week

Brits travelling abroad are being urged to plan ahead and allow plenty of time.

Holidaymakers have been warned about a new charge coming into force this week. The government is introducing new fees for passport applications on April 8, pushing the cost of online applications beyond £100 for the very first time for adults.

This follows a previous price rise for passport applications earlier in 2025. The latest hike stands at 8%, with a statement on the government website confirming the new fees will help the Home Office move further towards a system that covers its own costs through users rather than relying on general taxation funding.

Under the new proposals, adult online applications will climb from £94.50 to £102, while child applications will go up from £61.50 to £66.50. Postal applications will also see increases, reaching £115.50 for adults and £80 for children.

Premium one-day applications from within the UK will set you back £239.50, up from £222, and standard online applications made from abroad will rise to £116.50 for adults and £75.50 for children. Overseas paper applications will increase to £130 for adults and £89 for children.

Mike Harvey, managing director at 1st Move International, says the rise is particularly significant for Brits applying from overseas, where charges are already higher, reports the Express.

He said: “For expats, long-term travellers or those in the process of relocating, these additional costs can quickly add up, especially if passports are needed for visas, work permits or international moves. Getting your application in before the deadline can help avoid unnecessary extra spend.”

With busy travel periods such as summer on the horizon, demand for passport applications is expected to surge. Delaying too long could mean not only paying more, but also facing hold-ups.

Mike added: “If you know your passport needs renewing, acting now is the safest option, putting you ahead of both the upcoming price increase and the seasonal rush.

“While renewals typically take up to three weeks when completed correctly, any errors can cause delays, so it’s important to check all documents carefully before submitting. Early applications are a simple step that could save both time and money.”

How long does it take to get a new passport?

According to the Home Office, the majority of standard applications from the UK were processed within that three-week timeframe.

However, it can take longer if additional information is required or you need to attend an interview. A sensible approach is to always apply for a passport renewal with as much advance notice before travelling as possible.

For first-time applicants, or those applying on behalf of a child, the process may take a little longer. The government also strongly advises against booking any travel until the new passport has been received, as the number will differ from the previous one.

There’s some big moments ahead on the soaps next week according to teasers shared, with big decisions, realisations, new twists and turns and a plan to save a business

There’s come big moments ahead across Emmerdale, Coronation Street and EastEnders.

Spoilers for next week tease fire drama, some big choices to be made and some realisations. Next week’s full spoilers have yet to be released, so check back on the Mirror on Tuesday for all the gossip.

For now, some publications have revealed little teasers for the big week, and there’s so much drama and the rest. One soap sees a wedding loom, while a character could be in danger.

Another soap sees concerns for a legend as a fire takes place, after it was previously reported Roy Cropper’s café would be deliberately set on fire. There’s also hard scenes and some happy scenes for a soap.

READ MORE: Emmerdale fans ‘work out’ Dr Todd’s link to Graham – and it’s bad news for KimREAD MORE: Soap spoilers reveal legend faces death, divorce news and court verdict

According to the BBC website, Inside Soap magazine and What’s On TV magazine, next week sees some big moments. On EastEnders, Vicki Fowler and Ross Marshall’s hen and stag parties arrive.

A situation soon escalates for Vicki, with her left paranoid and left with little option. Elsewhere, Bea Pollard’s obsession with Honey Mitchell escalates, and she’s clearly jealous of her – while she soon makes a decision about her love life.

Jasmine Fisher starts to feel part of the Slaters, while Oscar Branning attempts to avoid Josh. Oscar then spends his time putting Max and Lauren Branning to the test as they compete.

Finally, Priya Nandra-Hart continues to worry about Ravi Gulati. Over on Coronation Street, Summer Spellman drops a horrifying truth on Todd Grimshaw.

In a fire twist, the residents of Weatherfield see smoke coming from the café. Both Christina Boyd and Glenda Shuttleworth try to help George amid his business troubles.

Eva Price attempts to bring the Driscolls back together, and Mal Roper continues to cause trouble. Finally on Emmerdale, Dr Todd escalates her cruel manipulation towards Jacob Gallagher.

Charity Dingle decides to throw a baby shower for Sarah Sugden, while some new evidence appears. But what is it, who is it linked to and will to help someone in need?

Vanessa Woodfield gets a new housemate, DS Walsh makes an accusation and someone takes action when they notice a spark between two characters, after it seemed things were over.

EastEnders airs Mondays to Thursdays at 7:30pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer. Emmerdale airs weeknights at 8pm on ITV1 and ITVX.

Coronation Street airs weeknights at 8:30pm on ITV1 and ITV X. * Follow Mirror Celebs and TV on TikTok , Snapchat , Instagram , Twitter , Facebook , YouTube and Threads .

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Secret Service said Sunday it was investigating reports of overnight gunfire near Lafayette Park, which is across the street from the White House.

No injuries were reported and no suspect was found after a search of the park and the surrounding area after midnight, the agency said in an online post.

President Trump was spending the weekend at the White House, which had no immediate comment on the incident. White House operations remained as normal but security in the area was increased, according to the Secret Service.

The park has been fenced off for weeks of renovations.

The Secret Service said it was working with the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department and U.S. Park Police.

WASHINGTON — President Trump spent much of last week railing against the courts. The courts, in turn, spent it ruling against him.

While Trump made history as the first sitting president to attend oral arguments at the Supreme Court, where he stared down justices as they questioned his bid to end birthright citizenship, quieter courtrooms across the country were challenging his agenda.

The challenges came in on immigration, on his White House ballroom project, on his own liability in the run-up to Jan. 6.

“Dumb Judges and Justices will not a great Country make!” he wrote on Truth Social on Monday.

By Friday, judges had served him loss after loss, each finding the administration had taken executive authority too far, too fast.

Immigration rulings

On immigration, the keystone of Trump’s policy platform, he faced a number of setbacks.

