Carson Guzzo was the starting center for Simi Valley’s freshman football team this season. He got called up to the varsity to stand on the sideline and get some experience watching the intensity of the Southern Section Division 5 playoffs.

But when the starting center went down because of an injury on Friday night, Simi Valley coach Jim Benkert didn’t hesitate to turn to Guzzo, who delivered in the second half to help the Pioneers upset Temecula Valley 35-30.

Benkert said Simi Valley’s next-man-up mentality was embraced by the 5-foot-11, 240-pound freshman. Guzzo didn’t have any bad snaps when the Pioneers were in shotgun formation.

Simi Valley is 7-5 and set to play Agoura in a Division 5 semifinal. Benkert has 324 career coaching victories, the most by an active high school coach in California.

Quarterback Connor Petrov passed for three touchdowns and Salvador Villa ran for 191 yards and one touchdown for the Pioneers.

This is a daily look at the positive happenings in high school sports. To submit any news, please email eric.sondheimer@latimes.com.

Israel’s caretaker Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has renewed his appeal for a unity government with opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot, casting a coalition that would keep him in power as integral to Israel’s national security.

In a video statement on Saturday, Netanyahu said his meeting with Eisenkot on Thursday “only strengthened the conviction that it is essential to form a national unity government”. He said such a government could “eliminate the Iranian threat once and for all” and claimed Tehran would “not hesitate to use nuclear weapons against us”.

Eisenkot, the leader of the Yashar party and the man given the first shot to form Israel’s next government by President Isaac Herzog, called Netanyahu’s appeal a “bluff”.

“Nice try, but these tricks don’t work on me. Nor on Israel’s citizens,” Eisenkot said.

But Eisenkot confirmed that Yashar and Netanyahu’s Likud Party were talking about the proposal for a shared government.

So what, if anything, would it take for them to govern together, and what other options does Eisenkot have?

How do the numbers in the Knesset add up?

In Israel’s October 27 election, the four-party bloc led by Eisenkot won 48 of the 120 seats in the Knesset, Israel’s parliament. Netanyahu’s right-wing and religious bloc secured 53. Two Palestinian-led factions, the Joint List and Ra’am, also known as the United Arab List, won a record 19 seats between them.

Last week, Eisenkot’s bloc showed what it could do with the backing of both Palestinian-led factions, securing a 63-to-50 vote to approve the makeup of the Arrangements Committee, a panel that helps set the Knesset’s agenda while coalition talks are under way. The bloc then moved to set up temporary committees overseeing finance, foreign affairs and defence.

Eisenkot’s bloc and the two Arab-led factions hold 67 seats combined, six more than needed for an outright majority. Another possibility is a minority government backed by Ra’am’s eight lawmakers. Their support would give Eisenkot 56 votes against Netanyahu’s 53 if the Joint List’s 11 lawmakers abstained or stayed away from the confidence vote. That would allow a government to take office with fewer than 61 votes in favour, but it would depend on how all three groups voted.

But getting Eisenkot’s allies to agree to such a deal is another matter. Yair Golan, who leads the Democrats, is open to working with the Palestinian-led factions, while Yisrael Beiteinu leader Avigdor Lieberman and Together leader Naftali Bennett have rejected a coalition with Palestinians. However, both served in the government formed in 2021, when Ra’am became the first Arab party to formally join an Israeli governing coalition.

“One of Eisenkot’s main difficulties is the opposition of Avigdor Lieberman and Naftali Bennett [leaders of parties in his alliance] to relying on Arab parties,” Yasser Manna, a researcher at the Jerusalem Center for Studies on Israeli Affairs, told Al Jazeera. “This position restricts Eisenkot’s coalition options, but it does not automatically make a unity government with Netanyahu more likely. Instead, it increases the importance of negotiations with other parties, particularly the ultra-Orthodox parties.”

The other main option, which according to experts is the most likely scenario, is the Eisenkot bloc going into a coalition with both ultra-Orthodox parties in Netanyahu’s bloc, Shas and United Torah Judaism, which would take the Eisenkot bloc to 61.

Advisers from one faction of United Torah Judaism have reportedly sought a written commitment from all 48 lawmakers in Eisenkot’s bloc to pass a law exempting Jewish religious seminary students from military service and to shield it from being struck down by the High Court. Eisenkot and Lieberman are reportedly opposed to this compromise.

Could Eisenkot and Netanyahu govern together?

President Herzog gave Eisenkot until December 6 to form a government. Herzog can grant an extension of up to 14 days, which would take the deadline to December 20.

Eisenkot has left the door open to members of Netanyahu’s Likud Party and to far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich’s Religious Zionist Party, provided they back a government led by Eisenkot and accept his programme.

“If members of Likud and the Religious Zionist Party truly believe this is a time for unity, as they told the president, I cannot conceive of any reason why they would not support a government under my leadership and the principles I have presented,” Eisenkot said at the ceremony where Herzog handed him the mandate.

Daniel Levy, a former Israeli peace negotiator and president of the US/Middle East Project, told Al Jazeera that agreeing to meet can serve both men politically. “The coalition formation period is about spin and distortion and trying to gain leverage,” he told Al Jazeera. “So you take a meeting to show that you were willing to talk, then say the other side made unreasonable demands.”

The two men know each other well. Eisenkot led Israel’s military from 2015 to 2019 and served as an observer in Netanyahu’s war cabinet during the first eight months of Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza. He left the emergency government in June 2024.

“I believe the relationship between Benjamin Netanyahu and Gadi Eisenkot is marked by a deep crisis of trust that goes beyond political competition,” Manna said. “However, it is important to distinguish between their political disagreements and their relatively similar approaches to national security. Both prioritise military and security considerations, particularly regarding the Palestinians and Iran.”

An early test could come on Tuesday, when Eisenkot’s allies plan to replace Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana of Likud with Yashar lawmaker Matan Kahana. Eisenkot has challenged Netanyahu and Smotrich to back Kahana and allow the vote to go ahead as scheduled, saying their response would show how serious they are about cooperation.

But even if Eisenkot and Netanyahu agreed on a policy plan for government, they still have to decide who leads. “The question of who would serve as prime minister remains the central obstacle,” Manna said. “Eisenkot has so far rejected a rotation arrangement with Netanyahu.”

Could a security crisis change the talks?

Meanwhile, Netanyahu is still in office as caretaker prime minister while negotiations continue. That gives him an incentive to exploit divisions among Eisenkot’s potential partners and wait for his mandate to run out, experts say.

“At this stage, Netanyahu does not necessarily need to form a new coalition himself,” Manna said. “Preventing Eisenkot from forming one may be enough to preserve his position temporarily.”

Manna said Netanyahu could also use a security crisis to increase pressure for a national government. “A renewed large-scale confrontation could increase pressure for a national unity government or shift the priorities of coalition negotiations,” he said. “At the same time, it could generate new disagreements over military decision-making, the management of the conflict, and the authority of a caretaker government.”

If talks with the ultra-Orthodox parties fail, Levy said, Eisenkot could ask his allies to choose between accepting support from the Palestinian-led parties and leaving Netanyahu in office. He could also propose a short-lived government whose immediate purpose would be to replace Netanyahu and prepare for another election.

He added that in such a scenario, Eisenkot might tell his allies to “form a government for a few months, just to get Bibi [Netanyahu] out of power and prepare for new elections”.

This would prevent Netanyahu from using “his position as prime minister to create a crisis”.

On a cloudy Saturday afternoon in the southern US state of Texas, a pair of large metallic arms stretched out and caught a giant in midair as it descended from the sky.

At 124 metres (407ft) tall, SpaceX’s Starship is the world’s largest and most powerful rocket, intended for travel to the Moon and Mars. Yet 22 hours after its latest blast off into space, it made history on Earth while returning, as it slipped smoothly between mechanical “chopstick arms” above Launch Pad 2 at Starbase city in Texas.

Aerospace engineers across the globe have lauded the first-ever capture of the upper stage of a spaceship and welcomed the achievement, which signals that mega rockets could soon be fully reusable.

Here’s why the historic capture matters:

How did it work?

On Saturday, after orbiting Earth 14 times for 22.5 hours, SpaceX’s Starship emerged from thick clouds over its Starbase launch site, flipped itself to a vertical position and slowly descended into the arms on the ‘Mechazilla’ launch tower.

Like massive tweezers, the arms caught the upper stage of the spacecraft in midair, while its engines were still roaring.

The spacecraft then hooked onto the tower’s mechanical arms and shut off its engines.

The roaring sound was instantly replaced by loud cheers from watchers nearby – they had just seen for the first time in history the capture of a mega rocket.

“That was the missing link, the holy grail of spaceflight,” said SpaceX mission commentator Dan Huot. “We caught a Starship and now everything changes.”

“Congratulations to an incredible team at SpaceX!!!” SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk said.

NASA, which is paying billions of dollars for Starship to land astronauts on the Moon later this decade, also welcomed the achievement.

“It was almost magic,” NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said on X.

“Making more believers by the day…one step closer to [the moon],” he added.

Why was the capture tricky?

Spacecraft returning to Earth battle gravity and a range of atmospheric factors that are nearly impossible to perfectly predict or game.

Sputnik 1, the first-ever artificial satellite sent into space, burned up while returning to Earth.

Several manned spacecraft have been destroyed while re-entering the atmosphere, killing the astronauts on board.

In April 1967, the Soviet Union’s Soyuz 1 spacecraft re-entered the atmosphere successfully, but its parachutes failed to deploy properly. Cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov died in the crash-landing near the Ural mountains. Decades later, NASA’s space shuttle Columbia disintegrated during re-entry from orbit, killing all seven astronauts on board.

