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These days, a night at one of SoCal’s most popular haunted attractions usually begins with attendants scanning digital tickets at a clearly marked entrance.

At Coffin Creek, things were a little different.

Those who made the journey to Corona’s annual haunt entered an eerie scene the moment they veered off the 71 Freeway and down the desolate roads to Riverview Recreation Park, where Coffin Creek made its home. In the parking area, the dust kicked up by the vehicles created its own layer of fog, and sounds could be heard in the darkness — faint screams, the echo of chain saws and the nervous chatter of the hauntgoers. There was always a sense of mystery and excitement: With its independent, grassroots vibe, Coffin Creek — one of the longest-running Halloween attractions in Southern California — was the little haunt that could.

Coffin Creek has had its final run. Its founder and operator, Gary Shireman, passed away last month at the age of 74. But its legend lives on in the community of Halloween enthusiasts.

Coffin Creek, situated at Riverview Recreation Park, had a rustic feel, which added to the spookiness.

(Warren So)

While Coffin Creek, which at times went by the name Crossroads Haunted Village, was essentially a destination populated by several independently owned and operated haunted mazes, Shireman was the head of the operation. An electrician by trade and a longtime horror fan, Shireman launched the enterprise in 2007 after spending years searching for a location. He landed upon 180 acres of a park in Corona near the Santa Ana River. And as he soon discovered, it was already haunted, perhaps.

The backstory of the Coffin Creek locale — at least as it’s told through a newspaper story on the haunt’s website — is that in 1938, a massive flood hit Southern California, unearthing 13 coffins in Corona from an abandoned cemetery. Only some of the human remains from those coffins were recovered, and soon people in the area began seeing and hearing strange things at night.

Local artists and volunteers worked all year to open Coffin Creek, which was never a production as flashy or refined as Universal’s Halloween Horror Nights, Knott’s Scary Farm or any of SoCal’s well-established haunted maze destinations — but that was part of the allure. The darkness of the woods and muddy terrain was just as effective scenery as any of the bedsheet drapery or wooden flats that had been set up. While a discerning guest may have noticed that some of the haunted set pieces were missing a little paint or not lighted all that well, the cackling heard from the dark spaces in between reminded folks that it was all about the final thrill. One could never tell when a chain-saw-wielding madman was about to jump out from behind a wall.

The sign for the Coffin Creek Manor maze.

(Scott Feinblatt)

“Gary’s mazes were very old-school and very low-tech, and he was a big proponent of that,” said Warren So, a contributor for Hollywood Gothique, an online guide to all things horror in L.A. “He felt that all we need is a good old-school scare. As long as people scream, then it’s successful.”

In one 2011 interview, Shireman said he would work all year for that “first scream of the season.” Some attendees would take one step through the front door and come right back out.

The mazes at Coffin Creek had names like Chambers of the Mausoleum, Labyrinth of Lost Relics, Bog of the Abyss, the Dark Realm and Coffin Creek Manor, the legend’s namesake. One of the most endearing aspects of the destination was that several of the mazes took residence in the permanent structures that composed the medieval-inspired village of the Koroneburg Renaissance Festival on the park’s grounds.

A scare actor ready for his next victim.

(Scott Feinblatt)

Actors played all types of ghoulish creatures, including orcs and vampires. Uncle Zed’s Zombie Safari, which was one of several haunted hayride-style attractions that appeared over the years, even featured something of a community-sourced collection of monsters, all of which originated from independent contributions to the Secure, Contain, Protect (SCP) horror subgenre. Guests of this Coffin Creek attraction were carted along from one breached containment scenario to the next, with roving monsters periodically surprising them in the darkness between the scantily lighted vignettes.

Steve Biodrowski, the owner and operator of Hollywood Gothique, said Shireman worked tirelessly behind the scenes, dealing not only with the haunt’s creation but also with all the red tape that came with operating at the Corona park. Biodrowski recalled Shireman telling him about the complex nature of its ownership. “There were like four different owners,” Biodrowsky explained. “One was federal, and I believe it had something to do with the Army; then there were state and local departments involved. Getting everybody to sign on to a deal or agree to allow the haunted village to operate was just near impossible.”

Clowns haunted the premises — and visitors’ dreams.

(Scott Feinblatt)

Over the years of Coffin Creek’s various incarnations, a number of ancillary attractions complemented the mazes: a magic show, horror merchandise vendors and food stands. Some of the haunts included higher production value effects — Chambers of the Mausoleum, for instance, featured inventive animatronics from its principal operator, Figment Foundry. Even by the mid-2010s during a proliferation of local haunted attractions, the village downsized but the mazes never lost their charm. By continually utilizing veneers and components from past maze builds, the distinctive landscape and the talents of passionate, volunteers, Shireman continued to conjure an entertaining enterprise.

His passion for haunted attractions did not end at Coffin Creek. In 2022, Shireman partnered with haunt producer Jason Thompson to host the Haunt X convention at the Fairplex in Pomona. The event provided independent haunt owners and artisans an opportunity to network, learn trade techniques and showcase their enterprises and goods with one another and with their fans.

“He wasn’t just into haunted houses,” So said of Shireman. “He was always bouncing ideas about other Halloween stuff that was family-friendly — not scary — for the kids.” Additionally, So said that Shireman was generous with the community. “He loved talking to you about your haunt and his haunt and sharing ideas. I think everybody would agree that he was always willing to help. Another buddy of mine was building his haunted house, and even though it had nothing to do with Gary, he was down to help out and build out in the heat, in the desert. And Gary did not benefit one single cent. That’s just the guy he was — he doesn’t ask for anything and just wants to make a friend and help make a good haunt.”

The legend of the Coffin Creek location is that a flood hit Southern California, unearthing 13 coffins from an abandoned cemetery.

(Scott Feinblatt)

Shortly before his death, Shireman expressed enthusiasm about Coffin Creek’s future. He had announced that the haunt would be moving to a new Riverside location, the Lake Perris Fairgrounds, where it would operate in tandem with the Perris Pumpkin Patch. That couldn’t happen, but the Perris Pumpkin Patch has been operational this season and remains a family-friendly destination.

And while the haunt may have ended, like with any good maze, there may always be something more lurking ahead.

When conflict between the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Force (RSF) had reached its peak in early 2024, Saleh Iliyas and Abdurrahim, his friend-turned-family member, were doing the math: staying could mean dying at home, and leaving could mean dying on the road. But what becomes of a man whose world is torn in halves?  

The conflict in Sudan had caught Saleh unprepared. He was just a tailor with steady hands when the violence came without warning. He could remember when he heard the first gunshot in April 2023. It sounded like a joke, “but Khartoum breathed its last quiet breath before the storm then.”

Saleh never thought the recent tensions between the RSF and local communities in Khartoum would escalate into a full-blown war. Here he was now, not only consumed by the violence but also considering moving out. 

Deciding where to go was easy since he had lived part of his childhood in Nigeria. The difficult question was how to move out with a sick and ageing father, a young wife, and two children, including a newborn. 

Then a turning point came.

As he sat in front of his house for Iftar, the evening meal during Ramadan, one day, a rocket passed over his head and landed a few meters away. The result was a huge blast, fire, collapsed buildings, and many dead bodies.

“It was as if Khartoum stood still for a second, and then the screams from the women, children, and men who were either terrified or affected, followed,” he told HumAngle. 

Saleh had to leave. He spoke to his father and his friend, Abdurrahim. A driver who knew his way to safety said he needed three days to arrange it. 

Within the three days of waiting, violence intensified in Khartoum. Power lines were severed, the internet was disrupted, and rumours replaced news. The RSF and SAF engaged each other, and the war was everywhere.

Saleh’s house, where his wife, father, two children, and Abdurrahim had found safety, became both a refuge and a prison. Food dwindled. The markets were looted, and many high-rise buildings were targeted or destroyed.

