Reporting from Brisbane, Calif. — Just beyond San Francisco’s city limits lies 640 acres of land that could help solve some of California’s biggest problems.

A developer wants to build 4,400 new homes there — one of the largest projects recently proposed in one of the country’s most unaffordable regions. The development would overlook a railway that drops riders into the heart of San Francisco in 15 minutes, reducing the need for cars and cutting the greenhouse gas emissions that come from them.

State and regional leaders have endorsed the project. But its fate rests with Brisbane, a city of 4,700 people that annexed the property 55 years ago. And no one, not even the developer, thinks Brisbane’s residents will approve all 4,400 homes.

“Unfortunately, we believe that their ceiling is going to be below that,” said Jonathan Scharfman, the general manager for the developer, Universal Paragon Corp.

The project, Brisbane Baylands, reveals how few incentives local governments have to accept large developments — even as the state is pushing to lower housing costs and funnel growth toward existing cities and nearby mass transit to combat climate change. Brisbane residents are wary of a project that could triple the city’s population. Under California’s tax system, Brisbane also earns more money if it rejects the current plan in favor of potential alternatives with more hotel rooms and space for businesses — but no homes.

The Bay Area’s dire need for housing makes the debate over the Baylands project “particularly painful,” said Ben Metcalf, director of the state Department of Housing and Community Development.

“It is frustrating that as a state and as a constellation of local jurisdictions we are constantly making decisions that aren’t the best for alleviating poverty, housing affordability, furthering our state’s economy or meeting our climate change goals,” Metcalf said.

For their part, some Brisbane residents feel besieged by pressure from housing activists, business groups, state lawmakers, San Francisco politicians, newspaper editorials and others beyond the city’s boundaries. An old rail yard and garbage dump contaminated the land, and opponents contend they want to protect anyone who might decide to live there even after regulators approve a cleanup. More than that, Brisbane residents say, outsiders don’t understand how much the Baylands project would upend their community.

“We’re a small town,” City Councilman W. Clarke Conway said at a meeting on the project last fall, “and we’re a small town by choice.”

Bill Dettmer, left, speaks with a group of men who regularly meet and discuss local politics and civic issues at Madhouse Coffee in Brisbane, Calif. Dettmer thinks a developer should be allowed to build housing on an old rail yard in the city.

(Josh Edelson / For The Times)

Brisbane’s main drag is Visitacion Avenue. It slopes upward for five blocks, starting at a city park and continuing through mom-and-pop shops, cafes and restaurants. The rest of Brisbane comprises office parks, a strip mall and mostly single-family homes built throughout the town’s hills.

“This is the land that time forgot,” said Greg Lee, 55, an electrical engineer who has lived in the city for more than two decades.

San Bruno Mountain, which rises a quarter-mile into the sky, is Brisbane’s landmark, and residents have fought to preserve it. In the 1960s, they blocked a developer from leveling the mountaintop and building enough new homes for 70,000 people. In 1980, after years of battling another massive project on the mountain, residents received a last-minute reprieve from the federal government, which declared San Bruno a critical habitat for the endangered callippe silverspot butterfly.

Anti-development fervor has continued. About a decade ago, a city councilman suggested sidestepping a state housing law that requires cities to plan for growth by zoning for homes where nothing would ever get built — the bottom of Brisbane’s lagoon.

Residents’ efforts to protect Brisbane’s small-town feel make large changes hard to accept, said Paul Bouscal, 58, a San Francisco water department employee who has lived in the area since 1982.

The Baylands, he said, plays on fears of Brisbane getting big.

“For our town to grow like that, it would be too much, too fast,” Bouscal said.

It might be easier for residents and elected officials to welcome growth if the city received more tax dollars for doing so. But the opposite is true.

Because of tax limits established in 1978 by Proposition 13, local governments generally receive more revenue from sales and hotel room taxes than property taxes. Proposition 13 limited property tax rates to 1% of a home’s taxable value and restricted how quickly that taxable value could increase after a purchase.

Last year, Brisbane hired a consultant who found that the city would net $1 million a year in tax revenue by approving the Baylands. But if the city instead approved a project with lots more commercial space, a larger hotel and no housing, Brisbane would gain $9 million annually — an amount equivalent to more than half the city’s current day-to-day operating budget.

Developers are always going to face opposition because of residents’ concerns about their communities changing, said Mark Stivers, a longtime state housing policy staffer. But the tax system is another big reason the state has a housing shortage, he said.

“I’d like to think if just the fiscal incentives were reversed, if a city could make as much money off housing as they could retail, we’d be having a very different conversation in California,” Stivers said.

Jonathan Scharfman, general manager of Universal Paragon Corp., describes the area where his company hopes to build a 4,400-unit housing development.

(Josh Edelson / For The Times)

Debate over the Baylands has divided the town and dominated Brisbane politics for at least a decade. More than half of Brisbane residents said in a 2015 city-sponsored poll that they were OK with some housing on the Baylands site. But just 3% backed a project of more than 4,000 homes such as the developer is proposing.

Bill Dettmer, 63, spent a recent morning at Madhouse Coffee, one of the city’s main gathering spots, trying to convince skeptical neighbors that the city should support the housing. Dettmer moved to Brisbane 50 years ago and does maintenance work in the city.

“I see a lot of stuff,” Dettmer said. “I see beds in garages. You have to increase the [housing] supply. If you really want to help out people, let them live in dignity. It just seems like a no-brainer.”

Many local opponents cite the land’s history — not hostility to growth — for why they’re against the project. San Francisco used to dump its garbage on the site, and a railroad company repaired its trains there. Longtime residents remember watching tires burn.

Scharfman, the developer’s general manager, said Universal Paragon Corp. will clean up the land and won’t begin building until all environmental agencies responsible say it’s safe. He likened the process to how an old rail yard at San Francisco’s Mission Bay was cleaned up and now has thousands of homes.

Still, some Brisbane residents say they don’t trust regulators will get it right, because what’s known about the toxicity of chemicals can change over time. Even though they won’t live in the Baylands, opponents believe they have a responsibility to shield those who might.

“Why do we have a seat belt law? Why do we have a helmet law? They’re anti-stupidity laws to protect the general population,” said Michele Salmon, 63, who was born and raised in Brisbane.

Salmon said she understood housing problems were real and lamented the lack of space to accommodate a growing population.

“I do feel sorry that the younger generation is not going to get to live the life that we did,” she said. “But it’s a different time.”

State and regional officials have few tools to push Brisbane. Every eight years, the state tells every city and county to plan for the construction of a certain number of new homes to accommodate planned population growth. Between 2007 and 2014, Brisbane’s goal was 401 houses. Developers built a little more than a third of that target, but the city faces no consequences for the lack of home building.

Similarly, regional agencies such as the Assn. of Bay Area Governments have to plan for urban growth as part of the the state’s climate change efforts. California won’t meet its greenhouse gas reduction targets, regulators have said, without a significant reduction in driving fueled by more people walking, biking and using mass transit. The Baylands project and its 4,400 homes next to a Caltrain station are written into the region’s climate change proposal, but that means nothing for the project’s actual approval.

“This is a plan, an expectation of how we could grow,” said Leah Zippert, an Assn. of Bay Area Governments spokeswoman. “It is not a mandate to build. It’s not a mandate to do anything.”

The Brisbane City Council plans to make a key decision on the Baylands this summer, including whether it supports any housing on the site. But the council expects to put that proposal on the ballot next year. Brisbane’s residents will be the ones with the last word.

liam.dillon@latimes.com

@dillonliam

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Mission Viejo High’s offensive line did not want to be on the field against St. Paul on Friday night. This was evident by their first two plays.

The Diablos’ opening drive began with a 60-yard rushing touchdown, created by a massive gap on the left side of the offensive line. Senior running back Carson Vandermade wasn’t close to being touched by a defender on his way to the end zone.

A 60-yard passing touchdown immediately ensued on the next possession. Of course, the offensive line made sure sophomore quarterback Brett Burnor had more than enough protection to launch one deep to a wide receiver

Coach Chad Johnson knows the level of skill he has on his hands. He’s never had a more talented and cohesive line in his two-plus decades of coaching high school football.

“It’s abnormal for us to have a line like this, and I’m really enjoying it,” Johnson said after Mission Viejo’s 77-12 victory.

The reason for that rarity is a simple one: every single starting lineman this season is a returning player. Nobody lost to graduation. No transfers. Johnson said he doesn’t recall that ever being the case.

Mission Viejo High offensive linemen (starting second from left) Tyler Johnson, Dylan Felli and Noah Lee in their custom-made jerseys they put on after the Diablos built a huge lead against St. Paul and they were pulled from the game.

(Caleb Otte / For The Times)

In addition, four of the five starting lineman have NCAA Division I offers.

Senior left tackle Dylan Felli has offers from the University of San Diego and Montana. The guy who helped him create the first touchdown of the game, senior left guard Amaziah Siale, is committed to Louisiana State. Center Max Davidson, who is a junior, has an offer from Northern Arizona, and senior right tackle Tyler Johnson is committed to Cornell.

