HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL PLAYOFFS

FRIDAY’S SCHEDULE

(Games at 7 p.m. unless noted)

CITY SECTION

Semifinals

OPEN DIVISION

#5 King/Drew at #1 Carson

#6 Crenshaw at #2 San Pedro

DIVISION I

#4 Wilmington Banning at #1 Granada Hills Kennedy

#3 Venice at #2 L.A. Hamilton

DIVISION II

#12 Marquez at #1 Jefferson

#3 San Fernando at #2 Sylmar

DIVISION III

#4 Lincoln at #1 L.A. Roosevelt

#6 Westchester at #2 South East

SOUTHERN SECTION

Quarterfinals

DIVISION 1

St. John Bosco vs. Santa Margarita at Saddleback College

Sierra Canyon at Corona Centennial

DIVISION 2

San Juan Hills at Chaparral

Palos Verdes at Oxnard Pacifica

DIVISION 3

San Jacinto at Villa Park

Great Oak at Long Beach Poly

DIVISION 4

Chino Hills at Downey

La Habra at Quartz Hill

DIVISION 5

Mary Star at Aquinas

Agoura at Simi Valley

DIVISION 6

St. Francis at Santa Ana Foothill

Beaumont at Santa Barbara

DIVISION 7

La Mirada at Paramount

Oak Park at Millikan

DIVISION 8

Rio Hondo Prep at Segerstrom

Rancho Verde at Corona Santiago

DIVISION 9

Riverside North at West Covina

Compton at Moreno Valley

DIVISION 10

Desert Hot Springs at Nogales

Dos Pueblos at Rancho Mirage

DIVISION 11

Crescenta Valley at South Torrance

Dominguez at Xavier Prep

DIVISION 12

Lakeside at Costa Mesa

Carter at Artesia

DIVISION 13

Irvine University at Hacienda Heights Wilson

Whittier at Anaheim

DIVISION 14

Knight at San Gabriel

Santa Ana Valley at Bassett

8-MAN

DIVISION 1

Faith Baptist at Calvary Baptist

Chadwick at Sage Hill

Dismissals follow probe that uncovered illegal oil refineries and smuggling in a region run by Kataib Hezbollah, a pro-Iranian armed group.

Iraq’s Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi has dismissed nine senior security officials over an alleged oil smuggling operation in the Jurf al-Nasr area, a stronghold of the Iran-backed Kataib Hezbollah group.

Al-Zaidi chaired an emergency security meeting to review the findings of a committee investigating smuggling in Jurf al-Nasr, Babil province, military spokesperson Sabah al-Numan told the Iraqi News Agency (INA).

The move follows an investigation that uncovered illegal oil refineries and evidence of manipulation linked to the smuggling activities.

“In light of the investigation’s findings, [the prime minister] ordered that all individuals accused of involvement in oil smuggling operations be referred to the judiciary,” al-Numan said.

The prime minister “also ordered the dismissal” of nine officials, including security and intelligence officers in Babil province, an Interior Ministry commander, and the director of the Oil Pipelines Company at the Ministry of Oil, he said.

The police chief of Babil province was among those dismissed.

Iran-aligned armed group

Kataib Hezbollah, an Iran-aligned paramilitary group and one of Iraq’s most heavily armed factions, has recently issued several sharp statements against the prime minister, threatening his government and accusing him of corruption.

Senior Iraqi politicians previously told the AFP news agency that al-Zaidi had repeatedly said he was ready to confront groups refusing to disarm.

Al Jazeera’s Peter Smith, reporting from Baghdad, said previous Iraqi governments had been careful not to address the issue of an alleged oil smuggling network worth up to $30m monthly.

“This area had effectively been run as a state within a state until now,” Smith said. “But that seems to have changed, with Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi saying that no inch of Iraq will be allowed to have oil smuggling operations like this.”

Two strategic oil pipelines running through the south of the country, just south of Baghdad, “had effectively been tapped into”, Smith said, citing a leaked intelligence report. “Oil was being siphoned off, stolen, and then sold on the black market in an operation worth tens of millions of dollars every month.”

On Wednesday, the INA reported that “intelligence documents” containing satellite images “showed crude oil and oil-derivatives smuggling operations carried out by an armed faction” in Jurf al-Nasr, accusing an unnamed group of tapping into a pipeline there.

Al-Numan said the investigating committee “confirmed the accuracy” of the information.

Akeel Abbas, a senior non-resident fellow at the Iraq Initiative within the Atlantic Council, told Al Jazeera that oil smuggling by various political factions and armed groups “is common in Iraq” due to “commercial rather than political or strategic” gains.

Abbas said the latest crackdown has more to do with “militia disarmament”.

“The prime minister cleverly decided to frame it as anticorruption. That is why a few days ago, there was a report leaked by the government about this operation,” he said.

The prime minister wants to “cut off the financial lifeline to this particular group that has been so resistant” to the government’s “militia disarmament” initiatives, he added.

When White’s comments were put to Farrell, the Ireland boss said: “We were just saying in the changing rooms that we learned some good lessons and use them in the right manner for next week.”

Farrell also admitted the scoreline flattered his side after they pulled clear having only led 17-15 at the break.

“Pleased to get the win, especially the scoreline, it flattered us a little bit but having said that you’ve got to work for those points and after 25 minutes you’re down by five points against a side that’s playing pretty well.

“As far as the physical nature of the game, I thought they were winning collisions, they were good in the air and on the floor, running really physically through the line and the breakdown was pretty good.

“All in all, we need to understand that wins here when you’re under a bit of pressure, they’re all pretty precious.”

While Ireland struggled to shine at times, Farrell was impressed by James McNabney’s shorter-than-expected debut.

The Ulster back row came off the bench and made two huge carries before being forced off with a head injury which rules the 23-year-old out of featuring against South Africa.

“He’s joking in the changing rooms – he’s delighted with himself for the shortest cameo of a first cap,” he said of McNabney.

“I reckon it’s the best cameo of three-and-a-half minutes or whatever it was on a debut in Irish history really.

“He remembers the two breaks that he made, so he seems in good spirits.”

With 15 years under her belt at NBC, Savannah Guthrie is sticking with the “Today” show.

The morning show anchor recently extended her contract with NBC News. The network confirmed her extension to The Times on Friday. Her current contract was reportedly expected to end later this year or in early 2027. It’s unclear how long her extension is.

The news combats the idea that Guthrie will be taking a step back from the public eye, after the abduction of her mother, Nancy, earlier this year.

