“We have to die so people can keep working.” Canada’s Grassy Narrows First Nation is taking on the government over a local employer’s poisoning of their water.
Published On 13 Oct 202513 Oct 2025
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There’s something about Thai cuisine that is warm and welcoming.
Perhaps it’s the fire that bird’s eye chili brings to a dish, or maybe the bold punchiness of tom yum soup.
My colleague and food critic Bill Addison referred to Thai as “a pillar cuisine of Los Angeles.”
And why not?
The city boasts the world’s largest Thai population outside of Thailand. Those who open restaurants open our palates to a diverse range of flavors and sensations from their micro-regional cooking styles.
Addison is wary of using the term “best.” Instead, he crafted a list of his 15 favorite Thai restaurants in Los Angeles. Here, we’ll highlight a handful of those choices, in Addison’s own words.
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(Mariah Tauger / Los Angeles Times)
If you’ve had any passing interest in Los Angeles dining culture this decade, you probably know the story: Anajak Thai was founded in 1981 by chef Ricky Pichetrungsi, whose recipes merge his Thai upbringing and Cantonese heritage, and his wife Rattikorn.
In 2019, when Pichetrungsi suffered a stroke, the couple’s son Justin left a thriving career as an art director at Walt Disney Imagineering to take over the restaurant.
It changed his life, and it changed Los Angeles, with Justin’s creative individualism — specifically his Thai Taco Tuesday phenomenon.
That’s when the menu crisscrosses fish tacos lit up by chili crisp and limey nam jim with wok-fragrant drunken noodles and Dungeness crab fried rice. Add what has become one of L.A.’s great wine lists, and the restaurant has catapulted into one of the city’s great dining sensations.
The restaurant closed for a couple of months over the summer for a renovation, revealing a brighter, significantly resituated interior — and introducing an open kitchen and a second dining room — in August.
The menu didn’t radically alter: It’s the same multi-generational cooking, tracing the family heritage, leaning ever-further into freshness, perfecting the details in familiar dishes.
Fried chicken sheathed in rice flour batter and scattered with fried shallots, the star of the Justin-era menu, remains, as does the sublime mango sticky rice that Rattikorn makes when she can find fragrant fruit in season and at its ripest.
(Bill Addison / Los Angeles Times)
Owner Andy Asapahu grew up in a Thai-Chinese community in Bangkok.
Anna Asapahu, his wife, was raised in Lampang, a small city in the verdant center of northern Thailand.
They melded their backgrounds into a sprawling multi-regional menu of soups, salads, noodles and curries when they opened Ayara in Westchester in 2004.
Their daughters Vanda and Cathy oversee the restaurant these days, but Anna’s recipe for khao soi endures as the marquee dish.
Khao soi seems to have become nearly as popular in Los Angeles as pad Thai. This one is quintessential: chicken drumsticks braised in silky coconut milk infused with lemongrass and other piercing aromatics, poured over egg noodles, sharpened with shallots and pickled mustard greens and garnished with lime and a thatch of fried noodles.
The counterpoints are all in play: a little sweetness from palm sugar and a lot of complexity from fish sauce, a bump of chile heat to offset the richness.
Pair it with a standout dish that reflects Andy’s upbringing, like pad pong kari, a stir-fry of curried shrimp and egg with Chinese celery and other vegetables, smoothed with a splash of cream and served over rice. The restaurant has a spacious dining room.
Note that lunch is technically carry-out only, though the family sets up the patio space outside the restaurant for those who want to stick around.
(Silvia Razgova / For The Times)
Wedchayan “Deau” Arpapornnopparat and Tongkamal “Joy” Yuon run two wholly different Holy Basils.
Downtown’s Santee Passage food hall houses the original, a window that does a brisk takeout business cranking out Arpapornnopparat’s visceral, full-throttle interpretations of Bangkok street food.
His pad see ew huffs with smokiness from the wok. The fluffy-crackly skin of moo krob pops and gives way to satiny pork belly underneath. Douse “grandma’s fry fish and rice” with chile vinegar, and in its sudden brightness you’ll understand why the dish was his childhood favorite.
Their sit-down restaurant in Atwater Village is a culmination of their ambitions. The space might be small, with much of the seating against a wall between two buildings, but the cooking is tremendous.
Arpapornnopparat leaps ahead, rendering a short, revolving menu of noodles, curries, chicken wings, fried rice and vegetable dishes that is more experimental, weaving in elements of his father’s Chinese heritage, his time growing up in India and the Mexican and Japanese flavors he loves in Los Angeles.
One creation that shows up in spring but I wait for all year: fried soft-shell crab and shrimp set in a thrilling, confounding sauce centered around salted egg yolk, browned butter, shrimp paste and scallion oil. In its sharp left turns of salt and acid and sultry funk, the brain longs to consult a GPS. But no map exists. These flavor combinations are from an interior land.
If you enjoyed those selections, check out the full list here. Happy dining.
(Carlin Stiehl/For the Times)
(Illustrations by Lindsey Made This; photograph by Kevin Winter / Getty Images)
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MEXICO CITY — Jasmín Ordóñez looks out from a wooden boat at the water as she crosses a narrow channel that connects a labyrinth of chinampas, island farms that were built by the Aztecs thousands of years ago.
“Let’s close our eyes and ask our Mother Water for permission to sail in peace,” she said as the boat moves slowly, in contrast to the frenetic traffic of Mexico City just a few miles away.
Ordóñez owns one of these island farms, first created with mud from the bottom of the lakes that once covered this area. When the boat arrives at her island, she proudly shows the corn and leafy greens she grows. Her ancestors owned chinampas, but she had to buy this one because women traditionally haven’t inherited them.
“My grandmother didn’t get any land. Back then, most was left in the hands of men,” she said. At her side, Cassandra Garduño listens attentively. She also didn’t inherit the family chinampa.
Today both are part of a small but growing group of women who have bought chinampas to cultivate sustainably in an effort to preserve an ecosystem that is increasingly threatened by urban development, mass tourism and water pollution.
Making their way in an area still dominated by men hasn’t been easy. In the chinampas of the boroughs of Xochimilco and San Gregorio Atlapulco, hardly any women work the land.
“People believe that men are the [only] ones who have the physical abilities to work them,” said Garduño. The mud stains her pale pink shirt, matching her boots. She knows her outfit gets funny looks from longtime male chinampa workers, but instead of getting upset, she finds it amusing.
After years away, she returned to San Gregorio in 2021 to dedicate herself to chinampa farming. She had gone to college and then spent long periods in Ecuador working in conservation efforts to protect manta rays and sharks. Then one day she came back to San Gregorio and was struck by the degradation of her own land: the lower water levels of the canals, the increasing pollution, the abandoned chinampas.
“That’s where I started to realize: ‘You are part of this space. And part of your responsibility is to safeguard it,’” she said.
After saving up for a year, she bought a chinampa — and was shocked to find it in such a bad state. A cleanup found pieces of armchairs, televisions and beer bottles. She worked to reopen canals that had been crammed with garbage and began planting crops. The distrust among the neighbors was palpable.
“They said: ‘Let’s see, this girl has never been down to this place, nobody knows her. And she’s already doing what she wants,’” she recalled.
But she knew much more than they thought. Garduño had learned a lot as a little girl who ran around her grandfather’s chinampa — “a paradise” of flowers. She learned that the mud from the bottom of the canals is the best fertilizer because it contains the mineral-rich ashes from the volcanoes surrounding Mexico City. She learned that planting a variety of crops keeps frost from destroying one entire crop and that the flowers attract insects, so they don’t eat the cabbage or kale.
“Chinampas can have up to eight rotations per year, whereas in other systems you might have two or three,” Garduño explained.