In recent decades, space agencies and private firms have made major advances in safety. But many spacecraft are impossible to reuse after splashing down in the sea or on land.

Since October 2024, SpaceX has on three occasions successfully caught the boosters that propel shuttles, once they have run out of fuel and separated from the main rocket.

But until now, the main spacecraft has never been successfully caught in midair.

Soon after its return, Musk and his engineers inspected the spaceship and said that everything appeared to have worked well, including its vital heat shield.

“Ship 42 looks great!” Musk wrote on X, posting photos and videos from the launch tower.

While the capture was tricky, aerospace engineers said the upper stage catch is a big success for SpaceX.

Niharika Patel, Technical Programme Manager at Loft Orbital, a US-based space infrastructure company, told Al Jazeera that watching the catch happen was “magical.”

“Landing a rocket back on Earth is incredibly difficult and can itself be considered an engineering marvel. Now add the sheer size and weight of Starship to that equation,” she said, noting that this is also the first time the upper stage booster has been successfully caught.

“It requires incredible precision to ensure the vehicle reaches exactly the right position, withstands the extreme heat of atmospheric re-entry and executes highly controlled manoeuvres within a very tight window. And all of this happens without a pilot — it’s completely autonomous,” she added.

Why does it matter for space technology advances?

SpaceX has become dominant in the aerospace industry primarily because the company has been trying to slash the cost of space travel by launching reusable rocket technology and rapid, repeat engineering.

So far, its Falcon 9 rocket has launched 700 times since 2010, with its first stage being reusable and its second stage discarded into the sea.

With Starship, Musk has said he wants to create fully reusable flights that can also transport humans into space with minimum refurbishment.

“SpaceX has already significantly reduced the cost of getting to orbit through Falcon 9’s reusability. It’s super cheap and convenient to send satellites to low Earth orbit. Starship takes this a step further by being a much bigger craft and aiming for full reusability of both the booster and the upper stage,” Patel said.

She explained that a fully reusable vehicle can be rapidly refurbished and flown again, dramatically increasing frequency and reducing cost. So if Starship reaches this milestone, Patel said it would make access to space even more affordable and scalable, just as commercial aviation transformed travel by making aircraft reusable with quick turnaround times between flights.

“This is essential for the next era of space exploration, from deploying large satellite constellations and building space infrastructure to enabling sustained human exploration of the Moon and Mars,” Patel added.

Sean Astin rested on the couch of his spacious office at SAG-AFTRA’s national headquarters high above Wilshire Boulevard. He glanced at a wall lined with movies posters from his most popular films and gestured to one from the 2007 sports movie “The Final Season,” in which he plays a high school baseball coach who gives an important pep talk to his team before they win their last game.

“I go, ‘It’s final season,’” Astin said. “‘How do you want to be remembered?’”

It’s a question Astin asks of himself, having completed his first year of a two-year term as the union’s national president, succeeding Fran Drescher.

He’s following in the footsteps of his late mother, Patty Duke, the former president of the Screen Actors Guild from 1985 to 1988 who won an Academy Award for playing Helen Keller in the 1962 movie “The Miracle Worker.” As a child, he recalls walking the picket line with his mom. To honor her legacy, he also keeps photos of her in his office along with a framed copy of her SAG business card.

“She always seemed to believe that she could make a difference in people’s lives,” Astin said in a recent wide-ranging interview with The Times.

Astin, 55, is best known for playing underdog characters in movies such as “Rudy” and “The Lord of the Rings,” who overcome great odds.

Now, he’s in one of his most challenging roles yet as leader of about 160,000 SAG-AFTRA members, many of whom are alarmed about diminishing work, industry consolidation and the rise of artificial intelligence. A central focus as president is to bring jobs back to the U.S. — a tall order given the steady exodus of film work to other countries.

Astin met with lawmakers in Washington in September to support the proposed bill creating a federal tax credits for movies and TV shows filmed in the U.S. He also spoke out against Skydance’s $111-billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, which was finalized last month.

“Any time big companies like this merge, it costs jobs,” Astin said. “It’s bad for labor. Period.”

In a recent speech to the union’s national board, Astin acknowledged the tough climate for members.

“There’s … a palpable disconnect between the work of this union and the lived experience of too many of our members,” Astin said in his speech. “For many, the question is no longer how to advance their careers, it’s whether they can afford to continue pursuing them at all.”

Despite the rhetoric, Astin is less of a firebrand than Drescher, who led the union through a 118-day strike in 2023 following a work stoppage by writers.

In June, SAG-AFTRA members overwhelmingly approved a four-year TV and film contract with major studios, without the union asking for a strike authorization vote. The contract boosted minimum wages and contributions to the union’s health plan.

But a streaming bonus fund that the union pushed for in its 2023 negotiations has generated less money for members than some expected. Many actors have struggled to find enough work to qualify for the union’s healthcare after the guild raised income thresholds to qualify for coverage, partly to shore up funding for the health plan.

Many actors have taken to Instagram to share their plight.

Among them was L.A.-based actor Alejandro Cardenas, who until recently was short $3,394 of qualifying for SAG-AFTRA health insurance.

“If we are paying dues every year to be part of the union, I think the union should respect and validate more the needs of every working actor, starting with health insurance, which is a huge problem in this country,” said 50-year-old Cardenas.

In the interview, Astin acknowledged the economic pressures facing members, including those in Los Angeles, where he made his career as a child actor in such movies as “The Goonies” and later attended UCLA.

He said that the trustees of the union’s plan are responsible for protecting and maintaining “the quality and stability of our plan,” but added, “it seems obvious that something is going to have to change at the state and national level.”

Alarm over Tilly Norwood

Perhaps Astin’s biggest challenge is helping performers navigate the upheaval caused by AI.

The recently ratified contract did impose some additional restrictions around the use of the technology, including a requirement that producers notify the union if they decide to use a synthetic character in a role that could be done by a human.

“There was a big moment where the cry from within our membership was, ‘Stop AI at all costs,’” said Astin, who served on the union’s negotiating committee in 2023. “No way were we going to be able to stop it because structurally none of the companies would be willing to agree to a provision that would put them at a competitive disadvantage. We got what we did. We slowed it down.”

Astin has made frequent trips to Washington to rally support for the “No Fakes Act,” a bill that would give individuals the right to control digital replicas of their voice and likeness and create a path for accountability.

“We don’t want to stop progress, we need to civilize it,” Astin told a congressional subcommittee in June. “Surely we can all agree that no one else should be permitted to commercially exploit our identity without consent.”

So far, the bill has yet to be voted on.

“I can say without any hesitation that the federal government has performed miserably so far in terms of addressing the threats that artificial intelligence poses,” Astin said.

Many were alarmed last year when a Dutch actress and producer announced plans to feature an AI-generated character named Tilly Norwood. SAG-AFTRA raised concerns that Norwood was trained on works done by other actors without compensation or permission.

Astin met with Norwood’s creator, Eline van der Velden, at SAG-AFTRA’s headquarters in January to air their differences. Van der Velden defended Norwood and said AI models are available to everybody.

“It’s available to everybody the way stolen jewels are available to everybody,” Astin replied. “It’s stolen material.”

In an email, Van der Velden disputed the claim and said she supports giving creators consent over how their work is used in AI models.

Channeling Samwise Gamgee

Those who work with Astin say he sometimes channels the earnest qualities of some of the characters he has played, especially Frodo’s loyal Hobbit friend, Samwise Gamgee.

Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, the union’s chief executive and national executive director, said Astin often recites lines from Samwise’s motivational speech in “The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers” to rally his colleagues.

“When you’re in a tough moment and he delivers that, it’s almost like you’ve been transported into the journey to Mordor and that hero’s journey and you’re seeking to fight your way to the conclusion that you know is the right place to be,” Crabtree-Ireland said. “His ability to do that and to inspire people is probably one of his greatest strengths because none of this can be done alone.”

Elijah Wood, who portrayed Frodo in the “Lord of Rings” movies, also sees echoes of the resilient character in his friend.

“He’s the kind of person that, with any endeavor that he pursues, he really dives in and tries to understand the mechanics of it in full, and really commits himself and his time to that thing fully,” said Wood. “For someone to be in that position to be the president of the union, I think it’s pretty admirable to have those qualities.”

A nationwide ground stop and a widespread Microsoft (MSFT) outage disrupted travel and work Friday, exposing vulnerabilities in essential infrastructure. Authorities and Microsoft attributed the incidents to technology upgrades and reported no evidence of malicious activity, the Associated Press reported.

SACRAMENTO — Change, it seems, is in the air. And not just because the days are shorter, the nights are cooler and the leaves are blazing in bursts of yellow, red and gold.

Gavin Newsom’s eight-year reign in Sacramento is nearing its end. The era of Xavier Becerra will soon begin.

President Trump, if not exactly humbled — Trump doesn’t do humble — has been soundly repudiated in an election blowout of epic proportion. Democrats, with much to prove, are preparing to take over Congress and promise to bring a new assertiveness and agenda to Washington.

After taking it all in, our columnists Mark Z. Barabak and Anita Chabria offer some thoughts, looking forward, backward and sometimes askance.

Barabak: Let’s start with our headline-grabbing governor, who’s once more drawing national attention. This time for his sweeping decision to commute the death sentences of all 548 inmates on California’s death row.

I’ll confess to a certain ambivalence about the bold and politically risky move. (If, that is, anything short of utter certitude is allowed in this line of work; I may risk losing my pundit’s license.)

On the one hand, I respect Newsom for taking a principled stand. On the other, I think our columnizing colleague, George Skelton, may have been onto something when he suggested the governor should have put the matter on the ballot and gone forth to make his case to voters, as opposed to acting unilaterally.

All power to the people!

