The United States is expected to formally notify its North American partners that it will not extend the United States Mexico Canada Agreement (USMCA), triggering the pact’s sunset review process and beginning a potential 10-year countdown to its expiry in 2036. While the move does not immediately terminate the agreement, it opens a prolonged period of negotiations during which the three countries will seek to resolve disputes over automotive rules, regional manufacturing, market access and measures to prevent Chinese goods from benefiting from preferential trade provisions.

The decision reflects the Trump administration’s push to reshape North American trade around greater US manufacturing content and stricter supply chain rules rather than preserving the agreement in its current form.

Sunset clause launches a decade of negotiations

The notification activates the USMCA’s sunset review mechanism, requiring annual consultations if no agreement is reached to renew the pact for another 16 years. Rather than ending the agreement immediately, the process creates a structured but uncertain negotiation period that could last until the agreement expires in 2036 unless the three countries reach a revised deal.

The review mechanism is intended to keep the agreement under continuous assessment but also introduces long-term uncertainty for businesses operating across North America.

Washington pushes for tougher automotive rules

The United States is seeking significant changes to the agreement’s rules of origin, particularly in the automotive sector. Washington wants a substantially larger share of vehicle components to be produced in the United States while increasing overall North American content requirements to reduce dependence on Asian supply chains.

The proposals form part of a broader industrial strategy aimed at strengthening domestic manufacturing, creating more US jobs and preventing third-country producers, particularly China, from indirectly accessing preferential North American trade benefits.

US and Mexico lead negotiations while Canada remains sidelined

Current negotiations are taking place primarily between Washington and Mexico, with Canada playing a more limited role amid ongoing bilateral trade disputes with the United States.

The narrower negotiating format highlights differing priorities within the three-country partnership and raises questions about whether a comprehensive trilateral agreement can be achieved without parallel negotiations involving Ottawa.

Trade policy reflects broader supply chain strategy

The proposed revisions extend beyond traditional tariff issues and reflect a wider effort to reorganise North American manufacturing. By tightening content requirements and strengthening origin rules, the United States aims to encourage companies to relocate production closer to home while limiting opportunities for Chinese manufacturers to circumvent trade restrictions through regional supply chains.

This shift illustrates how trade policy has become increasingly intertwined with industrial policy and national economic security objectives.

Businesses face prolonged policy uncertainty

The activation of the sunset clause is unlikely to disrupt trade immediately, but it introduces a prolonged period of uncertainty for manufacturers, exporters and investors whose operations depend on integrated North American supply chains.

Companies may delay long-term investment decisions until greater clarity emerges on future tariff structures, production requirements and the overall direction of regional trade policy.

Future Outlook

Negotiations are expected to intensify over the coming months as the United States continues pressing for stricter manufacturing rules and stronger regional content requirements. While Mexico appears willing to negotiate toward shared industrial objectives, Canada’s future role remains less certain given unresolved bilateral trade disputes.

Unless the three countries reach a mutually acceptable compromise, the USMCA could remain under annual review for the next decade, prolonging uncertainty for businesses while reshaping North America’s manufacturing landscape. The outcome of these negotiations will likely determine not only the future of the trade agreement but also the competitiveness of regional supply chains and the balance between economic integration and national industrial policy.

With information from Reuters.

Gemma Atkinson has appeared in the likes of Emmerdale and Hollyoaks over the years

Gemma Atkinson has revealed if a soap return is on the cards for her.

The TV favourite first gained recognition as Lisa Hunter on Channel 4’s Hollyoaks from 2001 to 2005, with a brief comeback in 2022.

Since then, she’s graced our screens in shows like The Bill, and Waterloo Road. And in 2015, she joined ITV’s Emmerdale playing Carly Hope.

During her stint on the soap as Carly, Gemma was involved in some big storylines – from the heartbreaking revelation that her baby boy, Billy, passed away from sudden infant death to her turbulent romance with Marlon Dingle (Mark Charnock).

After two years though, Gemma left the soap in 2017 – and she has remained booked and busy ever since, appearing on Strictly in 2017 and her own reality show with partner Gorka Márquez, Gemma and Gorka: Life Behind the Lens.

And during a recent episode of her podcast, Lost in Translation, that she co-hosts with Gorka, Gemma was quizzed on whether she would ever head back into the world of soaps.

Asking Gemma a question from a viewer, Gorka said: “Would Gemma go back to acting in soaps or acting in general?”

Gemma then replied: “I would. I wouldn’t be able to do soaps again. Hollyoaks kindly asked me back a few times and I love Hollyoaks.” She explained: “The thing with soaps, I love them, but you have to be on call for 24/7 unless you specifically book time off.

“You could have a random Thursday off in the schedule but they’ll ring and say ‘we’re planning to do exterior scenes but it’s chucking it down and we’ve changed it. We’re interior now, you’re in’.”

Gemma, who is a mum to daughter named Mia born in 2019 and a son named Thiago (born in July 2023 – went on: “With kids and juggling that, it would be too stressful and I wouldn’t want to.”

Nonetheless, Gemma added “However, if it was like a one-off drama, whereby they said ‘you start the 10th of May you finish the 10th of June’, 100% because there’s a start and end and I would love it.”

Emmerdale airs Monday to Friday at 8:00pm on ITV1 and ITVX

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — He’s a prize-winning presidential historian who wrote an entire biography of Thomas Jefferson. But even Jon Meacham needs to think for a moment before defining what it means to be a “Jeffersonian.”

“Well for a long time, before the civil rights movement, it meant to be more inclined toward states’ rights and limited government,” says Meacham, the National Constitution Center’s Semiquincentennial Scholar. He then pauses, and asks to start over, recalling how President Franklin Delano Roosevelt evoked Jefferson as an “apostle of liberty” who would have supported the U.S. fighting the Nazis in World War II.

You could define it in so many ways. Historians may argue over the “greatness” of individual founders, but as the country’s 250th anniversary approaches many agree that no one’s life and work resonates like Jefferson’s. He embodied the “very best and the very worst” of the United States, Meacham says.

And a great deal in between.

America’s birth is rooted in his most profound contradiction — the man who proclaimed that “all men are created equal” while being a slaveholder to the end of his life. But Jefferson advanced and explored both sides of so many issues and world views that have defined the country’s path: agrarian self-sufficiency and worldly innovation, pluralism and separatism, limited government and dreams of an “empire of liberty.”

“There is no more malleable figure in early America than Jefferson,” says Andrew Burstein, a professor of history at Louisiana State University who has summed up Jefferson’s legacy in a book he published a decade ago: “Democracy’s Muse: How Thomas Jefferson became an FDR Liberal, a Reagan Republican, and a Tea Party Fanatic, All the While Being Dead.”

“There have been times in American history when just about everyone would have considered themselves ‘Jeffersonian,’” says historian Peter S. Onuf, author of numerous works on Jefferson. “Yet even at those moments, he was a controversial figure.”

It’s an argument without end

Jefferson’s legacy is debated even in settings that owe their existence to him.

On the campus of the University of Virginia, the college he founded and regarded as a signature achievement, stands a memorial to thousands of enslaved people who lived and worked there.

At Monticello, the mountaintop estate and plantation outside of Charlottesville where Jefferson lived when not in public office, a banner near the entrance features the Declaration and the caption, “After all, our guy wrote it.” But once on the grounds, reminders of his enslavement of hundreds are found throughout, from its “Burial Ground for Enslaved People” that includes dozens of graves to an exhibit dedicated to Sally Hemings, the enslaved woman with whom Jefferson is widely believed to have had six children.

