We’re really almost there.

There is just over one week remaining before the June 2 primary for Los Angeles mayor, city attorney, city controller and eight of the 15 City Council seats.

As of Friday morning, 333,000 mail-in ballots had been cast in the race, up from 321,000 at the same time in 2022, according to the L.A. County Registrar/Recorder.

The Trump card

Spencer Pratt’s foes in the Los Angeles mayor’s race like to say that the former reality television star lacks the experience needed to run a big city.

But Pratt might have an even bigger liability — any sense that he may be aligned with President Trump.

Cygnal, a national polling group that has worked for Republican candidates, found that tying Pratt to Trump and the MAGA movement is a bigger turnoff to Democrats than his reality television past.

According to its poll of 500 likely Los Angeles voters, Pratt’s reality TV resume made 59% of overall Democrats less likely to vote for him. By comparison, tying Pratt to MAGA and Trump made 65% of Democrats less likely to vote for him, Cygnal said.

Pratt is a registered Republican and on Wednesday, Trump signaled support for Pratt in the mayoral race. On Thursday, former Trump advisor Steve Bannon said the president didn’t formally endorse Pratt out of fears it would hurt Pratt’s chances in Democrat-dominant Los Angeles.

Spencer Pratt at a recent campaign block party in South Los Angeles.

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

Overall, including Democrats and Republicans, 24% of voters said tying Pratt to Trump made them more likely to vote for him while 50% of voters were less likely to vote for him because of it.

“Karen Bass is a fairly reserved individual, but you have to believe that backstage she was doing a happy dance after she heard Donald Trump’s comments,” said Dan Schnur, a professor of politics at USC, UC Berkeley and Pepperdine University.

The strongest pro-Pratt argument is a public safety argument that Pratt will reject “defund the police” policies and hold repeat offenders accountable.

The poll showed Bass at 25% support, Pratt at 22% and Councilmember Nithya Raman at 18%.

Big money for Blumenfield seat

It hasn’t had the same sizzle as the mayor’s race, or been as pricey as the acrimonious campaign for city controller. But the battle to replace City Councilmember Bob Blumenfield in the west San Fernando Valley is turning into yet another high-stakes, big-money contest.

In that three-way race, a handful of special interests have now put more than $1 million into various efforts to elect businessman Tim Gaspar.

The Central City Assn., a downtown-based business group, has spent the most so far, pouring more than $400,000 into mail pieces, web videos and other campaign expenses, according to Ethics Commission filings. Most of its money has been coming from Airbnb, which is looking to loosen the city’s rules on homesharing platforms, by allowing second homes to be used as short-term rentals in the run-up to the 2028 Olympic Games.

Political aide Barri Worth Girvan, who is running to replace Blumenfield, criticized Gaspar over the influx of money, saying the “West Valley is not for sale.”

“Airbnb has destroyed countless neighborhoods around Los Angeles, and they clearly believe that my opponent will allow them to do that in the San Fernando Valley,” said Worth Girvan, who works for county Supervisor Lindsey Horvath. “Let me be clear — I will not allow that in our neighborhoods.”

Gaspar, in a statement, said he’s proud of the coalition supporting him.

“Like so many Angelenos, they are ready for change and new ideas that will actually get something done. Barri is offering nothing but the same tired excuses, empty promises, and failed ideas,” he said.

Under the city’s campaign finance rules, donors cannot give more than $1,000 to the campaign of a council candidate. However, independent expenditure groups can spend unlimited amounts, as long as they do not coordinate with the campaigns of their favored candidate.

Some of the other Gaspar backers who are spending large sums include the California Alliance of Family Owned Businesses, which represents McDonald’s franchisees, the California Apartment Assn. and Working Californians, a committee sponsored by International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local Union 18, which represents employees of the Department of Water and Power.

That committee is also partly funded by Airbnb, according to the Ethics Commission website.

Ethical supes

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted this week to establish its first ethics commission.

The creation of the new body aimed at preventing and eliminating corruption in county government was mandated by Measure G, which voters approved about 18 months ago.

That measure overhauled the county charter to create an elected county executive position and increase the number of supervisors from five to nine.

It also stipulated the establishment of an ethics commission and an office of ethics compliance, helmed by an ethics compliance officer.

Polling shows the effort has broad public support, according to Sara Sadhwani, a political science professor at Pomona College who served on a task force that made recommendations to the supervisors.

But there was still controversy before the Board of Supervisors voted 5-0 Tuesday to support to approve the plan.

Supervisor Janice Hahn said the ethics commission was intended to be an independent body whose members were not directly selected and appointed by elected officials.

She proposed an amendment that would have made it so commissioners were chosen from a list of qualified and interested people via a lottery system.

Hahn lost that battle and the county approved the plan without the change. The county assessor, the chair of the Board of Supervisors and starting in 2028, the newly minted county executive, will each appoint one ethics commissioner.

Those three commissioners will then select the other four members of the commission, who are subject to the approval of the supervisors.

State of play

— “THE HILLS” ARE ALIVE: The Times dived deep on Spencer Pratt’s history as well as his campaign, showing how he rose from reality television villain on “The Hills” to become a leading contender for L.A. mayor.

— TRUMP BUMP?: President Trump signaled support for Los Angeles mayoral candidate Spencer Pratt on Wednesday, wading into the local election less than two weeks before the primary.

— FRESH PRINCE: Spencer Pratt’s campaign for Los Angeles mayor has paid the Hotel Bel-Air more than $15,000 since April 7, according to Pratt’s latest campaign finance filings.

— PROGRESSIVE BLOCK: Three members of the L.A. City Council’s progressive bloc endorsed Mayor Bass for reelection, snubbing fellow progressive Nithya Raman in the June 2 primary. The endorsements from Eunisses Hernandez, Ysabel Jurado and Hugo Soto-Martínez underscore fractures on L.A.’s left. All three are members of the Democratic Socialists of America, as is Raman.

— HOLLYWOOD HOPEFULS: In campaign ads, interviews and the recent televised debate, the top three contenders: incumbent Mayor Bass, former reality TV villain Spencer Pratt and Raman, have made the ongoing production slump a pivotal topic, highlighting their plans to revitalize the industry while deploying the issue to undercut one another.

— WHITHER LATINOS?: Latinos make up nearly 37% of the L.A. electorate, making their votes crucial for anyone with mayoral ambitions. That has campaigns putting out ads and social media posts in Spanish, hitting the ground in Latino majority neighborhoods and rallying for key endorsements.

— HUNGRY FOR MORE: It’s the biggest slate of democratic socialists Los Angeles has ever seen. The L.A. chapter of Democratic Socialists of America is looking to push City Hall further left by backing candidates for city attorney and four City Council seats in the June 2 primary.

