AS the biggest heart-throb on the planet, Harry Styles is the last person you’d expect to be ringing in New Year alone.

But the pop superstar has revealed how he “shut out” the world after struggling to live up to the “perfect” image his fans projected on to him.

In a candid new interview, the 32-year-old, who kicked off a record-breaking 12-night run at Wembley Stadium on Friday, said: “I was supposed to spend New Year’s with friends and I landed in Italy and felt really unwell, so I just went home.

“And I woke up and I had this kind of beautiful New Year’s by myself. I was feeling the most alone I’d felt in a really long time, but in the most beautiful way. I didn’t feel lonely at all.”

Harry added that he became a “hermit” after his last tour ended in 2023.

Flying into Italy for a “quiet time”, he rejected all invites as he ­recuperated from the gruelling Love On Tour series of live shows.

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In an interview on the Q With Tom Power podcast, Harry said: “I was just feeling myself kind of shut out from a lot of the world.

“I think I got used to saying no to invites from friends and maybe a weekend trip or a birthday party or something.

“I just got used to, you know, if I have a week at home, I don’t want to go somewhere else for three days. I just want to stay home.

“And when I got to Italy and was in this quiet place, I felt like, ‘OK, if I’m going to spend all this time out here and I’m going to keep ­saying no to everything, I’m just going to shut myself off from the world’.”

Harry released his latest album — Kiss All The Time. Disco Occasionally — in March and it immediately shot to No1 in the charts.

And his Together, Together tour is currently making history at London’s Wembley.

But the As It Was singer admits that he struggled to live up to his fans’ adoring perception of him, saying: “I had this relationship with my own image where people had this projected version of me that was perfect.

“And when the standard you hold yourself to is this perfect person, it’s impossible not to feel like you’re falling short.”

He confessed that any criticism could take a devastating toll, saying: “If you don’t feel great about yourself and someone says you’re terrible, it’s like the claw is in and it’s ripping you.

“But if you have a more solid sense of yourself, you can hear those things and it doesn’t destroy you in the same way.”

It is a frank admission from a man who has conquered the world of pop, and America, after spending half his life in the glare of the global spotlight.

Harry was 16 when he stepped on to The X Factor stage in 2010, where music mastermind Simon Cowell grouped him with four other hopefuls to form One Direction.

What followed was global ­hysteria. And as the breakout star of the record-breaking boy band, Harry was propelled from a quiet Cheshire upbringing into a whirlwind of stadium tours and platinum records.

He then defied the odds to build a critically acclaimed solo career, with hits such as Watermelon Sugar, and a £235million fortune, according to the Sunday Times Rich List.

But during his period of isolation in Italy, Harry realised that avoiding the downsides of global fame also meant missing the best parts of life.

He added: “You can sit at home and think it’s hard for me to do these things — people are looking at me, taking pictures. But when you shut out those things that might be negative, you also shut out a ton of ­positive things.

“If you think it’s hard to go to a bar and hang out with friends because people might act a certain way, there are also incredible people you could meet in that bar that you’re shutting out.”

Taking his own advice and stepping back into the world clearly paid off.

It was during this period that Harry met his fiancée, US actress Zoe Kravitz.

The couple, who began dating in late 2025, are reportedly planning a small wedding in London this winter.

Harry also said that he has spent the past two years learning to love himself and accept that ­he can make mistakes.

He said: “I’m still figuring a bunch of stuff out and it’s OK to have a little self-compassion around making mistakes. For a long time, I struggled to admit when I’d made a mistake because the reward when you meet people’s expectations is so loud and shiny.”

Ultimately, Harry believes that taking a step back from the spotlight saved him.

He reflected: “Having time to sit at home and be bored and really look at the emotions I was feeling allowed me to lean into them instead of being afraid of them.

“And it means I’m now in a much healthier place than I was last time I was putting music out.”

Now back on the road, he wants his latest dance-pop record to be less about his personal life and more about his fans’ experiences.

He said: “With this record, I want the listener in the front seat and I’m in the seat behind you.

“It’s not really about me or what clubs I’m going to or who I’m hanging out with — it’s about you having your own experience.”

Ariana risk for musical

RUMOURS are sweeping theatreland that Ariana Grande is set to drop out of musical Sunday In The Park With George.

The singer was due to appear opposite her Wicked co-star Jonathan Bailey at London’s Barbican Centre next summer, but ticket sales have been delayed until autumn.

I’m told that bosses have also met with actresses who could step in to replace Ariana, who last week kicked off her energetic Eternal Sunshine Tour.

A source said: “Ariana has a lot on her plate and there are concerns she is over-subscribed.

“It’s too risky to start flogging tickets until it’s all locked down. It will be a demanding production with eight shows a week.”

In the last few years, Ariana has transformed herself into a fully-fledged actress as Glinda in the Wicked films.

She will appear in the 13th series of American Horror Story and will voice a character in the 2028 animation Oh, The Places You’ll Go!.

Ariana, whose tour includes a ten-night residency at London’s O2 Arena in August, said: “I’m very excited to do this small tour. But I think it might not happen again for a long, long time.”

I hope we do get to see her treading the boards . . . 

Wa-Haye David

DAVID HAYE is on dating site Raya “looking for a third” for a throuple with him and girlfriend Sian Osborne.

The ex-boxer posts with a tux snap: “I’m a selfish p***k, nothing is ever good enough. I always want more, rarely satisfied. But I’m working on it.”

THE Isle of Wight Festival kicks off on Thursday with some surprises in store.

As well as headliners Calvin Harris, The Cure and Lewis Capaldi, chief John Giddings says: “We’ve introduced new areas, the Last Chance Saloon, our country music destination, and new onsite pub Wild Horses.”

John also revealed that Sir Paul McCartney had the craziest rider.

He said: “We had to track down a nail technician to apply acrylic nails to strengthen his fingernails for playing acoustic guitar.

“And Jay Z wanted somewhere private to have dinner with Beyonce, so we ended up hosting them in the Boat Museum and our caterers took care of it.”

This week who would I…

Snog

Marry

Avoid

WASHINGTON — One by one, the burly mixed martial arts fighters made their entrance past the solemn, hulking marble statue of America’s 16th president and jogged down the steps of the Lincoln Memorial to roars from thousands of fans drawn to the unusual sporting weekend marking the nation’s 250th anniversary and President Trump’s 80th birthday.

The news conference Friday night featured the fighters who are preparing to face off Sunday in the Octagon built outside the White House. But it was also a chance to see the UFC fans who have thronged to Washington and endured lightning, humidity and bugs.

Tracy Philbeck and his son Levi drove from Charlotte, N.C., with a group of friends to support their favorite fighter, American Justin Gaethje, in the upcoming lightweight title bout against Georgian Ilia Topuria.

“You will hear an eagle screaming when Justin Gaethje wins,” the elder Philbeck said with a chuckle.

David Halstead journeyed from Albany, Australia, to watch the sport he has loved for a decade. Halstead said Trump, who regularly attends the fights, “put UFC on the map.”

The UFC has said it spent $60 million on this weekend’s festivities, and the president has billed his birthday fete as “the greatest show on Earth.”

Not everyone agrees.