That’s why the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations recognized chinampas as one of the most productive agricultural systems on the planet. Today, her field is a melting pot of colors: the pale green of broccoli to the vivid yellow of marigolds.
Since 2016, she has been collaborating with Mexico’s National Autonomous University, advising other farmers who want to stop using agricultural chemicals and recover these traditional practices which also help preserve the ecosystem. Kneeling next to a planting bed, Garduño suggests elevating it so it won’t flood when it rains. Ordóñez takes note.
She bought this chinampa three years ago and is now seeking to obtain the “Etiqueta Chinampera,” the sustainability tag granted by the university to producers who, among other things, use mud as fertilizer instead of chemicals. With this label, their products can fetch higher prices.
Sixteen farmers have obtained the label so far, four of them women, said Diana Laura Vázquez Mendoza, of the university’s Institute of Biology, adding that the project encourages women to “take back their chinampas and produce.”
In the chinampas supported by the university, filters made from aquatic plants are installed to clean the water and prevent the passage of carp and tilapia. Introduced in Xochimilco in the 1980s, these invasive species became predators of the most distinguished inhabitants of this ecosystem: Mexico’s salamander-like axolotl. Today, this amphibian is on the verge of extinction because of these invasive species and a combination of factors polluting the canals: the discharge of sewage from urban growth, mass tourism and agricultural chemicals in many chinampas.
“Chinampas are an artificial agro-ecosystem that was created to supply food in pre-Hispanic times to the entire population. And that endures to this day,” Mendoza said. “So the way to conserve Xochimilco is to also conserve the chinampa.”
But a walk through the area on any given Sunday makes it clear that fewer chinampas are dedicated to agriculture. Every weekend, hundreds of people come here to play soccer on chinampas converted into fields or to drink aboard the brightly painted boats known as “trajineras.” The impact of this transformation to the wetland is evident: contaminants have been found there, from heavy metals such as iron, cadmium and lead to oils, detergents and pesticides, according to a study by biologist Luis Bojórquez Castro, of the Autonomous Metropolitan University.
Most come from the treatment plants that discharge their water in Xochimilco and from the chinampas that use agrochemicals, according to Castro’s study.
“Look at the clarity of the water,” said Ordóñez as she reaches into the canal where she has installed her biofilter. She knows that taking care of the water is essential to preserving this ecosystem. This wetland is the last remnant of what was once the great Tenochtitlan, the capital of the Aztec Empire built on the lakes that once filled the Valley of Mexico. Although today what remains of Xochimilco represents only 3% of the original extent of those lakes, it’s still key to the stability of the city. If it were to disappear, the average temperature of the capital could rise by up to 3.6 degrees, according to biologist Luis Zambrano.
Xochimilco and San Gregorio also reduce flooding during the rainy season, provide a natural carbon dioxide reservoir and are home to hundreds of species, such as herons and the Tlaloc frog. “Look at the red-headed birds in the lagoon!” exclaimed Garduño, driving home at dusk along a dirt road after a long day at her chinampa.
For her, this is still the paradise she roamed with her grandfather. She’s convinced that women are needed to preserve chinampas and hopes that within 10 years, many more will own and take care of them.
“From the shared labor of women and men, we can do what we all want, which is conserve what we have left for as long as possible,” she said.
De Miguel writes for the Associated Press. This article is a collaboration between AP and Mongabay.
For my final day, I wanted to do something I’d never done before: swim straight out to sea. When I do open water swimming, I swim parallel to shore. This would be different. No markers. No sight line. Just the horizon. The currents. The waves. On top of this, we would be swimming from Bolinas, a quaint fishing town that is famously hostile to visitors and removes its signs to keep them out. This is where the Bolinas Lagoon opens out to the open ocean. Seals gather here, and the sharks supposedly come here to feast on the seals. I didn’t know if this was just a rumor to keep out-of-town surfers away, but the Farallon Islands just 20 miles south of Point Reyes are the winter playground for some of the world’s largest great white sharks. For this endeavor I enlisted the help of my friend, Greg, a local.
We wore wetsuits. He gave me a cozy neoprene hat to wear over my cap and goggles to keep my head warm. He also provided me with a special anti-shark amulet that I wore on my wrist like a watch. Developed in Australia, these wrist magnets repel the sharks, he said, and “feel like a punch in the nose” to the sharks if they get too close. Sounded good to me!
Swimming with the birds made me feel like I, too, was a wild creature — another element in the web of life rather than the apex predator detached from the natural world that I usually am in my everyday urban existence.
The day dawned foggy, but the low blanket of mist that hugged the land the day before had lifted. I was terrified of swimming straight out and losing sight of land. Greg assured me that even in dense fog you know where land is by sensing the direction of the waves. That may be true, but I wasn’t ready to swim by the feel of the currents yet. Greg also wore tiny flippers that looked like duck feet and a neon bubble attached to his waist to carry our valuables and make us visible to boats. We agreed to swim out 15 minutes.
The waves were big. The surfers were already out at a local spot known as the “patch.” We dove through the waves, swimming hard between. The water visibility was nil — just a blur of yellow, brown and eventually black. We wouldn’t be able to see a seal or shark if it swam right beneath us. I didn’t like the feeling.
But my friend was beside me. Finally my shallow, panicked breath slowed, my stroke evened out and I settled in. Out past the waveline we stopped. The early-morning sea was glassy and smooth. It felt viscous, velvety and otherworldly. Pelicans and terns swooped and dove around us. Surprisingly, once we swam out, I could see the land encircled us with long arms. Stinson Beach stretched out to the right, Bolinas to the left. We would not lose our way. We swam farther out. Every few strokes we stopped to take in the view. We were just specks in the ocean, as tiny as a velella or an anchovy, part of a big, watery world.
Out here my perspective changed. I realized we could swim forever and still see the shore. We lay on our backs and let the swells gently lift us, then fall. The words of my father, a second-generation submariner, often recited when I was a child, drifted through my head: “Rocked in the cradle of the deep, I lay me down in peace to sleep.” We swam to where the glassiness ended and the wind rippled the surface, 14 minutes out.
The magic of the open water experience was better shared. No GoPro or camera can capture the vastness of the ocean for someone back on shore. Or what it feels like to ride the slow heaving of the ocean, pulsing like the heartbeat of the world. We came ashore in a big set, swimming frantically in, then turning to face the waves so we didn’t get wiped out. We swam until our feet touched the sandy bottom and crawled out happy but exhausted.
My body carried the rocking of the ocean for the rest of the day. I could close my eyes and be back there, gently rising and falling under the low, gray sky. I held onto that feeling as long as I could.
My friend promised me that by next year, he would have more bodies of water and more secret swims. Already he had come up with new watering holes I never knew existed. But for me, the quest had been a success. Being in water every day helped me regain my equilibrium. Surfers say the ions in salt water make you happy. I don’t know if it’s true, but I’m 60% water and I felt I had moistened my dry skin, lightened the pull of gravity on my aging body and shed some of the heaviness of the first six months of the year.
When I first went to my therapist many years ago, she told me the story of the selkies. At the time I was feeling overwhelmed with work, marriage and motherhood. Much of our work has been my journey back to myself. After my vacation, I told her of my adventure. She said, “You were able to put your pelt back on. You’re spending more time in your seal suit.” Yes. On land and in the water. I am. Sometimes the metaphor is the medicine.
Up-and-coming beverage brands can achieve tech-like returns…or better.
It might surprise you that the best-performing stock for the 30 years between 1994 and 2024 wasn’t a tech stock — despite the rise of the internet, the smartphone, cloud computing, and, of course, artificial intelligence.
No, the best-performing stock over that period was none other than Monster Beverage (MNST -0.58%). That’s right, an energy drink largely known for sponsorship at UFC, monster truck, and bull-riding competitions, appreciated 2,000 times over that period, trouncing the return of even the “Magnificent Seven.”
