“Pressure,” the new World War II movie from director Anthony Maras and writer David Haig, is a hyperfocused look at the days leading up to D-day with a special focus on the weather. It’s a one-setting thriller that unspools in the pressure-cooker environment of General Dwight D. Eisenhower’s war room at an English country estate. The movie works backward from a famous 1961 Eisenhower quip to JFK that attributed his success in Normandy, France, to the Allies having “better meteorologists than the Germans.”

If you’re skeptical about how exciting a movie about the weather on D-day might be, “Pressure” takes that as a creative challenge, an argumentative stance from which to start. For the next hour and 40 minutes, Maras and co-writer Haig, who also wrote the 2014 play from which the film is adapted, explain to us exactly how important the meteorologists of D-day were, beginning with the disastrous D-day rehearsal Exercise Tiger.

With the weather app at our fingertips these days, it can be hard to imagine just how difficult it was to forecast the weather in the 1940s, especially in Northern Europe. That was the predicament facing Eisenhower (Brendan Fraser) just 72 hours before the planned D-day launch of June 5, 1944. But we know that D-day happened on June 6, so the arrival at that date is part of the film’s narrative intrigue.

After a devastating glimpse of Exercise Tiger, red blood mixing with blue ocean waves and white sandy beaches, we’re quickly introduced to our protagonist, Group Capt. Chief Meteorologist James Stagg (Andrew Scott), in his cozy home with his pregnant wife before he’s swept into critical war planning.

He’s stern, terse and no-nonsense. Stagg is the kind of person who wants to be correct more than he wants to be liked and he insists on a careful collection of live data, using weather balloons, phone calls and mathematical charting. His foil is Col. Irving Krick (Chris Messina), a charming American meteorologist and Eisenhower’s chosen weather guru, a yes man who relies on selective historical data and a persuasive speaker whose approach rankles the fastidious Stagg. Eisenhower instructs the two men to come to an agreement and “Pressure” follows the ups and downs of their working relationship over the course of several days.

The movie becomes a two-hander between Scott’s Stagg and Fraser’s Eisenhower, the former convinced that a storm on June 5 will make conditions less than ideal, the latter raging at the uncertainty while simultaneously attempting to placate a phalanx of military personnel. The troops are requisitioned, the destroyers in place, the full moon just right, the secrecy of the invasion delicate. Fraser’s explosive performance underlines the immensity of the stakes, balancing every precarious element of this enormous mission.

Maras, who is known for another terrific one-setting thriller based on a true story, 2018’s “Hotel Mumbai,” both directs and edits and his films are put together like precision clockwork: propulsive and relentless, the pace italicized by Volker Bertelmann’s scores. “Pressure” is skillfully directed, sweeping us into this world with a kind of addictive immediacy, and is also beautifully lensed by cinematographer Jamie Ramsay. Maras and Ramsay make the wise choice to shoot the film with richly saturated color instead of the usual grayish, desaturated look often assigned to period pieces set in this era. It’s not gritty and harsh, but rather stunning and lovely — an eerie contrast to the terror and bloodshed of the day itself.

While Fraser delivers an external performance as the tough American general, Scott offers a restrained, mostly tamped-down depiction of the repressed and methodical Stagg. But when he finally bursts with a cathartic eleventh-hour speech about the inaccuracy of Krick’s historical forecast, Eisenhower listens. Scott, as seen in “All of Us Strangers” and “Blue Moon,” is so good at this kind of acting, processing every emotion internally but allowing just enough to show to let the audience into his character’s emotional state. It’s wildly compelling to watch.

In a quiet conversation with Eisenhower’s close confidant and aide, Kay Summersby (Kerry Condon), she jokes that weathermen are boring. Stagg reminds her that the weather itself isn’t. Weather feeds us, it can destroy us — it rules our existence, he says. “People ask, ‘When will the wind stop blowing?’ No one ever asks, ‘Why does the wind blow? What is the wind?,’ ” revealing himself as a sort of philosophical poet of the weather. His forecast was the crucial edge in D-day and the volatility of the weather is increasingly relevant in our lives, especially with our changing climate.

Boring? Never. Thrilling and history-making? Indeed.

Katie Walsh is a Tribune News Service film critic.

SOUTHERN SECTION BASEBALL FINALS

FRIDAY’S RESULTS

At Cal State Fullerton

DIVISION 1

St. John Bosco 2, Norco 0

DIVISION 9

Webb 12, Rolling Hills Prep 6

SATURDAY’S SCHEDULE

At Cal State Fullerton

DIVISION 4

Glendora vs. Laguna Beach, 7:30 p.m.

DIVISION 6

Brentwood vs. Covina, 4 p.m.

DIVISION 3

Mira Costa vs. Agoura, 1 p.m.

DIVISION 7

North Torrance vs. South El Monte

At Rancho Cucamonga Epicenter

DIVISION 2

Ganesha vs. Loyola, 5:30 p.m.

DIVISION 8

Rancho Alamitos vs. Schurr, 2 p.m.

DIVISION 5

Kaiser vs. Culver City, 11 a.m.

One coastal village was destroyed overnight.

A Devon fishing community was obliterated by a ferocious storm, back in 1917. By daybreak, only a single dwelling remained intact, forcing the town’s inhabitants to seek refuge in nearby settlements.

Hallsands, situated between Beesands to the north and Start Point to the south, boasts a heritage dating back to the 1600s. By 1891, the settlement had fostered a close-knit community of just 159 people.

Yet merely 26 years later, these residents would face catastrophe when all but one would see their homes claimed by the sea.

Luckily, nobody was injured, and while the inhabitants lost their dwellings, they all made it through the night. But their ordeal didn’t end there — it would take another seven years before they secured compensation for what they’d lost.

While it was a deadly combination of howling gales and surging tides that razed the village in a single night, this wasn’t the full picture — Hallsands had fallen prey to Government blunder.

During the 1890s, the UK Government determined that the naval dockyard at Keyham, near Plymouth, required expansion. To source the concrete needed for this project, the stretch between Hallsands and Beesands was dredged.

Despite fierce objections from Hallsands locals that this would endanger their community, the dredging pressed on until 1902. By 1900, the beach had begun to drop noticeably, and that autumn a storm swept away part of the sea wall.

This sparked fresh outcry from local residents — and this time, the Government started to take notice.

In September 1901, roughly a year after the town’s sea wall was lost, a Board of Trade inspector determined that future severe storms posed a real threat of significant damage and advised that dredging should cease.

Once dredging was halted, beach levels managed to recover to some extent, though storms kept battering the village and surrounding area.

Catastrophe then hit in 1917, when a storm caused the village to tumble into the sea, leaving just one house standing intact.

That house belonged to Elizabeth Prettyjohn, who steadfastly refused to abandon the village and lived there with her chickens until her death in 1964. The property remains to this day.

Trump weighs next steps on Iran deal as Tehran insists negotiations are continuing and no final agreement exists.

Prospects for a US-Iran agreement to end the conflict remained uncertain on Friday, with President Donald Trump saying he would make a “final determination” on a deal, while Iranian officials stressed that no understanding had yet been reached.

Iran’s chief negotiator, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, said Tehran would judge any agreement by actions rather than words, adding that no steps would be taken unless Washington acted first.

Meanwhile, fighting continued elsewhere in the region. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israeli forces had advanced beyond Lebanon’s Litani River, as Israeli attacks across Lebanon on Friday left dozens more civilians reportedly killed or wounded.

Here is what we know:

In Iran

• Iran says talks continue, but no deal yet: Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said exchanges with the United States are continuing but stressed that no final agreement has been reached. He rejected Trump’s demands-based approach and described the US naval blockade as illegal, adding that Tehran would judge any easing of restrictions by actions rather than words.
  

War diplomacy

• CENTCOM highlights ongoing regional patrols: US Central Command (CENTCOM) said its forces remain “present and vigilant” across the region, sharing an image of an F-16 fighter jet conducting a patrol over the Middle East.
• US pushes allies to boost defence spending: Speaking at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Trump plans a $1.5 trillion investment in defence and described it as part of a historic expansion of America’s military-industrial base. Hegseth urged allies to spend at least 3.5 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) on defence, warning that countries that fail to do so could face changes in their relationship with Washington. He also reiterated that the US remains committed to preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.
• Washington praises Israel-Lebanon security talks: The US Department of Defense described military-to-military talks between Israeli and Lebanese delegations in Washington as “productive”, saying they focused on regional security and stability. The Pentagon also reaffirmed support for Lebanon’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.

In the US

• Uncertainty remains after White House talks: Reporting from the White House, Al Jazeera’s Alan Fisher said there was still no clarity after Trump’s Situation Room meeting on whether a final agreement with Iran had been reached. Fisher said any easing of restrictions around the Strait of Hormuz could signal progress, but officials are still waiting for concrete details from the White House.

In Israel

• Air raid sirens sound in northern Israel: The Israeli military said it intercepted several projectiles launched from Lebanon, while another landed near Kiryat Shmona in northern Israel. The military reported no casualties and did not specify whether the projectiles were rockets or drones.