Guthrie joined the “Today” show in 2011 as a co-host in the third hour and as NBC News’ chief legal analyst. By 2012, she was promoted to co-anchor. Over the years, she has become a key fixture on the No. 1 morning broadcast news program. In addition to covering the daily news, she was among a panel of the network’s hosts anchoring midterm election night coverage and has interviewed movie stars, athletes and presidents.

The “Today” show is led by Guthrie, Craig Melvin, Al Roker, Carson Daly, and Jenna Bush Hager. Daly recently expanded his role at NBC News, as he was named co-anchor of “Saturday Today.”

On top of her “Today” show duties, Guthrie is also set to co-host the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade alongside Roker and former “Today” co-host Hoda Kotb. In the coming months, she is poised to lead an NBC game show based on the New York Times’ popular “Wordle.”

As much of the broadcast landscape continues to morph in the streaming era, Comcast is expected to spin off NBCUniversal in the coming months. The company will then operate as a separate publicly traded company. Comcast already offloaded its cable channels, such as MS NOW, CNBC and USA, into a separate company called Versant earlier this year.

Times staff writer Stephen Battaglio contributed to this report.

Five years, and no playoff.

Five years, and one win over a top-10 team.

Five years, and one win over a ranked opponent on the road.

Five years, and enough.

The Lincoln Riley era needs to be put out of its misery after one more smackdown Saturday in a 27-13 loss to defending champion Indiana at Memorial Stadium in Bloomington.

In the wake of another turnover-ridden, penalty-marred, underachieving-tainted loss, USC officials need to text their coach with the exact word he used when he oddly ended his postgame news conference after the victory against Ohio State.

Adios.

Quick, can you catch him on the tarmac?

Riley needs to be fired even if he wins his last two games and finishes with a 9-3 record because that’s not good enough to make the College Football Playoff, which means it’s not good enough.

Riley needs to be fired even if he can somehow engineer a win in two weeks in the season finale against UCLA because he already has surrendered all the local buzz to Bob Chesney and his dream machine.

Riley needs to be fired as soon as that UCLA game ends. Officials should let some interim handle the lame bowl game while using the month to try and fix the giant mistake they made.

Yes, Lincoln Riley was a big, fat mistake, a $110-million mistake whose erasure is now worth a buyout at any cost.

In five years, his 42-21 mark is only percentage points better than Clay Helton’s 46-24 mark when he was fired.

In five years, he has beaten only one top-10 team, he’s 6-16 against top-25 opponents, and he’s 1-8 against ranked opponents on the road.

The game against No. 9 Indiana was his last chance to save himself, his last chance to make the playoffs for the first time, his last chance to make good on the promise of all those billboards seen around town.

“The Time Is: Now.”

Turns out, “The Time is Never.”

Against an Indiana team playing without its starting quarterback or starting running back, the Trojans racked up 87 yards in penalties, committed three turnovers, missed two field goal attempts and generally wasted a good effort with undisciplined mistakes.

The game was actually tied until late in the third quarter, but the Trojans have been outgained by a dozen yards this year in the fourth quarter, and so they folded again.

“Our guys believe … in crunch time we play well,” Indiana coach Curt Cignetti said to CBS. “We took it over when we had to.”

The Trojans clearly don’t believe, and if they do, they don’t show it. They never take over when they have to. This was just the latest in a season filled with collapses.

There was the loss to Oregon that featured Riley essentially tolerating violent and taunting behavior by Desman Stephens II after the linebacker knocked quarterback Dante Moore out of the game.

There was the loss to Wisconsin in which USC had minus-17 yards rushing. Seriously, how do you finish with minus-17 yards rushing?

Then there was Saturday, when the Trojans gained 409 yards against the nation’s fourth-ranked defense and still lost because they gave up 451.

Indiana scored first, a touchdown on its first possession, then the Trojans countered with a field goal before Indiana kicked a field goal to seemingly cement its first-half lead at 10-3.

USC coach Lincoln Riley looks toward the field during a loss to Wisconsin on Oct. 24.

(Ross Harried / Associated Press)

But in the final moments of the half, the Trojans came alive, with USC capitalizing on a Deven Bryant interception to cover 60 yards in 16 seconds and finish the half with a seven-yard touchdown pass from Jayden Maiava to Zacharyus Williams to tie the score 10-10.

The teams exchanged field goals to start the third quarter before the Hoosiers used two big plays to drive 75 yards and score the go-ahead touchdown in the final minutes of the third quarter on a one-yard plunge by Khobie Martin after his 37-yard run.

The Trojans responded with a 65-yard drive that ended in failure, sunk by their second missed field goal, a shanked 27-yard attempt by Caden Chittenden.

The Trojans launched another long drive minutes later, but they were stopped when the Hoosiers’ Isaiah Jones intercepted Maiava at the 7-yard line with 6:35 remaining.

The Hoosiers responded with a touchdown drive capped by a daring 42-yard touchdown pass from Grant Wilson to Charlie Becker, and that was that.

“We had some real opportunities to win this game. … Play for play, we’re probably even,” Riley said afterward. “We had too many mistakes.”

Those mistakes included three dropped interceptions, which turned into 10 Indiana points.

“We’ve definitely come a long way as a program, but we still have a little ways to go,” Riley said.

With this kind of talent, Riley is right: They’re close. But as a coach who seems better suited as an offensive coordinator than a leader, he’s not the man to carry the Trojans over the finish line.

“I believe in myself. … We know how close we are. … We’re gonna keep battling. We will get there,” Riley said.

There’s one thing he said in his postgame news conference about which there can be no argument. “This needs to be a championship-level program,” he said.

He’s right. That’s why his continued presence as the boss is so wrong.

Hamas confirms the death of Rafah brigade commander Samir Abu Younis in an attack on Khan Younis on Saturday.

Hamas has confirmed that Rafah brigade commander Samir Abu Younis was killed in an Israeli air strike on the al-Mawasi area of Khan Younis, southern Gaza.

Israel’s military and Shin Bet security agency earlier said in a joint statement that they had targeted a senior Hamas military commander in a drone strike in Khan Younis on Saturday.

The attack that hit a tent sheltering displaced people wounded two others.

The casualties were taken to Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis, medical personnel told Al Jazeera on Saturday.

Video footage verified by Al Jazeera and posted by Palestinian journalists from the vicinity of the hospital showed ambulances inside the grounds and stretchers that appear to be stained with blood.

Al-Mawasi, a coastal strip on the Mediterranean, is crowded with displaced Palestinians living in tents. Israel has repeatedly attacked the area despite previously designating it a humanitarian zone.

