@WHPressPool) July 8, 2026

As noted, President Trump traveled to the NATO summit aboard the VC-25B Bridge aircraft and with one of the Air Force’s two existing VC-25As in tow. This was the first time Trump had used the Bridge jet for an overseas trip. The President flew on the aircraft for the first time ever last week for a visit to North Dakota for events marking the 250th anniversary of the United States. A VC-25A was also used as a backup for that trip.

The Boeing VC-25B Bridge, Air Force One, carrying President Donald J. Trump has landed in Ankara, Turkey, ahead of this week’s NATO Summit. pic.twitter.com/Qqea5RihiM

— OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) July 7, 2026

As also mentioned, U.S. forces launched new strikes on Iran yesterday. “President Trump approved and ordered the Iran strikes from the NATO summit” after meeting “with senior U.S. officials in Ankara, including Joint Chiefs Chairman Dan Caine, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio,” according to a report from The New York Times, citing an unnamed U.S. official.

The latest U.S. strikes were in response to a new round of Iranian attacks on commercial ships in and around the Strait of Hormuz. Earlier today, Trump raised the prospect of further action against Iran tonight. This, in turn, has prompted new concerns about the possibility of the resumption of a large-scale conflict between the two countries, as you can read more about in TWZ‘s separate reporting here.

A key requirement for aircraft serving in the Air Force One role is ensuring the President remains securely in contact with top U.S. military leaders, as well as other senior officials, to be able to respond immediately to any serious contingency. This would be particularly important now, given the fluidity of the situation in the Middle East and the prospect of further military action against Iran in the very near term. Key planning efforts and other meetings are likely to be underway.

The decision to strike Iran yesterday and the possibility of doing so again today may well have also had impacts on the overall force protection posture around Trump. The regime in Tehran has threatened Trump directly on multiple occasions in the past.

As an aside here, pictures now circulating on social media also show tractor-trailer trucks and tarps apparently being used to at least try to block the view of Mildenhall from a spot outside of the base’s perimeter where plane spotters regularly gather. Spotters have still been able to catch glimpses of the Bridge aircraft.

#USAF United States Air Force

Boeing VC-25B Bridge 1x#AF83F3 25-3300 – SAM 33

SAM 33, the new VC-25B, is en route to RAF Mildenhall from Turkey.

The USAF are currently covering the fences of the usual viewing areas at Mildenhall. pic.twitter.com/Y7OopAF9pj

— Armchair Admiral 🇬🇧 (@ArmchairAdml) July 8, 2026

TWZ, as well as others, have consistently raised serious questions about the adequacy of modifications done to the ex-Qatari 747-8i to prepare it for its new role. L3Harris led the conversion work and delivered the Bridge aircraft to the Air Force within the space of just 10 months.

Defensive countermeasures, in particular, take time and careful work to integrate onto any airframe, let alone a newer type for which there might not be pre-existing procedures. Rigorous testing has to be done after integration to ensure those systems work as intended and do not conflict with other features, physically or in the radiofrequency spectrum. To date, there have been no visible signs of any of the obvious defensive systems installed on the VC-25As present on the VC-25B Bridge aircraft.

U.S. officials and L3Harris have repeatedly downplayed any operational security or other concerns surrounding the newest addition to the Air Force’s executive transport fleet, but questions remain. This has been just one aspect of the criticism and controversy surrounding the jet. The very circumstances surrounding its gifting to the U.S. government were highly irregular, and the justification for needing it at all remains a subject of debate.

Just yesterday, Breaking Defense reported that a group of 13 Democratic Senators, led by Connecticut’s Chris Murphy, had sent a letter to Secretary of the Air Force Troy Meink and L3Harris CEO Chris Kubasik asking for more information to address their ongoing concerns. The legislators contend that the Trump administration has been stonewalling their request so far, according to that story.

For its part, Boeing has been working for years now to transform a pair of other 747-8is into fully-equipped VC-25B Air Force One jets. That program has been mired in delays and cost growth, and the first of these two jets is not expected to be delivered until 2029. The Air Force also now has an additional ex-Lufthansa 747-8i that it is using as a trainer for aircrew and ground personnel assigned to support the expanded VC-25 fleet. Another former Lufthansa 747 will be cannibalized for spare parts.

If nothing else, Trump has now flown overseas on the new VC-25B Bridge aircraft, but his trip today underscores that the older VC-25As are very much still available if needed.

Update: 7:02 PM ET –

The VC-25A carrying President Donald Trump has arrived at RAF Mildenhall.

“We just landed and met up with our new Air Force One, which was sent earlier to RAF Mildenhall, so we could show the wonderful Servicemembers, as per the entire Base’s request. They were very excited, picture enclosed,” Trump wrote in another post on Truth Social, which was also shared on other official White House social media accounts. “It was on our way back to the States from Turkey, with virtually no deviation of flightpath.”

One of the U.S. Air Force’s C-32A executive transport aircraft was also spotted arriving at RAF Mildenhall ahead of the VC-25A. The C-32A was later seen being moved from where it had been parked on the apron to make way for Air Force One.

Special thanks to local aviation photographer Andrew McKelvey for sharing his pictures of the VC-25B Bridge aircraft arriving at Mildenhall.