If the experience and college offers aren’t enough to prove their stature, their size should. Davidson and Felli are listed at 6 feet 4. Siale is 6-7 inches tall and weighs 345 pounds, while Johnson is 6-6 and nearly 300 pounds.

They wouldn’t look out of place lining up across from USC or UCLA. Standing near them is staggering. Trying to out muscle them is nearly impossible.

Johnson said that his team finally has a threatening run game because of the gaps the linemen create.

“Usually we have to throw the ball to get [opponents] to back off, and then we can run it,” he said. “This year, we’re gonna run the ball until they commit everybody and then we’ll throw it.”

There are two other linemen who also play key roles: senior right guard Noah Lee and senior Baxter Middagh.

Lee is the smallest guy in the group. At 5-10, he looks out of place standing next to the big boys. Once he is on the field, however, the size difference is forgotten.

At 295 pounds, with a low center of gravity, Lee can’t be moved. It’s why he has earned his starting position over the last two seasons despite competing with potential DI players. He might not have any offers, but he doesn’t drag the rest of the group down. In fact, he’s often the leading voice on the sideline.

As for Middagh, his role is adding a new wrinkle to the offensive scheme this season. Last year he was playing on the line. Against St. Paul, he was deployed at tight end. His blocking expertise and size — 6-6 and 295 pounds — allow him to still help in pass and run protection, but now his impact can be felt with the ball in his hands.

Case in point, Middagh scored a touchdown on a screen pass Friday. He was surprisingly fast, making it even harder to tackle him. Opponents will struggle if Mission Viejo can get Middagh, who is committed to Idaho, into open space.

Johnson said he might rotate who plays on the line based on what a possession needs, but that their best 11 includes Middagh on the field.

“He is super athletic and can catch the ball really well,” Johnson said. “The catches he makes are insane, some one-handed, and he runs a 5.3 [second] 40-yard dash at 300 pounds.”

Off the field, the mountainous young men turn into humble and funny teenagers. After being taken out at halftime, all six players cheered on the backups and joked with each other about everything and nothing.

At one point, Middagh’s family came down to the sideline and he went over to hug everybody and chat. There was no embarrassment by their presence near his teammates and friends, just an appreciation for those who love and support him.

Siale also sheepishly waved to his family in the stands, getting a slight grin on his face when they yelled back down to him. Late in the fourth quarter, the public-address announcer credited Siale with a block on a big run play even though the big man hadn’t touched the field all half. He just laughed and high-fived some teammates who were offering sarcastic congratulations.

Despite their talent, cohesiveness and positive personalities, Johnson said that his offensive line isn’t perfect. In Mission Viejo’s 55-17 win against Chaparral in the season opener, they made some silly penalties for unnecessary roughness after the play ended, which negated big gains. Johnson wants that cleaned up moving forward.

“You don’t play up to a good team and down to a team that is not as good. You stay consistently great,” he said.

His team obliged. Whenever the offensive line gives the quarterback time to pass and the running backs space to run, there isn’t much complaining a coach can do.

“I’m going to try to take it all in and soak every game up, because I know at some time the curtain is going to call and they’re going to graduate,” he said.

Two guys standing on Mission Viejo’s sideline were wearing custom made shirts of the offensive line. It was a picture of them all standing together, with the words “Higher Council” printed below. The message is clear.

Siale succinctly said what everybody else was dancing around.

“We’ve got the number one offensive line in the nation,” he said.

That claim will be put to the test against one of California’s best teams next week, when Mission Viejo travels to Sacramento to play Folsom High. Northern California will meet the Higher Council.

Sept. 4 (UPI) — Rescuers pulled two workers alive from hydropower project tunnel in Nepal nine days after devastating flash foods in the central Bagmati region and across the border in Tibet killed thousands of people, with as many 4,000 still unnaccouted for.

The two men, a supervisor on the Trishuli 3A Hydropower Station who was in a critical condition and a foreman, were taken by helicopter to the hospital in Kathmandu. At least one body was also pulled from the tunnel.

Tunnelling expert Arnold Dix told the BBC the rescue was the result of a highly complex and painstaking effort using engineering processes, old maps and aerial and satellite imagery to find the entrance of the tunnel, on a mountainside before the floods but now underground, and blast their way ahead, foot by foot.

At the same time they had to clear the tunnel at the Trishuli 3A Hydropower Station of water, using pumps and excavators to dig channels to drain the water to the river on the outside.

The team eventually reached two men more than 550 feet beneath the ground after digging “a tiny” person-sized tunnel, pulling foreman Sanjaya Shah and project supervisor Kabir Maharjan early on Friday, local time, and now hope to rescue more people.

Shah who was conscious but dazed, said he had been in the control room with 40-45 others when disaster struck and that he became trapped as he ran up and down the tunnel telling workers to get out.

“It’s like layer upon layer of miracles. We got two people out. If we were playing at a casino, some might say it’s time to walk away, but we say game on, time to take on the house,” said Dix, who credited Nepalese Army engineers for their expert assistance, particularly with the explosives used.

Dix said rescuers were 200 feet into the tunnel with another 500 feet to go where he said he believed there was a “Goldilocks zone” where he anticipated they may find more people alive from among dozens of people believed to remain trapped.

The “Goldilocks zone,” a space with conditions supporting life, is located on the uppermost level of the hydropower station.

“We got two people out. If we were playing at a casino, some might say it’s time to walk away, but we say game on, time to take on the house,” said Dix.

Funerals have taken place for two Palestinian teenagers who were shot dead this week when settlers and soldiers entered a Palestinian village in the occupied West Bank.

The killing of Omar al-Naasan and Khalil Abu Alia comes amid near-daily attacks by Jewish settlers in the village of al-Mughayyir, south of Nablus.

“We expect that when our sons walk in the street, they are likely to return to you injured or killed,” Mohammed Al-Naasan, Omar’s father, told the BBC.

Israel’s military says it fired on “instigators of a violent riot” and that the incident is under review.

The United Nations says more than 80 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces or settlers in the territory since the beginning of the year.

In the opening moments of the first episode, the trio were seen paying a visit to a familiar farm.

The new Grand Tour hosts witnessed Jeremy Clarkson in action behind the meat counter at Diddly Squat Farm.

The Grand Tour is back on Prime Video with three new hosts taking the wheel – train enthusiast and social media star Francis Bourgeois, and YouTube hosts James Engelsman and Thomas Holland. The streamer announced the new series would feature cameos from the original trio, but the extent of Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond’s involvement was kept under wraps.

Now, it has been revealed that the new hosts visited Clarkson’s Diddly Squat Farm, featured on the hit Clarkson’s Farm, to get Clarkson’s seal of approval. Speaking exclusively to The Mirror, host Holland said it was a “weird experience”. He shared: “About two years earlier, I went to the farm as a tourist, just for fun, I just happened to be here.

“I went into the tent and had a beer and did whatever you do when you are there, and the next time I was back there it was to talk to Jeremy Clarkson, so that was a bit weird.” Engelsman enlightened viewers by revealing “Jeremy does 9-5 shifts behind that [meat] counter”. While many fans already know Clarkson had warned the new trio “don’t f*** it up”, it was actually another part of his testimony that resonated most with the new hosts.

Engelsman explained: “It was strange, we have seen the footage now and after we left, he delivered that message to camera. That slightly longer, more sincere message, I think, for me at least, it resonated a lot harder than just the brief piece of advice.” What Clarkson had told viewers once the trio had walked away was: “I have got to be honest with you, I have actually been watching what they have been up to for the last year and a half, and they are very, very good, I think you are going to love it.”

Holland expressed to The Mirror: “We didn’t see that in the moment, we didn’t know that happened until much later on, so seeing that played back was like ‘Oh, that’s nice’.” Bourgeois agreed, adding: “It means a huge amount to us and also gives us quite the superpower, to have his blessing is just a phenomenal start for us.”

In the opening moments of the first episode, the trio were seen driving through the English countryside when they pulled into Diddly Squat Farm. They paid a visit to The Farmer’s Dog, which featured the original Grant Tour sign hanging from the tent ceiling.

Nervously, they approached Clarkson, who was behind the butcher’s counter. “Hey, how’s things?” he said with a smile. “So, how can I help?” Francis joked: “We have come to ask, please may we use the tent for our studio?”

Clarkson looked at the three blankly before saying: “Not really. I mean, you could, but it’s got a butcher’s in it now, and a bar, and a shop, and an off-licence. It’s usually quite busy as well, so it wouldn’t be an audience so much as customers. I want to help, but look, it’s been repurposed.”

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The joke referred to a Clarkson’s Farm moment when Jeremy called on the help of his old Grand Tour boss to supply a tent to house various projects like the farm shop and butcher’s counter. Following the skit, Clarkson got serious, saying: “Listen guys, seriously, have fun with this. I mean it, good luck, and don’t f*** it up.”

Speaking directly to viewers, it was then that Clarkson gave his heartfelt speech that resonated with the new hosts, who had been totally unaware of his kind words.