The Public Integrity Project described the event as a “private, commercial, corrupt use of our most sacred national monuments for private gain” in a lawsuit the watchdog group filed to try to stop it from happening on federal land. A federal judge ruled Friday that the White House was allowed to go ahead.

About 1 in 10 U.S. adults consider themselves mixed martial arts fans, according to Ipsos Sports polling conducted in February and March. That survey suggests MMA fans tend to be male and nonwhite. They are more likely to identify as Republicans than Democrats.

“One misconception is that everyone who watches UFC is a Trump supporter, but that’s not the case,” said Ricardo Rodriguez, 24, explaining that he loves the physicality of the sport. “People also expect a knockout every time.”

Ellie Louizes, who practices Muay Thai, or Thai kickboxing, and jujitsu martial arts, drove from Daytona Beach, Fla., with her boyfriend, Jacob Purvis.

Female fans of MMA are the minority. But Louizes said she knows a lot of women who get into watching the sport through their male partners. She said “female fighters are often way more aggressive” than the men.

Fans brushed off criticism

The fans at the Lincoln Memorial brushed off criticism about the bouts being held at the White House — on federal grounds owned not by its occupant, but by the American people.

Holding fights at the “people’s house,” Tracy Philbeck said, “goes back to the days of Teddy Roosevelt.”

President Theodore Roosevelt regularly held sparring sessions at the White House, though they were not formal, public prizefights. He was an enthusiastic amateur boxer who had boxed at Harvard and continued the sport throughout much of his life.

Boxing fans also make up a large part of the UFC’s fan base.

At a UFC-sponsored community event this week at the District of Columbia’s Midtown Youth Academy, the boxing gym’s executive director was helping out with a visit from UFC fighter Randy Brown, who sparred with more than a dozen local teenagers and preteens.

Gloria Lee said meeting the fighter was a big deal for kids at her gym. “It’s just been a thrilling week, and I was about to fall out when he came in the door!” she said.

Asked about her personal UFC fandom, Lee said she had not watched it much. But by the end of Brown’s visit, she got into the ring with the professional fighter and threw some slugs of her own.

Hussein writes for the Associated Press. AP writer Linley Sanders contributed to this report.

Thousands of mourners lined Bangkok streets as the body of Princess Bajrakitiyabha, daughter of Thailand’s king, was brought to the Grand Palace in a royal procession. The 47-year-old princess had been in a coma for more than three years before dying from an abdominal infection.

For two weeks, the fate of Major General Rabe Abubakar (rtd) had become a barometer for testing whether Nigerian authorities could secure the release of a high-ranking military officer from the hands of terrorists operating in the northwestern region.

The answer came on Saturday, June 13, in a press statement by Nasiru Muazu, Katsina’s Commissioner for Internal Security and Home Affairs. The retired general could not be rescued, the Katsina government itself said. Rabe, who served as the Director of Defence Information at Nigeria’s Defence Headquarters between 2015 and 2017, died while in detention at the hands of the terrorists who abducted him. 

Rabe was abducted alongside his wife, Hajia Amina, on May 30. A native of Batsari from Katsina State, he was kidnapped on the Matazu–Sayaya road, a road that has now become one of the most volatile in the North West. 

“It is with profound sadness that we confirm the General’s death while in bandits’ captivity. Despite the relentless and concerted efforts of the State Government and various Security Agencies to secure his safe release, the situation ended in this tragedy. The deceased Retired General died a natural death from complications of diabetes and hypertension,” Nasiru said in the statement.

The abduction of the general had exposed how deeply terrorism has eaten into the fabric of Nigeria, especially the North West, where criminals have turned into full-time armed gangs that engage in kidnapping, pillaging, and other forms of terrorism. 

For over a decade, Katsina and other states in the region have faced incessant attacks from these terrorists, forcing local authorities to consider a “reconciliation” with the armed groups to restore peace. Some local government areas in Katsina, such as Jibia, Batsari, Kurfi, Safana, Danmusa, Matazu, Musawa, Kankara, Faskari, Malumfashi, and Bakori, have agreed to establish peace accords with terrorists in their areas. 

However, while some of these areas have seen relative calm, the situation in Matazu, Bakori, Musawa, Kankia, and Malumfashi has only deteriorated. The Marabar Musawa – Musawa – Matazu – Kafin Soli road (where the General was abducted) became volatile after the peace deal broke. 

Even before May 30, there were several cases of abduction on the road as well as attacks on communities and towns in the area. HumAngle reports that Muhammadu Fulani, the terrorists’ leader in the Matazu – Musawa area, is accusing the state government of arresting three of his men and seizing his livestock. 

Ambush on a wedding road 

Rabe was travelling with his driver and wife to Katsina for a wedding ceremony when the terrorists emerged near a village called Zakin Baure, blocked the road, and opened fire on his vehicle, a red coloured Peugeot 406 car, according to media reports. That forced the vehicle to a halt, enabling the terrorists to abduct him and his wife and push them into a nearby forest. His driver, however, escaped with gunshot injuries and was later admitted to a hospital. 

They were heading toward Katsina city for a family wedding through the perilous corridor, Marabar Musawa–Musawa–Matazu–Kafin Soli, which sits at the fault line of a regional peace architecture that has become increasingly fragile.

Abduction timeline 

June 6: The terrorists released a video clip of the couple begging for the government to rescue them. The wife, who spoke, asked the government to facilitate the release of some three terrorists arrested by security agents in exchange for the couple’s freedom. 

June 8: The terror group leader, Muhammadu Fulani, said he would not release the wife of the General, Amina, as promised, after the government dispatched security agents to the area to fight him. 

June 11: A video clip of the General, his wife and four others went viral on social media. HumAngle checks revealed that the other four persons in the video were members of the All Progressive Congress (APC) from Danja Local Government Area of the state who were abducted last month on the same road. 

June 12: A special prayer session was organised at the Sa’ad Bin Abi Waqqas Mosque in Barhim Estate, Katsina city, at 5 p.m.. Several relatives and friends of the Major General attended the prayer session, where the Imam called on the government to ensure the safe return of Rabe, his wife, and all abducted victims.

June 13 (morning): A WhatsApp message began circulating, especially in Katsina. The message said the General had died Friday night, June 12. “Innalillaihi wa ina ilaihil rajiun. This is to announce on a sad note. The death of General Rabe Abubakar last night at the hands of the bandits.” A HumAngle reporter also received a message from a retired civil servant asking for confirmation. 

June 13 (afternoon): The Katsina State government, through the Ministry of Internal Security and Home Affairs, confirmed the General’s death, saying that he died “a natural death from complications of diabetes and hypertension”. 

A symbol, and a warning

General Rabe’s death has reverberated through Nigeria’s security establishment and social media platforms precisely because of who he was: a man who had once stood before cameras explaining the state’s fight against terrorism. It also brings renewed attention to Nigeria’s growing terrorism and persistent security challenges facing several northern states despite ongoing military operations against the armed groups. 

Dikko Umaru Radda, the Katsina State governor, called the episode a “dark moment,” saying it highlighted the urgent need for a stronger, more coordinated security response, while pledging that those responsible would be pursued.

For residents of Katsina’s volatile corridors, Rabe’s death is a confirmation of what many have long understood: on the state’s insecure roads, rank, fame, and a lifetime of service offer no immunity at all.