Contact the author: joe@twz.com

RIGHT on the front and offering gorgeous views, Weymouth’s elegant Hotel Prince Regent is a focal point for tourists who flock to be beside the seaside.

Venture inside, and there are 75 comfy bedrooms with a cosy lounge that’s ideal for whiling away the afternoon. It’s the perfect home away from home.

And best of all, I was chauffeured straight to the front door by coach.

This Georgian-style property is one of several charming hotels bookable through Daish’s Holidays, a UK coach-break specialist for the over-sixties.

It certainly helps to remove all the faff from transportation, food and entertainment.

Stays include pick-up from a number of accessible spots around the UK (or you can drive yourself), plus there’s regular entertainment and half-board accommodation, meaning lunch is the only meal you need to spend on.

TEMPTED?

Tiny ‘Bali of Europe’ town with stunning beaches, €3 cocktails and £20 flights

HOLS AT HOME

UK beaches we rate BETTER than abroad – with stays from £12pp a night

My Weymouth base is handy for the Esplanade, which runs for well over a mile to the harbour.

A stroll along here into the old town and colourful working port area takes ten minutes or so with lots of seats and shelters along the way, or you can grab the bus from the stop just outside.

Bikes are not allowed in the summer, making it a pleasure to stroll.

Be sure to enjoy time in the old town and admire the wonderfully preserved buildings, including The Tudor House Museum on the south of the harbour.

The Nothe Fort stands guard nearby and it’s a gentle climb from the old town – or a steeper climb by steps – but well worth a visit for the views and a peep into the history of the place.

If walking is big on your list then you’re in luck as this area is on the famous Jurassic coast, with fossils dating back 185 million years.

I consider myself to be a bit of an old fossil, so it was apt that I treated myself to a local souvenir, a tiny fossilised local ammonite – a mere 175million years old. I came away feeling I am a spring chicken in comparison!

If you’re feeling a little peckish, the fishing harbour has great pubs and restaurants with lots of outdoor tables.

The boats land their catch on the dockside where you will find a wonderful fresh fish market.

They will even ice pack some for taking home should you wish.

Keep your eyes peeled for the road bridge.

Built in 1930 to connect the north and south side of the harbour, it opens up every two hours to allow taller boats to enter the marina.

In high season there is also a rowboat ferry service you can use instead of taking the bridge.

In the evening there was no need to leave the hotel, as the nightly entertainment in the Crown Ball Room was top-notch with a mix of very good singers, as well as bingo and quizzes.

Before heading home, I couldn’t resist a ride on the old-fashioned Helter Skelter in Weymouth’s amusement park.

I last slid down one when I was under 11, so I was not surprised when the ticket man gave me a look.

Excited, I carried the mat up and whizzed down.

Although it is just as high, the ride seemed to have shrunk over the years.

So, of course, I had to go up one more time, just because I could.

Prince Harry will not be joined by his wife the Duchess of Sussex and their two children when he visits London next week, it is understood.

Meghan, Archie, seven, and Lilibet, five, will not travel to London as had originally been planned after it was confirmed that the family would not be provided with taxpayer funded police security during the visit.

There remains a possibility that they will join Harry later in the week when the trip moves from London to the Midlands.

Harry is in the UK on a five-day trip to mark the one-year countdown to the Invictus Games in Birmingham.

Last month, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex accepted an offer to stay in a royal residence with their two children during the visit.

He had previously said he wouldn’t bring his wife and children to the country without improved security arrangements.

Speaking to the BBC last year, he said he “can’t see a world in which I would be bringing my wife and children back to the UK at this point”.

The challenge over security has been over the rulings of the Royal and VIP Executive Committee (Ravec), which decides on the security provision for senior royals and other public figures.

Prince Harry and Meghan were last together in the UK in 2022, at the time of the funeral of the late Queen Elizabeth II.

He has since travelled to the UK alone – he met his father on a trip last September.

Swimming ashore from the boat I can see a narrow shingle beach covered in driftwood. There are logs, bamboo canes and the sundried planks of an old shipwreck. The steep climb up the hill behind is not easy. I skirt thick clumps of thorn and abandoned ancient olive trees, scrambling over jagged outcrops of limestone. Every time I curl my fingers into a rocky niche I think about snakes. The only residents, however, are spiders. Their webs are strung between the trees, and so thick and strong that I grab a stick to slash through them. No one has been here for a long time.

Near the hilltop I stumble on a ruined stone building. Who lived here, I wonder? And where have they gone? A few steps further and the land abruptly ends in a vertical white cliff that plummets into an improbably blue sea. Far away, in the haze, there is a stack of Ionian islands and one of them, I know, must be Ithaca.

At that moment I feel footsteps running across my forehead and let out an involuntary scream. An arachnid Achilles has come to take revenge. I leap up, arms flailing. The eight-legged hero heads for the underworld of my left armpit.

In the original epic tales of human adventure, the action starts in the middle of the story, a rule first identified by the Roman poet Horace. At that central moment our protagonist is in a terrible state: probably lost at sea, often naked, and always alone. We want to know: how did things get to this nadir, and where will they go now? It’s a pattern repeated over and over. Take, for example, that ancient classic The Bourne Identity, a 2002 film starring Matt Damon, who appears in the opening sequences floating in the Med like a stunned octopus. He doesn’t even know who he is, but with the hospitality of strangers and cathartic bouts of extreme violence, he inches towards his happy place.