The Grand Tour is streaming on Prime Video

Published on
04/09/2026 – 14:51 GMT+2

Brazil’s EU ambassador, Pedro Miguel da Costa e Silva, told Euronews on Friday that an inspection of Brazilian meat was unnecessary, and threatened to retaliate against the EU ban on imports.

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The European Commission’s decision came into force this week, after Brazil was removed from a list of countries complying with EU food safety rules over its use of antibiotics to stimulate animal growth.

An EU audit of Brazilian poultry and honey is ongoing, but the Commission said that Brasília had not provided guarantees that would allow for an audit of its beef.

The EU ban prompted anger from the Brazilian government on Thursday, which threatened to adopt countermeasures.

“Sufficient guarantees”

“There wasn’t a need for an audit, not for poultry, not for honey, not bovine meat, because no audits were conducted for the other countries,” da Costa e Silva said. “We have provided sufficient guarantees.”

The ambassador added that while Brazil will continue discussing the issue with the Commission, “all options were on the table” if the imports did not resume and that Brazil could be “creative” when it comes to countermeasures.

The Commission pushed back on Friday against Brasília’s accusation of unfair treatment, with the Commission’s deputy Chief spokesperson Olof Gill saying: “Our approach is non-discriminatory, and we’ve given our partners sufficient time and all the information they need to adjust.”

The dispute comes as a free trade deal between Mercosur countries — Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay — and the EU provisionally came into force in May, despite strong opposition from EU farmers, who fear that Latin American products that do not comply with the bloc’s phytosanitary and food safety standards will be dumped in Europe.

“Food safety rules are a matter of the highest priority for EU citizens,” Gill added. “These rules have been well known for a long time, with third countries having been informed going back many years.”

The EU introduced new rules to combat antimicrobial resistance in 2018, which have been applied to EU producers since 2022 and to foreign importers since Thursday.

WASHINGTON  — Less than a week before eight people — including six Asian women — were killed in the Atlanta-area shootings congressional Democrats introduced legislation that would bolster the Department of Justice’s ability to address COVID-19 hate crimes.

The bill, introduced by U.S. Rep. Grace Meng (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), has been co-sponsored by more than 60 lawmakers and on Friday was endorsed by President Biden, who condemned the “ongoing crisis of gender-based and anti-Asian violence” and urged Congress to “swiftly pass the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act.”

“It’s time for Congress to codify and expand upon these actions — because every person in our nation deserves to live their lives with safety, dignity and respect,” Biden said.

The bill would require at least one Department of Justice employee to facilitate fast reviews of federal, state and local COVID-19 hate crimes for at least a year, according to a draft provided by a Hirono spokeswoman.

It would also require the department to issue guidance to state and local law enforcement agencies on how to establish an online hate crime reporting system in multiple languages.

The system would “allow more victims to come forward,” A.B. Cruz III, president of the National Asian Pacific American Bar Assn., said in a statement.

The bill would also require Atty. Gen. Merrick Garland and Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra to work with the COVID–19 Health Equity Task Force and advocates to give guidance on how to discuss the pandemic without using incendiary language.

The bill would not drastically change the legal landscape as it relates to hate crimes but would spotlight how it intersects with COVID-19, said Anthony Michael Kreis, a law professor at Georgia State University College of Law.

Since virus-fueled lockdowns went into effect last March, thousands of Asian Americans have reported having faced racist verbal and physical attacks or have been shunned by others, according to a report by Stop AAPI Hate. The group, whose acronym stands for Asian American and Pacific Islander, received reports of 3,795 incidents over the last year, with 68.1% involving verbal harassment and 11.1% involving physical assaults.

Among the incidents, Asian Americans reported being punched while riding the subway in Washington, taunted with racial slurs in New York and coughed on while being blamed for the novel coronavirus in Dallas.

Then-President Trump last year said little to discourage the attacks but often used racist language to describe the deadly virus, calling it “kung flu” and the “China virus,” even after being warned that his rhetoric was incendiary. Meng said many Republican lawmakers “trafficked racist, bigoted terms to describe COVID-19.”

“In doing so, their language stoked people’s fears and created an atmosphere of intolerance and violence, which persists even today,” Meng said.

The bill would define COVID-19 hate crimes as violent offenses motivated by the real or perceived relationship to the spread of the coronavirus and the real or perceived background of a person, including their ethnicity and national origin.

Kreis said it’s unclear how adding a COVID-19 distinction to a federal hate crime would benefit existing law. The law, in practice, draws connections between current events and discrimination. For example, the law can already be used to prosecute crimes against LGBTQ people whose attackers express anti-HIV/AIDS sentiments, he said.

Kreis said that though anti-Asian slurs are seen as an expression of hate by the American public and, by extension, juries, anti-Asian imagery is not as noticeable in American society. This often requires prosecutors to handhold juries to connect the dots to understand what hate crimes against Asian Americans look like, he said.

“We need a lot more cultural competency in the ways in which anti-Asian stereotypes can manifest,” Kreis said. “That’s a hard endeavor we as a society need to tackle.”

Times staff writer Chris Megerian contributed to this report.

Former Dragons and Bath forward Faletau has played only 30 times for Cardiff since signing in 2022, but a one-year contract extension was announced at the start of July.

“We all know that he is a quality player and you just feel and sense when he is around that something special is going to happen, either from him or the guy next to him” said Van Zyl, whose side play a friendly at Worcester on Saturday.

“Still in training, every time he steps in, you feel the difference. He brings a lot and gives everybody confidence. He’s a world-class athlete.”

Faletau racked up the games with club and country when with Dragons between 2009 and 2016 but has since been plagued by injuries.

Van Zyl hopes that a summer off and full pre-season will help him thrive at Cardiff, where his game time will be managed thanks to the presence of Alun Lawrence and Taine Basham.

“I think for his body, it’s been good,” said the head coach. “His fitness levels are up there, it’s the contact conditioning that he needs to top up now.

“In different years, he’s had different injuries but he looks in a good place.”

As the United States and Iran exchanged attacks this week, one date was increasingly looming over the conflict.

The US midterm elections on November 3 could prove a pivotal moment in the war, as senior advisers to President Donald Trump seek to prevent the conflict from returning to all-out war before the polls when Republicans will be defending narrow majorities in both houses of Congress.

The push for restraint comes as Washington turns to economic pressure on Iran instead of military force. In August, the Trump administration announced its so-called “Economic D-Day”, imposing sanctions on 60 entities that it says facilitate oil revenues for trade with Iran and threatening other countries doing business with Tehran with secondary sanctions.

At the same time, the US naval blockade of Iranian ports in and around the Strait of Hormuz continues to exert pressure on Tehran’s oil exports.

Vice President JD Vance has meanwhile sought to downplay the war, which the US and Israel launched with attacks on Iran on February 28, as rising fuel prices and public opposition in the US threaten to become political liabilities for Republicans before the vote.

But there are clear limits to the restraint the Trump administration can show, with US forces continuing to strike Iran in recent days, and US leaders insist that further military action remains an option. Vance said this week that “everything that could happen is on the table,” including economic, military, diplomatic and covert pressure.

That leaves the coming two months as a particularly tricky period to navigate. Washington will want to avoid an all-out war while ratcheting up economic pressure, but Iran has its own calculations and could respond militarily anyway, potentially forcing the US into an escalation it would rather avoid before Americans go to the polls.

Here’s what we know.

Why do the midterms matter for Trump?

The midterms will determine whether the Republican Party can retain its narrow control of Congress. If the war escalates again before then, that could persuade more people to vote against the Trump administration.

Containing the fighting until November, therefore, may help prevent an already deeply unpopular war from dominating the political agenda.

A late-August Reuters/Ipsos poll suggested that just 31 percent of Americans support the war, compared with 63 percent who oppose it. Trump’s approval rating has also fallen since the outbreak of hostilities, from 40 percent to 33 percent, according to Reuters/Ipsos polling.

Observers say the Trump administration did not expect things to get to this point.

In early March, Trump insisted the war would last for “four or five weeks”. Instead, the conflict has dragged on, and unexpected consequences – including Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz causing energy prices to spike – have made it even more unpopular with US households.

US diesel prices hit a record high on Thursday, surpassing the previous peak recorded in 2022, as higher crude oil prices and refining bottlenecks drove up the cost of a fuel that underpins much of the US economy.

That is particularly damaging for a president who campaigned partly on a promise to dramatically reduce energy costs – as well as not to get involved in “unnecessary” wars.

The fallout from the war has not stopped at the petrol pump. Sustained increases in fuel and transport costs feed into the price of groceries, manufactured goods and other everyday purchases – potentially worsening inflation when Democrats are making the cost of living a defining issue for the midterm campaign.

A Politico poll conducted in August suggested that 61 percent of Americans believe the Iran war had made life more expensive for their families, four percentage points higher than a month earlier.

Can Trump keep the war contained until November?

There are signs that his administration is trying to do exactly that.

In recent weeks, Washington has intensified its campaign to economically isolate Iran, threatening severe sanctions against countries that continue trading with it while maintaining military pressure around the Strait of Hormuz.

