The logo of state-owned petroleum company QatarEnergy in front of the headquarters, in Doha, Qatar, March 3. QatarEnergy has halted production of liquefied natural gas and related products due to military attacks on its facilities in Ras Laffan Industrial City and Mesaieed Industrial City. Photo by Hannibal Hanschke/EPA
March 19 (UPI) — Iran on Thursday attacked major energy facilities in Qatar and the United Arab Emirates after vowing to retaliate for Israel striking its gas field a day earlier, escalating a war that is driving up energy prices and rattling global markets.
Qatar said Iranian ballistic missiles struck its Ras Laffan Industrial City, the centerpiece of the nation’s LNG production and export, while the United Arab Emirates said its Habshan gas facilities and Bab field had come under attack.
Several liquefied natural gas facilities at the Ras Laffan Industrial City, which is responsible for about one-fifth of global LNG supplies, were struck early Thursday, igniting what state-owned QatarEnergy said in a statement were “sizeable fires.” Extensive damage was reported.
Two of three fires that ignited from the attack were contained as of 5 a.m. local time Thursday, according to a statement from Qatar’s Ministry of the Interior.
Iran attacked the complex’s Pearl gas-to-liquids facility late Wednesday, which was dealt “extensive damage” and prompted emergency teams to be deployed to the site.
Rockets launched at the UAE facilities were successfully intercepted, but falling debris prompted Abu Dhabi authorities to respond to unspecified incidents at the Habshan gas facilities and the Bab gas field, the Abu Dhabi Media Office said in a statement.
The facilities have been shut down in response, it said, adding that no casualties were reported.
Iran also targeted gas facilities in eastern Saudi Arabia, but all projectiles and drones were intercepted, its Ministry of Defense said in a statement.
The attacks mark an escalation in the war, and come after Israel attacked Iran’s South Pars gas field, one of the world’s largest resources of natural gas.
Israel’s attack was condemned by several countries, including Qatar. Foreign Ministry spokesman Majed Al Ansari said it was “a dangerous & irresponsible step amid the current military escalation in the region.”
“Targeting energy infrastructure constitutes a threat to global energy security, as well as to the peoples of the region & its environment,” he said in a statement.
Following Iran’s attack on Wednesday night, Qatar gave Tehran’s embassy officials 24 hours to leave the country.
The targeting of Persian Gulf energy facilities is expected to further drive surging energy costs. On Thursday, Brent crude reached nearly $110 a barrel, up sharply from $71 before the war began in late February.
Iran had vowed to attack the region’s energy facilities after Israel attacked its South Pars gas field.
Oil facilities “associated with America are now on par with American bases and will come under fire with full force,” Alireza Tangsiri, chief of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps Navy, said on X.
“You have heard a lot about #hell; we will paint its picture for you,” the IRGC said Thursday in a social media statement.
“Stay away from energy facilities…”
Following the attacks, U.S. President Donald Trumpsaid on his Truth Social platform that there would be no more Israeli attacks on the South Pars field.
Trump claimed the United States “knew nothing” about Israel’s plan to attack the gas site and that Qatar was also neither involved.
He said Iran was unaware of that, but warned that if it again attacks Qatar, the United States will join Israel and “massively blow up the entirety of the South Pars gas field at an amount of strength and power that Iran has never seen or witnessed before.”
Israel’s National Security Minister has filmed himself in front of gallows at a Jerusalem museum, threatening the death penalty for “terrorists”. Itamar Ben-Gvir is leading a campaign to expand the grounds for execution, which human rights groups have slammed as discriminatory.
Emmerdale fans think they know what Joe Tate has in store for Lydia Dingle and Kim Tate after he appeared to target Lydia over news about Home Farm on the ITV soap
22:09, 18 Mar 2026Updated 22:10, 18 Mar 2026
Emmerdale fans think they know what Joe Tate has in store for Lydia Dingle and Kim Tate (Image: ITV)
After news about Kim Tate’s will on Emmerdale this week, fans think Joe Tate is plotting something sickening.
He’s seemingly targeting Kim’s friend Lydia Dingle, after he discovered she would get the Home Farm estate if Kim died. Since he found this out he’s been overly nice to Lydia, who saw right thought the “snake’s” behaviour.
But Wednesday’s episode saw him taking things further, as he was determined to make sure Home Farm was his should anything happen to Kim. Graham Foster had worked out his plan, with Joe deciding to open a bank account in Lydia’s name.
Fans immediately feared Joe was trying to set up Lydia in a shocking scheme. They believe Joe is planning on framing Lydia for fraud or money theft to tear apart her friendship with Kim, and have her removed from Kim’s will.
One fan said: “Ffs Joe’s targeting Lydia. Trying to get her written out of the will.” Another agreed: “Bet Joe is going to set Lydia up for stealing from Kim!” as another said: “Nasty Joe going to set Lydia up.”
A fourth fan said: “Something is definitely going to happen to Kim and Lydia is going to get framed for it, making room for Joe to prey and get the house in the will. But all of this could have been started with a single discussion but then she’d know they’re snooping into her private affairs.
“I hope whatever happens, they don’t mess with that friendship.” A further post read: “I think the plan is to make it seem like Lydia is stealing from Kim because Joe has opened an account in her name presumably so they’ll fall out and Kim will change the will.”
A final theory read: “Ohh, I was thinking he’d find a way to steal Lydia’s identity and get her inheritance. I’m sure Kim would see right through Lydia ‘stealing’ from her, especially so soon after the recent events.”