Chabria: Haven’t I read a couple columns in this paper about the horror of California’s proposition process, that puts literally everything and anything in front of voters instead of being handled by the leaders we elected to legislate?

But I think your ambivalence is the point. Most people, no shame, don’t put that much time into considering the inherent problems of the death penalty. Just writing that sentence bored most of our readers.

At the same time, over decades, victims of violent crime have been embraced by tough-on-crime politicians who have mined their pain to promote a vision of public safety based on harsher laws. That has left an equally valid group of crime survivors — the ones who want to focus on repairing their lives, and prevention rather than punishing — largely marginalized until recent years when they began to organize.

Every time we ask voters to weigh in on issues such as the death penalty, politicians pit these two groups against each other. One side will bring out heart-wrenching photos of victims, the other will bring out survivors who say another killing won’t quell their grief. How many of us feel about the death penalty comes from these stories.

Public policy based on emotion is not ideal, though — especially when it involves life or death.

We elect legislators to make decisions. Newsom is in a long line of governors — and even a president — who also commuted death sentences because it turns out we are really bad at using capital punishment fairly, and without bias. He’s not breaking new ground, and no one is getting out of prison — they will now serve life without parole.

Frankly, I don’t think the majority of voters care that Newsom did this, but his political foes will use it relentlessly. He seems to have done it solely because he believes it’s the right thing to do.

Which brings me to Pete Hegseth, who seems to do things only because they are the wrong thing to do. Eleven Democrats, including three from California, failed to vote on his impeachment last week. What are your thoughts?

Barabak: As you note, one reason the (highly merited, richly deserved) impeachment of Hegseth failed is because of those 11 absentee Democrats. Their failure to show up on the House floor allowed lame-duck Republicans to shunt the matter off to committee, effectively killing the effort. For now, anyway.

Those AWOL Democrats had various excuses: They were stuck in traffic, traveling or tending to some “personal emergency.”

But it seems pretty straightforward. Lawmakers shirked their responsibility. As New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez told CNN, “The people send us here to do a job … and the same way I had to clock in when I worked at a restaurant, we’ve got to clock in and do our work here.”

Funny. I thought we’d just had an election where voters expressed their unhappiness with politicians who seem more preoccupied with their own needs than those of the folks they supposedly represent.

You think Democrats have caused themselves lasting damage, am I right?

Chabria: Maybe. I think they took an incredible windfall of goodwill from voters and threw it out the window. It’s certainly brought questions about New York Rep. Hakeem Jeffries’ leadership front and center, as well as fears that the party is too divided to be effective, despite the fact he’s on track to be the next speaker.

It also shows a real disconnect from voters’ expectations. Voters understand that Democrats are not yet in power. They understand this particular impeachment attempt may not have been successful because of that. But they also want to see Democrats trying.

Now, Democrats are on the defensive — again. It’s a fumble, of strategy and communication.

Barabak: I don’t share your despair.

Yes, it was a fumble. A bad look. Dumb. Needless. A self-own.

But, sticking with that football analogy, it was the first snap of the game. I wouldn’t make too much of it. There is a long season, er, scratch that. There are two years for Democrats to prove they can address voters’ concerns and turn their majority status into something more than a short-term rental.

How do they do that? Sure, impeach Hegseth once Democrats take control in January. (Note to lawmakers: Be sure to mark your calendars once the vote is scheduled. Set an egg timer! Put a sticky note on the bathroom mirror!)

But more important than that, Democrats need to address the affordability crisis, which they can do by restoring healthcare subsidies the Republican-run Congress allowed to lapse. Roll back Trump’s inflation-boosting tariffs and use the power of the purse to force an end to Trump’s reckless, price-spiking war with Iran.

Hold the president and his lawless henchmen to account. Not by blowing off steam through futile gestures like impeachment. Use the investigative and subpoena powers of Congress to expose the criminality along with the rot and corruption at the administration’s core. Pass legislation to keep any future president from emulating Trump and his actions as a would-be dictator.

And start to clean up lawmakers’ own House (and Senate) by passing legislation banning congressional stock trading.

Closer to home, meantime, our governor-elect Xavier Becerra is working on his transition. What do you see as the major challenges facing him when he takes over in January?

Chabria: He’ll be coming into office just as more federal cuts hit — up to a million Californians could lose Medi-Cal coverage starting in January — which is going to be an immediate challenge. Does California try to backfill any of that, or just live with the fallout of so many losing access to healthcare?

Trump has also promised he’ll be pursuing more fraud investigations in blue states including California, which is sure to cause problems.

On top of that, Becerra has floated the idea of freezing utility and home insurance rates. That would be politically difficult and out of character for a guy who likes to be slow and cautious, but would also be popular with voters.

So even if Becerra is known for his low-key approach, he’ll face a lot of urgent issues from the get-go.

Barabak: It certainly won’t be easy, notwithstanding that new, friendlier Democratic majority in Congress.

I’ll confess to being disappointed with the meh campaign Becerra ran after securing the Democratic nomination and, with it, his virtually certain ascension to the governor’s office.

I don’t necessarily fault him for refusing to be pinned down on any number of issues. The fewer promises, the more flexibility that Becerra will enjoy when it comes to the inevitable hard choices he’ll have to make as governor. But he could have done more, as I suggested back in June in another of our informative, effervescent conversations, to build a mandate and also to prepare California voters for the rough road ahead.

I suggested he was smart enough not to “spend the time between now and Nov. 3 at some swank beach resort, sipping one of those colorful cocktails with a little paper parasol while musing over his inaugural address.”

At this point, however, maybe Becerra should escape to one of those resorts for a bit of down time between now and his swearing-in on Jan. 4.

It’s probably the last chance for relaxation he’ll have in the next several years.

Roberts says he hopes the players understand the magnitude of the victory.

“It’s a generational win and I salute the 23 lads who put in that heroic performance,” said Roberts.

“I hope the lads appreciate what they’ve done for the country by putting a huge amount of pride in the jersey for a generational win.

“It’s a young squad that’s finding their way, we’re developing combinations as we look ahead to the World Cup next year.”

Roberts is also a Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) board member at a time when the game has been in disarray in Wales on and off the field.

The WRU board is proposing to cut a professional side by 2028 while the governing has posted an £18m loss.

The Wales men’s national team slumped to a record 18 straight Test defeats in a winless run that lasted 16 months, which also saw the side slip to a lowest world ranking of 14th.

“Therein lies the the kind of David v Goliath narrative,” said Roberts.

“You have to put this one in context of where Wales have been in the last couple of years.

“They’ve been in a very difficult place and that’s what makes the win all the more sweet.

“It’s a group of young men who have gone through a lot of challenges in the last couple of years and there lies the resilience, heart and effort.

“A lot of those players have gone through such a difficult time, so to come out swinging like that and perform like that was sensational.”

IT’S not every day you stroll past one of Elton John’s feathered costumes or a Guns N’ Roses drum kit on your way to grab breakfast.

But at the 5H Hard Rock Hotel Tenerife, the A-list treatment comes as standard, alongside a host of megastar music memorabilia.

Tucked away in the quieter resort of Playa Paraiso on the south-west coast, it’s half an hour from Tenerife South Airport, an absolute lifesaver if you don’t fancy a lengthy trek after your flight.

Despite the name, this isn’t just an all-night party pad — although the rooftop bar, with its ocean views and DJ beats, is the perfect place to let loose.

From toddlers and teens to couples and grandparents, there’s something here to keep every generation smiling.

The rock-star treatment kicks off the second you stroll through the entrance.

WAIL OF A TIME

I drove Irish Route 66 with deserted golden beaches and pirate-like islands

TEMPTED?

Tiny ‘Bali of Europe’ town with stunning beaches, €3 cocktails and £20 flights

The colossal lobby doubles as a music museum, packed to the rafters with memorabilia.

You can ogle one of Taylor Swift’s stage outfits, alongside a guitar played by The 1975 frontman Matty Healy.

There are also personal treasures that once belonged to Amy Winehouse, Tracy Chapman and Michael Jackson.

What really sets the place apart, though, is the soundtrack.

Music follows you everywhere, from the lifts and corridors down to the swimming pools, where resident DJs provide the perfect backdrop to a day in the sunshine.

It’s a brilliant touch that makes the whole place feel distinctly different from your average beach resort.

Even the bedrooms get in on the act.

Guests can scan QR codes in the shower for specially curated playlists, or dial down to reception to have a genuine Fender electric guitar and headphones delivered to the room free of charge.

For the sake of my neighbours’ eardrums, I decided to leave the rock solos to the pros.

The hotel’s 624 rooms and suites are spread across two multi-storey towers, Oasis and Nirvana, with plenty of balconies overlooking the pools and the Atlantic Ocean.

Outside, the real fun kicks off with three swimming pools surrounded by palm trees and lined with loungers.

The enormous Lago Pool comes complete with its own beach-style sand area, ideal for families wanting to spend the day soaking up the rays.

Little ones are catered for with their own shallow fun pool.

And grown-ups can enjoy the swim-up bar in the adults-only Eden pool.

There’s something rather luxurious about ordering a cocktail without having to leave the water. Parents get plenty of downtime, too.

The Roxity Kids’ Club keeps children aged four to 11 entertained with games, sports and creative workshops.

Teenagers get their own hangout, Teen Spirit, too, fully loaded with PlayStations, virtual reality games and a DJ booth.

It means parents can enjoy some peace and quiet without worrying about keeping the youngsters busy.

For me, the resort’s biggest highlight is The 16th Sky Lounge Bar.

Perched high above the resort, it boasts panoramic views across Tenerife’s dramatic coast- line, including Mount Teide and the neighbouring island of La Gomera.