With strikes on Iran earlier this week, Trump has also indicated he is willing to engage in sporadic attacks, while trying to keep the war from escalating back to all-out conflict.

Senior administration officials have simultaneously sought to play down the scale of the military confrontation. Asked at a White House briefing whether the Iran war would be resolved before the midterm elections, Vice President JD Vance said he “wouldn’t call it a war” and claimed there was “no active shooting right now”.

Asked when Iran would stop attacking commercial shipping, Vance said: “You would have to ask the Iranians.” He also said the conflict was having “less effect day by day” on global energy markets. The US claims it is escorting about 30 ships per night through the Strait of Hormuz – and officials claimed some 18 million barrels of oil were transported through on Tuesday this week. However, shipping data does not appear to fully support this claim.

Trying to maintain a strategy of “no war, no peace” with sporadic attacks is high-risk, analysts have warned. Negar Mortazavi, senior fellow at the Washington, DC-based Center for International Policy, told Al Jazeera this week: “Tehran will not capitulate under [economic] pressure. Both sides may believe they can control the escalation, but every new exchange increases the risk of a wider regional conflict.”

One of the US attacks this week is also believed to have hit a civilian home where a wedding was taking place in Kuhestak, southern Iran, killing at least four people, including children, and wounding dozens.

Furthermore, The Washington Post reported on Sunday that senior Army, Navy and Air Force leaders have warned Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth in a written assessment that continuing the war at its current pace is unsustainable and risks undermining US military readiness in other parts of the world.

Trita Parsi, executive vice president of the US-based Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, told Al Jazeera that this week’s attacks point to a US strategy that remains deeply unsettled.

“I think it’s quite likely that what we’re seeing right now is just complete military, strategic disarray on the American position in which the positions, the actions, the tactics, the strategies keep on getting changed,” Parsi said.

Washington had imposed sweeping economic sanctions on Iran in an apparent attempt to make further military intervention unnecessary, he noted. “Seven days later, the US is back into bombing Iran.”

The US appears to be “jumping from one position to the other”, he added.

What are Iran’s calculations?

While the most recent attacks between the US and Iran have been less intense than the heavy exchanges seen in the early weeks of the war and during the two flare-ups in July, the risk of escalation is high. And it may be in Iran’s interests for that to happen sooner rather than later.

Iran has excelled at the use of asymmetric warfare against an enemy with considerable military might – using cheap, mass-produced drones to exhaust US supplies of very expensive defensive systems, and launching attacks on US allies around the Gulf, sowing disharmony.

In particular, Tehran has demonstrated that it can severely disrupt maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, causing global economic consequences.

Continued Iranian attacks on US or regional military assets, shipping or energy infrastructure would place pressure on Washington to retaliate more strongly than via the few attacks it has carried out this week, creating the possibility of an escalatory cycle that could return the two countries to a much wider war regardless of the White House’s electoral calculations.

Furthermore, Washington’s economic strategy to isolate Tehran – an attempt to move away from open warfare – may in fact create a greater Iranian incentive to retaliate.

Parsi told Al Jazeera that Iranian officials appear to believe Trump ultimately intends to restart the war on a larger scale but is just waiting until after the midterms.

That creates a potentially dangerous calculation for Tehran, where it is better to escalate now – while Trump is at his most politically vulnerable. “The reaction of the Iranians to that might be to actually trigger the war themselves early right before the midterm elections in order to maximise the pain that will impose on the US president,” Parsi said.

What happens after November?

Reuters reported on Wednesday that senior White House officials are already considering whether to intensify military operations against Iran after the November 3 vote, although no decision has been made on returning to full-scale conflict, it reported.

A Republican victory in the midterms could give Trump greater political room for this option, particularly if the administration interprets the result as approval – or at least lack of enough disapproval – for the war despite the economic consequences for voters.

A Republican defeat presents a more complicated picture, however. On the one hand, losing one or both chambers of Congress will constrain the administration, as Congress controls government funding. Democratic control of the House or Senate would also give Trump’s opponents greater scope to hold hearings, investigate the US conduct of the war and challenge requests for additional military spending.

Conversely, with Trump no longer facing a congressional election, he may feel less pressure to contain the war, experts fear.

Parsi warned that an electoral defeat could therefore have the opposite effect to what Tehran might expect.

“I’m not so sure that it’s going to pay off necessarily for the Iranians because a Trump that is humiliated at the elections, who is faced with a Democratic [majority] House [of Representatives] and potentially a Democratic Senate, may also become a much more desperate and reckless president,” he said.

Good vibes weren’t invented in Marin County. But reading “Morning in Marin,” David Perlis’ history of the place and its outsize cultural influence for much of the 20th century, you get the sense it served as America’s leading countercultural way station.

Hosts of spiritual-minded sorts called it home: Alan Watts popularized Zen Buddhism in the ’60s, alongside poets Gary Snyder and Kenneth Rexroth. Francis Ford Coppola decamped there to write his script for “The Godfather,” and it’s where his compatriot George Lucas conjured up the “Star Wars” universe. (The cuddly Ewoks in “Return of the Jedi” were named after the region’s Miwok tribe.) Jack Kerouac sought enlightenment there; his compatriot Neal Cassady was imprisoned there, in San Quentin. It was the Grateful Dead’s retreat, Robin Williams’ launchpad, and the solid ground upon which Philip K. Dick questioned reality.

Why all these people, in this place, at that time? Perlis, an artist, radio host and Marin native, doesn’t strive for sociological or demographic explanations. His strategy is to sinuously move from moment to moment, artist to artist, as if in one continuous tracking shot, pausing only for a moment to catch some of the interesting characters he spots along the way. Over there, film critic Pauline Kael; and there, poet and sitcom star Suzanne Somers; and look, there’s bar-band singer Hugh Cregg, who’ll eventually use the stage name Huey Lewis.

Author David Perlis

(Jordan Blackman)

Still, Perlis breaks the flow just enough to offer a few reasons why the region became America’s affluent bohemia. It is, of course, gobstoppingly gorgeous, with Mount Tamalpais, Stinson Beach, Point Reyes and Bolinas practically designed to be edenic retreats. (Fairfax, he writes, is “ribboned with waterfalls, tufted with moss.”) Its isolation made it a counterculture haven for those looking to avoid San Francisco’s bustle: Gay poet Elsa Gidlow made her home there in the 1940s, among the first of many misfit pioneers. Wreckage from the 1906 earthquake was used to build the first “arks,” houseboats in Sausalito, providing a quirky infrastructure. Add some slow-growth initiatives, and you get artsy scrimping arrivistes; add LSD, legal until 1966, and you have a party.

So by the late ’60s, Marin had become a haven for a particular type: creative, interested in Eastern spirituality and profoundly disinterested in social convention (not to mention conspicuously white). Perlis’ portrait of the county at the height of the decade suggests a region that had escaped — or at least refused to look at — the worst of America’s turmoil. “Despite atomic bombs, rampant racism, political violence, and the war in Vietnam and Marin, there is hope, a sincere, emphatic belief, in an imminent inner revolution,” he writes. “When Zen, acid, or whatever your trip is, opens enough minds that people can outgrow this absurd, unwinnable conflict with nature and themselves.”

Perlis writes that with a slight smirk — of course nobody outgrew the conflict. Sure, a lot of people made a mint on the dream of transcendence: The Grateful Dead became a premier touring act, Lucas taught the country the ways of the Force and Sausalito’s Record Plant became the studio of choice for Sly Stone, Fleetwood Mac and more. But in the process, Marin became a kind of parody of itself, satirized by the writer Cyra McFadden in her 1977 novel, “The Serial.” In a world of what Perlis calls “swimmable wealth,” enlightenment sure looked a lot like narcissism in caftans. “I have no idea how I manage to do it,” Dick muses about his productivity at one point, prompting Perlis to bluntly break into the narrative: “I do. Drugs.”

Perlis could have gone further than that. One of the peculiarities of the Marin cultural scene, at least in Perlis’ reckoning, is that it hardly seems like a scene at all. Otis Redding and Frank Herbert and Linda Ronstadt and Anne Lamott and Shel Silverstein and Van Morrison all had little in common and interacted even less; if Marin was an incubator, it’s one where every egg hatched a different, brand-new species. Communal activity seemed relegated to the checkout aisles where locals kibbitzed over “The Serial,” or druggy extravaganzas that would in time claim Dick and various Dead members and associates as victims.

The irony, as the region stumbled into the ’80s, is that between its wealth and carefully cultivated isolation, Marin came to exemplify the ethos of conformist America: every man for himself. The actor Peter Coyote resisted: “When a Buddhist is thinking about shooting out traffic lights, it’s time to leave,” he quips. Others dug in: Huey Lewis and the News climbed the charts with a song titled “Hip to Be Square,” though to his credit, he explains to Perlis that it was meant to be a song about the difficulty of reconciling affluence and bohemian values. The man knows where he lives.