— OH, AND A BUDGET: The Los Angeles City Council signed off on a $15-billion budget for 2026-27 on Thursday, preserving Mayor Karen Bass’ police hiring plan while socking away more money for potential emergencies.

— AIRPORT DELAYS?: A $30 minimum wage for hotel and airport workers will be delayed after Los Angeles elected officials persuaded a group of business leaders to drop a ballot measure that would have devastated the city budget.

QUICK HITS

• Where is Inside Safe? The mayor’s signature program moved 69 people indoors near Chinatown this week in Jurado and Hernandez’s council districts.
• On the docket next week: The City Council will vote to approve a formal letter to remove the gross tax repeal from the November ballot.

Stay in touch

That’s it for this week! Send your questions, comments and gossip to LAontheRecord@latimes.com. Did a friend forward you this email? Sign up here to get it in your inbox every Saturday morning.

SOUTHERN SECTION BASEBALL PLAYOFFS

FRIDAY’S RESULTS

QUARTERFINALS

DIVISION 1

Sherman Oaks Notre Dame 7, Corona 2

Norco 3, Orange Lutheran 0

St. John Bosco at La Mirada, Saturday at 11 a.m.

Harvard-Westlake 2, Cypress 1

DIVISION 2

Ganesha 4, Elsinore 0

Newport Harbor 8, Aquinas 0

Santa Ana Foothill 3, Yucaipa 1

Loyola 3, Alemany 0

DIVISION 3

Mira Costa 13, Dos Pueblos 6

St. Francis 3, Warren 1

Agoura 4, Fullerton 1

Millikan 1, Summit 0

DIVISION 4

Rio Mesa 2, Saugus 1

Glendora 4, Anaheim Canyon 3

Grand Terrace 4, Marina 1

Laguna Beach 6, Moorpark 4

DIVISION 5

Irvine 2, Cathedral 1

Kaiser 7, Santa Barbara 0

Long Beach Wilson 6, Temescal Canyon 1

Culver City 11, St. Bernard 6

DIVISION 6

Brentwood 9, Foothill Tech 7

Trinity Classical Academy 7, El Rancho 6

Covina 11, Western Christian 6

Lakewood 5, Muir 3

DIVISION 7

North Torrance 10, Carpinteria 0

Santa Paula 7, Patriot 1

South El Monte 5, Golden Valley 2

Norwalk 7, Arroyo 1

DIVISION 8

Rancho Alamitos 4, Chadwick 2

Oxford Academy 7, Wildomar Cornerstone Christian 6

Duarte 7, Nuview Bridge 5

Schurr 2, Artesia 1

DIVISION 9

Crossroads Christian 6, Lennox Academy 3

Webb Ojai 14, Valley 4

Rolling Hills Prep 10, Riverside Bethel Christian 1

Temecula Prep 6, Garden Grove Santiago 3

TUESDAY’S SCHEDULE

(Games at 3:15 p.m. unless noted)

SEMIFINALS

DIVISION 1

Sherman Oaks Notre Dame at Norco

Harvard-Westlake vs. St. John Bosco or La Mirada

DIVISION 2

Newport Harbor at Ganesha

Santa Ana Foothill at Loyola

DIVISION 3

St. Francis at Mira Costa

Millikan at Agoura

DIVISION 4

Rio Mesa at Glendora

Grand Terrace at Laguna Beach

DIVISION 5

Kaiser at Irvine

Long Beach Wilson at Culver City

DIVISION 6

Trinity Classical Academy at Brentwood

Covina at Lakewood

DIVISION 7

North Torrance at Santa Paula

Norwalk at South El Monte

DIVISION 8

Oxford Academy at Rancho Alamitos

Schurr at Duarte

DIVISION 9

Webb at Crossroads Christian

Rolling Hills Prep at Temecula Prep

Note: Finals in all divisions May 29-30.

May 22 (Asia Today) — Concerns are growing over possible security gaps in East Asia after the United States used large numbers of advanced interceptor missiles while defending Israel during the Iran conflict, according to a report published Wednesday.

The Washington Post reported Wednesday, citing recent Pentagon assessments, that the United States fired more than 200 THAAD interceptors during Operation Epic Fury to block Iranian ballistic missile attacks.

The figure reportedly amounts to about half of the Pentagon’s total THAAD interceptor inventory.

The United States also used more than 100 Standard Missile-3 and Standard Missile-6 interceptors launched from Navy warships, the report said.

By contrast, Israel reportedly used fewer than 100 interceptors each from its Arrow and David’s Sling missile defense systems, preserving more of its own stockpile and raising questions about uneven resource consumption between the allies.

Military experts told the newspaper the imbalance stemmed from a prearranged ballistic missile defense structure under which the United States assumed responsibility for the most advanced interception missions.

Israel has increasingly relied on the United States for ballistic missile defense while fighting simultaneous conflicts in Gaza, Lebanon and Yemen, stretching its military capabilities.

The report said growing U.S. missile consumption, combined with limited production capacity, is heightening anxiety in East Asia, where countries such as South Korea and Japan depend heavily on U.S. deterrence against threats from North Korea and China.

Kelly Grieco of the Stimson Center warned that “the bill could come due in a theater completely unrelated to Iran,” referring to East Asia.

The concerns follow earlier reports that U.S. Patriot missile stockpiles had fallen to about 25% of required levels, fueling fears of weakening missile deterrence across the region.

Analysts said any renewed hostilities involving Iran could deepen global security vulnerabilities further.

— 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=20260522010006688

The U.S. military’s Low-Cost Uncrewed Combat Attack System, or LUCAS, the recently combat-proven long-range one-way attack drone designed for massed operations, will be equipped with Hivemind autonomy software from Shield AI. The company was selected for the integration effort by the Office of the Under Secretary of War for Research and Engineering (OUSW R&E) as part of an effort to bring AI-enabled swarming and autonomous teaming to LUCAS. The aim of incorporating swarming capabilities onto LUCAS, which is built by SpektreWorks, is something that officials told us about soon after the program broke cover.

The LUCAS program, developed by the Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of War for Prototyping and Experimentation under OUSW R&E, is intended to field ‘affordable mass’ by producing large numbers of relatively low-cost drones that can be deployed in coordinated waves to saturate enemy defenses and expand strike capabilities at scale. Each LUCAS drone costs around $35,000, which is a fraction of the price of available missiles with similar range.

Based on the Iranian Shahed-136, LUCAS was used in combat for the first time when a large number of them were fired against Iranian targets in the opening salvos of Operation Epic Fury, the U.S. part of the joint U.S.-Israeli attack on Iran that began on February 28 of this year.

“LUCAS, indispensable,” U.S. Central Command boss Adm. Brad Cooper told TWZ when asked how effective the drones had been and how much they helped preserve magazine depth, given their comparatively low cost and faster and easier production.