Latest toll

Gaza’s Ministry of Health said in its latest update on Saturday that Israeli attacks have killed 16 people and injured 68 others over the past 48 hours.

Since the “ceasefire” in Gaza took effect on October 11, 2025, Israel has killed at least 1,643 Palestinians and injured 5,964. At least 850 bodies have been recovered from under the rubble.

Since Israel began its genocidal war on Gaza in October 2023, at least 74,695 people have been killed and 176,093 injured, according to the Health Ministry.

The ministry also reported that the number of deaths related to cold has risen to 11 after a nine-month-old baby died from hypothermia, the first this winter.

Gaza’s residents, most of whom have been displaced, are living in tents and damaged buildings as water damage from recent heavy rains has set in.

Israeli attacks have escalated across Gaza, despite the October ceasefire.

MOLLY-MAE Hague looked incredible as she stripped off for a bubble bath for a glam new beauty campaign.

The influencer, 27, posed beneath a mountain of bubbles as she teased her latest collaboration with Lookfantastic.

The mum-of-two posed with her hair in a chic up posing in nothing but bubbles.

Sharing the campaign on Instagram, Molly revealed fans would soon be able to get their hands on her Icons Collection.

She wrote: “My Icons Collection: Coming this Sunday 15th November. Waitlist access opens at 10am.

“Worth over £410, yours for just £105. Exclusive to @lookfantastic.”

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The four-picture set also featured two shots of Molly kneeling on a bed in an all-white outfit, alongside two snaps of her soaking in the bubble bath.

The shoot landed shortly after Molly revealed small bruises on her forehead following a Botox appointment earlier this week.

Speaking in a recent YouTube vlog, she explained she wanted to address forehead lines.

Afterwards, she told viewers: “OK Botox done, don’t mind all the little dots over my forehead.”

Molly previously had lip and jaw filler dissolved and her composite bonding removed as she embraced a more natural appearance.

The news comes after she recently described her guilt after daughter Bambi spat out rice pudding that Molly said smelled sour, despite being dated 2027.

The star, who is also Mum to baby Midas, said the three-year-old cried after complaining it tasted fizzy.

A bewildered Molly admitted: “I literally have not been able to get rid of the guilt.”

Ambrosia told The Sun it was concerned by her account and had contacted her to investigate, adding that every pot is checked before leaving its production site.

The global oil market is expected to return to a surplus in Q4 for the first time since the Iran war began, as exports from the Middle Eastern recover faster than global demand despite continued attacks on shipping, the International

It was last December, after another season at USC fell short of the College Football Playoff, that coach Lincoln Riley promised his Trojans wouldn’t be waiting much longer to compete for a title.

“I really believe a window here has opened up,” he said at the time.

Less than a year later, on a chilly night in Bloomington, Indiana, that playoff window was basically begging USC to burst through it. The Trojans’ destiny, with three games remaining, was still in their hands. And Indiana, the defending national champion, gave USC every opportunity to seize it on Saturday.

There were red-zone trips, dropped picks and rampant penalties for USC, any number of which, had they gone right, might have turned the tide for the Trojans. There was even a fourth-quarter, score-tying drive given away by a goal-line interception.

Any realistic hope of No. 18 USC making the College Football Playoff was extinguished in a 27-13 loss to No. 9 Indiana, leaving Riley to explain how he’d fallen short for a fifth straight season.

Riley came into the game having lost six of seven against ranked opponents. But the Trojans were coming off their biggest victory of Riley’s USC tenure, an upset of No. 2 Ohio State, and had just spent the bye week focused entirely on Indiana (9-1, 6-1).

The Trojans’ third loss almost certainly eliminates them from playoff contention and, barring some unforeseen circumstances, the Big Ten championship game. But the stakes weren’t the only reason that Saturday’s result proved particularly excruciating.

All game long, the Trojans found themselves within striking distance. The defense made timely stops, only to give up nine plays of 15 yards or more. Indiana’s other 53 plays went for an average of just three yards per play.

USC wide receiver Zacharyus Williams scores a touchdown as Indiana defensive back A.J. Harris tries to stop him during the first half Saturday.

(Doug McSchooler / Associated Press)

USC’s offense put up numbers, too, racking up over 409 yards, while five of its drives made it to at least the Indiana 12-yard line. But the Trojans, who came into the game 95th nationally in red-zone conversions, came away with just two field goals and a single touchdown from those opportunities.

Their last failed red-zone attempt is sure to haunt the Trojans for the rest of the season — and possibly beyond. USC (7-3, 4-3) drove to Indiana’s seven-yard line without having faced a third down. But as Maiava threw for the end zone, Indiana linebacker Isaiah Jones stepped in front of the pass and picked it off.

It was Maiava’s second of three interceptions in the game, and by far his most back-breaking of the season. Overall, it proved to be a difficult day for the Trojans quarterback, who threw for 311 yards but had just one touchdown.

Star freshman wideout Trent Mosley did his part, with nine catches for 130 yards. But USC’s rushing attack was lacking once again, as King Miller and Waymond Jordan combined for just 98 yards on 25 carries, their second-lowest total of the season.

USC actually had no trouble moving the ball on Indiana’s vaunted defense early. But ill-timed penalties saw its first two drives stall deep in Hoosier territory, and USC only came away with three points.

Meanwhile, Indiana — with a new quarterback, Grant Wilson, under center — hit a 47-yard pass on its first third down and scored a few plays later.

USC quarterback Jayden Maiava looks to pass against Indiana in the first half Saturday.

(Doug McSchooler / Associated Press)

Both defenses settled in from there. The Trojans’ offense wouldn’t convert a single third down until midway through the third quarter. After the early field goal, they managed just a single first down over their next four drives.

One of those drives would end with an interception from Maiava — his fifth in the last six games — opening the door for Indiana. But USC’s defense held deep in its own territory, and Indiana was forced to settle for a field goal.

USC made them pay on the Hoosiers’ next possession, turning the game on its head. With 44 seconds left in the half, a tipped Indiana pass found its way into the hands of linebacker Deven Bryant. On the next play, Maiava hit Kayden Dixon-Wyatt deep for a 51-yard gain. USC capitalized soon after that, hitting Zacharyus Williams for a score and tying the score 10-10.

The two Big Ten contenders kept trading punches in the second half. USC’s defense held once again early in the third quarter, halting an 11-play Indiana drive at its 8-yard line. And when the Trojans marched on their own long drive, the Hoosiers held, as well.

The stalemate broke late in the third quarter, as Indiana broke a pair of big plays on USC’s defense. And after that, the Trojans never recovered, left instead to pick up the pieces of what looks like another playoff-less campaign.