Perlis’ book isn’t a dismissal of Marin’s cultural moment, or even really a critique of it: His story is more something to be wondered at, like fog rolling over Mount Tamalpais. And Perlis’ storytelling skills make it seem like good fun as he pingpongs from artist to artist, each somehow inventing a meaningful, or at least recognizable, cultural touchstone. Marin gave us New Age music and Pablo Cruise; it also gave us Jim Carroll’s indelible punk classic, “People Who Died.” But one of the things to wonder at amid the good vibes is whether a different, more coherent, more sober scene would have been more meaningful, more enduring.

A regular contributor to The Times, Athitakis is a writer in Arizona and the author of “The New Midwest.”

AIRLINES have been warned not to fly over the Gulf until next month due to rising tensions in the Middle East.

What this means for Brits is your long-haul flight could take a different (and longer) route, or even become more expensive.

The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) tightened its warning on flights over the Gulf earlier this week.

It has warned airlines to avoid airspace over ‌the waters of the Persian Gulf within Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and the UAE until September 30.

However, this area is considered one of the world’s busiest flight corridors.

For those on long-haul journeys from the UK, these countries are quite often used as stopovers.

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In its advice, the EASA said: “While risks over the waters of ​the Persian Gulf remain high, operations necessary for arrivals ​at or departures from aerodromes within the affected Flight Information Regions may be conducted with sufficient mitigation.”

However as the EASA warning is advice and not a complete ban, airlines can factor the risk into their route planning.

There won’t be a suspension of flights but some are likely to be rerouted with journeys set to become longer.

But lots of airlines have already been doing this since the war began earlier this year by avoiding certain airspaces.

Some have diverted further south over the Arabian Sea or rerouting to the eastern Mediterranean and Central Asia.

Schedules could change too as flights could become longer and aircraft types could be altered to accommodate higher fuel loads.

Ticket prices could be affected too – and not in a good way.

Earlier this year, International Airlines Group (IAG), which owns British Airways, Iberia and Aer Lingus warned of potential price increases.

To offset the increase in fuel costs caused by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, it said that there could be an extra cost through ticket prices.

Business class and other premium long-haul passengers most likely to be affected.

Chief executive Luis Gallego said airlines need to increase fares to help offset fuel costs, which make up about a quarter of their spending.

The conflict in Iran has added as much as $100 (£77) per person to the price of long-haul flights from Europe, April figures have revealed.

The Transport & Environment (T&E) said in a statement that disruption to jet fuel supplies is likely to trigger higher ticket prices for passengers.

T&E added that the rise in jet fuel prices has increased the average fuel cost by £77 for each passenger on long-haul flights leaving Europe.

For a family of four heading on a long-haul holiday that’s an increase of £308.

On the night of the June primary, standing before cheering supporters at a downtown brewery, Nithya Raman was in a familiar position:

Outspent by rivals. Mocked by online haters. Her political career left for dead.

In early returns for Los Angeles mayor, Raman was in third place behind incumbent Karen Bass and reality TV villain Spencer Pratt. The City Council member thanked everyone for helping her “little campaign” but seemed resigned to defeat.

“We may not get an answer we like,” Raman said. “But regardless of what happens next, nobody — nobody — can take away what all of us have built together.”

She ended her short speech by going on the dance floor to greet well-wishers and boogie for a bit. The move came off to me as someone losing herself in happiness so she didn’t have to think about the sad reality.

But when I think about that moment now, it seems clear that she was embracing another familiar position:

Confident in what was ahead. Content with being underestimated. Ready to upend City Hall yet again.

As more votes were counted, Raman overtook Pratt to face Bass in the November runoff. Raman’s last-minute decision to enter the race had shocked L.A.’s political class and drawn accusations of betrayal for challenging Bass, a longtime ally whom she had endorsed. Yet Raman managed to pull off a hard-fought campaign, with Pratt as an unexpectedly strong insurgent from the right — a winning streak that continued this week when she scored two key endorsements.

The L.A. chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America and Unite Here Local 11, the powerful hospitality workers union, will now bring their renowned get-out-the-vote operations to L.A. doorsteps, street corners and smartphone screens on Raman’s behalf. Unite Here gives Raman’s campaign a working class cred it has sorely lacked. The DSA will unleash the democratic socialist trade winds that have swept across elections nationwide and helped five of its six endorsed candidates in L.A. County either win outright in the June primary or move on to the general election.

Neither endorsement was guaranteed. Even though Raman is a member and the L.A. chapter had endorsed her two City Council campaigns, the group didn’t officially support her in the mayoral primary. Some members openly questioned whether having a democratic socialist run a city seemingly destined for the dumpster was the best look for their movement. Raman’s positions on police funding, the mansion tax and the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks also ran counter to the party orthodoxy.

Unite Here had regularly endorsed Bass throughout her 22-year political career and seemed likely to join the dozens of other unions backing the mayor.

But with the one-two punch, Raman has shown yet again that she’s the comeback kid of L.A. politics. Every time critics throw her a curveball, she smacks it to the opposite field and gets on base, ready to grind her way to a win.

People line up to attend a Democratic Socialists of America fundraiser May 17 in Los Angeles.

(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)

In 2020, the city’s establishment initially dismissed Raman, then a political novice, as a wokosa fluke, until she beat David Ryu, who became the first L.A. council incumbent to lose in 17 years.

A year later, Raman was seen as such a threat that the powers that be sought to torpedo her for good. In the infamous City Hall leaked audio, then-Councilmember Kevin de León suggested to then-Councilmember Gil Cedillo, then-council President Nury Martinez and labor leader Ron Herrera that Raman’s district could be “put in the blender and [chopped] up, left and right” during redistricting to dampen her reelection chances.

On the recording, Martinez enthusiastically endorsed the plan, telling the other three that Raman had complained about her redrawn district.

“Go f— do the work,” Martinez said she told Raman, “and see if you can” win again.

Raman did win, scoring an outright victory in the 2024 primary (Martinez, of course, resigned in disgrace). A censure from DSA-LA because Raman accepted the endorsement of a pro-Israel group proved no more debilitating than a stray eyelash.

In this year’s mayoral primary, Raman raised less money than Bass and Pratt and flopped during their one debate against each other. Her fellow democratic socialist council members — Eunisses Hernandez, Ysabel Jurado and Hugo Soto-Martínez — all endorsed the mayor.

None of it mattered. Raman is now easily scoring off of Bass mishaps, like the mayor’s response to the Lineage warehouse fire and her random broadside against street vendors during a debate in Sherman Oaks last month. The Dodgers should sit Raman in their dugout come playoff time, because her knack for rallying from behind is almost preternatural.

The road to victory remains hard, of course. Bass has never lost an election and won’t easily fold, even as her first term has careened from one crisis to another. Raman’s fiercest critics on the council — Marqueece Harris-Dawson, Traci Park and Monica Rodriguez — lord over South L.A., the Westside and the eastern San Fernando Valley, respectively, regions where Raman needs strong showings. The DSA endorsement will make it easier for critics to paint Raman as left of Lenin, even though her record is more pragmatist than pinko puppet.

She’s even drawing the ire of Pratt, who spent most of his campaign deriding the mayor as “basura” — trash — but is now blasting Raman, while the 26% of Angelenos who voted for him and are a key swing constituency are waiting to see who, if anyone, he’ll favor.

Raman anticipated all of this when she jumped into the race, she told supporters on primary night.

“These powerful interests spent millions of dollars against this little campaign, spent millions trying to preserve this city’s broken and unjust status quo,” she said. “And we said no.”

But the words I recall the most from that party at Boomtown Brewery came from Raman’s father, Venkit. After joking that his daughter didn’t go into a profession that most Indian immigrant parents wish for their children, he explained that her full name — Nithya Varsha — means “forever monsoon” in Sanskrit.

“If you think about it more, that’s exactly what she is,” Venkit said to cheers. “A constant, unstoppable force that brings life to the land.”

Let’s see how far the Raman storm goes.