“Do you think this will end soon?” his wife asked one night, her voice trembling over the silence.

He didn’t answer. He was thinking of the absurdity of the war — blood brothers from SAF and the RSF fighting each other with pride. He thought of how men killed for mere symbols and a warlord who didn’t care.

They did not sleep peacefully in the three nights before the driver decided they had to leave. “We’ll go west,” he said, “through Omdurman. Maybe reach some safe villages, then south. There are routes people are taking.” 

That night, Saleh stepped outside to see Khartoum one last time. The mornings that began with laughter and the Nile’s breeze were all gone. He remembered the faith that tomorrow would always come. Now, tomorrow was a ghost. 

And so began their exodus, not as wanderers seeking land, but as souls, as resilient individuals who believed that there was a life to continue elsewhere.

On the torturer’s fork 

To understand Saleh’s ruin, one must first understand the men who lit the match.

General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, head of the Sudan Armed Forces, was a career soldier moulded by the doctrines of control and hierarchy. He rose through the ranks during Omar al-Bashir’s three-decade rule, loyal to the idea that the army was the soul of Sudan.

Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti, was his ally. He is a former camel trader from Darfur who built his power on the backs of Janjaweed militias that were once accused of all sorts of war crimes. Hemedti’s RSF, which was an offshoot of the Janjaweed, became an autonomous force, commanding men who were not new to violence.

When al-Bashir fell in 2019 after months of civilian protests, the two generals joined forces to secure the transition, but peace was only a mask. The revolution that brought them together also planted the seeds of distrust.

By early 2023, tensions over integrating the RSF into the regular army had boiled over. Hemedti refused to dissolve his forces, fearing subjugation; al-Burhan insisted it was necessary for a unified state. And so, the generals who once shared a coup became rivals in a war that would tear their country apart.

Abdulrahim and Saleh could recall that during the revolution that brought El-Bashir down, many people were supporting the army, “and then just a year into the regime, everything changed for the worse,” said Abdurrahim. “Inflation rose and prices skyrocketed five times.” 

Saleh explained that the size of bread that once cost 1 SDG (Sudanese pound) rose to 3 SDG under El-Bashir and led to protests, but it became about 15 to 20 SDG under al-Burhan. 

“So you could see why people were angry with al-Burhan, and when squabbles started between him and Hemedti, people like us were supporting the RSF because we thought he was doing a great job, not pursuing any selfish interest,” Saleh said. 

Hemedti won the hearts of the Sudanese by calling for a democratic transition. But as the tension rose, said Saleh, many RSF trucks were positioned “almost everywhere in Khartoum.” 

According to him, Khartoum residents are administrative people and are not familiar with seeing weapons and military personnel stationed on every corner. That situation led to lots of skirmishes between civilians and the RSF, which made the paramilitary lose its popularity. 

And then the war broke out. 

The first weeks were chaos. Khartoum became a battlefield, its neighbourhoods reduced to rubble of what once were. Jets roared over the city as SAF bombarded RSF positions, while paramilitary men seized streets, looted markets, and turned homes into barracks. 

Hospitals were shelled, schools attacked, buildings destroyed, and corpses lay unburied in the heat. Humanitarian corridors were promises that dissolved under fire.

“Every high-rise building, every mall, bank, or any empty building became a hideout for snipers or a target of bombs,” said Abdurrahim. “Lots of people were killed while attempting to run away.”

Despite that danger, more than 10 million Sudanese fled their homes, spilling into Chad, South Sudan, Egypt, and beyond. Refugee camps rose overnight. The United Nations called it “the world’s largest displacement crisis.” Families were separated, and in the chaos of the roads, mothers buried children without names. 

Saleh knew the stories before becoming one. He heard of those who died on the road to Port Sudan, those who drowned in the Nile trying to escape, and those who vanished into the desert.

And then foreign actors got involved. 

Egypt, with its close ties to the army, threw its weight behind al-Burhan’s forces, seeking a stable ally along the Nile. UN investigators accused the United Arab Emirates of backing the RSF, funnelling weapons through Chad and the Central African Republic, an allegation it has denied. 

Russia’s Wagner Group, long embedded in Sudan’s gold trade, was reported to have supported Dagalo’s men in securing mining sites. Countries condemned both sides, but diplomacy also took a bullet in the crossfire.

Long road to Nigeria 

One night in early 2025, Saleh, his father, his friend Abdurrahim, his wife, and their two children joined a small group of neighbours, eighteen in all, mostly women and children, to begin their escape.

They had been warned about the dangers. Snipers perched on rooftops, looters prowled the streets, and militias set up unpredictable checkpoints. 

“We had to move as one,” Saleh recalled. “If we walked separately or rode in a car, we might never make it out.”

They moved silently through the alleys of Khartoum. Behind them, the echoes of shelling rolled like distant thunder. Ahead lay uncertainty, hundreds of kilometres of dust, hunger, and fear. “But anything was better than staying,” said Saleh.

Abdurrahim, his childhood friend, walked beside him. “You know where you are going,” he said, “but you don’t know the road to follow. You just keep moving along the direction and stepping carefully to avoid danger.”

They reached the outskirts of the city by dawn, where they met the driver, a middle-aged man who had turned his pickup into a vessel of salvation amidst a war. He took what little they carried: documents, a few clothes, and “some stuff my father said was important,” recalled Saleh.

The drive southward revealed the full reality of the war. Buildings Saleh once admired — the glass towers, the university Abdulrahim attended, the small tea shops that once lined the streets — lay in ruins. Skeletons of burned cars littered the roads. 

They zigzagged across Sudan, avoiding the territories of warring factions, surviving on bread, water, and anything their small money could buy. The journey that should have taken days stretched into weeks. 

“We knew it wouldn’t be easy,” Saleh said, “but we didn’t imagine it would be this hard.”

When they finally reached the border with South Sudan, they rested for a day. They had thought they wouldn’t be welcomed, especially due to the recent history of conflict between North and South Sudan, “but were really supported there.”

“My son was even given water by one of their soldiers,” Saleh said. 

From South Sudan, they moved again, passing through the Central African Republic into Chad. They met others moving in the same direction on foot. One group of about ten told Saleh they had started the journey as more than thirty. “They looked haunted,” he said. “Their faces told stories the mouth could not.”

It rained the day they arrived in Chad. They were temporarily registered as refugees, yet Saleh felt restless after a few weeks. “You cannot live waiting for mercy every day,” he said softly. “You begin to forget who you are.”

Nigeria, where his late grandfather hailed from, seemed the next logical destination. Though Saleh himself was born in Saudi Arabia, he spent some of his childhood years in Nigeria.  

“I thought we could come here and start afresh before the war ended,” he said.

Now in Nigeria, the dust of the journey still clings to his eyes, the eyes of a man who has seen too much of the evil humans can do to one another.

Safety and its aftermath 

From the Chadian border, through Maiduguri, in Nigeria’s North East, they finally arrived in Kano, in the country’s North West. Saleh and Abdurrahim found a city that looked energetic, but beneath it ran a quiet struggle. They rented a small shop in Rimin Auzinawa and waited for customers who rarely came.

“The economy is choking everyone,” Saleh said. “People rarely bring new clothes, and when they do, the amount they pay is too small.”

They had imagined Nigeria as a place of opportunity, where hard work would bring dignity. But the naira’s fall made everything expensive. “You open the shop from morning to night,” Abdurrahim said, “and at the end, you barely earn enough for bread.”

Saleh and Abdurrahim told HumAngle that the money they had come with was about to finish, and they were not earning enough to sustain life. Now, as evening fell over Kano, Saleh and Abdurrahim sat outside their shop, their machines silent, their thoughts elsewhere.