In Lebanon

• Netanyahu says Israeli troops have crossed the Litani River: Israel’s Netanyahu said Israeli forces have advanced north of the Litani River near Nabatieh, signalling an expansion of operations in southern Lebanon. The move comes amid ongoing Israel-Lebanon talks and could be followed by further strikes on Beirut and the western Bekaa Valley.

Mourinho was seen speaking with Vinicius after he walked off the pitch following the interaction with Prestianni.

But it was Mourinho’s post-match comments that were the most shocking.

While publicly backing his player Prestianni, Mourinho suggested Vinicius had incited tensions through his celebration in front of the home support.

“You score a goal from another world, why celebrate like that?” Mourinho said.

“The same thing always happens in so many stadiums. In how many states has this happened? In how many stadiums? How many? How many?

“He’s an out of this world player, I love him. Vinicius tells me one thing and Prestianni tells me another. I want to be balanced.”

The remarks sparked widespread criticism, with many accusing Mourinho of shifting attention away from the racism allegations and placing responsibility on the victim instead.

In addition to expressing his belief that Vinicius had been disrespectful with his goal celebration, he pointed to the club’s legendary striker Eusebio as proof that Benfica are not a racist club.

Asked if he felt Vinicius incited the crowd, Mourinho said: “Yes. I believe so.

“It should be the crazy moment of the game, an amazing goal. Unfortunately [he was] not just happy to score that astonishing goal. When you score a goal like that, you celebrate in a respectful way.”

He added: “When he was arguing about racism, I told him the biggest person in the history of this club [Eusebio] was black.

“This club, the last thing that it is, is racist. They [Vinicius and Prestianni] told me different things. But I don’t believe in one or another. I want to be an independent.”

“House of the Dragon” Season 3 will see Rhaenyra Targaryen take back King’s Landing — but the war is far from over.

HBO on Friday released the final trailer for the upcoming season of its epic fantasy, which teases brutal battles, many dragons and the Targaryen queen returning to the capital of the Seven Kingdoms to claim the Iron Throne.

“I see you have been merciful,” Alicent Hightower (played by Olivia Cooke) says to her childhood friend (Emma D’Arcy) in the clip. “But the crown is a weight that crushes. You’ll do things that spell death for all involved.”

And if the trailer is any indication, there will be a lot of bloodshed in Season 3.

The second season of “House of the Dragon” left off with Rhaenyra and Alicent plotting for the former to take King’s Landing with minimal resistance in exchange for the latter’s freedom. Unfortunately, Alicent’s promised tribute — her son King Aegon II — has fled his castle so things won’t go exactly as planned.

After a slowburn of a second season, a higher octane Season 3 will kick off with the highly anticipated Battle of the Gullet, a fight at sea that is regarded as one of the bloodiest and most violent clashes in the history of Westeros. “House of the Dragon” showrunner Ryan Condal recently told Entertainment Weekly that the premiere is “arguably the craziest episode of television ever made.”

The new trailer shows that everyone will be reeling in the aftermath. According to the footage, what awaits Rhaenyra during her reign are fearful subjects, conniving enemies, sleepless nights and plenty of anguish.

“In a war, all suffer,” Daemon Targaryen (Matt Smith) says in the trailer.

“House of the Dragon” Season 3 will premiere June 21.

CLOVIS — Cool conditions produced a bunch of fast times Friday at the CIF state track and field championships.

Rosary Academy sprint coach Jon Gilmer was worried 4×100-meter relayers Tra’via Flournoy, Justine Wilson, Pfeiffer Lee and Maliyah Collins might get complacent at prelims, but the Royals were the top qualifiers in 45.13 seconds — nearly a full second faster than Canyon Country Canyon (46.07) — at Buchanan High School.

“It’s different not having Calabasas here,” Gilmer said. “Now we’ve got to push ourselves.”

Rosary set a state record (44.23) at the Arcadia Invitational on April 11, but lost to the Coyotes one week later at the Mt. SAC Relays. However, the anticipated state finals clash was not to be as Calabasas dropped the baton in the Southern Section finals and failed to advance.

Collins had a huge lead by the time she received the stick for the anchor leg Friday.

“This is maybe our fourth- or fifth-fastest time but we just wanted to make finals,” said Wilson, who ran the second leg before handing off to Lee. “We want to run faster tomorrow when we go for a PR, the meet and the state record.”

Calabasas might be out of the relay, but three Coyotes remain in contention in the 100, led by Malia Rainey (the top qualifier in 11.54), Marley Scoggins (11.63) and Olivia Kirk (11.63).

Calabasas sprinter Marley Scoggins, center, wins her 100-meter heat at the CIF state track and field preliminaries on Friday.

(Steve Galluzzo / For The Times)

Collins won her heat in 11.62, the third-fastest time.

Servite won the first heat in the boys 4×100 relay in 40.29 — two hundredths off its winning time at last year’s state finals — and is primed to defend its title in the event. Concord De La Salle (40.81) was the second-fastest qualifier, followed by the other heat winners, Rancho Cucamonga (40.87) and Loyola (40.93).

“We got the stick around pretty good today,” said Jorden Wells, who ran the first leg Friday instead of his customary second leg, which was run by Jaelen Hunter. “Did it feel different? Not really, I’ve done it before.”

Wells said his twin brother Jace will run the first leg Saturday, he will run the second while Kamil Pelovello and Benjamin Harris will stay in the third and fourth positions.

Harris, the favorite to win the 100 meters, won his heat in a wind-legal 10.36, but three others were fractions faster in wind-aided times — Elk Grove’s Cy Lugo (10.20), Will Wood’s Deshawn Seymour (10.34) and De La Salle’s Damari Dean (10.34). Newbury Park’s Jaden Griffin won the last heat in 10.37, setting the stage for an exciting finals sprint as all nine qualifiers ran under 10.48.

Harris put himself in position for a Saturday double by winning his 200 heat in 21.10 but as he did in the 100, Lugo (the Sac-Joaquin Section record holder) had the fastest time (20.73), followed by Seymour (20.88), Camren Hughes (20.93) of Palos Verdes and Jace Wells (21.02). Jordan Wells (21.11) also made the cut.

Newbury Park’s Jaden Griffin, center, shouts after winning his heat in the 100 meters at the CIF state track and field preliminaries on Friday.

(Steve Galluzzo / For The Times)

Servite (3:15.43) had the second-fastest qualifying time in the 4×400-meter relay behind only El Cerrito (3:14.96) of the North Coast Section.

Coming off a state-record 3:33.83 at the Masters Meet in Moorpark, Long Beach Wilson’s 4×400 girls relay had the fourth-fastest qualifying time (3:46.73) without two out of its best runners (Clara Adams and Saniah Varnado), taking second in the first heat behind San Luis Obispo (3:45.85) and safely advancing to the finals along with Heat 2 runner-up Rosary (3:45.08) and Heat 3 winner Canyon Country Canyon (3:46.77).

Having broken the Southern Section record in the 400 meters six days earlier in 51.98, Adams put it in cruise control to win her heat in 53.53, the fastest qualifying mark. Joining her in the final will be her three relay teammates Varnado (54.42), Wilson (54.57) and Fowler (54.62). Adams later won her 200 heat in 23.60, a tenth of a second behind fastest qualifier Naiaja Sizemore of Vanden.

San Jacinto Valley Academy’s Kaahliyah Lacy ran a wind-legal 13.59 for the top qualifying spot in the girls 100 hurdles and Varnado (40.85) was the top qualifier in the 300 hurdles.

Another showdown is brewing in the boys 400, where Loyola’s Ejam Yohannes (47.08) and Hunter (47.21) won their heats in the two fastest times Friday. Hunter clocked 46.32 to set a California freshman record last spring, but lost to Yohannes by 11 hundredths of a second at the Masters Meet.

City Section champion Jayden Rendon showed good form in his bid to defend the state 300 hurdles crown, posting the fastest prelims time (36.80). He also advanced to the finals in the 110 hurdles with a 13.83 effort. Moorpark’s Davis Benson (14.03) nabbed the last spot.

Corona Santiago’s Braelyn Combe, right, wins the first heat of the 800 meters at the CIF state track and field preliminaries on Friday.

(Steve Galluzzo / For The Times)

Corona Santiago senior Braelyn Combe won her 1,600 heat in 4:46.88 and is set for a four-lap battle with San Diego Section champion Chiara Dailey of La Jolla, who won the second heat in 4:46.00. Combe is the defending champion, having edged Hanne Thomsen of Santa Rosa Montgomery by five hundredths of a second in the finals last year.

“I just wanted to advance with as little effort as possible,” Combe said. “It was not as hard as I expected. I don’t want to leave any regrets. I’m taking it one race at a time.”

Combe also had the fastest time (2:08:25) of three heats in the 800 meters.

Venice senior Lawrence Kensinger, who set the City Section shot put record with a state-leading throw of 65 feet 11 inches last week, had the third-best mark at prelims (59-6¾) and easily advanced to the finals. Defending state high jump champion JJ Harel of Sherman Oaks Notre Dame tied nine others for the second-best mark (6-6) heading into the second day.