On Monday, a federal judge in California took a step that would allow a class-action lawsuit against the administration’s handling of certain asylum claims. The case concerns thousands of asylum seekers who had made appointments with immigration officials by using a Biden administration phone app called CBP One.

In many cases, migrants from around the world had waited months in Mexico for their turn to speak with border agents after securing appointments through the app.

Those appointments were suddenly canceled after Trump took office. The judge certified those asylum seekers as a class that can challenge the administration’s action in court.

In a similar case, a federal judge in Boston ruled Tuesday that the administration had unlawfully terminated the temporary legal status of as many as 900,000 immigrants who entered the country after using the phone app. Tens of thousands of those told by the administration to leave the U.S. “immediately” have since left or been deported.

The judge ordered the administration to reinstate the legal status and work authorization of those remaining.

“Today’s ruling is a clear rejection of an administration that has tried to erase lawful status for hundreds of thousands of people with the click of a button,” said Skye Perryman, president and CEO of Democracy Forward, a legal organization that represented the migrants.

Sanctuary laws

Also Tuesday, a federal judge threw out a Justice Department lawsuit that accused Denver and Colorado of interfering with immigration enforcement and claimed that the city and state’s “sanctuary” laws violated the Constitution.

The ruling found that the federal government had not shown it could override state and local decisions about how to use their own resources. The Constitution, the judge said, does not let Washington commandeer local governments.

“Colorado gets to make a choice: How will our law enforcement operate in Colorado. The federal government, they don’t get to make that choice for us,” Colorado Atty. Gen. Phil Weiser said.

Birthright citizenship

The next day, the Supreme Court justices appeared skeptical of Trump’s claim that birthright citizenship doesn’t apply to babies born in the U.S. to parents who are here unlawfully or temporarily.

Conservative and liberal judges alike questioned the arguments of Solicitor Gen. John Sauer, who represented the administration, saying he relied on “some pretty obscure sources,” including precedents that dated back to Roman law.

Trump, sitting feet from the proceedings, left the Supreme Court building halfway through.

“We are the only Country in the World STUPID enough to allow ‘Birthright’ Citizenship!” he wrote shortly after departing.

Austin Kocher, a Syracuse University professor who studies immigration enforcement, wrote on Substack after the Supreme Court hearing that, on immigration policy, there is always a gap between what an administration says it will do and what the government can actually deliver. That gap, he argued, is particularly evident in the second Trump administration.

“The White House has built its political identity around the promise of mass deportation, and the rhetoric has been relentless: record arrests, expanded detention, military flights, the spectacle of enforcement as governance,” Kocher wrote.

“But over the past several days,” he added, “developments from multiple fronts suggests that the operational foundations of the mass deportation campaign are more fragile than the administration would like anyone to believe.”

Defying judicial orders

In some cases, the Trump administration has been undeterred by judicial orders to stop certain practices. In a March ruling unsealed Thursday, a federal judge found that Border Patrol agents had continued making illegal arrests in California’s Central Valley without reasonable suspicion.

The government’s explanations for the arrests, wrote Judge Jennifer Thurston in Fresno, “rely on unsupported assumptions, hunches and generalizations about the relationship between a person’s apparent status as a day laborer and their immigration status.”

White House ballroom

Trump had kicked the week off March 29 by touting his 90,000-square-foot ballroom project, showing designs to reporters on Air Force One.

“I think it’ll be the greatest ballroom anywhere in the world,” he said. Two days later, U.S. District Judge Richard Leon ordered a temporary halt to construction.

Leon stated that the president is the “steward” of the White House, not its “owner,” and ruled that he cannot proceed with such a massive structural change without express authorization from Congress.

In response, Trump raged on Truth Social: “In the Ballroom case, the Judge said we have to get Congressional approval. He is WRONG! Congressional approval has never been given on anything, in these circumstances, big or small, having to do with construction at the White House.”

His administration filed a motion Friday to block the judge’s ruling.

Jan 6. liability

On the same day, a judge ruled that Trump remains personally liable in a civil lawsuit tied to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, allowing those claims to move forward.

It is among the most consequential legal threats he faces.

Trump entered the presidency on the heels of a major Supreme Court win that found former presidents have criminal and civil immunity for official acts during their term.

But Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta deemed Trump’s Jan. 6 speech — in which he directed supporters to march to the Capitol and “fight like hell” — was a political act, not a presidential one, and therefore not shielded by immunity.

“President Trump has not shown that the speech reasonably can be understood as falling within the outer perimeter of his Presidential duties. The content of the ellipse speech confirms that it is not covered by official-acts immunity,” Mehta wrote.

The week ended with yet another setback for Trump when a federal judge on Friday blocked the administration from forcing universities to submit extensive data on applicants and students to prove they don’t illegally consider race in admissions.

Reading the losses

For Adam Winkler, a constitutional law professor at UCLA who has tracked the administration’s legal battles closely, the losing streak had a clear through line.

“It was an awful week for Donald Trump,” he said. “It’s not that the courts are anti-Trump. In fact, he wins a lot. It’s really that he takes such an aggressive approach to policy making that he runs afoul of existing precedents.”

Taken together, last week’s rulings signaled that the courts are insisting that the president is as accountable for his actions as anyone, and that states have constitutional powers he alone cannot override.

“The Trump administration’s recent court losses illustrate that there is still much that the other branches of government can do — in connection with civil society — to uphold the rule of law and mitigate the harms of the administration’s destructive agenda,” said Monika Langarica, deputy legal director at the Center for Human Rights and Constitutional Law.

“They are one more reminder,” she added, “that the administration will not always have the last word with respect to its unlawful and unconstitutional actions.”

Wall Street ended the trading week higher, as investors balanced a stronger-than-expected March jobs report with rising geopolitical tensions that pushed oil prices sharply higher. For the week, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite popped 4.4%, while the S&P jumped +3.3%, and the blue-chip Dow added +2.9%.