“We will leave the families here,” Saleh said, his voice low. “Let them have stability, even if we don’t. Algeria is not home, but maybe there, a man can at least feed those he loves.”

And so, once again, the journey calls — not for safety this time, but for survival.

No sooner had the Toronto Blue Jays clinched a World Series spot against the Dodgers than the torrent of memes, posts and tweets flowed, all with some version of this one-liner: Finally, Shohei Ohtani is on the plane to Toronto.

On a December day two years ago, as Ohtani navigated free agency: three reports surfaced: there was a private plane flying from Orange County to Toronto (true); Ohtani had decided to sign with the Blue Jays (false); and Ohtani was on a flight to Toronto (false).

When the jet landed, surrounded by reporters and photographers and even a news helicopter, an entire country fell into despair. The gentleman on the plane was not Ohtani.

He was Robert Herjavec, a star on “Shark Tank” and a prominent Canadian businessman with homes in Toronto and Southern California.

“It is my only claim to fame in the sports world: to be mistaken for someone else,” Herjavec said Tuesday.

Herjavec said he hopes to attend at least one World Series game in Los Angeles and another in Toronto. He is not the Dodgers’ $700-million man, but he said he would enjoy meeting Ohtani.

“I’m very disappointed,” Herjavec said with a laugh, “he hasn’t reached out to me for financial advice.”

He is no different than the rest of us, Ohtani’s teammates included. Watching Ohtani play calls to mind the words Jack Buck used to call Kirk Gibson’s home run: I don’t believe what I just saw.

“To me, as a layman and a couch athlete, the ability to throw a ball at 100 mph and then go out and hit three home runs?” Herjavec said. “It’s mind boggling.”

To be a successful businessman takes talent too, no?

“That’s the beauty of business,” he said. “I always say to people, business is the only sport where you can play at an elite level with no God-given talent.”

On that fateful Friday, Herjavec and his 5-year-old twins were en route to Toronto, and normally he would have known what was happening on the ground before he landed. However, he had turned off all the phones and tablets on board so he could play board games with his children in an effort to calm them.

“I gave them too much sugar,” he said. “They were wired.”

Upon landing, Canadian customs agents boarded the plane, in a hopeful search for Ohtani. Herjavec and his kids got off the plane, descending into a storm of national news because the Blue Jays are Canada’s team.

I asked Herjavec if he ever had disappointed so many people at any point in his life. He burst out laughing.

“That is such a great question,” he said. “That is my crowning achievement: I let down an entire nation at one time.”

The Blue Jays have a rich history. In 1992-93, they won back-to-back World Series championships, the feat the Dodgers are trying to duplicate.

The Jays have not appeared in the World Series since 1993, but that is not even close to the longest or most painful championship drought in Toronto.

The Maple Leafs, playing Canada’s national sport, have not won the Stanley Cup since 1967. That would be like the Dodgers or Yankees not winning the World Series since 1967.

“Speaking of letting people down,” Herjavec said.

The difference between Americans and Canadians, he said, is that Americans expect to win and Canadians believe it would be nice to win.

He counts himself in the latter camp. He can call both the Dodgers and Blue Jays a home team, but he is rooting for Toronto in this World Series.

“I have to,” he said, “because I’ve already disappointed the entire country once.

“I’m hoping, with my moral support, this will redeem me to Canadians.”

ACTOR Kevin Spacey sexually assaulted a man despite being told, “No, this is not right”, court documents allege.

The star is being sued at the High Court by the man known only as LNP, who says he suffered pain, anxiety and distress.

Elizabeth-Anne Gumbel, for LNP, says in papers filed at the court that the alleged assaults happened on about 12 occasions from 2000 to 2005.

She says: “Mr Spacey would place his own hand on the claimant’s leg without consent.

“The claimant would attempt to remove the hand and say, ‘No, this is not right’.”

She called it a “breach of trust and exploitation by a powerful man in a position of responsibility on a much younger man”.

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Ms Gumbel said that LNP had suffered “pain and suffering at the time of the abuse itself, which was exacerbated by feelings of embarrassment, shame, dirtiness and confusion”.

He also suffered “anxiety and distress and mild post-traumatic symptoms from the abuse”.

She said: “The assaults were committed in circumstances of breach of trust and exploitation by a powerful man in a position of responsibility on a much younger man.

“The claimant seeks to claim aggravated damages.”

Oscar-winner Spacey, 66, has previously denied allegations of inappropriate behaviour and wrongdoing.

He has yet to file a defence to the claim.

With Tesla’s (TSLA 1.32%) core electric vehicle business struggling this year, analysts and investors were anxious to get a glance at how EV deliveries would trend in the third quarter. The company delivered big time, reporting close to 497,100 deliveries, smashing Wall Street estimates of of 447,600. However, Tesla’s stock dipped immediately following the news, as the strong beat was not enough to excite Wall Street. What gives?

Expiration of the EV tax credit

Tesla’s third-quarter deliveries of nearly 497,100 blew out estimates and rose 7% year over year. That’s a sharp reversal from the first two quarters of 2025, when the company reported deliveries that fell 12% year over year compared to the first half of 2024.

Image source: Tesla.

But analysts clearly knew the quarter was going to be strong because President Trump’s big legislative spending bill passed by Congress earlier this year eliminated the $7,500 EV tax credit on Sept. 30, the last day of the third quarter. It became evident that consumers would likely rush to purchase Teslas before the cost of the vehicles increased.

According to Gene Munster, managing partner at Deepwater Asset Management, Tesla saw a 35% year-over-year increase in its U.S. sales in the third quarter, which he attributes to the rush before the EV tax credit expiration. “Investors should largely throw out the positive number,” Munster said, noting that the “the future will be autonomy.”

Still, other analysts were more optimistic. Morgan Stanley analyst said that Q3 deliveries came in at the top end of hedge fund estimates ranging from 450,000 to 500,000 deliveries. Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives called the quarter a “massive bounceback” and said he is still high on the company’s autonomous vehicles and humanoid robotics businesses, which Ives and Wedbush analyst Scott Devitt think could catapult Tesla to a $2 trillion to $3 trillion market cap by 2026 or 2027.

Ultimately, I’m guessing the disappointing share action could be attributed to Tesla stock’s recent run-up. The stock is up close to 60% over the past six months.

Current state of the bull-bear debate

Tesla is still one of if not the most hotly debated stocks on Wall Street, with the bulls confident that it is the most innovative AI company in the world and the bears pointing to its staggering valuation of nearly 250 times forward earnings. As of this writing, Tesla trades at nearly $440 per share. The lowest Wall Street price target is an astounding $19 per share, while the high is $600 per share, which shows just how split the Street is on the name.

But one thing I think both the bulls and bears agree on is that the future of Tesla is going to come down to its autonomous driving business, for which Tesla is in the early stages of building out an autonomous ride-hailing fleet, and the humanoid robots business. If these businesses are as successful as analysts like Ives believe, than the stock can keep moving higher. But hiccups or a more competitive market than people think could send it tumbling.

Tesla has begun to launch pilot autonomous driving programs in select cities, while humanoid robots are still in prototype stage. The advantage of Tesla’s robotaxi business is that the vehicles can reportedly be built at a fraction of the cost of rival WayMo, which is also operating in several cities. However, it remains to be seen whether the technology can truly be perfected and deemed safe enough to be fully commercialized.

The simple reason I choose to avoid Tesla is that I think the market has assumed too much success in businesses that the public still knows far too little about. If Tesla is successful and jumps to $600 per share, that’s 40% upside, but if robotaxis and humanoid robots don’t work out as well as hoped, who knows that the stock is worth. As stocks get larger and surpass a $1 trillion market cap, maintaining the growth to hold such a high valuation becomes more difficult. The risk-reward proposition is not attractive to me.