It comes amid some fans feared Kim might die in the plot. With Joe acting like Kim was going to die soon with his fury over Home Farm not being left to him, and the focus on Kim’s will, it left fans wondering if it was a hint.
Some fans thought it was a bit random to be focusing on what might happen if Kim died, and therefore it could be foreshadowing her being killed off very soon. But with it being almost 37 years since she debuted, are we about to lose Kim for good?
One fan said on social media: “I hope it’s not but this is starting to feel like the beginning of the end for the character of Kim with the will plot. She has become one of my favourites recently so I will be sad if it is.”
Another viewer said: “I can’t lie all this talk about Kim’s will and Joe’s desperation for Home Farm got me wondering the same. But would they really kill off the Kim Tate?” It comes as new spoilers teased the Tates and the Dingles would feature in much more drama with things escalating at the farm.
Strong pitching, good hitting and solid hitting has led to a 9-0 start for the Sherman Oaks Notre Dame baseball team.
On Wednesday, Malakye Matsumoto threw two scoreless innings of relief and had three hits and four RBIs in Notre Dame’s 11-0 win over Chaminade. The Knights are 4-0 in Mission League play. Dru Wilson homered and had two RBIs. Troy Trejo added two RBIs.
Corona 8, King 3: Anthony Murphy hit for the cycle — home run, triple, double and single — in the Big VIII League win.
Norco 12, Corona Centennial 4: Dylan Seward had three hits and Zion Martinez added three hits and four RBIs.
Corona Santiago 9, Roosevelt 4: Striker Pence struck out eight and gave up no hits in four innings.
Sierra Canyon 14, Crespi 3: Bryaden Goldstein and Cody Gallegos each had two hits and three RBIs.
Loyola 11, St. Francis 0: Robert Rapp had three hits and five RBIs.
Harvard-Westlake 17, Bishop Alemany 0: Avenging its first loss in Mission League play Tuesday, the Wolverines received home runs from James Tronstein and Jake Kim. Ethan Alexander gave up one hit in 5 1/3 innings.
Carson 3, San Pedro 1: Sal Carrillo picked up the save in the Marine League.
Banning 4, Narbonne 3: Santiago Meza had the game-winning single in the ninth and AJ Herrera threw all nine innings for Banning.
El Camino Real 5, Taft 0: Jackson Sellz struck out 10 and RJ De La Rosa had two hits and three RBIs.
Cleveland 10, Granada Hills 4: Joshua Pearlstein and Elliot Schoenwald each had three hits for Cleveland.
Birmingham 9, Chatsworth 3: Julius Monroe-Truitt broke through for three hits in the West Valley League win.
Bell 12, Huntington Park 0: Vincent Rubio led Bell with three hits and four RBIs in a five-inning win. Jayden Rojas struck out six in three innings.
Garfield 6, Roosevelt 1: Mayo Robles went three for three to lead the Bulldogs.
St. John Bosco 5, JSerra 1: Jhett Ohira hit a two-run home run and Jack Champlin continued perfection as a closer for the Braves.
Orange Lutheran 8, Damien 5: Gavin Hottie hit two home runs for Orange Lutheran.
Santa Margarita 15, Brother Rice 3: Freshman Cooper Holland continued his impressive hitting in Las Vegas
Los Alamitos 7, Edison 6: Rowan Shelley had two hits and four RBIs in the eight-inning victory.
Fountain Valley 7, Capistrano Valley 2: Ethan Cortez had two hits and two RBIs for Fountain Valley.
Huntington Beach 5, Marina 3: Tanner Brown homered and Christian Haupt threw four innings of scoreless relief for Huntington Beach.
Newport Harbor 4, Corona del Mar 2: Henry Mann’s two-run triple in the fifth broke a 2-2 tie.
Palos Verdes 7, Torrance 3: Charles Hoye finished with three hits for Palos Verdes.
Ayala 7, Northview 1: Jaden Valenzuela and Caleb Trugman each had three hits for Ayala.
Drivers pump gas into their cargo trucks at a gas station in Incheon, South Korea, 13 March 2026. The government implemented a temporary fuel price cap system the same day to ease cost burdens amid supply concerns linked to the Middle East crisis. YONHAP / EPA
March 18 (Asia Today) — South Korea’s four major oil refiners are ramping up production and delaying maintenance to stabilize domestic fuel supply amid rising global energy risks, industry officials said Tuesday.
The move comes as refining margins approach $30 per barrel, far above the industry break-even level of about $4 to $5, signaling what analysts describe as a “super cycle.”
Despite strong profitability, refiners said the decision reflects a priority on supply stability as concerns grow over potential fuel shortages linked to Middle East tensions and disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz.
GS Caltex has postponed major maintenance at its Yeosu refinery by about two months to May, opting to keep production running during the current high-margin period. Such maintenance typically lasts about 40 days and costs hundreds of billions of won.
Industry officials said the delay was driven not only by profitability but also by the need to ensure stable supply, including naphtha, a key feedstock for petrochemical production.
Naphtha prices have surged to about $1,009 per ton, roughly double the level seen a year earlier.
Refiners said maintaining high operating rates will also support petrochemical companies by ensuring a steady supply of raw materials.
SK Energy said it will continue operating at full capacity while complying with the government’s oil price cap policy. Authorities are monitoring refinery inventories and shipments in real time through a joint task force.