And it is particularly impressive at sunset, when the sky turns fiery shades of pink and orange and guests gather for drinks over the ocean.

Fancy toasting the view with a glass of fizz? The bar serves more than 17 different champagnes.

As evening hits, DJs turn up the music, creating a lively buzz without you needing to venture into town.

It’s the sort of spot where one drink can easily turn into several, and in winter, fire pits keep the night chills at bay.

If you’d rather swap the music for some tranquil chill time, the adults-only Rock Spa is another must-visit.

The retreat features a shaded outdoor water circuit, offering a welcome escape from the afternoon heat, alongside a menu of pampering treatments.

There’s a fully equipped gym for the energetic — although I was more than happy to stick to the spa.

All that swimming and relaxing naturally works up an appetite, and you won’t go hungry here.

At Sessions, the enormous breakfast buffet provides everything from pancakes and pastries to fresh fruit and a full English.

For lunch, The Beach Club serves Mediterranean favourites and Spanish specialities.

Come dinner, Montauk steakhouse delivers mouth-watering grilled meats and wine on a terrace overlooking the coastline.

While you would probably be tempted to remain within the hotel’s cosy confines, its setting is great for those who like to explore.

The shops, bars and restaurants of Playa Paraiso are a couple of minutes’ stroll from the hotel’s front door and for those looking to add a bit of retail therapy to their trip, the Rosa Center mall is a ten-minute walk away.

Tucked away just below the Hard Rock’s saltwater lagoon pool is Playa Las Galgas, a horseshoe-shaped, sheltered sandy cove with calm waters that are ideal for a morning paddle.

Winter is the perfect time to walk the coastal paths without working up a sweat.

A rugged trail heads north out of Playa Paraiso to the neighbouring village of Callao Salvaje, with the chance to soak up wild Atlantic views and quiet spots to watch the sunset.

For the freshest local seafood, head ten minutes by taxi to the former fishing village of La Caleta, famous for its whitewashed stone cottages and rocky coves.

Restaurante La Vieja is right on the water’s edge here with a terrace overlooking the fishing boats.

Staff will bring you the catch of the day to take your pick from, before grilling it or baking it whole in sea salt.

Opt for a whole sea bass if you can, served with classic Canarian potatoes and a fiery homemade mojo verde sauce.

Further afield, a trip to explore the Mount Teide National Park is a must and it’s easy to book a tour directly in the hotel’s lobby.

From toddlers splashing in the lagoon to grandparents toasting the sunset with Champagne, it turns out you don’t need a rock star’s rider to live the high life.

Britain’s winter can wait. I’m ready for an encore.

Starlink has recently denied restricting internet speeds but Elon Musk suggested the US military could be behind it.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said that speed restrictions by Starlink’s military-grade internet service had aided a wave of deadly Russian attacks across Ukraine.

Two people were killed on Saturday in a Russian drone attack on what Ukrainian officials called “critical infrastructure” in the northern Koriukivka region.

An energy facility was also hit in Odesa overnight on Sunday, leaving 41,000 households without electricity, Ukraine’s DTEK energy provider said in a Telegram statement.

Ukraine’s army said it shot down 106 of 132 Russian drones launched overnight.

Zelenskyy posted on X that Russia was targeting energy substations with Shahed drones, which both sides commonly attack each other with.

“And many of these strikes are getting through because restrictions on the operating speed of Starshield terminals along the front line and in the temporarily occupied territories are still there,” he posted, citing Starlink’s sister company and reiterating accusations that it was throttling internet speeds and hampering military operations.

The president said on Saturday that the internet restrictions had been in place for five days and that Starlink reported technical problems, but Ukraine does “not believe that is the case”.

It is the second such outage in recent weeks. Starlink, owned by US billionaire Elon Musk’s SpaceX, has denied restricting internet speeds. Last month, Musk said the United States government controls Starshield.

Tit-for-tat attacks

Russia’s Defence Ministry said on Sunday that it launched attacks targeting Ukraine’s military airfields, munitions depots and other military facilities.

Authorities also said that an electrical engineer was killed and four others were injured in Russia’s Taganrog region after Ukrainian drones attacked the area on Sunday.

Six people were injured in a drone attack in Nizhnekamsk, local officials said. The city, as well as the wider Trans-Kama region of Tatarstan, reported heavy Ukrainian attacks on industrial facilities and a residential building earlier on Sunday.

US negotiators concluded visits to both countries in recent days in attempts to secure a ceasefire, despite tensions between Washington and Kyiv over Ukrainian attacks on Russian oil refineries.

Zelenskyy said the US floated the idea of Ukraine withdrawing its remaining forces from the eastern Donbas region in exchange for NATO membership.

Russia’s President Vladimir Putin is due to meet President Donald Trump and China’s President Xi Jinping in the Chinese city of Shenzhen this week – but Ukraine is not on the agenda. Analysts have compared the meeting to the Yalta conference of 1945, which saw the US, UK and former Soviet Union divide Germany and establish the United Nations.

However, in a statement on Sunday, Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, dismissed Russia’s longstanding proposal to revise Europe’s security architecture.

“Putin is throwing around ideas about reshaping the European security order. In his dreams, he sees himself in Yalta in 1945. The problem is that to put forward ideas of this magnitude, you first need to win a world war,” he said.

The U.S. Navy is looking for new avenues to bolster its pipelines for major F/A-18E/F Super Hornet and EA-18G Growler modifications. The prime contractor for that work now, Boeing, is in the process of expanding and reorganizing its production infrastructure. At the same time, the company’s defense business arm is also heavily focused on ramping up output of new aircraft, including the sixth-generation F-47 for the U.S. Air Force and the Navy’s next-generation carrier-based F/A-XX fighter.

Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) is now “conducting market research to determine the industrial base’s existing capability and facility capacity to provide supplemental or secondary Service Life Modification (SLM) turnkey capacity for F/A-18E/F Super Hornet and EA-18G Growler aircraft starting in FY29 [Fiscal Year 2029],” according to a contracting notice put out earlier this week. “To support long-term strike fighter inventory requirements, the Government is evaluating the availability of additional commercial or second-source depot modification repair overhaul (MRO) capacity.”

Currently, Boeing performs Service Life Modification (SLM) work on Navy F/A-18E/Fs at facilities in St. Louis, Missouri, and San Antonio, Texas. The Navy has its own Super Hornet SLM line, operated in cooperation with Boeing, at the Fleet Readiness Center Southwest (FRCSW) depot in San Diego, California. Boeing conducts additional F/A-18E/F and EA-18G modification work at various facilities, including an additional site in Jacksonville, Florida.

In September 2025, Boeing announced its intention to shut down the SLM line in St. Louis in 2027 and transition at least some of that workload elsewhere, possibly to San Antonio and/or Jacksonville. The company also plans to end production of new Super Hornets in 2027. The EA-18G is already out of production.

The Navy still plans to put most, if not all, of its F/A-18E/Fs – a total fleet of approximately 550 aircraft at present – through the SLM process, and that work is expected to continue in the mid-2030s. SLM extends the service life of Super Hornets from 6,000 to 10,000 flight hours. The jets also receive Block III upgrades, including new wide-area touchscreen multifunction displays, major boosts in onboard networking capability and computer processing power, and an improved avionics suite.

Work is also now underway on a Block II upgrade package for the Navy’s roughly 160 EA-18Gs, which is set to include major improvements to the Growler’s electronic warfare suite.

Overall, “PMA-265 [the F/A-18E/F and EA-18G Program Office] anticipates a maximum SLM induction profile of up to 47 aircraft per year across the industrial base,” according to the recent NAVAIR contracting notice. “Actual aircraft allocation among available sources may vary based on Fleet requirements, aircraft availability, demonstrated performance, schedule, and available capacity.”

It is not immediately clear whether the 47-aircraft-per-year target represents a major increase in expected SLM throughput. Back in 2020, the Navy said its goal was to be inducting 40 Super Hornets into the SLM pipeline annually within three years. There was no indication at that time that this figure included any SLM and/or other upgrade work on its Growlers.

As noted earlier, this all comes amid a shakeup in Boeing’s physical infrastructure driven heavily by the new production demands, including those tied to the F-47 and F/A-XX. Industrial base capacity has been a major talking point when it comes to both of these sixth-generation fighter programs. The Pentagon previously attempted to shelve F/A-XX indefinitely, explicitly over concern about it competing for resources with F-47. Congress subsequently intervened to keep the Navy program going, leading to the contract award to Boeing in September.

Boeing is also now working to ramp up deliveries of F-15EX Eagle II fighters and T-7A jet trainers to the U.S. Air Force, as well as MQ-25 tanker drones to the U.S. Navy. The Air Force notably announced earlier this year that it had roughly doubled the number of F-15EXs it plans to acquire in total.

“Our expansion plans across the St. Louis site triggered the execution of a multi-year strategic plan, requiring the relocation of some work,” Dan Gillian, Vice President and General Manager of Air Dominance at Boeing, had said in a statement accompanying last year’s announcement about plans to move Super Hornet SLM work to other locations. “Given we are already successfully conducting SLM at other locations, this move is logical so we can continue to meet our customers commitments while ensuring we are well poised for future work.”

“Delivering two advanced fighters in parallel was always our plan, and we invested accordingly,” Steve Parker, President and CEO of Boeing Defense, Space & Security, said in a statement after the company won the F/A-XX competition. “We are ready and able to build multiple concurrent future combat aircraft franchise programs.”

F/A-XX is expected to eventually replace the Navy’s F/A-18E/F and EA-18G fleets, but the first of those next-generation fighters are not expected to begin entering service until some time in the 2030s. As such, Super Hornets and Growlers look set to continue being the primary workhorses of the service’s carrier air wings for years to come.