His wife’s status was not addressed in Saturday’s statement, and her deceased husband was buried according to Islamic rites, but sources told HumAngle she was released alongside her husband’s remains.

NOT everyone sees their childhood dream become a reality, but Sian Welby is one of the lucky ones. 

The This Morning and Capital radio presenter has wanted to be in Toy Story since she was ten. 

And Sian says she was so surprised to get the call asking her to be in the new movie that she thought she was being pranked by one of her co-hosts.

In an exclusive interview, the 39-year-old, who voices the Inflatable Flamingo, says: “If you’d told me as a nine or ten-year-old when the very first Toy Story movie came out, that one day I’d have a role in one of the sequels and that I’d be laughing and joking with Tom Hanks, I’d have never believed you.

“If a clairvoyant had predicted it, I’d have said, ‘No way, what a con’.

“I’m from a village in the Midlands with no showbiz connections, without a hope or a prayer of making it in the TV industry so what’s happened to me is just magical.”

Sian and her radio co-host, I’m A Celeb star Jordan North, 36, were talent-spotted by the Disney UK team, who were looking for people to do regional voice cameos.

Jordan plays a Garden Gnome in the film, which will be released in cinemas on Friday.

Sian says: “I honestly thought it was a Capital Radio prank by Jordan and Chris Stark, because we always begin the year telling each other what’s on our bucket list.

“Jordan said he wanted to interview Barack Obama, Chris said he wanted a barbecue with David Beckham and I said I wanted to be a little voice in a Pixar movie.

“Then, in March, I got the call. I was actually a bit angry as I thought, ‘That’s really mean to pretend I’ve got a role in Toy Story as they know it’s my dream’.

“I told my agent the email must be a con but she came back and said, ‘I have double-checked and triple-checked and it’s definitely from Disney’.”

Weeks later Sian, who has presented the flagship breakfast show since 2020 and been a main studio co- host on This Morning since 2024, recorded her voice role.

Then she was given the job of interviewing Tom Hanks, who plays cowboy doll Woody, and Tim Allen — Buzz Lightyear himself — before the film’s premiere last month.

Sian has spoken to many A-list celebrities but giggles as she says: “I grew up watching Tom Hanks in Big and I loved Tim Allen in The Santa Claus.

“These guys are absolute legends and there I was, meeting my heroes.

“I’ve interviewed huge stars like Harrison Ford, and they make you feel on edge the entire time, but Tom and Tim were so nice and warm and giving. They were brilliant.”

And when the duo took to the red carpet, Sian says Oscar-winner Tom treated her like a “full-on co-star”.

She says: “I had chronic imposter syndrome, but he was such a decent man and included us in all the cast photos. He was so welcoming.

“I was in disbelief the whole time and literally felt like a competition winner, but I rem- ember Tom saying to me, ‘You’re in good company, co-star’. We had such a laugh.

“I have to pinch myself most days at the moment. Every week, something else happens where I think, ‘Is this my actual life?’.”

In 2010, Sian, who hails from Newark in Nottinghamshire, would record videos from the New Look store where she worked as a shop assistant to try to get on TV.

One, filmed in the fitting room, was spotted by former Channel 5 boss Richard Desmond and Sian became the station’s lead weather presenter, despite having no experience.

She went on to present Channel 5’s Formula E: Street Racers show about electric car racing before landing a hosting role on Heart FM in 2017.

Instead of feeling over- whelmed when meeting and interviewing high-profile celebrities, Sian has ended up becoming friends with many of them.

Kylie Minogue stayed in touch after they chatted and American actor Chris Pratt even forgave her for giving him an electric shock with a cattle prod.

Sian recalls: “I got on famously with Chris Pratt. There was a scene in the Jurassic Park movie where they use electric shocks on dinosaurs, so we found these mini electric shock things and did a quiz where if you got an answer wrong, you electrocuted each other.

“Chris was like, ‘Sian, I can’t electrocute you’, but I said, ‘You can, because I’m going to get you’, then I gave him a proper zap like you’d feel from a TENS machine when you’re giving birth, and he said, ‘I kind of liked that’, so we carried on.”

Another famous name who got on board with Sian’s sense of mischief was Mariah Carey, who she interviewed a year ago.

Sian says: “I bonded with her and we talked about the fact that she gets followed around with this Mariah Carey lighting rig and gets a lot of jip for it.

“She has this special Mariah Carey light — like a floor light, that lights upwards.

“I said to her, ‘You get a lot of heat for being a diva, but I bet you carry these lights because you’ve had some interviews where you were lit so badly and you felt gross’, and she was, like, ‘I’ve had hundreds’. She was basically saying that she did so many interviews where she felt like she looked awful because of the lighting that she was, like, ‘I’m solving this problem and I’m bringing my own’, and I really applauded it.

“I thought she was actually a very nice person — very sweet. And I don’t know how to phrase this without swearing, but I think that she is just a diva, not a d*ck.

“She’s not awful for the sake of it or difficult for the sake of it, but she’s definitely got high standards.”

The one celebrity who almost made unflappable Sian lose her cool was Bridgerton, Wicked and Jurassic World Rebirth actor Jonathan Bailey, who was voted People Magazine’s Sexiest Man Alive last year.

Sian says: “Whether you’re boy, girl or beast, there is something about that man. He’s gay, but absolutely everyone fancied him and he’s got the most charming charisma you could ever ask for.

“I was interviewing him for Capital last summer and when he entered the room, I just got lost. I was hanging off every word he said.

“And what was really lovely, too, was that even though he’s been in these massive movies and might have gone all Hollywood, he was just really nice and down to earth.”

Sian has presented at both the Baftas and Brits. Last weekend, she hosted the Capital’s Summertime Ball at Wembley Stadium, which was headlined by acts including Fatboy Slim, Calvin Harris, Raye and former One Direction singer Niall Horan.

But she says her biggest challenge to date is juggling her career with being a mum to her two-year-old daughter, Ruby.

Sian is also planning her wedding to Heart Breakfast producer Jake Beckett, 33.

She says: “I try not to think too much about how I do it, or I’ll have a nervous breakdown.

“There have been moments when I have been physically and emotionally exhausted, and I’ve burst out crying.

“I’ve literally been running from a Timothee Chalamet interview to sort out an explosive nappy at home.”

When she and Jake get married next year, little Ruby will play a key part in the ceremony.

Sian says: “It’s great Ruby will be old enough to be involved. Jake is my biggest fan and I’m his, and we make such a good team. He’s definitely the groomzilla — he’s a man that plans an outfit three months in advance.

“But because my job is so stressful, I’m way more relaxed. I’ve learned to just go with the flow.”

First though, Sian will be celebrating her 40th birthday this September.

Laughing, she says: “It feels like being a proper grown-up and I feel like I have been masquerading as an adult for years. When I look back at my sliding doors moments in my career, it was probably a bit of skill versus luck versus chance versus opportunity.

“As for the future, I still want to be doing radio.

“I’d love to do a big Saturday night TV show and maybe I could co-star in a comedy movie with Tom Hanks.

“We could be the new comedy double act no one saw coming.”

The 2026 World Cup, the largest ever, will be played in three countries and 16 stadiums, organized by geography, not national borders.

Seven of the 11 U.S. venues — all but Kansas City, Philadelphia, Santa Clara and Miami — plus Vancouver normally have artificial-turf fields.