Good morning, and welcome to L.A. on the Record — our City Hall newsletter. It’s Noah Goldberg and David Zahniser, giving you the latest on city and county government.

Los Angeles City Atty. Hydee Feldstein Soto and challenger Marissa Roy have sharply different views on how the office should be run.

Literally, the office.

Feldstein Soto said it’s important for attorneys to be in the office, and adopted a policy last year requiring most staff attorneys to be there at least three days a week, with supervisors required to be in four days weekly. Previously, the rule was up to three days of remote work per week.

“It builds teamwork. It ensures cohesion. It ensures that you have the opportunity to review and evaluate the work of new employees while they are still on probation,” she said in an interview.

That policy, however, has put Feldstein Soto at odds with the Los Angeles City Attorneys Assn., which endorsed Feldstein Soto in 2022 but has yet to weigh in this year.

Roy, the deputy state attorney general and the most well-funded of three challengers in the June 2 city primary election, recently told the city attorney’s union that the city’s lawyers should only have to show up at the office two days a month, not counting court appearances. That’s the policy at the state attorney general’s office, where Roy works for Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta.

“There’s no reason why the city attorney’s office can’t have that same policy,” Roy told The Times.

Many companies and public agencies adopted liberal work-from-home policies during the COVID-19 pandemic, although those policies have been largely rescinded to one degree or another. Still, Roy contends that the two days a month is reasonable given the sacrifices lawyers make to work for the government.

“You’re taking a pay cut from the private sector. You’re doing it because you care. You’re doing it for work-life balance and we have to respect that,” said Roy, who has been endorsed by the Los Angeles chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America as well as the county Democratic Party.

Feldstein Soto said Roy’s two-days-per-month proposal creates logistical issues since the city’s lawyers are required to appear in court and be present for legal questions that arise at city meetings. She also said liberal work-from-home policies make it too easy for lawyers to take on outside work.

Roy is Feldstein Soto’s most significant opponent, racking up endorsements and more than $450,000 in campaign contributions through the end of December. Feldstein Soto raised more than $685,000 through the end of last year.

Challenger Aida Ashouri, a lawyer and activist, said she supports the current policy, saying it provides flexibility to employees while also ensuring they confer in person.

“We want to continue to make sure that people see their co-workers, that we have meetings in person,” Ashouri said. “I think meetings in person can be very effective and better for communication purposes.”

The fourth candidate, Los Angeles County Deputy Dist. Atty. John McKinney, said remote work is a “valuable tool for work-life balance.”

He said he would build on Feldstein Soto’s existing remote work rules, though he did not outline exactly what his policy would be.

The Los Angeles City Attorneys Assn. filed an unfair employee relations claim against the city last year when Feldstein Soto toughened the rules. The attorneys claim that the changes should have been bargained with the union.

The Los Angeles City Attorneys Assn. endorsed Feldstein Soto when she first ran four years ago, but hasn’t yet made an endorsement in the city’s June 2 election. The endorsement is expected to be discussed by union officials next week, said union president Ann Rosenthal, who said the city policy makes it hard to recruit new attorneys.
Citywide, departments make their own determinations on RTO, said Matt Szabo, the city administrative officer.

Szabo said the city is discussing a draft citywide policy on remote work with city employee unions.

State of play

— DOCUMENT DROP: The Charter Reform Commission sent the City Council its written recommendations for changing the city’s government. Among the ideas: a larger City Council, a two-year budgeting cycle and greater authority for the council over policing policies. The council will decide how many of the proposals should appear on the Nov. 3 city ballot.

— A NEW FRONT-RUNNER? City Councilmember Nithya Raman came out ahead of incumbent Karen Bass in a new poll on the Los Angeles mayor’s race, though the poll’s director cautioned that it did not give the whole picture. Raman had a commanding lead, with 33% of voters supporting her, while Bass trailed at 17%, according to the poll by Loyola Marymount University’s Center for the Study of Los Angeles.

— OR MAYBE NOT: Meanwhile, a survey released by UCLA’s Luskin School of Public Affairs found Bass in the lead, with reality TV star Spencer Pratt coming in second and Raman a close third. With 40% undecided, the race remains “wide open,” said Zev Yaroslavsky, director of the Los Angeles Initiative at UCLA Luskin, a former L.A. council member and county supervisor. The poll’s margin for error is 4%.

— NEED FOR SPEED (CAMERAS): By the end of the summer, 125 speed cameras will be installed on dozens of streets throughout Los Angeles, specifically on roads that are in school zones, are known street-racing corridors or where speeding has resulted in a high rate of traffic accidents.

— EATON FIRE RECOVERY: At the end of March, just under 3,400 applications to rebuild residences destroyed in the January 2025 Eaton fire had been filed. That’s about 56% of the roughly 6,000 residential structures in Altadena that CalFire designated as destroyed, a Times review found.

— CAL-EXODUS: A new UC Berkeley study found that people who moved out of California dramatically improved their financial conditions. A surprising finding from the California Policy Lab: Those leaving the state are increasingly moving out of its wealthiest areas.

— PACK YOUR TRUNK: Nearly a year after the Los Angeles Zoo shipped Billy and Tina the elephants off to a zoo in Tulsa, Okla., animal rights activists have kept up the call to relocate them to a sanctuary. Actor Samuel L. Jackson is among those weighing in.

QUICK HITS

• Where is Inside Safe? The mayor’s signature homeless relocation program was in North Hollywood and brought more than 40 people indoors in Councilmember Imelda Padilla‘s district.
• On the docket next week: The City Council will remain in recess next week.

Stay in touch

That’s it for this week! Send your questions, comments and gossip to LAontheRecord@latimes.com. Did a friend forward you this email? Sign up here to get it in your inbox every Saturday morning.