F/A-18E/F and EA-18G have been key players in the ongoing war with Iran, as well as other recent conflicts in the Middle East. Both types were also part of the larger force package that supported the operation to capture Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro, and had been operating in the Caribbean for months beforehand as part of the U.S. military build-up in the region.

In turn, ensuring that there are no major disruptions to the SLM process and other upgrades for the F/A-18E/F and EA-18G will continue to be a priority for the Navy, as underscored now by the recent NAVAIR contracting notice. The possibility of the F/A-18E/F fleet receiving additional significant upgrades in the future, particularly to extend their range, has also been raised in the past. The arsenal of munitions available to the Navy’s Super Hornet is also growing substantially. This includes a still-expanding array of longer-range air-to-air missiles, as well as hypersonic Blackbeard air-to-surface missiles.

Just expanding the Super Hornet/Growler SLM/upgrade pipeline could open up interesting new opportunities for companies beyond Boeing. Northrop Grumman, which lost in the F/A-XX competition, has been involved in Super Hornet production in the past as a subcontractor. The Navy might also be interested in tapping new firms, including ones that are already working to expand their defense industrial presence, rather than long-established prime defense contractors.

“We have worked with the Navy for years to improve SLM while growing in San Antonio and FRC Southwest,” Mark Sears, Boeing Fighters Vice President, also said last year. “Delivering multiple fighters and capabilities from multiple locations is what we do, and we will continue that work on the Super Hornets for the life of the fleet.”

NAVAIR’s recent announcement makes clear that the Navy is still very much in the early phases of determining what, if any, new courses of action it ultimately wants to take regarding SLM and other upgrade work for its F/A-18E/F and EA-18G fleets. That being said, new facilities to support those efforts, potentially with new contractors running them, may now be on the horizon

Contact the author: joe@twz.com

Elen Rhys has opened up about the future of Cleddau, admitting she feels there is still plenty left to explore with DI Ffion Lloyd

Elen Rhys believes there is still plenty more to uncover about her character in Welsh crime series Cleddau.

The actress is back on screen as DI Ffion Lloyd for the second series of the gripping S4C drama – but she admits she feels viewers have only seen the beginning of the detective’s story.

Elen has become closely associated with the role since Cleddau first hit screens, earning a BAFTA Cymru nomination for Best Actress following her performance in the first series.

And while there has been no confirmation of a third series, Elen believes the nature of Ffion’s job means there could be plenty of stories left to explore.

“I love playing Ffion,” she said. “It’s not an easy job with the two languages, but it is a gift of a role and, yeah, I feel like we’ve just touched the surface.”

However, the actress was quick to point out that the future of the drama isn’t her decision.

“But obviously it’s not my decision, is it?” she added. “I don’t know what Kath wants to do. You don’t know what S4C and beyond want to do. So I’m just lucky we got to do it for a second time, really.”

The comments come as Cleddau returns following a hugely successful first series. The drama became the third most popular S4C drama since 2016, behind Craith (Hidden) and Y Gwyll (Hinterland), while it also recorded the highest number of iPlayer sessions for an S4C drama series.

Its success was further recognised when it picked up Best Drama at the RTS Cymru Wales Awards, with Elen also receiving her BAFTA Cymru nomination.

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Elsewhere, Elen admitted that filming some of the show’s dramatic night-time scenes during the depths of winter was particularly challenging, with the cast and crew battling rain and cold temperatures.

She said the production filmed a night shoot throughout January, adding that it seemed to rain every day.

“Because of the genre, they want to film over the winter months,” Elen said. “But we did a night shoot running all through January, and I think it rained every day, January this year.

“So that’s hard, because obviously you want the nighttime for the atmosphere and the nuance of the piece, but it was really tough because we were battling the elements.”

She added: “It was just not good. I’d say that was probably the most challenging night shoots in the bleak, bleak January.”

Another major earnings week is ahead, with NVIDIA taking center stage alongside some of the biggest names in retail, Chinese technology, cybersecurity, industrials, and global shipping. The results are set to offer fresh insights into AI spending, consumer resilience, global trade, and the direction of corporate investment.

Facing fresh oversight and investigations from congressional Democrats come January, President Trump and his supporters have increasingly turned to a tactic experts say they recognize from authoritarian regimes the world over.

Without evidence or any clear legal reasoning, they’ve accused their political opponents of being criminal or “corrupt.”

Trump has alleged in a series of recent social media posts that the Democratic Party is led by “one of the most Corrupt and anti-American groups of political leaders and hacks in the history of our Country, and even the World,” and that there is “Massive Corruption and Crime taking place in Democrat run Cities and States.”

He said Democrats cheated to win the midterms and are now “illegally threatening Republicans with knowingly false accusations and charges.” He also renewed his previous calls for the prosecution of six Democratic lawmakers who advised U.S. military personnel not to follow illegal orders — calling them the “Seditious Six” — and wrote, “THE DEMOCRATS ARE CORRUPT AND EVIL, and I am the exact opposite.”

Trump’s posts followed White House Counsel Will Scharf warning Democratic lawmakers — including Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Long Beach), the likely next chair of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee — that they could face criminal prosecution if they launch the kind of sweeping investigations into Trump and his family that they’ve promised.

They also followed recent Justice Department warnings to state and local elections officials across California that they could face criminal prosecution for not setting aside ballots from individuals the administration alleges are noncitizens, and criminal subpoenas demanding some of those same officials appear before a federal grand jury to discuss their handling of the ballot demands.

Experts said Trump’s latest flurry of accusations and threats is clearly a reaction to his current political situation — after a monumental reckoning from voters concerned with corruption and ahead of his first real investigative oversight from an adversarial Congress in years. It is a moment of unique vulnerability, they said — the sort that causes strongmen to cast aspersions on opponents and rivals.

Barbara Geddes, a political science professor emeritus at UCLA who has studied dictators for 25 years, said Trump’s message is a familiar one. “Accusations of corruption are extremely common and they’re used all over the world by dictators” and “people who are sliding into dictatorship.”

Geddes said the tactic isn’t new for Trump but may be “ramping up” because “the Democrats, pretty successfully, have used the corruption charge against Trump.”

Kim Lane Scheppele, a Princeton University professor who studies the rise and fall of democracies and has lived in Russia and Hungary, said Trump hasn’t gone the route of Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has given up any real pretense of democratic rule, but has clearly taken inspiration from recently ousted Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban.

Subject to the laws of the European Union, of which Hungary is a member, Orban pretended to work within democratic channels while co-opting his country’s legal system to punish enemies and reward allies.

Scheppele said “weaponizing criminal justice is exactly how” would-be autocrats seize power in struggling democracies, often by accusing their opponents of doing “what they’re doing themselves” — hence the “old expression, ‘Every accusation is an admission.’”

Lauren Bis, a White House spokesperson, called comparisons of Trump’s actions to those of dictators “insanity” — citing the fact that the nation “just had an election” and saying such “far-left smears about President Trump have no basis in reality.”

Other administration officials have defended — and echoed — the president’s attacks on Democrats as a defense of the American public. Upon his recent promotion to White House chief of staff, Stephen Miller credited Trump with having “single-handedly saved America from those who would destroy it.”

Dueling allegations

Trump and other administration officials have accused a slew of political opponents of corruption and criminality — from elected Democrats to liberal state attorneys general, federal judges, Federal Reserve officials, former military officers, law enforcement leaders, medical doctors, journalists and late-night comedians.

In some instances, the allegations have relied on decades-old paperwork errors that experts suggest aren’t even crimes, as in the case of Trump accusing Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) of mortgage fraud for allegedly listing two homes as his primary residence. They have also gone back decades to probe immigration paperwork filed by the father of Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), whose home was recently raided by federal authorities.

Trump, a convicted felon, has suggested that late-night host Seth Meyers mocking him on air was “PROBABLY ILLEGAL.” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has claimed that unfavorable reporting on U.S. military operations by American journalists is “treason.” The U.S. Justice Department has issued criminal subpoenas to providers of gender-affirming care, demanding patient records and threatening clinicians. Trump has accused judges of being “corrupt” just for ruling against him.

Claims that have reached the courts, including those against New York Atty. Gen. Letitia James and former FBI Director James Comey, have been rejected, though most of the accusations haven’t made it that far — with federal prosecutors unable to make a case despite Trump pressuring them to do so.

Trump’s latest wave of allegations follows a midterm election in which voters overwhelmingly voted against his party, with many identifying government corruption as a primary factor. An Associated Press poll just before the election found more than half of voters said government corruption was a “crucial” consideration in their congressional vote.

It also comes amid mounting allegations from Democrats that Trump and his family have been wildly corrupt during his current term.

In addition to probing the Trump administration’s handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations and corporate corruption, Garcia has said his committee intends to investigate “the Trump Crime Family” — including the $2-billion fortune Trump amassed last year, the “insane amount of stock trading” he has done while in office, a $2-billion investment in Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner’s private equity firm from the Saudi sovereign wealth fund, and a Russian oligarch’s paying for Donald Trump Jr.’s island wedding celebration.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), who is expected to become the chairman of the Homeland Security Committee’s permanent subcommittee on investigations, has promised probes of Trump’s real estate projects and his cryptocurrency deals with special envoy Steve Witkoff. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), who is expected to become Senate Finance Committee chairman, has said he intends to investigate pharmaceutical companies that have profited from their ties to the administration.

Schiff said the Trump administration “has weaponized the federal government to intimidate or seek retribution against congressional leaders, states, the media, and organizations for standing up to his grave abuses of power — using tactics of an authoritarian leader,” but Democrats won’t be intimidated.

“Doing oversight is part of the job we were given by the Constitution and the American people, and we will do it,” he said.