Now Matt gets to do it all again, in a pleated skirt and bronze helmet, appearing as Odysseus in Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey, a $250m blockbuster due for release on 17 July in the UK and US and starring almost every deity in the Hollywood heavens. Go back to the literary Odysseus, however (with Emily Wilson’s brilliant recent translation), and he is much more than a Hollywood action hero. This home-loving husband is also a pathological liar, serial philanderer, murderer, carpenter and, most famously, a traveller. And like all travellers, sitting around the campfire at some later date with listeners agog, he is forced to confront the thorny problem of how to convey the full visceral impact of what happened on his journey and hold his audience. Traditionally, there are two options: the full truth, or the fuller truth.

Back on the clifftop, tickled to death by Achilles, I dive into the improbably blue sea only to find that my assailant has become a six-headed monster that’s dragging me towards a giant whirlpool. And I’ve lost my glasses.

I had come a few days earlier to the Greek mainland and set sail for Ithaca. This is actually easier than it might seem. First, track down a friend with the correct sailing credentials (or get them yourself at the Royal Yachting Association), then gather a crew and search out a boat. Alternatively, pay the extra and hire a skipper. We sailed with Neilson Holidays, which has a mainland base near Palairos on the Ionian Sea. Depending on experience and qualifications, you can either follow a flotilla or go it alone. We arrive and find our boat, Cafard, which my multilingual skipper friend, Fabian, translates as Depressed Cockroach. I wonder if it’s a misspelling of Cavafy (Constantine P), the Greek poet who wrote:

When you set out for Ithaca
Ask that your way be long,
Full of adventure, full of instruction

We stock up and set sail. Adventure and instruction is our hope. My wife, Sophie, has never sailed before and is scoffing seasickness tablets faster than Odysseus’s men gobbled down the sun god’s cattle, and that did not end well. Can we discover a Homeric sense of wonder and novelty on our voyage to Ithaca? And report back truthfully?

Despite the yacht name, the beginning is auspicious. Leaving Palairos we sail into a pod of dolphins, swarming around the bows, close enough to make eye contact. That night is spent on Kalamos, a steep-sided wooded island with a tiny port. In the taverna, cats stretch out under chairs where old men are making a glass of ouzo stretch out too. There is talk of a crashed military drone found by fishermen in a sea cave north of here. The engine was still running and there were 100kg of explosives on board. Is this story also getting stretched a little, I wonder? Or is it connected to the presence of unfriendly Russians on some islands, hiding behind warning signs for savage dogs? Odysseus would not like that. He was fine-tuned to any abuse of hospitality, and perhaps a tad oversensitive when it came to other men flirting with his wife.

The next morning we sail out, stopping at Porto Leone, a village on Kalamos abandoned after the 1953 earthquake. The plan is to stop again at the island of Atokos, where wild pigs reputedly swim off the beach, but the wind picks up and we are properly smashing through the waves. Fabian is loving it. Sophie, amazed not to feel seasick, is letting out shrieks of joy.

We head for Kioni on Ithaca, little more than a scattering of old houses around an exquisite harbour. In August, I’m told, the berths are all taken before lunchtime. The waterfront is a lovely mix: a corner shop that stocks everything, a top-notch bakery, tavernas and some swish boutiques all tied together with colourful plumes of bougainvillaea. In one arty studio, a yachtie with auburn hair and a regal manner is demanding the price of a swordfish sculpture.

“It’s €15,000,” purrs the assistant.

Not everything is so pricey: we find that a good dinner with wine can be had for less than €25 each.

The next day, I walk some of the island’s footpaths, a network that badly needs a strimmer. In the town of Stavros, the tiny museum holds an astonishing array of Homeric treasure that was found in a nearby cave: a second-century BC shard of pottery bearing the inscription “pray to Odysseus” and several pieces of bronze tripod cauldron dated to the ninth century BC. In local minds these are some of the Phaeacian gifts mentioned in The Odyssey.

A mile further up the trail, at a site known as the School of Homer, are the ruins of what may have been a palace – sufficient evidence for locals to build a model in Stavros town square and confidently identify the bedroom of Odysseus. Listen closely and you can almost hear him: “Honestly Penelope, they both bewitched me. I was a sex slave. I couldn’t wait to get home.” The tradition of Odyssean tall tale-telling is in robust good health.

In the highly recommended Margarita Cafe there is another fine tradition on display: cakes. The local speciality is rovani, a delicious spicy concoction served with ice-cream.

Our voyage takes in Kefalonia and the noisy mainland port of Sivota, but the highlight comes with that lonely anchorage off the mysterious island of Meganisi. Parts of the Ionian coast are undergoing a building boom – glass and concrete palaces spreading across the hillsides like a nasty rash. But here we find tranquillity: snorkelling through shoals of fish, exploring vast sea caves and raising a toast to that magnificent poet Homer, and the inspiration he has given to so many for almost three millennia. After a week on the water, we sail back to Palairos. We have all had a great time, even the nervous first-time mariner. I leave with vivid memories, not least that desperate underwater struggle with the deadly spider woman who stole my glasses.