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SpaceX officials say catch by mechanical arms shows Starship’s full reusability, crucial for rapid, low-cost recycling.

SpaceX’s Starship ‌spacecraft has returned to Earth, caught midair by giant mechanical arms where its journey began 22 hours earlier.

The spaceship emerged from a cloudy sky on Saturday, descending slowly over Starbase before slipping smoothly between mechanical “chopstick arms” above Launch Pad 2 in Texas – the first-ever capture of a Starship flying back from space.

Soon afterwards, SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk congratulated his “incredible team”.

SpaceX officials said Saturday’s catch demonstrates Starship’s full reusability, crucial for rapid, low-cost recycling.

However, with the first-stage booster exploding shortly after Friday’s liftoff from Texas, the company fell short of its desired double catch.

Separating neatly from its booster before things went awry, the upper-stage spacecraft soared into orbit and released 26 advanced Starlink satellites.

SpaceX’s Kate Tice said its engines stopped firing too soon on the way back down. The booster’s guidance system sensed it was not in the right position and automatically initiated the watery detour and self-destruction. Engineers are still investigating the cause.

Although Friday’s booster recovery failed, the company had already made three previous booster catches, validating the technique.

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

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

Starship completed 14 laps around the Earth, 265km (165 miles), outshining the previous mission’s one to two laps.

SpaceX reported that everything on the spacecraft, including its vital heat shield, appeared to work well.

It was SpaceX’s 15th flight of a full-scale Starship since 2023 and its only second trip to orbit.

Starship, a 124-metre (407ft) behemoth, is the world’s largest and most powerful rocket, intended for Moon and Mars travel.

SpaceX expects to begin launching Starships from Florida’s Kennedy Space Center within the next few months.

A LIVE performance of musical Legally Blonde had to be halted when a canine cast member pooped centre stage.

And the bulldog’s performance stool the show, with the audience giving him a standing ovation and a huge cheer at the end.

The sell-out crowd at the musical comedy, which stars Strictly finalist Amber Davies as Elle Woods, erupted into laughter when the pooch walked to the front of the stage before turning and starting to do its business.

Onlookers said the actors nervously glanced around, unsure what to do next, before quickly leaving the stage.

The lights at Manchester’s Opera House, which seats 1,920, were turned down and two maintenance workers wearing gloves and armed with disinfectant spray rushed on stage from the wings.

They quickly dealt with the situation before dashing off so the show could go on — to huge applause and cheers.

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One audience member said: “It was hilarious. The actors and audience were just like, ‘Oh my God, is this actually happening?’

“There was quite a lot of it, and the dog walked along as he was doing his business with his back end facing the audience.

“The show is brilliant, but that definitely got the biggest laugh. He stole the show. The actors were stood there looking at each other.

“It seemed to go on forever before they all went off laughing. But they recovered quickly, and once the mess was dealt with, they carried on the scene.”

The audience member added: “At the closing, the audience cheered and shouted when the dog was brought on stage, and they gave a standing ovation. It was all very funny.”

The bulldog in the show is called Rufus. He is character Paulette Bonafonte’s beloved pet, who becomes the centre of a custody battle with Paulette’s former boyfriend Dewey Newcombe.

The show, based on the 2001 comedy movie starring Reese Witherspoon, has been playing to packed-out audiences and finished its run in the city last night before continuing its UK tour.

WHETHER you are gathering seven friends for a picture-perfect getaway, taking the family to a relaxing lodge, or finding an unpretentious rural retreat, Britain’s countryside retreats have something for every pace.

Gayle Schoales, Milcah Fajardo, and Sinead McIntyre tell all about their getaways…

Mad Swans in the Mendips, Somerset

Deputy Editor Gayle Schoales finds good times are par for the course here – even with teens in tow!

Rabbits hopping along beside us, I steer our golf buggy through the ancient oaks and stone hollows at the foothills of Somerset’s Mendip Hills.

Even a golf virgin such as myself can tell this 12-hole course, from £24 a round, is special. Sadly, the same cannot be said for my swing, much to my 14-year-old son Jude’s amusement.

Luckily, at this Mad Swans rural retreat between Bath and Bristol – there’s another in the South Downs, too – the aim is having fun, not rivalling Rory McIlroy. Like a country club, but cooler, it has an unpretentious vibe – think no dress code, with music and beers allowed on the greens.

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Jude and I, plus my friend Daire and her daughter Mia, 14, are staying in two of the resort’s 16 eco-cabins. Each comes with chic, minimalist interiors, floor-to-ceiling windows leading on to decks that overlook a wildflower meadow, and fancy projectors rather than TVs.

Not that there’s time for screen time, with so much on offer and excited teens champing at the bit.

While said teens hit the pickleball and padel courts, from £15 per hour, Daire and I make our way to the bar for Lady Swan cocktails of vodka, milky oolong and strawberry syrup, £12. We reunite for shuffleboard and interactive darts, each £25 per hour, in The Hangout, one of two eateries here.

A pizzeria and bar with a veranda, it’s an idyllic spot for moreish Hail Caesar pizza with anchovies, romaine lettuce, parmesan and Caesar dressing, £12, as the sun sets.

The next morning, after a MasterChef-worthy breakfast of smoked salmon and scrambled eggs, we tackle Putt Patch, the nine-hole mini golf course, £12 for adults, £6 for under-16s.

Then it’s on to the Swing Barn, a driving range with interactive screens that track your ball speed (or, in my case, club speed, after I inadvertently lose my grip mid-swing!). Flying clubs notwithstanding, it’s a complete blast, from £5 per person.

That evening, we hit The Potting Shed, Mad Swans’ cosy a la carte spot.

From roasted suckling pig, £23, to chicken Milanese with fried St Ewe egg, £17, every dish is sensational.

Afterwards, we pop next door to The Nest, a sweeping lounge filled with books, board games, plants and squishy sofas, for a nightcap before collapsing into bed.

As teen-friendly mini-breaks go, this has been a hole-in-one.

Stays for two at Mad Swans in the Mendips cost from £165 B&B (Madswans.com).

The Water House, Suffolk

Sub-Editor Milcah Fajardo checked into a picture-perfect cottage with seven besties.

With the smell of toasted s’mores and woodsmoke wafting from the hearth, my seven pyjama-clad friends and I sink into the technicolour sofas in the cosy living room.

We’re staying in The Water House, a Grade II-listed cottage deep in the sticks of Eye, Suffolk, where no detail has been spared in the chic, maximalist decor.