While Monster is still going strong at a $65 billion market cap, it would be hard-pressed to repeat its 2,000 times performance over the next 30 years. But there’s another up-and-coming beverage brand that has only been public for four years and sports a mere $2.4 billion market cap. Could this healthier-for-you drink brand emulate Monster’s massive long-term gains?
Vita Coco (COCO -0.26%) has been a public company only since 2021, but it’s a 20-year-old brand founded in 2004 by co-founders Michael Kirban and Ira Liran. While Kirban is currently the chairman of the board, the company’s current CEO since 2022 has been Martin Roper, a veteran of The Boston Beer Company.
Back in 2004, the coconut water category was basically nonexistent in the U.S., but Kirban and Liran saw the opportunity to bring this staple of Brazil and other tropical countries to U.S. consumers. Coconut water has a lot of benefits, including natural sugars, vitamins, and electrolytes, making it a versatile drink that can be used as a sports drink, sweet treat, general hydrator, or alcoholic mixer.
As coconut water caught on, Vita Coco’s founders shrewdly grew the company in an intelligent way, cementing the company’s first-mover advantage. Even after many competitors attempted to break into the category, Vita Coco still commands a near-42% market share of the U.S. coconut water market today, dwarfing that of any other brand.
Over two decades, Vita Coco fended off competition even from the likes of beverage giants Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO) and Pepsi (NASDAQ: PEP). In 2009, Coca-Cola purchased the Zico brand, and Pepsi purchased the O.N.E. brand. But by 2021, Coca-Cola wound up selling Zico back to its founder, and Pepsi ended up selling O.N.E., along with other juice brands, to a private equity firm.
Vita Coco’s management claims its success against bigger, better-funded rivals came down to Vita Coco having “out-hustled, out-innovated, and out-maneuvered the competition.”
But it wasn’t just about execution. The founders were quite strategic and intelligent in how they grew their supply. Coconut water is actually a byproduct of coconut processing that was already taking place in tropical supplier countries like Brazil, the Philippines, and Thailand. So, Vita Coco’s founders went to these suppliers and offered to invest in the equipment needed to extract and preserve coconut water in exchange for long-term supply agreements.
By engaging with these high-quality existing suppliers early and replicating these agreements across the globe, Vita Coco gained high-quality coconut water supply while investing very little capital. Moreover, these agreements somewhat boxed out the competition from accessing these existing and knowledgeable partners.
Vita Coco has nurtured these relationships by reinvesting and donating proceeds back into these communities, qualifying as a public benefit corporation and further boosting its brand halo.
The shrewd strategy and solid brand execution are how Vita Coco grew to $560 million in revenue and $64.4 million in earnings over the past 12 months, while only having invested about $130 million in overall capital. That means Vita Coco is earning just over a 50% return on invested capital (ROIC) today.
Image source: Getty Images.
At 42% of the U.S. coconut water business, Vita Coco actually has a much higher market share than Monster’s share of the energy drink category, which sits just below 20%. However, the energy drink market is much, much bigger than the coconut water segment, which explains why Monster currently dwarfs Vita Coco’s size.
Still, the coconut water category is growing quickly. Off near-zero in 2004, the U.S. coconut water category has grown to about $908 million in 2024. According to Grand View Horizon research, the market is projected to grow to almost $2.3 billion by 2030, good for a 16.8% compound annual growth rate. This higher growth is due to coconut water’s popularity with younger generations and high-growth urban and minority demographics.
Globally, coconut water is more established at about $7.1 billion. However, the global market is also set to grow at an above-gross-domestic-product (GDP) pace, at 7.2% compounded over the next 10 years, set to reach $14.5 billion by 2035, according to research firm Future Market Insights.
While Coca-Cola and Pepsi have retreated for now, the question is, can Vita Coco maintain or grow its share? There is still a lot of incoming competition from new and private brands, especially if coconut water turns out to be the attractive growth category that’s projected.
One concern is that there isn’t as much differentiation among coconut water brands as, say, flavored energy drinks, which have a lot more involved in their recipes. Varied flavors and more intricate recipes can lead to more brand differentiation. That may not last with coconut water, which is more similar to milk or orange juice — categories that are harder to differentiate.
That’s evidenced in Vita Coco’s lower gross margin, which stands at 36% today. That compares with much higher gross margins for Monster, Coca-Cola, and Pepsi, whose gross margins range from the mid-50s to low-60s. While Vita Coco makes a high ROIC, that’s a function of having invested very little capital, not high margins.
Still, that lower gross margin may also fend off competition, which may not find it easy or worthwhile to compete at such low margins. And if Vita Coco can hold off serious competition for long enough, it may be able to raise prices and margins down the road as it becomes more dominant.
All in all, I’d say Vita Coco has a good shot of multibagger returns over the long term, even if its current price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of around 40 looks pricey at the moment. As such, it’s a name to watch, especially for younger investors, and a stock to pick up on any pullbacks.
Opposition protests turned violent as riot police deployed tear gas and water cannon near the presidential palace.
Published On 4 Oct 20254 Oct 2025
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Georgian riot police have deployed water cannon, pepper spray and tear gas to disperse protesters who tried to storm the presidential palace in Tbilisi during municipal elections.
The clashes took place on Saturday after opposition groups, who had boycotted the vote, called for a “peaceful revolution” against the governing Georgian Dream (GD) party, accusing it of authoritarianism and adopting pro-Russia policies.
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Thousands of people gathered in Freedom Square and Rustaveli Avenue waving Georgian and EU flags in what organisers said was a show of defiance against GD. Some later barricaded nearby streets, lit fires and clashed with riot police.
In the evening, a group of demonstrators moved towards the palace and attempted to break through the fence, according to witnesses.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs later declared the rally unlawful, saying it had “exceeded the norms set by law.” Police then pushed protesters back with force.
“Today is the outcome of a deep crisis which is absolutely formed by our pro-Russian and authoritarian government,” protester Davit Mzhavanadze told local media, according to a report carried by Reuters. “I think this protest will continue until these demands will be responded to properly from our government.”
The governing GD, which announced it had won control in every municipality across the country of 3.7 million, rejected accusations of vote-rigging. The party, founded by billionaire and former Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili, denies being pro-Moscow. It says it seeks EU membership while maintaining stability with Russia.
Georgia, once seen as one of the most pro-Western states to emerge after the Soviet Union’s collapse, has seen its ties with Europe and the United States deteriorate since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The government froze accession talks with the European Union following last year’s disputed parliamentary election, sparking months of demonstrations.
Saturday’s confrontation was the most serious flare-up in months after earlier protests had lost momentum. Authorities had warned in advance that they would respond firmly to any attempt at what they described as a push for “revolution”.
About two months ago, my cousin Guillermo happily ventured from picturesque Cuernavaca, Mexico, to 95-degree Southern California.
He took his wife and two young kids to Disneyland, Universal Studios, the zoo, the beach and a Dodger game over a week span and then gleefully returned home. He spent about $6,000 for what he hoped was a lifetime of stories and memories.
His actions were pretty normal for a tourist though his timing was not.
Tourism to Los Angeles and California, in general, has been down this summer, representing a blow to one of the state’s biggest industries.
Theories as to why people aren’t visiting were explored this past week by my colleague Cerys Davis.
Davis spoke with experts and provided the scoop. Let’s take a look at what she wrote.
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International tourist arrivals to the state fell by 8% in the three months through August, according to data released Monday from Visit California. That is more than 170,000 fewer global tourists than last year. This is critical because international tourists spend up to eight times more per visit than domestic tourists.
Of all the state’s international travelers, arrivals from Canada fell the most (32%) in the three summer months.
On Hollywood Boulevard, there are fewer tourists, and the ones who show up are spending less, said Salim Osman, who works for Ride Like A Star, an exotic car company that rents to visitors looking to take a luxury vehicle for a spin and snap the quintessential L.A. selfie.