Trump and his family members have denied wrongdoing. Justice Department officials have promised to defend the president and those around him, and reportedly told prosecutors nationwide to adopt a war footing for more legal battles ahead.

A tactic of the right and left

Daniel Treisman, a political science professor at UCLA and co-author of “Spin Dictators: The Changing Face of Tyranny in the 21st Century,” said that “attacking corruption is a favorite trope of populists in both authoritarian and democratic systems” — with left-wing authoritarians tying capitalism to corruption and right-wing authoritarians tying socialism to it.

In China, President Xi Jinping “has operated a rolling anti-corruption purge to weed out any potential challengers” within the Chinese Communist Party and “keep subordinates nervous,” he said, while in Venezuela, the late Hugo Chavez campaigned against “los corruptos.”

“What’s particularly brazen about how Trump plays the corruption card is that he does it from the summit of power at a time when his family and friends are earning billions of dollars from government-adjacent business,” Treisman said. “There’s an element of preemption — if you accuse them of corruption first, then their accusations will seem less credible.”

California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta said the Trump administration is “using their abuse of the law as both sword and shield,” to go after opponents but also to claim they and other federal officials are immune from the law or any consequences from it.

He said that it “is what you’d expect from a would-be dictator, monarch, tyrant who just wants to have his way, exercise his authority, hurt his enemies, and advance his own power” — but that courts have resisted and Trump will ultimately lose.

Geddes said Trump has long met claims he is corrupt by pointing the finger at others in Washington. “If you can’t really defend yourself against something, the next best thing is to persuade voters that they’re all corrupt. There’s no difference.”

In countries where corruption is indeed endemic, leaders such as Xi have used such claims to wipe out opposition within their own governments, Geddes said. “The big difference in the U.S. is that the people who have been accused of corruption [by Trump] are almost universally not corrupt, and Trump kind of uses the word ‘corruption’ just to mean anybody he doesn’t like.”

Where evidence of real corruption is “mounting day by day” is in the case against Trump, Geddes said, which is part of why voters abandoned his party in the midterms.

Scheppele said when people chafing under autocratic rule “see how many other people agree with them” — including after big election wins for opposition parties — they “become less afraid to stand up and say what they think,” which leaders like Trump understand.

Trump’s “increased bullying” of late, she said, is a transparent effort to re-instill that fear and “reassert that he’s actually in charge.”

Holding a clipboard, wearing a baseball cap backward and chewing on a white whistle, Derek Fisher of Lakers fame is in the Crespi High gym teaching fundamentals to a group of locked-in teenagers.

Spots of gray are visible in Fisher’s beard. The former New York Knicks coach and 18-year NBA veteran is long retired from professional basketball but so busy, with a morning sports radio program, daily duties as coach at Crespi and a coming four-month high school schedule, that looking at a calendar is a must.

He long ago proved his creed as the backcourt mate of Hall of Famer Kobe Bryant on five NBA championship teams. That kind of respect and knowledge has been embraced by Crespi players. You can see how they listen closely when he speaks and look into Fisher’s eyes knowing he’s played and coached at the highest level.

The fact that Fisher, 52, is in his fourth season at Crespi might come as a surprise. Some thought it was a gimmick. Others thought it was a stopover before heading back to an NBA position. Instead, he’s dedicated himself to learning the high school game and competing against some of the best high school coaches in America in the Mission League.

Oh, he’s faced the usual TMZ moments, Lakers fans asking for autographs and Fisher even seeing his wife ejected from a game that produced headlines on social media. But he’s focused on helping his two stepsons, Carter and Isaiah Barnes, and educating his Crespi players on what it takes to succeed on and off the court.

He said he’s always taking advice and consulting with his assistants.

Lakers guard Derek Fisher chats with coach Brian Shaw during a game in 2010.

(Associated Press)

“I try to learn as much from them,” he said. “We’re constantly in communication, talking and sharing.”

Yes, he really understands he’s there to help his players. It doesn’t matter what level he’s coaching.

“The variation is in the players,” he said of coaching. “It’s always a little different because the players are different. I think there’s some foundational things about basketball that don’t change.”

So what’s the difference coaching teenagers?

“I’ve tried to be adaptable to the young kids that we’re coaching,” he said. “How responsive are they to what we’re asking them to do? If we’re not getting good outcomes, it’s on us to figure it out.”

For Fisher’s players, his basketball history earned him immediate respect, but that carries only so far. He had to show them he could coach.

“Relationships developed over three, four years is where the listening comes from,” he said. “Most importantly, they have to know, regardless of what I’ve done, they have to know I’m here for them as much as anything,”

Knicks coach Derek Fisher talks to his players during a game in 2016.

(Elsa / Getty Images)

This figures to be Fisher’s best Crespi team based on how well it has done in summer and fall competitions by beating some very good teams.

The big question: Is Fisher having fun coaching high school basketball?

“Anytime I’m given the chance to coach basketball, teach basketball, plan for basketball, it’s fun,” he said. “It’s an obsession. The fact it’s high school basketball doesn’t change anything for me.”

And what about facing players 7 feet 5 and 7-foot later this season?

“St. Francis is kind of a unique team,” he said of the Golden Knights, who boast twin towers Cherif Millog and Yann Kamagate. “We got a couple months until January to face them. I didn’t have to play against Shaq [O’Neal] too many times, so I didn’t get as much experience playing against 7-footers.”

Fisher probably has someone in his contact list to call if he needs r a strategy against 7-footers.

Phil Jackson? Mike Brown? Shaquille O’Neal?

It’s always good to have that one free phone call available because you played with, played against and were coached by the best in the world.

Australia dominated the first half and capitalised on the Kiwi Ferns’ errors to win 34-10 and clinch the trophy.

Winger Jaime Chapman collected a hat-trick as Australia crushed New Zealand 34-10 on Sunday with an emphatic first-half performance to clinch their fourth consecutive Women’s Rugby League World Cup title.

Two tries in the opening five minutes did the damage, and there were four more before half-time to send the Jillaroos to the break with a commanding 34-6 advantage.

Despite applying pressure, they were unable to add to their score as the humid conditions in Brisbane took their toll and errors crept in.

But Australia had done enough to ensure a fourth straight title, beating the Kiwi Ferns in the final each time, to reinforce their status as the sport’s powerhouse nation.

“I want to thank the Kiwi Ferns. It’s been such a great rivalry for so many years now, with so much respect between the two of our teams,” said Australia captain Isabelle Kelly, now a three-time World Cup champion.

“To my team … I’m just so humbled and honoured to be able to lead you guys. This has definitely been a dream come true, and I knew that we could get the job done.”

Before Australia’s global rise, New Zealand won the World Cup in 2000, 2003 and 2008.

“We didn’t quite get the job done today, but we are going to assert dominance back into this jersey,” said New Zealand skipper Raecene McGregor.

“The best of the Kiwi Ferns is yet to be shown, so stay with us.”

New Zealand had won only one of their previous 12 Tests against the Jillaroos dating back to 2017, and they were under the pump immediately.

A knock-on near the New Zealand try line just two minutes in allowed Australia to spread the ball wide, and Chapman dived over in the corner for her 11th try of the tournament.

With all the momentum, Australia pressured New Zealand into another mistake and capitalised, with Shaylee Bent crashing over for their second converted try.

Midway through the first half, they were 18-0 ahead, with another Chapman special on the back of a lightning break.

A sensational solo effort from Jessica Sergis stretched the lead further, with the five-eighth shrugging off three tackles to sprint the length of the field.

New Zealand finally got on the board when Shannon Mato barged across, but Chapman’s third came after she burst through two tackles to race away, putting Australia back in full control before Tamika Upton added a sixth before half-time.

Australia started strongly in the second half with only some desperate Kiwi defence keeping them at bay.

But it was a much tighter affair, with New Zealand’s Mackenzie Wiki crossing in the dying seconds for the only try of the half.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry says its air attacks on countries cooperating with the US are justified under international law.

Bahrain’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has denounced what it describes as “a resumption of Iran’s aggression” after the latest air attacks on its Riffa Air Base by Tehran.

In a statement, the ministry said the attacks on Sunday launched by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) violated international law and “no pretext can legitimise violations of state sovereignty”.

“Bahrain also rejects the use of its territory to settle accounts and holds Iran fully responsible for the attacks and their consequences,” the statement added.

Bahrain’s military said its defence systems intercepted several Iranian “aerial attacks” targeting the kingdom. Its Riffa Air Base is used by the United States military.

The IRGC has not commented. It had said on Friday that it launched an attack on a US early warning radar facility in Bahrain and destroyed it. Bahrain said it intercepted two drones that day.

Al Jazeera’s Resul Serdar, reporting from Tehran, noted that Iran had held back amid intermittent US attacks in the past weeks but in the past three days, it has fired twice at Bahrain.

“We were seeing the United States’s low-intensity warfare being conducted against Iran. From time to time, the US attacked Iran’s military assets – telecommunications towers specifically – in the southern part of the country,” he said.

But that appears to have changed. “It seems this is now the new rule of engagement,” Serdar added.

Iranian minister says attacks justified

Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei defended Tehran’s attacks and accused Gulf countries of aiding US strikes against Iran.

“All the cases that indicate the role of the countries of the region in helping the US to attack Iran have been documented,” Baghaei said at a news conference on Sunday, adding that Tehran was taking diplomatic action and would “follow up on this issue seriously”.

He said missiles, drones and aircraft launched from military bases in neighbouring countries as well as logistical support provided to US forces were proof of these nations’ involvement.

“The responsibility of this group of countries in the region for the consequences … of the military aggression of the United States and the Zionist regime against Iran is clear,” Baghaei charged, referring to Israel.