Meanwhile, the original Shahed-136, as well as Russian Geran-series developments of it, have rapidly become a signature weapon of the war in Ukraine, acting as Moscow’s primary standoff strike munition. For years now, Shaheds have led Russia’s campaign of bombardment against Ukrainian infrastructure and cities. While the Shahed has a range in excess of 1,000 miles, LUCAS, in its current configuration, is a bit smaller, with a range of around half that distance. A version of the current airframe used for the LUCAS program also serves in a target surrogate role for training and testing.

Under the new effort, Hivemind will act as an AI “pilot” for LUCAS, allowing groups of drones to coordinate movements, maneuver collaboratively, and adapt to changing battlefield conditions in real time. The effort will culminate in an operational demonstration this fall in which a single operator will direct a swarm of LUCAS drones, but initial flight tests with the software installed will take place before then, Shield AI told TWZ.

Speaking to TWZ at the annual SOF Week conference yesterday, Shield AI’s Brandon Tseng explained that much of the work on inserting the Hivemind AI pilot into LUCAS has already been proven by the company’s experiences working with Ukraine.

“LUCAS is a reflection of about two years’ worth of work with OUSW R&E, and a reflection of a lot of the work that we’re doing in Ukraine with one-way attack drones,” Tseng explained. “For the past several months, we’ve been shipping hundreds of AI pilots for one-way attack drones into Ukraine. Those drones have increased the probability of a kill. They have reduced [the] kill chain timeline, they have reduced the cost per effect, instead of, one out of every 10 of these one-way attack drones hitting their target, now they’re 10 out of 10 in terms of what we’re seeing, and it’s really about taking a lot of that development that we’ve done over in Ukraine and bringing it to a program like LUCAS to again increase probability of kill, reduce cost per effect, and increase probabilities of success.”

In the Ukrainian context, Tseng confirmed that its AI agents are employed across a range of uncrewed platforms. At one end of the scale, these include one-way attack drones with a range of around 62 miles and an overall cost of $8,000, out of which the AI pilot costs around $1,000. At the other end of the scale are much larger and more expensive drones and missiles, including cruise missiles from the Switzerland-based Destinus company.

Returning to the U.S. military, the current effort began with Shield AI working on collaborative autonomy with OUSW R&E, something that began before the second Trump administration. That work was carried forward until the company was one of several down-selected to provide AI pilots for LUCAS.

The effort could represent a significant step toward fielding collaborative autonomy, a long-term goal of massed drone operations, with teams of autonomous systems operating together in dynamic and highly challenging combat environments. These could include ones where GPS is denied and communications are degraded, due to heavy employment of electronic warfare by the enemy.

“LUCAS is about delivering affordable mass, but mass without coordination is limited in value,” Tseng, who is the president and co-founder of Shield AI, said in a media release. “Hivemind is the AI pilot that makes that mass intelligent. It’s the autonomy layer that enables teams of drones to sense, decide, and act at scale. We’re proud to partner with OUSW R&E to put this capability in the hands of the warfighter at the speed of relevance.”

Hivemind is intended to streamline the operation of networked uncrewed systems by allowing a single operator to monitor and direct, as needed, multiple platforms simultaneously during complex, highly-coordinated missions. Using Hivemind, human operators retain authority over strike decisions, while the autonomy software handles navigation, coordination, and general mission execution. The operator can override and redirect the swarm’s operations and redefine its objectives at any time. Automating the swarm’s operations as much as a possible accelerates the timeline from target detection to engagement across a kill chain. The swarm should also be able to collectively act faster than an enemy can react, overwhelming and potentially breaking its decision cycle.

“It’s our policy that the moral decision behind the use of lethal force is always made by a human, and so ‘human in the loop’ is certainly part of the game for that decision-making process,” Tseng highlighted. “Once you make that decision, in the same way, once you decide to launch a cruise missile, then the AI is actually helping ensure that that decision gets fulfilled.”

For the time being, the U.S. military demands a human operator is ‘in or on the loop’ for kinetic or otherwise potentially deadly actions, as opposed to letting autonomous weapons choose what targets to attack on their own without any extra authorization. While less controversial morally, this can also be a tactical hindrance, slowing the swarm’s potential and adding complexity and vulnerabilities to its operations. The debate around this choice will only get more heated as adversaries bypass this elected restriction in order to get an upper hand in future combat scenarios.

As we pointed out in our initial reporting on LUCAS’s emergence, the fact that some of the LUCAS drones already include miniature SATCOM terminals is very noteworthy. After all, ‘human in the loop’ swarming would not be possible without this form of communications at the beyond line-of-sight ranges these drones fly. At the same time, an entire swarm can be controlled in this manner, even if just a handful are equipped with SATCOM terminals. While a swarm can be mesh networked within line-of-sight, it has to relay all the important information back to an operator. By using some of the drones as SATCOM relay nodes, the entire swarm can be controlled remotely from most places on the planet.

Regardless, the Hivemind AI pilot will allow appropriately equipped LUCAS drones to perceive their environment, make decisions, and act autonomously without continuous human input. Unlike conventional autopilots tied to fixed flight paths, Hivemind is designed to dynamically adjust mission plans, react to unforeseen conditions, avoid obstacles, and carry out complex tasks with minimal operator oversight.

In terms of how an AI pilot can assist LUCAS drones, including providing autonomous mission execution and swarming in GPS-denied, communications-denied environments, Tseng likened the technology to that which is behind self-driving cars.

“We’re using a lot of the same technical approaches that Tesla or Waymo are using; we use sensors on board these drones and weapon systems to perceive our environment. We got a GPU [graphics processing unit, a specialized electronic circuit designed for digital image processing] that thinks about what to do and is programmed to think about the different missions that it’s executing in said environment, and then we take action, maneuvering the drone or the weapon system in the environment.”

Already, Hivemind has been inserted in a variety of other platforms, including aboard Anduril’s YFQ-44A under the U.S. Air Force’s Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) program, the U.S. Navy BQM-177 test aircraft, the Airbus UH-72B Lakota helicopter, and the Destinus Hornet platform. The company says it has integrated AI pilots for 28 different platforms to date.

Teaming Autonomous Jets: Hivemind + MQM-178 Firejets

Tseng said the company wants to start flight testing with Hivemind in July. “I hope they make it operational as quickly as possible,” he added.

The path to operational service should be made easier by previous experience from Ukraine, where it took only eight weeks to put an AI pilot into one of their one-way attack platforms.

However, the final decision on fielding AI-equipped LUCAS drones rests with the customer. “It’s up to the government, and I’m not going to disclose timelines on when the government thinks about fielding it,” Tseng said of the Hivemind-equipped LUCAS drone.