The trip was provided by Neilson Holidays: a seven-day South Ionian flotilla cruise from £595pp (for four adults) including flights from Gatwick; skippered boat from £1,145pp. Travel to London was provided by LNER and accommodation for a trip to the British Museum’s Ancient Greece section by Radisson Blu Bloomsbury

IF you’re dreaming of sun-soaked beaches, crystal-clear waters, and glam hotels but your bank account is saying otherwise, you don’t have to cancel your summer plans just yet.

While traditional holiday hotspots like Spain and Greece are reliable, they are becoming increasingly expensive.

Luckily, there’s a handful of stunning European destinations offering amazing holiday vibes for a fraction of the cost.

How about the white sand beaches of Albania, or the affordable resorts of Montenegro

We’ve rounded up three incredible, wallet-friendly European countries where your money stretches further.

This means spectacular package holiday deals starting from just £159pp.

Read more on cheap holidays

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Albania

Bathed in sunshine for over 300 days a year, Albania offers stunning natural landscapes, sweeping beaches and cheap hotels that feel ultra-luxurious.

The coastline blends the dramatic, rugged scenery of the Balkans with the sparkling, turquoise waters of the Adriatic and Ionian seas.

Your budget stretches remarkably far here compared to holiday hotspots like the Greece or Italy.

For a mix of golden beaches and historical sites, head to Durres, where you can climb the Venetian Tower or explore Roman ruins for free.

For wallet-friendly restaurants and stunning landscapes, try Sarande, which is home to the Butrint National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site with scenic thick forest overlooking the shore.

Or head to Vlore to stroll its pretty old town lined with boutique cafes and shops, hop on a boat trip to visit stunning sea caves and stay in one of its super glam hotels for a very affordable price.

OUR TOP DEAL

The four-star Ames Hotel & Spa in Vlore is a glamorous hotel with its own private beach and spa.

It’s a small, friendly hotel that is perfect for couples, where you can spend your days taking beach walks and unwinding in the sauna and steam bath.

The deal we’ve found is for early October, which would still be nice and warm with temperatures sitting at 24°C.

The five night stay with breakfast at the Ames Hotel & Spa in Vlore, including return flights from London Luton, is for £219pp.

Montenegro

More and more Brits are catching on to Montenegro as their next holiday destination, with its other-worldly beaches and affordable package holidays.

Budva is a buzzing coastal spot with a walled medieval Old Town to explore, and even an island you can visit called Sveti Nikola dubbed by locals as ‘Hawaii Island’.

For a spot of sunbathing, head to Mogren Beach, where towering limestone cliffs shelter two sandy coves with turquoise waters.

Similarly, spots like Ulcinj and Bar are great value coastal towns – Ulcinj is home to Velika Plaza, or ‘Long Beach’, an eight-mile stretch of sand with shallow waters to paddle in and activities like kite boarding.

While Bar is home to unique attractions like Red Beach, a cove with a maroon-coloured shore, and King Nikola’s Palace, a castle-turned-museum surrounded by lush green gardens.

Visit Becici for endless golden beaches dotted with loungers, activities like paragliding and paddleboarding, and high-end hotels for cheap.

OUR TOP DEAL

The Eurostars Queen of Montenegro hotel is in Becici, where a pristine stretch of beach is backed by a line of luxurious yet affordable hotels, visited by the likes of Madonna and Angelina Jolie.

The hotel itself has a huge wellness zone with a Turkish bath, tropical shower, saunas and whirlpool – as well as a sprawling outdoor infinity pool.

Rooms alone usually cost between £200 – £250 per night, however we’ve found a very affordable deal.

We found a deal for a five night stay with breakfast at the Eurostars Queen of Montenegro in Becici, including return flights from London Stansted, for £325pp.

Bulgaria

You might already know about Sunny Beach, but Bulgaria is home to a whole host of affordable coastal resorts that you may never have heard of.

Just south of Sunny Beach, Nessebar is the affordable and arguably more beautiful neighbour.

Both the north and south beach offer soft sands and clear, shallow water – plus a strip of seafront bars and restaurants that feel less chaotic than the party vibes of

This ancient city feels like an open air museum, with and Old Town packed with 20 ancient Byzantine churches and a fascinating ancient fortifications.

Further up the coast you’ll find Golden Sands, a resort that earns its name with a two-mile beach backed by a buy promenade lined with buzzy restaurants and seafront bars.

This family-friendly resort town also has plenty of attractions and activities like Aquapolis Water Park and off-road buggies.

OUR TOP DEAL

Perla Golden Sands is an action-packed, family-friendly hotel backed by the vibrant greenery of a natural park.

The hotel has plenty to do for kids, including an adventure playground, kids club, evening shows and activities like table tennis and horse riding.

And a week-long holiday is an absolute bargain.

We found a deal for a seven night stay with breakfast at the Perla Golden Sands with return flights from London Luton for £209pp.

*Prices correct at the time of publication.

WASHINGTON — President Trump on Wednesday took his maiden voyage on a new Air Force One — a retrofitted Boeing 747 worth $400 million gifted by Qatar that embeds his personality more deeply into the institution of the American presidency.