Aliso Niguel senior Jaslene Massey had the top marks in the girls shot put (51-3¾) and discus (175-6) and transgender athlete AB Hernandez from Jurupa Valley was the leading qualifier in the girls long jump (20-5½) and triple jump (41-8½) and was one of 13 qualifiers in the high jump.

AB Hernandez competes at the CIF state track and field preliminaries at Buchanan High School on Friday.

(Tomas Ovalle / For The Times)

THIS summer, six cities across the UK will be hosting a major sporting tournament – and each one makes for a great weekend break.

This summer, the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2026 will take place from June 12 to July 5 across Manchester, Birmingham, London, Leeds, Southampton and Bristol.

Follow The Sun’s award-winning travel team on Instagram and Tiktok for top holiday tips and inspiration @thesuntravel.

With the cricket being played in these cities, it is the perfect excuse to book a UK staycation city break and enjoy everything else each city has to offer.

Whilst fans of fast bowling, wearing white and tea breaks will delight in the cricketing drama, there are plenty of other opportunities to relish during a summer city break in England.

Birmingham

Outside of the sporting event, Birmingham has a lot to offer – with everything from Peaky Blinders sets, the Balti curry and a jewellery quarter, according to Visit England.

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Head to the Black Country Living Museum to learn about the industrial history of the city or, if you are a fan of Formula 1, then drop by the F1 Arcade for some competitive racing.

The city is also home to a number of canals which are the ideal place to paddle on Roundhouse Birmingham’s three-mile kayak tour.

For Peaky Blinders fans, you can step into the living set and filming spots featured in the series including St George’s Hall, the Georgian Quarter and Stanley Dock.

You can even grab a ‘Ruby Murray’ (a 1950s singer who’s name became Cockney rhyming slang for curry) on Birmingham’s famous Balti Triangle.

Make sure to explore Digbeth too, which is a trendy neighbourhood with a new food hall.

A Visit England spokesperson said: “Top tip – Edgbaston Village is not only home to the cricket ground but also leafy streets, a buzzing food scene and historic gardens.

“Take a leisurely stroll around the reservoir or try your hand at paddleboarding, kayaking or sailing via Edgbaston Watersports (disability-friendly sessions are available).”

Matches will be taking place at Edgbaston Cricket Ground on:

• Friday June 12 – England vs Sri Lanka
• Sunday June 14 – Bangladesh vs Netherlands & India vs Pakistan
• Wednesday June 17 – South Africa vs Pakistan 

Bristol

Heading more south, Bristol offers amazing street art as well as swimming and even surfing.

Visitors can head to The Wave, which is a surfing and bodyboarding simulator, in an in-land lake.

But if you prefer a dip, you can head to Bristol Lido instead, which dates back to the Victorian period.

If you prefer to see art, then Bristol is ideal as you can head to Wake the Tiger or visit the new ‘Cracking Exhibition Gromit: 50 Years of Aardman’ in Bristol at M Shed between June 20 and September 13.

Bristol of course has a lot of street art to explore as well, which was recently named one of Lonely Planet’s Best in Travel experiences for 2026.

If you want to get even more hands on and embrace your inner Banksy, you can participate in a Where the Wall spray painting session.

A Visit England spokesperson said: “Don’t forget to call into the Gloucestershire Cricket Museum and Learning Centre for the chance to see some top cricket memorabilia.

“The collection includes the Benson & Hedges Super Cup, won in 1999, plus a collection of bats, balls and other cricketing equipment signed by some of the most famous cricketers of our time, including Brian Lara, Courtney Walsh and Jack Russell.”

The museum is open on match days.  

Matches taking place at Bristol County Ground include:

• Sunday June 21 – West Indies vs Sri Lanka
• Tuesday June 23 – New Zealand vs Scotland & Sri Lanka vs Ireland
• Thursday June 25 – South Africa vs Netherlands
• Saturday June 27 – Pakistan vs Netherland & West Indies vs Ireland

Manchester

In Manchester, football lovers can check out the National Football Museum and even try out the interactive games floor with a penalty shoot-out challenge.

If history is more your thing, then make sure to not miss out on the Everyone Welcome Manchester LGBTQ+ Walking Trail, which heads around the Gay Village.

Alternatively, you could swing by the Manchester Museum, where you can come face-to-face with a T-rex named Stan.

Currently, The Mystery of Banksy – A Genius Mind exhibition is also on at Depot Mayfield until July 5

And as for music events, visit Aviva Studios which has events year-round.

A Visit England spokesperson said: “Stay as close to the action as possible with a pitch-side hotel room at Hilton Garden Inn, Emirates Old Trafford.

“Rooms look over the grounds, with two match tickets offering access to a private balcony overlooking the pitch.”

Matches at Old Trafford Cricket Ground include:

• Saturday June 13 – Scotland vs Ireland & Australia vs South Africa
• Sunday June 21 – South Africa vs India 
• Thursday June 25 – India vs Bangladesh
• Friday June 26 – Sri Lanka vs Scotland

Leeds

In Leeds, you can get into the cricket atmosphere by heading to Sixes, which allows visitors to play the sport in a fun, party-style way, with World Cup and T20 ‘modes’ available to play.

Elsewhere in the city, visitors can also head on a guided food tour and visit six independent spots to eat, showcasing the best of Yorkshire food.

Make sure to also wander around the Victorian Quarter, where you’ll find a mix of high-street, designer and independent brands across the historic shopping arcades.

A Visit England spokesperson said: “The suburb of Headingley is buzzing with bars, pubs and restaurants and is sure to provide a lively atmosphere around the match.

“Post-match, sports bar The Box, offers rooftop views over towards the stadium.

“For a pre-match bite, another rooftop location is Crowded House in Leeds city centre set within the Trinity Centre, alongside Trinity Kitchen which offers an array of global cuisine.

“Stay at Headingley Stadium Hotel and wake up close to the action.”

Matches at Headingley Cricket Ground include:

• Wednesday June 17 – Australia vs Bangladesh & India vs Netherlands
• Thursday June 18 – West Indies vs Scotland
• Saturday June 20 – England vs Scotland
• Tuesday June 23 – Australia vs Pakistan

Southampton

For a sporting city on the south coast, you should visit Southampton.

The World Cup Cricket Tournament is taking a ‘tea break’ in the Southampton Hampshire Bowl, where reigning champions New Zealand will attempt to defend their title.

Of course though, while in Southampton, you have to make the most of the water and can do so by heading to Southampton Water Activities Centre with canoeing and jet skiing.

Alternatively, you could step into the Solace Sauna in Lepe Country Park, which is a heated, beachside sauna experience with add ons including aromatherapy, scrubs and masks.

A Visit England spokesperson said: “Following a World Cup tour can be tiring, Eforea Spa at Utilita Bowl however offers a side of relaxation and rejuvenation alongside the thrilling jeopardy.

“Guests can experience an outdoor hot tub, Ice Fountain and Hydrotherapy Pool pre- or post-match.”

Matches at Utilita Bowl include:

• Saturday June 13 – West Indies vs New Zealand
• Tuesday June 16 – New Zealand vs Sri Lanka & England vs Ireland
• Friday June 19 – New Zealand vs Ireland
• Saturday June 20 – Australia vs Netherlands & Pakistan vs Bangladesh

London

Would this list really be complete if it didn’t feature the UK’s capital?

London has two major cricket venues – Lords in North London and The Kia Oval in South London – which will both host matches in the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2026.

Lords is home to the Marylebone Cricket Club which is one of the most famous clubs in the world.

And if you are heading to a match at Lords, then you can also visit the nearby Regent’s Park and Marylebone Village, which is bursting with spots to grab a bite to eat, bars and independent shops.

Even though you are in a city, you can still enjoy a bit of water fun as well by heading paddleboarding with Paddleboarding London, which operates tours around Primrose Hill, Little Venice and Camden Market.

As for The Oval south of the river, it is home to Surrey County Cricket Club and you can even go on a tour of the grounds.

Nearby, make sure to visit Market Place in Vauxhall for some top notch street food.

A Visit England spokesperson recommended: “Lords is the fitting backdrop to host the final, taking place on July 5.

“Cricket enthusiasts can go behind the scenes and gain access to exclusive areas of the ground including the Long Room, Player’s Dressing Rooms and MCC Museum, home of the Ashes Urn – cricket’s best-known artefact, as part of a museum and tour experience.”

Matches in London at Lords in North London and The Kia Oval in South London include:

• Wednesday June 24 – England vs West Indies at Lords
• Saturday June 27 – England vs New Zealand at The Oval
• Sunday June 28 – South Africa vs Bangladesh & Australia vs India at Lords
• Tuesday June 30 – Semi Final at The Oval
• Thursday July 2 – Semi Final at The Oval
• Sunday July 5 – Final at Lords

Match tickets start at just £5 per child and £20 per adult, via the official ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2026 website.

May 29 (Asia Today) — LG Energy Solution sees the electric vehicle slowdown as an opportunity to expand its energy storage system business as artificial intelligence data centers drive surging electricity demand, a company executive said Friday.

Kim Hyun-tae, executive director of product planning and strategy for LG Energy Solution’s energy storage system business division, said the EV “chasm” has created risks but also opened a path for the company to shift more aggressively into ESS.