While LUCAS drones without AI pilots have already achieved impressive results in the recent conflict with Iran, according to the Pentagon, Shield AI is meanwhile confident that the capabilities of the platform will be significantly enhanced once they are flying with AI onboard. The results should include increasing the probability of kill, lowering the cost per effect, and increasing overall mission success.

“If you have cheap one-way attack drones, but it takes 10 or 20 of them to destroy a target, they’re no longer that cheap, right?” Tseng contended. “But if all of a sudden you have cheap one-way attack drones, and one out of one can kill it, and now you can kill 20 targets, that is a really low cost per effect, and that’s what the United States is after at the end of the day.”

Putting an AI pilot in the LUCAS drone is a big deal for the program. If it works as planned, it should help realize the long-held ambition of coordinated swarms of drones, not just drones being deployed en masse.

Using the software, multiple LUCAS drones will be able to share tasks and maneuver cooperatively, making saturation attacks even more effective. As well as the drones dynamically rerouting, avoiding air defenses, and otherwise adapting to changing battlefield conditions, an AI pilot makes it easier for missions to continue despite hostile jamming or loss of datalink connectivity. Indeed, using AI, drone swarms can maintain near-perfect combat efficiency even if it loses members. Drones can be configured with all different payloads, with the swarm’s makeup tailored to each mission, and the AI system can maximize their collective effectiveness at all times.

With flight testing of Hivemind-equipped LUCAS drones expected to start in only a couple of months, we should begin to get a better look at the transformation of these kamikaze drones from expendable individual weapons into groups of networked weapons that collectively equate to much more than the sum of their parts.

Contact the author: thomas@thewarzone.com

Emily Atack is starring in the highly anticipated second season of Disney+’s Rivals, and has been giving a rare insight into her wedding plans with fiancé Dr Alistair Garner

The Inbetweeners star Emily Atack, 36, faces a hectic period both professionally and personally. The actress is currently organising her upcoming nuptials to partner Dr Alistair Garner, while her Rivals storyline, where she plays Sarah Stratton, intensifies.

She’s also presenting ITV’s new strategic reality quiz, Nobody’s Fool, alongside fellow Rivals star Danny Dyer, 48.

Emily, who gave birth to her first child, a son named Barney, with Alistair in 2024, has been sharing behind-the-scenes secrets from the Disney+ adaptation of Dame Jilly Cooper’s steamy novel, while offering a glimpse into her wedding preparations.

The actress joined her on-screen husband Rufus Jones, 51, on the Rivals Season 2 Official Podcast to chat about the opening episodes of the latest series, including several explicit nude sequences.

Rufus was asked about the moment his character, Paul Stratton, danced around in the buff following a shower, leading Emily to reveal that she’d witnessed the actor unclothed “more than my own partner” in recent months.

The star acknowledged that the striking scene represented “his first day” of shooting series two, remarking: “It’s very funny, I’ve done quite a lot of nudity in my career”, to which Emily interjected: “I’ve seen you naked more than my own partner this year!”

Rufus chuckled and responded: “I know, it’s slightly weird. I’ve done it about 10 times!” The actor revealed that filming the scene proved particularly challenging as the shower was considerably smaller than anticipated, leaving him with limited space to perform.

Meanwhile, Emily’s character Sarah has been wrestling with the revelation that she’s expecting a baby, while simultaneously attempting to safeguard her television career.

The actress explained that she tapped into her own personal journey of first-time motherhood for the storyline “because it really, genuinely gave me that real emotion”.

This follows Emily previously admitting she finds it difficult to look at her baby son “without crying”, as she “loves him so much”.

Beyond the Rutshire universe, Emily has disclosed that her wedding to fiancé Alistair is scheduled for September this year.

She told Luxury London in a recent interview: “I think I’ve nailed it. We’re getting married in September.”

The star continued: “I’ve very much enjoyed the planning process. Choosing napkins and stuff. I’m like, ‘My God, my life is here!'”

Emily and Danny Dyer’s new programme Nobody’s Fool launches on ITV1 and ITVX at 9pm on Saturday.

Losses by 6-0. 15-2. 10-1. How do you want to spin the Angels now, GM Perry Minasian? Are things still grand in Arteville?

Humiliations galore!

Jim Fredrick
Manhattan Beach

Really? The Angels cannot hit, cannot pitch and certainly cannot field. Their hitting coach, pitching coach and manager Kurt Suzuki‘s terrible management are much higher on the list of what’s wrong with this miserable team this year. So sad.

Michael Reuben
Anaheim Hills

The recent emergence of shirt-waving fans at Angel Stadium urging ownership to “sell the team” is an opportunity for reflection. With the long ago departure of the controversial former Clippers owner Donald Sterling, is Arte Moreno now truly the worst owner in sports? Sterling was truly detestable in his time, but at least he fielded a highly competitive and exciting Lob City squad led by legendary coach Doc Rivers. For the 2026 Angels, the dog days have already begun — before Memorial Day weekend.

Rob Fleishman
Placentia

Going into Memorial Day weekend, the Dodgers are in first place and the Angels are in last place. Plus the Angels’ shirtless fans in the stands are screaming at owner Arte Moreno to “Sell The Team!” The more things change, the more they stay the same. Ho hum.

Chris Sorce
Fountain Valley

May 22 (Asia Today) — Samsung Electronics labor unions began voting Thursday on a tentative wage agreement, but sharp divisions between the company’s semiconductor and device divisions are emerging as a major source of tension.

Choi Seung-ho, chairman of the Samsung Electronics branch of the Korean Metal Workers’ Union-affiliated Samsung Group labor organization, said he would hand over 2026 negotiations to the remaining union leadership and seek a confidence vote if the agreement is rejected.

“The union must follow the will of its members,” Choi said. “I will not change my direction.”

Samsung Electronics unions began voting on the tentative agreement at 2:12 p.m. Thursday. The vote will continue through Tuesday.

Attention is focused on whether growing conflict between the semiconductor-focused Device Solutions division and the Device Experience division, which oversees consumer electronics and mobile businesses, could affect the outcome.

Under the tentative agreement, employees in the semiconductor division are expected to receive large performance bonuses. Workers in the nonmemory semiconductor business could receive about 200 million won ($146,000), while memory semiconductor employees could receive up to 600 million won ($437,000).

By contrast, DX division employees are expected to receive company stock worth about 6 million won ($4,400). Additional performance bonuses also appear uncertain due to weaker business results this year.

Labor groups with many DX employees, including the Donghaeng union and the Suwon branch of the National Samsung Electronics Union, strongly criticized the agreement as rushed and overly centered on memory chip workers.

The Donghaeng union also claimed its members were excluded from the vote, raising concerns about voting rights.