S-Oil and HD Hyundai Oilbank are also prioritizing domestic supply in line with government measures limiting exports of gasoline and diesel.
Industry sources said other refiners may follow GS Caltex in adjusting maintenance schedules, as shutting down facilities during a period of elevated margins would reduce efficiency.
Analysts said refiners are seeking to balance strong earnings with their role in preventing a domestic fuel crisis as geopolitical tensions persist.
Harvey Hind from Lancashire stars in EastEnders playing Arlo, a preschool boy who is registered blind, as his mum says she hopes it shows disabled children they can achieve anything
Paige Ingram and Casey Cooper-Fiske Press Association Senior Entertainment Reporter
00:29, 19 Mar 2026
Harvey Hind, from Clitheroe, Lancashire, who has made his acting debut on BBC One’s EastEnders(Image: Copyright remains with handout provider)
A mother has expressed her hope that her five year old deafblind son will “break down barriers” for disabled children following his appearance in an episode of EastEnders.
Harvey Hind, from Clitheroe, Lancashire, made his acting debut during Wednesday’s episode of the BBC One soap, portraying Arlo, a preschool boy who is registered blind.
His mother Kimberly said: “I hope Harvey featuring in EastEnders shows other disabled children, especially those who are deafblind, that they can achieve anything.” She added: “Harvey loves being in the spotlight but for us the most important thing will always be raising awareness and breaking down barriers so every disabled child gets the same opportunities as anyone else.
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“Harvey did amazingly at the filming, I’m so proud of him. There were four cameras on him but he took it all in his stride.”
During the episode, Arlo and his mother visit Lauren Branning and Peter Beale’s home, where Arlo plays with her son Jimmy, who was revealed to be blind in a storyline last year, with Arlo’s mother offering Lauren guidance on raising a blind child.
At around four weeks old, Harvey failed his newborn screening hearing test, and his mother spotted a flicker in his eye around the same time. The family arranged a private consultation and he was diagnosed as blind at three months old.
He navigates using a red-and-white striped cane, which is used by deafblind people, and communicates through BSL. He also wears cochlear implants which provide him with access to sound. Kimberly revealed she found his first two years challenging as she battled to connect with her son, and was forced to quit work to look after him as he grew increasingly distressed whilst attending a mainstream nursery.
Disability charity Sense ultimately provided the family with a specialist in supporting deafblind children, which Kimberly described as “lifesaving” for her. She added: “I was so anxious when I found out Harvey was deafblind, so his character’s storyline resonated with me a lot. I didn’t have any experience with disability and I kept imagining the worst-case scenarios.
“Luckily, with the support of organisations like Sense, Harvey is now a really happy child who is eager to learn, loves exploring and has a cheeky personality.”
Harvey has featured in the charity’s 2025 Christmas appeal and in TV news segments highlighting the difficulties encountered by disabled children within education.
The EastEnders episode featuring Harvey will broadcast on BBC One at 7.30pm on Wednesday.
WASHINGTON — U.S. companies will be allowed to do business with Venezuela’s state-owned oil and gas company after the Treasury Department eased sanctions, with some limitations, on Wednesday as the Trump administration looks for ways to boost world oil supplies during the Iran war.
The Treasury issued a broad authorization allowing Petróleos de Venezuela S.A, or PDVSA, to directly sell Venezuelan oil to U.S. companies and on global markets, a massive shift after Washington for years had largely blocked dealings with Venezuela’s government and its oil sector.
Separately, the White House said President Trump would waive, for 60 days, Jones Act requirements for goods shipped between U.S. ports to be moved on U.S.-flagged vessels. The 1920s law, designed to protect the American shipbuilding sector, is often blamed for making gas more expensive.
The moves highlight the increased pressure that the Republican administration is under to ease soaring oil prices as the United States, along with Israel, wages a war with Iran without a foreseeable end date. Global oil prices have since spiked as Iran halted traffic through the narrow Strait of Hormuz, where one-fifth of the world’s oil typically passes through from the Persian Gulf to customers worldwide.
The Treasury’s license is designed to incentivize new investment in Venezuela’s energy sector and is intended to benefit both the U.S and Venezuela, while increasing the global oil supply, a Treasury official told the Associated Press. The official was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
Since the ouster and arrest of Nicolás Maduro as Venezuela’s president during a U.S. military operation in January, Trump has said the U.S. would effectively “run” Venezuela and sell its oil.
The U.S. license provides targeted relief from sanctions, but does not lift the penalties altogether. The license allows companies that existed before Jan. 29, 2025, to buy Venezuelan oil and engage in transactions that would normally be banned under American sanctions, reopening trade for a major oil producer to global markets.
There are some limits.
Payments cannot go directly to sanctioned Venezuelan entities such as PDVSA, but must be sent instead to a special U.S.-controlled account. In other words, the U.S. will allow the oil trade but will control the cash flow.
Additionally, deals involving Russia, Iran, North Korea, Cuba and some Chinese entities will not be allowed. Transactions involving Venezuelan debt or bonds will not be allowed.
The license is expected to give a massive boost to Venezuela’s oil-dependent economy and help encourage companies that have been apprehensive to invest. The decision is part of the Trump administration’s phased-in plan to turn around Venezuela. But critics of the acting Venezuelan government argue that the move rewards Venezuela’s leadership — all loyal to Maduro and the ruling party — while repression, corruption and human rights abuses continue.
