Month: April 2025

SISKIYOU COUNTY, Calif. — In far Northern California, beneath a towering mountain ridge still covered in April snow, one of the state’s last cowboys stood in the tall green grass of a pasture he tends describing what he sees as the one blight on this otherwise perfect landscape: wolves.

“I hate ‘em,” said Joel Torres, 25, his easy smile fading as he explained what the apex predators do to the cattle in his care at Prather Ranch, an organic farm in Siskiyou County dedicated to raising beef in a natural, stress-free environment. “They’ve just been tearing into our baby calves, mostly our yearlings.”

Unlike predators that go for the throat and kill prey relatively quickly, wolves often attack from behind and rip victims apart while they’re trying to flee. Once they bring a cow to the ground, the pack will “kind of pick around a little bit, eat the good stuff” — particularly the rectum and udders — “and then just leave them and go on to the next one,” Torres said.

That’s how he has found dozens of mortally injured young cows, trembling and in shock, after wolf attacks. “It’s crazy, the endurance of these animals. They’ll just take it,” Torres said.

There’s no saving them. Their intestines often spill out through their hindquarters, and Torres shoots the cows to put them out of their misery.

He’d like to shoot the wolves, too, at least a few, to teach the pack that there are “consequences to coming around here and tearing into our cattle.” But the predators remain on the state’s endangered species list, and aggressive measures to control their behavior are strictly forbidden.

Instead, all Torres can do is grit his teeth and deal with the grisly aftermath.

A February video shows a wolf howling in Northern California. (Courtesy of Patrick Griffin)

Torres and many other ranchers in California live where two very lofty and environmentally satisfying ideas collide: all natural, free-range ranching and the government-assisted return of a predator our ancestors hunted to near extinction.

No matter how hard officials try to direct the wolves toward their natural prey, mostly deer and elk, they seem to find the bigger, slower, domesticated cows wandering through well-kept, wide-open fields a lot more appealing.

Things have gotten so bad so quickly — wolves have been back in California for only a bit more than a decade — that officials in Modoc and Sierra counties have declared emergencies. Leaders in Siskiyou and Lassen counties are calling on the state to do something about the devastating economic toll the wolves are taking on ranchers.

And while wolf attacks on people are almost unheard of, many in those counties are worried about potential risks to children and pets as the wild predators wander ever closer to houses and show signs of becoming accustomed to humans.

In response, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife has approved what it calls increased “hazing,” which includes firing guns toward the sky, driving trucks and ATVs toward wolves to shoo them away and harassing them with noise from drones — but nothing that might injure the wolves.

Ranchers are skeptical. Other hazing methods approved by the department in recent years, such as electric fences with red flags attached that flutter in the wind, have done little to keep the wolves from their herds.

“The wolves just jump over those fences,” Torres said. “They do no good.”

Wolves are preying on cows at Jim and Mary Rickert’s Siskiyou County ranch. They want more options to deal with the predators than banging pots and hanging flags.

Mary Rickert, who owns the Prather Ranch with her husband, Jim, said the obvious solution is to let ranchers shoot problem wolves. “We’d just pick off a few of the bad actors, so the others would go, whoa, and back off,” she said.

A century ago, wolves in the United States were almost wiped out by ranchers who regarded them as lethal enemies. The last wolf legally shot in California was in 1924, and by 1930 they were gone from almost the entire country, except for a small pack in northern Minnesota.

But in 1973, then-President Nixon signed the Endangered Species Act, and his administration added wolves to the list the following year. In the decades that followed, wolves began a slow recovery, mostly in the northern U.S.

Then, in 2011, a wolf from Oregon known as OR7 — monitored by government biologists via an electronic collar — crossed the border into California and became the first known wild wolf to inhabit the state in almost 90 years. Like other notable transplants to the Golden State, he found pop culture stardom, becoming the heroic subject of a children’s book and a 2014 documentary.

Environmental advocates and cheerleaders for biodiversity were overjoyed that the wolves — who in their best moments look a lot like big, cuddly dogs — were making such an astonishing comeback. The hope was that they’d mostly eat other wild animals.

A video shows a wolf pack feeding on a dead cow in August. (Courtesy of Patrick Griffin)

But ask any rancher living in wolf country, and they’ll tell you that’s not what happened — and recent science backs them up.

In 2022-23, researchers from UC Davis analyzed more than 100 wolf scat samples collected in northeast California from the so-called Lassen pack. They found that 72% of the samples contained cattle DNA, and every wolf had at least one sample that contained cow, said Kenneth Tate, one of the researchers.

What’s more, there were 13 wolves in the pack, nearly twice as many as state wildlife officials believed at the time.