“In the carbon-neutral era, we must move beyond simply increasing renewable energy and improve both grid stability and energy efficiency,” Kim said.

Kim made the remarks at the second Asia Today Environment Forum held at The Plaza Seoul, where he gave a presentation titled “LG Energy Solution’s vision for power grid stabilization and decarbonization.”

He outlined LG Energy Solution’s strategy for shifting toward ESS and responding to electricity infrastructure needs in the AI era.

Kim said South Korea’s battery industry had built large-scale production bases in the United States, viewing it as a core automotive market. But the market contracted after the second Trump administration took office and reduced electric vehicle subsidies while changing related policies.

“We secured new business plans by proactively converting U.S. plants from EV-centered production to ESS production,” Kim said.

LG Energy Solution produces ESS products in South Korea, Europe and the United States, Kim said. Its ESS production capacity in North America is now about 50 gigawatt-hours, and the company plans to expand that to more than 80 gigawatt-hours by next year.

“The United States has the highest ESS demand after China,” Kim said. “An ESS boom is taking place in the United States because investment subsidies of at least 30% and as much as 60% are provided when ESS and renewable energy facilities are built.”

Kim said the spread of AI data centers is also driving ESS demand.

“AI data centers are called a hippopotamus that eats water and electricity because they consume enormous amounts of power,” Kim said. “Nvidia’s next-generation Rubin graphics processing unit is expected to consume about four times more power than the Blackwell chip currently being sold, so securing stable power is essential.”

Kim said global Big Tech companies are focused on “time to power,” or how quickly new power capacity can be secured.

“Because connecting to existing power grids takes a long time, demand is growing for quickly building onsite and off-grid power sources that combine solar power, ESS and small gas turbines,” he said.

Kim also proposed an ESS-based distributed power grid model as an alternative to delays in building new transmission networks.

“Large-scale electricity demand sites are increasing, such as the Yongin semiconductor cluster, but building new transmission networks or high-voltage direct current systems usually takes six to seven years,” Kim said.

“For example, a realistic alternative could be storing electricity generated from renewable energy in the Honam region in ESS and then using existing transmission networks to distribute it to demand centers,” he said.

In the medium and long term, Kim said sodium-ion batteries, sometimes called “salt batteries,” could become a game changer in the ESS market.

“When renewable energy’s share expands to about 50%, large-scale ESS will be needed to offset intermittency, but costs are currently high,” Kim said. “LG Energy Solution plans to test sodium-ion batteries that can replace lithium in the United States in 2027 and pursue large-scale commercialization in 2029.”

Kim also said the global ESS market is being reshaped around domestic protectionism.

“The United States is encouraging the use of U.S.-made products through subsidy policies based on the Inflation Reduction Act, and Europe is also pursuing the introduction of the Industrial Accelerator Act, which is being called a European version of the IRA,” Kim said. “In a blocked supply chain environment, policy consideration is also needed to protect domestic industries and strengthen supply chain competitiveness.”

Kim said LG Energy Solution is building a decarbonization system that includes its supply chain and recycling operations as it works toward achieving RE100 by 2030 and carbon neutrality across its value chain by 2050.

— Reported by Asia Today; translated by UPI

© Asia Today. Unauthorized reproduction or redistribution prohibited.

Original Korean report: https://www.asiatoday.co.kr/kn/view.php?key=20260529010008771

Five Palestinians, including three members of the same family, were killed and five others injured in fresh Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip on Sunday amid daily violations of an ongoing ceasefire, medical sources said.

One of the Palestinians was killed by Israeli gunfire in the center of Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza and his body was transferred to Al-Shifa Hospital in western Gaza City, the sources told Anadolu.

A couple and their child were also killed, and three others were wounded in an Israeli airstrike that targeted their home in the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, the sources added.

In a separate incident, the sources said a child died from injuries sustained in an Israeli strike that targeted a police headquarters in northwestern Gaza on Saturday.

In northern Gaza, a Palestinian fisherman was moderately injured after Israeli naval forces fired shells and machine-gun fire at fishing boats off the coast of Gaza City, according to the sources.

READ: France bans Israeli Cabinet Minister Ben-Gvir over treatment of Gaza flotilla activists

Another Palestinian was injured by shrapnel from a shell fired by Israeli forces on the beach in the Al-Sudaniya area, northwest of the enclave.

In a related development, the Israeli army carried out demolition operations targeting buildings and facilities in northern Gaza. Local sources reported hearing a large explosion resulting from the demolitions.

In Khan Younis in southern Gaza, Israeli forces also carried out similar demolition operations east of the city, accompanied by gunfire and artillery shelling near Bani Suheila roundabout, according to the local sources.

According to Gaza’s Health Ministry, over 880 people have been killed and more than 2,645 others injured in Israeli attacks since the ceasefire was announced on Oct. 10, 2025.

The agreement was meant to halt Israel’s two-year war that killed more than 72,000 people, most of them women and children, injured over 172,000 since October 2023, and caused massive destruction affecting 90% of civilian infrastructure.

READ: Israel pounds Gaza, Lebanon in daily breaches of ceasefires

ELLA Bright left fans absolutely stunned when she revealed her ‘real’ voice on The Kelly Clarkson Show.

The Off Campus actress, 19, has seen huge success in her role as college junior Hannah Wells on the new YA series, where she speaks in an American accent.

However, both Kelly and viewers were left absolutely stunned by what her day-to-day speaking voice actually sounds like.

Bringing it up with Ella, a surprised Kelly said: “Your accent is f*****g throwing me. It’s throwing me, it’s crazy.

“It’s weird. I was doing research on you last night because you were coming on and I was like, ‘Oh my God, she’s British.’

“Because I only saw the clips from Off Campus so I was like, ‘Wait, what?’

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“You do such a great American accent!”

Fans watching the clip felt the same way and commented about it on TikTok.

One user said: “I didn’t know she was British. Wow.”

A second shared: “I’m loving that raspy voice.”

A third added: “Insane insane insane.”

Season 1 of Off Campus debuted earlier this month, corresponding to the first book in Elle Kennedy’s viral series, The Deal, released in 2015.

It follows aspiring film composer Hannah as she pretends to date cocky Briar U hockey captain Garrett Graham to win the attention of her real crush, Justin Kohl (Josh Heuston).

Ella’s on-screen partner, Garrett Graham (Belmont Cameli), is 28 years old and also plays the role of a college student.

It’s caused a stir among fans because Ella is actually only 19 years old.

She is the youngest among her co-stars, who range from their mid to late twenties.

Goalkeepers: Dayne St Clair (Inter Miami), Maxime Crepeau (Orlando City), Owen Goodman (Crystal Palace).

Defenders: Alistair Johnston (Celtic), Derek Cornelius (Marseille), Richie Laryea (Toronto), Niko Sigur (Hajduk Split), Joel Waterman (Chicago Fire), Luc de Fougerolles (Fulham), Moise Bombito (Nice), Alphonso Davies (Bayern Munich), Alfie Jones (Middlesbrough).

Midfielders: Stephen Eustaquio (Porto), Ismael Kone (Sassuolo), Tajon Buchanan (Villarreal), Mathieu Choiniere (Los Angeles FC), Ali Ahmed (Norwich City), Nathan Saliba (Anderlecht), Liam Millar (Hull City), Marcelo Flores (Tigres UANL), Jacob Shaffelburg (Toronto), Jonathan Osorio (Toronto).

Forwards: Jonathan David (Juventus), Cyle Larin (Southampton), Tani Oluwaseyi (Villarreal), Promise David (Union SG).

Lindisfarne and Bamburgh, Northumberland

Day one Circular walk of Lindisfarne (4 miles)
Day two Budle Bay to Bamburgh to (5 miles)

The first swallows are swooping round the headland as I follow the coast path along the western side of the Holy Island of Lindisfarne. There are ringed plovers on the beach and a couple of grey seals bobbing out at sea. A barefoot guy is splashing along the tidal Pilgrim’s Way, an ancient post-marked path across shining sands. Lindisfarne is only accessible when receding tides uncover this path and the curving causeway road nearby.

The original 62 miles of Northumberland coast path, which opened 20 years ago, bypassed the island, so I’ve been looking forward to walking this stretch of the England coast path, which opened two years ago.

Very few of us will walk the full 2,700 miles of the King Charles III England coast path, which was inaugurated in March, but a four-mile stroll around Holy Island is an adventure in itself, a shifting landscape of wader-foraged mudflats, dunes, beaches, whinstone cliffs and a reedy blue-and-gold lough.

Waymarked posts lead through grassy sand dunes, freckled with cowslips. Skylarks and stonechats clack and chirrup, while courting lapwings tumble over the fields. Gertrude Jekyll’s little walled garden, on the hillside facing the clifftop castle, is bright with marigolds and purple rock cress.

Edward Hudson, founder of Country Life magazine, bought Lindisfarne Castle in 1901 and hired architect Edwin Lutyens to turn it into a home. Inside the craggy fortress, there are four-postered bedrooms and an elegant drawing room in the old gunpowder store. From the ramparts, a telescope shows the seal colony near two obelisks guiding boats into Holy Island harbour.