Many public sector workers survive on roughly $160 per month, while the average private sector employee earned about $237 last year, when the annual inflation rate soared to 475%, according to Venezuela’s central bank, and sent the cost of food beyond what many can afford.
Venezuela sits atop the world’s largest oil reserves and used them to power what was once Latin America’s strongest economy. But corruption, mismanagement and U.S. economic sanctions saw production steadily decline from the 3.5 million barrels per day pumped in 1999, when Maduro’s mentor, Hugo Chávez, took power, to less than 400,000 barrels per day in 2020.
A year earlier, the Treasury Department under the first Trump administration locked Venezuela out of world oil markets when it sanctioned PDVSA as part of a policy punishing Maduro’s government for corrupt, anti-democratic and criminal activities. That forced the government to sell its remaining oil output at a discount — about 40% below market prices — to buyers such as China and in other Asian markets. Venezuela even started accepting payments in Russian rubles, bartered goods or cryptocurrency.
The new license does not allow payments in gold or cryptocurrency, including the petro, which was a crypto token issued by the Venezuelan government in 2018.
Meantime, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the Jones Act waiver would help “mitigate the short-term disruptions to the oil market” during the Iran war and would “allow vital resources like oil, natural gas, fertilizer, and coal to flow freely to U.S. ports.”
Hussein and Cano write for the Associated Press. Cano reported from Caracas, Venezuela. AP writer Seung Min Kim contributed to this report.
NEW ORLEANS — Saddiq Bey scored 25 points, Trey Murphy added 23 and the New Orleans Pelicans overcame an early 18-point hole to beat the Clippers 124-109 on Wednesday night.
Dejounte Murray had 17 points and 11 assists, while Zion Williamson and rookie Derrick Queen each scored 14 for the Pelicans, who received a standing ovation as the final seconds wound down on their sixth straight victory at home and ninth win in their last 13 games overall
Kawhi Leonard scored 25 points and John Collins added 18 for the Clippers, who dropped a game below .500 (34-35), but maintained a tenuous hold on the No. 8 spot in the Western Conference standings, a half-game ahead of Portland.
Bey hit five of 10 three-point shots to help New Orleans go 16 of 37 (43.2%) from deep. The Pelicans also made 20 of 21 free throws, with Queen making all nine of his.
Pelicans rookie guard Jeremiah Fears chipped in 11 points off the bench.
Murphy made his 200th three of the season late in the third quarter to give New Orleans an 89-81 lead. His fourth make from deep made it 94-81 in the final minute of the period, which ended with New Orleans leading 96-85.
Murphy’s double-clutch dunk over Brook Lopez to close out a fast break spawned by Herb Jones’ steal gave New Orleans a 117-101 lead with 4:43 left, and the Pelicans led by as many as 20 in the final minutes.
New Orleans committed eight turnovers in the first nine minutes, and the Clippers converted those into nine points while building a 33-18 lead.
Leonard scored 12 of his points during that stint and the Clippers led by as many as 18 during the opening quarter before the Pelicans trimmed it to 40-26 on Murphy’s free throws.
New Orleans came all the way back to tie it at 58 on Murphy’s three late in the second quarter.
Leonard and Murphy traded baskets in the final 10 seconds before halftime, with Murphy tying it at 60 on a high, driving floater in traffic.
Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister warns Iran that regional neighbours have ‘significant’ capabilities with which to respond to Tehran’s aggression.
Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud has warned Iran that tolerance of its attacks on his country and those of neighbouring Gulf states is limited, calling on Tehran to immediately “recalculate” its strategy.
Warning that Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states have “very significant capacities and capabilities” that could be drawn on should they “choose to do so”, the foreign minister told a news conference early on Thursday that Iran had carefully planned its strategy for striking regional neighbours, despite denials from Tehran’s diplomats.
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“The level of accuracy in some of this targeting – you can see it in our neighbours as well as the kingdom – indicates that this is something that was premeditated, preplanned, preorganised and well thought out,” Prince Faisal said.
“I’m not going to lay out what would and would not precipitate a defensive action by the Kingdom [of Saudi Arabia] because I think that is not a wise approach to signal to the Iranians,” the foreign minister continued.
“But I think it’s important for the Iranians to understand that the kingdom, but also its partners who have been attacked and beyond, have very significant capacities and capabilities that they could bring to bear should they choose to do so,” he said.
“The patience that is being exhibited is not unlimited. Do they [the Iranians] have a day, two, a week? I’m not going to telegraph that,” he added.
“I would hope they understand the message of the meeting today and recalculate quickly and stop attacking their neighbours. But I am doubtful they have that wisdom.”
Prince Faisal’s warning followed a meeting of foreign ministers from Arab and Islamic countries in the Saudi capital earlier in the day to discuss the expanding war in the region, which on Wednesday saw Iranian attacks on Gulf energy sites, including Qatar’s Ras Laffan gas facility, where significant damage was reported, and the United Arab Emirates’ Habshan gas facility.
Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed its “strong condemnation and denunciation of the blatant Iranian attack targeting Ras Laffan Industrial City”, located 80km (50 miles) northeast of the Qatari capital Doha, which is the world’s largest liquefied natural gas (LNG) production facility, producing some 20 percent of the world’s LNG supply.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) had warned earlier that oil and gas facilities in Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE would face retaliation for an Israeli strike on Iran’s South Pars gasfield.