“These packs are not in the wilderness. They’re not up on Mt. Shasta or Lassen peak,” Tate said. “They’re establishing themselves down in the valleys, where the summer cattle graze.”

And they are thriving. In just 14 years since OR7 crossed the border, seven separate packs have established themselves in the state. They’re mostly in the north, but one pack has been confirmed in the southern Sierra Nevada, 200 miles from Los Angeles.

None of those packs has done as much damage to livestock as the “Whaleback” pack (named after a nearby mountain) that stalks the Prather Ranch in the remote Butte Valley.

That’s because Prather’s lush pastures back up against a secluded mountain ridge running from nearby Mt. Shasta north to the Oregon border. That land belongs to the U.S. Forest Service, and it’s covered in mature pine trees that provide nearly perfect cover.

From the top of the ridge, where the wolves are believed to make their den, there’s a commanding view of Prather Ranch to the east and of another ranch, Table Rock, to the west. At any given moment in summer, when thousands of free-ranging cattle are scattered across those pastures, the wolves can gaze down from their protected perch and take their pick.

“It’s like they’re deciding between McDonald’s and Burger King,” said Patrick Griffin, the “wolf liaison” for Siskiyou County, whose job is to try to mitigate conflict between the predators and ranchers.

“Wolves are beautiful animals, they’re just beautiful,” says Patrick Griffin, the wolf liaison in Siskiyou County. “But what they do? That isn’t so beautiful.”

There’s a “good-sized” elk herd ranging just north of the ranches, Griffin said, and he keeps hoping that the department’s nonlethal hazing tactics will persuade the wolves to turn their attention to their natural prey. But he doesn’t think the odds are very good.

“An elk is a lot more intimidating than a cow,” Griffin said. “Which would you pick?”

The bigger problem, Griffin said, is that the Whaleback pack is teaching its young to hunt cows. And when they head off to claim their own territory and start their own packs, they’ll take those lessons with them.

While other states, including Idaho, Montana and Wyoming, have allowed wolf hunts to resume, California still forbids ranchers from taking aggressive measures to stop the predators.

In addition to the nonlethal hazing, the department encourages ranchers to hire “range riders,” essentially cowboys, to sleep in the pastures with the cows. But that costs money, and the state doesn’t help with the added expense, Griffin said.

And even when people are present to harass the wolves, these ranches are so large that it’s impossible for them to be everywhere at once. One night, a “government guy” rode around Prather Ranch in his pickup with a spotlight, and the wolves still “tore into two cows that I had to put down,” Torres said.

Each cow the wolves kill represents thousands of dollars in lost revenue, so in 2021 the state set up a pilot program with $3 million to reimburse ranchers.

When they found a dead or dying cow with telltale signs of wolf “depredation,” ranchers could alert the state and a representative would come out to investigate. If the investigator concluded wolves were to blame, the rancher would get a check, about $5,000 on average.

But that money ran out in a hurry, state records show, with the majority of it, 67%, going to ranchers whose wolves were killed by the Whaleback pack.

Fladry — bright colorful flags hung from wire — are among the nonlethal methods the state recommends for warding off wolves.

And while the fund covered confirmed wolf kills, it did not compensate for all of the animals — especially newborn calves that are easier to carry — that simply disappeared into the forest.

Griffin, who investigates suspected wolf kills in the region for the Department of Fish and Wildlife, acknowledged that the 80 or so kills attributed to the Whaleback pack is an undercount. He cited studies from other states that estimate only about 1 in 8 wolf kills are ever confirmed.

“I know we don’t find most of them,” Griffin said.

And there’s no money to compensate for the damage that the mere presence of wolves does to cow herds. The cows lose a lot of weight from stress and from trying to stay away from the wolves. Tate, the UC Davis researcher, said GPS data from trackers attached to cows show some of them being chased around the pastures all night long.

“Cows don’t usually run 10 miles over four hours in the middle of the night,” Tate said. “That’s just not what they do.”

But wolves are persistence hunters. Weighing about 100 pounds each, they might struggle to take down a yearling cow that’s pushing 1,000 pounds. So they spook the cow and get it running, following behind at a comfortable trot until the cow is exhausted. Then they attack.

“It’s fun for [the wolves]; it’s like an adrenaline rush,” said Torres. “You can tell it really excites them.”

But it’s a nightmare for the herd, and not just the cows that get singled out. Researchers have found elevated levels of cortisol, a stress hormone, in herds exposed to wolves. Not only do the cows lose weight, but they abort pregnancies at increased rates, researchers found.