The umbrella union organization said voting rights apply only to union members listed as of 2 p.m. Wednesday within labor groups participating in the joint bargaining body.

Donghaeng union officials, however, said the umbrella union had previously told member unions by email that all voting rights would be respected before later reversing its position.

The Donghaeng union reportedly grew from about 2,600 members to 12,000 members, most believed to be from the DX division.

Some DX employees argue the semiconductor division’s current profits were made possible in part because DX business performance supported companywide investment during weaker periods for semiconductors.

Complaints have also continued during negotiations that discussions were centered on the semiconductor division rather than the DX business. Some workers have even filed a court injunction seeking to invalidate the bargaining process.

For the agreement to pass, more than half of eligible union members must participate and a majority of votes cast must support the deal.

Samsung Electronics employs about 77,300 workers in the semiconductor division and about 51,700 in the DX division. The umbrella union has about 57,290 members, while the National Samsung Electronics Union has about 8,176 members.

If the agreement is rejected, negotiations would resume and the possibility of a strike could increase.

— 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=20260522010006743

Irish media personality Vogue Williams told her sister, Amber, she’d crossed paths with Joanna Lumley, the Absolutely Fabulous star, at the 2026 RHS Chelsea Flower Show

Vogue Williams has admitted she “considered it” as she opened up about a moment she “stared hard” at Joanna Lumley. Her remarks came during a recent chat with her sister, Amber Wilson, in which Vogue revealed she ran into the Absolutely Fabulous star at the 2026 RHS Chelsea Flower Show.

Held on the banks of the River Thames, the world-renowned flower show aims to “inspire, educate and excite visitors about horticulture” — and it often attracts famous faces and members of the Royal Family.

Among the star-studded line-up this year were King Charles and Queen Camilla, Sir David Beckham, artist Grayson Perry, Strictly Come Dancing‘s Dianne Buswell, TV star Myleene Klass, and presenters Angela Rippon and Ruth Langsford.

Vogue was left starstruck when she spotted Great British Bake Off legend Mary Berry. Vogue told the Vogue & Amber podcast: “Anyway, so the flower show. So, we’re just walking around the flower show. There’s Mary Berry.

“There’s bloody Mary Berry in front. No, don’t say bloody that. You can’t say that in front of her name. God. God. There’s Queen Mary Berry. She’s so slight and lovely and petite and just looked so… like, she looked gorgeous.”

Elaborating on her encounter with Joanna, she added: “And then took…took a lot of might not to go up to her. A lot of might. And I mean we stared hard; Joanna Lumley.”

A clearly impressed Amber noted that she would have “made an exception” to snag a photo with Joanna. But Vogue explained that she didn’t like “interrupting people”.

She added: “We did. We considered it. We did. And we stared…we stared her down as hard as we could, but I just… I feel like… I feel like there’s, I don’t know. I just liked…

“I don’t like interrupting people when they’re just trying to have a nice time. You know what I mean?”

Amber suggested that Joanna would have “liked that”, although she admitted that she didn’t think the actress’ personality was similar to the characters she has played over the years.

As the pair shared a laugh while recounting an old episode of Absolutely Fabulous, Amber described the series as an “absolute banger”.

In other news, Vogue, who is expecting her fourth child with husband Spencer Matthews, recently dubbed him a “sicko” as she made a swipe at the former Made in Chelsea star.

Speaking to Amber on a separate instalment of the podcast, the Irish media personality said: “When I got pregnant, my knickers all got too small for me. I had to borrow Amber’s knickers.”

Amber jokingly suggested that her sister would have to lend Spencer’s underwear before revealing he “doesn’t wear boxers”. Vogue replied: “Spenny just goes around rubbing his bum on his trousers, what a sicko.”

OUR Spotlight On column takes an in-depth look at the best things to see and do in popular holiday destinations, as well as shining a light on some of the lesser-known spots.

This week, we are highlighting Vancouver in Canada, which will be hosting World Cup matches.

The Sun’s Assistant Travel Editor Sophie Swietochowski said: “Vancouver is possibly the best spot in the world for holidaymakers that want to blend nature with a city break.

“The glorious Grouse Mountain is around a 15-minute from Downtown and offers nighttime skiing or glorious hikes in summer, while its main park borders the ocean and is a great place for spotting wildlife, including whales if you’re lucky!

“When you’re not soaking up the great outdoors, the shopping and restaurant scene is absolutely pumping with new trendy spots cropping up on a monthly basis.”

MUST SEE/DO

Granville Island is a popular spot, for a very good reason.

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The former industrial hub is littered with quirky crafts shops selling handmade goods that you won’t find anywhere else.

There are food markets too, selling the freshest of fish caught in local waters, as well as warm doughnuts and artisan pickles.

Harry Styles is reportedly a big fan of Hobbs Pickles.

HIDDEN GEM

While wellness may not be at the forefront of your visit to Vancouver, it has become huge on the local scene. Circle Wellness is a unique spa experience that will leave you feeling refreshed.

Visitors will get access to their own converted shipping container to undergo a therapy circuit of hot stones, a cold plunge pool and Himalayan salt chamber.

BEST VIEW

Many associate Vancouver’s mountains with skiing, but while it may be a popular sport in winter, that is not all there is to do.

Grouse Mountain is just as gorgeous in the spring and summer months.

It is celebrating its 100th commercial birthday this year and you can join in the celebrations by soaking up its beauty on one of many hiking trails or by mountain biking along its craggy paths. The views will blow your socks off.

Or take a stroll around Stanley Park, which is larger than New York‘s Central Park and has a sea-wall walk from which you might be able to spot whales.

RATED RESTAURANT

There’s no shortage of excellent sushi restaurants, thanks to Vancouver’s waterside location.

Some of the best sushi can be found at Miku Restaurant, which does an excellent deal with ten pieces of sushi, rolls and nigiri, plus appetisers and miso soup.

But you can pretty much sample any cuisine you wish in this city.

For cracking Vietnamese food, head to Anh and Chi, or for tapas, Como Taperia.

BEST BAR

Stanley Park Brewing occupies a prime spot in the park and is a great spot for ale lovers.

It brews its own tipples inhouse and you can sample a selection by ordering the beer flight or paddle.

If you are after something sophisticated, The Keefer has been voted the best bar in Canada and serves punchy cocktails.

Boozy drinks are described as “prescriptions” on the menu, with a section dedicated to concoctions inspired by sound.

HOTEL PICK

The 4H Westin Bayshore is well located by Stanley Park and near the main shopping hub.

There is a decent cocktail bar downstairs where mixologists like to get creative, incorporating theatrical props into the drinks.

There is an on-site spa and gym too.

Rooms cost from $224 per night (around £120). See marriott.com.