Iranian state media reported that facilities linked to the country’s huge offshore South Pars field – located off the coast of southern Iran’s Bushehr province – had come under attack.
Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Defence also said on Wednesday that its air defences had intercepted four Iranian ballistic missiles that targeted Riyadh and two launched towards the country’s eastern region.
Air defences in the UAE dealt with 13 ballistic missiles and 27 drones, according to the country’s Defence Ministry, while operations were suspended at the Habshan gas facility as authorities responded to incidents caused by fallen debris after the successful interception of a missile.
The Saudi foreign minister also told the news conference on Thursday that while the war will end one day, it will take much longer to restore relations with Iran as trust “has completely been shattered” due to Tehran’s tactics of targeting its neighbours.
“We know for a fact that Iran has been building this strategy over the last decade and beyond,” Prince Faisal said.
“This is not something that is a reaction to an evolving circumstance where Iran is improvising. This has been built into their war planning: targeting their neighbours and using that to try and put pressure on the international community,” he said.
“So when this war eventually ends, in order for there to be any rebuilding of trust, it will take a long time. And I have to tell you, if Iran doesn’t stop … immediately, I think there will be almost nothing that can re-establish that trust,” he added.
Three women in an occupied West Bank hair salon became the first Palestinian deaths of the US-Israeli war on Iran when they were hit by falling material.
The Grammy-nominated “Call Me Maybe” pop star and her husband, music producer Cole M.G.N., welcomed their first child together months after tying the knot last fall. Jepsen, 40, revealed the arrival of her little one on Instagram.
“Last 2 weeks have been the best of my life,” the Canadian singer-songwriter captioned a photo shared to her Instagram story on Tuesday. The photo, a mirror selfie, shows Jepsen all smiles in a leopard-print bucket hat, white shirt and black shorts as she cradles her child, who wears a green-striped onesie.
“Welcome to the world little one,” Jepsen wrote.
“Run Away With Me” singer Jepsen and music producer Cole M.G.N. — whose full name is Cole Marsden Greif-Neil — exchanged their vows in late October at the Chelsea Hotel in New York, three years after striking up a romance in 2022. A month later, Jepsen announced she and her husband were expecting.
“Oh hi baby,” she captioned a set of baby-bump-baring photos shared to Instagram in November. In the tender maternity shoot, Jepsen cradles her bump in bed alongside Marsden Greif-Neil. Jepsen continued posting on Instagram about her maternity journey with fans, in January posting photos from the beach, from home and from fitting rooms as she spoke about finding a lullaby for her child-to-be.
On Tuesday, she channeled a Frankie Valli classic to express her “Emotion” about being a mother: “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You.”
Last year, Jepsen celebrated 10 years of her cult-favorite album “Emotion,” the follow-up to her 2012 smash hit “Call Me Maybe.” She celebrated the milestone with a lively anniversary concert in August at the Troubadour in West Hollywood, featuring celebrity guests and moments of reflection.
“I had brought a little suitcase, and I kept calling my parents and saying, ‘Send more clothes!’” Jepsen said, recalling her move to Los Angeles from her native Canada when she was 26. “Five years later, I was like, I think I live here now. I’m very happy to say L.A. has become my home.”
Pop music critic Mikael Wood contributed to this report.
A deaf 6-year-old boy snatched by immigration agents from Northern California and deported to Colombia this month needs to be returned to the U.S. immediately or he could die, a lawyer representing the child said Wednesday.
Attorney Nikolas De Bremaeker said the boy, Joseph Lodano Rodriguez, was “at risk every day that he is not getting his treatments.” The child has a cochlear implant that requires the same routine maintenance and cleaning he was receiving stateside but may not get in Colombia.
“Joseph is at immense risk for his life if he does not continue the treatment that he was receiving in the United States,” De Bremaeker said at a virtual news conference hosted by California Supt. of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond, a Democratic gubernatorial candidate.
“He is at risk of infection, he is at risk of meningitis, he is at risk of death if he is not given the proper care for his surgical implants.”
Joseph, his 28-year-old mother, Lesly Rodriguez Gutierrez, and another son, 5, were detained by federal agents on March 3 while attending an immigration meeting and deported shortly after.
Rodriguez Gutierrez traveled to the United States in 2022 seeking asylum from domestic violence and lived in Hayward. She was told in the run up to the March 3 meeting that she needed to bring her two children for a routine check-in to update the photos Immigration and Customs Enforcement had of them.
Shortly after arriving, ICE agents “tried to force her to sign a document without explanation, and then pushed the family into a vehicle to be put on a flight to a faraway detention facility, “ De Bremaeker told The Times earlier.
The Department of Homeland Security did not respond to questions sent Wednesday after office hours but has consistently said that Rodriguez Gutierrez was “an illegal alien from Colombia” who “illegally entered the United States in 2022.”
She was issued a removal order on Nov. 25, 2024, according to DHS.
Thurmond, the superintendent, called on the public to lobby Congress and the Trump administration “to return Joseph so he can continue his studies.”
Thurmond showed a 40-second clip of Joseph and his family at a Colombian facility for the deaf.
The child appeared to struggle communicating with his sibling and mother, while his brother repeatedly tried to give directions to him in Spanish with little avail.
Joseph’s only language is American Sign Language, Thurmond said. Joseph was studying at the state-funded Fremont’s California School for the Deaf.