This summer, he said foot traffic dropped by nearly 50%.
“It used to be shoulder to shoulder out here,” he said, looking along the boulevard, normally teeming with tourists.
Business has been slow around the TCL Chinese Theatre, where visitors place their hands into the concrete hand prints of celebrities like Kristen Stewart and Denzel Washington.
There were fewer people to hop onto sightseeing buses, check out Madame Tussauds wax museum and snap impromptu photos with patrolling characters such as Spider-Man and Mickey Mouse. Souvenir shop operators nearby say they have also had to increase the prices of many of their memorabilia because of tariffs and a decline in sales.
Many of the state’s most prominent attractions are also experiencing dry spells. Yosemite National Park reported a decrease of up to 50% in bookings ahead of Memorial Day weekend.
The region’s economy and image suffered significant setbacks this year.
Shocking images of the destructive Eaton and Palisades fires in January, followed by the immigration crackdown in June, made global news and repelled visitors like friends of Australian tourists Geoffrey and Tennille Mutton, who didn’t accompany the couple to California this summer.
“A lot of people have had a changed view of America,” Geoffrey said as his family enjoyed Ben & Jerry’s ice cream outside of Hollywood’s Dolby Theatre. “They don’t want to come here and support this place.”
Meanwhile, President Trump’s tariff policies and other geopolitical posturing have convinced many international tourists to avoid America, particularly Canadians, said Palm Springs Mayor Ron deHarte.
“We’ve hurt our Canadian friends with actions that the administration has taken. It’s understandable,” he said. “We don’t know how long they won’t want to travel to the states, but we’re hopeful that it is short-term.”
President Trump’s talk of making Canada the 51st state and his decision to hit Canada with tariffs have not endeared him to Canadian travelers. Meanwhile, media overseas have been bombarded with stories of capricious denials and detentions at U.S. border crossings.
Visitors from China, India, Germany and Australia also avoided the state, according to the latest data. That has resulted in a dip in traffic at most Los Angeles area airports. Cynthia Guidry, director of Long Beach Airport, said reduced airline schedules, economic pressures and rising costs also hurt airport traffic.
Despite the southern border lockdown and the widespread immigration raids, Mexicans were a surprising exception to the tourism slump. Arrivals from our southern neighbor were up about 5% over the last three months from 2024.
I asked my cousin, Guillermo, about his travel motivations.
He noted his desire to see family but also to visit many of Southern California’s jewels. He added that planning for this trip started a year earlier too.
Asked if he’d reconsider visiting California in the future, he delivered a timeless response.
“If there’s a deal, I’ll go.”
For more, check out the full story here.
(Carlin Stiehl/Los Angeles Times)
(Stephanie Breijo / Los Angeles Times)
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A California woman is suing Dignity Health, alleging two hospitals denied her emergency abortion services due to their Catholic directives, violating state law and putting her life in danger.
During two separate pregnancies, Rachel Harrison’s water broke at just 17 weeks — a condition that can cause deadly complications. An abortion is typically the course of action recommended by doctors, but on both occasions staff members at Dignity Health hospitals refused to act because they detected a fetal heartbeat, the lawsuit alleges.
The second time it happened, Harrison experienced life-threatening sepsis and had to travel to a hospital outside her insurance network to receive a blood transfusion, the complaint states.
Harrison, 30, and her partner Marcell Johnson filed a lawsuit against Dignity Health in San Francisco Superior Court on Friday. The claim, first reported by Courthouse News Service, alleges that subsidiaries Mercy San Juan Medical Center and Mercy General Hospital refused to provide her emergency abortion care for religious reasons.
The 24 Catholic hospitals within the Dignity Health network follow a set of “Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Services,” which caused Harrison to be turned away from an emergency room during the loss of a high-risk pregnancy, the complaint alleges.
“While publicly touting their hospitals’ qualifications as reliable emergency services centers, Dignity Health prioritized its own religious directives over the best interests of Rachel’s health and well-being,” the lawsuit alleges.
Last September the state filed a similar lawsuit against a Catholic hospital in Eureka after a woman whose water broke at 15 weeks was denied an emergency abortion. That hospital then agreed to provide emergency abortions in cases where a woman’s health is at risk.
A spokesperson for Dignity Health did not comment on the specific allegations contained in Harrison’s lawsuit.
“When a pregnant woman’s health is at risk, appropriate emergency care is provided,” the spokesperson said in a statement. “The well-being of our patients is the central mission for our dedicated caregivers.”
On Sept. 13, 2024, according to Harrison‘s lawsuit, she experienced a condition called previable preterm premature rupture of the membranes, or previable PPROM, when her water broke at just 17 weeks of pregnancy.
This condition is fatal for the fetus and dangerous for the mother.
According to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the standard of care is to inform the patient that the pregnancy is not viable and recommend termination as the safest option to reduce maternal risk. Miscarrying the fetus naturally comes with higher risk of infection and blood loss, both of which can lead to permanent loss of reproductive function or even death.
Last September, Harrison traveled to Mercy San Juan Medical Center in Carmichael for emergency care, but doctors did not recommend an abortion, the complaint alleges.
“Instead, Rachel was told that because of the hospital’s Catholic affiliation, there was nothing more the hospital could do for her,” the complaint states. “Confused and distressed, Rachel was discharged and left to complete a high-risk miscarriage of a fetus ‘the size of an avocado’ — as she was told by the physician’s assistant — at home, on her own, and without medical supervision.”
She went to a Kaiser hospital the following morning and received emergency care, the lawsuit says.
Last December, Harrison was thrilled to learn that she was pregnant again, but then “her worst nightmare” repeated itself. At 17 weeks pregnant, she once again experienced previable PPROM, the complaint states.
Her insurance only covers OB/GYN care within the Dignity Health network, so she went to Mercy General Hospital in Sacramento.
In a repeat of her past experience, her lawsuit alleges, staff members told her they could not provide the care she sought due to the fetal heartbeat. She was able to access care at another hospital, her complaint says, but experienced sepsis and heavy blood loss in the process.
The lawsuit alleges that the denials violated California’s Emergency Services Law, which requires hospitals operating a licensed emergency room to treat patients suffering from emergency medical conditions, including previable PPROM.
Harrison also alleges that Dignity Health violated the Unruh Civil Rights Act, California Unlawful Competition Law and her right to privacy under the California Constitution.
Harrison and her partner are seeking an order requiring Dignity Health hospitals to provide emergency abortions in a manner compliant with state law, as well as compensatory and punitive damages.
The demonstrations, which started over deteriorating living conditions, have left 22 people dead, according to the UN.
Madagascar’s president, Andry Rajoelina, has dissolved his government in response to mass demonstrations over power and water shortages that turned deadly, with the United Nations reporting that at least 22 people have been killed and more than 100 others were injured.
The protests, which began last week and continued into Monday, were led largely by young people, angry over deteriorating living conditions in the capital, Antananarivo.
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Experts say they represent the most serious challenge to Rajoelina’s authority since his re-election in 2023, and the largest wave of unrest the island nation has seen in years.
Crowds gathered at Antananarivo’s main university on Monday, carrying placards and singing the national anthem, before attempting to march into the city centre, according to footage broadcast by the local channel 2424.MG.
Police fired tear gas to disperse the demonstrators, as authorities enforced a dusk-to-dawn curfew that has been in place since last week. Security forces have also used rubber bullets to try to quell the unrest.
Looting has been reported at supermarkets, appliance shops and banks across the capital of 1.4 million people. Homes belonging to politicians have also been attacked in recent days.
In a televised address on Monday, Rajoelina acknowledged the public anger and apologised for his government’s failings. “We acknowledge and apologise if members of the government have not carried out the tasks assigned to them,” he said on state broadcaster Televiziona Malagasy (TVM).