More than 40 cows have been killed on this ranch, hunted down by wolves who scout their prey from lookouts on Goosenest Mountain.

“Cattle actually react to wolves very differently, and in a much more extreme way, than they react to other predators,” Rickert said.

“We have bears around the ranch, and they’ll go and swim in the water troughs, and the cattle will just watch,” she said with a laugh. And the occasional mountain lion will stop by, maybe kill a calf, and then move on.

But the wolves set up shop and torment the cattle.

The UC Davis researchers estimated that, over the course of one summer, each wolf in their study cost ranchers between $70,000 and $163,000.

All of which has left Griffin, the Siskiyou County wolf liaison, with deeply mixed feelings about the return of the predators.

“There are a lot of people in California who love wolves,” he said, “but not very many of them live close to wolves.”

Griffin said he enjoys tracking the predators, climbing ridges to see how they use the landscape to their advantage, setting up cameras in the mountains to catch breathtaking images of them playing with their young or howling in the snow on a moonlit night.

But on a recent afternoon, walking through a pasture in the shadow of Mt. Shasta with puffy white clouds drifting across a cobalt blue sky, Griffin recalled one of his worst days on the job.

He’d seen buzzards on the hillside just ahead, where the terrain turns steeply upward and the forest begins. When he arrived to see what the birds were eating, he found a dead cow, its rectum and udders torn away — classic wolf kill.

Mixed with all the blood, he noticed a substantial amount of mucus. His heart sank as he followed the trail of bodily fluids about 60 yards downhill to the half-eaten remains of a newborn calf.

He figured the wolves had waited until the cow was in labor, straining so hard with the contractions that she couldn’t run, at least not very far.

“Wolves are beautiful animals, they’re just beautiful,” Griffin said, gazing up at the ridge where the predators parade in front of his cameras, sometimes with fresh kill in their mouths. “But what they do? That isn’t so beautiful.”

ARLINGTON, Texas — Chris Woodward doesn’t have any hard feelings toward the Texas Rangers.

Just some awkward ones about being back this week.

“I don’t know if I’m looking forward to it,” the Dodgers first base coach said with an uncertain chuckle on Wednesday, ahead of his first return trip to Arlington since his time as Rangers manager ended with a midseason firing in 2022.

“I’m looking forward to seeing a lot of people … just the whole staff, the assistant trainers, just people I haven’t seen,” he added. “But I don’t know if it’s something that’s on my bucket list to go back and do.”

Such conflicting emotions mirror the way Woodward reflects on his Rangers tenure at large — a four-season stint with what was then a rebuilding ball club that taught Woodward much, but ended on a sour note.

“I don’t have any regrets or any bad feelings toward anything,” he said. “Obviously, there were some disagreements that led to me not being there anymore. But I have nothing but respect for everybody. I don’t hold a grudge. Life’s too short, man. Honestly, I take that experience as a really positive thing.”

Originally hired by the Rangers in November 2018, after serving as the third-base coach on back-to-back pennant-winning Dodgers teams, Woodward’s first season in charge in Texas began with promise.

Joey Gallo and Hunter Pence led the offense as All-Star selections. Mike Minor and Lance Lynn anchored a veteran core of pitchers. In late June, the Rangers were 10 games over .500, far outpacing modest preseason expectations.

But then, the vagaries of baseball set in.

Gallo and Pence suffered season-ending injuries. The pitching staff began to crumble beneath a lack of reliable depth. What had started as a “decent” year, Woodward said, ended with the Rangers limping to 78 wins.

And after fading following a 10-9 start in 2020, the Rangers never had a winning record under Woodward again.

Instead, Texas entered a rebuild, giving Woodward’s job a much more developmentally focused bent.

Behind the scenes, the organization created entirely new personnel departments, reimagined player development processes and administered ever-changing responsibilities to members of the coaching staff. Woodward had a hand in every bucket, trying to establish everything from hitting style to base-running technique to a roster-wide focus on all-around fundamentals.

Compared to a fully-fledged contender like the Dodgers, it almost felt like building from the ground up.

“Here [with the Dodgers], it’s such a well-oiled machine. Yeah, we make little adjustments to things here and there, but no major changes,” Woodward said.

In Texas, on the other hand, “we added a lot of resources and a lot of things while I was there, which was necessary. Because we had to get caught up to ‘championship standards,’ is what I called it.”

“When everything’s a blank canvas,” he added, “it’s not as easy as people think.”

The losses along the way were difficult (the Rangers were 133-203 over Woodward’s final three seasons, finishing in last place twice).

Chris Woodward managed the Texas Rangers from 2019 until he was fired in Aug. 2022 with one year remaining on his contract.