So for the World Cup, which FIFA mandates must be played on grass, those surfaces underwent multi-million-dollar transformations, with state-of-the-art fields — each with its own root system and irrigation methods — rolled out across the plastic turf.

Additionally, stadiums that have corporate names not affiliated with FIFA sponsors — SoFi Stadium, Mercedes-Benz Stadium, etc. — will use generic names such as Los Angeles Stadium and Atlanta Stadium during the tournament.

June 13 (UPI) — President Donald Trump and Pakistan have said that a memorandum of understanding extending the cease-fire between the United States and Iran will be virtually signed Sunday, though Iran has not confirmed the meeting.

Trump posted on Truth Social at 12:45 p.m. EDT Saturday: “The Deal is scheduled to get signed tomorrow, and immediately after it is signed, the Hormuz Strait is OPEN TO ALL.”

He also posted a screenshot of a Saturday morning tweet by Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif: “We are closer to a peace deal than ever before. With finalization expected in the next 24 hours, Pakistan is preparing for the electronic signing of the peace deal immediately after, followed by technical level talks next week.”

The Pakistani foreign minister confirmed that the signing was set for Sunday, Axios reported.

But Iran said there were no talks planned for Sunday. Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said there were no plans for an Iranian negotiating team to travel to Geneva or elsewhere in the next day or two, according to IRIB, Iran’s state broadcaster, The New York Times reported. While Iran could also sign electronically, it’s unclear if the signing event will happen.

One of the main reasons the signing will be virtual is that Vice President JD Vance, who has been negotiating the peace deal, wouldn’t be able to go to the signings and be back in the United States before Trump leaves for the G7 summit in France Monday, Axios said.

Also, Sunday is the president’s 80th birthday and the day of the UFC fight on the White House lawn.

In “The Little Sister,” a teenager tries to hide in plain sight. Although everyone comments on her beauty, 17-year-old Fatima prefers to tie her hair back in a ponytail, her bright eyes buried underneath a black ball cap, her body concealed in unflattering tracksuits. As played by first-timer Nadia Melliti, who won the actress award at last year’s Cannes Film Festival, Fatima is encased in a kind of armor, an outward manifestation of her hesitancy to share her sexual orientation with a world she knows will judge her. This graceful film chronicles the process by which Fatima gradually sheds that reserve.

Adapted from Fatima Daas’ 2020 novel “The Last One,” a work of autofiction detailing the French author’s own coming out, “The Little Sister” takes place over five seasons, observing Fatima as she completes grade school and begins attending university. An adept athlete with a tomboyish demeanor, Fatima disappears inside a friend group consisting of immature teen boys who treat her like one of the guys, including her in their raunchy sex talk. Fatima has a boyfriend, Adel (Ahmed Kheloufi), but the relationship feels vestigial, with him constantly complaining that she should dress more feminine. Just as upsetting to Adel: When he tells Fatima that he loves her, she doesn’t respond in kind.

This is the third feature from French actor and director Hafsia Herzi, who herself made an acting splash in 2007’s “The Secret of the Grain.” For “The Little Sister,” Herzi takes a cue from Daas’ book, mapping Fatima’s inner journey as a modest series of tentative steps forward and anxious steps back. Fatima has reason to be skittish. The youngest of three daughters in a loving French-Algerian Muslim family, she conceals any hint of her sexuality from her mother, father and sisters, anticipating their disapproval. Many queer coming-of-age movies position the character’s awakening as an act of defiance. For Fatima, a practicing Muslim who adores her parents, the stakes feel even higher. Melliti’s performance is one of silent suffering, illustrating Fatima’s deference to her family.

But as much as she smothers her desires, others can sense them. An altercation between her friends and a gay male classmate gets heated once the classmate accuses her of being closeted, which she vehemently (and violently) denies. Soon after, Fatima secretly joins a dating app, hoping to understand her queerness. Her first date, in which she uses a fake name, focuses on learning terminology such as scissoring, and she approaches each new encounter like a fact-finding mission. Melliti keeps the shy teenager’s reactions neutral, Fatima’s stoicism a strategy to prevent exposing her inexperience.

That’s when she meets Ji-Na (Park Ji-min, the free spirit of “Return to Seoul”), a physician’s assistant who practically glows in her presence, overwhelming Fatima’s cautious nature. Ji-Na and Fatima’s love story — its blossoming, its unraveling, its possible resuscitation — forms the heart of “The Little Sister,” which also received the Queer Palm at Cannes. Melliti and Park exude a frisky, lusty chemistry, but it’s a film as much about self-love, as Fatima seeks to become comfortable in her own skin. Ji-Na is open and confident while Fatima remains closed off, her shame about her sexuality deeply culturally ingrained. When our main character starts lowering her defenses, however, that’s when she’s hit by a jolt that sends her spiraling.

Herzi’s slender, unassuming drama contains few emotional crescendos or grand insights, although this is the rare French film to center on a Muslim lesbian as its protagonist. “The Little Sister” grows even more intriguing once the love affair runs aground, forcing Fatima to flounder in her heartache. Her odyssey will lead to threesomes and lonely nights, but also difficult questions regarding how her faith and family may leave her perpetually adrift.

“The Little Sister” leaves much unspoken, which is fitting for a protagonist who rarely expresses herself in clear terms. Even during a touching scene near the finale, as Fatima sits at the dinner table weeping, upset over the end of a relationship, she and her mother (Amina Ben Mohamed) engage in a nimble dance: Fatima doesn’t feel safe explaining precisely why she’s crying, while her supportive mom chooses her words carefully, perhaps knowing more about her daughter than she dares say aloud. But despite the character’s rocky path to sexual awakening, Herzi navigates toward a hopeful conclusion that doesn’t peddle phony uplift. Fatima still faces a community that won’t embrace her true self. But maybe, at last, she’s willing to be seen.

June 13 (UPI) — South Korea had a trilateral meeting with officials from the United States and Japan in Tokyo on North Korean affairs this week, the foreign ministry said Saturday.

The ministry said the talks took place Friday involving Kim Sang-il, head of the ministry’s North Korean Nuclear Affairs Policy Division; David Wilezol, U.S. deputy assistant secretary of state for Northeast Asia; and Kengo Otsuka, deputy director-general for Asian and Oceanian affairs at the Japanese foreign ministry.

The officials shared their views on recent affairs on the Korean Peninsula and in the rest of Northeast Asia, and also reaffirmed their commitment to denuclearize North Korea and to ensure the implementation of U.N. and autonomous sanctions, Seoul’s foreign ministry said.

“We explained our effort in easing tension and building trust in inter-Korean relations, and also exchanged views on trilateral cooperation in ensuring peace and security on the Korean Peninsula,” the ministry added.

In a press release issued Friday, the Japanese foreign ministry noted the three officials “expressed their serious concerns over North Korea’s nuclear and missile development.” They also agreed to work closely on the advancement of Russia-North Korea military cooperation and North Korea’s malicious cyber activities, Tokyo’s ministry said.

Also in Tokyo on Friday, the three countries held their trilateral secretariat managing board meeting. Wilezol and Otsuka were joined by Yi Won-woo, director-general for North American affairs at the South Korean foreign ministry.

