walkout

So far this postseason, whenever Dodgers fans heard “Báilalo Rocky” ring through the loudspeakers, that meant two things were coming — pitcher Roki Sasaki was about to throw some vicious splitters in relief, and a Dodgers win was likely just a few outs away.

Sasaki’s walkout music has taken on a life of its own, in part because of the only-in-L.A. culture clash that has a sensational Japanese pitcher embracing a Latin club hit as he dominates the postseason. It’s helped cement Sasaki’s appeal among the Latino Dodgers faithful, and given the song a huge global boost as the Dodgers prepare for the start of World Series today.

Here’s a primer on how Sasaki found his hype track, and how it’s become the breakout hit of L.A. this fall.

So who wrote “Báilalo Rocky?”

The version of the song Sasaki walks out to is by Dj Roderick and Dj Jose Gonzalez and vocalist Ariadne Arana (there’s another popular version by Arana, the Dominican MC Yoan Retro and GMBeats Degranalo).

The song is a super-infectious and chantable dembow-house track, and its Spanish hook — “¡Báilalo, Rocky! / Ta, ta, ta, ta / Suéltale, suéltale” — is an invitation for a guy to dance and cut loose. But here, it’s directed at the young phenom Sasaki to bedevil hitters when he comes out in relief. The way Arana pronounces the hook makes it sound like she’s singing right at the Dodgers’ Roki.

That’s a left-field choice for a 23-year-old pitcher from Japan in his first year in L.A.. How did Sasaki discover it?

Dodgers veteran second baseman Miguel Rojas turned him onto the song during spring training this year, where it became a dugout favorite. (The whole dugout is known to pound on the railing when the track comes on.) Sasaki started using it in April, before a four-month recovery from a right shoulder impingement.

The theme song “was actually MiggyRo’s idea,” Sasaki said to press in Japanese last week. “I’m really happy the fans are enjoying it.”

There’s a delightful incongruity to the modest, laser-focused young Japanese pitcher walking out to a lascivious Latin club banger. But as Sasaki has rebounded from an injury-plagued midseason to become the Dodgers’ lights-out reliever in the postseason, ”It’s been special,” Rojas told press last week. “I feel like it just fits him really well.”

For her part, Arana loves the song’s new life as a hit Dodger theme. “The Dodgers are my team,” she’s said.

Has Sasaki’s blessing boosted the track?

Definitely. The song was already popular in Latin music circles, and it’s become a go-to cover and source material for Latin artists like corridos tumbados singer Tito Doble P and Lomiiel. Even other athletes, like Spanish soccer superstar Lamine Yamal, have gotten in on the track as a meme. It’s racked up tens of millions in Spotify and YouTube plays, where nearly every comment is now Sasaki-related.

But naturally, the only place to really hear it is under a cotton candy sky in Elysian Park.

Has it helped Sasaki’s pitching?

In September, Sasaki was pitching for triple-A Oklahoma City and seemed unlikely to win a roster spot back in L.A. anytime soon. Two months later, however, after clutch saves and eye-popping velocity against the Reds, Phillies and Brewers en route to the World Series, he’s having “One of the great all-time appearances out of the ‘pen that I can remember,” as Dodgers manager Dave Roberts called it.

Sasaki’s not the only Dodger with an unexpected Latin walkout track — last year’s World Series hero Freddie Freeman takes the plate to Dayvi and Victor Cardenas’ “Baila Conmigo (ft. Kelly Ruiz).”

But if the Dodgers take home the title thanks to clutch Sasaki saves, Rojas hopes for a full “Báilalo Roki” edit. “I think he deserves a video and the lights go down and all that stuff,” Rojas told MLB.com. “I think that’s the next step for him.”

California Democrats have advanced a countereffort to redraw their congressional boundaries, against a push by US President Donald Trump.

Texas Democrats have ended a two-week walkout that stalled Republican efforts to redraw congressional districts as part of a national partisan no-holds-barred fight over President Donald Trump’s desire to reshape United States House district maps to his advantage ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.

“We killed the corrupt special session, withstood unprecedented surveillance and intimidation, and rallied Democrats nationwide to join this existential fight for fair representation – reshaping the entire 2026 landscape,” said Texas House of Representatives Minority Leader Gene Wu in a statement on Monday.

The return of Texas Democrats to the Republican-run Congress in the Lone Star State comes as California Democrats advance a countereffort to redraw their congressional boundaries in retaliation – a tit-for-tat that puts the nation’s two most populous states at the centre of an expanding battle over control of the US Congress ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.

Dozens of Texas House Democrats left the state more than two weeks ago to deny their Republican-majority colleagues the attendance necessary to vote on redrawn maps intended to send five more Texas Republicans to Capitol Hill. They declared victory after Republicans adjourned that first special session, and Democrats rallied in opposition to the Trump-led gerrymandering effort.

They pointed specifically to California’s release of proposed maps intended to increase Democrats’ US House advantage by five seats, effectively neutralising any Republican gains in Texas.