(LM Otero / Associated Press)

The fire-sale trades of team stalwarts such as Gallo and Lynn were “probably one of the harder things to deal with,” Woodward recalled.

And when the Rangers failed to take a step forward in 2022, despite their marquee free-agent signings of Marcus Semien and Corey Seager (the ex-Dodgers shortstop whom Woodward helped woo to Texas) the previous offseason, discontent among the club reached a boiling point.

In an unexpected move, Woodward was fired on Aug. 15, 2022, with a year remaining on his contract.

“I tell a lot of the staff here that’s never managed, ‘Each year, you feel like you’ve aged five,’” said Woodward, who returned to the Dodgers in a special advisor role the following winter, before rejoining the on-field staff this year as first-base coach following Clayton McCullough’s hiring by the Miami Marlins.

“It’s kind of like being president, in a way,” the 48-year-old Woodward added. “You see guys age right before your eyes.”

But through those trials — which also included the COVID-19 pandemic, and the Rangers’ move into a new stadium during an era of social distancing — Woodward also came to find perspective and growth.

“I know I aged a lot in those four years, but in a good way,” he said. “I think I grew wiser, and understood how to lead and just get better every year.”

It’s part of the reason why, when the Rangers won the World Series in 2023 — in Bruce Bochy’s first season as Woodward’s successor — Woodward felt pride rather than resentment; confident he had left his old club in a better place than he found it.

“Those four years, I was really proud of, when I left,” he said. “[The club] was in a much better spot internally, all the way from the staff to the front office to the sports science to all the different things that we did … Everything was in line. And they won. Proud of that.”

It doesn’t mean Woodward will be in for a big ovation when he returns this weekend, during the Dodgers’ three-game series at Globe Life Field. He said his old friends in Dallas joked they should all come to form a cheering section, “because you just don’t know the reaction you’re going to get” from the rest of the crowd.

But when asked to reflect on his time with the Rangers this week, the potential awkwardness of the return didn’t overshadow the silver linings Woodward took from his tenure.

“Tremendous experience. Grateful for the opportunity,” he said. “I just think it’s important that you learn and grow.”

April 21 (UPI) — President Nayib Bukele of El Salvador has proposed a prisoner swap with Venezuela involving 250 Venezuelan deportees from the United States who are being held in his infamous Terrorism Confinement Center — an offer that was swiftly rebuked by Caracas as cynical and admission that the imprisoned Venezuelans were illegally deported and arbitrarily detained.

Bukele made the offer to Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro on Sunday in a statement on X, offering to send Caracas the 252 deportees he is holding at the Terrorism Confinement Center in exchange for an equal number of jailed opponents of the authoritarian president.

The Salvadoran president listed some of the prisoners they would accept, including the son-in-law of Edmundo Gonzalez and nearly 50 detainees of other nationalities.

“Our foreign ministry will send the formal correspondence,” Bukele said.

“God bless the people of Venezuela.”

Attorney General Tarek William Saab of Venezuela issued a statement Sunday night rejecting the proposal while demanding a full list identifying the 252 alleged gang members being held, their legal status, proof of life and a medical report for each of them.

In the statement, he called Bukele a “neofascist” and said the offer demonstrates “that these citizens are being held hostage at the unilateral discretion of an individual acting outside the law, who publicly and through the media tells the world that he tyrannically decides who can enjoy life and freedom in El Salvador.”

Saab added that he has asked El Salvador’s attorney general and its Supreme Court to formally inform him of what crimes the Venezuelan prisoners have committed, when they were presented before a judge, whether they have had access to a lawyer and whether they have been allowed to communicate with anyone during their detention.

“The entire world should be repulsed by the fact that CECOT (the Terrorism Confinement Center) is no longer just a torture center created by Bukele’s twisted mind to punish criminals in his country, but has become a site of enforced disappearance for innocent Venezuelans (as arranged with his imperial partners), whom he, as an expert in human trafficking, uses in exchange for millions of dollars,” he said.

The prisoner exchange proposal comes as Bukele has attracted staunched international criticism over jailing some 250 Venezuelans whom the Trump administration deported to El Salvador last month on accusations of being members of the Venezuelan gangs.

The deportations were carried out under the 1798 Alien Enemies Act, which President Donald Trump has tried to use but has been at least momentarily stopped from sending more detainees — seemingly to El Salvador.

On Saturday, the U.S. Supreme Court paused further deportations of migrant detainees until further notice.

This also comes as Democrats fight to return Salvadoran Kilmar Abrego Garcia, whom the Trump administration has admitted was wrongly deported among the hundreds of deportees but has said they will not return him, while continuing to portray him to the public as a criminal, accusing him of being a gang member and involved in human trafficking.

Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., visited with Abrego Garcia last week. On Sunday’s airing of ABC New’s This Week, he explained that he is fighting not just for Abrego Garcia but for the Constitution and the man’s right to due process.

“My mission and my purpose is to make sure that we uphold the rule of law, because if we take it away from him, we do jeopardize it for everybody else,” he said.

During a press conference following his return to the United States from El Salvador, he said the Trump administration has promised to pay El Salvador $15 million to detain the hundreds of prisoners whom he described as having been “illegally abducted.”

Bukele was in Washington, D.C., last week for meetings with Trump. During a press conference on April 14, they both stated that Abrego Garcia would not be returned to the United states.

Seven years ago, after visiting Los Angeles nearly every summer to spend time with relatives and friends, I took the plunge and finally moved from Las Vegas to L.A. Two weeks later, I got into my first car accident. A driver slammed into the back of my car while I was at a stoplight during rush hour. When I told my co-workers, they made sure I was OK (I was, thankfully) and then said, nonchalantly, “Welcome to L.A. You’re a local now.”

Of course, I didn’t feel like a true local until years later when I had solidified my L.A. community — my group of friends, my favorite neighborhoods and my beloved local spots.

But still I wonder: What makes someone a local in L.A.?

Is it when you can rattle off directions to a tourist without needing to check your GPS? Or when your favorite vendors at your local farmers market automatically know your name and order? Is it when a mild earthquake doesn’t make you flinch? How about when you realize you’ve tried at least 75% of the tacos on The Times’ 101 best tacos list? Is it when you strongly resonate with Kendrick Lamar’s lyrics in his song “Dodger Blue” (“Don’t say you hate L.A. when you don’t travel past the 10”)?

Angelenos, we want to know: When did you officially feel like a local? Was there a moment? Tell us your thoughts in the form below. We may feature your comment in an upcoming story.

A MUM has faced criticism for her extravagant Easter celebration after hosting a ‘Willy Wonka’-style chocolate hunt for her family.

Stacey McBroom shared a TikTok video showcasing her massive Easter haul, which completely covered her sofa and floor.

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Within 24 hours, the clip went viral, amassing 1.2 million views, with many viewers branding the sheer amount of chocolate as ‘ridiculous.’

The video revealed piles of wrapped presents alongside endless amounts of chocolate, including Toblerone, KitKats, and Ferrero Rocher.

Stacey’s collection was so large that it spilled over from the living room into the kitchen, covering the counters as well.

While some admired the effort, many criticised the extravagance, suggesting it overshadowed the true meaning of Easter.

Her post sparked a heated debate, racking up 1,929 comments.

One person wrote: “I hope that’s been collected for a charity because if not, that is absolutely ridiculous!”

Another added: “That’s not okay! Mental health needs checking.”

A third commented: “As much as everyone has their own budgets etc., this is extreme.

“There’s probably kids flicking through this that didn’t even get a Freddo bar. I couldn’t bring myself to post it.”

Others were quick to point out the comparison to Christmas, with one saying: “It’s Easter, not Christmas.”

In response to the backlash, Stacey clarified that the chocolate wasn’t intended for just one child.

She captioned her video: “The annual Easter extravaganza (Guys, this is for eight adults and four kids, please stop thinking all of this is for one child).”

However, critics remained unconvinced, with one commenter replying: “Like eight adults and four kids makes it any less ridiculous.”

Make the most of leftovers

Chop & Freeze: Got leftover chocolate eggs? Chop them into small pieces and store them in an airtight container in the freezer.

These frozen chocolate chunks are perfect for stirring into pancake batter for a decadent Easter Monday breakfast.

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For a healthier option, mash a banana into your morning porridge and sprinkle the frozen chocolate pieces on top for a touch of sweetness.

Spiced Hot Chocolate: Give your hot chocolate a seasonal twist.

Prepare your usual hot chocolate, then grate some hollow Easter egg over the top and add a pinch of cinnamon for a subtle hot cross bun-inspired flavour.

Alternatively, stir a spoonful of grated chocolate into your morning latte for a deliciously indulgent caffeine boost.

DIY Ice Cream: Transform your leftover chocolate into a luxury treat.

Soften a tub of vanilla ice cream by leaving it out for a few minutes, then mix in chopped-up chocolate bunnies, eggs, or buttons.

Refreeze to create a homemade chocolatey ice cream that’s perfect for dessert.

Lunchbox Bars: Use up cupboard odds and ends along with your leftover Easter chocolate to make delicious chocolate bars.