Monticello’s director of historic interpretation and audience engagement, Brandon Dillard, cites the staff’s mission “to tell unflinching stories of America’s complex origins and fitful progress toward the ideals Jefferson articulated in the Declaration of Independence.”

Jefferson regarded Monticello as a refuge from the times, but the times inevitably find their way here. A guide on the gardens and grounds tour points out that a foldable plant Jefferson tried and failed to grow — the “Mimosa Pudica,” or “sensitive plant” — now thrives because of climate change. The visitors’ center is LEED Gold-certified for green energy, Dillard says, and geothermal systems have been installed in other buildings for temperature control.

Monticello raises questions old and new about race. Virtually all of the guides are white, an issue Dillard notes is prevalent nationwide. A recent survey released by the American Association for State and Local History found that around just 10% of workers at museums, historic sites and historical societies were nonwhite and that many “Latino/a/x, and multiracial respondents reported higher rates of discrimination and harassment.” (Dillard declined to answer in detail the experience of guides of color at Monticello.)

There is a Jefferson for every occasion

Jefferson’s contradictions date back through much of American history; he was claimed by both sides of the Civil War and both sides of the civil rights movement.

Nineteenth-century Confederates and 20th-century segregationists cited his defense of states’ rights, while Abraham Lincoln and civil rights leaders emphasized Jefferson as the author of the Declaration of Independence. In the space of a few months in 1963, he would be invoked in the inaugural speech of Alabama Gov. George Wallace as he vowed defiance of federal efforts to integrate the state’s schools and by the Rev. Martin Luther King as he delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech during the March on Washington.

Roosevelt enlisted Jefferson as an ideological ally for the New Deal (the Thomas Jefferson Memorial in Washington, D.C., began as a New Deal project) and a former New Dealer-turned conservative, President Reagan, held up Jefferson decades later as a foe of wasteful spending. Jefferson has been cited often by free-speech advocates for his crucial support for the Bill of Rights, while President Trump has quoted Jefferson’s 1807 lament that “Nothing can now be believed which is seen in a newspaper” as an implicit endorsement of his modern war against “fake news.”

Jefferson has also been placed on either side of today’s divide over immigration. Ibram X. Kendi, author of “How to Be an Anti-Racist,” cites his well-documented belief in colonization for Black people as inspiration for contemporary scapegoating and xenophobia. Meanwhile, at a time when the Trump administration is aggressively trying to restrict immigration and even denaturalize some citizens, Monticello continues its decades-old July 4 naturalization ceremonies, with Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger scheduled as this year’s keynote speaker.

“As new citizens share their personal stories every Fourth of July,” Dillard says, “we are reminded that the values uplifted in that Declaration are values toward which people from all backgrounds aspire.”

Many Monticello visitors, many reasons to visit

Monticello attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors each year. They come for many reasons.

Erin Porter is a Virginia native in her 40s who until recently had never been to Monticello and wanted to cross it off her bucket list, while Nathan Jaycox of Connecticut is a former nuclear engineer now seeking to absorb history for a class he hopes to teach. Duane Cromwell, a longtime resident of Vancouver, was here on a very personal mission.

Cromwell, 70, grew up in Greenville, S.C., where she was taught that slavery was “an economic necessity” and learned nothing about Jefferson’s history of enslavement. In town last month for a family reunion, she arrived at Monticello anxious to get past the “whitewashed Southern version” and the myths of evil “yankees” and the victimized rebels who defied them.

“Did you (ever) notice kudzu growing up over trees and buildings while in the South? It is an invasive plant brought to the region to control erosion. Well, it is like racism. It is pervasive, part of the horizon, always there but soon you don’t notice it,” she says.

“Having said that, I do think that people do go along better, there is more interactions, relationships than when I was growing up. Everyone needs each other and in the South, there is a great sense of humor and friendliness that help people navigate the awkward moments.”

For Cromwell, Monticello was a chance to educate herself, to become a better person — and, like countless others before her, using Thomas Jefferson as a prism.

“Isn’t that what it’s all about?”

Italie writes for the Associated Press.

Skaters from Russia and Belarus banned “exclusively in the interests of the safety of participants and the integrity of the competitions” can return to world championships and Grand Prix events next season.

The International Skating Union said Tuesday that the ban triggered by Russia’s 2022 military invasion of Ukraine is over. But skaters and officials from Russia and Belarus may compete only as neutral athletes, meaning without their national symbols of flag and anthem.

The figure skaters, speed skaters and short track speed skaters will be allowed to participate as long as they have not supported the war in Ukraine. A neutral skater is not eligible if they are in active service with the armed forces or a national security agency of Russia or Belarus; have taken active part in military operations in the war against Ukraine; and-or have actively and publicly supported that war.

In announcing the decision, the ISU council described the ban as a “protective measure” and emphasized that “those measures were expressly stated not to be a sanction, disciplinary measure or ineligibility decision.”

The war in Ukraine is in its fifth year since the full-scale Russian invasion began in February 2022. According to Global Conflict Tracker, Russia occupies roughly 20% of Ukrainian territory and fighting persists with ongoing Russian missile and drone attacks on Ukrainian cities. Meanwhile, Ukraine has launched retaliatory drone strikes deep into Russian territory targeting energy and military infrastructure.

Nearly 56,000 civilians have died or been injured, while 3.7 million people are internally displaced. Through 2025, Ukraine had received about $188 billion in aid from the United States and $197 billion from the European Union.

“The ISU continues to condemn all armed conflict around the world,” the ISU said in a statement. “The ISU continues to provide financial support to Ukrainian skaters through various initiatives, including the ISU Development Program, contributions to the Ukrainian Skating Federation, and a support program for displaced skaters.”

The ISU council’s decision to lift the ban on Russian skaters took into account “developments across the Olympic Movement and the differing approaches of other International Federations.”

While acknowledging that the lifting of restrictions had given rise to occasional protests at competitions, the participation of neutral Russian and Belarusian athletes in 2025-2026 Olympic qualification events and at the 2026 Milan Cortina Olympic Winter Games were completed “without related incident.”

Russian figure skaters Adeliia Petrosian and Petr Gumennik were cleared to compete with neutral status in Milan and both finished sixth in their events. Viktoriia Safonova of Belarus also competed as a neutral athlete.

“Skaters should not be held responsible for the actions of their governments,” the ISU posted. “Safety remains the guiding consideration for any further easing. The ISU will continue to monitor conditions at ISU events and will relax restrictions further only when satisfied that no safety or integrity issues arise, and reserves the right to reintroduce or increase restrictive measures should such issues emerge.”

Neutral athletes could face difficulty obtaining entry visas from countries hosting ISU events. The 2027 figure skating, short track and speed skating world championships will be hosted by Finland, South Korea and China, respectively.

The International Olympic Committee was instrumental in the ISU decision, advising sports bodies to readmit athletes from Belarus on May 7 without vetting for neutral status.

June 30 (UPI) — Rep. Tom Kean Jr., R-N.J., said Tuesday he was hospitalized with depression, a diagnosis that kept him off Capitol Hill for nearly four months without explanation.

He made the announcement on the House floor upon his return to Washington, D.C.

“I’m grateful that I accepted help,” Kean said. “Asking for help is not a weakness. It is a strength.”

Kean was last present in Congress during a March 5 vote. He missed more than 140 votes in his time away, during which the reason for his absence was never revealed.

The congressman said he went to the hospital for testing and doctors diagnosed him with depression and encouraged him to stay for treatment. He said during his treatment he learned he had been dealing with depression for longer than he realized.