Welcome to Bunker Talk. This is a weekend open discussion post for the best commenting crew on the net, in which we can chat about all the stuff that went on this week that we didn’t cover. We can also talk about the stuff we did or whatever else grabs your interest. In other words, it’s an off-topic thread.

This week’s second caption reads:

Col. William C. Hannan, Jr., U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Transatlantic Division commander, examines innovative design feature updates on the U.S. Army Central’s Bunker Retrofit project, designed to increase protection for service members throughout the U.S. Central Command’s area of operations, prior to the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center’s Phase II Live-fire Experiment at Fort Polk, La., Mar. 10.

Also, a reminder:

Prime Directives!

• If you want to talk politics, do so respectfully and know that there’s always somebody that isn’t going to agree with you. 
• If you have political differences, hash it out respectfully, stick to the facts, and no childish name-calling or personal attacks of any kind. If you can’t handle yourself in that manner, then please, discuss virtually anything else.
• No drive-by garbage political memes. No conspiracy theory rants. Links to crackpot sites will be axed, too. Trolling and shitposting will not be tolerated. No obsessive behavior about other users. Just don’t interact with folks you don’t like. 
• Do not be a sucker and feed trolls! That’s as much on you as on them. Use the mute button if you don’t like what you see.  
• So unless you have something of quality to say, know how to treat people with respect, understand that everyone isn’t going to subscribe to your exact same worldview, and have come to terms with the reality that there is no perfect solution when it comes to moderation of a community like this, it’s probably best to just move on. 
• Finally, as always, report offenders, please. This doesn’t mean reporting people who don’t share your political views, but we really need your help in this regard.

The One Show has been hit with a schedule shake-up

Fans will have to wait longer for the next instalment of The One Show.

The popular BBC chat show won’t be airing on Bank Holiday Monday (April 6), though viewers don’t need to worry as it will return to its usual slot on Tuesday (April 7) evening.

During Friday’s (April 6) episode, hosts JB Gill and Angellica Bell were back on our screens, welcoming a string of guests to the iconic sofa.

The presenting pair were joined by Strictly Come Dancing professionals Kai Widdrington and Jowita Przystał, who dished out the latest gossip on what fans can expect from the Strictly Pro Tour.

Also settling into the sofa were Patsy Kensit and Jayne Middlemiss, who opened up about their deeply emotional journey on BBC Two’s Pilgrimage, reports Wales Online.

As the programme drew to a close, Angellica confirmed the show would be returning to screens on Tuesday.

Bidding farewell to viewers, JB said: “Well that’s all we’ve got time for tonight thank you so much to all our guests.”

Angellica then chipped in, adding: “We will be back on Tuesday and we’ve got a whole host of fabulous guests joining us throughout the week.”

The pair gave no explanation for Monday’s absent episode, though we assume that the team is enjoying a well-earned Easter break.

This comes as I’m A Celebrity host Ant McPartlin was quick to issue an apology after seemingly letting slip a “spoiler” ahead of the South Africa spin-off. In the lead-up to the programme, the star appeared on Thursday’s (April 3) episode of The One Show alongside co-host Dec, giving viewers a glimpse of what awaits in this series.

Yet within moments of their conversation starting, Ant felt compelled to apologise as he questioned: “am I saying too much?”

Angellica was keen to discover more about the camp dynamics, asking: “I heard there is some drama.” Ant appeared to let slip a teaser as he responded: “This series gives you everything. There is drama, there’s arguments.. Am I saying too much? Fight… Am I saying too much? I’m sorry, ITV. There is everything, it’s on another level. It’s a must watch.”

The all-stars edition of the beloved ITV reality series is due to return on Monday (April 6) evening, as former campmates head into the South African bush to battle it out for the coveted title of Legend of the Jungle.

The latest series was filmed late last year and is packed with drama, stomach-churning trials, and naturally, no shortage of creepy crawlies.

The One Show airs weekdays from 7pm on BBC One and iPlayer

NEW YORK — This is not the run up to the midterm elections that Republicans wanted.

A year and a half after winning the White House by promising to lower costs and end wars, Donald Trump is a wartime president overseeing surging energy costs and an escalating overseas conflict that many in his own party do not like.

He offered little clarity to a nation eager for answers this week during a prime-time address from the White House, his first since the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran more than a month ago, simultaneously suggesting that the war was ending and expanding.

“Thanks to the progress we’ve made, I can say tonight that we are on track to complete all of America’s military objectives shortly, very shortly,” Trump said. “We’re going to hit them extremely hard over the next two to three weeks.”

Trump’s comments come roughly six months before voters across the nation begin to cast ballots in elections that will decide control of Congress and key governorships for Trump’s final two years in office. For now, Republicans, who control all branches of government in Washington, are bracing for a painful political backlash.

“You’re looking at an ugly November,” warned veteran Republican pollster Neil Newhouse. “At a point in time when we need every break possible to hold the House and Senate, our edge is being chipped away.”

Republicans confront evolving political landscape

It’s hard to overstate how dramatically the political landscape has shifted.

At this time last year, many Republican leaders believed there was a path to preserve their narrow House majority and easily hold the Senate. Now they privately concede that the House is all but lost and Democrats have a realistic shot at taking the Senate.

Republicans are also struggling to coalesce around a clear midterm message on Iran.

The Republican National Committee has largely avoided the war in talking points issued to surrogates over the last month. The leaders of the party’s campaign committees responsible for the House and Senate declined interview requests. Many vulnerable Republican candidates sidestep the issue, unwilling to defend or challenge Trump publicly.

The president remains deeply popular with Republican voters, and he has vocal supporters like Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina.

“That was the best speech I could’ve hoped for,” he wrote on social media after Trump’s address on Wednesday evening. Graham said Trump “gave the American people a clear and coherent pathway forward.”