In a darkened airport hotel ballroom room, a bevy of California Democrats sought to distinguish themselves from the crowded field running for governor in 2026.

It was not an easy task, given that the lineup of current and former elected officials sharing the stage at the Sunday morning forum agreed on almost all the issues, with any differences largely playing out in the margins.

They pledged to take on President Trump, make the state more affordable, safeguard immigrants and provide them with Medi-Cal healthcare benefits, and keep the state’s over-budget bullet train project intact.

There is not yet any clear front-runner in the race to run the nation’s most populous state, though former Orange County Rep. Katie Porter has had a small edge in recent polling.

Aside from a opaque dig from former state Controller Betty Yee, Porter was not attacked during the debate.

They were joined onstage by former U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra, California Supt. of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond and former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. State Sen. Toni Atkins, who was supposed to participate, dropped out due to illness. Wealthy first-time political candidate Stephen J. Cloobeck withdrew due to a scheduling conflict.

The forum was sponsored by the National Union of Healthcare Workers, in partnership with the Los Angeles Times and Spectrum News. It was held in Los Angeles and moderated by Associated Press national planning editor Lisa Matthews, with L.A. Times California politics editor Phil Willon, Spectrum News 1 news anchor Amrit Singh and Politico senior political reporter Melanie Mason asking the questions.

Sen. Alex Padilla and businessman Rick Caruso have also both publicly flirted with a bid for the state’s top office, but have yet to make a decision.

Two major GOP candidates, Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco and conservative commentator Steve Hilton, are also running for California governor, but neither were invited to the debate because they did not complete an endorsement questionnaire from the union.

With Prop. 50 in the forefront, a lack of attention on the race

California’s June 2 gubernatorial primary is just eight months away, but the horde hoping to replace Gov. Gavin Newsom has been competing for attention against an extraordinarily crowded landscape, with an unexpected special election this November pulling both dollars and attention away from the race for governor. To say nothing of the fact that the race had been somewhat frozen in place for months until the end of July, when former Vice President Kamala Harris finally announced she would not be running.

The candidates reiterated their support for Proposition 50, the Newsom-led November ballot measure to help Democrats win control of the U.S. House of Representatives next year by redrawing California congressional districts. Newsom pushed for the measure to counter efforts by Republican-led states to reconfigure their congressional districts to ensure the GOP keeps control of Congress.

“This is not a fight we actually wanted to have,” Yee said. “This is in response to a clear attempt to mute our representation in Washington. And so we have to fight back.”

A focus on immigrant backgrounds, and appeals to Latino voters

The candidates repeatedly focused on their families’ origins as well as their efforts to protect immigrants while serving in elected office.

Thurmond raised his upbringing in his opening remarks.

“I know what it is to struggle. You know that my grandparents were immigrants who came here from Colombia, from Jamaica? You know that I am the descendant of slaves who settled in Detroit, Mich.?” he said.

Becerra highlighted his support for undocumented people to have access to state healthcare coverage as well as his successful lawsuit protecting undocumented immigrants brought to this nation as young children that reached the Supreme Court.

“As the son of immigrants, I know what happens when you feel like you’re excluded,” he said.

Becerra and Thurmond addressed the diverse audience in Spanish.

Yee, who spoke about sharing a room with her immigrant parents and siblings. also raised her background during a lightning-round question about what the candidates planned to dress up as on Halloween.

“My authentic self as a daughter of immigrants,” she said.

Differing opinions on criminal justice approaches and healthcare

The debate was overwhelmingly cordial. But there was some dissent when the topic turned to Proposition 36, a 2024 anti-crime ballot measure that imposed stricter penalties for repeat theft and crimes involving fentanyl.

The ballot measure — which undid key parts of the 2014 criminal justice reform ballot measure Proposition 47 — sowed division among California Democrats, with Newsom and groups including the ACLU strongly opposing it. Its passage marked a turning of the tide in Californians’ attitudes about criminal justice reform and response to crime, following years of support for progressive policies that leaned away from punitive prison sentences for lower-level crimes.

First, Villaraigosa contended that he was the only candidate on stage who had supported Proposition 36, though Porter and Becerra quickly jumped in to say that they too had supported it.

But Porter also contended that, despite her support, there were “very real problems with it and very real shortcomings.” The measure should have also focused on prevention and incarcerating people for drug offenses doesn’t make anyone safer, she said.

Thurmond strayed sharply from the pack on the issue, saying he voted “no” on Proposition 36 and citing his career as a social worker.

“Prop. 36, by design, was set up to say that if you have a substance abuse issue, that you will get treatment in jail,” Thurmond contended, suggesting that the amount of drugs present in the prison system would make that outcome difficult.

As governor, he would more money into treatment for substance abuse programs and diversion programs for those who commit minor crimes, he said.

When the candidates were asked to raise their hands if they supported a single-payer healthcare system, Porter and Villaraigosa did not, while Becerra, Yee and Thurmond did.

The need to build more housing

Issues of affordability are top of mind for most Californians, particularly when it comes to housing.

Thurmond said he would build two million housing units on surplus land on school sites around the state and provide a tax break for working and middle class Californians.

Villaraigosa also focused on the need to build more housing, criticizing bureaucratic red tape and slow permitting processes.

Villaraigosa also twice critiqued CEQA — notable because the landmark California Environmental Quality Act was once held seemingly above reproach by California Democrats. But the law’s flaws have become increasingly accepted in recent years as the state’s housing crisis worsened, with Newsom signing two bills to overhaul the the law and ease new construction earlier this year.

Porter said that if she were governor, she would sign SB 79, a landmark housing bill that overrides local zoning laws to expand high-density housing near transit hubs. The controversial bill — which would potentially remake single-family neighborhoods within a half-mile of transit stops — is awaiting Newsom’s signature or veto.

ISAAC HAYDEN feels sympathy for Chelsea ‘bomb squad’ members Raheem Sterling and Axel Disasi.

The ex-Newcastle midfielder, now at QPR, spent the first five months of last season in limbo after failing to secure a summer move.

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Sterling shared a photo of himself training alone late in the evening, while boss Enzo Maresca admitted he has not even spoken to the winger this season.

Hayden, 30, was not in Eddie Howe’s plans but his circumstances were slightly different.

He told SunSport: “I have sympathy because footballers want to play — but everyone’s got different reasons as to why they find themselves in a so-called ‘bomb squad’.

“It happened to me because I couldn’t find a solution during that summer window which fitted in with what Newcastle also wanted.

“But I had constant contact with Eddie and was given nothing but support.”

Hayden made 187 appearances for Newcastle, won the Championship title in 2017 and had five seasons playing in the Premier League. 

But a knee injury in December 2021 sidelined him for 5½ months and Howe later told him he was surplus to requirements.

Hayden said: “By the time I’d come back, they had signed Bruno Guimaraes, and Joelinton was playing as a No 8 — so there was no space.

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“And the team had been transformed from one fighting relegation to having top-six form.

“Eddie was honest and said he had five players in front of me. You think to yourself, ‘I know where I stand’. I’d rather  that than the manager not talking to me.

“You hear people talk about bomb squads where they isolate you, and that’s horrible — but Eddie and Newcastle didn’t do that.

“We had the conversation as to why he couldn’t name me in the 25-man squad.

“And it’s not as simple as, ‘Why not let him train with the first team?’. If you’re doing an 11 v 11 game and everyone’s fit, you’re not going to be able to train with the group because there are too many players.

So Eddie’s solution for me to train with the Under-23s was better. It meant I could train normally every day — and not by myself.”

Hayden actually embraced that period and even did some coaching.

He said: “The bottom line is you’re getting paid good money by the club as a professional footballer. So you give 100 per cent to them in whatever role you’re in.”