Attacks on its neighbours, he said, were justified under Article 51 of the United Nations Charter, which established the rights of states to defend themselves from attacks.

“No action has been taken by Iran against the sovereignty of these countries,” Baghaei said, arguing that Tehran’s attacks are “purely defensive in nature” and have targeted only US military bases and assets used to attack Iran.

Meanwhile, Jordan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates said in a post on X that it “condemned Iran’s brutal attacks on the sister kingdom of Bahrain as a flagrant violation of its sovereignty, a threat to its security, stability and territorial integrity”.

Egypt’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the country “reiterates its categorical rejection” of attacks threatening the region’s stability.

“The security of Bahrain and the Gulf states is closely linked to Egyptian national security and is one of the pillars of Arab national security,” the statement added.

EastEnders spoilers for next week could drop some major twists about some scenes ahead on the ITV soap, including some exits and some flashforward hints on the BBC soap

EastEnders spoilers for next week could give away some big secrets.

The spoilers could tease future storylines on the show and not just what’s happening next week. While the spoilers are centred on upcoming events, they seem to drop a tease or two about some upcoming moments, including the flashforward episode and some exits from the show.

One spoiler in particular could pave the way for six exits, or eight including two new characters if you’re being technical. We also might finally have some answers about the New Year’s Day wedding.

Another flashforward scene could also be explained, as one character pursues a romance with an ex. Here’s what the spoilers could mean for the rest of the year.

To see more of the stories you love from The Mirror and to find them easily in Google, make us your preferred source. Free and easy to do, just click on the link here to find more from The Mirror at the top of your feed.

Multiple exits sealed

It seems an exit for more than one character has been confirmed in the spoilers for next week’s episodes. We obviously know Nancy and Lee Carter aren’t sticking around and that Johnny and Linda Carter are both soon leaving.

Do spoilers for next week detail what happens? When Nancy returns to Walford with Lee’s baby, Lee’s ex Jess soon arrives and gives Lee an ultimatum. Jess soon offers Nancy and the baby a fresh start with her away from Walford.

So does this secure the departure storyline for Nancy, Lee and the baby, but also the rest of the family? When Linda inevitably decides it’s time to move on from Albert Square, she’ll be joined by her son Johnny, but also her younger children, Annie and Ollie.

So will these four characters along with Nancy and Lee all join Jess and the baby for a new life elsewhere?

Max’s New Year bride

Max‘s New Year bride has finally been confirmed. He and Linda get engaged next week. Obviously it seemed earlier this year that it would be Cindy but in true soap fashion, they have split.

Max has moved on with Linda with him now proposing. With the wedding just weeks away, it seems to confirm that at the New Year’s Day wedding, Max will be the groom and Linda will be the bride. Whether it will go to plan remains to be seen.

Who Oscar ends up with

Spoilers for next week tease Oscar wants to reunite with his former flame Josh. It seems he has firmly moved on from Jasmine and instead wants to be with her twin brother Josh.

So, as Oscar enlists the help of Peter and Louie to win Josh back, will Josh agree to reunite, and is this why in the flashforward episode, Patrick tells Oscar you’re part of the family now?

Is a reunion set for Oscar and Josh? Might they even get married? If Patrick’s saying Oscar is a part of the family, does he end up taking the Trueman name?

EastEnders airs Mondays to Thursdays at 7:30pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer. * Follow Mirror Celebs and TV on TikTok, Snapchat , Instagram , Twitter , Facebook , YouTube and Threads.

Nov. 15, 2026 3 AM PT

Plans to install automated license plate readers along Western Avenue to target suspected sex trafficking is no longer moving forward after Council District 13 declined a donation of cameras from weapons and technology developer Axon Enterprise.

The district is now considering cameras that would not use license plate reader technology, according to a spokesperson for Councilmember Hugo Soto-Martínez.

The cameras would be maintained by the Bureau of Street Lighting, and the councilmember is expected to bring a proposal to the City Council before the end of the year.

LAPD had previously said it planned to install 18 cameras along Western Avenue between Olympic and Santa Monica boulevards, a corridor the department has targeted for sex trafficking. The department said the cameras would include live-feed monitoring and license plate recognition technology and could be operating by July.

LAPD declined to provide updates over the summer.

Axon Enterprise, which supplies the LAPD with body-worn cameras, stun guns and other equipment, offered to donate the cameras to the department’s Olympic Station, according to CD13 spokesperson Andoni Elias Nava.

“We are against ALPRs. We don’t want to see them in our district,” he said. “So once we realized what that was, we said we don’t really want them in our district.”

A spokesperson for Axon did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

On Monday, Senior Lead Officer Harry Cho said the cameras had been expected to be funded by CD13 and CD10 but that CD13 had pulled its funding.

“Right now, there’s no cameras that are city-operated on Western,” Cho said at the Wilshire Center-Koreatown Neighborhood Council meeting.

Senior Lead Officer Lucy Bermudez confirmed Thursday that the cameras have not been installed along the Western corridor and that the project is on hold.

Nava disputed Cho’s account that the district had pulled funding for the cameras.

“We never committed any kind of funding. The cameras from Axon were supposed to be fully funded by Axon. They were a donation to PD,” he said. “There was no funding that was given to be pulled in the first place.”

He said the district plans to install a different type of camera, but that the details are still being worked out over the next few months, including how many cameras would be installed.

The section of Western Avenue between Olympic and Santa Monica boulevards runs through both CD13 and CD10. A spokesperson for CD10 did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

LAPD initially described the cameras as part of a broader effort to combat human trafficking along Western Avenue ahead of the World Cup and the 2028 Olympics. The department said the cameras would help identify people involved in human trafficking and people targeting minors.

Advocates of sex workers have raised concerns that the cameras would increase police surveillance along the corridor and further criminalize people who work there.

Jayme Kusyk, a Koreatown resident and member of the abolitionist group Stop LAPD Spying Coalition, said replacing ALPRs with conventional surveillance cameras would not eliminate the concerns raised by sex workers.

“Certainly we definitely want less cameras up, so to any extent they’re fighting that, that’s great,” she said. “But a camera is a camera is a camera. It doesn’t have to be enabled with ALPR technology to still be really harmful.”

She said even conventional CCTV cameras could increase criminalization of sex workers,

“It still increases criminalization. It won’t decrease demand,” she said, adding that clients could become more volatile if they believe they are being watched.

At an Olympic Division Community Police Advisory Board meeting on Nov. 4, LAPD Officer Dan Chavez said officers conducted an operation that morning that resulted in multiple arrests related to sex work, including one person arrested on suspicion of pimping.

One of the sex workers “provided our officers with information saying that she was being pimped by this person and they were able to arrest that individual,” he said.

The city also recently debated the use of Axon’s license plate reader technology.

On Oct. 6, the City Council voted 10-4 to assert jurisdiction over the Police Commission’s approval of an Axon pilot program that would install automated license plate readers on city streetlights. Soto-Martínez, who represents CD13, and Heather Hutt, who represents CD 10, both voted in favor.

The council later voted to veto the pilot, but the measure failed because it needed 10 votes to overturn the Police Commission’s approval. The veto received nine votes on Oct. 27. Hutt and Soto-Martínez both voted in favor of the veto.

Hanna Kang writes for The LA Local, a non-profit news site covering Los Angeles communities.

Los Angeles Documenter, Ashley Bolter, contributed reporting for this story from the Nov. 4 Olympic Area Community Police Advisory Board meeting. The LA Documenters program trains and pays community members to document proceedings at public meetings. Learn more about the program here.

WE all love a good Black Friday deal, but is it always the best, cheapest time to book a holiday?

I work in travel, so I know how much effort goes into getting good Black Friday offers together, and some of them are brilliant. But if you want to bag a real bargain it turns out there are other key times in the year you should have on your radar, too.

But is it the cheapest week to book absolutely everywhere? Well… apparently not.

I’ve been digging through the booking data to work out when ten popular holiday destinations could be cheapest to book between now and May 2027.

While there are some great savings to be had on Black Friday, certain destinations have better sales at other points in the year.

I’ve found the weeks worth watching before Christmas, after Christmas and even into spring, with the biggest potential saving at almost 13 per cent compared with Black Friday – saving you over £300.

And just to be clear, these are the weeks to make your booking, rather than when to travel.

Here’s when I’d be looking, the hotel I’d recommend and a deal available now to give you an idea of what your money could buy.

Lanzarote: Book w/c 16 November 2026

Lanzarote gets things going before Black Friday has even arrived.

The numbers suggest booking this week could work out around six per cent cheaper than Black Friday week.

A package at last year’s Black Friday average of £1,797 would come down to about £1,689 with that 6% reduction.

That would leave an extra £108 in your pocket if the pattern repeated.

So if Lanzarote is on your list, I’d already be having a look – there’s no rule saying you have to wait until the big day to find something worth booking.

The hotel I’d look at is Barcelo Lanzarote Active Resort in Costa Teguise.

This is where I’d send a group with very different ideas about how much exercise belongs on holiday.

It has several outdoor pools and sports facilities, including an Olympic-size pool available at an extra charge.

Someone can get their lengths in while the rest of you get horizontal in the sunshine. Everyone gets the holiday they came for. You can probably guess which group I’d spend more time with.

The five-night deal I found includes bed & breakfast from £450pp, including direct return flights from London Gatwick for a family of four on 31 August 2027.

Fuerteventura: Book w/c 23 November 2026

Let’s give Black Friday its credit – Fuerteventura is the one destination here where Black Friday week comes out on top.

At £1,512 per package on average last year, Black Friday week was already the cheapest in the data. No extra saving from holding out on this one.