Gone is the trademark light blue hull that helped Air Force One blend into the sky. The refurbished jet is painted to Trump’s preferred color scheme of a navy blue belly and red and gold stripes. It has the luxury features that the president believes a commander-in-chief’s entourage should have — plush carpets, lie-flat seats, wood paneling and a presidential seal on the seat belts, according to reported tours of the plane.

Trump told reporters that he was proud of the luxurious plane. “You can do two things: You can low-key it, or you can show it,” he said.

Reporters are generally not permitted to take photos on the plane unless Trump is present. But on Wednesday, Trump administration staffers posted images of the plane’s interior on social media.

White House communications director Steven Cheung posted a photo of aides gathered around a circular table that had off-white place mats and leather captain’s chairs. Monica Crowley, the chief of U.S. protocol, posted a picture of herself perched on a leather couch between a pair of Air Force One throw pillows. Mounted on the wall behind her was a framed photo of the Thomas Jefferson Memorial.

The jet carried Trump to North Dakota to see the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library, its first official visitor ahead of its opening on the nation’s 250th anniversary.

The gift from the Middle Eastern power raised ethical concerns, but Trump saw the plane as a necessary replacement to the 35-year-old planes that had previously ferried him as president.

“This is a gift from a country that has treated us very well,” Trump said.

The new jet will only temporarily be in the nation’s service, as Boeing is expected to deliver in 2028 long-delayed planes that will permanently serve as Air Force One. Trump, a Republican, has said in the past that the Qatar plane would end up in a presidential library.

The Air Force has said that it did little to change the cabin layout of the plane and that it spent less than $400 million on security upgrades.

Nikhinson and Boak write for the Associated Press.

FOR less than a visit to the British seaside, one man flew thousands of miles away for a day trip.

Aleksander Sikora, from Surrey, took a 24-hour break to Kosovo for just £88 – including his return flights.

Taking a day off from his job, Aleksander took a six-hour round trip to the lesser visited capital city of Pristina in Kosovo.

He started his day at 7.25am and was back at the airport for his return flight at 11.55pm.

Aleksander said: “I decided to go to Kosovo because I’ve never been there before and it’s something a bit different to just going to Spain or Portugal.

“It’s cheaper than a seaside day out, a train from London to Brighton could be around £40, and with food and drinks it could be over £100.”

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Aleksander managed to get Wizz Air return flights to Kosovo for just £42.

On top of that, his parking at Luton Airport cost £20.

A return bus journey into the city centre was £6, an eSIM was £10, and he spent just £10 on food and drink.

All in all, the one day trip cost him £88.

As for what to do in the city, Aleksander saw the Cathedral of Mother Teresa and the National Library of Kosovo, which has been dubbed the “ugliest building in the world”.

He added: “The library was my favourite part because it’s so unusual.”

Aleksander also went to see the Newborn monument, which represents Kosovo becoming an independent nation.

There’s also a statue of Bill Clinton, which was put up in 2009 to honour the part the former president had in Kosovo achieving independence.

When it was time to eat, Aleksander bought jam pastries for 80p and a sandwich for €3 (£2.58).

He said: “I would absolutely recommend Kosovo as a day trip.

“I know the flight is three hours, but it’s a completely different way of life, and I made some great memories.”

Narin Flanders hit le road with her family, stopping off at Disneyland and Eurocamp as part of a tour of the country that began with Brittany Ferries and ended with Le Shuttle

There are plenty of good reasons to swap flying for a driving holiday this summer: airline prices are creeping up, airport strikes are planned in several European hub cities and rumblings about jet fuel availability with the ongoing issues in the Strait of Hormuz.

However, why my family and I finally took the plunge, after months of reading about roadtrips online, was a reason much closer to home. As a family of four allergic to the concept of travelling light, the idea of being able to fill our Kia Sportage with everyone’s (admittedly often non-essential) essentials and travel to a few different places in one trip was a tempting prospect.

So we took the plunge and put together an itinerary, including a bit of something for everybody. We started by getting on a Brittany Ferry at Portsmouth, travelling five hours to Caen and then two hours cross-country to a Eurocamp in Domaine des Ormes, Brittany.

Do you have a travel story to share? Email webtravel@reachplc.com

We started with four days of Center Parcs style, living at a fraction of the price of a hotel. Swimming, ziplines, and playgrounds were aplenty (along with unlimited wifi – it wasn’t all Swallows and Amazons ). Then we meandered across to Le Mans as a treat for my husband and I, who are both major racing fans.

From the hallowed tarmac, we headed towards the capital to visit Disneyland Paris. After two full days at the European House of the Mouse, soaking up the new Adventure World Park as well as fulfilling all my son’s and my Marvel nerd dreams, we took Le Shuttle home.

While we were definitely nervous about driving abroad, what I realised quickly was that Gemini could answer lots of questions and even help plot the itinerary, right down to recommending great towns between our main destinations with things to do with the kids.

Planning ahead allowed us to get organised with essentials. In France, there’s a lot to consider to stay road legal. All cars driving in France need to have a safety kit in the boot in case of an emergency by law. They’re easily bought from Amazon for around £20, although make sure to buy extra high viz jackets if needed – everyone in the car needs their own.

Meanwhile, an Emovis tag is a £9 Bluetooth gadget that you can place on your dashboard and then just drive through tolls and be billed afterwards. It arrived in the UK in plenty of time for our trip, and we loved not having to faff with coins or payment cards at tolls along the way.