THURSDAY’S RESULTS

CITY SECTION

Nonleague

Bell 21, Eagle Rock 7

Crenshaw 34, Los Angeles Hamilton 13

Granada Hills 28, Palisades 23

Hollywood 50, Dymally 0

Jefferson 40, Lincoln 12

Legacy 62, Grant 3

Los Angeles Marshall 44, Bernstein 6

Los Angeles University 40, Santee 14

Maywood CES 35, Angelou 14

Monroe 40, Belmont 6

Narbonne 28, Fairfax 18

Panorama 52, Fulton 12

San Pedro 63, Westchester 12

South East 46, Fremont 6

Sylmar 26, Arroyo 14

Taft 56, Los Angeles 0

Van Nuys 21, Roybal 9

Verdugo Hills 41, Canoga Park 0

SOUTHERN SECTION

Nonleague

Apple Valley 28, Vista Murrieta 7

Arrowhead Christian 27, San Bernardino 22

Banning 56, Carter 21

Beaumont 17, Summit 14

Beckman 38, Santa Ana 14

Bishop Amat 49, Valencia 10

Charter Oak 35, Los Osos 0

Corona del Mar 27, Edison 7

Dana Hills 66, Esperanza 7

Glendora 43, Claremont 13

Hillcrest 35, Ramona 13

La Canada 28, Village Christian 7

Lancaster 50, Bishop Diego 34

Loara 24, Bolsa Grande 0

Oak Hills 25, Rancho Cucamonga 17

Pacific 44, Bloomington 20

Riverside Notre Dame 44, Cathedral City 16

San Dimas 12, Colony 0

Santa Rosa Academy 32, Indian Springs 19

Serrano 26, Xavier Prep 21

Temecula Valley 17, Paloma Valley 16

Villa Park 77, Upland 0

Vista del Lago 41, Valley View 28

Webb 27, Temecula Prep 9

Westminster 21, Garden Grove 0

INTERSECTIONAL

Boron 41, Silver Valley 6

Cleveland 45, Castaic 7

Compton Early College 27, West Adams 0

Desert Mirage 43, Mendez 0

Firebaugh 34, Los Angeles Jordan 0

Garfield 27, South El Monte 7

Granada Hills Kennedy 56, Canyon Country Canyon 20

Harvard-Westlake 22, Venice 10

Lawndale 48, Los Angeles Wilson 6

Lynwood 40, Manual Arts 26

Mayfair 52, Marquez 48

Monrovia 49, Los Angeles Roosevelt 0

Palos Verdes 35, Carson 20

Royal 46, Contreras 7

Santa Ana Calvary Chapel 42, Reseda 0

Westlake 49, Chatsworth 14

Wilmington Banning 35, Long Beach Cabrillo 0

8-MAN

CITY SECTION

Nonleague

East Valley 34, USC Hybrid 8

SOUTHERN SECTION

Nonleague

Coastal Christian 64, Villanova Prep 52

California School for the Deaf Riverside 56, PAL Academy 6

INTERSECTIONAL

Valley Oaks CES 50, Legacy Christian Academy 20

Argentina’s president accused of political machinations as he eyes shifting US stance on Las Malvinas.

Argentine President Javier Milei has threatened sanctions against companies drilling for oil near the Falkland Islands.

In a televised address on Thursday, Milei said he would seek approval of urgent legislation to toughen penalties for companies operating near the islands without approval from Buenos Aires. Argentina claims sovereignty over the South Atlantic archipelago, which it calls Las Malvinas,

Milei’s hardened stance is viewed as a bid to revive support for his libertarian presidency, with the Falklands issue one of the few that cuts across political lines.

The sanctions would target the Sea Lion project, a deep-sea oil field about 140 miles (220 kilometres) north of the islands being developed by the UK’s Rockhopper Exploration and Israel’s Navitas Petroleum.

Milei said the sanctions would extend beyond the two firms to suppliers, shareholders and directors and that companies involved could be barred from operating in Argentina altogether.

Argentine war veterans and environmental lawyers have already filed a lawsuit seeking to halt the project, which Milei said violates a United Nations resolution urging Argentina and the UK to avoid unilateral action around the islands.

Britain’s Defence Secretary, Wes Streeting, said on Friday that Milei’s statement “tells us more about domestic politics in Argentina than it does about the Falkland Islands”.

“The Falklands are British because Falkland Islanders choose to be British,” he added. “Our commitment to the Falklands is absolute and unshakeable.”

London frequently refers to a 2013 referendum in which the roughly 4,000 islanders voted overwhelmingly to remain British in response to questions over sovereignty.

Rockhopper said in a statement that it does not expect the latest development to have a “material effect” on the Sea Lion project. The company hopes to start drilling this year, with production by 2028.

Milei’s revival of the dispute is seen as a bid to overturn domestic criticism of his relations with United States President Donald Trump, which some have called subservient.

However, the Argentine president hopes to show that the relationship has the potential to reap rewards, with Trump having hinted that Washington could alter its neutral stance on the Falklands to turn it in Argentina’s favour.

Trump recently declined to say whether the US would back the UK in a future Falklands conflict, criticising Britain instead for not doing more to support the US-led bombing campaign against Iran.

Britain and Argentina fought the 1982 war over the islands that killed more than 900 people from both sides. The conflict still shapes Argentina’s national identity and remains one of the few issues that unites its otherwise divided political class.

Milei has faced accusations from opposition MPs that he is exploiting the dispute for political gain as his approval ratings slump to 34 percent.

Al Jazeera’s correspondent in Buenos Aires, Teresa Bo, said the timing owes as much to domestic politics as to Washington.

“Milei’s approval ratings have been falling as Argentines feel the impact of his harsh austerity plan,” she said.

“And the Malvinas are one of the few issues capable of uniting Argentines across the political spectrum.”

Resignations come after documentary alleges party arranged for overseas company to fund polling.

Two officials from Britain’s Reform UK have stepped down amid the latest in a series of funding scandals for the far-right political party.

Party officials James Orr and Dan Jukes announced on Friday that they would step down, following the broadcast of an investigative television documentary. The party, which has seen support slide amid numerous reports regarding infringement of party donation rules, said it would launch a probe into the latest allegations.

The undercover investigation by Channel 4 News alleged that the Reform UK officials breached political donation rules by arranging to have polling paid for by an overseas company.

In the documentary, Jukes is seen suggesting to an undercover reporter how to evade electoral law to make donations to the party from abroad.

Sitting at the table, Party leader Nigel Farage says all is “above board” as the reporter tells him that he has been in talks with Orr for some time.

The resignation of long-term Farage aide Jukes, and Reform’s head of policy Orr, comes on the eve of the party’s annual conference.

Farage – who has been dogged by questions over money received on a personal basis as well as by Reform in recent months – insisted on Friday in a radio interview that the party has “broken no laws”.

However, he added, “entrapped conversations don’t look good, and that’s why we’ve [launched the party investigation]”.

A spokesperson for London’s Met Police said it was “aware of media reporting … involving political party donations and an alleged breach of the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 relating to polling”.

The ruling Labour Party, as well as the opposition Liberal Democrats, said they had reported Reform to the police following the revelations, which the anti-immigration party initially dismissed as a “hoax”.

Farage sought to hit back by accusing other political parties of “selling peerages”.

“In the world of political funding, all sorts of things have been done over decades that are wrong,” he asserted. “We as a party have done nothing wrong. A couple of our contractors have said things that shouldn’t have been said.”

Amid the series of funding scandals to have hit Reform in recent months, the disclosure of an undeclared personal gift of 5 million pounds ($6.7m) to Farage by cryptocurrency billionaire Christopher Harborne has done the most damage so far.

Both criminal and parliamentary investigations into Harborne’s donations – he has also given Reform more than 25 million pounds ($33.6m) – are continuing.

Scrutiny is focused on Tether, Harborne’s cryptocurrency, which has been widely linked to drug cartels, fraud and human trafficking.

Amid the storm, Farage made international headlines by resigning his parliamentary seat to prompt a by-election, in which he cast himself as taking on “the establishment”.

With other major parties dismissing the move as a stunt and refusing to put up candidates, the populist leader won comfortably, although the nearly 10,000 votes achieved by his closest rival, “intergalactic space warrior” Count Binface, illustrated significant opposition.

Since its monumental debut in March, “sister dreamer lauren halsey’s architectural ode to tha surge n splurge of south central los angeles” has been active.

In Sunday Funday, L.A. people give us a play-by-play of their ideal Sunday around town. Find ideas and inspiration on where to go, what to eat and how to enjoy life on the weekends.

That’s the official name of Lauren Halsey’s public sculptural park nestled at the corner of 76th and Western in South-Central. In its first few months, the park has hosted intimate jazz shows, Kemetic yoga classes, art workshops and album listening parties where artists like Childish Gambino and Vince Staples have performed. For Halsey, a contemporary visual artist who began dreaming up the space 17 years ago, it’s all been part of the plan.

“At a museum or a gallery, I can program in a context that makes sense there, but at the park, it becomes a venue that is limitless,” she says. “So I can have a music series. People can roller skate. It can be a classroom. It can be a dance floor. It can be a theater, so I’m getting to know it every day, which is just so cool.”

She adds, “It’s just very alive so I love it.”

Now, Halsey is plotting on her next project: “emajendat,” a music festival that merges fine art, music and community activation all in one night. Featuring live performances from Erykah Badu, the Alchemist, Flea (of Red Hot Chili Peppers), DJ Pee .Wee (a.k.a Anderson .Paak) and the Charles Gaines Collective (with Black Nile and Devin Daniels), the immersive event will take place on Sept. 29 at the Hollywood Bowl.

Ahead of the big night, the South-Central native shared her itinerary for a magical day in L.A. It involves listening to rare ‘70s funk and soul music at her favorite brunch spot, supporting all of her favorite vendors (including a henna artist) in Venice Beach and bowling at Lucky Strike.