“Now, when people hear the word ‘depression,’ many people think … it means feeling sad, but depression is so much more than that,” Kean said Tuesday.

“It is physical, it is emotional and until you experience it yourself, it is difficult to fully understand how powerful this illness can be.”

Kean, who first joined the U.S. House in 2023, is up for re-election this year.

The US Supreme Court has ruled that states can ban transgender women from competing in female school and college sports.

The court considered cases from students in two different states who had challenged bans on participation. The two states, Idaho and West Virginia, enacted laws that required public school and college sports teams to compete in accordance with their sex recorded at birth.

One of the two challenges said the ban violates equal rights protections in the US Constitution. The other said it contradicts civil rights laws.

More than two dozen states have enacted bans since Idaho did so in 2020.

Under those state bans, a transgender woman – a biological male who identifies as a woman – is not permitted to compete in female sports at schools and colleges.

All nine justices on the court decided the state bans do not violate a civil rights law called Title IX which prohibits sex-based discrimination in schools.

But the judges were split along ideological lines on whether the bans contravene the constitution’s 14th Amendment guarantee of equal protection under the law.

The six conservative justices said it did not violate the constitution but the three liberal justices disagreed.

“The Constitution and Title IX do not require an overhaul of women’s and girls’ sports throughout America,” wrote Justice Brett Kavanaugh who authored the ruling.

In her partial dissent, Justice Sonia Sotomayor said the majority opinion had applied “a diminished view of equal protection” to sports.

The challenge launched in Idaho came from a transgender woman, Lindsay Hecox, a long distance runner, who lodged it shortly after the law was enacted. She was later granted an injunction by both a district court and an appeals court.

State lawmaker Barbara Ehardt, who introduced the law, said at the time of its passing that it would ensure “boys and men will not be able to take the place of girls and women in sports because it’s not fair”.

But in the appeals ruling, a panel of three judges found that the Idaho law violated constitutional rights. They said the state had failed to provide evidence that its ban protects “sex equality and opportunity for women athletes”.

President Donald Trump made the issue of transgender athletes in women’s sports a regular focus of his 2024 election campaign. Last year, he signed an executive order that aimed to ban transgender women from competing on female sports teams in schools and colleges.

Following that decision, the NCAA, the governing body for US college sports, banned transgender women from competing in women’s sports.

Supporters of the bans argued that transgender women had a biological advantage over athletes who were recorded female at birth.

When the International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced in March it was going to limit the women’s category of Olympic sports to biological females, it said its working group reviewed the latest scientific evidence over the previous 18 months and had concluded there was a “clear consensus”, external that “male sex provides a performance advantage in all sports and events that rely on strength, power and resistance” .

Those who opposed the bans argue that they unfairly discriminated against transgender students and dispute whether there is a scientific consensus that transgender women and girls have an inherent advantage.

WITH a wardrobe to envy Sex and the City’s Carrie Bradshaw, lifestyle
influencer Amelia Liana appeared to be the ultimate single girl.

But her carefully curated “single girl” persona was shattered this
week when she published her YouTube vlog on Sunday night, titled: “I
GOT MARRIED!!!!”

After all, Amelia, 34, who shares every inch of her life online, was not wearing an engagement ring – let alone mentioning that she had a boyfriend.

Only two months ago she posted a video on her YouTube account titled: “Single in my 30s and life update.”

So for the two million followers she calls “family”, it came as a huge shock.

London-born Amelia Liana launched her YouTube in 2013 and
has since grown on TikTok and Instagram – publishing her luxury
lifestyle which includes running “boujie errands” such as picking up
jewellery at Cartier.

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In her reveal video on Sunday, Amelia did little to quell her
followers’ thirst to know about her marriage—and, more to the point,
her new man.

The description read: “Surprise! We skipped a chapter! I’ve been
keeping a little secret and I couldn’t wait to tell you that I got
married!”

Sat in her “shroom” [shoe room] in her multi-million London townhouse,
Amelia said: “This is going to make me really emotional saying this
because I feel like you guys are family – I couldn’t wait to tell
you.”

She added: “I decided that the next relationship I shared online was
going to be my husband. This is definitely the best relationship I have ever been in, in my life and that’s why I married him.

“Some people predicted that I was getting married or something was
going on because there were a lot of men’s shoes around.”

Of keeping her marriage under wraps, she said: “I couldn’t cut so much
footage because there was a lot of footage already being cut because I
kept forgetting to take off my ring.

“I think a lot of people on TikTok spotted it because I forgot to cut
out my ring in a video and it was up for like half an hour and then I
deleted it and reposted it because that was not supposed to be how I
wanted to tell you.”

However I can reveal that Amelia has tied the knot with a 41-year-old high-flying CEO named Michael. 

The marriage took place on May 19 at Chelsea Old Town Hall on the King’s Road in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea.

Her new husband who speaks English and German, and is the CEO of a multinational brand.

Amelia and her new man have also chosen not to follow each other on Instagram.

The couple are understood to have also had a ceremony at Spencer House in London’s St James’s with family and friends. 

The Great Room, which overlooks Green Park, costs between £13,750 and £15,000 to hire.

She is also believed to have held her reception at London’s five-star hotel Claridge’s which can cost up to £30,000 with food and drinks included.

Amelia requested that her wedding planner organise an Alfonso mango stand at the reception.

She also had a traditional henna party which included fellow influencers Suzie Bonaldi and Audrey Peters – instead of having bridesmaids.

In true Amelia style, her bridal party – including sister Hannah and mum Carol – got ready in the £6,000-a-night room, The Dorchester Suite, at the five-star hotel overlooking Hyde Park.

Meanwhile I have heard that the couple honeymooned at the five-star Amanzoe resort in Greece. 

A pool pavilion room at the resort costs around £3,542 per night and includes a 19ft private pool and views of the Aegean Sea.

The stay includes complimentary movements classes including Pilates and yoga as well as daily breakfast. 

Of the wedding, a friend said: “It was a really fantastic day. Amelia couldn’t be happier. They had 200 of her closest friends and family there – and she, luckily, timed the weather well.

“It was just before the full heatwave – and was a glorious sunny day…without being too hot! She and her husband have known each other a long time – and got engaged last year.

“They actually had their formal marriage a few weeks before posting. Now, happily married, Amelia’s looking forward to getting back to work with a renewed sense of vigour – after being absolutely blown away by the reaction to her wedding videos.

“She never thought there would be so much traction from them – but those vids have already amassed more than 65 million views, which is incredible. That has been yet another boost for her – and has really rounded off a perfect few weeks.”

Amelia has so far shared 20 posts about her wedding with her 595,000 Instagram followers—with no groom in sight.

She has also set up an Instagram broadcast channel called “AL Club” to constantly keep her followers interested in the wedding.

Of what she looks for in a partner, she previously said: “I need a man that is secure. Not an insecure man – a secure man.

“If you are an insecure man – and I have had experience in this – you
are going to resent me, resent my success.”

She added: “So I need a man that is secure.”

One fan said: “SINGLE IN MY 30S” two months ago. What was the point in
all the long vents about how “behind in life you are” and repeating
you’re single over and over…

In 2019 Amelia announced that she has split from her fiance known as
“Robert” in an emotional Youtube video.

It came after Amelia documented her engagement party after announcing the proposal in December 2018.

She went on to date family friend Jak Serr – the son of BBC Apprentice
star and entrepreneur Linda Plant.

The pair documented their relationship with TikTok videos but Amelia
confirmed in 2024 that the pair had transitioned back to a friendship.