These officials reviewed progress on three-way cooperation on issues such as security, the economy and technology, and discussed specific ways that can produce concrete outcomes, the ministry here said.

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

This week’s caption reads:

FEB 22 1981; Federal Emergency Management Agency (Underground Bunker At Den Fed CTR); (Photo By Dave Buresh/The Denver Post via Getty Images)

Prime Directives:

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

Glenn Close is not going to be ignored this time around, as the eight-time Oscar nominee will finally receive recognition from the academy this fall.

I’m Glenn Whipp, columnist for the Los Angeles Times and host of The Envelope newsletter, working up a healthy World Cup fever even if it’s just an excuse to head to Lucky Baldwin’s for a pint or two and watch Cristiano Ronaldo one last time.

But let’s circle back to American football and my digital cover story with “Beef” stars Cailee Spaeny and Charles Melton, who watched a Super Bowl together, though they were cheering for different teams.

That Super Bowl in question was Super Bowl LIX, pitting the Philadelphia Eagles against the Kansas City Chiefs. Melton hosted a watch party, and since he considers Kansas home and played football for Kansas State University, you might think he’d be rooting for the Chiefs.

Nope.

“When I was living in Germany, I fell in love with Donovan McNabb,” Melton, an army brat, tells me, name-checking the longtime Eagles quarterback.

Spaeny, it turns out, was the only Chiefs fan at the party. To enter Melton’s home, she had to step on a doormat that was fitted with a red-and-white Chiefs jersey. (“It got real dirty,” Melton says with pride.)

Melton and Spaeny enjoy a relaxed and playful give-and-take, borne from the months they spent preparing to play Austin and Ashley, a Gen-Z couple working at a Montecito country club, dreaming and scheming toward upward mobility in “Beef.”

(Erik Carter / For The Times)

The most memorable episode they shared found the couple in an overcrowded, ninth-circle-of-hell emergency room with Ashley, uninsured, experiencing severe ovarian torsion. Her concerns are dismissed and she begs for someone to save her.

“Unfortunately, it’s an all-too-common experience,” Spaeny says. “I probably have a conversation once a month with female friends who go to the doctor’s office and are gaslit by the system, just being made to feel like what they’re experiencing isn’t really happening or they’re making it up. It’s scary.”

Still, being “Beef,” the episode has its share of mordant humor, like the scene where a nurse asks Ashley to rate her pain, zero being pain-free and 10 being excruciating.

“Oh, I thought it was like Letterboxd,” Ashley replies, referring to the movie review social platform. “Two-and-a-half stars out of five is average.”

“My whole life I’ve been a six or seven,” Melton says, noting his own personal pain scale. “I’ll have a cold and I’ll be like, ‘Six or seven.’”

“That sounds like you,” Spaeny says.

“I can get pretty dramatic,” Melton says. “It’s really like the end of the world when I’m sick.”

Spaeny deleted her Letterboxd account because she gets anxious about anything online containing reviews.

“It takes two buttons to click on a movie that I’ve been in and see what people say about me,” Spaeny says. “So I forgot my password and left it that way.”

Melton is an enthusiastic adopter and says he has twice shared his four favorite films, a feature where actors, usually on the red carpet, list a quartet of beloved movies. (Here’s one at the “May December” premiere where Melton enthuses over “The Matrix,” “In the Mood for Love,” “Brokeback Mountain” and “Persona.”)

“I saw them at another event and they were like, ‘Charles, so good to see you.’ And I was like, ‘Do you want my four favorite films?’ And they said, ‘No, you’ve already done it enough,’” Melton laughs. “What can I say? I love movies!”

It wasn’t my intention, but I played a role in shutting down John McCain’s Straight Talk Express.

It happened on a warm July afternoon as McCain traveled from a West Virginia airport to a rally in Ohio.

I had headed to the back of his bus with a small group of reporters, where as always McCain warmly motioned for us to squeeze in beside him on the couch.

The questions meandered across more than a dozen topics, but I asked if he agreed with his advisor Carly Fiorina’s recent statement that it was unfair for some health insurance companies to cover Viagra but not birth control — because McCain generally opposed those kinds of mandates.

Liberals and late-night comedians would later revel in McCain’s on-camera discomfort — the widening of his eyes, the awkward silence while he clutched his jaw and formulated an answer. But I had come to respect McCain’s frankness and his willingness to admit he didn’t always have an answer. Watching the question morph into an embarrassing “gotcha moment” for cable television, my stomach churned and my cheeks grew hot.

By July, I had covered McCain for almost seven months. I could recite many lines of his stump speech by heart, dreamed about his events at night and spent so much time scrolling through campaign e-mails on my BlackBerry that my fiance joked to our friends about the other man in my life.

Over those months, McCain had artfully created a sense of intimacy with the reporters who traveled with him. He barbecued for us at his Arizona cabin, and opened up about matters as personal as his faith and his son’s girlfriends. On one of my first days covering McCain, another reporter protectively warned me that it was important to be judicious with the material I used from McCain’s bus rides to keep the conversations in context.

Although the relationship was mutually beneficial, McCain offered accessibility and openness that was rare, if not unprecedented, in modern presidential politics. Now, as the presidential campaign plunges into its final days, that intimacy — real or imagined — has evaporated.

—

I joined McCain during the icy December days in New Hampshire when his confidence about a comeback seemed almost delusional. Inside the steamy windows of his campaign bus, the Straight Talk Express, McCain held court on a gray horseshoe-shaped couch at the rear, where we listened with rapt attention.

Back then, his staff often didn’t bother to listen to his rap sessions, which became an education for reporters on his world view. Early on, we learned to detect his disdain for some of his opponents — Mitt Romney and Barack Obama — by the way he lavished praise on others — Rudy Giuliani, Mike Huckabee or Hillary Rodham Clinton — in the same sentence.

He leavened policy discussions with funny stories from his school days when some knew him as “McNasty” or reliving his daredevil exploits as a young naval aviator. He was unguarded and charming, occasionally solicitous about our lives.

One winter afternoon when Cindy McCain joined him and he was stuck with three newly engaged reporters, he gave us a 10-minute treatise on honeymoon spots.

At the top of his list was Costa Rica, where he had done a zip-line canopy tour. Second was Montenegro and Dubrovnik, which he called “one of the really stunningly beautiful places in the world.” Third was Fiji: “The people are extremely friendly; they used to be cannibals, but the British cured them of that bad habit,” he joked. “We’ve gone to Fiji with our kids lots of times.”

In an aside about the Galapagos Islands, he veered into his last encounter there with sea lions: “I’m not making this up — I was swimming, and there was this group of female sea lions, and this one male sea lion, and the next thing I know this guy’s face is right where my hand is. . . . So I swam away and he bit my flipper. I swear to God. . . . He thought I was some kind of competition.”

“Where did you guys go on your honeymoon,” I asked.

“Uhh,” McCain said. “Hawaii,” Cindy interjected.

“Canada?” McCain joked, pretending to fumble. “I get my marriages mixed up.”

Cindy good-naturedly rolled her eyes. “We had a great time,” he said, grinning, before telling us about their honeymoon spot.

For several months, he would often lean in and ask the same question: “Did you set a date yet?”

—

McCain’s energy and sense of fun were most on display when he was surrounded by the regular characters in his entourage.