“Joseph is struggling,” Thurmond said. “He does not have the ability to communicate with anyone and in many ways, he can barely communicate with his mom. Like Joseph’s mom, Lesly was just beginning to learn American Sign Language.”
Both California senators — Alex Padilla and Adam Schiff — along with state Democratic congressional members Eric Swalwell, Nanette Barragán, Zoe Lofgren, Kevin Mullin and Lateefah Simon called on the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the State Department to investigate the deportation.
The group is also calling on both government agencies to return the family to the U.S. through the process of humanitarian parole. That move would allow Joseph to re-enroll in school and receive specialized care.
Celena Ponce, founder of Hands United, a nonprofit organization dedicated to aiding deaf immigrant children and families, said her group was trying to connect the family with the deaf community and services, like interpreters, in Colombia.
She said, however, that Joseph and his family face several challenges. The first hurdle if he ends up staying in Colombia, is that he and his mother will have to learn Colombian sign language, which differs from American sign language.
Ponce added that Joseph also suffered language deprivation, meaning he is delayed in comparison to other 6-year-olds who are hearing.
“Because Colombia does not have residential schools similar to what California has, the ability to be fully immersed in language is not present,” she said.
Whatever gains he made at the California School for the Deaf would likely end, she said.
Times staff writers Clara Harter and Christopher Buchanan contributed to this report.
Seattle Storm forward Nneka Ogwumike (3), president of the WNBA players’ union, said for the first time, player salaries will be tied to a meaningful share of league revenue.
(Lindsey Wasson / Associated Press)
The league and players association have not made the terms public yet, but the salary cap will start at $7 million, up from $1.5 million in 2025, and the supermax will start at $1.4 million, up from $249,244 in 2025, a person with knowledge of negotiations not authorized to discuss them publicly told The Times. ESPN was the first to report the figures.
The total salary cap will jump by around 4.64 times the previous amount. The super maximum salary will be elevated by 5.61 times the previous amount. It means the top players will be eligible for larger raises than the league’s middle class.
The average salary will be $600,000, a bump from the previous average of $120,000, and the minimum salary will be more than $300,000, up from $66,079.
“For the first time, player salaries are tied to a truly meaningful share of league revenue, driving exponential growth in the salary cap, increasing average compensation beyond half a million dollars and raising the standard across facilities, staffing and support,” union president Nneka Ogwumike told reporters.
The main sticking point during negotiations was revenue sharing, and that number will be around 20% for the entirety of the multi-year deal. The league had previously offered 15.5%, a source told The Times, and players went down from their 40% ask to around 26% at the end of February, and then reached the agreement around 20% on Wednesday morning. The Athletic first reported the shift in revenue sharing figures.
Players had been negotiating for a percentage of overall revenue without factoring in expenses while the WNBA was seeking sharing tied to net revenue, mirroring the NBA’s structure that deducts expenses before sharing 50% of profits. The players secured a gross revenue deal, which gives them a cut of WNBA revenue without factoring in expenses, a person with knowledge of the deal not authorized to discuss it publicly told The Times.
“This deal is going to be transformational, and you’ll see all the details hopefully soon,” WNBPA vice president Breanna Stewart told reporters on Wednesday. “But it’s gonna build and help create a system where everybody is getting exactly what they deserve and more from on the court and off the court aspects.”
March 18 (UPI) — Postmaster General David Steiner told Congress that the U.S. Postal Service would be out of money in less than a year if changes aren’t made to boost revenue.
During a hearing Tuesday, Steiner and members of the House Oversight Subcommittee on Government Operations appeared divided on how best to avoid a full stoppage in mail service in 12 months’ time.
Steiner asked lawmakers to allow him to borrow more money to cover costs as well as to increase the price of a U.S. first class stamp from 78 cents to 95 cents. He said the cost to mail a single letter in the United States is the lowest in the industrialized world.
“Compare it to France at almost $3 and England at $2.50, and the longest distance those letters have to travel is about 600 miles smaller than the state of Texas,” he told lawmakers.
“We deliver from the tip of Puerto Rico to the tip of Alaska for 78 cents. That’s a distance of 5,000 miles.”
He said if the USPS increased first class stamp costs to 95 cents, it “would largely solve our controllable loss” while still remaining the lowest-priced stamp in the industrialized world.
Subcommittee Chairman Rep. Pete Sessions, R-Texas, told Steiner he’s against increasing the cost of postage to nearly $1.
“It’s going to come down to the three or four of us who are going to have to make some tough decisions that we can look at other people and say, ‘That was a problem. The postmaster general laid it on our doorstep, and we’re not going to kick the can down the road.”
Steiner also asked for greater freedom to borrow more money.
“One easy action, increasing our borrowing authority, buys us time,” he said. “Time that we can use to best determine what the Postal Service should do to best serve the American public.”
Steiner said the USPS has faced a dramatic reduction in the use of mail, from a maximum of about 213 billion pieces of mail per year to about 109 billion pieces of mail.
“For perspective, if all of that lost volume was paid at the current price of a stamp, which is 78 cents, that’s about $81 billion of lost revenue,” he said. “No company could weather that much revenue loss, so it’s not hard to see how we got here.”
In fiscal year 2025, the USPS had a net loss of about $9 billion.
Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-N.C., appeared reluctant to allow Steiner to borrow more money.
“I am very concerned with the caliber of service that we are getting and with the fact that the post office continues to come to us for more money,” she said.