In-play, in-picture adverts will not be part of ITV’s coverage of the Nations Championship in July, but the 20-second slots, shown before a scrum, are set to return for the November Tests and next year’s Six Nations.

The abundance of opportunities in ITV’s schedule in July, with an expanded 48-team football World Cup dominating the airwaves, means advertisers’ spending has been directed elsewhere.

During their debut at this year’s Six Nations, the scrum slots, one of which was available per half, were bought up by blue-chip companies such as Samsung and Virgin Atlantic.

During the segments, audio from the stadium dipped, the screen was split in half and an advert was played in the right-hand part of the screen. Some viewers criticised the concept as intrusive.

Six Nations chief executive Tom Harrison said the adverts may be “a little bit uncomfortable” for viewers in the UK who, unlike those in the US and Australia, are only used to adverts appearing around, rather than during, play.

The Nations Championship pits the northern hemisphere teams who compete in the Six Nations – England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, France and Italy – against southern hemisphere sides South Africa, New Zealand, Australia and Argentina, plus invited sides Fiji and Japan.

It starts on Saturday with six games, with a further six on 11 July and 18 July before concluding in November.

WASHINGTON  — The Supreme Court on Tuesday struck down Watergate-era limits on how much political parties can spend in a coordinated campaign with their candidates.

By a 6-3 vote, the court said the restrictions on parties and their campaign ads violate the 1st Amendment.

Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh said the court was restoring broad free speech protections for parties and their candidates.

“For nearly 200 years after the ratification of the 1st Amendment, parties could spend freely to support their candidates during campaigns and could do so in coordination with the candidates,” he wrote. “Notably, no one suggests ‘that these elections were not functional or that they were marred by corruption’.”

The decision is a victory for the National Republican Senatorial Committee and is likely to give a boost to Republicans this year in their bid to maintain control of Congress.

That’s because the national Republican committees that support their Congressional candidates have $230 million available to spend this year, while the struggling Democratic committees have less than $120 million.

The party funding limits were challenged in 2022 in a lawsuit filed by JD Vance, who was then running in Ohio for a Senate seat, along with the Republican party committees.

Republicans argued these restrictions on parties were outdated and unwise in an era when “SuperPACs” can raise and spend huge amounts of money to promote candidates because they are independent.

If so, they asked, why shouldn’t the parties be free to raise money and coordinate their campaign ads with the candidates?

Under the current limits, the Federal Election Commission says an individual donor may give only $3,500 to a candidate seeking a federal office, but $132,900 to the national party committees.

Since the 1970s, however, federal election law has limited the parties from funding the campaigns of their candidates on the grounds that it could allow wealthy donors to buy influence.

But the court’s conservatives have repeatedly ruled that campaign money is protected as free speech under the 1st Amendment.

In the Citizens United case of 2010, they struck down the laws that restricted election spending by individuals, companies, unions and other groups.

Left standing were the rather low limits on direct contributions to candidates as well as the limits on how much parties could contribute to directly support candidates.

The limitations on parties and how they support their candidates have been disputed for decades.

The Supreme Court upheld the limits by a 5-4 vote in 2001 and said these “coordinated expenditures” were more like contributions than independent spending, and therefore, could be limited to protect against corruption.

Two years ago, the Biden administration defended the law, and an appeals court upheld it based on the court’s 2001 decision.

But last year, the Supreme Court agreed to hear the new challenge in National Republican Senatorial Committee vs. FEC.

Rather than defend the law, the Trump administration sided with the GOP and said the party limits should be struck down.

In dissent, Justice Elena Kagan looked back to the history of the Watergate era.

“For over half a century, a federal statute has guarded against actual and apparent quid pro quo corruption in our political system by limiting the amount of money a donor can contribute to a candidate,” she said. “The law’s theory is simple: A candidate may be induced to trade official acts for campaign contributions—and the bigger the contribution, the stronger both the candidate’s temptation and the public’s suspicion.

“But today, the court rewrites the rules, to allow circumvention of the contribution limits … and ushers back in the same opportunities for quid pro quo corruption that the contribution limits were meant to check.”

Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson agreed.

The Democratic National Committee and attorney Marc Elias had stepped in to defend the limits.

He said the parties are free to speak in favor of their candidates but he argued that allowing them to “subsidize the campaign expenses of their candidates” is a contribution that can be regulated.

Otherwise, the “potential for actual or apparent corruption is is obvious,” he said.

The ruling is another election-year boost for the GOP.

Last month, the court’s conservatives ruled the Voting Rights Act did not prevent Republican-controlled states in the South from redrawing congressional districts that favored Black Democrats.

New maps in Louisiana, Alabama, Tennessee and Florida are expected to flip several seats in favor of the GOP.

The US Supreme Court has blocked President Donald Trump’s executive order to end birthright citizenship for all individuals born on US soil, ruling that children born in the country remain entitled to citizenship under the Constitution.

IT can be tough to find a great deal for a family break during the summer holidays.

But there are some destinations that have even dropped in price by as much as £117 on average.

loveholidays has found the destinations where prices have dropped the most – and lots of these places are just mere hours from the UK.

Head of Aviation Gavin Brewer reveals that the price of a week-long package holiday has actually fallen across several destinations since the conflict in the Middle East began.

He said: “There isn’t a blanket trend of rising holiday costs across the board, and there are still bargains to be found.”

The loveholidays expert revealed that the place that has seen the biggest holiday price drop is the USA.

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Seven-night packages during summer are down by £117 per person on average.

Closer to home for Brits is Bulgaria which is down £60pp.

Prices for holidays to Montenegro have dropped by around £53pp and prices for Turkey have gone down by £35pp.

Gavin adds: “There are still plenty of affordable getaways available this summer.

“If price is your main priority, a great way to find the best deal is to search our platform for holidays based on your budget alone.”

Here are some of the best deals we’ve found…

Ramada By Wyndham Hotel & Water Park, USA

Who said a family holiday to Florida has to be expensive?

This hotel in Kissimmee has a huge waterpark with a lazy river, swimming pools and waterslides.

A seven-night holiday to Ramada By Wyndham Hotel & Water Park between August 12-19 starts from £549pp.

The deal is for a family of four and includes return flights from London Heathrow to Orlando International.

Westgate Town Center Resort, USA

The Westgate Town Center Resort is one mile from Disney – but has plenty to do onsite too.

It has 14 outdoor swimming pools and the Shipwreck Island waterpark.

A seven-night break to Westgate Town Center Resort between 14-21 August starts from £579pp.

The deal is for a family of four and includes return flights from London Heathrow to Orlando International.

Hotel Flamingo, Bulgaria

The four-star Hotel Flamingo is well-suited to families as it has an outdoor swimming pool and children’s area.

For children there’s a kids’ club, children’s playground with entertainment and activities too – plus there’s restaurant, cafe and poolside snack bar.

You can stay at the Hotel Flamingo from August 14-21 from £459pp.

The deal is for a family of four and includes return flights from Glasgow to Bourgas with full board.

Premier Fort Beach Sveti Vlas, Bulgaria

If you want to splash out a little more, but still not spend a fortune – Premier Fort Beach is a good choice.

The kids will love splashing about in the pool and making the most of the waterslides.

You can stay at the Premier Fort Beach Sveti Vlas from August 14-21 from £619pp.

The deal is for a family of four and includes return flights from Glasgow to Bourgas with full board.

Arvala Apartments, Montenegro

This spot is another great place for families as it’s made up of 15 apartments close to Slovenska Beach.

It’s near Budva Old Town too full of shops and restaurants.