After spending the second half of last season on loan with Portsmouth, Hayden joined QPR permanently in the summer.

And now he is hoping to play for Jamaica at next summer’s World Cup.

He said: “One of the huge blessings to come out of that period was I was able to go to Jamaica for a few days to sort my  passport out so I could play for them.

“Had I been playing first-team football every week I’d have not been able to.

“Now I have a chance of making the World Cup. It goes to show you can make everything work out in the end.”

 CopyBet is the official front-of-shirt partner of Queens Park Rangers FC. Visit CopyBet.com

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Gibraltar has long been a firm favourite with Brits looking for a sun-soaked holiday that doesn’t involve a long flight – but one writer was surprised by what was on offer when they arrived

Stepping on to the baking airport Tarmac, I glance over my shoulder to get my first look at the Rock of Gibraltar. Dramatic and dominating, the great monolith of limestone and shale looms 1,400ft above us, dwarfing even my accommodation here – a 465ft long, 189-room five-star superyacht-hotel.

Lovingly called Gib by the locals, the peninsula is located at the entrance to the Mediterranean, on the southern tip of Spain. Its strategic position has shaped its complex and fascinating history, through the changing hands of multiple nations – it was ceded to Britain in 1713 – and as a vital Second World War Allied stronghold.

Today, Moorish, British, Spanish and Jewish influences come together to create a unique aesthetic, while almost 40,000 locals, many of whom speak a Spanish-English hybrid language called Llanito, live alongside Barbary macaques, Europe’s only wild monkeys.

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We are lucky enough to be staying at the Sunborn Yacht Hotel in the lively Ocean Village Marina, a stone’s throw from the busy town centre.

Azure waters teeming with little fish lap at the moored boats, while holidaymakers chill outside British pubs showing the football highlights. Across the water, almost close enough to touch, and with the airport runway between us, is Spain.

A backdrop of cranes and building sites are evidence of the forward charge of development, with land reclamation around the harbours a huge part of the progress. No time to stop for too long, though, as there’s so much to do on the peninsula – now linked directly to Birmingham with a new easyJet flight – that within a couple of hours of landing we’re on a yellow boat in the nine-mile-wide Strait, between the Rock and the Rif Mountains, ­watching a friendly pod of dolphins play and leap around us while our tour guide points out the calves.

Dinner that evening is at a popular spot called Bianca’s, only a few feet from where the Dolphin Adventure vessel is moored. We are delighted to tuck into pil pil gambas and a dish called The Swimming Cow – surf and turf, Gibraltar style.

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Following a buffet breakfast the next morning, we head up the winding roads to St Michael’s Cave, in the Upper Rock Nature Reserve. Our jaws hit the floor and we enter the magnificent grotto, gazing awestruck at the enormous stalactites and stalagmites that dominate the vast cavern, illuminated by a multicoloured light show.

Long imagined to be bottomless, the Ancient Greeks believed these cathedral-like halls to be the entrance of Hades, while a popular Gibraltar legend tells that the caves connected Gibraltar to Africa, allowing underwater passage to the famous macaques.

Emerging blinking and stunned, we venture to the World War II Tunnels, a tourist experience that takes us right into the heart of the Rock, meandering through winding passages that were carved into the limestone by the military. The instant emotional wallop of the soldiers’ graffiti etched into the rock leaves me with a lump in my throat.

A hefty £3million private investment has allowed head of development Christian Wright to vastly improve the experience, making it more accessible, dynamic and interactive. Wright is personally committed to ensuring that the overlooked story of his fellow Gibraltarians is told, using local artefacts, accounts and photos. Referenced along the way, in a recognition that truth is stranger than fiction, is James Bond creator Ian Fleming who played a role in Operation Goldeneye – a plan to secure communication and ­intelligence in Gibraltar.

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Up the cable car we go next for a six-minute ascent, this time bound for the impressive Skywalk, which is great for monkey lovers. The macaques are synonymous with Gibraltar and the 10 groups are managed with love and respect.

But tourists be warned: they can be aggressive and will snatch a snack (first hand witness here), so keep it well hidden. Feeding the monkeys is punishable with a substantial fine, so don’t be tempted.

We learn even more about our primate cousins when we meet with primatologist Brian Gomila of Monkey Talk – Gibraltar for a fascinating in-depth study of monkey behaviour, lucking out when we see a week old baby, clinging to its mum.

Dinner is at The Lounge on the Queensway Quay Marina later, which offers a gorgeous setting and classic, elegant dishes.

A private tour of the derelict Northern Defences, used as a fortress in the war, is an eye-opening exploration led by architect Carl Viagas. Carl, whose passion for the project is clear, is renovating the labyrinth of caves into a considerably impressive visitor attraction – in his words he’s “defending the defences”. The attraction is set to open in summer 2026.

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Gibraltar Museum provides further insight into the multilayered history of the peninsula, particularly “Nana and Flint”, a Neanderthal grandma and her grandson, tenderly portrayed via two life-sized forensic reconstructions.

Some of the last people of these archaic humans occupied the Goram’s cave complex on the southeastern side of the peninsula, and the caves are considered of such great importance that they are now combined into a Unesco World Heritage site.

Gin tasting rounds off day three at award-winning Spirit of the Rock’s microbrewery, with seven gins to taste (hic) and a romp through the history of the spirit to boot.

Thankfully clear headed for our final day, we embark on an extremely fun e-bike tour of the Lower Rock. The route sees us pass a beach where the sand was imported from the Sahara, visit the Botanical Gardens where we see ancient dragon trees, ride by an impressive mosque donated by King Fahd of Saudi Arabia, pass in and out of the ever-present Rock through various winding tunnels, and, thrillingly, cross the airport runway, bringing our ­exploration of Gibraltar to a close.

Was Gibraltar what I expected? The answer, unequivocally, is certainly not. Despite its small size, it delivers some memories.

Book the holiday

• easyJet flies from Birmingham to Gibraltar starting at £26.99 one-way. easyjet.com
• easyJet holidays offers four nights’ B&B at the Sunborn Gibraltar yacht-hotel from £584pp with Birmingham flights on October 12. easyjet.com/en/holidays
• More info at visitgibraltar.gi

Do you have a holiday story that you want to share with us? Email us at [email protected].

FOOTBALL isn’t just about goals and ­trophies — it’s about people.

After all, clubs don’t make anything, don’t manufacture anything; all our assets are people.

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Dealing with people is a key part of my job as West Ham CEO. And dealing with a wantaway player is one of the toughest jobs in football.

We had our own Alexander Isak moment at West Ham in 2017 when Dimitri Payet wanted out… and the whole club felt it.

One day he just packed his bags, went to the airport and took a flight to Marseille.

That was despite the fact we told him we did not want him to leave, expected him to honour his contract and had done no deal with Olympique de Marseille for him to be transferred there.

We loved him, our supporters loved him, but he didn’t love us back and that’s hard to take.

The fans were heartbroken, the dressing room unsettled and every training session turned into a circus.

That’s the reality when a star man downs tools. The ripple effect is huge.

The press were camped outside, questions wouldn’t stop and the tension was obvious.

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I look at Newcastle’s situation with Isak and genuinely sympathise.
He’s a top striker, adored by the Toon Army, but once a player has his head turned, it changes everything.

Suddenly, the focus isn’t on football any more — it’s on one man’s future.

The hard truth is you can’t make an unhappy player happy. But that doesn’t mean you roll over.

The club has to stay strong, because it’s bigger than any one player.
Fans rightly expect loyalty, but as club executives, we have to protect the value of the asset and the pride in the badge.

With Payet, we stood firm. We made sure West Ham got the right deal. It hurt at the time, but the club came out stronger.

Newcastle will be thinking the same way. They will fight to keep Isak if they can, but if the moment comes where he has to go, they’ll make sure it’s on their terms — not his.