Rep. Kweisi Fume, D-Md., reluctantly sided with the suggestion of raising the USPS’ debit limit.
“It may be hard to sell, but I think most people feel like I do — that rather than do nothing and watch the Titanic sink, that we need to do something.”
President Donald Trump receives a bowl of shamrocks from Irish Taoiseach Micheal Martin to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day at the White House on Tuesday. Photo by Yuri Gripas/UPI | License Photo
The study said that as the cocker spaniel, for instance, was designed to flush out game from dense areas of woodland and grassland, the dogs were bred to have high energy, mental resilience and intelligence, which could be “more of a problem in pet homes”.
Billy Porter says a poorly treated urinary infection nearly killed him.
On Wednesday, the 56-year-old Broadway icon appeared on “Today” to promote his new children’s book, “Songbird in the Light,” and discussed a recent health scare that’s given the actor a new outlook on life.
“I am on the road to complete recovery,” he said, tearing up. “It is a gift to be alive. It’s still emotional to talk about it.”
Last year, Porter crossed the pond and made his West End debut starring as the Emcee in the musical “Cabaret,” which ran Jan. 28 through May 24 at London’s Playhouse Theatre. The Tony-winning actor said he was having a ball and living his purpose, but then he got a urinary infection.
“The medicine in the U.K. is trash,” he told “Outlaws” podcast host TS Madison earlier this month. “Four rounds of antibiotics and 10 to 12 weeks later, it’s a kidney infection with kidney stones.”
Porter eventually thought the infection had cleared up and returned to New York, where last fall he was gearing up for a Broadway revival of the musical starring as the production’s first Black Emcee, but his history-making run was cut short.
“I go into rehearsals for ‘Cabaret’ on Broadway … and everything seems fine, and a month in, the kidney stone pain comes back,” he told Madison.
On a Tuesday in September, Porter checked himself into the hospital due to debilitating pain, and then the “Pose” star subsequently fell into a coma and woke up days later on a Saturday evening.
“They went in to do a routine check. They saw that the kidney stone was trapped in my urethra, and they went in to put a stent in, redirect the urine, blast me with real antibiotics — not U.K. antibiotics — and blow up the kidney stones. When they got in there, there was so much pus and bile and infection behind the stone, it bubbled up and I went uroseptic in minutes.”
“I was dead for three days,” Porter said.
Porter said he was placed on an ECMO (extracorporeal membrane oxygenation) machine, which, according to Mayo Clinic, pumps blood outside of the body to a heart-lung machine, removes carbon dioxide from the blood and sends oxygen-rich blood back to the body. It’s essentially a life-support system.
While Porter was in a coma, he said, one of his legs went into compartment syndrome, which happens when there’s too much pressure around your muscles, causing reduced blood and oxygen flow and possibly leading to necrosis. “They had to cut me open on either side of my leg while I was in a coma, from my knee to my hip, and leave it open for two days so they could save my leg,” he told Madison, visibly choked up over the ordeal.
Porter told “Today” that the experience was mind-altering yet also inspiring. “My work here on this earth is not done, and that gives me hope.”
His new children’s book, “Songbird in the Light,” which follows a young boy who grapples with bullying while learning to embrace his talent and love himself, hit bookshop shelves this week.
If you’re looking for destinations for a May half-term break that are perfect for families and not too far away, then this island often compared to the Caribbean could be one for your shortlist
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The island has been nicknamed the ‘Caribbean of Europe’(Image: Getty Images)
Finding the perfect family holiday destination can be tricky. You want somewhere with amazing beaches and natural beauty, but at the same time, you need to be practical and ensure you pick somewhere easy to travel to and in your budget.
Recently, easyJet released a new Family Holiday Index, its way of ranking the top holiday destinations for people travelling with children based on a number of factors. These include the logistics of travelling to the destination, beach and water access, cost, and the number of family activities on offer.
Using this information, it was able to compile a top ten ranking of family holiday destinations, and unsurprisingly, Spanish destinations took six out of the ten spots. However, ranking at number six was an Italian island that has been dubbed the ‘Caribbean of Europe’ thanks to its spectacular beaches and unspoilt scenery.
Sardinia scored highly as a family destination thanks to its huge selection of beaches, family activities, and easy accessibility from the UK. The island has two main air hubs: Cagliari Elmas Airport in the south which is the largest and Olbia Costa Smeralda Airport in the north which is popular in the summer. EasyJet offers seasonal services to Olbia from Bristol, Edinburgh, London-Gatwick, and London-Luton. If you’re planning to fly to Cagliari from the UK, there are routes available on Ryanair and British Airways.
Sardinia flights on easyJet start from just £35.60 one way in May, and flights to the island take from two-and-a-half to three hours, making them bearable for most kids. You can also book Sardinia holidays with easyJet Holidays, with a package for four staying in a quadruple room in Borgo di Campagna, departing May 8, coming in at £340 per person. You can also save another £100 off the total package cost by using code SPRINGSALE at checkout.
Spiaggia La Pelosa is considered one of the island’s best beaches and it’s perfect for families. Its shores are covered in soft white sand, although some of the scenery is a little rocky, and the sea is a vibrant shade of turquoise and usually has only gentle waves. You can walk far from shore and still only be up to your knees in the clear blue waters, so it’s perfect for kids who like to paddle and splash around.