Before the primaries, there was Tim Pawlenty, the Republican governor of Minnesota, who was so unassuming that McCain’s bus driver once asked me what he did. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) loosened McCain up before debates or big events by subjecting himself to McCain’s unmerciful teasing. McCain loved to tell the story of Graham’s Ambien overdose on an international flight and how he had to be elbowed awake during a subsequent meeting with a head of state.

For the first half of the year, strategist Steve Schmidt and McCain speechwriter Mark Salter were regular fixtures in the press cabin. They offered honest observations about the direction of the campaign off the record, and lots of spin on the record.

We would persuade them to tell their own stories at the bar in the evenings. Salter had colorful tales of his days as a railroad worker in Davenport, Iowa, when he had hair past his shoulders and worked for a foreman known as “one-armed Ronnie.”

Schmidt could do dead-on impressions of his former boss, Vice President Dick Cheney, and had fascinating stories about managing the confirmation process of Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. — always off the record.

They would complain about campaign coverage one moment and have drinks with reporters hours later. During a stop in Selma, Ala., I fell while out running and ended up with bleeding palms and scraped knees but no Band-Aids. Schmidt and Salter showed up at the hotel’s dining room with gauze and antiseptic.

—

At the time of that July bus ride with McCain, there was broad disagreement among his staff about whether the endless hours of questions were helping his quest for the White House.

In the driveway of the airport motel on the evening of the Viagra question, McCain’s aides made an argument that would shape their attitude over the next four months: If reporters were going to ask about issues that they deemed irrelevant to voters, why should the campaign give them access to the candidate at all?

Salter told me I had made the case for those who thought McCain should curtail his exposure to the press.

McCain aide Brooke Buchanan sarcastically asked whether contraception was next on my agenda. And Steve Duprey, the candidate’s usually jovial traveling companion who often visited the press cabin bearing Twizzlers and chocolate, twisted my question into what I interpreted as an accusation of bias: “Are you going to ask Obama if he uses Viagra?”

Later that summer, the frequency of McCain’s news conferences dwindled to late-afternoon, end-of-the-week affairs where he began calling more often on reporters he didn’t know.

We now watched from afar at most events — listening for the few sentences that would change each day in his stump speech. We would catch glimpses of him through the window of his SUV from five cars back in the motorcade or watch him get off the plane.

At the height of vice presidential speculation, we rushed the staff cabin of the plane, frustrated that no one was around to address the rumors.

“What do you want, you little jerks?” McCain said, using his former term of affection, before turning away.

—

On a recent Sunday during a brief stop at a Virginia phone bank, I got unusually close to McCain in the line of people waiting to shake his hand.

Tape recorder out and within a foot of him, I asked if he could talk about his new economic plan, which he was to unveil that week. The man who once asked me about my wedding date returned my gaze with a stare, shook the hand of the strangers to the right and left of me and continued out the door.

I remembered Graham’s explanation in January about why McCain spent so much time with reporters. He said that McCain felt too many politicians had become like a guy in a toothpaste commercial — you knew what he was selling but not what was behind the smile.

What McCain didn’t like about other campaigns and wanted to change, Graham continued, was that “nobody gets behind the curtain.”

Whether it was McCain’s fault or ours, the curtain had been drawn tight.

—

maeve.reston@latimes.com

United States President Donald Trump has said an initial agreement to end the US-Israeli war with Iran is “scheduled to get signed tomorrow”.

But that announcement, made on Trump’s Truth Social account on Saturday, contradicts an earlier statement by Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei.

In remarks carried by Iran’s IRNA news agency, Baghaei said a memorandum of understanding would not be signed on Sunday and that negotiators are not planning to travel immediately to Geneva, Switzerland, in preparation for such an event.

According to Baghaei, a signing could happen “in the coming days”.

Hours later, Trump wrote, “The Deal is scheduled to get signed tomorrow, and immediately after it is signed, the Hormuz Strait is OPEN TO ALL.” Sunday marks Trump’s 80th birthday.

In recent days, Iran and the US have repeatedly contradicted each other when describing the details of the anticipated agreement, even as both sides have broadly signalled that a deal was closer than ever before.

Still, no terms have been officially released, with US and Iranian officials on Friday stressing that the agreement had not been finalised.

Beyond opening the Strait of Hormuz, Trump said in Saturday’s post that the agreement would be a “A WALL TO NO NUCLEAR WEAPON!” and that “no money would exchange hands”.

Trump also maintained that “at the appropriate time, when all is calm, we will go in and get the Nuclear Dust”, referring to Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium.

But speaking on Iran’s Press TV on Friday, Iranian ⁠⁠Foreign ⁠⁠Minister Abbas Araghchi said the initial memorandum of understanding would only be a launch point for negotiations about the future of Iran’s nuclear programme.

He added that the signing would result in an immediate pause in fighting, but that Iran and Oman would continue to administer the Strait of Hormuz.

The issue of lifting foreign sanctions against Iran and unfreezing the country’s assets would be discussed following the signing of the memorandum of understanding, Araghchi said.

From threats to diplomacy

The latest flurry of diplomacy came after the US and Iran traded strikes for two days this week, threatening to end a pause in fighting that has persisted since April 8.

The US and Israel launched the war on Iran on February 28, amid ongoing indirect talks on the future of Iran’s nuclear programme.

The US and Israel had also launched a 12-day war on Iran in 2025, during another round of nuclear talks.

Iranian officials have said that deep distrust towards the US has slowed the progress towards creating a lasting agreement to bring the current war to an end.

Trump, meanwhile, has repeatedly pledged to reach a deal that would surpass the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), struck under his Democratic rival, former President Barack Obama.

That agreement, from which Trump unilaterally withdrew in 2018, saw Tehran agree to limit its nuclear programme and allow for international inspections in exchange for sanctions relief.

For years, Iran has maintained that it is building a nuclear programme for civilian use only and is not seeking a nuclear weapon.

In his post on Truth Social, Trump again pledged that any deal reached would be more stringent than the JCPOA.

“Our relationship with Iran is a much different and better one than previous Administrations have had,” he said.

“Hopefully, this process will all work out quickly, easily, and smoothly,” he added.

“If it doesn’t, we have the ultimate alternative, hopefully never to be used again!” he wrote, without elaborating on what his threat meant.

Protesters clashed with Albanian police at the site of a luxury holiday resort being built with the backing of Jared Kushner – Donald Trump’s son-in-law. Large demonstrations also took place in Tirana on Friday as opposition to the $5.7 billion project near protected wetlands grows.

On a Thursday in early June, under the hot bright lights of the famous Blue Note jazz club in Hollywood, the legendary trumpeter and composer Arturo Sandoval took center stage with a microphone in hand — and a hip wiggle for good measure. Rocking a silk shirt adorned with rhinestones, and backed by his incredibly nimble band, the Cuban-born virtuoso kicked off his four-night residency at the club with sizzling banter and panache.

“I had to watch what I said in Cuba,” he told the audience. “Now I live in the United States of America, man — I say whatever the hell I want. Do you like it? Well, if you don’t, I don’t care!”