Trump has pressured other Republican-run states to consider redistricting, while Democratic governors in multiple statehouses have indicated they would follow California’s lead in response. Democratic California Governor Gavin Newsom has said that his state will hold a November 4 special referendum on the redrawn districts.

The US president wants to shore up Republicans’ narrow House majority and avoid a repeat of the 2018 midterms during his first presidency, when Democrats regained House control and used their majority to stymie his agenda and twice impeach him.

On a national level, the partisan makeup of existing district lines puts Democrats within three seats of a majority. Of the 435 total US House seats, only several dozen districts are competitive. So even slight changes in a few states could affect which party wins control.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott jumped to the president’s aid, adding redistricting to the agenda of an initial special session that included a number of issues, but most notably a package of bills responding to devastating floods that killed more than 130 people earlier this summer.

Abbott has blamed Democrats’ absence for delaying action on those measures. Democrats have answered that Abbott’s capitulation to Trump is responsible for the delay because he insisted on effectively linking the hyper-partisan matter to the nonpartisan flood relief.

It is unusual for redistricting to take place in the middle of the decade. This typically occurs once at the beginning of each decade to coincide with the US Census. Many states, including Texas, give legislators the power to draw maps. California is among those that empower independent commissions with the task.

The Texas House is scheduled to convene later on Monday.

The Finnish Aviation Union (IAU) has held strikes on on May 2, 5, 16, 19, 30, June 2, 4, with June 17 and 19, with the likes of Ryanair, British Airways and Norwegian impacted

A country is to be hit with a tenth walkout of staff in 45 days.

Yet more flights are set to be cancelled on 17 and 19 June in airports across Finland, with as many as 64 UK flights impacted by the disruption, and as many as 11,520 impacted.

The Finnish Aviation Union (IAU) has held strikes on on May 2, 5, 16, 19, 30, June 2, 4, with June 17 and 19. Fourteen direct flights (eight Finnair, four British Airways, one Ryanair and one Norwegian) and as many as 50 indirect flights on airlines such as KLM, easyJet, Lufthansa, Air Baltic will be impacted later this week.

Key routes impacted include London, Manchester, and Edinburgh to Helsinki, which have 14 direct flights on the two days earmarked for industrial action. Other routes with one or two stops include Birmingham, Bristol, Belfast, Nottingham, Southampton, and Leeds to Helsinki via Amsterdam, Stockholm, Copenhagen, and Latvia.

Have you been impacted by the strikes? Email [email protected]

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Each strike day costs Finnair and Finavia (Helsinki Airport operator) €10 to €20 million (£8.5million to £17 million) in lost revenue, with broader economic ripple effects on tourism and hospitality. By summer’s end, the sector could lose €100-€150 million, according to air passenger rights company AirAdvisor.

Based on the analysis of booking trends, there’s a 7–12% drop in UK bookings to Finland for the summer season, with passengers shifting travel plans to alternatives like Sweden, Norway, or Estonia.

Passengers impacted by these strikes don’t qualify for EU261 compensation; however, they are still entitled to meals, accommodation, and assistance. Check out our refund rights guide if you’re caught up in strike action while flying.

Passengers concerned about being caught up in the travel disruption can buy strike-cover insurance for as little as £20, use websites such as FlightRadar24 for real-time flight tracking, and avoid Helsinki connections by taking other routes such as vua Stockholm.

Anton Radchenko, aviation expert and founder of AirAdvisor, said: “We’ve reached a point where UK travellers no longer need to be warned about Finnish aviation strikes, they expect them, which is a serious reputational crisis. For many Brits, Finland is no longer seen as a safe or reliable part of the travel map.

“These aren’t isolated events anymore; they’re stacking disruptions. Passengers are missing connections, losing confidence, and taking their business elsewhere.

“The deeper issue here is one of trust. Travellers don’t just book tickets, they plan around reliability. And what we’re seeing is a full-scale erosion of that trust. When people start rebooking through Stockholm or rerouting Asia trips via Frankfurt instead of Helsinki, the damage isn’t temporary; it becomes structural. Airlines eventually follow those behaviours, shifting routes and investing in more stable hubs.”

The IAU, which represents ground handling, baggage, catering, maintenance, and customer service staff, has called the strikes over pay disputes with PALTA. According to the IAU, the average earnings of Finnair Group employees increased by 6.4 percent between 2020 and 2023. During that same period, the national average increase across all sectors was 10.4 percent.

At the beginning of June a spokesperson for Finnair told the Mirror: “We are deeply sorry that our customers’ important travel plans were disrupted.” The airline has been contacted for additional comment.

Video game performers and producers have reached a tentative contract agreement, reaching terms that could end a long strike over artificial intelligence.

The Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists and the game companies came to a resolution on Monday, more than two years after their previous agreement covering interactive media expired.

The deal is subject to review and approval by the SAG-AFTRA National Board and ratification by the membership in the coming weeks, the union said. Specific terms of the deal were not immediately available.

Terms of a strike suspension agreement are expected to be finalized with employers soon, the union said. Until then, though, SAG-AFTRA members will remain on strike.