Shocking images caught the hours long queues bank holiday travellers faced in Dover and Folkestone on the hottest days of the year so far

Bank holiday travellers have been plunged into chaos as some drivers were forced to wait nearly five hours for ferries at Dover.

Brits looking to escape the UK for the long weekend and hot weather were dealt with a massive blow as thousands of cars were kept waiting in sweltering temperatures. Shocking images showed massive queues at the Port of Dover as people tried to catch ferries over to mainland Europe.

The port issued a warning to travellers and the new EU border checks were suspended to help ease the massive congestion on one of the hottest days of the year so far.

Motorists heading to the Eurotunnel for the LeShuttle railway reported delays of an hour or more to check-in in Folkestone.

READ MORE: UK weather live: Heatwave maps forecast 35C surge with 15 counties at 33C – listREAD MORE: Canary Islands issues heatwave weather alert and warns ‘don’t get too drunk’

Motorists, on Saturday morning, faced delays of up to two hours to reach the port then a wait of up to two and a half hours to complete immigration and processing before getting on their ferries.

The news entry/exit system (EES) involves people from third-party countries, like the UK, having their fingerprints registered and photograph taken to enter the Schengen Area.

The port, in a statement to holidaymakers amid the travel chaos, warned this bank holiday was the first major period it has faced with the new EES system in place.

It said: “We recognise that the border process is slower with the current EES system, and this May Half Term is the first peak period since its introduction.

“French border teams are doing their best within the parameters given and are working with the highest available resources. We are continuing to work hard with them and our other partners to reduce wait times and get you on your way as quickly as possible. It is extremely important to stick to main routes on your journey to the Port, as not doing so causes extra delays and access issues for our local community.”

‘Are you caught up in the Dover queues? Contact us at webnews@trinitymirror.com

In a desperate bid to ease congestion, the French authorities suspended extra EU border checks under the EES, the port announced. It also said anyone who has missed their ferry crossing because of queues can travel on the next available slot free of charge.

Holidaymakers also faced hours long waits at Dover on Friday, but the congestion has appeared to ease on Saturday afternoon. In an update around 1.15pm on Saturday, the port said the processing time for tourist traffic had dropped to 50 minutes.

Despite this, the port said there were “still queues in the check-in plaza for tourist traffic and approach lanes for all ferry operators”. More than 8,000 travellers are expected at the port on Saturday.

The travel nightmare comes on a long weekend where multiple temperature records could be broken – with parts of the UK possibly hotter than the Seychelles on Saturday. Records could be broken for the the hottest May day in the UK and England, currently 32.8C; the hottest May day in Wales, currently 30.6C ; as well as the UK and England’s hottest bank holiday, which sits for now at 33.3C, according to the Met Office.

Highs of 30C are likely to be seen in the south of England on Saturday after the UK saw the hottest day of the year so far when temperatures hit 28.4C in Heathrow, Cambridge and Cranwell in Lincolnshire on Friday afternoon. This would be hotter than the temperatures forecast for popular holiday spots like Split in Croatia and even Victoria in the Seychelles.

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) issued amber heat health alerts on Friday morning for the East Midlands, West Midlands, the east of England, London and the South East. They will remain in place until 5pm on Wednesday and replace less severe yellow alerts which were previously issued.

The alerts mean there is likely to be “a rise in deaths, particularly among those aged 65 and over or with health conditions” and increased demand on all health and social care services, according to the UKHSA website. Yellow alerts have been issued for the north-east and north-west of England, Yorkshire and Humber, and the South West.

Baseball players like to feel comfortable wearing their hats but also look good when taking them off. That’s where sophomore JV baseball player Noah Nolasco from Birmingham High comes into play.

He’s been cutting hair for players in the East Valley, from Birmingham to Poly to Sylmar to Bishop Alemany. He’s been busy because the playoffs are taking place, and players are apparently following the philosophy “look good, feel good, play good.”

One of his customers is Birmingham sophomore pitcher Carlos Acuna, who’s 11-0 and plays in Saturday’s City Section Open Division championship game against El Camino Real at Dodger Stadium.

Nolasco said a taper is the favorite haircut these days and there’s also players bleaching their hair blond for the playoffs. He normally charges $25.

Here’s his instagram page.

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

An Israeli air strike has hit the Al-Baqbouq area north of Tyre in southern Lebanon, sending massive clouds of smoke into the air. The attack left several Syrian workers injured.

World Cup cohosts United States have warned the Democratic Republic of the Congo team to isolate due to Ebola fears.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo ‌(DRC) have no plans to change their preparations for the 2026 World Cup, despite ⁠a warning from the ⁠United States that the team must isolate for 21 days before arriving in the country, a team official has said.

Andrew Giuliani, executive director of the ⁠White House Task Force for the World Cup, confirmed on Friday that the Congolese delegation needed to maintain a bubble where they are training in Belgium and isolate ⁠for 21 days or risk being denied entry after a deadly outbreak of the Ebola virus in the central African country.

The Congolese team are to be based in Houston at the tournament and will play an opening Group K fixture against Portugal on June 17, followed by matches against ‌Colombia on June 23 in Guadalajara, Mexico, and against Uzbekistan on June 27 in Atlanta.

“We’ve been very clear to Congo that they should maintain the integrity of their bubble for 21 days before they can then come to Houston on June 11,” Giuliani told ESPN on Saturday.

“We’ve made it very clear to the Congo government as well that they need to maintain that bubble, or they risk not being able to travel to the United ⁠States. We cannot be any clearer.”

But a team spokesperson said that at ⁠this stage there was no change to their schedule, which includes a friendly against Denmark in Liege, Belgium, on June 3 and another against Chile in Cadiz, Spain, six days later.

“We have kept our training programme. No ⁠player in the squad has come from DR Congo,” the official said.

The entire squad of players are based outside the DRC, mostly ⁠in Europe, including coach Sebastien Desabre. A few team officials ⁠arrived at the training camp in Belgium from the DRC earlier this week.

The team had planned a three-day trip to Kinshasa next week as a celebratory send-off before they head to their first World Cup in 52 years, but ‌that trip has been cancelled.

The World Health Organization on Friday raised to “very high” the risk of the rare Bundibugyo strain of Ebola turning into a national outbreak in the DRC ‌and ‌has declared the outbreak there and in neighbouring Uganda an emergency of international concern.

Nearly 750 suspected cases and 177 suspected deaths have been recorded following the outbreak in DRC.

LEE Andrews’ dad Peter has broken his silence on the ‘disappearance’ of Katie Price’s husband – insisting his son HAS been locked up in a Dubai prison. 

Katie, 48, last week told how she believed Lee, 43, had been “kidnapped” as a missing persons’ report was filed with the British Embassy in the United Arab Emirates city and three days ago Dubai police denied he’d been detained.