Now 77, Sandoval feels he was liberated by the power of jazz. Released in May, his dynamic new album, “Sangú” — Spanglish for “sounds good!” — is bursting with the free-spirited energy he’s cultivated in the decades since he came to the United States from Cuba. Sandoval maintains a fiery pace throughout the album, commanding not only the trumpet, but the timbales and piano. (He even recorded his own scat singing for the appropriately-titled track, “Scat.”)

Once derided by the revolutionary government as “Yankee imperialism,” jazz music became a staple of Sandoval’s daily diet. As a young trumpet player in Cuba’s national band, he sought refuge in the sounds of Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie by tuning into Voice of America: a radio program covertly broadcast from the States. Sandoval eventually served three-and-a-half months in jail in the 1970s when he was caught listening to the program — but with famed pianist and director Chucho Valdés, Sandoval would pioneer a distinctly Afro-Cuban jazz fusion with the Orquesta Cubana de Música Moderna, which was renamed Irakere and won a Grammy for best Latin recording in 1980.

It was in 1990, while touring Europe with his hero Gillespie, that Sandoval finally defected from Cuba with his wife and son — and found the refuge he’d been seeking in the U.S.

“Jazz is synonymous with freedom,” he said. “And I’ve always said the most important word in any dictionary around the world is the word ‘freedom.’”

Inside his Tuscan-style home in the Valley, Sandoval’s shelves are lined with the myriad of awards he’s collected in the time since he arrived in the States: an Emmy award for scoring the 2000 movie based on his own life, “For Love or Country,” which starred Cuban American actor Andy García; 10 Grammy statuettes and the Presidential Medal of Freedom, which was presented to him by President Obama in 2013.

Just last month, Sandoval was also awarded knighthood by the King of Spain. “Does that make me Don Arturo Sandoval?” he audibly asked the ChatGPT application on his phone; indeed, it does. (“My wife gets a little jealous of ChatGPT,” he added with a laugh.)

Come July 4, Sandoval will perform at the America250 concert in Washington D.C., which is a bipartisan celebration of the United States’ 250th birthday. Co-chairs of the event include former President George W. Bush, former First Lady Laura Bush, former President Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama. Seated next to his Bösendorfer grand piano, Sandoval spoke with The Times while on break from his world tour to discuss the new album, his collaborations with Karol G and Ariana Grande, as well as his weakness for a good cigar.

This interview was edited and condensed for clarity.

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What keeps you playing the trumpet after all these years?
I have no choice. The piano is not that complicated, but the trumpet is a pain in the butt. The trumpet is merciless. You have to practice every single day, otherwise it sends you a bill.

How do you smoke cigars and stay healthy enough to play the trumpet?
I’ve been a big time cigar smoker since I was 14 years old. I never miss a day. I had a good one already. Every year they put me in the MRI to check my lungs. And the doctor always says, “Man, you have lungs like a person who never smoked.” A cigar is completely different from cigarettes. [With] a cigar you don’t inhale to the bottom of the lung, you know, it’s from here [taps his throat]. That’s the art.

You’ve been knighted by the king of Spain! How does that feel?
Great! We’re having 30 people over tonight. My wife is cooking for everyone. The consul [from Spain] called me three or four days ago [and] said, “Arturo, I got a surprise for you. I just got a package from the king at my house, ready to give it to you.” And I said, “What kind of joke is that?” My four grandparents came from Spain to Cuba — from my mother’s side, they were from Tenerife, Isla Canaria. From my dad’s side, they were Gallegos from Galicia. Even if I weren’t related to my family in Spain, whatever — I love Spain!

Given how restricted music and expression were in Cuba, how did you get into the international jazz community?
We put together a big band called Orquesta Cubana de Música Moderna [later called Irakere]. I met a journalist who played the saxophone — he said, “Man, you ever hear any jazz music?” He played for me a compilation or recordings of Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker. That was in ’67 or ’68. Ten years later, I got a phone call from the guy — there was a jazz cruise going around the Caribbean and they [were in Havana] for 48 hours. I told him, “Pretend we never had this conversation!” But I went to the harbor. When the boat arrived, I saw Maestro Gillespie coming down the stairs. I didn’t know how to say one word in English. But God has always been good to me.

A guy behind him started talking to me in perfect Spanish. He was a percussionist playing with the great Stan Getz … a bunch of good musicians there. Dizzy started asking me questions through him. They said, “You have a car?” I had a Primo 1951, but it was falling apart. He said, “Ok, show me Havana.” He stayed for a jam session that night with Irakere. Gillespie went back to New York and told everybody about those musicians he heard in Cuba. Then one day a guy came to Irakere’s rehearsal and introduced himself with a translator — he was the president of CBS Records. A few months later, he put us on the plane [to New York] and drove us in a little bus straight to [perform at] Carnegie Hall. CBS made a recording of that, [which gave us] our first Grammy.

Many years later, in 2013, you were awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom. What’s something special you remember about that night?
My granddaughter Lola was there, she was 6. It’s customary to take a photo with the president and the first lady. And we did, the whole family. When we got together for the photo, Lola started pulling at Obama’s jacket. He looked her and said, “May I help you?” She said, “Mr. President, I missed school today. I need a note from you.”

I said, “Oh Lord.” But Obama smiled and said, “Of course.” Then he got a paper with the White House [logo] on top and wrote, “Please excuse Lola from the school today … [Signed,] Barack Obama.”

Legendary jazz trumpeter Arturo Sandoval, shown performing at Dorothy Chandler Pavillion in Los Angeles in 2016.

(Courtesy of Timothy Norris)

Your new album is so cinematic. What’s the story behind it?
One day my son and his wife, who’s my manager, came over and said, “Papa, you’re getting old. You have to change your repertoire.” I said to my son, “I’ve been feeding you for 50 years and then you come and tell me what to do? Gimme a break!” But to be honest, when the pandemic happened, I was locked [inside] here. I used to travel a lot, and I was so frustrated and sad. So for two-and-a-half years, I started writing two or three new tunes a day and recorded a few hundred on my own. They picked 100 out of those; I said, “[Now] pick 12.”

When I got with the band, when somebody told me what to play — a little faster, a little slower — I said, “What the heck, man?” But I did it. And they were right. I’m so happy, blessed and grateful because they are amazing musicians. Nobody’s weird. No drugs, no alcohol, strictly into the music.

You joined Karol G’s band at Coachella this year — how did that happen?
As an old man, it’s not every day you have the opportunity to play Coachella. She called me last year to play on a tune in her latest album, “Ivonny Bonita.” So when they invited her to Coachella, she said, “Arturo, we’d like to play with you there.” She’s got great charisma and knows how to put a show together. To play for [more than] 150,000 people each night? That’s not my daily gig. I was nervous, but grateful for the opportunity. And when I checked my followers on Instagram, I got like 5,000 people in a few days — that never happens to me!

Let’s talk about Instagram!
Oh that’s a funny story. [In 2018] I did an album of duets with Stevie Wonder, Pharrell Williams, Ariana Grande … big time people. When Pharrell wrote a song for our duet, we were in the studio, cutting the track. He said, “Arturo, I’m producing for Ariana Grande in a studio across the hall. You would like me to call her?” I said, “Of course, man.” They sang together, Pharrell and Ariana. And by the end, I got my phone and said, “Ariana, can we take a photo with Pharrell?” She took my phone out of my hand to take [a selfie] and said to me, “Put it on Instagram.” I didn’t know what that was. She said, “You don’t know what Instagram is?” Sorry, I’m old! But I put it on Instagram, thanks to Ariana Grande. She’s so talented, man.