Gather biscuits, cereal, and raisins, then melt the chocolate with a little butter and golden syrup.

Stir in the dry ingredients, press the mixture into a deep baking tray, and refrigerate until set.

Slice into squares for a sweet lunchbox treat to enjoy all week long.

How to save money on chocolate

We all love a bit of chocolate from now and then, but you don’t have to break the bank buying your favourite bar.

Consumer reporter Sam Walker reveals how to cut costs…

Go own brand – if you’re not too fussed about flavour and just want to supplant your chocolate cravings, you’ll save by going for the supermarket’s own brand bars.

Shop around – if you’ve spotted your favourite variety at the supermarket, make sure you check if it’s cheaper elsewhere.

Websites like Trolley.co.uk let you compare prices on products across all the major chains to see if you’re getting the best deal.

Look out for yellow stickers – supermarket staff put yellow, and sometimes orange and red, stickers on to products to show they’ve been reduced.

They usually do this if the product is coming to the end of its best-before date or the packaging is slightly damaged.

Buy bigger bars – most of the time, but not always, chocolate is cheaper per 100g the larger the bar.

So if you’ve got the appetite, and you were going to buy a hefty amount of chocolate anyway, you might as well go bigger.

Pope Francis, the Argentinian pontiff who brought the plight of the world’s most marginalised back to the centre of the Roman Catholic Church’s attention, has died aged 88, the Vatican announced on Monday.

A charismatic communicator with a friendly demeanour, Francis succeeded in broadening Catholicism’s appeal at a time of growing disenchantment towards the Church – an institution embroiled in financial and sexual scandals.

Throughout his papacy from 2013 to 2025, the pope stripped the Vatican of some layers of opacity and connected to the concerns of common people. He highlighted the plight of the poor and that of prisoners.

Francis condemned the Church’s abuse of power while engaging with other faiths.

Francis’s tone marked a radical departure from his predecessor, Benedict XVI, who believed that nurturing the Church’s most ardent believers was the way to strengthen the institution.

But Francis’s shift never translated into fundamental changes to the Church’s doctrine on contentious issues.

In most instances, he remained in line with previous papacies, staunchly opposing gay marriage, women becoming priests and priests marrying.

Still, his steps to open up the Church drew the ire of traditionalists, while the lack of radical change under his watch drew criticism from progressives.

Religious pluralism and inequality

Francis was born Jorge Mario Bergoglio in 1936 in the Argentinian capital, Buenos Aires, to immigrant parents who fled Italy’s fascist dictatorship of Benito Mussolini.

He trained as a chemical technician, worked in the food processing industry and, for a brief time, was a bouncer in a nightclub in Cordoba before becoming a priest in 1969.

He liked to dance tango, although he preferred milonga, he said in a 2010 interview, referring to the faster-paced music that preceded tango.

His upbringing in Buenos Aires exposed him to religious pluralism and socioeconomic inequalities – two factors that experts believe explain his commitment to interfaith dialogue and pointed criticism of capitalism and consumerism.

At just 36 years of age, he became the head of Argentina’s Jesuits, a Roman Catholic order of priests.

Back then, he was a stern disciplinarian, experts and biographers say. At the time, liberation theology, a left-wing interpretation of the Gospel that centred on concern for the poor and oppressed groups, was popular among Jesuits in Latin America, but Francis did not subscribe to the ideology.

Dirty War

Francis’s tenure then coincided with the years of Argentina’s Dirty War, which lasted from 1976 to 1983 – seven years of brutal military dictatorship.

Tens of thousands of people were tortured, killed and disappeared. The role of Argentina’s Church in those years remains contentious, with Francis never openly denouncing the regime.

As archbishop of Buenos Aires, a position he assumed in 1998, he said he was not aware of the scale of what was happening in the late 1970s – a position refuted by critics and associates who argue that there was no way he could not have known at the time.

“Let us pray … for the complicit silence of most of society and of the Church,” he said during a ceremony in 1999, a quote some read as an admission of complacency.

During his time as archbishop, he would become an outspoken critic of social injustice and economic inequality.

“The Church can’t just sit sucking its finger when faced with a frivolous, cold and calculating market economy,” he once said during a sermon.

Breaking with tradition

In 2013, the Catholic world was shocked when the then-Pope Benedict XVI resigned, breaking a centuries-old tradition of holding papal duties until death.

Francis, who by then had been elected cardinal, rushed to the Vatican to vote for a new pope.

In what was a tight race, Francis who had already been a runner-up in the previous papal conclave in 2005, was elected.