Just over the fields are the red sandstone arches of Lindisfarne Priory; these ruins date from the 12th century but a monastery was founded here by Saint Aidan in Northumbria’s seventh-century heyday. I walk past stacks of lobster pots to visit the museum with its carved stone crosses and fossil rosaries. Nearby Pilgrims Coffee offers fancy brews and fresh focaccia.

A stream of cars crosses Lindisfarne causeway, but you can arrive instead on bus 477 from Berwick-upon-Tweed (Mon-Sat in school holidays; otherwise Wed-Sat). A bus ticket gets you 10% off at the castle and 20% off at the priory. With good transport links, Berwick makes an excellent base for exploring this end of the coast path.

Getting off bus X18 at Budle Bay campsite the next day, I continue walking south towards Bamburgh. The original coast path runs inland from Lindisfarne, but there are now 10 miles of seasonally sensitive coastal access, open in June and July, plus this short new year-round path on the south-eastern edge of Budle Bay.

Wading birds forage in the mudflats and miles of moss-green salt marsh. Past ruined lime kilns and coconut-scented gorse, I cross cliffs into dunes, where a grasshopper warbler whirrs among roses and honeysuckle. The Walled Garden cafe, opposite St Aidan’s church, serves huge crab sandwiches with lemon and herbs. Nearby, the Norman keep of Bamburgh Castle has towered for nearly 900 years over the wide yellow sands.

Transport for this trip was provided by LNER. The nearest mainline station to Lindisfarne is Berwick-upon-Tweed. The Walls B&B (doubles from £130 B&B) overlooks the Tweed, or there is a YHA hostel next door (private rooms from £57)
Phoebe Taplin

Around the Wash, Norfolk and Lincolnshire

From King’s Lynn
To Sutton Bridge
Distance 15 miles

Isolation is claimed to be one of the latest trends in luxury travel. If true, then the stretch of the King Charles path around the Wash must be the most extravagant pleasure you can enjoy in England.

For hours I traversed a landscape of no people. No walkers, no workers, no houses, no cars, no noise except the shrill cry of redshank and the babble of skylarks drifting on the wind. If you’re weary of chatter and conflict, this undeniably desolate walk is for you. Every view of vast horizontals of green, brown and blue could be the cover for an album entitled Nowhere.

I set out from King’s Lynn, one of England’s most vibrant ports in the 13th century, which retains a wealth of medieval buildings. The coast path around the Wash, England’s biggest natural bay, requires excursions inland to cross the rivers that feed the largest multiple estuary system in Britain. Several miles can be sliced from the King’s Lynn section by taking the ferry across the Great Ouse from the old port to West Lynn.

I find no sign of life at the bottom of Ferry Lane, only a mysterious notice: “If you require the ferry please make yourself seen BEFORE the time NOT AFTER”. After 15 minutes pondering its meaning, I spot a small boat crossing the turbulent brown water.

I’m ferryman Ben’s only passenger and he’s convinced I’ll be cold in my shorts. “No shelter out there,” he warns. It’s a blustery May day, and I head up the western bank of the river.

The Ouse sparkles silver and blue, but there is only a distant line of bronze representing the retreating North Sea. The sea views are underwhelming yet the effect is rather like being at sea, the seabank a kind of ship, ushering us between the vast prairie fields of the reclaimed Fens on one side and epic salt marshes on the other.

Most of this 15-mile stretch between King’s Lynn and Sutton Bridge borders the Wash. The south-eastern corner of this national nature reserve was first recognised as a precious home for stupendous flocks of wintering wildfowl and breeding waders by Sir Peter Scott, the 20th-century conservationist and artist who helped found the World Wide Fund for Nature.

He would be delighted by the wealth of little and great white egrets along the seabank, and it is only birds I have for company (I encounter just three walkers all day). I eat my packed lunch in the shelter of a stunted hawthorn – notices warn walkers there are no toilets, cafes or public transport on this section.

The grand liminal arena of the Wash, where land and sea blur into one, plays tricks on distances and perspectives. Faraway trees pop up like a mirage above the blue horizon. For a while I entertain myself with “ship or tractor?” when spying a distant machine. I see both.

I pass a mysterious island, identified on the map as the Outer Trial Bank, a test to see if more land might be wrenched from the sea. When I follow the path inland again alongside the River Nene, and pass the old lighthouse where Scott once lived, it is like returning to land after a sea voyage.

Other stretches of the coast path are unquestionably more scenic, but there’s something glorious and trance-like about walking for so long in such space and solitude. On the bus back to King’s Lynn, I glow from this unique experience.

Accommodation is limited around the Wash, but King’s Lynn is a good option, with day walks either side (Hunstanton to King’s Lynn is 17 miles with buses to get you out/back). The Bank House (doubles from £165 B&B) is in the historic old town
Patrick Barkham

The west Somerset coast

From Minehead
To St Audries Bay
Distance 11 miles

Minehead may be the birthplace of the science fiction writer Arthur C Clarke, but it’s a coastal, rather than cosmic, odyssey I’m beginning here, walking 11 miles east to St Audries Bay.

Despite this being one of Somerset’s most well-trodden stretches of coast, few tackle it in one go; tides dictate when beach paths are passable, and return journeys rely on a public transport system that doesn’t yet stretch to moonbuses, so many visitors opt for circular hikes instead. Until now I’ve done the same, but the opening of the England coast path has inspired me to pull on my walking boots and lace together the sections I’ve skipped.

It’s not a propitious start. Coastal erosion has forced a 1½-mile diversion leaving Minehead. Instead of clamouring gannets and the rush of waves, I’m trailed by the rumble of engines as the route follows the A39. It’s not far to Dunster, however, where the soundtrack switches to lawnmowers and willow warblers, and I’m soon at the beach.

Clattering shingle underfoot, I’m buffeted along to the village of Blue Anchor, with its huddle of beach chalets. Along the promenade, I meet angler Steve, who’s hoping for dogfish or conger.

“Will you eat them,” I ask?

“I’m soft,” he smiles. “I throw them back. If I want fish, I go to the chippy.”

From here on, the path gets steeper and prettier, detouring around the headland through woods trimmed with blossom and birdsong. Midweek, the trail is quiet, despite the herds of caravans corralled in adjacent fields.

Approaching Watchet, the path spills on to the grassy earthworks of Daw’s Castle, a clifftop fortress founded by King Alfred to stave off Viking raiders. Fossil hunting is another long tradition along this coast, and when I stop at the town’s Market House Museum, I’m transfixed by a huge ammonite, found on a nearby beach a century and a half ago.

It’s market day in Watchet, and the trail leads past a rainbow of striped awnings to East Quay, the town’s social enterprise arts hub. In its cafe I order a charred sweetcorn and courgette salad and a cheese scone almost as gargantuan as that ammonite.

I’d like to visit East Quay’s art gallery and Watchet’s boat museum, but time and tide wait for no woman along this shoreline. Two hours before low tide, the route across neighbouring Helwell Bay is passable, but I’m cautious as I step over rocks and slippery kelp, mesmerised by the swirling mud and serrated shoreline below my boots as I play seaweedy hopscotch.

Leaving the beach near Doniford Farm Park, the trail winds through a maze of caravans then out into fields before dropping into St Audries Bay. I feel the waterfall here before I see it, its icy spray a reminder not to linger.

Retracing my steps to Doniford Halt, a request stop on the West Somerset Railway, I arrive just in time to flag down a steam train to take me back to Minehead. As we puff along, the landscape I have walked is rewound through the window. There are better coastlines in England for swimming than these estuarine bays, but as a tidal immersion on foot this walk has been stellar.

Train from Doniford Halt to Minehead is £17.50 one-way (west-somerset-railway.co.uk). Doubles at the Foxes hotel in Minehead from £120 B&B
Rhiannon Batten

Chichester harbour, Hampshire and West Sussex

From Prinsted
To West Wittering
Distance 16½ miles

Wild, windswept wetlands stretch to the horizon. Human figures are outnumbered by birds. Church spires and thatched roofs signpost scattered settlements. Can this really be the crowded south coast of England?

My boyfriend and I are walking part of a 35-mile stretch of the King Charles III England coast path, linking South Hayling in Hampshire to East Head in West Sussex, which opened in February. This section includes Chichester harbour, a protected estuary with open water and sheltered inlets, reedbeds, salt marshes, mudflats, shingle banks, sand dunes and a wooded shoreline.

We join the path at pretty Prinsted, after coffee (and directions) from the Southbourne farm shop. We set off east around Chidham peninsula, trying to spot the birds pictured on the information boards. Tens of thousands of wading birds and waterfowl spend the winter here, and in summer it’s a breeding ground for threatened species of seabirds and waders. Early April may not be peak time for birdwatching, but we still see a plethora of gulls and ducks, plus oystercatchers, curlews and a kestrel.

After rounding the peninsula and making our way up the other side, the day’s destination comes into sight across the water. Bosham, a cluster of buildings crowding up to the quayside, looks close enough to touch, but the winding coastal path is deceptive, and we still have a way to go (8½ miles in total).