6:30: Coffee and produce at the Westchester Farmers’ Market

I wake up early no matter what. I’m out of my door between 6 to 6:30 a.m. I’d do my walk around my neighborhood and wait until my partner gets up then we’re off to the Westchester Farmers’ Market, which we go to sometimes. There’s this really amazing vendor called Gus’ Coffee. He makes coffee with his daughter. I’d get a black coffee with a tiny bit of milk or a horchata-based coffee and we’ll just shop for produce. We’d get some yellow watermelons, which are in season right now.

11 a.m: Brunch and ‘70s funk music at RVR

I’m going to my favorite restaurant RVR in Venice for brunch. I’m talking to the chefs, Travis and Ian. I’m listening to amazing music because they have this wonderful vinyl program led by Carlos Niño. So I’m listening to this rare B-side of the B-side ‘70s soul and funk while eating amazing plates. They change their menu quite often because it’s a call and response to what produce is available seasonally. No matter what, I start with the pickled vegetables then I get one of the hamachi rolls. Right now, I’m getting the melon salad, egg plate and the spotted prawn. Depending on the day, they’ll have six or 21 of the prawns, so sometimes they’ll hold me one when they know I’m coming in. Then I’m getting the dessert. Right now it’s banana ice cream with blueberries and it’s heaven.

2 p.m.: Get blasted with henna tattoos in Venice Beach

Then we’re racing to Venice Beach, which has been my favorite since I was a kid. It’s just so wild and grungy and weird and fun yet family friendly and safe. My girlfriend’s best friend lives on the boardwalk so we’ll go see him. I’ve always loved the vendors there so I have my favorites. Right now I’m really into Martha who is a henna tattoo artist, so I just get blasted with henna tattoos. She has a fat notebook of [inspiration], so I’ll pick some and then I’ll remix them with her. It’s this really cool collaboration. I do it every few weeks. I’ll sit with her for like two hours while life is happening, watching the roller skaters, the families, the cool outfits, the riffraff. Sometimes I’ll go to a lady to get the back of my hair wrapped in thread, which I used to do as a kid. It’s just another way I can adorn myself with color. Also, I love a hat, so I’ll go to everyone who’s selling a hat and maybe we’ll buy some fruit.

5 p.m.: Bowl and live my WNBA dreams at Lucky Strike

We’re going bowling at Lucky Strike, which used to Bowlero. We have the summer season passes and we just go ham. We go to the arcade first and I just live my WNBA dreams. Then we’ll go bowl two or three games. My partner usually orders the chicken wings. I don’t eat meat, so I’ll do a beer, French fries with “truffle,” shrimp tacos and maybe some candy.

8:30 p.m.: Head home to prepare for the week

Next, we’re going home. I’d look at my calendar for the week and answer emails. Then I’d take a shower and watch something with my partner. I’m into heist films and basketball. She’s into the psychological thrillers and those sort of crime investigation shows, so we meet in the middle. It’s going to sound so silly and I don’t care, but the last good show I watched was Tyler Perry’s “Beauty in Black.” His imagination is wild, so we just can’t wait until Season 3. It’s ridiculous that it’s so good. We’d watch something until I fall asleep usually by 10 p.m.

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) has updated its travel advice for British passport holders entering Ireland and the ID that is required

The Foreign Office has issued an important travel update for Brits planning to visit Ireland.

On Friday, 4 September, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) updated its information on the ID requirements for British passport holders when travelling from the UK to Ireland. On the Foreign Office’s entry requirements page for Ireland, it advised Brits that while they don’t need a passport to enter Ireland, it might be best to carry one.

Outlining the requirement for passports and ID, the FCDO said: “British nationals are not legally required to show a passport to enter Ireland, but it may be useful to carry in case you need to prove your identity. British and Irish citizens can continue to travel freely between the UK and Ireland under the Common Travel Area.

“Some airlines and ferry operators have introduced, or will be introducing, a passport-only identification requirement. Check your carrier’s requirements before departure and, where necessary, travel with a valid passport. Check the Ireland Citizens Information Board for guidance on acceptable ID. Irish immigration officers are entitled to ask for proof of British nationality in the course of their work.”

The FCDO also confirmed that British passport holders do not need a visa to enter Ireland. They stated: “You can visit and remain indefinitely in Ireland under the Common Travel Area rules. British nationals do not need a visa or residency permit to live, work or study in Ireland. Although Ireland is in the EU, it is not part of the Schengen area, and Schengen rules do not apply.

“As Ireland is not in the Schengen area it is therefore not affected by the new Entry/Exit System (EES) that will be introduced in Schengen countries from 12 October 2025. You will not need to register for EES when entering Ireland. Read more information on the EU Entry/Exit System and to understand which countries are in the Schengen area.”

It comes after it was confirmed that anyone travelling by ferry between the UK and Ireland will be required to show a passport before boarding. As it stands, those catching a ferry to and from the Irish ports of Dublin and Rosslare can use photo IDs rather than passports, but from September 28, passports will be required.

In the update, Irish Ferries confirmed: “From 28 September 2026, all passengers travelling on Irish Ferries services between the Republic of Ireland and Britain must present a valid passport or Irish passport card before boarding. The new passport requirement applies to Irish Ferries’ Dublin–Holyhead and Rosslare–Pembroke routes, in both directions.

“This requirement applies to all passengers, including Irish and UK citizens. From 28 September 2026, driving licences, national identity cards and other forms of photographic identification will no longer be accepted for travel on these routes.

“Irish Ferries is introducing this requirement to comply with UK Border Force requirements on the accuracy and integrity of passenger data before boarding.”

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

EASYJET’S well-loved Big Orange Sale has returned – and there are some VERY cheap flights and holidays on offer.

More than 780,000 seats are on sale with up to 20 per cent off.

The sale is on until September 15, although the sooner you book, the better deals you will find.

And you can plan ahead as the flights in the sale are for anytime between September 14, 2026 to March 18, 2027.

But where can you go?

Some of the cheapest flights include Edinburgh to Belfast for £14.99, but lots of flights to Europe are under £20.

TAKING OFF

EasyJet launches famous Seat Sale TODAY – cheapest flights under £35 to book now

JET SET

EasyJet to launch 13 new flight routes to Europe and Africa

For example, you could fly to Alicante from London Gatwick from £18.99.

Over in Bristol there are flights to Malaga for £18.99, or go to Amsterdam from Glasgow for £18.49.

Or head over to London Luton and you could fly to Antalya or Barcelona for £18.99.

Other airports you can fly from in the UK include Manchester, Birmingham and Newcastle, with destinations across Spain, France, Morocco and Portugal are also on offer.

EasyJet has 30 new flight destinations too, including Newcastle to Marrakech and Tenerife, and London airports to Sharm el Sheikh and Pristina.

The sale also includes easyJet holidays too, with up to £400 off.

Using the cost ORANGESALE, it can be used on any holidays that depart before October 31, 2027.

The biggest saving is for holidays that cost £4,000 or more, with £400, although you can also get £50 off holidays worth at least £500.

After LAPD recruitment officers were accused of making racist, sexist and homophobic comments — some of which were caught on tape — department leaders promised to look into whether they improperly disqualified any police applicants.

More than a year and a half later, the city is still waiting on the report.

But the contents of a separate LAPD internal affairs file reviewed by The Times has shed new light on the unit at the center of the scandal and how its officers responded to investigators who were looking into the matter.

No clear explanation has been given for the delay in publicly addressing the scandal’s effect on recruitment efforts.

In response to a records request from The Times, the city’s personnel department, which is conducting the inquiry, said it had not yet finished its review and had no timeline for doing so.

Last month, Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Nathan Hochman charged Daniel Flores, the LAPD whistleblower who secretly recorded his colleagues, with 16 felonies, alleging he violated a state eavesdropping law. But, after criticism from Mayor Karen Bass and others, the district attorney downgraded the counts to misdemeanors with a diversion agreement that will probably allow Flores to avoid any time behind bars.

Flores’ recordings captured Los Angeles Police Department recruitment officers referring to Black people as “monkeys,” describing a female job applicant as “rapeable,” and saying “F—ing deport them, call ICE” during a conversation about Latinos, among a long list of other offensive remarks.

Asked about the pending LAPD report into the fallout from the tapes, Bass said in a statement that the review “has gone on too long.” The mayor said she had directed the personnel department to “complete the report and release it without further delay.”

Flores alleged in a complaint he filed with the LAPD in January 2025 that some recruits had been improperly rejected, adding to ongoing concerns about the department’s struggle to replenish its ranks.

As of last week, the LAPD had 8,507 sworn personnel — its lowest total since October 1995.

Even after efforts under Bass to streamline hiring and boost recruitment, Chief Jim McDonnell has warned that the department may not be adequately staffed in time for the 2028 Olympics.

McDonnell said after Flores’ allegations were made public in early 2025 that the personnel department would conduct a “biopsy” to examine “any adverse impacts” of the scandal on recruitment.

In a brief statement, the department said that it wouldn’t comment on what discipline, if any, had been meted out to the officers involved, citing state privacy law.

“The Department takes allegations of discriminatory or biased conduct seriously,” the statement read. “We are committed to ensuring the workplace is professional, respectful and free from misconduct.”