That’s exactly how it should be. Players come and go. Clubs don’t. That’s the heartbeat we’re all here to protect.

Isak has not been an isolated case — but the dynamics don’t change much. Remember Pierre van Hooijdonk ­refusing to play at Nottingham Forest?

Isak to Liverpool transfer saga timeline

• JANUARY: First links to Liverpool emerge

• FEBRUARY: £150million record fee mooted

• MARCH: Isak denies Newcastle contract talk

• APRIL: Eddie Howe hails Isak as “very professional.”

• MAY: Howe insists Isak will not be sold
• Last match in Newcastle shirt

• JUNE: Transfer links to Liverpool heat up

• JULY: Flies with Newcastle for Austria training camp
• Left out of Celtic friendly
• Liverpool hijack Toon’s Hugo Ekitike deal after making Isak enquiry
• Doesn’t travel for pre-season tour of Singapore and South Korea, citing injury

• AUGUST: Training by himself at Newcastle
• Liverpool have £110m bid rejected
• Isak stops training and goes on strike
• Moves out of his apartment
• Releases angry statement blasting ‘trust has been lost’
• Newcastle respond by insisting he won’t be sold unless it benefits club

And what about William Gallas, Peter Odemwingie, ­Carlos Tevez, Saido Berahino and even Cristiano Ronaldo’s ill-fated decision to return to Manchester United?

For a CEO, the challenge is balancing three things: the expectations, hopes and dreams of the supporters, the manager’s needs, and the dignity of the badge.

It’s not about forcing anyone to stay against their will. Unhappy players rarely, if ever, perform at their peak.

But it’s also not about rolling over at the first sign of discontent. The club’s interests must come first.

That means securing fair value, protecting the integrity of the squad and making sure supporters know their loyalty is matched in the boardroom.

In Payet’s case, we stood firm until the right solution came and the player moved. The lesson was that while football is very emotional, decisions must be rational.

Players come and go but, West Ham, like every great club, remains. That’s what we protect every single day.

Newcastle have been a football club for 144 years. And they will be around a lot longer than any one footballer.

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TRANSFER NEWS LIVE – KEEP UP WITH ALL THE LATEST FROM A BUSY SUMMER WINDOW

A WOMAN who moved from a council estate to a “posh” house has admitted she wasn’t prepared for her nightmare neighbour.

TerriAnn is famous for appearing on TV show Rich House, Poor House, and regularly shares behind the scenes tales from the show on her social media pages.

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In a recent TikTok, she decided to post a story time of “coming from a council estate and moving to a ‘POSH’ area”, as she recalled acclimatising to the new home, and an unfortunate situation with their neighbour.

Calling it her “dream home”, which came complete with a cinema room and bar, TerriAnn said the real problems began when she spent £40,000 building a home office in her garden.

“Then I had a new neighbour and he was a doctor and he wasn’t very nice,” she said.

“I think personally he could not stand the fact like I’m just me – I’m not posh, I’m just me, I’ll never change.

“I’ll always be from a council estate, always a bit rough and ready… and he just couldn’t stand us.”

While the house had a “massive drive” for all her staff to park on, they all arrived for work at different times, meaning that they ended up blocking each other in.

So they instead decided to park on the street.

And following one of her staff having an argument with the neighbour, the man ended up phoning the council to complain.

“Then when council got involved basically the reason I had to move out of the house is because they said I couldn’t run my business from there,” she said.

“So I’d spent £40,000 on this office being built in the back garden and the council turned around and said you’re using your property as a commercial property.

“There was a massive hoo-ha over it anyway and I thought, I’m not staying here and not being able to run my business.

“It’s just not worth it what we’ve invested.”

So they decided to sell the house – making a profit in the process – and then moved to another home, which was the one that featured in Rich House, Poor House.

Concluding the video, TerriAnn said it wasn’t the first time she’d been discriminated against for coming from a council estate – and it probably won’t be the last.

“I think they look down on people who have turned their life around, who are now living that lifestyle – who are doing it by genuine means, who are earning legitimate money.”

She was quickly praised in the comments section for her refreshing attitude, with one writing: “Love to see my own kind of people getting along in life good on you.

“Sounds like the doctor was very bitter and jealous of you!”

“You hit the nail on the head,” another agreed.

“As long as you’re happy now!” a third said.

“Love your story times, you’re so real,” someone else added.

James May, who is best known for his role on Top Gear and The Grand Tour, bought a pub in 2020 and it’s been reviewed by a content creator who was left impressed by one aspect

Jeremy Clarkson isn’t the only former Top Gear presenter to own a pub. Following his success with Amazon Prime’s Clarkson’s Farm programme, the Grand Tour star opened his own establishment, called The Farmer’s Dog, in August 2024.

Located in Asthall, near Burford in Oxfordshire, it continues to attract sizeable crowds keen to sample the Cotswolds pub for themselves. Meanwhile, fellow Grand Tour star James May purchased The Royal Oak in Swallowcliffe, Salisbury, Wiltshire, in 2020. Unlike Clarkson, May owns half the pub, which dates back to the 18th Century.

Recently content creator Phil Carr, who is known for his satirical reviews of towns and businesses across the UK, decided to visit the establishment himself to see what it was like. In a TikTok video, Phil observed that most celebrities who buy a pub do it as a “self-indulgent folly, a bit of fun, or simply to invest in massive property in hugely valuable areas in a way that people will love them for”.

However, James, who is a part-time resident in Swallowcliffe, and the community-owned pub “looked like it was going down”, he “decided he didn’t want to lose his local”, so he bought into it.

Speaking to Country and Town House, May previously outlined his reasoning for purchasing the derelict pub: “I was a bit browbeaten into buying it, but I also realised that if I didn’t there wouldn’t be a single pub within walking distance of our home.

“Buying it was the only way to ensure there would be. I don’t take any money out of it. I take the view that it’s like owning a nice painting or sculpture – you own it for self-gratification.”

Phil described the pub as “pretty cut off”, but said this is “part of its charm”. He paid £175 per night for a “mid level room” in July, which he found “charming”.

He also noted that breakfast is included, which helps “take the edge off” the cost.

After exploring Swallowcliffe, including the fields, he concluded there’s “really not much to it” beyond “the pub, the church and 174 residents”.

However, the highlight of the pub, which truly impressed him, was the cuisine. According to Phil, patrons started arriving in the evening, but it “didn’t really get busy like Clarkson’s Pub”.

Joined by fellow content creator Ann Russell, she highlighted James’ own gin, launched in 2021 with the idea to blend the flavours of Parsnip and Asian spices. She described it as “rather nice”.

Then Phil got to the “good bit” – the food. He elaborated: “The highest praise I can give it is, Ann lives just up the road [and] she’s been here four times, and anyone who knows her knows she doesn’t suffer bulls**t”.

Having ordered bread, cured trout, souffle, Sirloin steak, a pint of beer, Panna Cotta and Semifreddo, the £104.64 bill felt like “more than a fair exchange”, according to Phil. The quality of the breakfast food also left a positive impression on the content creator.

Phil wrapped up his thoughts by stating: “Don’t come here for a week on holiday or honeymoon but do stop in for a night definitely, if you’re on your way to the West Country or milling around the nearby Stonehenge. James did a great thing securing a community pub and they repaid him by making it really very good.”

A man shared his outraged after being asked to move plane seats so a young boy could look out the window – but he argues it’s unfair because he paid extra for the view

When it comes to travelling overseas, most people make sure to pre-book the best seat possible on their flight. That’s exactly why one man decided to spend an extra £200 on a window seat when travelling to Brazil to visit his family.