Trump made little effort to sell the conflict to Americans before the initial attack. Five weeks later, at least 13 U.S. service members have been killed and hundreds more injured. Thousands more troops have converged on the region, and the Pentagon requested $200 billion in new funding.

The Strait of Hormuz, a key passage for a fifth of the world’s oil, remains closed. The average price for a gallon of gasoline in the U.S. was $4.08 on Thursday, according to AAA, almost a full dollar higher than on President Joe Biden’s last day in office.

On Wednesday, Trump insisted that gas prices would fall quickly once the war concluded but offered no solution for reopening the Strait of Hormuz. Instead, he invited skeptical U.S. allies to do it themselves.

He insisted that the war would be worth it.

“This is a true investment in your grandchildren and your grandchildren’s future,” Trump said. “When it’s all over, the United States will be safer, stronger, more prosperous and greater than it has ever been before.”

Former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Georgia Republican who was once among Trump’s most vocal allies in Congress, lashed out against his Iran policy.

“I wanted so much for President Trump to put America First. That’s what I believed he would do. All I heard from his speech tonight was WAR WAR WAR,” she wrote on social media. “Nothing to lower the cost of living for Americans.”

Time is not on Trump’s side

About 6 in 10 U.S. adults say the U.S. military action in Iran has “gone too far,” according to AP-NORC polling from March. Roughly a third approve of how he’s handling Iran overall.

The possibility of sending U.S. forces into Iran also appears politically unpalatable.

About 6 in 10 adults are “strongly” or “somewhat” opposed to deploying U.S. troops on the ground to fight Iran. That includes about half of Republicans. Only about 1 in 10 favor deploying troops.

At the same time, Trump’s approval ratings have remained consistently weak. About 4 in 10 Americans approve of how he’s handling the presidency, roughly in line with how it’s been throughout his second term.

Republican strategist Ari Fleischer, a senior aide in former President George W. Bush’s administration, acknowledged that Trump has not received the polling bump in this war that Bush got after invading Iraq.

Bush, of course, worked to build public backing for the Iraq War before going in. Immediately after the 2003 invasion, Bush’s popularity soared, as did the stock market.

Public sentiment and the economy soured only after the conflict stretched on. It ultimately spanned more than eight years, spawning a generation of anti-war Republicans — and sowing the seeds of Trump’s “America First” foreign policy.

“My hope is that the Trump experience is the exact opposite of the Bush experience,” Fleischer said.

He said Trump must win the war decisively and quickly to avoid a further backlash, saying there could be a “very significant political upside if things end well, oil comes down and markets rally.”

Fleischer added that Trump’s actions will matter much more than his words.

“Ultimately, he is not going to get judged on his persuasion or his explanations or his assertions, he’s going to get judged on results,” he said.

Peoples writes for the Associated Press. AP writer Linley Sanders in Washington contributed to this report.

On the first night of Passover, Ye — the superstar rapper, the artist formerly known as Kanye West, the man who once threatened in a tweet to go “death con 3 On JEWISH PEOPLE” — performed for what looked like a full house at Inglewood’s SoFi Stadium.

The first of a pair of Ye concerts this week at the gigantic NFL palace, Wednesday’s show came two months after the 48-year-old musician apologized for his past antisemitic comments, attributing his behavior to injuries he sustained in a 2002 car crash.

More to the point, perhaps, the gig came on the heels of last week’s release of “Bully,” Ye’s first solo LP since 2022’s “Donda 2,” which the trade journal Hits predicts will enter the album chart at No. 2, right behind the latest from BTS.

In other words, Ye’s trying to get a comeback going — and, to judge by the very warm reception he got at SoFi, he might prove successful.

Wednesday’s concert — Ye’s first full live performance in Los Angeles since a 2021 gig at the L.A. Memorial Coliseum — lasted about two hours and featured guest appearances by Don Toliver and Ye’s 12-year-old daughter, North.

The rapper performed atop an enormous dome set up on the stadium’s floor; for much of the night, a spinning globe was projected onto the dome so that Ye looked to be — well, on top of the world is how he might’ve put it.

Early in the set, Ye asked his technical crew to “make the earth move slower,” which somebody made happen.

Accompanied by what sounded like prerecorded backing tracks, Ye opened with a handful of songs from “Bully,” which seeks a middle ground between the soulful, sample-heavy sound of his early work and the gloomier, synthed-up vibe of more recent records like “Donda” and his and Ty Dolla Sign’s “Vultures 1” and “Vultures 2.”

After an extended version of the new album’s “All the Love,” he reached back for an assortment of oldies, including all-timers like “Father, Stretch My Hands, Pt. 1,” “Mercy,” “Black Skinhead” and “Can’t Tell Me Nothing,” which he stopped and restarted after telling the crew to mute the music during the song’s line about getting his money right so that he could hear the crowd join in.

He also did his and Jay-Z’s collaborative 2011 hit — the one whose title contains the N-word — which made you think about how he and his old frenemy are both mounting comebacks at the same time, Jay-Z as a kind of retiree’s victory lap and Ye in hopes of moving past a mess of his own making.

Other classics Ye performed included “Bound 2” and “Heartless,” to name two of his most emotionally potent songs, though thick smoke in the stadium made it hard to feel a sense of connection with him as he moved back and forth atop the dome.

Ye brought out Don Toliver to perform “Moon” and Toliver’s “E85,” then cycled again through the “Bully” tracks he’d done earlier. North West came out to perform “Talking” and “Piercing on My Hand,” after which Ye did his and Ty Dolla Sign’s “Everybody,” which prominently samples the Backstreet Boys’ “Everybody (Backstreet’s Back).”

Then he finished with a sprint through some of his most beloved hits: “All Falls Down” into “Jesus Walks” into “Through the Wire” into “Good Life,” which he restarted several times because he said the lights were “corny.”