The president promised measures to support businesses that suffered losses during the unrest and said he wanted to open a channel of communication with young people. “I understand the anger, the sadness, and the difficulties caused by power cuts and water supply problems. I heard the call, I felt the suffering, I understood the impact on daily life,” he added.
The demonstrations have been driven by frustration at years of economic hardship. Madagascar, an island nation off Africa’s southeast coast, is one of the region’s poorest countries.
About 75 percent of its 30 million people lived below the poverty line in 2022, according to the World Bank.
Many protesters blame Rajoelina’s government for failing to improve conditions, particularly as frequent power outages and water shortages have disrupted daily life.
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said that casualties included protesters and bystanders killed by security forces, as well as people who died in looting and violence carried out by gangs unconnected to the demonstrations.
Madagascar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs rejected those figures, insisting they were not based on official data but on “rumours or misinformation”.
Organisers say they have taken inspiration from youth-led movements in Kenya, Nepal and Morocco. Demonstrators in Antananarivo waved a flag first used in Nepal earlier this month, when protests forced the country’s prime minister to resign.
The movement in Madagascar has been largely coordinated on social media, particularly Facebook, echoing similar online mobilisation seen in Kenya last year, when sustained demonstrations pushed the government to abandon proposed tax legislation.
One of the joys of living in California is that you’re never too far away from a great meal.
And the variety of Mexican and Salvadoran cuisine throughout the Golden State is unsurpassed.
Once again, our friends on the LA Times Food team have released a well-researched and delicious list to confirm California’s status as a national food mecca.
Critic Bill Addison spent more than a year traveling throughout the state, tasting and compiling selections for the 101 Best Restaurants in California guide.
In his latest article, he’s highlighted 15 of the best Mexican and Salvadoran spots throughout the Golden State, highlighting popular haunts and hidden gems.
Look, this doesn’t have to be a tacos-versus-pupusas debate (sorry, Brad Pitt is correct). We can enjoy both and other plates on this list.
Here’s a few recommendations from Addison’s guide.
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(Bill Addison/Los Angeles Times)
A molino is the specific mill used to grind nixtamalized corn into masa, which has been the focus of Karen Taylor’s businesses for decades.
In 1991, Taylor started Primavera, a Bay Area wholesale operation built around tamales and tortillas, and a name under which she sells life-giving chilaquiles for breakfast on Saturday mornings at San Francisco’s Ferry Plaza farmers market.
Nearly 20 years later, she translated what she’s learned about fresh masa into a tiny restaurant in the Boyes Hot Springs section of Sonoma County.
A portion of the menu flows with the seasons: in the summer, light-handed sopes filled with chicken tinga and chile rellenos filled with epazote-scented creamed corn arrive; winter is for butternut squash and caramelized onion enchiladas; and spring brings lamb barbacoa tacos over thick, fragrant tortillas.
Among perennials, look for the chicken tamale steamed in banana leaves and covered in chef Zoraida Juarez’s mother’s recipe for mole — hers is the color of red clay, hitting the palate sweet before its many toasted spices and chiles slowly reveal their flavors.
(Myung J. Chun/Los Angeles Times)
At the most visionary Salvadoran restaurant in California, Anthony Salguero refashions his culture’s version of the beverage chicha, fermented with corn and pineapple, into a sticky, intricately sour-sweet glaze for grilled and braised chicken.
He shaves cured, smoked egg yolk over herbed guacamole as a play on the boiled eggs that often accompany Salvadoran-style guac. He serves a half Dungeness crab with tools to extract the meat and a side of alguashte, an earthy seasoning of toasted pepitas, to accentuate the crab’s sweetness.
Nicaraguan chancho con yuca, a slow-cooked pork stew, is the inspiration for a walloping pork chop marinated in achiote, grilled above glowing almond logs and poised at an angle, like a rakishly worn hat, over braised yuca and red cabbage.
Salguero ran the eatery Popoca as a pandemic-era pop-up in Oakland before finding a more permanent home (brick walls, pale wood floors, shadowed lighting) in the city’s downtown. While he focuses on reimagining the traditions and possibilities of Salvadoran cooking, he doesn’t abandon El Salvador’s national dish: The pupusas are exceptional, made from several versions of masa using corn he buys from Mexico City-based Tamoa.
(Ron De Angelis/For The Times)
Lamb barbacoa — when cooked properly for hours to buttery-ropy tenderness — is such a painstaking art that most practitioners in Southern California sell it only on the weekends.
In the Los Angeles area, conversations around sublime lamb barbacoa should start up in the north San Fernando Valley, at the stand that Gonzalo Ramirez sets up on Saturday and Sunday mornings near the Arleta DMV. You’ll see him and his family wearing red T-shirts that say “Atotonilco El Grande Hidalgo” to honor their hometown in central-eastern Mexico.
Ramirez tends and butchers lambs in the Central Valley. The meat slow-cooks in a pit overnight and, cradled in plush made-to-order tortillas, the tacos come in three forms: smoky, molten-textured barbacoa barely hinting of garlic; a pancita variation stained with chiles that goes fast; and incredible moronga, a nubbly, herbaceous sausage made with lamb’s blood.
Join the line (if it’s long, someone usually hands out samples to encourage patience) and then find a place at the communal outdoor table. Worried that options might run out, Addison said he tends to arrive before 9 a.m., an hour when Ramirez’s rare craftsmanship often inspires a mood where people sit quietly, holding their tacos as something sacred.
(Andrew Harnik / Associated Press)
(Illustrations by Lindsey Made This; photograph by James Anthony)
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As someone who’s lived in and visited family throughout the Inland Empire for years, I have seen firsthand the rapid growth that has changed the region.
When I travel to Yucaipa nowadays, the orange groves of my youthful weekend visits have long since been replaced by housing developments as the town has nearly doubled in 30 years.
My colleague Terry Castleman has been analyzing the demographic changes taking place in California but he recently took a deep dive into the explosive growth of income in the Inland Empire, in particular the south desert portion of Riverside County.
Castleman, a data reporter, noted that two of the top three communities that saw the greatest growth in average income in the state between 2017 and 2022 were in the Coachella Valley, perhaps best known for hellish summer temperatures, Palm Springs and the Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival.
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For this analysis, The Times considered only communities with more than 3,000 tax returns. I’ll address the cities with fewer returns shortly.
Thousand Palms saw average incomes rise more than 3.5 times over that span, from $12,700 in 2017 to nearly $45,000 three years later. In nearby Indian Wells, incomes nearly doubled, from $139,000 to $256,000.
Castleman analyzed what was happening in his full article. Let’s look at some of those findings.
Income levels in Thousand Palms were far lower than in Indian Wells — but each is getting richer from a regionwide perspective, said Kyle Garman, an agent for Keller Williams who has sold real estate in the Coachella Valley for eight years.
Part of the story is attributable to remote work, he said, but the valley has also undergone a shift from being primarily a tourist destination to a place to settle down.
“It’s not just Palm Springs, it’s not just people coming for the festivals, it’s the whole valley,” Garman said.
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, home prices were much lower and only about 35% to 40% of residents stayed for the hottest months of the year, he said. As more attractions and infrastructure have become available to residents, though, “people are sticking around more.”
The average California household has a net worth between three and six times their adjusted gross income, meaning that the average Indian Wells resident probably became a millionaire between 2017 and 2022 as average household income skyrocketed to $256,000 from $139,000.
In the Coachella Valley, “the money’s coming from all over,” Garman observed. When the housing market was most competitive, around 2022 and 2023, cash buyers flooded in.
Now, they’re high earners who have relocated to towns that were formerly less tony. “This is the new norm,” he said.