The Police Commission said in a statement that it is still waiting on the report, adding that “fair and equitable hiring of sworn and civilian employees remains a priority.”

The LAPD internal affairs investigative file reviewed by The Times described a frat-like office atmosphere in the Hiring and Evaluation Section in which Flores worked.

According to the internal affairs report, Flores claimed that at least one colleague, Shirley Burgos, had inappropriately disqualified candidates based on their appearance.

The report said that Burgos was captured in several recordings making fun of overweight candidates who were “ugly, creepy” people.

Another officer, Ayron McKay, told internal affairs investigators about an instance in which the unit’s officers were discussing a candidate who they believed was overweight.

Burgos then looked up the woman’s driver’s license picture on the DMV database, which several officers told internal affairs probably violated department policy, according to the report.

Burgos and McKay did not respond to inquiries to their work email accounts.

The internal affairs file said Flores recorded another officer saying he wanted to go to Big Bear, a popular winter sports destination in the San Bernardino National Forest, and roll the candidate down the ski slope. Meanwhile, according to the report, McKay asked the others how much they would pay to sleep with the woman, and referred to her as “Jabba the Hut.”

When asked about the conversation by internal affairs, the report said, McKay told investigators that the conversation started with Burgos venting about an applicant, but acknowledged that it should not have been allowed to continue.

In one recording made on Nov. 13, 2024, the report said, Burgos told her colleagues that she had released information about disqualified candidates to a friend of hers at the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department, which is against LAPD policy.

The officers were all required to sign a confidentiality agreement that barred them from discussing candidates’ personal information with anyone outside the office.

During her internal affairs interviews, Burgos denied providing information to other agencies, saying it was clear from her laughter on the recording that she was joking.

Burgos told investigators that the only time she’d ever discussed a candidate with someone outside the department was during a conversation with an unnamed background investigator with the Sheriff’s Department or Santa Monica police — and said that was only to confirm that the candidate had in fact applied to the LAPD, according to the report.

The LAPD investigation noted that she and the other involved officers all denied that their office conversations had ever caused them to inappropriately disqualify a candidate.

The internal affairs report quoted the unit’s supervisor, Sgt. Denny Jong, a 20-year-department veteran, as describing his relationship with the officers under his command as friendly and professional; none of them had ever expressed discomfort about their work environment, he reportedly said.

Jong did not respond to emailed questions from The Times.

Several officers told investigators that they used gallows humor as a way to deal with the stress of working long hours in a small, windowless basement office.

According to the report, some officers, including Jong and McKay, acknowledged that the office banter sometimes crossed the line, but they denied that there was anything malicious about their comments. They also contended that the unit had little authority about which applicants advanced in the recruitment process — decisions, they said, that had to go through several layers of review.

During his internal affairs interviews, Jong often told investigators that he didn’t recall making certain inappropriate comments. The report said he also denied ever making any of the inappropriate comments that were contained in Flores’ complaint.

When he was confronted with audio of comments in which he referred to a candidate of Chinese descent as a terrorist, Jong said he was joking.

“He explained that this was based on current news stories at the time, which involved concerns over Chinese nationals attempting to infiltrate the country,” the internal affairs report said. “Jong was not serious and did not believe the candidate was a terrorist, but admitted the remark was an off-color joke and inappropriate for the workplace.”

WEDNESDAY’S RESULTS

City Section

Arroyo 38, MSAR 0

Arroyo 28, MSAR 0

Birmingham 20, Venice 0

Brio College Prep 47, Belmont 0

Camino Nuevo 18, Animo De La Hoya 13

Cantwell-Sacred Heart 36, South Gate 12

Fairfax 6, San Fernando 0

Foshay 21, New Designs University Park 0

Franklin 12, Los Angeles Roosevelt 6

Franklin 28, Santee 0

GALA 12, Sotomayor 0

Jefferson 13, Verdugo Hills 6

Los Angeles Roosevelt 24, Santee 0

Los Angeles Wilson 41, Jefferson 13

Los Angeles Wilson 25, Verdugo Hills 6

Orthopaedic 14, Alliance Levine 0

Rise Kohyang 24, Smidt Tech 0

Roybal 20, Diego Rivera 0

San Fernando 12, Contreras 6

San Pedro 49, Legacy 0

SOCES 7, Chatsworth 6

Stern 6, Collins Family 0

Torres 45, West Adams 0

Southern Section

Alemany 19, Louisville 0

Aliso Niguel 31, Corona Centennial 6

Anaheim Canyon 14, La Mirada 12

Azusa 38, Arroyo 6

Baldwin Park 30, Norwalk 14

Bishop Montgomery 28, Artesia 6

Bonita 32, Sierra Vista 0

Burbank Burroughs 6, Thousand Oaks 0

California 12, Warren 7

California Military 32, Arrowhead Christian 14

Cathedral City 14, Desert Hot Springs 0

Cerritos 33, Katella 0

Compton 31, Dominguez 6

Compton Early College 10, Long Beach Cabrillo 0

Corona del Mar 44, Marina 7

Costa Mesa 20, Capistrano Valley Christian 6

Covina 35, El Monte 0

Downey 28, Gahr 6

Duarte 37, Edgewood 6

Eastvale Roosevelt 27, Lakeside 0

El Dorado 14, Chino 12

El Modena 18, Rialto 0

El Rancho 27, Pioneer 0

Fountain Valley 32, Garden Grove Pacifica 18

Fullerton 52, Placentia Valencia 24

Gabrielino 26, La Canada 25

Godinez 8, Estancia 6

Glendora 38, San Dimas 20

Huntington Beach 16, Edison 15

Irvine 7, Laguna Beach 6

JSerra 36, Corona Santiago 0

La Habra 6, Bishop Amat 0

Lakewood St. Joseph 25, Long Beach Poly 6

La Serna 27, Bellflower 0

Millikan 26, Villa Park 0

Mountain View 48, Entrepreneur 0

Murrieta Mesa 60, Rancho Christian 0

Newport Harbor 47, Los Alamitos 6

Norco 13, Riverside Poly 6

Ontario 12, Nogales 6

Ontario Christian 31, Xavier Prep 14

Pomona d. Sacred Heart of Jesus, forfeit

Portola 19, Irvine University 12

Ramona Convent 30, La Puente 6

Redlands 28, Palm Springs 14

Rowland 35, Montclair 0

Saddleback 19, Santa Ana Valley 12

San Clemente 60, Oceanside 0

San Marino 28, Temple City 6

Santa Ana Foothill 19, Long Beach Wilson 12

Segerstrom 13, La Palma Kennedy 6

Sherman Oaks Notre Dame 14, Harvard-Westlake 6

Sonora 40, Santa Fe 0

South El Monte 26, Rosemead 6

South Hills 26, Charter Oak 7

St. Lucy’s 14, Valley View 6

Sunny Hills 21, Brea Olinda 8

Temecula Prep 51, Nuview Bridge 0

Tustin 18, Orange 8

Upland 6, Shadow Hills 0

Western Christian 13, Linfield Christian 12

Intersectional

Agoura 14, Cleveland 13

Ayala 25, Paso Robles 18

Cantwell-Sacred Heart 26, South Gate 12

Garfield 7, Montebello 6

St. Paul 33, South East 0

Taft 25, Calabasas 0

Vasquez 13, Rosamond 0

Wilmington Banning 14, Torrance 0

THURSDAY’S RESULTS

City Section

Carson 26, Los Angeles Marshall 0

Eagle Rock 41, Bell 6

Garfield 19, North Hollywood 7

Hollywood 18, WISH Academy 0

LACES 20, USC Hybrid 13

Lincoln 20, Jefferson 18

Los Angeles Marshall 20, Arleta 12

Manual Arts 20, LACES 6

Torres 12, Huntington Park 6

Southern Section

Agoura 46, St. Bonaventure 0

Alhambra 8, Whitney 0

Aliso Niguel 31, Etiwanda 20

Burbank Providence 52, YULA 7

Castaic 6, Canyon Country Canyon 0

Culver City 30, Beverly Hills 6

Dos Pueblos 46, Oxnard Pacifica 0

Eastside 12, Palmdale 0

El Segundo 28, Wiseburn-Da Vinci 7

Knight 70, Littlerock 0

Lancaster 7, Highland 6

Lawndale 19, Hawthorne 13

Mater Dei 25, Capistrano Valley 0

Newbury Park 39, Fillmore 6

Oaks Christian 21, Hart 20

Orange Lutheran 31, Beaumont 13

Oxnard 52, Channel Islands 0

Quartz Hill 13, Antelope Valley 0

Santa Margarita 33, Tesoro 6

Santa Monica 7, Torrance 6

Santa Paula 9, Buena 6

South Torrance 19, North Torrance 12

St. Margaret’s 32, San Juan Hills 7

Village Christian 12, Brentwood 6

Westlake 33, Sherman Oaks Notre Dame 19

West Torrance 7, Peninsula 6

Woodbridge 24, Fountain Valley 6

Intersectional

King/Drew 12, Mayfair 0

Merced 44, Hacienda Heights Wilson 6