“Is this like an ‘SNL’ skit or something?” he asked when nobody made the changes he was looking for.

Ye ended the show with “All of the Lights,” which got a huge pryo display, and “Runaway,” his epic 2010 warning to anyone foolish enough to consider falling in love with him.

“Run away fast as you can,” he sang, and the crowd roared right along.

After seven weeks on strike, members of the Writers Guild Staff Union are losing their healthcare.

The staff typically has access to the same plan offered to the Writers Guild members through the Producer-Writers Guild of America Health Plan. Employees represented by the staff union earn coverage on a month-to-month basis if they worked 31 hours per week the previous month. But since the group — which includes over 100 workers across legal, communications and residuals departments — has been on strike, they are no longer eligible.

The staff union wrote on social media that it learned about the coverage loss through an online portal “just hours before this goes into effect.”

“This puts children, spouses and their own employees into a further state of crisis. We are in week seven of our strike. This is just the latest attempt by WGAW to bust our union and break our strike,” the union wrote in the Instagram post.

WGA West confirmed employees who receive health coverage on a month-to-month basis are no longer eligible for it as of April 1. The guild said in a statement that striking employees can elect COBRA continuation coverage if they want to be covered in April and that they “cannot make contributions on behalf of staff employees who did not work in March and have no earnings.”

The work stoppage was first called on Feb. 17, after the staff union alleged that management had no intention to reach an agreement on the pending contract. Negotiations between the WGA and its staff union started last September.

The staff union strike has also coincided with the WGA’s ongoing contract talks with Hollywood’s major film and TV studios. Their members’ current contract is set to expire on May 1. The guild hopes to improve its members’ healthcare plans, increase streaming residuals and expand AI protections. This is the first time the labor group has sat down with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, since both WGA and SAG-AFTRA went on a historic strike in 2023.

Last week, the staffers sent a complete collective bargaining agreement to the union’s management, which they said was “designed to bring this strike to a resolution.” Key sticking points in the negotiations include seniority-based layoffs and promotions, as well as the right to strike mid-term in the contract.

WGA wrote in a statement that it has “negotiated a contract with the staff union that offers generous economic improvements and workplace protections that are among the best for any union staff in Los Angeles.”

THE Cotswolds are well-known for having celebrity visitors and the tiny village of Batsford even welcomed an unlikely A-Lister this week.

Gossip Girl actress Blake Lively was spotted there earlier this week on a visit to the region.

Blake Lively posted snaps of herself exploring the English countryside, including a tiny spot called Batsford.

She and her family visited the Falconry Centre – which coincidentally is right next to Batsford Arboretum, one of the biggest attractions in the area.

Batsford Arboretum is home to a unique collection of some of the world’s most beautiful and rare trees, shrubs and bamboos all spread across 60 acres.

There are over 1,500 tree species from Japanese maples to pines and oaks.

GO SEA IT

£9.50 holiday spot with shipwrecks, seals offshore & horseshoe-shaped waterfalls

BEACHY KEEN

Sun readers’ favourite family attractions in Lincolnshire’s seaside resorts

One of the rarest is nicknamed the ‘dinosaur tree’.

The species was believed to be extinct for two million years before it was discovered in 1994.

Two of its off-spring were then planted at Batsford Arboretum in 2007 – and you can see them there today.

The arboretum brings in lots of visitors and is open year-round, but lots say one of the best times to go is in autumn when the leaves change colour.

Another added: “The arboretum is interesting whatever the season. From snowdrops through to autumn displays.

“Even in the depth of winter it is a pleasure to appreciate the architectural structure of the mature trees – and somewhere there is always something in flower. The collection of Daphnes is particularly noteworthy.”

However, it’s also one of the best places to see cherry blossom in the UK from late March through and April.

Tickets into Batsford Arboretum for adults start from £10.90 and day tickets for children start from £3.15.

It also has a visitor centre where the café, garden centre and gift shop are – all of which are completely free to enter. 

One visitor even called it “the best I’ve been to in a long time.”

After having a gander around the plants, head to the café which serves lunch, and a range of freshly baked cakes.

The huge Batsford House is on the estate of a Victorian country house built in 1892, but is a private residence and isn’t open to the public.

Blake Lively was in the Cotswolds visiting former Celebrity Bake Off judge, Prue Leith, who lives just 5-minutes from Batsford in Moreton-in-Marsh.

Blake Lively and her family set up shop at Soho Farmhouse in Great Tew which opened 10 years ago.

The hotel is surrounded by 100 acres of countryside, and has 113 bedrooms, cabins along with a health club, spa and gym.

There are indoor and outdoor pools, sunken hot tubs as well as plenty of activities like horse riding, clay pigeon shooting, tennis and padel.

When it comes to celebrities, Blake Lively isn’t the only one that’s been spotted in the Cotswolds.

The ‘golden triangle’ covers the most popular towns in the area; Chipping Norton, Stow-on-the-Wold and Burford.

Chipping Norton is where a number of celebrities live like the Beckhams, Jeremy Clarkson and Kate Moss.

It’s also home to Clarkson’s famous farm Diddly Squat.

Stow-on-the-Wold is said to be one of the UK’s prettiest towns and uniquely claims to have the most photographed door.

This was rumoured to have inspired Lord of The Rings author J.R.R Tolkien’s book Doors Of Durin.

Burford is a pretty Cotswolds town dotted with lots of independent shops and a popular garden centre.

Beyonce and Jay Z were rumoured to have been spotted there before.

Here’s more on the stunning Cotswolds village with its own sandy beach and lagoon – miles from the English seaside.

And Deputy Travel Editor Kara Godfrey, who grew up in the Cotswolds, reveals her favourite town to visit.

IT’S the no.1 children’s show on CBeebies and has been streamed more than 450million times on the BBC iPlayer – so where else to build a world-first Bluey rollercoaster than the UK’s biggest theme park?