We are glad to reach the Millstream, a 31-room hotel made from converted cottages, set in a lovely garden. Our room is in a tiny thatched cottage, reached by a little bridge over the stream.

Bosham (pronounced “Bozzum”) is ancient – believed to predate the Romans. Some think this is where King Canute tried to turn back the tide. King Harold II is depicted in the Bayeux tapestry praying at Bosham church, and the manor is recorded in the Domesday Book as one of the wealthiest in England. We visit the Saxon church and see the plaque to Canute’s eight-year-old daughter, who is said to have drowned and been buried here.

More cheerfully, we stop for a pint at the ivy-clad Berkeley Arms before dinner at the harbourside Anchor Bleu. The latter, family-run inn has been welcoming weary travellers since 1741 and has a daily changing, seafood-heavy chalkboard menu. The inspired kelp, samphire and seaweed “seacakes” mean that vegetarians don’t miss out, either.

The next morning, we walk across the harbour (a walkway appears at low tide) and continue south for a couple of miles. The wind is howling and it’s hard going – thankfully the route is flat and the formerly muddy tracks are now smooth paths. Areas along the trail that previously flooded at high tide have boardwalks above the water level, made from recycled bottles, and the paths are designed to be easily “rolled back” in the event of coastal erosion.

We battle the wind to the water’s edge and wave down the ferryman on the far shore. For hundreds of years, travellers have taken the Itchenor Ferry (AKA the Itchy Bosom) across the Chichester Channel to save them a 13-mile detour by foot. Today, the ferry also operates as a taxi service for people going to and from their boats, and on our crossing a bonus spin up the channel to pick up a couple of sailors is included in our £3.50 fare.

We disembark at West Itchenor and stop for coffee and cake at the Quarterdeck Cafe in the bustling boatyard. From here, it’s a six-mile shoreline stroll to the dunes at East Head spit, and the adjacent sandy beach at West Wittering. We are no longer alone – the car park is packed – but the beach is so vast, we don’t mind sharing.

Southbourne station is within walking distance of the start of the walk and Chichester station is a bus ride from the end. Accommodation was provided by the Millstream hotel (doubles from £200 B&B)
Rachel Dixon

The Fylde coast, Lancashire

From St Annes-on-the-Sea
To Freckleton
Distance 11½ miles

Two avocets dip their scimitar beaks into the lagoon. An egret hops on to the bank. A herd of cattle wade knee-deep. In the hazy light it might be a remote outpost on the Pampas. But it is Lancashire, and Preston is just around the corner.

Some walks exhilarate partly because your expectations are quite low. I imagined the coast from St Annes-on-the-Sea to Freckleton to be suburban seaside, with the occasional moment of peace, beauty or wildness perhaps. But it is all of this and more.

I have a few childhood memories of St Annes from visiting my grandad. It still has a 1970s atmosphere: quietish, residential, conservative. Local businesses are sprucing up frontages and gardens for the coming season. A litter-picking campaign has set up shop near the pier.

We walk on the sandy beach until it segues into a greener area, with dunes on the left and salt marsh on the right. The path between is busy with dog walkers and families enjoying the morning sun. Groups of nordic walkers speed past. Two detectorists bleep below the prom. On Fairhaven Lake the pedalos and boats are out.

Soon we come to Lytham, smart and gentrified. We buy coffees from a kiosk on the front before strolling along the Mussel Tank Memorial to visit the free museum inside the windmill. The birdlife is already good – oystercatchers, curlews, herons – and it only gets better as we leave built-up areas behind and stride out on to the edges of the Ribble Estuary national nature reserve – also designated a site of special scientific interest, a European special protection area and international Ramsar wetland site.

Why all the titles? Because this estuarial Eden happens to be the most important site in the UK for wintering wildfowl, supporting more than a quarter of a million ducks, geese, swans and wading birds; it’s internationally important for 16 species of wintering visitors. Spring isn’t bad, either. I’ve remembered my binoculars. As well as the wondrous avocets, we see and/or hear redshanks, skylarks, linnets, sedge warblers, shelducks, goldfinches, swallows, peewits, kestrels – and hares.

I have brought a hat, too, which is lucky. Coast walks are great – you can proceed without navigating or having to look down – but there’s not much cover. As we approach Warton airbase, the path follows a causeway. We have passed lots of benches (and loos), but here we sit on the grass to enjoy a picnic and birdsong.

The Lancashire coast is known for resorts rather than beaches, nature, cliffs or birdlife. The towns are famous; the bits in between overlooked. The King Charles III England coast path could alter this, which would be a good thing; it will spread visitors out, perhaps explode a few cliches. The Lancs littoral turns out to be as generous with fresh air, flora and fauna as it is with fun and frolics.

The Lancashire section isn’t fully open or waymarked, but work is afoot and Cicerone has published a guide and map. The 68 bus runs between Blackpool and Preston, stopping at St Annes, Lytham and Freckleton. The stretch between Freckleton and Preston is best done by bus as the path is forced on to a main road. Trains connect Blackpool, St Annes-on-the-Sea, Lytham and Preston. The Rooms Lytham has doubles from £110

May 29 (Asia Today) — Samsung Electronics said Friday it shipped samples of its seventh-generation high-bandwidth memory chip, HBM4E, for the first time, demonstrating its competitiveness in advanced semiconductor technology.

The shipment came three months after Samsung began mass shipments of HBM4 in February, raising expectations that the company could expand its share of the HBM market.

Samsung said it supplied 12-layer HBM4E samples to global customers. The company did not identify the customers, but industry officials said the samples were likely supplied to Nvidia, a major buyer of AI chips.

Samsung said the HBM4E shipment goes beyond an expansion of its product lineup and could strengthen the company’s supply capacity and technological edge in the global AI infrastructure market, which is expected to grow rapidly for years.

Samsung said HBM4E operates at 14 gigabits per second to 16 gigabits per second per pin, more than 20% faster than the previous generation. It provides bandwidth of 3.6 terabytes per second in a single stack, improving computing speed for large language models and next-generation AI systems.

The 12-layer HBM4E offers 48 gigabytes of capacity, more than 30% higher than the previous generation. Samsung said it plans to expand the lineup to 32 gigabytes, or eight layers, and 64 gigabytes, or 16 layers, to meet different customer service environments.

The new HBM4E uses Samsung’s 1c DRAM, a sixth-generation 10-nanometer-class DRAM process, and its own 4-nanometer foundry logic die. Samsung said the combination improves process stability, yield and mass production capability.

The company also said low-power design and packaging optimization improved energy efficiency by 16% and thermal resistance characteristics by more than 14% compared with the previous generation.

Samsung’s position in the HBM market is expected to strengthen because the company appears to have moved ahead of competitors in shipping samples. Earlier sample shipments could help Samsung secure customer volume in the next-generation AI memory market.

Samsung ranked second in the global HBM market with a 22% share in the fourth quarter of last year, behind SK hynix, which held 57%, according to Counterpoint Research. Samsung’s share was down sharply from 40% a year earlier, but analysts say its HBM4 mass shipment this year could help it recover.

Global customers have given positive reviews of Samsung’s HBM4 in speed, power efficiency and overall performance, industry officials said. Samsung’s HBM4 received the highest rating in a system-in-package test in December after demonstrating an industry-leading speed of 11.7 gigabits per second.

Analysts say HBM4E could move into mass production quickly because Samsung is already mass-producing HBM4 using the same combination of 1c DRAM and a 4-nanometer base die.

Market watchers also remain optimistic about Samsung’s HBM business.

“The memory market in 2027 is expected to face a deeper supply shortage, and price increases are also likely to gain momentum,” said Kim Dong-won, an analyst at KB Securities. “HBM prices are expected to rise more than 50% from a year earlier as negotiations reflect the narrowing margin gap with general-purpose DRAM.”

Hwang Sang-joon, executive vice president and head of memory development at Samsung Electronics, said the company completed the HBM4E sample supply without disruption after successfully starting HBM4 mass shipments.

“This has clearly imprinted Samsung Electronics’ unmatched technology leadership in the market,” Hwang said. “We will continue to strongly lead growth in the global AI memory market based on overwhelming technology leadership and preemptive investment in production infrastructure.”

— Reported by Asia Today; translated by UPI

© Asia Today. Unauthorized reproduction or redistribution prohibited.

Original Korean report: https://www.asiatoday.co.kr/kn/view.php?key=20260529010008844

Caracas, May 29, 2026 (venezuelanalysis.com) – The Russian government has urged Venezuelan authorities to “reject approaches” from the US and allies to transfer military equipment to Ukraine.

Russian Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu raised the concerns during a meeting with Venezuelan Major General José Ornelas Ferreira, secretary general of the Caribbean nation’s National Defense Council, on Wednesday in Moscow. 

The Venezuelan official was a guest at the First International Security Forum, held from May 26-29 at the Russian capital with the presence of 140 top officials from over 120 countries worldwide.

“We are aware of the activity of Western emissaries who are attempting to involve Latin American countries in various arms supply schemes for the benefit of the Kyiv regime,” Shoigu said in a bilateral meeting with Ornelas. “We expect you to reject such approaches and inform us of any such Western attempts.”