How do you stay dedicated to music after all this time?
People talk a lot about the word “talent.” What’s that? A lot of people supposedly have big talent, but they don’t have the passion, the discipline, the commitment. See those roses in my yard? If somebody gave you a seed, you put it in a vase with fresh dirt. Add some vitamins and water, and if you’re lucky, you’re gonna have a rose. But if they gave somebody the exact same seed and they left it on a table somewhere, that rose is gonna die! I’m 77 years old and I still practice every day. Nothing goes to my head. All those awards would mean nothing if I didn’t take care of what I had.

A federal judge has ordered the Trump administration to restore signs related to topics such as climate change, slavery and Indigenous and LGBTQ+ history that were removed under an executive order to purge language at national parks that allegedly cast America in a negative light.

The order has prompted the removal of mentions of President Washington’s slaves at Independence National Historical Park in Philadelphia, signs regarding climate threats at Fort Sumter in South Carolina and a pride flag at the Stonewall National Monument in New York City, according to the lawsuit challenging the action.

In California, language related to the internment of Japanese Americans at the Manzanar National Historic Site, as well as the history of Indigenous people in Death Valley and Muir Woods came under scrutiny.

A preliminary injunction was issued Friday by U.S. District Judge Angel Kelley in Boston, who sided with a coalition of conservation and historical groups and ordered all language removed under the order to be reinstated before the Fourth of July. Earlier this year, another federal judge ordered the signage related to Washington’s slaves restored.

In Friday’s injunction, Kelley accused the Trump administration of seeking “to rewrite the Nation’s history with a white-out pen,” and said that national parks play an important role in telling the multifaceted history of America, including “the good, the bad, and the ugly.”

“Because Defendants deemed it important to strip the parks of these undeniable truths in anticipation of the 250th Anniversary of our great Nation,” she wrote, “it is equally important that our shared history be honestly told and fully restored by the 250th Anniversary to properly honor the remarkable achievements of the United States.”

A spokesperson for the U.S. Department of the Interior dismissed the ruling as the work of a “liberal activist judge.”

“The Department will look at our appeal options while we celebrate UFC Freedom 250 on the South Lawn of the White House this weekend in honor of our nation’s 250th with the greatest president in the history of our country — President Donald J. Trump,” the spokesperson said in a statement.

Trump initially signed the executive order in March 2025, arguing that a revisionist movement is seeking to undermine American history by replacing objective fact with a distorted, ideologically driven narrative.

“Under this historical revision, our Nation’s unparalleled legacy of advancing liberty, individual rights, and human happiness is reconstructed as inherently racist, sexist, oppressive, or otherwise irredeemably flawed,” the order stated.

Under the order, more than 430 sites under the purview of the National Park Service were told to review language on monuments, memorials, statues and markers to ensure they didn’t disparage Americans past or present, with a close eye on language added during former President Biden’s administration. QR codes were also added at sites encouraging visitors to report any signs they believed violated the order.

In February, a coalition including the National Parks Conservation Assn., American Assn. for State and Local History, Assn. of National Park Rangers and Union of Concerned Scientists filed a lawsuit in federal court in Boston alleging that the order was erasing American history and science.

“National parks serve as living classrooms for our country, where science and history come to life for visitors,” Alan Spears, senior director of cultural resources at the parks conservation association, said in a February statement. “As Americans, we deserve national parks that tell stories of our country’s triumphs and heartbreaks alike. We can handle the truth.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

The U.S. men’s soccer team chose an incredible day to have an incredible day.

Crucially, the United States aced its only chance to make a first impression, kicking off this colossal World Cup it’s co-hosting with Mexico and Canada with a 4-1 victory over Paraguay.

Consider it a save for the tournament, three points for soccer in America and maybe even a win for uniting the States.

The Americans on the pitch did all that, including making sure a sellout crowd of 70,492 fans got their money’s worth for their exorbitantly high-priced seats to watch football under Friday Night Lights at SoFi Stadium.

U.S. forward Folarin Balogun, right, celebrates with Sergino Dest and Chris Richards after scoring during a World Cup win over Paraguay on Friday at SoFi Stadium.

(Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)

It was not a clean sheet. And it wasn’t an elixir for all the issues — visas, tickets, transportation — that ailed the tournament in its buildup.

But the opening statement by the United States confirmed what we thought might be true. Only one thing could save this soccer tournament: soccer.

The U.S. delivered a performance to change the conversation — for the next few weeks and maybe longer.

Making history to alter history.

The United States scored multiple goals in a World Cup first half for the first time since 2002.

It got two of them from Folarin Balogun, the Brooklyn-born, England-raised forward of Nigerian descent who became just the second USMNT player to score two goals in a World Cup game and the first since 1930.

Got a perfect match from Chris Richards, the afro-rocking defender with the long, loping strides, who was 83 for 83 on his passes. That’s better than any player at a World Cup since 1966.

And if possession is nine-tenths of the law of attraction, know that the Americans possessed the ball 71% of the first half, most in the first half of a World Cup game in the modern era.

Landon Donovan, star of the 2002 team that reached the World Cup quarterfinals — a record that still stands — posted on X: “From start to finish, that was the most enjoyable day of soccer I’ve ever experienced.”

That’s the stuff that will get the American people going. Get us invested, get us behind them. That could convert even devout casuals.

Americans love a good underdog story. We also want the best, the finest, the biggest — and this, with its expanded field of 48, is the biggest version of the biggest and best tournament in the world.

And the only thing we love more than winning is dominating. The United States did that Friday against a Paraguayan team that had allowed only 10 goals in 18 World Cup qualifying matches, and whom the United States beat 2-1 in a tense match in November.

Fans cheer during the U.S. win over Paraguay in their World Cup opener Saturday at SoFi Stadium.

(Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)

That was Mauricio Pochettino and his players helping us help them.

“The fans, amazing,” said Pochettino, the team’s accomplished Argentine coach. “On behalf of the whole team, a massive thank you to the fans. Because the energy that they [gave] to the team was amazing. We can do amazing things if the fans are in this as well.”

Friday was so good for soccer in America.

And so good for America. The kind of butt-kicking that’s chicken soup for a nation’s soul.

Maybe it’s idealistic and naive, or apple-pie-in-the-sky wishful thinking, but I believe that they can win. (And by win, I mean make the quarterfinals again.)

There’s no removing politics from this World Cup, but wouldn’t it be fun to all rally behind a team together? Can’t you see the country coalescing behind the right wingers and left wingers on the pitch? Picture people celebrating the freedom inherent in Pochettino’s system? Cheering the all-for-one and one-for-all of this team of dual nationals and Americans raised abroad — or in Alabama?

Postmatch, Pochettino refused to single out any one player, instead giving reporters a recitation of his roster: “[Christian Pulisic] was amazing [setting up two goals]. Balogun was amazing, of course. Tim Ream was amazing, of course. Chris Richards was amazing, yes. Weston McKennie, he was amazing, amazing. Antonee Robinson, Alex Freeman, amazing. Sergiño Dest, amazing …”

Like they put it on the @USMNT Instagram account: “Together as Won.”

U.S. soccer, amazing.