With him, the Church chose its first non-European pontiff in 1,282 years – the last one was Gregory III, elected in 731 from Syria – and also its first leader since then from the Global South, which today is home to the majority of Christians worldwide.

Francis set the tone of his papacy immediately. When he stood at the large balcony and faced the huge crowd in Saint Peter’s Square after being elected, he broke with the tradition of blessing the crowd, asking the people instead to pray for him.

He refused to move to the grand papal apartment on the top floor of the Vatican palace, opting to stay in the more modest Domus Santae Marthae residence.

And he preferred to be driven around in a Fiat rather than a Mercedes-Benz.

“Be shepherds with the smell of sheep,” he told a crowd of priests in 2013, urging a departure from the pomp and splendour often associated with the clergy’s top hierarchy.

On his first trip outside Rome as pope, he travelled to Lampedusa, an Italian island and key point of entry for migrants and refugees trying to reach Europe. He threw a crown of flowers into the sea to commemorate the people who died in the Mediterranean Sea while risking their lives to come to Europe.

Francis criticised then-US President Donald Trump’s plan in 2017 to build a wall along the Mexican border and his speeches targeting Muslims.

“In Pope Francis, the message that ‘everybody is brothers and sisters’ is very strong, along with insisting that God pushes for religious pluralism,” said Marco Politi, a Vatican expert and author of the book Pope Francis Among the Wolves: The Inside Story of a Revolution.

Such pluralism translated into a more inclusive approach towards other religions, Politi said, putting an end to the “culture war of previous papacies”.

From the Vatican to the Arabian Peninsula

Ties between the Church and Muslims around the world had soured when Francis’s predecessor Benedict XVI made a speech in September 2006 that was perceived as linking Islam to violence.

Francis became the first pontiff ever to travel to the Arabian Peninsula. In February 2019, he landed in the United Arab Emirates where he met Sheikh Ahmed el-Tayeb, the grand imam of Cairo’s Al-Azhar Mosque.

Together they signed a document rejecting religious fundamentalism, exhorting people to see in the other a “brother to support and love”. The pope had also met Sheikh el-Tayeb previously, in 2016 at the Vatican.

In another first, Francis in 2015 published the encyclical Laudato si’ (Praise be to you), in which he urged the world to address the threat of climate change while also stressing the need to rethink the economic balance between the industrialised and developing worlds.

Response to sexual abuse in the Church

The issue of sexual abuses perpetrated by Church officials dominated the tenure of Benedict XVI, whose papacy saw a wave of scandals.

Francis began addressing the issue of abuse in 2019 by abolishing the rule of “pontifical secrecy” on cases related to sexual violence.

This meant that testimonies collected in the canonical process were finally made available to legal authorities.

That same year, after the pope himself admitted to having dismissed valid claims of sexual abuse in Chile, he introduced a law outlining clear rules for reporting child sexual abuse committed by Church officials and attempts to cover it up.

Four years later, that rule was updated and strengthened to widen the category of victims to vulnerable adults while laypeople working for the Church could also now face punishment. But victims’ advocates and critics say Francis did not go far enough to ensure justice.

‘Who am I to judge?’

Francis drastically changed the tone of the Church towards homosexuality, ending the Vatican’s long demonisation of gay people.

“Who am I to judge?” he famously said in 2013, his words a stark contrast to those of Pope John Paul II, who more than 10 years earlier called a gay rights march in Rome “an offence to Christian values”.

More recently, on his way back from a trip to South Sudan, Francis said being gay was not a crime.

He expressed support for same-sex civil unions. In 2023, he hinted that he was open to reviewing the practice of celibacy.

In December 2023, the Vatican in a landmark ruling decided that Catholic priests would be able to administer blessings to same-sex couples, provided these were not given in the context of civil unions or weddings or Church liturgies.

At the same time, the pontiff remained opposed to gay marriage and abortion and, while he included women in the Vatican’s government, he always ruled out them becoming priests.

Throughout his papacy, Francis often found himself under attack from both conservative and progressive camps.

Those following the traditional doctrine saw him as too much of a reformer and a socialist, while those seeking deeper changes within the Church did not consider him bold enough.

Politi, the Vatican expert, argues that Francis’s decision to not make changes that were too radical was a decision that stemmed from an understanding that this would have torn apart an already much-divided Church. Instead, he says, Francis opted “to trigger processes of transformation in its mentality through gestures and words”.

Reporting from Sacramento — A landmark law to abolish California’s money bail system has been put on hold until voters decide its fate in November 2020 after elections officials on Wednesday certified a statewide referendum backed by a coalition of bail industry associations.