SAG-AFTRA members must vote on whether to ratify the new contract, which covers roughly 2,600 performers doing voice-acting, performance- and motion-capture work in the video game industry.

Since fall 2022, video game performers have been fighting for a new contract containing AI protections, wage increases to keep up with inflation, more rest periods and medical attention for hazardous jobs.

Game actors went on strike in late July after contract talks broke down over AI. Throughout the walkout, performers demanded a deal that would require video game producers to obtain informed consent before replicating their voices, likenesses or movements with AI.

During the first few months of the strike, SAG-AFTRA reached numerous side deals with individual game companies that agreed to follow the union’s AI rules in exchange for a strike pardon. By Nov. 18, the labor organization announced that it had made AI pacts with the developers of 130 different video games.

“The sheer volume of companies that have signed SAG-AFTRA agreements demonstrates how reasonable those protections are,” Sarah Elmaleh, chair of the union’s video game negotiating committee, said in a statement in September.

While some companies earned the union’s approval, others felt its wrath.

Halfway through October, SAG-AFTRA added the popular computer game “League of Legends” to its list of struck titles in an effort to punish audio company Formosa Interactive for allegedly violating terms of the walkout. SAG-AFTRA also filed an unfair labor practice charge against Formosa, which provides voice-over services to “League of Legends,” according to the union.

Formosa denied SAG-AFTRA’s allegations.

The biggest sticking point for actors under the umbrella of AI involved on-camera performers, whose job is often to disappear into the characters they are bringing to life. They expressed concerns that the companies’ AI proposal would leave them defenseless against the technology.

The game companies argued that their AI proposal already contained robust protections that would require employers to seek prior consent and pay actors fairly when cloning their performances.

“All performers need AI protections,” said Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, national executive director and chief negotiator of SAG-AFTRA, in an interview with The Times months ago.

“Everyone’s at risk, and it’s not OK to carve out a set of performers and leave them out of AI protections.”

This work stoppage marked SAG-AFTRA’s second video game strike in less than a decade and second overall strike in roughly a year.

While the walkout persisted, video game performers weren’t allowed to provide any services — such as acting, singing, stunts, motion capture, background and stand-in work — to struck games. Union actors were also barred from promoting any struck projects via social media, interviews, conventions, festivals, award shows, podcast appearances and other platforms.

AI was also a major sticking point during the film and TV actors’ strike of 2023. That walkout culminated in a contract mandating that producers obtain consent from and compensate performers when using their digital replica.

Thousands of hotel, bar and restaurant staff are planning industrial action in the Balearics. The UGT union says there will be a mass walkout on June 6 followed by several days of strike action in July, the height of the busy tourist season

Chaos is due to befall hotels Majorca, Ibiza and Menorca as workers prepare to strike.

The holiday islands could face significant disruption in June and July as thousands of hospitality workers plan further strike action. Unless a last-minute agreement is reached, a mass walk-out is planned for June 6, followed by several days of strikes in July, during the height of the tourist season.

The UGT workers’ union has warned strikes are nearing as no progress is being made regarding their demands for improved pay and conditions. The union warns the industrial actions will greatly affect holidaymakers and urges hotels to do everything possible to prevent it.

“If we don’t see the possibility of an agreement in principle, we will call a strike lasting several days,” declared the general secretary of its Services federation on the islands. The union has made it clear that their goal is to exert maximum impact on tourists.

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At the same time, overtourism protests are due to break out across major resort cities. They include plans to occupy beaches and super-glue apartment locks.

Protests are set to take place in Platja de Palma and Palmanova-Magaluf. The UGT, the largest union in the sector, is playing a key role in negotiating the Collective Agreement of the Balearic hotel industry.

A strike involving thousands of hotel workers, including restaurant and bar staff and cleaners, already took place on May 1. On June 6, the first of the new protests will occur outside the headquarters of the Mallorca hotel federation.

Demonstrations are scheduled for the end of June in Platja de Palma and Palmanova-Magaluf, with the peak planned for July, featuring several days of strikes over alternate weeks.

On June 6, a protest is planned for 10am at the UGT office in Palma. Following the update on negotiation progress, attendees will hold a midday rally outside the Mallorcan Hotel Federation building.

Another demonstration is set to take place at Platja de Palma at the end of next month, with a worker’s march culminating in a rally in front of the local hotel association headquarters. A similar protest will target the Palmanova-Magaluf area, highlighting the workers’ unrest in key tourist hubs around the Bay of Palma.

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The unions are fighting for adequate housing and addressing issues such as tourist overpopulation without life quality improvements for workers, increased job demands, salaries not matching living costs, and pay inequality for identical work.

The union wants wages to rise by 19 per cent across the three years to 2027, while the offer from employers flags at 8.5 percent.

In other recent protest news, the CEO of Jet2 Steve Heapy expressed fears that tourist levies could rise in response to overtourism protests in Spain, which have been rumbling on for years and are due to disrupt key destinations this summer. The CEO told a roundtable event at the Spanish embassy in London that he opposed tourist taxes, but feared rises would prove “irresistible”.