Unlike many overcrowded beaches, access to La Pelosa is tightly controlled during the summer from June 1 and October 1. Visitors need to book a spot in advance, and there’s an entry fee of €3.50 per person for over 12s (just over £3). However, this ensures you aren’t fighting the crowds to find a spot.
The Costa Smeralda offers a choice of beaches along a 35-mile stretch of coast in the north-east of the island. It’s a glamorous spot where you’ll often see superyachts coming into dock, and here you’ll find lots of upscale resorts with fine dining and designer shops.
Kids who love to swim will enjoy a boat trip to La Maddalena Archipelago, a National Park made up of seven tiny islands that can only be reached via boat. Many tour operators offer full-day boat tours where you can visit multiple islands, as well as stopping in the middle of the turquoise Med so you can dive straight into the ocean for a swim or snorkel.
If you have a kid who’s a budding history buff then Sardinia is full of interesting ancient sites to explore. Su Nuraxi di Barumini is the remains of a Bronze Age defensive complex, and has structures dating back thousands of years. Cagliari’s Castello sits on top of a hill and is full of ancient buildings, museums, and historic sites.
Kids who are studying the Roman Empire in school will particularly love a tour of the Roman Amphitheatre of Cagliari, where they can hear gory tales of fights to the death between gladiators or men vs wild beasts. It was also where many public executions were carried out and became the most important buildings in ancient Cagliari.
Sardinian food is also generally kid-friendly and even picky eaters are likely to find something they like. During the day, look out for street food vendors selling Spianadina, traditional flatbreads often filled with cheese and ham for a simple lunch. In the evening, there are plenty of cosy, authentic restaurants to choose from where kids can enjoy wood-fired pizza and fresh pasta.
EasyJet and easyJet Holidays Family Holiday Index – Full rankings
Palma de Mallorca, Spain
Algarve (Faro), Portugal
Costa del Sol (Málaga), Spain
Costa Blanca (Alicante), Spain
Lanzarote, Spain
Sardinia, Italy
Crete, Greece
Ibiza, Spain
Barcelona Coast, Spain
Dubrovnik Coast, Croatia
Have a story you want to share? Email us at webtravel@reachplc.com
WASHINGTON — The State Department says it is adding 12 countries to an expanding list of nations whose citizens must post bonds of up to $15,000 to apply for U.S. visas.
Effective April 2, passport holders from Cambodia, Ethiopia, Georgia, Grenada, Lesotho, Mauritius, Mongolia, Mozambique, Nicaragua, Papua New Guinea, Seychelles and Tunisia will be required to pay the bond, which is refunded if the visa application is denied or, if granted, the person adheres to the terms of the visa.
After April 2, there will be 50 countries whose citizens are subject to the requirement, which was rolled out by the Trump administration last year as it cracked down on visa overstays and more broadly moved to curtail illegal migration.
Under the program, visa applicants from designated countries, many of which are in Africa, that have high overstay rates, have to post bonds of $5,000, $10,000 or $15,000 depending on their circumstances and the discretion of the consular officer processing the application.
“The visa bond program has already proven effective at drastically reducing the number of visa recipients who overstay their visas and illegally remain in the United States,” the department said, adding that almost 97% of the nearly 1,000 people to have posted the bond had not overstayed their visa.
PHOENIX — Dodgers infielder Miguel Rojas addressed an erroneous report from earlier in the week with understanding while also making his feelings clear.
On Monday, a senior baseball writer at the Athletic misidentified Rojas as the recipient of an 80-game suspension for the use of a banned substance on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. It was in fact Phillies outfielder Johan Rojas who had tested positive for Boldenone. The writer, Evan Drellich, quickly deleted the post and corrected it.
“I’m not frustrated because of the report, because we are all humans and we make mistakes,” Rojas said Wednesday morning in front of his locker at Camelback Ranch. “I was expecting a little bit more of an apology, not just to me, but the organization. Because it wasn’t just my name, it was pretty clear that it says, ‘Miguel Rojas from the Los Angeles Dodgers.’ And I don’t think anybody in this organization should be kind of freaking out and jumping out of their seats for the six or seven minutes that it happened.”
Rojas saw the correction post as an opportunity to issue that apology.
“It wasn’t just my name, it was the organization that I represent too, and that’s really important to me,” he said. “So that’s the only thing that I’m kind of bothered [by].”
Later on Wednesday, Drellich followed up with another post: “To Miguel Rojas and the Dodgers, I sincerely and publicly apologize. I’ve reached out to Miguel, the Dodgers and Miguel’s agent to say the same. Once again, I’m sorry.”
In the midst of the fallout from the report, Rojas watched Team Venezuela, who he would have represented in the World Baseball Classic if it weren’t for insurance issues, win the tournament with a victory against the United States in Tuesday’s final.
“It was really special to see my kids kind finding joy in that moment that the third strike was called,” he said, noting that his children were born in the United States. “And they felt Venezuelan the same as I did, and every other family in Venezuela.”
Rojas said he’d moved on after the insurance snag.
“When I made my last post, when I came to spring training, I made a decision of being another fan and supporting from any anywhere that I was going to be,” he said. “Because I knew I wasn’t going to be there anymore. So I had to kind of remove myself from the possibility of playing, and now I’m just becoming another Venezuelan pulling for a team that are getting ready and preparing for something like that.”
Iranian strikes come after Israel attacked Iran’s South Pars gasfield, with President Pezeshkian warning of ‘uncontrollable consequences’ that could ‘engulf the entire world’.