After sitting down and getting comfortable in his spot, he was soon approached by another passenger who asked him he give up his window seat for his son. Detailing the incident on Reddit, he recalled: “This stranger who was seated on the middle plane seats across from me with his child asked me if I could give up my window seat for his kid. I said, ‘Sorry, but no. I paid an extra 200 for this seat’.”

Expecting the father to understand, he was met instead with a persistent “glare”, prompting an internal reaction: “In my head I said, ‘Okay f*** you too!’ And went back listening to my music while looking out the window.”

The situation escalated when a flight attendant tapped him on the shoulder with the same request.

He firmly showed the cabin crew his ticket and payment receipt, resolutely stating: “I pulled out my ticket and the receipt I got when I paid extra for the window seat and told her, ‘No, I paid extra for window seat’.

“She said, ‘Okay, sorry to bother you sir’. I saw her walk back to him and say, ‘no’ for me. “

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Annoyed, the dad glared at him again – believing he was being unreasonable and unkind to his son by refusing to move.

Commenting on his post, one user said: “I used to fly for work every few weeks. It was pretty common for this to happen.

“I did the exact same thing. If I paid extra for a seat, I said no. If I was just changing seats so family could sit next to each other, and they were polite, I usually switched.”

They continued: “Didn’t matter to me. Just the politeness. I was going to read most of the time anyway. If they were rude I just said no and stuck my head in a book.”

Another user chimed in: “When I flew alone I really didn’t care where I sat and didn’t pay extra for a pre-chosen seat. But if you do care about sitting together then pay more and don’t harass other people to give up their seat for you.”

A third user suggested: “If a situation like this happens again, let them know that there is a £500 surcharge in order for you to move.”

Yet another user added: “What on Earth is it with flight stewardesses asking someone that? Like no, you paid for your seat stop complaining!”

LOVE Island fans are convinced the Casa Amor boys told Meg about Dejon’s behaviour in unaired scenes.

Despite a couple of wobbles following the arrival of bombshells Malisha and Billykiss, Meg believed Dejon was loyal to her.

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However, seeds doubting his intentions seemed to have been sown in Meg’s mind during a villa game shortly before Casa Amor when Billykiss brought up Dejon’s unwillingness to close things off with her.

Though Meg initially said there was no need to for them to do that and the other girls were just jealous, days later she was reduced to tears thinking about Dejon’s behaviour.

The dramatic emotional switch appeared to come out of the blue as she poured her heart out to Helena.

Now viewers think the new boys have told her how Dejon has really been acting, having seen some of the show before taking part themselves.

One person wrote in a fan forum: “It was a bit odd that it took casa for Meg to finally wake up and realize that Dejon has been playing with her since day 1? Like a lot of the girls warned her. I genuinely believe that the producers or the casa boys let her in on some info. And also, if Helena knew why didn’t she tell her? Lol.”

Another said: “The casa boys definitely got into her head. Ty was telling her that Dejon never tells her the full story or something like that and I’ll bet others have said things.”

A third wrote: “Probably some of the Casa boys said stuff to her about what’s been shown and people’s opinions of him on the outside.”

A fourth said: “I think she’s been told some stuff but she won’t stick to her opinion.”

Meg chose to couple up with Dejon at the very start of the series and they’ve been together ever since.

Though very flirtatious, he has remained loyal to “his Meg,” claiming the “tests” have only made them stronger as a couple.

Though some viewers feel Dejon’s game plan is to stick with Meg so he can coast to the £50k prize.

And Meg is also now doubting his intentions, telling Helena: “I just feel really upset today. I don’t know why.

“I was just talking about things with Em, and I don’t know, we just, like, certain things with me and D, like, it actually makes me realise he really doesn’t mean what he says sometimes.”

In Casa Amor, Dejon admitted he had a spark with new girl Andrada, telling her: “And I feel like the more time we spend with each other, the better things are getting.”

His eyes also lit up after Andrada made a steamy confession.

Clearly determined to turn his head for good, the newcomer opened up about her high sex drive. 

When Dejon asked about her type, Andrada said: “I have to want them three times a day… I have to.” 

Looking impressed, Dejon asked: “So you have a high sex drive?”

She said: “I do… It’s really bad.”

But Dejon remarked: “That’s not bad.”

However, he later backtracked by declining to share a bed with her out of “respect” for Meg.

Will they pick up where they left off in tonight’s recoupling?

Love Island continues tonight at 9pm on ITV2.

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WE all want to give our kids a magical birthday, no matter the budget.

And one mum has shared how she created a personalised Minecraft cake for her son’s birthday without paying a professional.

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Taking to TikTok, Cara, a mum-of-five, made her own delicious cake for her son’s birthday using M&S and Amazon buys.

In the clip, she said: “Come DIY my son’s Minecraft birthday cake using two cakes from M&S.

“I feel absolutely awful but I left it way too last minute to order Noah a birthday cake, then I couldn’t get one booked in anywhere so thought I’d go to M&S and do it myself.”

She said her son was a big chocolate lover so grabbed the M&S chocolate Mini Bite Cake for £20 and the Cookies and Cream cake.

She used the cookie flavour cake as the bottom tier and removed the chocolate decorations and moved them to the chocolate cake that would suit on top.

To make sure the two cakes were secure, she stuck a few cocktail sticks into the bottom one before placing the other on top.

Next, the savvy mum had some Amazon bits to complete the cake and turn it into a Minecraft bonanza that Noah would love.

She was able to find a Minecraft logo and happy birthday sign made out of edible rice paper, so cut them out and placed them on top of the cake.

Cara also found some Minecraft figurines made of icing and stuck those on top as well.

“These are amazing,” she said, “And I just popped them all over the cake.

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“Noah is Minecraft obsessed and Steve is his absolute favourite character, so I know he’s gonna absolutely love this.

The final cake was perfect for her son and the rest of her family to enjoy while celebrating his birthday.

Cara added: “I mean it’s not the best cake in the world but I know he’s gonna absolutely love it and it was literally on a budget.”

The clip of her DIY cake was shared on her TikTok account @cara_mamato5 and soon went viral with over 170k views and 2,800 likes.

The cost of a professional birthday cake can vary massively depending on how big you want it and what decor you want.

A basic sponge or character cake from the supermarket can cost between £10 to £20.

A small personalised custom cake from a bakery or cake maker can set you back up to £60.

While medium cakes, with multiple tiers like what Cara made can be an eye-watering £100.

This will strike the literal-minded as illogical, but I think Huntington Park Mayor Arturo Flores, a Marine veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan, had a righteous point when he declared at a news conference with Southern California mayors that immigrants being rounded up by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in communities like his “are Americans, whether they have a document or they don’t.”

“The president keeps talking about a foreign invasion,” Flores told me Thursday. “He keeps trying to paint us as the other. I say, ‘No, you are dealing with Americans.’”

California’s estimated 1.8 million undocumented immigrants who have lived among us for years, for decades, who work and pay taxes here, who have sent their American-born children to schools here, have all the responsibilities of citizens minus many of the rights. Yes, technically, they have broken the law. (For that matter, so has President Trump, a felon, and he continues to violate the Constitution day after day, as his mounting court losses attest.)

But our region’s undocumented Mexican and Central American immigrants are inextricably embedded in our lives. They care for our children, build our homes, dig our ditches, trim our trees, clean our homes, hotels and businesses, wash our dishes, pick our crops, sew our clothes. Lots own small businesses, are paying mortgages, attend universities, rise in their professions. In 2013, I wrote about Sergio Garcia, the first undocumented immigrant admitted to the California Bar. Since then, he has become a U.S. citizen and owns a personal injury law firm.

These Californians are far less likely to break the law than native-born Americans, and they do not deserve the reign of terror being inflicted on them by the Trump administration, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who has pointlessly but theatrically called in the Marines.