With four bedrooms, three bathrooms and more than five acres of land to explore, it’s safe to say it hosts us comfortably.

We find everything from a hot tub and Aga-equipped kitchen, to a croquet kit, board games galore and speakers in every room, plus a pretty conservatory.

There’s also lots to discover beyond the vibrant floral walls. We amble the nearby Thornham Walks to take in the woodlands (Thornhamestate.com), before heading for Bury St Edmunds, just over half an hour’s drive away.

Our taxi driver shares a list of must-visit pubs in the historic brewing town, and after browsing the vibrant Sunday market – with everything from home-made candles to Filipino street food – we settle on Greek eatery The Olive Grove for fall-apart lamb kleftiko, £21.50, and moreish halloumi fries with chilli honey, £7, to line our stomachs (The-olivegrove.co.uk).

Our bar crawl begins at Burnt Mill Taproom, serving locally-brewed creations, such as the tart Glass Horizon IPA, £5.60 a pint (Burntmillbrewery.com), followed by The Beerhouse with its rotating menu of indie pints and packs of trivia cards to borrow (Burybeerhouse.co.uk).

We end under the fairy lights of The Masons Arms’ beer garden, sipping their house bitter, £5.20 a pint (@Masons_arms_bse).

Later, we dine on hearty steak and local Abbot Ale pie with chips, peas and gravy, £19.50, and gooey maple and pecan cookie dough with ice cream and maple sauce, £8.20, at The White Horse Inn, a 15-minute wander from our beds (Whitehorse-suffolk.co.uk).

On our last morning – after I take a soak in the rolltop bath – we hit Southwold.

Our perfect day by the sea begins with chips and home-made curry sauce at The Little Fish & Chip Shop (Solebayfishco.co.uk), followed by souvenir shopping at High Tide (@Hightidesouthwold) and Harriet’s Chocolate Shop (@Harrietsofsouthwold) – before snapping the colourful beach huts.

Stopping by The Southwold Flower Company – where dahlias, cosmos and zinnias are in full bloom and pick-your-own bunches start from £8.50 (Thesouthwoldflowercompany.co.uk) – wraps up a blooming lovely weekend.

Two-night stays for up to eight at The Water House cost from £566 (Houseofclarkson.com).

The Barns at Blackwater Meadow, Shropshire

Editor in Chief Sinead McIntyre and her family loved lodge life in Ellesmere.

These luxe lodges, set around two lakes in a rolling meadow on the outskirts of historic market town Ellesmere, offer peace and tranquillity in bucketloads.

Daisy, our sprocker spaniel, gets her own treats and blankets in our beautifully decked-out three-bed barn, Osprey, while our 15-year-old twins, Riley and Harris, are thrilled to discover TVs in each bedroom.

The front garden comes complete with an alfresco dining set, a firepit, egg chair and hot tub.

Come evening, a short stroll along the Llangollen canal admiring the gorgeous narrow boats takes us into Ellesmere and to quirky cellar pub The Vault, with its shelves jammed full of antiquities.

Polishing off burgers and chips, £16, washed down with delicious shiraz, and pepperoni pizzas, £15, for the kids, it’s soon time for another hot-tub dip under the stars. Heaven!

Two nights for six at Blackwater Meadow costs from £515 (Stayatthebarns.com).

While rocketing toward the top of the league, the Lakers have been far from perfect. That’s good news to them.

“A big thing that we talk with our players about a lot is being able to learn and get better and try to correct things even when you are winning,” coach JJ Redick said.

The Lakers (11-2) have won seven consecutive games entering Sunday’s 1 p.m. PST matinee against the Suns (5-6) in Phoenix.

Using a rare multiple-day break between games to audit their performances, coaches and analytics staffers showed slide presentations to players about both offensive and defensive flaws this week. The lectures left the team with one of the best records in the league feeling as if it was one of the worst, forward Ziaire Williams joked.

Already the top-ranked offense in the league, the Lakers should strive to match that by becoming a top-10 defense, Redick implored his team. Williams is not stopping there.

“Top 10 should be at least like our standard, if not better,” the forward said. “Our half-court defense has been great. Obviously, rebounding has been one of the biggest things for us, cleaning up transition as well. But the potential’s there. We have the size, the length, the athleticism. It’s just about going out there and executing.”

The Lakers, ranked 18th in defensive efficiency, thrive on forcing turnovers and protecting the rim. Their 18.5 turnovers forced per game rank third in the league, and they average an NBA-best 11 steals per game. Center Walker Kessler’s 2.2 blocks per game rank third.

But they can’t finish the strong half-court possessions. The Lakers are ranked 28th in defensive rebounding and 25th in second-chance points given up.

The Lakers staff rewatched every offensive rebound given up this season. Lack of boxing out was the biggest fault. Then there were instances when players stood and watched.

“If I stand and watch and try and outjump someone else, I’m probably not going to get the rebound,” said forward Jake LaRavia, who has been an offensive rebounding revelation since entering the starting lineup, averaging 2.8 offensive rebounds in the last nine games. “So you have to go and be physical and hit bodies, and then just be able to dive on loose balls, finish possessions, it’s really just who’s going to work harder.”

Kessler is averaging 8.1 defensive rebounds during the Lakers’ seven-game winning streak — which is the second-longest in Redick’s coaching tenure — compared to 6.3 during the first six games.

Forward Jarred Vanderbilt, who did not play in the first four games, has made the most of his limited minutes off the bench, grabbing 7.9 defensive rebounds per 36 minutes, the second-best rate on the team among players who have played more than three minutes. Vanderbilt, averaging 3.8 rebounds per game in 11.9 minutes, had 10 rebounds in less than 14 minutes against the Detroit Pistons on Nov. 8.

Transition defense also is sinking the Lakers’ defensive efforts. Opponents are scoring 20.2 points off turnovers per game, which put the Lakers 24th out of 30 teams. Redick blames some of that on the Lakers’ offensive flaws. Although they are the league’s most efficient offense, the Lakers turn the ball over 16.9 times per game, the fifth-most in the NBA.

Lakers guard Luka Doncic shoots over two Bucks during a win Wednesday in Milwaukee.

(Aaron Gash / Associated Press)

Luka Doncic, the league’s leading scorer at 38.6 points per game, also averages an NBA-worst five turnovers. Austin Reaves, who is day-to-day because of a left heel bruise suffered Wednesday against Milwaukee, averages 24.7 points and 3.4 turnovers.