Garman pointed to a number of new Coachella Valley attractions that were drawing families — the Firebirds professional ice hockey team and Disney’s Cotino housing development.
Thousand Palms is unincorporated, drawing homeowners because, as one businessperson there put it: “Taxes are more reasonable, you have fewer regulations when you want to build.”
When Castleman looked at the income changes in smaller towns, he found some intriguing data.
He discovered staggering income jumps in towns like Helm, an unincorporated Fresno County village that has about 200 residents.
Between the 2017-2022 period, Helm saw incomes grow by 10 times, reaching near $200,000.
Castleman said many smaller towns throughout the state are disproportionately impacted by the moves of one or a handful of “big fish.”
“The experts told me that there was likely a big farm owner who reported huge losses one year and then huge gains the next year,” he said. “So, these towns can have wild fluctuations.”
For more, check out Castleman’s full story.
(Stephanie Breijo / Los Angeles Times)
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A PASTOR’S son held four people captive in his “basement of horrors” with no access to food or water for up to 10 years, police say.
Donnie Birchfield Jr., 36, is accused of keeping a vulnerable married couple and two women in his terrifying basement in South Carolina.
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The two women who were allegedly held hostage were reportedly romantically involved with Birchfield before the relationship spiralled.
He was arrested on August 1 after cops raided his Lancaster home on Churchill Drive following reports a woman had died in the property.
Authorities discovered that the woman, who died one day before they arrived at the scene, had faced neglect and abuse.
Police probed the dead woman and the three other victims – before revealing one of them had been inside the basement for 10 years.
They were all held against their will and denied access to food, water, medication and the outside world, police say.
Birchfield even oversaw what times each alleged hostage ate at, and controlled when they were allowed to use the bathroom.
One of the women he was romantically involved with had a “relationship” with him for one year, with the other lasting nearly 10 years.
Birchfield allegedly assaulted the victims routinely – controlling their movements and trapping them in the basement.
The accused captor also regularly policed their phone use.
One woman said Birchfield told her he was “going to kill her” and boasted how he “knows how to get rid of a body from past experience”, WBTV reported.
From September 2022, Birchfield made a slew of purchases for himself using the credit cards owned by the victims.
He even paying off his own debt with their money, police said.
Birchfield’s laywer told WBTV he is currently investigating the matter.
He said: “My client maintains his innocence in the case and it is important to remember that he is presumed innocent of these allegations.
“We look forward to litigating this case in the court system where facts, evidence, and the rule of law matter.”
Birchfield faces charges including but not limited to exploitation of a vulnerable adult, false imprisonment, domestic violence and financial identity fraud.
He was placed under a $150,000 bond.
Local police said more charges were possible as the case continues to be investigated.
Police fire rubber bullets and tear gas as hundreds protest chronic power outages in the island country.
Published On 25 Sep 202525 Sep 2025
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Authorities in Madagascar have imposed a dusk-to-dawn curfew in the capital, Antananarivo, following protests against frequent power outages and water shortages that turned violent.
Hundreds of protesters took to the streets on Thursday to voice their anger over persistent power cuts, which often leave homes and businesses without electricity for over 12 hours. Police used rubber bullets and tear gas to quash the demonstrations.
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The protesters barricaded roads with rocks and burning tyres. By Thursday afternoon, there were reported incidents of looting at various retailers, appliance stores and banks across the 1.4-million-strong capital.
Several stations for the country’s new cable car system were also set on fire.
Local media reported on Thursday that three homes of politicians known to be close to President Andry Rajoelina were also attacked by protesters.
Authorities banned the demonstration on Wednesday, citing the risk of public disorder, and police patrolled the capital in large numbers from early Thursday.
“There are, unfortunately, individuals taking advantage of the situation to destroy other people’s property,” General Angelo Ravelonarivo, who heads a joint security body that includes the police and the military, said in a statement he read on privately owned Real TV late on Thursday.
To protect “the population and their belongings,” the security forces decided to impose a curfew from 7pm to 5am (16:00-02:00 GMT) “until public order is restored,” the statement said.
Madagascar, an island nation in the Indian Ocean, is mired in poverty, and some people blame the government of Rajoelina, who was reelected in 2023, for not improving conditions.
Some 75 percent of the country’s estimated 30 million population lived below the poverty line in 2022, according to the World Bank.
“Water and electricity are basic human needs.” “Let us speak out.” “Malagasy people, wake up.” These were some of the messages displayed on the protesters’ placards.
It was unclear how many people were injured during the rallies or whether there were any fatalities.
The protest movement, dominated mostly by the youth, started gaining traction a few days ago on social media platforms, mainly Facebook.
In the country’s provinces, unrest was also reported at the offices of the national water and electricity company, which is seen by protesters as the root of the country’s problems.
It’s the city that’s proved irresistible for Chappell Roan and marked the finish line for fictional character Forrest Gump.
Santa Monica easily sits among the pantheon of iconic Southern California communities due to its combination of weather, beach backdrop, energy and friendliness.
Yet, that lore has been chipped away by sexual scandal, stagnation and, more recently, by another bubbling calamity.
My colleagues Salvador Hernandez and Richard Winton documented last week that Santa Monica is on the brink of financial crisis, with hundreds of millions of dollars in sex abuse settlements draining the city.
How Santa Monica fell into this predicament and the measures it may take, including cutbacks, to remedy this situation are the focal points of their article.
Let’s take a look at their reporting.
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The city still faces 180 claims of sexual abuse by a former Santa Monica police dispatcher, a scandal that has already cost $229 million in settlement payouts.
Eric Uller, the former city dispatcher, preyed on children mostly in predominantly Latino neighborhoods of the city, often traveling in an unmarked police vehicle, or his personal SUV.
Uller had been hired and continued to work with children despite a 1991 background check that revealed he had been arrested as a teen for molesting a toddler he baby-sat, according to a report reviewed by The Times.
It wasn’t until 2018 that he would be arrested and charged. He died by suicide in November 2018.
On Tuesday, the city declared that it is in fiscal distress, a move that raised concerns among city workers that cuts, and perhaps layoffs, were coming.
“The financial situation the city is dealing with is certainly serious,” City Manager Oliver Chi said during Tuesday’s City Council meeting.
The worries among city workers reached such a peak that before Tuesday’s meeting Chi sent out an email to all city employees, trying to reassure them no layoffs were being planned.
Santa Monica’s recently approved budget for 2025-26 expects $473.5 million in revenue, but $484.3 million in costs, and city officials worry that the sexual abuse scandal could continue to put a drain on city coffers that are already reeling from an economic downturn.
Current and former officials said the current financial woes were taking shape years ago.
“Santa Monica has failed to reign in unnecessary spending for a number of years, and we’ve known this financial crisis has been looming for a while,” said former Santa Monica Mayor Phil Brock, who lost his seat in the November election.
The city has faced a steep downturn in tourism and retail revenues, Brock said, along with several businesses that have left downtown and the promenade.
“You might have to right-side services, and look at areas where [the city] might be overstaffed,” he said. “I recommend we go back to basics.”
Santa Monica officials had initially been set to consider a “fiscal emergency,” a move that would have triggered certain measures by the city to address it, such as cuts and dipping into reserves.
But the declaration voted on Tuesday instead called for a declaration of “fiscal distress,” which Chi said was meant more for the city to communicate its financial situation with other agencies, get help in seeking grants and other funding, and as a tool to work on a “realignment of city operations.”
One city official, who asked not to be named because they weren’t cleared to speak on the record, said employees remained skeptical of what steps the city would take, and whether it could mean cuts to their pay or benefits.
What steps exactly the city is set to take remain unclear.
Whatever happens next in Santa Monica, our reporters will be there to document. As for now, check out the full article.