Cars driving in major cities that have been designated low-emission zones also need a Crit’Air sticker. These cost €4.71 (£4) including delivery and can be ordered from the French transport ministry – although beware the scam sites that come up on Google suggesting you order through them at a higher price. Cars without a Crit’Air can be fined €68, so if you think you’re going to stray into low-emission zones, it’s worth getting one for peace of mind.

While, of course, driving in France involves getting used to being on the wrong side of the road, once we were actually there, the experience was largely stress-free. I’d say French drivers are better at using motorways properly than we are – middle lane hogs didn’t seem to be much of a thing.

There are some differences, though. Notably, the responsibility for drivers to give way to cars joining the motorway, so remembering to move over took some getting used to. We were relieved to find Google Maps worked effectively everywhere we went, so it’s definitely worth paying for roaming data or picking up a temporary SIM from brands like Lebara or Smarty that include it free.

While a driving holiday was slightly out of our comfort zone, it turned into a fun family adventure we’d absolutely do again.

As well as the joys of the individual stops – and surprise diversions along the way, including discovering an unassuming restaurant with steak frites so epic it has become the stuff of family legend – we found, much to my surprise, that the time spent in the car watching the French landscape go by became part of the fun.

At home we’d be firmly in ‘are we there yet?’ territory, but a family Spotify playlist sharing our favourite songs and regular stops at French petrol stations for snacks made the drive as much a part of the adventure as everything else.

Book it

Narin stayed at the Domaine des Ormes Eurocamp. Currently, a four night stay for a two bedroom lodge through Eurocamp starting on Monday, July 20 is £975. For the October half term, Eurocamp is £289.64 for four nights.

The cost of taking a car on Le Shuttle starts at £69, and £89 for Brittany Ferries.

MACUNGIE, Pa. — President Trump visited a Mack Trucks facility in battleground Pennsylvania on Tuesday, attempting to shift attention to the U.S. economy in his first major public event outside the nation’s capital since he signed an interim agreement to end the Iran war.

The trip to Macungie, in the Allentown suburbs, came as Trump works to put the conflict — and the higher gasoline prices it caused — in the rearview mirror as the November midterm elections draw closer.

Trump had a private tour of the facility, but his speech often felt more like a reelection rally from two years ago than an effort to promote his second-term accomplishments.

The president listed longstanding political grievances, and made only passing mentions of promoting Republicans ahead of Election Day — while spending more time bragging about the UFC fight he staged on the White House lawn in honor of his own 80th birthday than he did the economy.

At one point, Trump even called UFC fighters Bo Nickal and Anthony Cassar to the stage and mused about whether he could beat either one of them in a wrestling match if he were to “work out for the next couple of months.”

It was Trump’s fifth second-term visit to Pennsylvania, a state whose support in 2016 and 2024 helped him to win the White House. The truck factory is in a district where incumbent Republican Rep. Ryan Mackenzie faces Democratic challenger Bob Brooks in November.

“For more than 100 years, this legendary company has been making trucks right here in eastern Pennsylvania,” Trump said, “building the heavy duty machinery that keeps our economy rolling, our factories moving, and our industries roaring all across the nation.”

His visit coincided with rising prices that could color the verdict voters render on Trump’s stewardship in the fall. About one-third of U.S. adults approved of Trump’s approach to the economy, according to a June Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll. That’s in line with last month for Trump on the issue.

The Iran war, which began Feb. 28, has also been a politically difficult issue for the president. Most Americans continued to disapprove of his handling of Iran, according to the June AP-NORC poll, which was being fielded as Trump announced a tentative deal with Iran and concluded just before the interim agreement was signed last week. It found that 65% of U.S. adults disapprove of how the president is handling issues with Iran, unchanged from May.

Still, while most Democrats and independents view Trump’s actions negatively, only about 3 in 10 Republicans are unhappy.

This is the kind of district that matters in November elections

Trump addressed a cheering crowd from a stage erected on the factory floor, flanked by two red, white and blue trucks and rows of workers in fluorescent safety vests under a large “American Workers First” banner.

It’s the kind of district that may prove pivotal to Republicans holding narrow control of the House, where a loss could hobble the president’s final two years in office.

Mackenzie, a freshman lawmaker, is looking to hold on to a district Democrats have targeted to flip. Brooks, president of the state firefighters’ union, has support from Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro, who’s also seeking reelection this year.

Trump urged the crowd to support Mackenzie, saying of his trip, “I’m not doing this for my health.” But he devoted more energy to issues such as the U.S.-Mexico border, opposing transgender rights and decrying “Marxist” judges, while also referencing his administration’s efforts to lower prescription drug prices.

“We gotta win the midterms,” Trump said, in one of the few references he made to the midterms. Later, however, he suggested it wasn’t actually a “political season,” perhaps because he himself won’t be on the ballot in November.

On Iran, Trump suggested that the country would be smart and keep negotiating during the ceasefire. “Otherwise we’ll have to finish the job, which will take about, maybe less than a week,” he said.

An odd moment came when the president offered, “The ideology of the Muslims is slightly different than the ideology of the Catholics. We have the Catholics and the Muslims slightly different.” He didn’t elaborate.