You can stay at the Arvala Apartments from August 10-18 from £439pp.

The deal is for a family of four and includes return flights from Manchester to Tivat.

Hotel Danica, Montenegro

This peaceful hotel in Montenegro is close to a beach and within walking distance to the town centre.

It has an outdoor swimming pool with plenty of sunloungers and has a restaurant serving lunch and dinner.

You can stay at the Hotel Danica from August 10-17 from £509pp.

The deal is for a family of four and includes return flights from London Gatwick to Podgorica – and includes breakfast.

Arabella World, Turkey

In Antalya, Arabella World is perfect for any families who love splashing about in the pool on holiday.

It has an outdoor and indoor pool as well as waterslides and there’s a private beach too.

You can stay at Arabella World Hotel from August 21-28 from £439pp.

The deal is for a family of four and includes return flights from Glasgow Antalya – and it’s all-inclusive.

The Lumos Deluxe Resort Hotel, Turkey

This five-star resort in Antalya has it all – it’s set on a private beach and has an enormous swimming pool with a dedicated children’s pool too – not to mention lots of kids’ clubs and activities.

There are three restaurants as well as snack bars at the beach and by the pool.

You can stay at The Lumos Deluxe Resort Hotel from August 15-22 from £599pp.

The deal is for a family of four and includes return flights from Edinburgh to Antalya – and it’s all-inclusive too.

*Prices correct at the time of publication.

Search under way for suspect who fled scene after explosive device placed at entrance to residential building wounded three, authorities say.

Authorities in Monaco say at this stage have ruled out “terrorism” as a motive in an explosion that left three people wounded.

The powerful blast took place at the entrance to a residential building on Monday evening, after a man had apparently left a package there.

Prosecutor Stephane Thibault told reporters on Tuesday the suspect who fled on foot acted alone and remained at large.

security-camera footage showed the suspect walking in a street wearing a black jacket, light-coloured trousers, white shoes and a black hat that partly conceals his face.

Police have opened an attempted murder probe but are not qualifying it as a “terrorism” investigation, said Thibault, adding that the motive remained unclear.

‘Caught in the explosion’

One of the three injured is a woman in life-threatening condition, while her partner and a 13-year-old child suffered less severe injuries but remain in the hospital. Thibault did not provide their identities.

Media reports identified Ukrainian construction tycoon Vadym Yermolaiev as being among the injured. Ukrainian news site Ukrainska Pravda said he was targeted by Ukrainian sanctions in 2023 for alleged ties to Russia.

The three victims were “apparently returning home peacefully” in the early evening, according to surveillance footage, Christophe Mirmand, the minister of state for Monaco, told French news broadcaster LCI

“They were caught in the explosion as they crossed the threshold of their apartment building,” he said.

Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry said it ⁠was in touch with authorities in ⁠Monaco, saying the explosion wounded three people of Ukrainian ‌descent, who are members of one ⁠family. It did ⁠not name them, but said Ukrainian authorities are checking their citizenship.

Yermolaiev, a multimillionaire Monaco resident, has been subject to sanctions from Ukraine since December 2023, which Ukrainian security services reportedly said stemmed from his alcohol business activity in Russian-occupied Crimea.

Monaco is a microstate with a population of 38,000 people, where many ultra-wealthy people reside. It is considered to be one of the safest places in the world, with an extensive surveillance network of thousands of security cameras covering most public spaces.

It’s been about a month into the all-important summer box office season, and already, there is a noticeable boost in optimism.

I wrote last week about how the massive debut of Walt Disney Co. and Pixar’s “Toy Story 5” was a promising sign; many analysts and movie theater operators believe the summer’s theatrical revenue could finally reach pre-pandemic levels.

The cinema business has been propelled by the likes of Paramount Pictures and Miramax‘s “Scary Movie,” Universal Pictures’ “Disclosure Day” and, of course, A24’s “Backrooms” and Focus Features’ “Obsession.”

With more potential blockbusters on the way, my colleagues David Viramontes, audience editor for arts and entertainment, and Cerys Davies, who covers the business of the entertainment industry, joined me to give our best predictions for how this summer will shape up.

What will be the biggest movie of the summer?

Masunaga: After seeing how family movies — specifically, PG-rated films — were the winners of the last two years, I think we’ll be seeing “Toy Story 5” emerge at the top. The movie has already brought in more than $585 million worldwide less than two weeks after it opened, and if its billion-dollar-grossing predecessors are any indication, this franchise may still have a long life at the box office.

Viramontes: After the R-rated, three-hour drama “Oppenheimer” made nearly $1 billion at the worldwide box office in 2023, it would be professional malpractice not to pick Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey” as the biggest movie of the summer — and possibly the year. 70-millimeter IMAX screenings were sold out a year in advance and premium format tickets are still hard to come by in Los Angeles. Not to mention tentpole movies like this attract repeat viewings and even encourage viewers to seek out screenings in every format. And we haven’t even talked about how the film boasts one of the most stacked casts in recent history.

Davies: In an effort to play it safe, I’m going to pick a family movie and bet on “Toy Story 5.” Think about the dog days of summer — when the air gets heavy, a sense of inexplicable boredom takes over and it’s almost too hot to do anything. Deep down, you know the only reprieve is sitting in the comfort of your local theater chain’s air conditioning. But, at this point, you already saw “The Odyssey” with all your friends at the earliest available IMAX showing. What else will scratch that box office itch? I’m willing to bet it’ll be none other than the familiar faces of Woody, Jessie and Buzz Lightyear, as they fend off technology in their home.

Which movie’s marketing campaign will be the talk of the summer?

Masunaga: The marketing for “The Odyssey” has been less overt than that of other summer releases, giant Trojan horse in Venice Beach notwithstanding. But a film helmed by Nolan and starring a plethora of A-list actors basically markets itself. After all, both official trailers for the film have garnered more than 30 million views on YouTube.

Viramontes: I’m prepared for Spider-Man to be everywhere. From buses and billboards to talk shows and TikTok, the movie will reach full saturation. While “Brand New Day’s” marketing campaign hasn’t reached fever pitch just yet, I’m prepared to be inundated with activations, posters and commercials for the four-quadrant fave that’s poised to be one of Marvel’s biggest successes in years.

Davies: A massive orange monster named Irene with dozens of eyeballs has nearly engulfed the historic Carney’s restaurant on Sunset. A giant inflatable “Rich” minion, sporting a goatee and a blinged out chain, popped up on Fairfax. And minions have taken over Wendy’s frosty machines with a new banana flavor. At this point, Universal and Illumination could put a minion on every Los Angeles street corner, and I wouldn’t grow tired of them. (The ominous, goggle-wearing eye overlooking the 101 freeway just isn’t enough.)

What will be the biggest wild card of the summer?

Masunaga: The biopic “Young Washington” could make waves. Distributed by Provo, Utah-based Angel Studios, the movie has the backing of the studio’s 2 million Angel Guild members, who determine its slate and get other perks, including free movie tickets. That support proved crucial for 2023’s “Sound of Freedom,” which ended up grossing more than $250 million worldwide, and could end up being a factor here, too.

Viramontes: “The End of Oak Street” has been teasing a dinosaur adventure in trailers, but can the mystery box movie starring Anne Hathaway and Ewan McGregor attract audiences? There’s also potential counter programming to blockbuster hopefuls dotted throughout the summer with “Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma.” But I’m putting my money on “Evil Dead Burn.” Horror movies put butts in seats, and this summer doesn’t have many other straight-down-the-middle scares in store for audiences.