Moscow and Caracas have maintained a longstanding military alliance through which Russia has provided Venezuela with a broad supply of weapons, equipment, and technical assistance for decades, forming the backbone of the Venezuelan arsenal. The cooperation dates back to the 2000s as Hugo Chávez sought to reverse the US dependence of the armed forces.

Though neither US nor Venezuelan officials have commented on weapons transfer proposals, Shoigu’s warning follows publicized efforts by Washington and allies to bolster the beleaguered Ukrainian forces in the war against Russia. Kiev’s backers procure Soviet-era equipment that could be easily integrated into the battlefield.

Apart from securing supplies from Eastern European NATO members, Washington has also turned to Latin America, offering to exchange Russian and Soviet-made hardware for newer US equipment. Brazilian and Colombian leaders rejected the proposal.

In February 2024, Ecuador canceled plans to send or exchange Soviet/Russian-origin weaponry with the US, which intended to reroute them Ukraine. Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa backtracked following Russian threats to suspend banana imports from the Andean country.

According to military analysts, Venezuela’s battlefield equipment — including T-72B1V tanks, BMP-3 infantry vehicles, Mi-17 helicopters, and 152 mm artillery systems — would be valuable on the Ukrainian battlefield and help address chronic ammunition shortages.

The recent Moscow security summit also saw Shoigu condemn the US’ “brutal armed invasion” of Venezuela on January 3 that led to the kidnapping of President Nicolás Maduro and First Lady Cilia Flores.

“We strongly condemn Washington’s actions on January 3, during which the legitimate head of state, Nicolás Maduro, and his wife were captured, and dozens of Venezuelan and Cuban citizens were killed,” the former Russian defense minister stated.

Shoigu criticized the Trump administration for “violating all fundamental norms of international law” and breaking “the principles governing coexistence among nations and respect for state sovereignty.”

The Russian official went on to reaffirm the Vladimir Putin government’s “unwavering support” for Caracas and the desire to “strengthen cooperation” in order to avoid future acts of aggression.

Shoigu likewise commented on the Venezuelan government, led by Acting President Delcy Rodríguez, pursuing a “new modality of relations” with the US and expressed hope that it would protect the Caribbean country’s “sovereignty and national interests.”

Following the January 3 attacks, the Trump White House has exacted major concessions from the acting Rodríguez administration, including seizing control of Venezuelan oil revenues, auditing its Central Bank, pushing pro-business legislative reforms, and securing the handover of former government envoy Alex Saab to face money laundering charges in Florida.

The growing US influence in Venezuela saw the Southern Command hold “rapid response” military exercises on May 23, with Osprey MV-22B aircraft flying over Caracas and landing near the US embassy compound. 

US officials have acknowledged a growing “collaboration” with Caracas. During a press conference on Wednesday, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth highlighted Washington’s self-declared anti-narcotics operations in the Western hemisphere and the joint work with local governments.

“Just think about the fact that our Southern Command commander landed by helicopter at the US Embassy in Caracas peacefully,” Hegseth said alongside Trump. “He was welcomed by the Venezuelans because we are now partnering with them, hopefully even in our counter-cartel missions.” 

The Trump official referred to Venezuela as “fundamental to securing our energy future and defending the homeland.”

Edited by Ricardo Vaz in Caracas.

Emmerdale fans were left divided when the identity of the arsonist was finally revealed on the latest episode of the long-running ITV soap, especially as a potential production blunder confirmed it weeks ago

Emmerdale fans were left divided when the identity of the arsonist was finally revealed on the latest episode of the long-running ITV soap. For weeks now, viewers of the Yorkshire-based serial have been left guessing after a mysterious hooded figure was seen pouring petrol on Robert Sugden’s farm and setting it alight, with names such as Kammy Hadiq and Graham Foster thrown around as potential suspects.

It was all revealed in the final Emmerdale of the week, but even then, viewers had to wait until just before the credits rolled. Joe Tate (Ned Porteous), Robert, and Aaron Dingle (Danny Miller) had spent the day trying to figure out who was the culprit, along with Graham.

At the end of the day, Aaron explained to Robert: “Graham reckons he nearly caught someone today – the arsonist. Well, not nearly caught them, actually. He’s been keeping an eye on the place since Joe thought it was me and Robert starting the fires. Just someone in a dark hoodie, which is pretty much everyone we know.”

As he was talking, the final scene of the episode saw teenager Kyle Winchester (Huey Quinn) walking up to the scene of the crime with a can of petrol and starting the fire.

Fans were quick to react to the revelation, with one writing: “Kyle Dingle needs some serious psychological help first murder then arsonist, what’s next serial killer?!” and another said: “Surely Kyle needs some punishment now. Him offending and the Dingles covering for him is not going to end well.”

Taking to X, another said: “OMG IT WAS KYLE ALL ALONG,” and another wrote: “Omg it’s Kyle,” as they emblazoned their comment with a shocked-face emoji. However, others claimed that the twist was “predictable”, especially given a potential mishap that happened in production.

As with fellow ITV soap Coronation Street, the credits roll with the cast listed in order of appearance and Kyle Winchester was the character noted at the top, and therefore suggested to be the person in the opening scene way back when the mystery was first teased. This opening scene was the hooded fire starter, therefore suggesting even then that it was Kyle.

One said: “#Emmerdale it was so obvious it was Kyle [eye roll emoji] It was as obvious as living in No1 Obvious St, Obvious Cresent in Obvious Town in the country of Fucking Obvious OB3 1OS,” whilst another said: “Oh really… would never have guessed him to be the fire starter.”

A third wrote: “So not only is Kyle a killer for murdering Al – he’s now an arsonist, As much as I’m loving another big story for Kyle and Huey Quinn is brilliant – this almost felt too predictable especially with the early spoiler last week in the end credits. #Emmerdale”

A fourth said: “I really wasn’t expecting Kyle to be the fire starter, it was so unexpected even when a lot of viewers called it weeks ago and #Emmerdale were so excited to tell us they totally didn’t credit Kyle in an episode where we only saw his figure.”

Emmerdale airs weeknights at 8pm on ITV1 and ITVX. * Follow Mirror Celebs and TV on TikTok , Snapchat , Instagram , Twitter , Facebook , YouTube and Threads .

COLLEGE STATION, Texas — USC couldn’t hold on to the lead Adrian Lopez provided with a home run in the bottom of the eighth Friday night.

Texas State’s Chase Mora greeted reliever Adam Troy with a monstrous two-run home run to left field in the top of ninth inning, propelling the Bobcats to a 5-4 upset before a crowd of 6,956 at Blue Bell Park.

The Trojans had plenty of chances, and they wasted most of them in the opening round of the NCAA tournament’s College Station Regional.

Even though the Bobcats’ shaky defense spotted USC two unearned runs, the Trojans will surely lament stranding runners in scoring position in each of the first seven innings.

The Trojans will face Lamar University, which blew a five-run lead in a 7-5 loss against host Texas A&M, on Saturday at 1 p.m. PT.

If coach Andy Stankiewicz’s Trojans return to the Men’s College World Series for the first time since 2001, the 12-time national champions must do it out of the losers bracket.

USC right-hander Grant Govel, an All-Big Ten First Team selection, settled for a no-decision after giving up three runs on four hits with two walks and six strikeouts over 5⅔ innings.

He was relieved by freshman left-hander Sax Matson with one on and two outs in the top of the sixth. Matson escaped unscathed in the sixth, but he was relieved by right-hander Andrew Johnson with one on and two outs in the seventh.

The Trojans (43-16), who reached the Big Ten Tournament semifinals, have lost four of their last five games.

Mora’s sacrifice fly to right field gave the Bobcats a 1-0 lead in the second inning. The Trojans countered to tie the score with a run in the bottom of the second.

With runners on first and second and two outs, Abbrie Covarrubias hit a grounder to first. Texas State first baseman Jaquae Stewart booted the grounder for an error, allowing Isaac Cadena to score. Stewart almost made the situation worse with a wild throw to second, but Dean Carpentier was thrown out trying to reach third on the poor throw to second.

The Trojans benefited from more poor defense in the third. With one out in the inning, Augie Lopez reached on an error by Mora at third. Kevin Takeuchi followed with a double off the center-field wall. Jack Basseer broke the tie with an RBI single through the left side.

Covarrubias hit a solo home run to left in the fourth to put USC ahead 3-1. Texas State sophomore shortstop Brady Boles, who entered the regional with only one home run this season and two in his college career, tied the score 3-3 with a two-run home run to left field in the top of the fifth.

May 29 (UPI) — A federal judge on Friday said President Donald Trump‘s name must be removed from the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts in a ruling that also blocked plans to shutter the facility for two years for renovations.

U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper for the District of Columbia handed down the decisions halting Trump’s plans to impose sweeping changes at the historic venue.

The Kennedy Center’s board of trustees voted in December to add Trump’s name to the building. The decision came less than a year after Trump dismissed the entire board and named new board members, who in turn elected him chairman.