Doncic is expected to play Sunday despite tweaking his right ankle late in Wednesday’s win. Reaves didn’t participate in practice Saturday but Collin Sexton was a full participant. The guard wore a thick Band-Aid over his right eyebrow and had bruising around his right eye after bumping heads with Milwaukee’s Ryan Rollins but said he doesn’t expect to wear a mask. He needs only to keep the cut covered to ensure it doesn’t open up again. The rugged guard is familiar with the protocols; Sexton said this was the 11th time in his career that he’s received stitches in his face.

The short break offered an important opportunity for players to rest after a grueling three-game Eastern Conference trip. They now enter a softer stretch in the schedule. After Sunday’s game in Phoenix, the Lakers play their next four at home against three teams — Charlotte, Sacramento and Utah, twice — that have a combined six wins.

Their next game against a team with a winning record isn’t until Nov. 27 at San Antonio. The 11-2 Spurs, who have won 11 consecutive games, are the only team with an active winning streak longer than the Lakers’.

Aldo Torres is a longtime trade union leader in the electricity sector and currently serves as executive secretary of the Venezuelan Federation of Electricity Industry Workers (FETRAELEC). In this interview, he discusses the current crisis in Venezuela’s electricity system, its causes and possible solutions, as well as the impact of opening the sector to private capital.

Based on your experience in the electricity sector, what is the current assessment of the National Electricity System (SEN), and what factors are behind its crisis?

The National Electric System (SEN) has been deteriorating significantly over time. This crisis with recurrent blackouts all over the country is not a recent phenomenon. Without ignoring the impact of the blockade, the main factors, in my view, are the authorities’ incompetence, ineptitude, and lack of will to address a sector of vital importance to the life and development of the nation.

Management corruption has been a determining factor in the degradation of the electricity sector, and this has been publicly evident. In fact, many financial resources allocated for investment and improvement – at a time when there were still no economic or political sanctions – were diverted into the pockets of unscrupulous contractors.

Then, with the blockade, in addition to all its direct consequences, there was a massive exodus of professionals, technicians, and skilled workers. Faced with low wages, dangerous working conditions, and cases of political persecution, many migrated or simply left to find work elsewhere.

How did the working class respond to this deterioration you describe?

The workers constantly raised the alarm and denounced the situation. But the response was to ignore their warnings or criminalize them. For example, in 2010, [intelligence agency] SEBIN arrested 11 workers following the explosion of a turbine at the Planta Centro thermoelectric plant in Carabobo State, even though we had warned that the equipment had already reached the end of its useful life.

It is unacceptable that every time there were problems of this nature, management assumed the workers were to blame. All of this also affected the quality of the electricity service.

In short, we have been warning about the possibility of this crisis for many years. In 2008, we issued this warning to the country – and even to President Hugo Chávez – in a report that also included our proposals. After that, between 2009 and 2010, he declared an electricity emergency. 

2011 marked a critical turning point. At that time, workers in the sector, organized in federations such as FETRAELEC, and [state electricity company] CORPOELEC technicians formally warned of an imminent technical and financial collapse of the industry. But after President Nicolás Maduro appointed Jesse Chacón in 2013 and later Luis Motta Domínguez to take charge of the Ministry of Electricity and CORPOELEC, the electricity problem only worsened, leading to the disaster we face today. This crisis has been negatively affecting the lives of millions of Venezuelans on all fronts. Without electricity, water supply, transportation, industries, hospitals, and more come to a standstill.

What might be the possible solutions to the crisis we are facing?

Since January 3, following the US military attack on Venezuela and the tutelage regime imposed afterward, rationing and power outages have increased. Previously, there were 3- or 4-hour blackout periods, sometimes every other day. Now they last 6 or 8 hours, or even longer, every day, with Caracas being the exception.

This worsening situation is directly linked to the increase in oil production. There’s a saying that’s becoming popular: for every barrel of oil extracted, a household is left in the dark. Independent electricity generation for the oil industry would provide some relief from the power rationing that has left Venezuelans overwhelmed and anguished, but it is not the definitive solution to the national electricity crisis.

We, as organized workers, proposed a project for “reactive power compensation” in the electricity grid. This would essentially reduce transmission losses and stabilize the voltage along the lines. It would allow for an immediate increase in the electrical power available to meet demand by optimizing the efficiency of the grid, without requiring an increase in electricity generation. This proposal would apply to high-voltage lines of 765, 400, 230, 138, and 115 kV, and, according to our estimates, we would recover approximately 2,000 MVAr of reactive power that is currently lost due to the grid’s inefficiency. In addition to this, we would be saving hundreds of millions of liters of diesel annually that are used in power plants or independent generators, a significant expense in the national budget. In fact, in 2011, this project was approved in its entirety by CORPOELEC, beginning with Caracas, and a national study was conducted to gradually expand it throughout the country, establishing an order of priority. However, due to administrative changes, it was not carried out.

Workers in the electricity sector have demanded that the sector’s collective bargaining agreement be honored and that the persecution cease. Could you explain these labor demands in more detail? What is the situation for retirees?

As is the case throughout Venezuela, collective bargaining agreements in the public sector have been paralyzed since the government issued and approved the illegal and unconstitutional Memorandum 2792 on October 11, 2018. This memorandum authorized employers to review, modify, or suspend clauses in collective bargaining agreements that they considered “burdensome” or that “jeopardized jobs.” That is why all workers are now facing precarious conditions, and the situation is even more dire for retirees and pensioners.

Furthermore, the imposed guidelines used the minimum wage as the basis for calculating pay scales, eliminating or reducing multiplier factors, professionalization bonuses, seniority pay, and other socioeconomic benefits that were hard-won through working-class struggles. And now the minimum wage is practically zero. Our main demand is that the rule of law be respected, that negotiations on our collective bargaining agreement be restored, and that our basic labor rights be upheld. This is a struggle for the entire Venezuelan working class; it is not limited to the electricity sector, of course.

How do workers view the current opening of the electricity sector to transnational private capital? What will this reform mean for service quality and access, especially for working families?

We have been debating the opening of the electricity sector to private capital in union meetings and open forums. Unfortunately, this is nothing new in the country. This was the case even before Hugo Chávez came to power and the sector was subsequently managed by military personnel who were anything but qualified to do so.

We also face a very difficult situation regarding national sovereignty, stemming from the Trump administration’s effective control over Venezuelan affairs. That is why, now, under these terrible conditions, US capital will come with its respective corporations to take over our natural resources and strategic sectors. It is absolutely outrageous.