Davies: There’s an Anthony Bourdain biopic called “Tony” hitting theaters in August. These days, it feels like Hollywood will make a biopic about just anyone, but something about seeing Dominic Sessa channel the chef’s undying passion for food and effortless swag on screen seems irresistible. Plus today’s audiences love stories about intense kitchens (“The Bear”) and debatable biopics (“Michael”) — let’s see what happens when the two marry.

Both Warner Bros.-owned DC Studios’ “Supergirl” and Sony Pictures‘ “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” are part of this summer’s lineup. Will we see a turnaround from the recent superhero fatigue at the box office?

Masunaga: This past weekend marked a disappointing debut for “Supergirl,” which brought in just $37.1 million in the U.S. and Canada and about $62.6 million worldwide on a reported budget of $170 million. Box office analysts had been expecting a domestic opening of about $47 million to $50 million. On the other hand, pre-sales for “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” have been extremely strong. Not every superhero movie prints money anymore, so even with a potentially big haul for “Spider-Man,” I don’t know that it’ll signify a complete turnaround for the genre as a whole.

Viramontes: If there’s any superhero with enough pull to rescue the genre from fatigue after “Supergirl’s” poor performance, it’s your friendly neighborhood box office king Spider-Man.

Davies: Tom Holland’s Spider-Man definitely has the potential to cure superhero fatigue, at least for a few months. But as soon as the internet’s favorite couple, Zendaya and Holland, stop walking red carpets and doing press together, audiences are likely to put superhero movies on the back burner once again.

Analysts and theater owners have predicted that this summer’s box office will reach pre-pandemic levels. Will that momentum continue for the rest of the year?

Masunaga: Yes. The lineup of movies this year is more plentiful and varied than in years past, and with massive blockbusters slated for the holiday season, I think it’s very possible we could see a year-end domestic box office total of $9 billion or more.

Viramontes: Yes. We’ll have an action horror in September with “Resident Evil,” Zach Cregger’s follow-up to “Weapons.” In October, Tom Cruise’s long-awaited “Digger” might hit pay dirt. Following that in November is the new “Hunger Games” movie, “Sunrise on the Reaping.” And I don’t even have to mention “Avengers: Doomsday” and “Dune: Part Three,” the juggernauts waiting for us in December, do I?

Davies: Given the overall excitement from audiences of all ages and the variety this summer’s box office has to offer, this season will definitely be the one to do it. When Christopher Nolan, Spider-Man, the minions and the toys from “Toy Story” join forces, there’s no stopping them.

“The Pitt” and its economic effect on California

As film and TV production has fled the Golden State in search of cheaper locales, HBO Max medical drama “The Pitt” stands out as a major contributor to California’s economy.

My colleague Meg James wrote about the economic impact of the show, which films almost entirely on the Warner Bros. lot in Burbank and has provided jobs for about 1,000 people. The show’s first season alone contributed $125 million to California’s gross domestic product, according to an estimate from Oxford Economics.

“We’re old men who didn’t want to go away from our homes any longer,” series star Noah Wyle, who also serves as an executive producer and writer on the show, said, half-joking. “We’ve all been plying our trades out of state, chasing tax credits and being away from our families for a really long time.”

Stuff We Wrote

Film shoots

Number of the week

Disney and Pixar’s “Toy Story 5” continued its dominance this weekend, pulling in $70 million in the U.S. and Canada to stay on top at the box office.

The animated film has now grossed more than $585 million worldwide in less than two weeks. The haul for “Toy Story 5” helped push Disney past the $3-billion mark at the global box office, making it the first studio so far this year to hit that milestone.

What I’m watching

I feel like I’m always catching up on shows, and this week was no exception. I’m just now starting Season 2 of Netflix’s “A Man on the Inside,” which continues the hilarious exploits of retired engineering professor-turned-private-investigator Charles, played by Ted Danson. As a fan of “The Good Place,” I’ve loved the similar humor of this latest Michael Schur show.

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld the Constitution’s promise that all those born here are citizens of the United States, regardless of the status of their parents.

In a 6-3 decision, the justices rejected President Trump’s plan to revise the Constitution by executive order and to end citizenship at birth for newborns whose parents were here illegally or temporarily.

Chief Justice John G. Roberts spoke for the court to reject Trump’s proposed limits on birthright citizenship.

“Citizenship, then and now, was the right to have rights — to freely participate in our political community,” he said. “The Framers of the 14th Amendment extended that promise to ‘every free-born person in this land.’ We keep that promise today.”

Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, Amy Coney Barrett and Ketanji Brown Jackson joined in full. Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh concurred in the outcome based on the federal law that incorporates birthright citizenship.

But the outcome was closer than most had predicted.

Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel A. Alito and Neil M. Gorsuch dissented in agreement with Trump.

The decision is the second major defeat for Trump from a conservative court that usually supports broad presidential power.

In February, the court struck down Trump’s sweeping worldwide tariffs, his signature economic policy. Roberts said Congress, not the president, has the power to raise revenue and impose taxes, including duties on imports.

In April, Trump came to the court to hear the arguments over birthright citizenship. He sat in the gallery while the justices posed steadily skeptical questions to his solicitor general.

He left after an hour having heard enough to know he was likely to lose.

It was the rare Supreme Court case which was decided based simply on the words of the Constitution.

The justices, both conservative and liberal, say they look to what the Constitution says and how its words were originally understood.

The 14th Amendment adopted in 1868 says: “All persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof are citizens of the United States and of the State where they reside.”

The amendment overturned the infamous Dred Scott decision of 1857, which declared that Black persons could not become U.S. citizens.

In its place, the Reconstruction Congress adopted the broad view of citizenship based on the place of birth, not parentage, that had been part of English law for centuries.

In the 19th Century, it was understood that the only exceptions to this rule of birthright citizenship were for the children of foreign diplomats, foreign troops on American soil or, for a time, Native Americans who lived on tribal reservations.

In 1924, Congress extended full citizenship to all Native Americans who were born in this country.

The Supreme Court had also confirmed the broad understanding of birthright citizenship in 1898. The justices upheld the U.S. citizenship of Wong Kim Ark who born in San Francisco to Chinese parents who later returned to China.

“The 14th Amendment affirms the ancient and fundamental rule of citizenship by birth within the territory,” the court said then. “In clear words and in manifest intent, [it] includes the children born, within the territory of the United States, of all other persons, of whatever race or color.”

Congress added birthright citizenship to the immigration laws in 1952.

But in his first day back in the White House, Trump signed an executive order to revise the citizenship laws.

“The privilege of United States citizenship is a priceless and profound gift,” he wrote, and in the future, it will not extend to newborns whose parents are in this country unlawfully or temporarily, such as on tourist, student or work visa, he said.

His proposal was quickly blocked by judges as unconstitutional, and it never went into effect.

In his appeal, Trump’s attorney argued that judges have been “misreading” the phrase “subject to the jurisdiction.”
He said this refers to “political allegiance.”

By that standard, the children of temporary visitors and unlawful immigrants are not citizens because they and their parents “not completely subject to the United States’ political jurisdiction,” according to the administration.

Trump could have proposed legislation on tariffs and birthright citizenship and urged the Republican-led Congress to adopt new laws. Instead, he chose to try to change the law and revise the Constitution by executive order.

Before the Supreme Court, Trump’s attorney pointed to the surge of illegal immigration in recent decades.

“We’re in a new world now,” he said, one that calls for new restrictions on citizenship.

“It’s a new world. It’s the same Constitution,” responded Roberts.