“So we started off by hearing the administration wanted to go after violent felons gang members, drug dealers,” said Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, who organized the mayors’ news conference last week, “but when you raid Home Depot and workplaces, when you tear parents and children apart, and when you run armored caravans through our streets, you’re not trying to keep anyone safe. You’re trying to cause fear and panic.”

And please, let’s not forget that when Congress came together and hammered out a bipartisan immigration reform bill under President Biden, Trump demanded Republicans kill it because he did not want a rational policy, he wanted to be able to keep hammering Democrats on the issue.

But it seems there is more going on here than rounding up undocumented immigrants and terrorizing their families. We seem to have entered the “punish California” phase of Trump 2.0.

“Trump has a hyperfocus on California, on how to hurt the economy and cause chaos, and he is really doubling down on that campaign,” Flores told me. He has a point.

“We are staying here to liberate the city from the socialist and the burdensome leadership that this governor and this mayor placed on this country,” Noem told reporters Thursday at a news conference in the Westwood federal building, during which California Sen. Alex Padilla was wrestled to the ground and handcuffed face down for daring to ask her a question. “We are not going away.”

So now we’re talking about regime change? (As former Harvard law professor Laurence Tribe put it on Bluesky, the use of military force aimed at displacing democratically elected leaders “is the very definition of a coup.”)

Noem’s noxious mix of willful ignorance and inflammatory rhetoric is almost too ludicrous to mock. It goes hand in hand with Trump’s silly declaration that our city has been set aflame by rioters, that without the military patrolling our streets, Los Angeles “would be a crime scene like we haven’t seen in years,” and that “paid insurrectionists” have fueled the anti-ICE protests.

What we are seeing play out in the news and in our neighborhoods is the willful infliction of fear, trauma and intimidation designed to spark a violent response, and the warping of reality to soften the ground for further Trump administration incursions into blue states, America’s bulwark against his autocratic aspirations.

For weeks, Trump has been scheming to deprive California — probably illegally — of federal funding for public schools and universities, citing resistance to his executive orders on diversity, equity and inclusion programs, on immigration, on environmental regulations, etc.

And yet, because he is perhaps the world’s most ignorant head of state, he seems to have suddenly realized that crippling the California economy might be bad politics for him. On Thursday, he suggested in his own jumbled way that perhaps deporting thousands of the state’s farm and hospitality workers might cause pain to his friends, their employers. (Central Valley growers and agribusiness PACs, for example, overwhelmingly supported Trump in 2024.)

“Our farmers are being hurt badly by, you know, they have very good workers. They’ve worked for them for 20 years,” Trump said. “They’re not citizens, but they’ve turned out to be, you know, great. And we’re going to have to do something about that.”

Like a lot of Californians, I feel helpless in the face of this assault on immigrants.

I thought about a Guatemalan, a father of three young American-born children, who has a thriving business hauling junk. I met him a couple of years ago at my local Home Depot, and have hired him a few times to haul away household detritus. Once, after I couldn’t get the city to help, he hauled off a small dune’s worth of sand at the end of my street that had become the local dogs’ pee pad.

I called him this week — I have more stuff that I need to get rid of, and I was pretty sure he could use the work. Early Friday morning, he arrived on time with two workers. He said hadn’t been able to work in two weeks but was hopeful he’d be able to return to Home Depot soon.

“How are your kids doing?” I asked.

“They worry,” he said. “They ask, ‘What will we do if you’re deported?’”

He tells them not to fret, that things will soon be back to normal. After he drove off, he texted: “Thank you so much for helping me today. God bless you.”

No, God bless him. For working hard. For being a good dad. And for still believing, against the odds, in the American dream.

@rabcarian.bsky.social @rabcarian

To hear our national leaders tell it, Los Angeles is in chaos and our governor and mayor are out to lunch with the police, blissfully ignoring reality as the city burns.

“These Radical Left protests, by instigators and often paid troublemakers, will NOT BE TOLERATED,” President Trump wrote on social media, shortly after ordering the National Guard onto our streets.

“To the extent that protests or acts of violence directly inhibit the execution of the laws, they constitute a form of rebellion against the authority of the Government of the United States,” he wrote in a memo Saturday, authorizing 2,000 National Guard troops to be deployed in L.A. for at least 60 days.

Put down your matcha lattes and trade in your Birkenstocks for boots, folks. We are the revolution, apparently, so dangerous only a seasoned military can stop us. The only problem, of course, is that Los Angeles is not in chaos on this particular sunny Sunday and the vast majority of Angelenos are just trying to enjoy the weekend without becoming a federal prisoner.

Trump’s memo will go into the history books as a moment when presidential power expanded to put under his control a military force aimed at U.S. civilians. Although not unprecedented, the dean of UC Berkeley’s law school, Erwin Chemerinsky, said it was “stunning.”

All the more so because the deployment is based on a lie. Yes, there has been some violence in the last few days as federal immigration authorities round up criminals and regular folks alike in deportation sweeps. If you keep the camera angle tight on those protests, as many media outlets have done, it does look dire.

Rocks being thrown, even Molotov cocktails. Masked protesters hammering at concrete pillars outside a downtown federal building. Cars on fire.

All of this is terrible and those responsible should be arrested — by our local police and sheriffs, who are more than up to the job of handling a few hundred protesters.

But 99% of this city is business as usual, with brunches and beach walks and church and yoga classes. And even in those few pockets where the protests are happening, such as a march downtown Sunday, this is Los Angeles — I’ve seen more chaos after a Lakers game.

Jessica Levinson, a law professor at Loyola Law School, told my colleague Seema Mehta that although it’s extremely unusual for a president to take federal control of troops, it’s not unprecedented and maybe not illegal. It happened in 1992 during the Los Angeles riots after the Rodney King verdict.

“One of the exceptions is when there is violence and the inability of the federal government to enforce federal laws,” Levinson said. “And that is exactly what the president is arguing is happening.”

My intrepid colleagues at this paper have been on the ground since the first protests began, and, as their reporting shows, the majority of what is happening is peaceful and isolated.

Even the cops agree. And seriously, when the cops are agreeing there’s no riot — there is no riot.

“Demonstrations across the City of Los Angeles remained peaceful and we commend all those who exercised their First Amendment rights responsibly,” the LAPD wrote in a statement Saturday night.

Still, by Sunday morning, those troops, in full military gear with guns in hand (presumably with less lethal ammo, I hope), were arriving. The U.S. Northern Command tweeted that the 79th Infantry Brigade Combat Team has some members on the ground in Los Angeles, with more to come.

“These operations are essential to halting and reversing the invasion of illegal criminals into the United States. In the wake of this violence, California’s feckless Democrat leaders have completely abdicated their responsibility to protect their citizens,” Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, further explained before they arrived.

Also, as you plan your week, there is now a dress code — at least for civilians, not the authorities intent on hiding their identities.

“(F)rom now on, MASKS WILL NOT BE ALLOWED to be worn at protests. What do these people have to hide, and why???” Trump wrote.

All this, Gov. Gavin Newsom said, is “not to meet an unmet need, but to manufacture a crisis.”

He’s right — Los Angeles has landed a starring role in Trump’s war on brown people. It makes sense. We are a city of immigrants, of all colors, and a Democratic — and democratic — one at that. What’s not to hate?

Mayor Karen Bass told my colleague Rachel Uranga that her office had tried to talk to the White House to tell them “there was absolutely no need to have troops on the ground,” but got nowhere.

“This is posturing,” Bass said.

“They want violence,” Newsom added in a Sunday email. “Don’t give them the spectacle they want.”

I’m not sure that’s possible. There will always be the bad actors, the violent ones, at any protest. And again — they should be arrested.

But Trump is going to laser-focus on those few to make an example of this city, and to increase his own power.

Because although this “insurrection” is a fantasy, his dream of more power seems all too real.