Now Peter has claimed Lee is being held by police, telling the Daily Mail: “Lee is OK. 

“He has not been kidnapped but he is under arrest. I don’t know on what charge.

“I’m not sure where he is being held. But he will call me later today.

“He is not at my house.”

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A police insider told the publication: “Lee Andrews has been arrested.”

As part of her investigation exposing Lee as a conman, The Sun’s Clemmie Moodie reported that he is laying low in a run-down villa in Dubai and hasn’t been snatched as part of a nefarious plot which wife Katie has been led to believe. 

Last night Lee made a return to social media after eight days – following a mystery woman named Marisol.

Katie is said to be disgusted and incensed after “kidnapped” hubby Lee reappeared online.

His shock return came on worried Katie’s 48th birthday. In the early hours fans spotted Andrews had added Marisol — and they alerted Katie.

It appears Marisol previously used an online matchmaking service for millionaires.

Katie’s last contact with Andrews came when he claimed he had been arrested and taken to a “black site”.

Spencer Pratt, please give me a call.

We should talk.

You say you want to be mayor of Los Angeles, but do you really?

I know that being a candidate has rescued you from anonymity after your career in reality TV went off a cliff. You’ve got CEOs backing you, and fans raving, and you’ve managed to milk social media attention.

But at some point you might have to answer questions from the reporters you’ve been avoiding.

And if you win, you’re going to have to drive to City Hall five, six, seven days a week, and I don’t know if you saw my column a few weeks ago, but the fountain on the south lawn hasn’t worked in about 60 years. If you get elected, you better put a wrench in your lunch box, because nobody has figured out how to fix it.

So that’s the reality, pretty much. And the unions will want what they want, and the socialists on the City Council will be lying in wait, especially after President Trump blew you a cross-country air kiss and certified your MAGA credentials.

More than 30,000 people are waiting for their broken sidewalks to get fixed (I’m not exaggerating) but there’s no money, and if you hire several thousand more police officers as you’ve pledged, the city would be bankrupt for the next decade or so and you’d need to take out a loan to buy a doughnut.

So call me, like I say, because I think there’s still time to change your mind.

If you choose to proceed, and if you actually win, it might feel like you’re in a sequel to that reality show you did called “I’m a Celebrity … Get Me Out of Here,” and you may end up praying the show gets canceled. The mayor’s hours are long, and everywhere you go, someone will want you to fix this problem or that, and as you wander the halls of power you’ll think back on your campaign pledges and hear the constant echo of a line from H.L. Mencken:

“For every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple, and wrong.”

Can I confess something?

I’m feeling guilty about all of this.

Not to sound presumptuous, but I feel partly responsible for the fact that you’re in contention for the job.

Like you, I’ve been calling out issues with the management of L.A., and I’ve been doing it for years. But I had the good sense not to run for mayor.

Why’s that?

Because unlike you, I know the fixes aren’t as easy as we’d like them to be.

When Karen Bass was running the first time, I had a long talk with her about her homelessness plan, among other things. At the end of the day, she asked for my input.

I reminded her that as much as people would like for the city’s top elected official to immediately clear the streets, a mayor is limited by shared power with the City Council.

By drug epidemics and untreated mental illness that are largely under county authority.

By uncertain funding from the nation’s capital.

By global forces that transformed the economy and created staggering levels of inequality that are made all the worse by the high cost of housing.

Bass was aware of all that, but said that having worked in Sacramento and D.C., and having built relationships with county supervisors, she’d be able to build better systems and get better outcomes.

So how has she done?

Not great. And then there’s the fire.

As I’ve said before, leaving the country despite forecasts of elevated wildfire risk was probably the worst mistake of her political career.

I don’t need to remind you of that. Having lost your house in the Palisades, you know that Bass badly underreacted, then stumbled on the rebuilding, and then had a hand in downplaying the Fire Department’s failure to adequately deploy and extinguish the fire that became an inferno.

To summarize, she’s left herself wide open to a challenge.

And she probably can’t believe how lucky she is that you might be her November competition, if the two of you bounce out Councilmember Nithya Raman and the other candidates in the June 2 primary.

I don’t hold it against you that you haven’t worked in government or politics before. These days, a lot of voters prefer outsiders. But it might have helped if you’d done something of purpose at some point in your life, like run a successful business or volunteer at a food bank. Were you junior high class president, or were you in the Boy Scouts? Anything could help.

Not that being the boyfriend and later the husband of someone on an MTV reality show called “The Hills,” which chronicled the work of a woman who went from “Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County” to an internship at Teen Vogue, can’t prepare a young man for statesmanship.

In this culture, you could ride that all the way to the White House.

But the flimsy resume could explain, Spencer, why you’ve been taking so many social media-fueled potshots at Bass without offering anything of substance.

Let’s arrest drug zombies.

OK, then what?

I’d advise you to study the primer by my colleagues Doug Smith and Andrew Khouri on what you can and can’t do about homelessness as a mayor in L.A. Clearly, you’ve got a lot of boning up to do. In fact, I’m reminded of a line by a Philadelphia columnist years ago, when he said of a politician who wasn’t up to the job: He’s been standing in shallow water for so long, he doesn’t realize he can’t swim.

If I were you, I’d consider the fact that President Trump made the mistake of promising easy fixes. He was going to deliver a massive infrastructure program. He was going to deliver healthcare reform that was better and cheaper for everyone. He was going to lower consumer prices on Day One, and here we are, with millions of people wondering how they’re going to pay their bills while Trump rigs it so he doesn’t have to pay the IRS.

All that being said, I’m glad you decided to run, because elected officials need constant reminders that their jobs are not secure, even when the challengers are way in over their heads. I’d almost like to see you win, because that’s one reality show I’d be sure to watch.

And I say this despite the fact that you once told your talk show buddy Alex Jones — who insisted that 9/11 was an inside job and that the Sandy Hook massacre of 20 children was a hoax — that melting ice caps are overrated. Or, as you explained it to Jones, “we’ve all seen footage of the polar bears swimming to new pieces of ice.”

When the general election rolls around, and the ice begins to break, will you know how to swim?

steve.lopez@latimes.com

Liverpool fan Josh Sexton can be found on outlets including The Anfield Wrap, external

It comes to something when your long-time nemesis says it is time to move on and you actually feel a little bit sad about it.

It feels like a chapter of English football is truly closing.

I actually grew to quite like Guardiola – a feeling made easier by Liverpool refusing to be any competition to his team this season.

Between his compassionate politics and his increasingly funny news conferences, the man who became the bane of our existence has started to cut a much more likeable figure.

The respect element was always there.

Yes, there are caveats to City’s success, but there are very few doubts about Guardiola’s greatness as a manager.