The coach of former Sheffield United player Maddy Cusack had called her a “psycho” and was playing mind games with her before her death, an inquest has heard.

Cusack, 27, was found unconscious by her father David at their family home in Horsley, Derbyshire, on 20 September 2023 and died the same day.

An inquest at Chesterfield Coroner’s Court heard on Tuesday that Jonathan Morgan had made comments about Cusack’s weight and her relationship while he was Sheffield United’s women’s team manager.

Grace Riglar, who played for the team and was in a relationship with Cusack, said Cusack was “anxious” about Morgan joining the club after her experience of working with him at Leicester City.

At the inquest, she said: “I think it was stuff she told me about her previous experience prior to Jonathan coming to Sheffield.

“I think she said that they played a game against a team while Jonathan was the manager. She had done something on the pitch and Jonathan called her a psycho from the sideline.

“I don’t think she let anyone know those types of comments affected her, but they did and they made her uncomfortable.”

She told the inquest Morgan joining United was a big cause of Cusack’s stress.

Riglar added Cusack thought the coach had made a “personal attack” on her by not putting her in the starting line-up for matches.

She said: “She was used to starting every game, she was an important member of the team. When Jonathan came, she was in and out from the starting team a bit.

“Her going from starting, to being on the bench quite a lot… she saw that as a setback. That impacted her a lot.

“I just think she almost felt like it was a bit of a personal attack, and that Jonathan was playing mind games with her by starting her one week and dropping her the next.

“She just felt those little things were intentional.”

SEOUL, June 30 (UPI) — The labor unions of Home Plus and Korea Zinc on Tuesday blasted MBK Partners, one of Asia’s leading private equity funds, over its troubled ownership of the former and the attempt to take over the latter.

“Although we are workers from different workplaces, we are all suffering in the face of the same capital greed. Korea Zinc and Home Plus are no different,” Home Plus union leader Ahn Soo-yong told a joint press conference in Seoul.

“Home Plus has now entered rehabilitation proceedings and stands on the brink of liquidation. But throughout this entire process, MBK, which should be held accountable, is evading responsibility,” she added.

MBK Partners acquired Home Plus from Tesco in a $5 billion deal in 2015. However, the discount chain entered a court-led rehabilitation program in early 2025 after years of mounting losses. MBK tried to sell Home Plus for more than a year with little success.

Against this backdrop, Home Plus has steadily reduced its store network in recent years. The retailer operated more than 140 hypermarkets across the country at its peak in the mid-2010s, but now has just 67 remaining.

“The hardship facing Home Plus is by no means a problem unique to Home Plus,” Korea Zinc union head Lee Eun-seon said.

“If MBK succeeds in taking control of Korea Zinc, the job insecurity and workplace destruction now being experienced by Home Plus workers will inevitably become the grim reality for Korea Zinc employees as well,” he said.

Korea Zinc has been locked in a prolonged control battle with MBK, which teamed up with zinc manufacturer Young Poong early last year to pursue a takeover bid. The two sides clashed at shareholders’ meetings in 2025 and 2026 in a series of heated proxy battles.

The share price of Korea Zinc fell 4% on the Seoul bourse on Tuesday, while the broad KOSPI rose 0.97%. Neither MBK nor Home Plus is publicly listed.

This picturesque English gem boasts rich history, stunning stone houses and scenic nature walks that keep drawing visitors from around the globe

When it comes to getting away, sometimes a staycation is the ideal choice. Not only do you avoid the hassle of travelling to and from the airport, sidestep delays and save a small fortune on parking fees, but the UK really is quite remarkable.

One English village has previously been named among the finest in the world. In 2021, FBM Holidays named Castle Combe in Wiltshire as the prettiest place in the UK.

Meanwhile, property experts handpicked the location as part of The Daily Mail’s list of 24 villages to live in 2025.

Castle Combe boasts a fascinating history and is utterly charming thanks to its stone cottages and scenic countryside walks.

The village itself sits on the borders of Gloucestershire, Berkshire, Dorset to the south and Somerset, so you can expect to be immersed in breathtaking scenery.

Castle Combe is not only beautiful but has also appeared in numerous films, including The Wolf Man, Stardust and War Horse. Not to mention it featured in the original Dr Doolittle film and featured in popular TV show Downton Abbey.

Things to do in Castle Combe, Wiltshire

St Andrew’s church is among the must-see attractions, with the building dating back to the 13th century.

It features a faceless clock which ranks as one of the oldest functioning clocks in Britain. The church holds a Google rating of 4.6 online, with one visitor commenting: “Very picturesque church from the outside. We had a wander around inside.

“It’s free to get in but with a suggested £1 donation which is reasonable. There’s a faceless clock inside which I’ve never seen before!”

Another wrote: “Was not able to go inside but nice to walk around outside. A typical English village church in a very nice setting.”

A third simply commented: “St Andrews Church is set in the beautiful village of Castle Combe.”

Another historic landmark in Castle Combe is The Market Cross, which dates back to the 14th century.

Visitors flocking to the site have awarded it an impressive 4.4 Google rating, with one traveller writing: “Nice historical place. Really preserved well and very scenic.”

Another commented: “Great when you finally get to take a photo with no people sitting all around it.”

A third said: “Scenic, dreamy, beautiful place, almost hidden away. We had a great experience, visited on a weekday, it was decently crowded. It could be difficult to find a parking spot especially, on weekends. Nevertheless, I recommend this place.”

A flight attendant has shared a hygiene warning for passengers who wear certain clothes on a plane – and the reason involves what really goes on with airplane seats between flights

When choosing an outfit for a flight, most passengers prioritise comfort – reaching for leggings, jogging bottoms, or shorts to keep cool on board. However, one flight attendant has urged travellers to think carefully before baring their legs, revealing one rather unpleasant reason she would never wear shorts on a plane.

Taking to social media to share her advice, the cabin crew member explained that aircraft seats aren’t always as spotless as passengers might hope – despite being cleaned between flights. She said: “Since everyone gets fuming mad at me when I say, don’t wear shorts when you travel… coming from a flight attendant.”

The crew member then revealed exactly what she had witnessed during just a single shift.

She added: “Guess how many diapers got changed on the seats yesterday on my one flight. Guess how many? Four.

“Guess how many announcements we made for people not to do that? Three. People don’t care.”

According to the flight attendant, every single nappy she witnessed being changed that day was soiled.

She added: “Guess how many of those diapers were poopy? All four. They change them on the seat.

“And you wanna rub your skin on there. You do. You’re dying to enjoy your staph infection. Just don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

Her remarks swiftly ignited fierce debate online, with scores of travellers admitting they had never stopped to consider what might have taken place on their seat before they boarded.

Reacting to the clip, one viewer wrote: “I will never wear shorts and I will never wear flared pants… that’s not water on the bathroom floor.

“My lululemon yoga pants aren’t going to soak up that floor juice! Black leggings only – year round!”.

Another user added: “And the real issue is all airlines not having a proper place for parents to change their baby!”

A third commented: “I’ve had people change them on the tray table and acted shocked when I told them to not do that and gave them wipes to clean it up.”

While a further user added: “I never thought of wearing shorts. But I’ll definitely wipe my seat with Lysol now.”

The app said it will be rolling out usernames gradually, in a move meant to improve privacy.

Change is coming for some three billion users of the world’s favourite messaging platform, WhatsApp.

The social media app owned by Meta will allow users to be identified by usernames instead of phone numbers, it said on Monday. WhatsApp is used in more than 180 countries and 60 languages, the platform says.

Users will soon be able to reserve unique handles, with a wider rollout planned for later this year.