If I fancied Fuerteventura, I’d have a few hotels priced up beforehand so I could spot an offer worth booking when it appeared.

The hotel I’d love here is Barcelo Fuerteventura Mar in Caleta de Fuste.

It sits on Caleta de Fuste beach. For a five-night break, I’d happily put that location high on the list: less time getting everyone ready to go somewhere, more time actually being there.

This is one I’d choose for a proper family break – settle in, enjoy the beach and let the days fill themselves.

I’ve found a five night half board deal from £498pp, including direct return flights from London Luton on 29 August 2027.

And half board would be my choice for this trip. You can head out after breakfast and know dinner is already paid for when you come back.

Beach nearby, two meals sorted and five nights to enjoy it. Love it.

Book a five-night half board stay for a family of four at Barcelo Fuerteventura Mar from 29 August 2027, with direct return flights from London Luton, from £498pp.

Costa del Sol: Book w/c 14 December 2026

For the Costa del Sol, I’d keep looking into December.

The data suggests booking this week could be around 7.7 per cent cheaper than Black Friday week.

Put that 7.7% against last year’s £1,382 Black Friday average and you’re looking at roughly £106 less to pay.

If I hadn’t settled on a holiday by Black Friday, that would be a good reason to check again before Christmas.

For this one, I’d price up Sandos Griego in Torremolinos.

I’d pick it for people who want to get out into Torremolinos most days – the central location helps with that, and there’s family entertainment back at the hotel.

B&B makes sense to me here, because if you’re planning to try different restaurants, you can put your food budget towards the places you fancy.

The deal I found for a family of four is five nights, bed & breakfast, from £400pp, including direct return flights from Glasgow Prestwick on 23 August 2027.

Costa Blanca: Book w/c 14 December 2026

The Costa Blanca points to the same week, with a slightly bigger potential saving.

Booking in mid-December could work out around 8.5 per cent cheaper than Black Friday week, if the pattern repeats.

For context, people booking during Black Friday week paid an average of £1,393 per package last year.

Take 8.5% off a holiday at that price and it comes to about £1,275. That’s a possible £118 saving if this December follows the same pattern.

I’d start with Benidorm – beach during the day, a show or a bar in the evening, and plenty of places to eat whenever hunger interrupts the schedule.

And Rosamar Hotel would definitely be on my shortlist.

It’s around 400 metres from Levante Beach, close to a lively area – and for a family trip, I like having those options nearby.

You can head to the beach or go out for the evening without making a big expedition of it.

The deal I found is five nights all-inclusive from £493pp, including direct return flights from London Luton on 31 August 2027.

The waterslide area is the bit I’d show the kids first, I suspect the hotel search would be over quite quickly after that.

I’d choose all inclusive here if we planned to spend a few days enjoying those slides – lunch, drinks and another go would be a fairly easy routine to get into.

Book a five-night all inclusive stay for a family of four at Rosamar Hotel from 31 August 2027, with direct return flights from London Luton, from £493pp.

Antalya: Book w/c 14 December 2026

Antalya joins both Spanish costas in pointing towards mid-December.

The potential difference here is around 3.6 per cent cheaper than Black Friday week.

The average Black Friday package cost £2,844 last year and on a holiday at that price, even a 3.6% drop would knock around £102 off the bill.

And for a holiday to Antalya, my first priority would be getting the hotel and travel dates I wanted.

For a hotel-focused trip, I’d put Dosinia Luxury Resort in the Kemer area on the list.

The beach and pool areas are where I’d expect to spend most of this holiday – I’d choose it with that in mind and give myself permission to stay put.

With all inclusive, I’d check the dining and drinks included, then work out what we’d realistically spend on top, and that’s how I judge the overall value.

I can enjoy planning a trip, but once I arrive I’m very happy for the biggest decision to be where we’re sitting.

The deal I found is five nights all inclusive for a family of four from £598pp, including direct return flights from London Stansted on 29 August 2027.

At £598pp, I’d want a hotel I could happily spend most of the holiday in, which is exactly the sort of trip I’d price up Dosinia for.

Dalaman: Book w/c 21 December 2026

Dalaman gives you another reason to have a holiday search open during Christmas week.

The numbers suggest it could be around 6.1 per cent cheaper to book then than during Black Friday week.

Last year, the average package booked over Black Friday came to £1,995.

A repeat of that 6.1% difference on a holiday at this price would mean paying about £1,873 instead – that’s roughly £122 you could put towards enjoying the trip.

For Dalaman, I’ve gone for the Fethiye area.

The leafy setting around this hotel caught my eye, particularly for an August trip when I’d want plenty of time around the pool, and my hotel pick here is Lykia Botanika Beach.

This is where I’d choose all inclusive and plan a few proper hotel days – get everyone fed, find a spot by the pool and see how active or lazy we’re feeling after that.

The deal I found is five nights all inclusive for a family of four from £435pp, including direct return flights from London Gatwick on 31 August 2027.

At £435pp, it’s the lowest-priced all inclusive example I found for this article which puts it high on my list for a family holiday.

Finding your next holiday while everyone else is doing the final Christmas supermarket dash sounds like a much better use of the afternoon.

Rhodes: Book w/c 28 December 2026

Rhodes is the one that really caught my attention.

The data points to booking after Christmas for a holiday that could be around 12.6% cheaper than during Black Friday week.

Here’s where the pounds get interesting: last year’s Black Friday average was £3,006 per package.

Apply a 12.6% reduction to a holiday at that price and you’d pay around £2,627, keeping roughly £379 – the biggest potential saving on this list.

If a Greek island holiday is on your wish list, I’d have a look while you’re enjoying the final days of the Christmas break.

The hotel I’d book here is one of my favourites in Greece: The Ixian Grand & All Suites.

It’s an adults-only, all inclusive hotel directly on Ixia Beach and this would definitely be my couples’ pick from the list.

I’d book it with the intention of enjoying the hotel, spending time together and making very few plans beyond that.

The deal I found is five nights for two adults, all inclusive, from £980pp, including direct return flights from London Gatwick on 31 August 2027.

If I were booking a special break for two, I’d want exactly this sort of beachfront setting.

Majorca: Book w/c 28 December 2026

Apparently, the week between Christmas and New Year can be useful for something other than eating leftovers and forgetting what day it is.

For Majorca, it’s also the week I’d be watching for a holiday.

The numbers suggest booking then could work out around 10.5 per cent cheaper than Black Friday week, the second-biggest potential saving here.

For Majorca, the Black Friday average last year was £2,106 per package.

If that 10.5% gap returned, a holiday costing the same could fall to around £1,885.

A possible £221 difference makes the post-Christmas search look way more worthwhile.

I’d price up Sol Guadalupe in Magaluf. The substantial outdoor pool area is what sells it to me, I’d be happy spending a few afternoons there, especially with five nights to play with.

I’d also leave a couple of evenings free to get out into Magaluf and see where you fancy eating.

For someone who wants to use the hotel and still get involved in the resort, this is the one I’d compare first.

The deal I found is a five night, bed & breakfast offering for a family of four from £363pp, including direct return flights from Birmingham on 29 August 2027.

This is the cheapest deal I found with breakfast included too.

For an August departure, £363pp is the price I’d be sending to anyone asking me for an affordable Majorca break.

Gran Canaria: Book w/c 11 January 2027

If January rolls around and you still haven’t booked a holiday, Gran Canaria gives you something to investigate.

The predicted cheapest week starts on 11 January, with a potential saving of around 5.3 per cent compared with Black Friday week.

With last year’s Black Friday average at £1,931 per package, the 5.3% difference would be worth about £102 on a holiday at that price – enough to make another search in January worth considering.

Servatur Puerto Azul in Puerto Rico would be my pick and the sea views are the biggest attraction here for me.

If I’m going to spend an afternoon by the pool, I’d be very happy with that in front of me.

I’d compare the room options here as well as the board basis, especially if a particular view matters to you – check which room you’re booking before you get carried away with the photographs.

The deal I found is five nights for a family of four with bed & breakfast from £525pp, including direct return flights from Manchester on 29 August 2027.

At £525pp with breakfast, I’d put this on the shortlist for someone who wants to spend proper time at the hotel.

Tenerife: Book w/c 19 April 2027

Tenerife’s predicted cheapest booking week arrives in spring.

The potential saving is around 3.5 per cent compared with Black Friday week.

Last year’s Black Friday bookings averaged £1,864 per package, and a 3.5% dip on that amount means you could save about £65.

So, if that gap returned on a holiday at the same price, you’d be looking at roughly £1,799.

At 3.5%, I wouldn’t plan my life around this one, but if April is when you’re ready to book, it’s a useful week to check. Plus it’s useful money to keep for spending when you get there.

For Costa Adeje, I’d start with GF Fanabe.

I like the choice of the hotel pool, Fanabe Beach and El Duque Beach nearby, and for a five-night trip, I’d happily divide my time between the three.

I’d go B&B if I wanted to try different restaurants in Costa Adeje.

You can have breakfast at the hotel, then head out without needing to be back for lunch or dinner.

The deal I found is five nights for a family of four with bed & breakfast from £415pp, including direct return flights from London Stansted on 31 August 2027.

Prices correct at the time of publication.

Nov. 14, 2026 10:24 PM PT

SATURDAY’S RESULTS

SOUTHERN SECTION FINALS

At Mt. San Antonio College

OPEN DIVISION

Newport Harbor 8, JSerra 6

DIVISION 1

Dos Pueblos 10, Mira Costa 9

DIVISION 2

St. John Bosco 7, Damien 6

DIVISION 3

Elsinore 10, Troy 9

DIVISION 4

Winchester Liberty 5, Foothill Tech 3

DIVISION 5

Montebello 11, California 10