The historical precedents of privatized electricity show us that it leads to a profound inequality in access. And the argument of corruption and poor public administration may once again be used to justify privatization. In the 1970s, the Compañía Anónima de Administración y Fomento Eléctrico (CADAFE) and its subsidiaries were victims of severe meddling and sabotage by economic groups and traditional political parties, which turned the company into the poster child of corruption and inefficiency. Then, in the 1990s, they used this as a pretext to carry out a restructuring aimed at privatizing CADAFE. This had a devastating impact on workers, whose ranks were reduced from 3,500 to fewer than 900. With this new opening to private capital, all these risks are repeating themselves.

Six more women have spoken out against Russell Brand, accusing the British actor and recently convicted rapist of sexual misconduct amid the ongoing fallout of his rape and sexual assault trial in the U.K.

Brand’s alleged predatory behavior and forceful sexual interactions with the women spanned from the aughts to 2015, as detailed by a new investigation published Thursday by the Times of London and Sunday Times. The investigation cites interviews with the accusers, their friends who were made aware of the incidents and archive material including text messages and photographs. The accusers are identified only by their first names. One woman’s name was changed for the article.

The investigation supports U.K. prosecutors’ allegations that 51-year-old Brand, who was a BBC radio host before he was a Hollywood star and religious influencer in recent years, leveraged his fame to have sexual encounters with numerous women. A majority of the women in the newest investigation alleged they met Brand during or after his shows, including one who said she interacted with the comedian while he was performing at a venue in San Francisco. Two women accused Brand of engaging in sex without their consent in separate incidents: One alleged Brand did not wear a condom while he raped her and the other woman alleged he left her in pain after proceeding with sex, despite her multiple refusals.

The Los Angeles Times has not independently corroborated the allegations. Legal representatives for the British actor did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Times of London published its latest investigation into Brand three years after its initial exposé with Britain’s Channel 4 in September 2023 paved the way for criminal prosecution against the comedian and actor. Brand, the once in-demand star of comedies “Get Him to the Greek” and “Forgetting Sarah Marshall,” was sentenced Monday to more than a decade in prison for rape and sexual assault.

A jury found Brand guilty last week on one count of rape and three counts of sexual assault involving four women. He was acquitted on two rape counts and one count of attempted indecent assault. He stood trial for three weeks in October.

In the Times article, a woman described as an employee and named Alex said she met Brand in her 30s and engaged in an on-and-off relationship with the actor during the aughts. She detailed his alleged “controlling behavior” over her eating and drinking habits and alleged Brand initiated sex without a condom after she refused his advances. Brand apologized for his behavior in person and over text, she alleged.

Another woman, identified as Vicky, said she was 19 when she met Brand during a meet-and-greet in 2007 and that getting his attention at the time felt like a “fairytale.” Vicky noted Brand’s more forceful sexual behavior in a pair of separate incidents. During one encounter, she felt he was “rougher” in bed after she refused his request that she bring along a friend. In her final encounter with Brand at his rental, she alleges he engaged in sex without foreplay, leaving her in pain. She urged him to stop twice but he continued. Vicky said she was moaning in pain and that Brand told her “I want you to be louder so [another woman at the rental] can hear.” Vicky recalled another woman came out of a bedroom and began performing a sex act on Brand while she was still present. Brand allegedly also said, “tonight was consensual, nobody did anything they didn’t want to do.”

The woman who said she met Brand in San Francisco accused the actor of grabbing her breasts at a bar. Brand allegedly also shoved his hands down her pants and digitally penetrated her in a hotel after his comedy show. A fourth woman said she met Brand at a music festival in 2005 but didn’t have sex with the star until a “low day” when Brand alleged tried to “stick [his] penis” down her throat, nearly making her sick. They continued seeing each other for months but the woman — who also recalled Brand’s proclivity for asking women to brush his teeth during encounters — said she felt Brand was “playing with Barbies” and saw women as disposable after he got what he wanted.

A fifth woman said she was in her late 20s when she met Brand in 2006. She had won BBC 6 Music Competition and was invited to the show as a guest. Brand allegedly proposed an “arrangement” and they had sex in a disabled lavatory. They saw each other on-and-off for the next year but during their last meeting at the actor’s home, Brand seemed “pissed off and angry” and allegedly requested the woman to lick a toilet after they had sex. The sixth woman said she worked at London venue that Brand had frequented and accused the actor of physical violence. Brand, whom she described as a “disgusting, pervy comic,” tried to pull her into a disabled bathroom to have sex, the woman alleged. She said Brand grabbed her hand hard when she went to the bathroom to bring him toilet paper and that one of his staffers prevented her from leaving.

“I felt like a piece of meat,” the sixth woman recalled to the Times of London.

According to the investigation, the women who spoke out did not feel comfortable pursuing criminal cases against Brand but were empowered by the recent trial to share their stories. Earlier this week Brand’s ex-girlfriend producer Jemima Goldsmith accused Brand of “violence, coercive control and abuse” during their relationship. She said that she had police remove Brand from her home in 2014 “during a violent incident.”

Brand, the ex-husband of pop star Katy Perry, is married to author Laura Brand and they share three children. She testified on his behalf, describing him as a devoted father. She also recalled in court that she met Brand after one of his comedy shows in 2006 — she was 19 and he was 31.

Though Brand will soon be behind bars, accusations against the actor remain in the spotlight. British police confirmed to the Times earlier this week it is further investigating of criminal allegations against the actor. Brand and the allegations against him are also the subject of Netflix’s true-crime documentary “Russell Brand: Open Secret,” which premiered Friday.

Federal Reserve Bank of Boston President Susan Collins on Saturday said that a “steady, gradual path seems appropriate” of modest interest rate hikes is the best way forward for monetary policy and the economy.

Speaking Saturday morning at a conference

With the busiest travel days of the year just ahead, U.S. airports and federal officials today scrambled to restore flights for tens of thousands of travelers grounded by Friday’s historic suspension of air traffic.

“We are back at full operations,” said Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy at a Washington D.C. news conference Saturday morning. However, he said, “Games may not happen on time today. People may not get to a wedding. They may not get to a birthday party.”

At LAX at 2:20 p.m., travel website FlightAware reported 85 canceled departures and 110 canceled arrivals, along with 189 delayed departures and 196 delayed arrivals. At Hollywood Burbank Airport, the figures were 12 canceled departures, 11 canceled arrivals, 22 delayed departures and 22 delayed arrivals.

“It’s just going to take some time for things to get back to normal. I don’t have an estimate on that,” said an LAX spokesperson Saturday morning. “The only thing we’re able to recommend is that people check with their airlines before they travel.”