The move is designed to improve privacy on the platform amid longstanding scrutiny over its data protection practices.

So what is changing, and how can you grab a handle no one else has?

What change has WhatsApp announced?

Users will soon be able to swap the phone numbers displayed on WhatsApp with usernames, the company said. Under the new system, which will commence later this year, users will be able to choose to be “findable” and contacted by their handles only.

The app said it has already begun allowing some users to reserve unique usernames before a bigger rollout later this year.

Why is WhatsApp making this change?

The messaging platform said the change is designed to improve privacy features, for which it and its parent company Meta have come under scrutiny in the past.

“We have designed this as a core privacy feature,” Alice Newton-Rex, WhatsApp’s vice president of product, told reporters.

According to the company, there will be no public directory of usernames and no autocomplete suggestions, meaning users will need to know someone’s exact username to reach them for the first time.

“When someone new walks into your life – a classmate, a neighbour, someone you meet at an event – sharing a phone number can feel like a big step,” a WhatsApp company blog post stated.

“That’s because a phone number is personal and it’s tied to so many parts of your life. Sometimes you just want to chat without handing over your digits.”

The company told one user on X that it has added multiple new features to help users defend themselves from scammers.

Optional username keys – or short numbered codes – can be added, which would mean people can only contact a user if they have both their username and its key, for example.

WhatsApp also said it will limit the number of new people any one account can contact as a guard against spam accounts, and that its systems can now detect and block “abuse patterns”.

How will the new usernames work?

Companies, organisations and creators with existing accounts on Meta’s other social media platforms – Instagram and Facebook – will have the opportunity to claim their usernames as handles on WhatsApp as well.

Usernames will have to be three to 35 characters. To prevent impersonation, WhatsApp will hold back usernames for high-profile people or groups, such as celebrities, public figures and government entities.

To reserve a specific username, WhatsApp said a user must download the latest version of WhatsApp, go to the Settings tab, the Account tab, and then the Username tab.

The reservation must be done with a smartphone – it cannot be done on WhatsApp Web or Desktop.

When will this change come into effect?

WhatsApp said it will roll out usernames gradually over the coming months and will notify users on WhatsApp when the new feature is available in their country. It has not given specific timelines.

To be prepared, the company told users to “make sure you have the latest version of WhatsApp downloaded and keep an eye on your app”.

What are WhatsApp’s current privacy features?

WhatsApp’s current privacy settings are limited to blocking individual users and silencing unknown callers.

Kara Swisher is everywhere.

She’s filling in for Joy Behar on ABC’s “The View.” Appearing alongside Meryl Streep in “The Devil Wears Prada 2.” Starring in a CNN documentary. Preparing a national tour. And churning out four podcasts most weeks featuring long-form interviews and commentary.

It’s a ubiquity born of more than three decades chronicling the technology industry with a professed indifference to power that vaulted her into a rare echelon of journalism celebrity.

She harnessed that reputation to persuade rivals Steve Jobs and Bill Gates to appear onstage together and make Mark Zuckerberg so uncomfortable under questioning that he broke out into a sweat. She had Elon Musk’s cellphone number — the two aren’t currently speaking — and often texts tech and business leaders.

She’s betting the influence that made her a Silicon Valley force will translate into politics as podcasts supplant traditional media as a destination for candidates seeking attention.

During President Donald Trump’s second Republican term, potential Democratic presidential candidates ranging from California Gov. Gavin Newsom and former Vice President Kamala Harris to onetime Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and former White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel have appeared on Swisher’s shows. She expects that roster to grow.

“We get called by all the presidential candidates,” the 63-year-old Swisher said in an interview at her home in a leafy corner of Washington, where her trademark high self-regard was on display. “We’re going to get to all of them.”

Swisher is hardly the only podcaster talking politics. Conservatives like Megyn Kelly and Tucker Carlson and some liberals like the former Barack Obama aides who host “Pod Save America” have larger audiences. They’re all dwarfed by Joe Rogan.

But Swisher, who has evolved from a traditional print journalist to business owner and podcast host, has few rivals who can match her technology expertise and connect those observations to the broader political debate.

“When I first went on her podcast when I just got into Congress in 2017, she was very well respected in tech circles,” said Rep. Ro Khanna, the California Democrat whose district includes Silicon Valley. “But now she’s emerged as a larger cultural force, especially at a time where there’s such anger at the tech billionaires and tech arrogance.”

Interviews that produce revealing moments

When she’s not on the road, Swisher typically records from a basement studio in the Washington home she shares with her wife and children and a cat named Lovely. The conversations on her interview podcast “On with Kara Swisher” are often referenced later on “Pivot,” which she co-hosts with entrepreneur Scott Galloway.

They frequently produce revealing moments, as when Newsom filled in for Galloway on “Pivot.” Swisher derided him for being too easy on Steve Bannon when the longtime Trump aide appeared on Newsom’s own podcast.

“You had an opportunity to engage,” Swisher pressed. “Why not engage?”

Swisher pushed Buttigieg on why he took so long to say President Joe Biden, a fellow Democrat, shouldn’t have sought reelection. Buttigieg said he wasn’t consulted.

“Sure, but you have eyes,” Swisher responded.

In an interview, Newsom said Swisher calls him out.

“She’ll send me missives unsolicited,” he said. “She’s usually right, and it drives me crazy.”

Even Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina, a rare Republican to go on her show, said it was a worthwhile experience despite being pressed on whether his willingness to speak out against the Trump White House emerged only after he opted against reelection.

“If you’re a politician, you should be able to walk up anywhere and hold your own,” Tillis said, adding, “You may end up having an opportunity, like in my experience, to give a completely different perspective.”

‘Pivot’ was initially focused on tech and business

Shaping the political conversation wasn’t the objective when “Pivot” launched in 2018. Galloway, who hosts his own “Prof G” and “Raging Moderates” podcasts, recalled the idea for “Pivot” was to focus on the intersection of technology and business.

“Show me a big business or tech story, and I’m going to show you a political overlay,” Galloway said.

The expansion converges with a sense of urgency among Democrats to be more aggressive on digital platforms, where audiences are increasingly concentrated.

“The single most important quality that every candidate needs to have is the ability to talk and the ability to talk anywhere,” said Teddy Goff, the co-founder of Precision Strategies and the digital director for Obama’s 2012 presidential campaign.

Democrats are still stung by Rogan’s nearly three-hour Trump interview in the final weeks of the 2024 campaign. Rogan who doesn’t consider himself a journalist, has said Harris’ campaign didn’t agree to his terms. Harris has described being spurned by Rogan.

The podcasts add up to influence and financial success.

Galloway said “Pivot,” which is effectively a joint venture between himself, Swisher and Vox Media, will be a $15 million to $20 million business this year, with a staff of just five.

“Podcasts are the NBA,” Galloway said. “There’s a small amount of people making a lot of money.”

A goal to be popular ‘among the entire populace’

While Swisher largely hosts Democrats, she hopes to soon bring on additional Republicans and said she texted Steve Hilton’s wife, a former Google executive, in hopes of booking him shortly after he advanced in California’s governor’s race.

“What we’re going for is to be popular among the entire populace,” she said. “So that people who don’t feel they want to be in a constant state of anger, whether it’s on the left or the right, can have a place to go.”

But her barbed comments about Trump and other Republicans could complicate that goal. Swisher describes her work as “reported analysis.”

“We don’t shy away from our faults,” Swisher said. “We don’t shy away from our biases. You know, we don’t shy away from things that most people try to.”

Sloan writes for the Associated Press.