Alton Towers know a sensation when they see one this week unveiled Bluey: Here Come The Grannies ride in the heart of CBeebies Land.

Now, toddlers and parents (lets face it, mums and dads love him too), can pay homage to the adventurous, inexhaustible puppy via a fun-filled rollercoaster.

The rollercoaster whisks you up and down over gentle dips, and around turns amid a fun, interactive setting of Bluey’s back garden.

It’s filled with fun references to the various episodes – including as the name suggests when the characters dress up as their Grannies.

The ride is the perfect mix of gentle and exciting and went down a storm on the day of opening.

DIG IN

We found 20 of the cheapest all-inclusive hotels for summer… with breaks from £349pp

TOP TIPS

Our £9.50 Hols Agony Aunt’s tricks for finding cheap deals & the parks teens love

Parents and kids were loving it while wee toddlers were genuinely immersed in Bluey’s world; they truly believed they were in his garden.

Alton Towers still remains the king of the theme parks and with CBeebies land, Gansta Granny and the big scary roller coasters – every age group is catered for.

As with all of Alton Towers rides, it is not just about the rides, but the imaginative settings and creative back stories that add to the fun.

As the terrified child will testify while we waited for the Wicker Man to finish his dramatic speech ahead of boarding the ride – they do not hold back.

But that is all part of the fun (sorry scared child).

I visited with two teens and even with fast track passes and their excited insistence on running everywhere we still struggled to do half the park – it is vast.

The glorious spotless grounds are so special too. I had sneakily hoped that I could grab a rest while my teens rushed about but the weather was rudely not accommodating.

On a beautiful day however, it is so worth taking the time to explore the perfectly managed gardens – ideal to regulate and find some peace from the  thrills and spills.

The park looked fantastic, but as ever queues at the rides remain an issue and food and drinks pricey.

Meticulous planning, regularly checking the app and packing a picnic is advised to make the most of your day.

As the season opens Alton Towers are ensuring they are constantly evolving and investing in the park.

And the new Bluey: Here Come The Grannies rollercoaster will no doubt delight the next generation of thrill seekers.

One Sun writer spent their break in one of the Bluey hotel rooms…

Hannah Ferrett, Assistant Digital Editor, revealed what her stay was like in Bluey-themed hotel room that opened in 2024…

The new accommodation is one of 13 rooms and suites designed especially for kids — which also include telly favourites Postman Pat, Bing and Octonauts.

But this isn’t the place for those looking for a chilled stay with calm kids . . . as Jess, my nine-year-old said, the room is just too exciting.

We knew exactly what we were in for the moment we opened the door of the large room — which can sleep up to seven — as the Bluey theme song blasted out from speakers.

This led to roughly 15 renditions of the Bluey-themed musical statues (yes, mum and dad got involved too). The hotel has done a great job.

The kids slept in Bluey and Bingo’s room, complete with bunk beds, the recognisable watermelon rug and the cartoon dogs’ pretty Himalayan rock salt night light — a nice touch for little ones.

There’s also a sofa bed which sleeps two, and a trundle at the bottom of the bunks. The only thing which excited all four kids more than the triple bunk was realising we were the first family to stay in the room.

Murals of the Heeler family cover the walls, with fairy lights and books dotted about. The bathroom had pictures of Bluey and her sister plastered across the walls.

My partner Dan and I were in Bandit and Chilli’s room, which had a king size bed, TV and lots of pictures of Bluey and Bingo as puppies, much to the delight of our kids.

The suite and other Bluey room (which sleeps five) tie in with the launch of Bluey Live at CBeebies Land. The excitable blue pooch and her whole family are part of the fun, with kids able to meet the characters and even have their photo taken with them.

For more on theme parks, here’s one where you ‘travel through time’ and rides roar past the hotel window.

And here are seven great UK seaside towns with beachfront theme parks – and you can stay with Hols from £9.50.

Welcome back to this week’s Lakers newsletter, where the vibes are immaculate.

The Lakers have won 15 of their last 17 games. LeBron James continues to set NBA records, most recently tying the all-time mark for wins in the regular season and playoffs with Monday’s win over Washington. Jaxson Hayes hasn’t missed a three-point shot all year. The fans who chanted “We want Bronny!” have gotten their wish.

With seven games remaining in the regular season, we turn our focus to a different cheer.

MVP! MVP!

Lakers star Luka Doncic runs onto the court before a game against the Minnesota Timberwolves on March 10 at Crypto.com Arena.

(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

The familiar chant rang out in arenas from L.A. to Miami to Indianapolis. Luka Doncic’s campaign was powerful enough to sway even opposing crowds that showered him with shouts of “MVP.”

With Doncic on a historic season-ending heater, the most valuable player discussion suddenly got piping hot with two weeks left in the season. The NBA’s leading scorer surged back into the race with gaudy numbers over the month of March: 37.2 points, 8.2 rebounds and 7.1 assists per game; 12 straight 30-point games; a 24-hour stretch with 100 points; and the first 60-point performance by a Laker since Kobe Bryant in his final game.

The most important number from March: 14 wins. Approaching the playoffs, the Lakers (49-26) are one of the hottest teams in the league, powered by Doncic’s brilliance.

“If we continue to finish the season the way we’re playing right now, and he continues to play that way, to me, he is the MVP,” Lakers coach JJ Redick said.

Doncic leads the league in scoring (33.7) and is just a hair off from the career-high 33.9 points per game he averaged when he finished third in MVP voting in 2024. Compared to the other top three MVP candidates — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Nikola Jokic and Victor Wembanyama — Doncic’s traditional stats paint a competitive picture. He has the second-most assists of the quartet behind Jokic and the third-most rebounds.