“Congress gave the Kennedy Center its name, and only Congress can change it,” Cooper wrote.

Rep. Joyce Beatty, D-Ohio, sued in response to the name change. Meanwhile, a coalition launched a separate lawsuit in March asking the court to stop the administration from shuttering the facility for two years and carrying out its quarter-billion-dollar reconstruction project.

Trump said the decision to close the facility came after a yearlong review in consultation with contractors, musical experts, arts institutions, and advisers and consultants. He had initially considered a partial project that would permit shows to continue, but decided the best option for the venue was a temporary closure.

Rep. Joyce Beatty, D-Ohio, an ex officio member of the board who sued to have access about the details of renovations, said she believes Trump wants to shutter the Kennedy Center in response to dozens of individuals and cultural organizations who have canceled appearances there in response to Trump trying to rename the center after himself. Beatty said the documents she received about the renovations were “inadequate.”

She said “the documents prove that there is absolutely no basis to shutter this precious living memorial and beloved institution,” she said in a statement. “It certainly looks like President Trump is shutting down the center because he is embarrassed that ticket sales are down and artists are fleeing since his illegal renaming.”

Beatty’s lawyers said she was concerned Trump might use his hand-selected board to push through wholesale changes at the Kennedy Center to design a facility more to his liking. In October, Trump had the East Wing of the White House demolished to make room for a $250 million ballroom.

In a post on Truth Social in March, Trump shared renderings of what he expected the center to look like after the renovations. He said he’s not planning to rip out the facade.

A Washington Post analysis of the renderings show very few changes to the exterior of the building, including altered cornices, updated roof and some windows, painted columns, new signage and landscaping changes.

Iran is ready to reassure the international community that it is not pursuing nuclear weapons or instability in the region, President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Sunday, Anadolu reports.

“Prior to the martyrdom of Ayatollah (Ali) Khamenei, Iran’s late Leader, we declared — and we reiterate now — that we are ready to assure the world we do not seek nuclear weapons,” Pezeshkian said in remarks carried by state-run news agency IRNA.

“It is rather Tel Aviv that is driving regional instability,” he said, accusing Israel of pursuing a vision of “Greater Israel.”

Iranian negotiators will never compromise on the country’s “honor and dignity,” added Pezeshkian.

His remarks came a day after US President Donald Trump on Saturday said an agreement with Iran to end the war was “largely negotiated” and awaited finalization.

Regional tensions have escalated since the US and Israel launched strikes against Iran in February. Tehran retaliated with strikes targeting Israel as well as US allies in the Gulf, along with the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

A ceasefire took effect on April 8 through Pakistani mediation and was later extended by Trump indefinitely.

READ: Iran shoots down Israeli spy drone in country’s south: Report

ANGELINA Jolie’s ex Jonny Lee Miller has found love once more.

The 53-year-old is romancing a 27-year-old Pilates teacher with the couple having enjoyed a sun-soaked holiday together.

Actor Jonny was married to Angelina in the late 90s for three years before the pair’s split.

But now, according to the Mail, he has been secretly loved-up once again for almost a year.

The publication reports that Jonny and glam Manuela Diago have been dating since June 2025.

Earlier this month, he shared a loved-up snap of them on Instagram as they attended a pal’s wedding.

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Angelina’s ex has had his eye on his new flame for some time – liking her social media content as far back as October 2024.

In addition, several of her snaps seem to be taken in Jonny’s New York abode.

The couple also holidayed in Malta in March – two months before news of their romance became public.

The Sun has reached out to Jonny for comment.

Jonny’s best-known romance was with Angelina.

They married in 1996 but split 18 months later and went on to formally divorce.

Despite splitting, they have remained relatively close and even sparked romantic reunion rumours in 2021.

That year, they were spotted on several outings together.

Around the time, there were reports he had also begun to bond with two of her sons – Pax and Knox.

Meanwhile, between 2008 and 2018, Jonny was married to Michele Hicks and the pair have a 17-year-old son, Buster.

With California facing increasingly destructive wildfires, experts and officials have long urged the strategic removal of dense, flammable vegetation that can erupt into particularly destructive flames from a lightning bolt or the spark of a power line.

But after years of record investment by the state in such wildfire risk mitigation, two key money sources are drying up, potentially reducing the state’s annual budget for vegetation removal by hundreds of millions of dollars.

Wildfire resiliency advocates are warning that the loss of these funds will leave the state vulnerable to devastation, and are calling on California’s next governor to take that threat seriously.

Currently, California relies heavily on two funding sources for wildfire mitigation work: A state program that charges polluters for their emissions and a climate bond approved by voters in 2024.

Late Friday, however, state officials adopted a new structure for the emissions program, called cap-and-invest, that analysts say will likely reduce wildfire mitigation funding by $200 million per year. At the same time, the governor’s latest budget proposal puts the state on track to allocate the majority of the climate bond’s $1.5 billion in wildfire prevention money within just three years.

As a result, California could go from routinely pulling more than $600 million a year from these sources, to just $150 million, according to an estimate from the Wildfire Solutions Coalition — a group of more than 80 organizations representing conservationists, business owners, fire officials and tribal leaders.

The coalition is urging the state to find new sources of funding for the work.

“We have the scientists, we have the technicians, we have the advocates,” said Michelle Decker, who is on the coalition’s executive committee and serves as president and CEO of the Inland Empire Community Foundation. “We see this problem. We can get ahead of this problem. It is a revenue issue.”

California wildfires have become increasingly costly. The 2025 L.A. fires alone caused an estimated $250 billion in damage and economic loss. Insurance companies have already paid out $22.4 billion.

In attempt to reduce the risk of damage to communities and ecosystems, the state has employed a wide range of tactics. These includes fortifying homes against wildfires, replanting fire-ravaged forests and thinning out vegetation with prescribed burns, goat grazing and manual thinning with heavy machinery to reduce the intensity of potential fires.

Research suggests wildfire mitigation work pays off. A recent analysis of 285 fires in the western U.S. found that every dollar spent on landscape projects saved about $3.75 in wildfire damage.

But as funding from cap-and-invest and the climate bond dwindle, the state must increasingly turn to Cal Fire, which devotes only a small portion of its budget to mitigation work.

“This is not an issue that can be pushed off to a timeline based solely on politics,” said Steve Frisch, a founding member of the coalition and president of the Sierra Business Council. “Fire happens whether we want it to or not.”

After a series of destructive wildfires in Northern California and the 2017 Thomas fire in Southern California, the state legislature began to explicitly focus on funding wildfire mitigation.

In 2018, lawmakers directed $200 million per year of cap-and-invest funds to wildfire mitigation projects.

As the Woolsey fire in Southern California and the Camp fire in Paradise raged later that fall, Trump accused the state of “gross mismanagement” of forest lands and threatened to cut off federal funds unless it was corrected.

Gov. Gavin Newsom and the legislature, with a significant budget surplus, began earmarking even more funds, leading to a peak of $1.1 billion in wildfire mitigation investments during the 2021-2022 fiscal year.

After the surplus dwindled, the legislature opted in 2024 to put a $10-billion climate bond in front of voters — $1.5 billion of which was dedicated specifically for wildfire mitigation work.

Newsom has since pointed to this high state funding to call on the federal government to step up its own investments into forest management work.

The federal government manages 57% of all forests in the state. While the U.S. Forest Service spent $3.1 billion mitigating wildfire conditions in the state over the last few years, California spent $4.3 billion, according to the California Forest Resilience and Wildfire Task Force.

However, the state has already allocated about $600 million of the climate bond’s wildfire mitigation pot for the 2024-2025 and current fiscal years. The latest budget proposal would allocate more than $300 million for this upcoming fiscal year. While many advocates support allocating the money quickly, it leaves little for future years.

Once that money is spent, California has to pay off the $10 billion bond with interest. The result is an estimated price tag of $16 billion, paid in roughly $400 million increments every year, for 40 years, according to the state’s Legislative Analyst’s Office.

As for the cap-and-invest funds, a fraught months-long debate at the California Air Resources Board on how to extend the program beyond 2030 resulted in a compromise that will cut the revenue it generates in half, the Legislative Analyst’s Office estimates.

Since other projects get priority — including $1 billion every year for California’s high-speed rail project — the new proposal would “likely leave no funding” for the wildfire and forest resilience line item, the Legislative Analyst’s Office found.

Cal Fire still holds a modest annual budget for wildfire mitigation work. In the 2024-2025 fiscal year, the agency had $500 million for forest management and fire prevention that was not directly tied to cap-and-invest or the bond — up from about $65 million two decades prior.

As for the federal government, independent analyses by Grassroots Wildland Firefighters and NPR found that Forest Service wildfire mitigation work is on the decline amid federal staffing cuts. The Forest Service claims the decrease in work was primarily due to poor weather conditions for activities like prescribed burns and staff being occupied with firefighting.

Both the state and federal government’s investments pale in comparison to the spending of California’s investor-owned utilities. In 2025 alone, the utilities planned to spend more than $9.2 billion on preventing their equipment from sparking the next devastating wildfire, primarily funded by Californians’ electricity bills.

Times staff writer Hayley Smith contributed to this report.