John DiScala, who runs the travel advice website JohnnyJet.com and has a pre-Thanksgiving flight from LAX coming up on Wednesday, said he plans to follow his usual pre-flight routine, which includes having the airline’s app on his phone, having the airline’s number on his phone (in case he needs to rebook in a hurry), checking his seat assignment, showing up at the airport two hours ahead of departure and consulting flighty.com, which tracks airlines, airports and plane locations.

That said, in the absence of another FAA hiccup, “I don’t think there are going to be any problems. The only problems will be if there’s bad weather,” DiScala said. Still, he said, “Be extra kind to TSA, to gate agents and to flight attendants. This is not their mess. They’re just dealing with it like you, and they’re not getting paid any more. That’s why we bring chocolates.”

Nationwide, as of Saturday afternoon, FlightAware reported 5,577 canceled flights within, into or out of the U.S., along with 6,915 delayed flights. Though about 10% of LAX’s departures were canceled Saturday, the airport appeared to be recovering faster than some others. Airports in Chicago, Atlanta, Dallas-Fort Worth, Denver, New York and San Francisco were among those with cancellation rates of 17% or higher.

That slowdown follows several hours of grounded flights Friday, when federal officials said more than 9,000 commercial flights were canceled, forcing tens of thousands of travelers into long waits or overnight stays in major airports across the country. Apart from 9/11, the FAA’s only “nationwide ground stop” order — banning takeoffs until further notice — came in 2023. That order, prompted by problems with the FAA’s Notice to Air Missions system, was lifted after about 90 minutes, but affected thousands of flights.

“BAD NEWS: I’m at the airport. GOOD NEWS: I’m in the bar,” Chicago-based poet Patricia Smith wrote on Facebook.

“We’ve landed at LAX. We can’t get a gate because there are no free gates,” said actor Johnny Cannizzaro in an Instagram post. “We’ve got a plane full of cranky passengers…. We have a few crying babies. We have a bit of a nightmare situation going on here.”

“I’ve been stranded at the airport for hours,” author Reyna Grande wrote on Facebook from LAX on Friday. “I may or may not make it out of here tonight for the Texas Book festival tomorrow.” (Two hours later, Grande said she’d miss the festival on Saturday, but was still hoping to be there Sunday.)

Desi Barlett, who lives in Hawaii, was due to fly there from San Diego on Friday, but learned in the “chaotic” San Diego airport that her flight was scrubbed. “It’s a little scary-slash-weird,” she said on Instagram. During the wait, she did exercises and found a massage chair. Later, texting from a Hawaii-bound flight on Saturday, she said, “the whole thing was a mess…Today was much more relaxed.”

For Santa Rosa-based author and cartoonist Stephan Pastis, the mess developed in stages. He was due to fly Alaska Airlines to Spokane for a book-tour event, saw that his flight was canceled and booked an alternative. Then that was canceled, and another.

“They don’t cancel them altogether,” Pastis said via text, still en route to Spokane. “So you have to stay up all night waiting for the alert that your new flight has ALSO been canceled. Nutters.”

Pastis’s event in Spokane was delayed to give him more time to arrive. But the author’s travel challenges are far from over, because he’ll be in transit almost constantly between now and Thanksgiving.

“I have no choice but to endure it,” Pastis said. Nine tour stops in nine days.”

Air travel expert Brian Kelly, also known as The Points Guy, has warned that “it’s going to be a rough weekend at airports. Speaking on Instagram, Kelly said that “it will take days before things are back to ‘normal.’ I highly recommend tracking your flight and opt-in for updates in your airline app.”

One of many events affected by the grounding is Camp Flog Gnaw, a sold-out Saturday-Sunday music festival at Dodger Stadium expected to draw about 50,000 people per day with more than two dozen acts. The gates were set to open at noon Saturday.

“I unfortunately am going to miss the festival because all flights are either canceled or have the longest standbys imaginable,” wrote one Reddit user. “I’m hoping AXS” — the event’s official ticket vendor— “can give some refund back.”

The incident comes as the holiday travel season intensifies. On a typical travel day in mid-November, TSA agents screen roughly 2-2.5 million passengers nationwide. Last year, that figure reached 2.7 million passengers on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving and 3.1 million on the Sunday after. As of 9:30 a.m., Friday’s total hadn’t been posted.

At Saturday morning’s news conference in Washington, federal officials said they did not believe cyber-crime or artificial intelligence played any role in Friday’s trouble. Instead, Duffy blamed lagging federal air-traffic technology and pointed to government contractor L3Harris, which owns and operates a communications network crucial to air traffic control. After some communications and radar became unreliable on Friday afternoon, Duffy said, officials traced the trouble to a recently updated communications router.

So far, Duffy said, it’s unclear whether the root problem was human error or a faulty router. Officials said that router was in a “remote” location, but didn’t say where.

When Nan Lehnert of Los Angeles boarded her flight from Burbank to Oakland Saturday morning, “everyone gave a big cheer and applause for the pilots,” she said by text.

Nathan Banks of Portland, who works for TriMet, that city’s public transportation agency, was in San Diego for a conference on transportation scheduling software. When word reached him of the canceled flights, he imagined the transportation professionals trying to sort it out.

“It must be a nightmare,” Banks said.

But for Banks and his wife, Lisa Smillie, it wasn’t so bad. Instead of going to the airport for their scheduled Friday afternoon flight, they rebooked for Saturday on Alaska Airlines, had dinner at a restaurant on Shelter Island and spent the night in a hotel on the water. As of midday, their Saturday afternoon flight was listed as on time.

Aryna Sabalenka has apologised and denied claims that she insulted opponent Elina Svitolina after a viral clip showed her swearing during her WTA Finals defeat by the Ukrainian.

A video of world number two Sabalenka angrily gesturing and swearing in Russian during her 6-3 3-6 6-1 defeat by Ukraine’s Svitolina was posted on social media on Saturday.

Some commentators interpreted Belarusian Sabalenka’s comments as an insult towards Svitolina or Ukrainians in general.

Sabalenka later wrote on social media that “my comment was not directed at Elina” but she lost her temper because of the behaviour of some fans.

“I was frustrated with a small group of spectators who were aggressively cheering my mistakes, and I reacted emotionally in the moment,” the 28-year-old wrote.

“That said, I should have handled my frustration differently, and I apologise to anyone offended.”

Sabalenka said Svitolina had played a great match, adding that she wished her “all the best for the rest of the tournament”.

Ukrainian players have a long-standing policy of not shaking hands with Russian or Belarusian players because of the ongoing invasion of their country.

They also do not take pre-match photographs with each other.