Among guards who have played more than 11 games, Doncic ranks third in rebounds per game at 7.8, and his 7.2 defensive rebounds per game is the most of anyone at his position. Doncic’s defense gets picked apart, but he also has a career-best 102 steals. He’s the only player averaging 30 or more points this season with 100 or more steals.

“He’s the engine that’s driving all of our winning,” Redick said.

Advanced statistics have Doncic a tier below his rivals. Doncic’s net rating of plus-4 is a distant fourth among the top contenders and pales in comparison to Wembanyama’s plus-17.3.

Breaking down the MVP race

Jokic appeared to be on his way to winning his fourth MVP before the Nuggets star missed a month with a knee injury. By leading the Oklahoma City Thunder to the best record in the league, Gilgeous-Alexander appeared to be in pole position to win his second consecutive MVP.

Doncic and Wembanyama are making a late charge. The Spurs see the Lakers’ 14-2 record in March and raise them a 25-2 mark since Feb. 1. They won their 10 consecutive game Monday. While Doncic was serving a suspension for technical foul accumulation, Wembanyama scored 41 points with 16 rebounds, four assists and three blocks against the Chicago Bulls.

The MVP chants in Frost Bank Arena are just as loud as anywhere in the league.

All fore one

Lakers guard Austin Reaves shoots a free throw during a win over the Washington Wizards on Monday at Crypto.com Arena.

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

Of all the NBA markets, L.A. presents unique challenges to team building. When Redick played for the Clippers, teammates scattered immediately after practice with hopes of beating traffic on the way home. Redick knew he wasn’t going to drive hours from his home in Manhattan Beach to visit Chris Paul in Calabasas.

But for the Lakers, a round of golf is worth a drive on the 405.

“Finding tee times, being with each other for four hours where you can shoot the proverbial S-H-I-whatever and not have to be in a high pressure moment or on a team bus and kind of be away from the facility,” Redick said, “I think it’s great.”

Golf is the Lakers’ latest bonding activity that’s helped keep the vibes high through the most successful stretch of the season. The Lakers have been intentional with team-building activities in Redick’s second year at the helm. All players and coaches made autobiographical powerpoint presentations to the team during the preseason. Jake LaRavia and assistant coach Beau Levesque won the team-wide pickleball tournament in November. Players and coaches arrange golf outings between games on long road trips. One day after hitting the winning shot in Orlando, newest teammate Luke Kennard got in on the golf action in a scramble match with players facing coaches.

“They had AR,” Redick said sheepishly, “so we can all guess the result of that one.”

Austin Reaves is the leader in the clubhouse. He remembered when teammates gave him grief about his love of golf, which he picked up at 17 and almost immediately excelled at. Seeing his teammates embrace the game “actually means a lot to me,” Reaves said.

“I’m glad that they are addicted,” he added with a satisfied smile.

After the COVID-19 bubble, Redick noticed an uptick in golf’s popularity around the league. Even the Lakers have a handful of players who suddenly decided to start during the last year. Doncic is the most recent convert. He bragged that he beat Reaves on one hole when they played in Indianapolis. Reaves, who got a double bogey compared to Doncic’s bogey, said he let his teammate win.

“It’s a confidence thing,” Reaves said. “We needed him to be at his best at 7 o’clock tonight.”

Doncic scored 43 points against Indianapolis the day after the golf outing.

On tap

Cleveland’s Jarrett Allen shoots between Detroit’s Cade Cunningham, left, and forward Tobias Harris on March 3.

(Sue Ogrocki / Associated Press)

Tuesday vs. Cleveland (47-28), 7:30 p.m. PDT

Center Jarrett Allen returned last week from a 10-game absence, but missed Cleveland’s game on Monday in Utah as he managed right knee tendinitis. Missing the first game of a back-to-back indicates that he’ll likely be available against the Lakers.

Thursday at Oklahoma City (60-16), 6:30 p.m. PDT

The Thunder have won 15 of their last 16 games with the only loss coming against Boston. This game and next week’s rematch at Crypto.com Arena could be critical in the MVP race between Gilgeous-Alexander and Doncic.

Sunday at Dallas (24-51), 4:30 p.m. PDT

Since the trade heard ‘round the league, Doncic has averaged 33 points, nine rebounds and 10 assists in four games against his former team. It’s his highest scoring average against any Western Conference opponent.

Status report

Marcus Smart (right ankle contusion)

Smart remains day-to-day with an ankle injury he sustained against Orlando. He has missed four games.

Adou Thiero (left knee soreness)

The rookie forward landed back on the injury report after playing two minutes in the Lakers’ loss to Detroit. Redick said Thiero was held out for precautionary reasons after his knee didn’t react well to playing in a G League game then playing in Detroit two days later. Thiero previously missed six weeks with a right medial collateral ligament sprain and underwent surgery on his left knee in college, which kept him sidelined at the beginning of the season.

Favorite thing I ate this week

(Thuc Nhi Nguyen / Los Angeles Times)

I have had Ramen Nagi on my list for literal years because former USC center Brett Neilon — who grew up in Tokyo — recommended it. I have changed beats three times since then but never forgot what he said was his favorite ramen place in L.A. The red king, which is a spicy version of their pork broth ramen, was worth the years of anticipation. Every bowl is customizable so I loved getting to add thick ramen noodles.

In case you missed it

No Luka Doncic, no problem for LeBron James and Lakers in blowout win

Lakers hope two-day ‘reset’ will refresh them for final stretch of the season

Luka Doncic will serve one-game suspension for techs on Monday

Swanson: Bronny James has proven he deserves to be a Laker — with or without LeBron

Lakers beat Nets, but Luka Doncic is facing suspension again after 16th technical

Luka Doncic scores 43 as road weary Lakers hold off late Pacers rally

Lakers fade in final seconds against Pistons as nine-game win streak ends

Until next time…

As always, pass along your thoughts to me at thucnhi.nguyen@latimes.com, and please consider subscribing if you like our work!