Biden came to the same plant previously

Trump’s predecessor, Democrat Joe Biden, visited the same Mack Trucks facility in 2021 to highlight regulations aimed at promoting manufacturing jobs. Manufacturing employment peaked in 1979 at nearly 19.6 million jobs. It trended downward after the 2001 recession and the 2007-9 Great Recession. The figure now stands at 12.6 million as of May, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

In 2025, the truck facility got hit by market uncertainty, including sweeping tariffs that Trump’s administration imposed, and about 170 people were laid off, according to Mack spokesperson Kimberly Pupillo. She added that by the end of last year, almost 150 people were recalled to work and anyone laid off last year was given the chance to return.

There are about 2,800 workers at Mack, Pupillo said.

At a pizzeria down the road from the truck facility, workers and diners said they’d heard about the president’s visit and recalled Biden’s trip to the plant.

George Carver, a retired elementary school principal, said he wasn’t a fan of Trump’s. “I’m looking for a president who’ll clean up this mess,” he said, meaning improve the economy and better handle the war in Iran and immigration.

“I’m looking for someone who’s gonna tell the truth — that could be a Democrat or Republican,” Carver said.

Trump’s visit underscores Pennsylvania’s status as a crucial swing state.

Trump made a trip to Mount Pocono in December 2025 to road test messages that he’s addressing affordability; in July 2025, he was in Pittsburgh to tout tens of billions of dollars of recent energy and technology investments in the state; in June 2025, he was in West Mifflin to tell steelworkers he was doubling the tariff on steel imports to protect the industry; and in March 2025, he attended the NCAA wrestling championship in Philadelphia.

Denise Green, a retired software trainer, was among a handful of people protesting the visit outside a McDonald’s across the street from the plant.

Green said she was a former Republican who became a Democrat in 2007 because her original party backed policies where “all the money” was going to the rich.

Green said her key issue was Social Security funding, which she said she’ll need but is worried could run out.

“It’s outrageous,” she said.

Catalini and Kim write for the Associated Press.

The Italian prime minister has accused Trump of making up a story that she ‘begged’ him for a photo at the G7 summit in France.

A diplomatic row between United States President Donald Trump and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has escalated, with Italy’s top diplomat cancelling an upcoming visit to the US.

At issue is Trump’s claim that Meloni “begged” him for a photograph during the Group of Seven (G7) meeting in France earlier in the week.

“She’s probably happy I talked to her. I didn’t have to talk to her,” Trump reportedly told the Italian La7 network. The broadcaster only published a dubbed Italian version of the interview, not the original English version.

“She begged me to take a picture with her. She wanted a picture with me so badly. I wouldn’t have taken it, but I felt sorry for her.”

On Friday, Meloni posted a video answering Trump’s statement, saying that “certain things deserve an immediate response”.

“Donald Trump’s statements are completely fabricated. I am frankly stunned,” she said. “I don’t know why the president of the United States behaves this way toward his own allies. After all, this isn’t the first time this has happened.”

The head of a far-right party who campaigned on an anti-immigrant platform, Meloni had long been seen as one of Trump’s most supportive counterparts in Europe.

She had met with Trump at his Mar-a-Lago estate following his 2024 election victory and attended his inauguration in January 2025.

However, the pair have diverged during Trump’s second term over several issues, including support for Ukraine amid Russia’s invasion, the US-Israeli war with Iran, Trump’s threats to seize the Danish territory of Greenland and his criticism of Pope Leo.

In her video, Meloni said it was a “shame” Trump did not show “the same resolve toward the enemies of the West, toward the enemies of the United States” as he did in his statements against her.

She accused the US president of being “much more accommodating” to foes than allies.

“But there’s one thing he must remember: Italy and I do not beg,” she said.

Shortly after Meloni posted the video, Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said he was cancelling a weekend trip to the US, where he was scheduled to attend a business forum in Miami, Florida and meet with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

He called Trump’s reported statements “serious and offensive”. Several other government officials also weighed in.

Justice Minister Carlo Nordio suggested Trump’s remarks besmirched the legacy of the US soldiers who died during World War II.

“The thousands of crosses marking the graves of American soldiers who died to free us from Nazi-Fascist dictatorship did not deserve such a painful blow to our fraternal ties,” Nordio posted on X.

Defence Minister Guido Crosetto said he did not believe Meloni would ever beg for a photo, “not even under threat”.

“Jokes of this kind do no good to anyone: neither to the USA, nor to Italy, nor to the alliance,” he said.

The White House did not immediately respond to Meloni’s comments.

One of my favourite recent photographs is of me (unusually), perched on the bonnet of our car, about to set off on a solo, two-week road trip from our Sussex home to the wilds of Scotland, taking in Eryri (Snowdonia), Lancashire, the Lake District and Yorkshire. I had no idea that the research trip I was about to embark on – for my book, which traces the story of British holidays over 400 years – was going to reveal my homeland as somewhere I barely knew.

As a southerner, it was the northern half of Britain that I needed to discover. I’d stitched together my route with visits to museums, archives and classic seaside resorts that had once blazed so brightly. I’d visited Cumbria before, but the Conwy coast, the Lancashire countryside, Blackpool, Morecambe, Scarborough? All these were unknowns.