(Julie Leopo/Julie Leopo / For The Times)
(Illustrations by Lindsey Made This; photograph by Saul Lopez)
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A TEENAGER who was mauled by a shark recalled the terrifying moment she “raised her arm out of the water and saw she had no hand”.
Lulu Gribbin, 15, was enjoying a beach day in Florida last summer when she lost her arm and leg in the brutal attack.
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She and her family had heard speculation that a shark was in the sea by the beach they were at in Walton County, northwest Florida.
But it wasn’t until the teen saw “a shadow” in the water that panic set in.
She told ABC News: “I never saw a tail or a fin. I never saw its eyes.”
After spotting a “glimpse” of the shark’s body, she initially started swimming as fast as she could.
But after recalling advice she had heard in a movie, she stopped – thinking her frantic movements would encourage the shark to chase her.
It was then that her life would drastically change forever.
She said: “I told everyone to just calm down…and the next thing I know is that I raised my hand out of the water and there just was no hand there.”
Lulu was rushed to the shore where her twin sister, Ellie, sat by her side, keeping her calm and ensuring she remained conscious until paramedics arrived.
Meanwhile, doctors on the beach wrapped a tourniquet around Lulu’s injuries.
Her mom, Ann Blair Gribbin, said she rushed to the beach when her daughter didn’t pick up her phone.
Comparing her child’s injuries to something out of a movie, she said she found her “lifeless” with her “eyes closed, and her mouth white and pale”.
She said: “All I could say was, ‘Just keep breathing. Please keep breathing. God, please let her keep breathing.
“We didn’t know anything, no idea if she was alive.”
The teen was then airlifted to a Pensacola hospital where she underwent multiple surgeries leading to her leg and arm being amputated.
Doctors said she had also lost around two-thirds of the blood in her body.
Following the horror incident, her mom paid tribute to the doctors who saved Lulu’s life.
She also described her daughter as a “miracle” admitting the family’s life will “be forever changed”.
Ann said: “At this point, we will have multiple surgeries in the days to come and our lives will be forever changed.
“She is truly a miracle. We have a long road ahead and our journey is just beginning!”
Lulu wasn’t the only victim that day.
According to the teen, there was another shark attack just 90 minutes before just a few miles down the coast.
She said: “If I wouldn’t known about this, I wouldn’t have been in the water”.
Lulu’s friend McCray was also bitten on her foot, and officials suspect the same beast attacked three other people.
This spate of maulings were the first in the county for three years, with the last fatality recorded in Walton County in 2005.
Cops in the area, however, stressed that sharks are always present in the Gulf.
Officers previously said: “Swimmers and beachgoers should be cautious when swimming and stay aware of their surroundings”.
Her brutal attack comes as a little boy was mercilessly savaged off the Florida coast by a blacktip shark earlier this month.
The blacktip shark rushed Richard Burrows, his sister Rose, and his dad, David, as they snorkeled at Horseshoe Reef, about four miles off Key Largo, at around 3 pm on September 1.
Richard was bitten above his right knee and on his arm, leaving him gushing blood in the water as his dad and sister scrambled to help.
David quickly applied a tourniquet to Richard’s leg to stop the bleeding, which doctors later said helped to save his life.
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Last year’s record heat led to prolonged droughts and extreme floods across the globe.
Published On 18 Sep 202518 Sep 2025
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Climate change is making the Earth’s water cycle increasingly erratic, resulting in extreme swings between deluge and drought across the world, the United Nations has warned.
The UN’s World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said in a report released on Thursday that the global water cycle was becoming ever more unpredictable, with shrinking glaciers, droughts, unbalanced river basins and severe floods wreaking havoc.
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“The world’s water resources are under growing pressure and, at the same time, more extreme water-related hazards are having an increasing impact on lives and livelihoods,” WMO chief Celeste Saulo said in a statement accompanying the release of the annual State of Global Water Resources report.
The international group of scientists assessed freshwater availability and water storage across the world, including lakes, river flow, groundwater, soil moisture, snow cover and ice melt.
Last year was the hottest on record, leading to prolonged droughts in northern parts of South America, the Amazon Basin and Southern Africa.
Parts of Central Africa, Europe and Asia, meanwhile, were dealing with wetter weather than usual, being hit with devastating floods or deadly storms, said the report.
At a global level, WMO said, 2024 was the sixth consecutive year where there had been a “clear imbalance” in the world’s river basins.
“Two-thirds have too much or too little water – reflecting the increasingly erratic hydrological cycle,” it said.
While the world has natural cycles of climate variability from year to year, long-term trends outlined in the report indicate that the water cycle, at a global scale, is accelerating.
Stefan Uhlenbrook, WMO director of hydrology in the water and cryosphere division, said scientists feel it is “increasingly difficult to predict”.
“It’s more erratic, so either too much or too low on average flow per year,” he said.
As global warming drives higher global temperatures, the atmosphere can hold more water, leading either to longer dry periods or more intense rainfall.
Uhlenbrook said: “The climate changing is everything changing, and that has an impact on the water cycle dynamics.”
The WMO also flagged how the water quality in vital lakes was declining due to warmer weather, and glaciers shrank across all regions for the third year in a row.
The meltwater had added about 1.2mm to the global sea level in a single year, contributing to flooding risk for hundreds of millions of people living in coastal zones, the report warned.
The WMO called for more monitoring and data sharing across the board.
“Understanding and quantifying water resources and hydrological extremes … is critical for managing risks,” the report said, flagging the dangers of droughts, floods and glacier loss.
When the thought of truly delicious pancakes bubbles up, various trips and experiences flood my mind and activate my hunger receptors.
I’m transported back aboard the Amtrak booze train heading to San Diego for a Chargers game, where I have to make time for Richard Walker’s Pancake House. Their famed, often still sizzling and flaky, gigantic baked apple pancake is the embodiment of flapjack largesse.
There’s the homespun goodness of a sweet cream pancake volcano at the Black Bear Diner, a common haunt when I visit family in the Inland Empire. And can you visit The Grove for breakfast without trying Du-Par’s heavenly and buttery pancakes?
Pancakes own a special place in many of our hearts, partly because they are comforting, filling and customizable.
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Food writer Khushbu Shah created a list of 11 pancake spots throughout Los Angeles that includes classics and some new spots.
We’ll dip into that grouping and pull out some favorites where new memories can be created.
The oatmeal griddle cakes from Breakfast by Salt’s Cure.
(Andrea D’Agosto)
I almost hesitate to call these pancakes, and in fact, the official name on the menu is “Oatmeal Griddle Cakes.”
Made from a base of oat flour and cinnamon sugar, these thin-yet-hearty griddle cakes taste like a deeply gooey, slightly underbaked oatmeal cookie. There is absolutely no maple syrup or syrup of any kind available, but you won’t need any if you are careful to get the scoops of cinnamon molasses butter into every nook and cranny.
(Stephanie Breijo / Los Angeles Times)
What sets the pancakes at Café Telegrama apart from the rest of the pancakes in Los Angeles are their iconic crispy edges.
Perfectly caramelized, they are the result of cooking the pancakes for at least seven minutes in a generous pool of nutty brown butter. The edges are in sharp contrast to the rest of the pancake, which is quite tender thanks to the ricotta in the batter.
They arrive stacked two to a plate, swimming in maple syrup, and topped with a generous amount of house-made blueberry compote.
Bigger isn’t always better, but it’s impossible not to be delighted by the truly massive, dinner plate-sized pancakes that show up either two or three to a stack at this legendary Sunset Boulevard breakfast spot.
While the classic buttermilk pancakes are solid, this is not the place to hold back — you might as well really go for it with one of the diner’s over-the-top novelty options.
The best?
Either the Golden Ticket, pancakes stuffed with brown sugar-baked bananas, caramel, walnuts and streusel; or the Black Magic, a stack of pancakes brimming with crispy yet soft crushed Oreo cookies and a mountain of whipped cream. Just be ready to nap afterward.
(Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)
It’s worth braving the weekend brunch lines at this beloved Alhambra institution for the giant cornmeal pancakes.
The team at Yang’s whips together cornmeal from Grist & Toll with mochiko rice flour from Koda Farms to create a pancake that is gently chewy with deep savory notes from the cornmeal.
There is no maple syrup: Instead, they come topped with fresh whipped cream, seasonal fruit and condensed milk for drizzling. They might not be traditional by any means, but it’s always worth ordering a stack for the table.
For more, check out the full story.
(Richard Shotwell / Invision / AP)
(Illustrations by Lindsey Made This; photograph by Chris Pizzello / Invision / AP)
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Watching 6-foot-6, 220-pound Connor Ohl of Newport Harbor High play water polo is similar to a Great White Shark sighting. You’re stunned and in awe.
He’s water polo’s version of a speeding dolphin in the pool, able to accelerate so fast with his long arms and powerful legs that few can stay with him. He won the Southern Section Division 1 50-yard freestyle title last spring and broke 20 seconds in a league meet (19.79), so beware to those who think he’s not as fast as advertised.
Then comes his size and strength. He could be a football player because physicality comes naturally. Being the youngest of three water polo playing brothers, it was sink or swim in the Ohl household growing up in Greenwich, Conn. One brother plays for Stanford, where Connor will soon join him. Another plays at Princeton.
Connor moved to Orange County last year for his junior season so he could be part of what he calls “the water polo hub of America.”
This past summer, he was the youngest player on the USA junior national team that earned a silver medal at the under-20 world championships in Croatia.
“It was such a crazy experience,” he said.
First there was playing the host team in front of screaming fans in an indoor pool. “Oh my God, It was so loud,” he said. “They had drummers. You couldn’t hear yourself think.”
Then there was playing Serbia, known for its physicality. He was a boy going against men. “It’s insane,” he said. “Some are built like refrigerators.”
What Ohl learned from his international experience will help him immensely during a high school season in which Newport Harbor is the defending Southern Section champion and heavily favored to win again. The Sailors are off to a 6-0 start.
Ben Liechty, Peter Castillo, Connor Ohl and Gavin Appeldorn, from left, represented Newport Harbor at the Under-20 World Championships in Croatia.
(Courtesy of Newport Harbor water polo)
“Going from high school water polo to the junior level is like night and day,” he said. “These juniors have been playing basically their whole life — Spain, Hungary, Croatia. They worship water polo. It’s made me a lot more physical. Coming back to high school, it’s made me more confident to defend and control people with my strength and size.”
With the arrival of the Anderson brothers, Tyler and Sean, from JSerra, Newport Harbor starts out as perhaps the best team in the country.
“We could be a football team with as big as we are in water polo,” Ohl said.
Corona del Mar, JSerra, Oaks Christian and Harvard-Westlake hope to offer resistance.
Ohl is the latest Southern California product who can’t wait to represent the USA in the Olympic Games, which happen to be coming to Los Angeles in 2028. The Dodd brothers, Ryder and Chase, from JSerra and Huntington Beach, played in the 2024 Olympic Games.
It will be one of the toughest teams to make because of the experience and depth with so many players back from 2024.
“My chances are as good as anyone else,” Ohl said. “That’s my dream. I just want to represent my country at the Olympics.”
Meanwhile, if you want to see someone who can swim as fast as a fish, check out a Newport Harbor water polo match. That’s Connor Ohl, the speeding bullet.
Actor Raymond Cruz was held in custody for five hours on Monday after a sudsy spat with three women in his Los Angeles neighborhood.
Cruz — who portrayed the drug lord Tuco Salamanca on “Breaking Bad” — was washing his car on the street in front of his Silver Lake-area home when another car with three female occupants parked inches away from him, said Raphael Berko, his agent with Media Artists Group.
Cruz asked the women, who appeared to be in their 30s, to move their car at least a foot away so it wouldn’t get wet, according to Berko.
“The women were very rude to him and said no,” Berko said, adding that ample parking was available elsewhere on the street.
Instead, the women took out their phones and started to record Cruz, Berko said.
The actor, who also played detective Julio Sanchez in “The Closer” and its spin-off series “Major Crimes,” became uncomfortable and turned around, hose in hand, to tell them to “stop recording,” Berko said.
In doing so, Berko says some water may have inadvertently splashed on the women. But the women — one of whom was the daughter of a housekeeper on the block — said Cruz intentionally sprayed them, and they called the police to report an alleged assault.
Cruz was handcuffed by the Los Angeles Police Department and taken into custody for five hours, but Berko said he and his client expect the case will be dropped.
Berko characterized the incident as a misunderstanding, and said Cruz doesn’t have a criminal record.
The actor has a court hearing scheduled for Oct. 1, but online records do not show any charges as of Tuesday afternoon.
Forget Malibu or the North Shore. Next summer, you can catch a wave in Palm Desert, 100 miles from the nearest ocean.
After years of delays, DSRT Surf, the Coachella Valley’s second surf destination, is expected to open to the public in the summer of 2026. The new complex will offer inland surfers a steady stream of machine-powered waves in a 5.5 acre surf pool embedded in the sprawling Desert Willow Golf Resort.
The complex, which will eventually include a 139-key hotel and 57 luxury villas, is the latest addition to a growing number of surf resorts opening across the country and the world that don’t require proximity to a coastline. Surf pools may not have the romance and drama of the open ocean, but fans say they can provide beginners and experienced surfers alike consistent waves for working on skills as well as introduce the sport to people who lack easy access to natural waves.
A rendering shows visitors riding machine-powered waves in a 5.5 acre surf pool.
(Beach Street Development)
And at least in Palm Desert, it also helps that the weather is significantly more predictable than at a seaside resort where a surf trip might be ruined by a week of rain.
“We often say if you could pick a place in the world to do this, this is absolutely the best place in the world,” said Doug Sheres, a partner at Beach Street Development, the company behind DSRT Surf at a ground-breaking ceremony in 2024. “Literally right here in Desert Willow, surrounded by the greens, surrounded by the lake, surrounded by the mountains, and 350 days of sunshine a year.”
The project, which was delayed by COVID and a complex permitting process, has been in the works since 2018 and was approved by the Palm Desert City Council in 2019 despite some residents’ concerns about water usage and questions about the wisdom of building a surf park in the middle of the desert.
The wave pool holds 7 million gallons of water and, because of evaporation, filtration and maintenance, it is expected to go through roughly 25 million gallons of water a year. However, as part of its agreement with Palm Desert, Beach Street Development has committed to replacing 1 million square feet of existing turf in the Desert Willow Golf Resort with native plantings, a move that is projected to save 35 million gallons of water a year while not impacting game play on the courses.
“Through this initiative, our surf pool will not use any incremental water above or beyond what is currently already being used today at Desert Willow,” the developers wrote on DSRT Surf’s website.
In addition to the wave pool, DSRT Surf will also offer pickleball courts, a swimming pool, jacuzzi, yoga classes, a restaurant and a skate bowl.
The opening of DSRT Surf comes just two years after the reopening of Palm Springs Surf Club 10 miles down the road. That club is built on the site of a former water park and features a 1.5 acre wave pool, a lazy river and water slides. It hasn’t always been popular with guests and neighbors — its wave pool was plagued with mechanical issues in its early months, and its machines and events have generated dozens of noise complaints, though management has said noise-reducing solutions are in the works.
DSRT Surf’s massive surf lagoon will be larger than four football fields and will accommodate 70 surfers at once. Although prices for hour-long surf sessions have not yet been set, Sheres said they are committed to making surfing in the desert affordable for the local community.
“We consider this very much available to all income levels and demographics, ” he said in an interview. “It’s wide open to everyone.”