After Jurgen Klopp left Anfield in 2024, it seemed only natural that the man he went toe to toe with for so many years would move on fairly soon after.

The truth is, the standards those two managers set would warp our perception of what a normal title-winning points total looks like.

Arsenal have pipped Guardiola to the Premier League this season, but they have done so with a maximum of 85 points – a climbdown from the days of Liverpool and City pushing each other to 90-plus totals.

Liverpool have fallen away this season, but Guardiola moving on means the barrier to entry for a title race is likely to not be as high.

Therefore, Liverpool supporters should be reassured that a return to the top is not too far away, especially with such a talented group of players.

We might not see those 2018-2022 levels again for a little while, though, and for that we will always – at least partly – have Guardiola to thank.

May 22 (Asia Today) — South Korea’s leading defense and public-sector technology institutions agreed Thursday to deepen cooperation on artificial intelligence strategy as the government seeks to position the country among the world’s top three AI powers.

The Korea Institute for Defense Analyses, or KIDA, and the National Information Society Agency, or NIA, held a joint seminar in Seoul under the theme “Strategic linkage between public AI transformation and defense AI transformation for a national AI G3.”

The two organizations also signed a memorandum of understanding to strengthen cooperation between the public and defense sectors on AI policy and infrastructure.

The agreement reflects growing recognition within South Korea that strategic use of AI technology is becoming a key factor in national competitiveness and future security.

The institutions said the partnership aims to create a nationwide AI ecosystem linking the private sector, government and military by integrating AI transformation efforts that had previously been pursued separately in the public and defense sectors.

As part of the initiative, KIDA plans to expand its Defense Artificial Intelligence Policy Research Office into a larger body tentatively named the Defense AI Policy Center.

The planned center would oversee tasks ranging from defense AI strategy to data planning and verification while maintaining a permanent cooperation system with NIA’s AI policy division.

Officials said the center is expected to support both the Defense Ministry and the Ministry of Science and ICT while serving as a bridge between ministries on AI policy and technology.

During the seminar, Shim Seung-bae, a senior researcher at KIDA, presented what he described as a “public-defense hybrid AI transformation strategy” aimed at strengthening South Korea’s defense industry competitiveness.

Lee Yong-jin, head of NIA’s AI policy office, said advanced public-sector AI infrastructure and methodologies should be rapidly integrated into defense applications.

Participants from government, industry and the military also discussed the need for stronger AI governance and closer cooperation between defense companies and civilian AI firms.

Lee Seung-young, chief technology officer at LIG D&A, said open collaboration between defense contractors and private AI companies is urgently needed to upgrade advanced weapons systems.

Kim Dong-hwan, CEO of FortyTwoMaru, said successful AI transformation cases and data experience from civilian and public sectors should be quickly applied to defense programs.

KIDA President Kim Jung-soo said AI has become “a core game changer” determining the success of national competitiveness and defense innovation.

NIA President Kim Hyung-chul said the agency would focus on maximizing synergy between public and defense AI transformation to help South Korea become a global “AI G3” nation.

Officials said the partnership could accelerate South Korea’s broader “Defense Innovation 4.0” initiative and its goal of becoming one of the world’s top four defense exporters.

— 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=20260522010006708

The new cases in Uganda include a driver who transported the country’s first ⁠confirmed patient and a ​health worker.

Uganda has confirmed three new ⁠cases of Ebola, bringing ⁠the total number of infections in the country in this outbreak to five, as authorities stepped up contact tracing to try to contain the spread.

The update from Uganda’s Ministry of Health on Saturday came a day after World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus announced the risk assessment for the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola was being revised to “very high at the national level, high at the regional level, and low at global level”.

Nearly 750 suspected cases and 177 suspected deaths ‌have been recorded in Uganda’s neighbouring country, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the centre of the outbreak.

First responders in the DRC say they lack basic supplies, which some have attributed to foreign aid cuts by major international donors, particularly the United States.

The WHO has said late detection, the absence of a vaccine or virus-specific therapeutics, widespread armed violence and high mobility among the population make the DRC especially vulnerable.

Uganda suspended all public transport to the DRC on Thursday after confirming two cases of Ebola – one infection and one death – involving Congolese nationals who crossed the border.

The new cases in Uganda reported on Saturday include a driver who transported the country’s first ⁠confirmed patient and a health worker ⁠exposed while caring for that patient.

Both are receiving treatment and were identified among known contacts, the Health Ministry said in a statement.

The third case is a woman ⁠from DRC who entered Uganda with mild abdominal symptoms and later travelled from Arua, close ⁠to the border, to Entebbe before seeking ⁠care at a private hospital in the capital, Kampala.

The patient initially improved and returned to DRC but later tested positive for Ebola after a follow-up prompted ‌by a tip-off from a pilot involved in transporting her.

All identified contacts linked to the confirmed cases are being closely monitored, ‌the ‌ministry said, urging the public to remain vigilant and report suspected symptoms.

“At this critical moment in the outbreak response, it is vital that authorities maintain high vigilance to control expansion of the virus,” Tedros said on Saturday.

“The WHO is working side by side with Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, and partners in the DRC and Uganda, to contain the outbreak, support affected people, and bolster a coordinated response.”

JEFF Brazier has just shared a trio of adorable photos of his son Bobby spending time with his niece Isla Jade.

The sweet snaps come shortly after Jeff’s other son, Freddy, announced that he had split from Isla’s mother, Holly Swinburn, again.

In two of the photos, Bobby is holding Isla and looking down at her lovingly.

A third shows Bobby laying on the floor with Isla as she reaches her hand out to him while on a baby mat.

Bobby grins widely at little Isla, who was bundled up into a beige babygrow.

Jeff lovingly wrote in the caption: “Uncle Bobby x Isla Jade,” followed y a love heart emoji.

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Fans of the family gushed in the post’s comments section about how wholesome the snaps were.

One user said: “Heart melting.”

A second shared: “So precious… an unbreakable bond.”

A third added: “Stop it. So so beautiful.”

Race Across The World star Freddy and Holly welcomed baby Isla into the world back in March.

The pair have been on/off for the past year having previously split while Holly was pregnant.

They then split again briefly just weeks after Holly gave birth

Their most recent split comes three months after Isla’s birth, with a source telling The Sun that this time the break up is ‘for good’.

The source said: “It’s all over again sadly, they’ve been rowing and fighting and it just all got too much.

“Everyone hopes they can put their issues behind them to co-parent.”

The couple were also reported to have not spoken since the fiery argument.

The source added: “They have split for good. Holly and Freddy just can’t make a relationship work. They’re both too young and similar.

“It all ended after a huge row. They had a fight that got really nasty. Since the row they haven’t seen each other or spoken.

“Friends and family really hope this is the end for them.”