My first stop was Eryri, where it turned out my hotel, the Royal Oak in Betws-y-Coed, had been welcoming artists such as JMW Turner since the late 18th century. Fifty years later, it became the hub of the country’s first artists’ colony, drawn here by the dramatic beauty of the dense, bottle-green swathes of the Gwydir Forest and the spectacular peaks of the Glyderau range and Moel Siabod.

Over coffee, hotel manager Katie Valentine told me about the artists who called the area home – David Cox, Henry Clarence Whaite and Thomas Collier among others – at least until Betws railway station opened in 1868. “At that point,” she said, “many moved to houses further up the valley, grumbling that the place was becoming flooded with tourists.” As I would discover on this journey, it seems overtourism is far from a contemporary travel trend.

From Eryri, it was a short hop to Llandudno, a beach town so pristine it felt a little like a Victorian theme park resort. “In some ways it is,” Judith Phillips, trustee of the Llandudno Museum, told me. “The family who built Llandudno in the mid-19th century – the Mostyns – still own much of it now, and control everything from what colours people can paint their hotels to what businesses are allowed on the promenade.”

The Llandudno Museum made plain that much of our history is not in the great city museums, but in libraries, archives and small museums on quiet high streets, often run by passionate volunteers with an encyclopaedic knowledge of their local heritage.

Driving from Llandudno up to Lancashire along the North Wales Expressway, I whipped in and out of tunnels, emerging to see great swathes of the cobalt-blue Irish Sea stretching to the horizon.

Further into my journey, I was pointed towards early editions of the very first guidebooks to the Lake District, written by Thomas West and William Wordsworth, at the Armitt Library in Ambleside; shown handwritten letters by Queen Victoria at Blair Castle (including her personal recipe for potato salad); and told wonderful stories of Wakes Week holidays in Blackpool by the dapper Richard Croisdale at Blackburn Museum – their longest-serving volunteer, at a sprightly 90 years old.

Blackburn’s grandiose Victorian museum and Bolton’s neoclassical town hall stand as legacies of the era when Lancashire towns were affluent manufacturing bases home to tens of thousands of factory workers. The Georgian streets of Richmond are like a mini Bath, but steeped in Yorkshire heritage. But perhaps nowhere confounded my expectations more than Blackpool.

Arriving on a Friday night, the promenade buzzed with lights and life; the illuminations blazing all the way to the tower, kids skipping along the seafront entirely unaware they had been brought to one of the most deprived towns in the country. “We are a town of extremes,” said Claire Smith, co-owner of the chic Number One South Beach B&B. “We have pockets of absolute joy next to complete caverns of woe. There’s no blending. It’s either amazing or awful.”

Claire and husband Mark shared stories of Blackpool in the 1970s, not least his coming back from the pub as a teenager to find his parents had let his bedroom – along with their own – to guests, leaving them to sleep in the lounge. This was the era when guests queued in their dressing gowns to use the bathrooms, landladies locked the doors between mealtimes, and peach Melba was the height of culinary flair.

“They were simpler times, people expected much less,” Claire told me, a little wistfully. “But I do think people were happier.” There’s still plenty of joy to be found, though. When I visit the Pleasure Beach as it opens on a Sunday morning, families are streaming in; the first coasters rattling skywards; a general air of giddy excitement that is a stark counterpoint to the rundown streets elsewhere in the town.

So many of my preconceptions were corrected or reversed: the elegant St George’s Hotel in Llandudno showed me that not all grand dame seaside hotels are faded or old-fashioned. And while we do love to run down our own seaside resorts, I saw beaches to rival anything the Med has to offer, from Scarborough’s South Bay to Morecambe’s vast, empty sandscapes.

Beyond the seaside, it was Scotland that really blew my mind. Following in the footsteps of William and Dorothy Wordsworth, who toured the Highlands and Lowlands for six weeks in 1803, I headed up the western flank of Loch Lomond, entirely unprepared for what I was about to discover. Dusk was falling as I drove across Rannoch Moor – a silent, pockmarked moonscape that seemed entirely bereft of life, save for a lone pair of car headlights, somewhere up ahead. And then, in the distance, great, hulking mountains began to rise up, guarding the entrance to Glen Coe. It is a landscape so forbidding that when I pulled up at the Three Sisters viewpoint, I was genuinely relieved to see another couple, so I didn’t have to stand alone among the ominous peaks.

Scotland had stories, too: from the spruce and redwood trees planted in Glen Coe by Lord Strathcona in the 1890s to make his Canadian wife feel at home, to Queen Victoria taking the first ever fly-and-flop (train-and-flop, perhaps more accurately) at Blair Castle in 1844. Her visit was hosted by the 6th Duke of Atholl, who promised the security of his own private army (and who had to move out of his own castle during the royal stay). It was the beginning of a royal love affair with Scotland that led to the purchase of Balmoral in 1852.

When I got home from the long road trip – 13 days and 1,600 miles later – my husband took the same photograph of me perched on the car. It had been more of an adventure than I could have ever imagined – to lands unknown on the island I call home.

The Great Escape: Britain’s 400-Year Love Affair with Holidays by Annabelle Thorpe (£18.99, DK Red) is available now. To support the Guardian, buy a copy from guardianbookshop.com for £17.09