Elections officials verified more than 400,000 signatures to qualify the referendum for the ballot, setting the stage for a campaign battle between bail companies fighting for their survival and state leaders who have pledged to protect indigent criminal defendants from unjust incarceration and fees.

Senate Bill 10, signed by former Gov. Jerry Brown last August, was slated to go into effect this fall. It would give judges greater discretion to decide who should remain in jail ahead of trial and eliminate the payment of money as a condition of release, a practice that critics say traps defendants in cycles of debt, even if they have not been convicted of a crime.

Bail groups fought the legislation since it was first proposed three years ago, saying it would result in the release of violent offenders to the streets and decimate a $2-billion national industry, including 3,200 bail agents registered in the state. A day after Brown signed the law, a national coalition of bail agency groups launched its referendum drive, raising about $3 million and collecting more than enough signatures to qualify the measure in just two months.

“We’re grateful to the hundreds of thousands of voters who signed petitions so quickly to qualify this referendum for the ballot,” Cesar E. McGuire, director of Bail Hotline Bail Bonds, said in a statement. “In passing this misguided bill, the Legislature ignored not only public safety and justice, but a fundamental of the criminal justice system — defendants must appear at trial for justice to be served.”

Bail companies will be able to continue doing business as usual until voters weigh whether to overturn the law. But court and government officials have pledged to defend the reforms and counter that the bail industry’s efforts will not stop momentum for changes to bail and other pretrial systems taking place in courts across the country.

Sen. Bob Hertzberg (D-Van Nuys), who coauthored the legislation, said he was confident it would remain “the law of the land.”

“We know that private equity firms poured hundreds of thousands of dollars into this campaign — not to protect public safety, or decrease the number of innocent people in jail, but to protect their bottom line,” he said in a statement.

In California, state Supreme Court cases have significantly altered the way judges assign bail, with rulings to increase equal access to justice and prevent counties from burdening the poor.

At least 11 counties are employing roughly 40 different pilot pretrial programs to reduce the number of people cycling in and out of jail, and as many as 49 California counties are using risk assessment tools, or tech analyses that help courts determine which defendants are fit for release and which pose a risk to public safety or of not coming back to court.

California Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye, who helped craft the state’s bail law, has assembled a working group to evaluate pretrial programs and make recommendations on next steps now that the law is on hold. Gov. Gavin Newsom earmarked $75 million in his budget proposal last week for the Judicial Council, which is led by the chief justice and sets court rules, to give to counties over the next two years to implement and evaluate pretrial efforts in up to 10 courts.

State lawmakers have also turned an eye toward new legislation. On the first day of the 2019 legislative session, Hertzberg introduced a proposal that would require counties to report how they use the risk assessment tools in an effort to prevent improper and biased conclusions.

But as the bail industry’s campaign against the law gears up, some criminal justice and civil rights groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California, could find themselves in a difficult position: They supported the end of the cash bail system but moved to oppose the new law amid fears that it would grant judges too much power to put more people behind bars.

They have since sought to distance themselves from the bail industry’s referendum efforts, and are instead pushing for new court rules from the Judicial Council to prevent racial bias in the use of risk assessment tools.

Under the new law, only people charged with certain low-level, nonviolent misdemeanors — a list of charges that can be further narrowed by county — would be eligible for automatic release within 12 hours of being booked into jail.

All others arrested would have to undergo the risk analysis, a procedure that would sort defendants based on criminal history and other criteria into low-, medium- or high-risk categories. Courts would be required to release low-level defendants without assigning bail, pending a hearing. Pretrial services offices would decide whether to hold or release medium-risk offenders. Judges would have control over high-risk offenders and all prisoners in the system.

Human Rights Watch senior researcher John Raphling, whose organization supports a bail overhaul but opposed the final legislation signed by Brown, said his and other groups will work on proposing a different pretrial model in the Legislature that ends money bail and requires the release of more people based on the presumption of innocence.

“We will not be joining the bail industry’s efforts, but we are not fighting for SB 10,” he said. “We have a different vision of how to reform the pretrial detention system.”

More stories from Jazmine Ulloa »

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It is hard enough to predict results in the Premier League anyway, but at this stage of the season it is even more difficult.

Looking at each club’s remaining games now doesn’t really help in deciding what might happen, because some of the teams they face may have different priorities, or nothing to play for full-stop.

Chelsea’s game against Liverpool on 4 May is a good example of that. Liverpool can clinch the Premier League title next weekend, when they play Tottenham, and we don’t know what their attitude will be like after that.

You can’t blame Arne Slot’s side if they go to Stamford Bridge after they have just become champions and they are not quite at it, but if that’s the case then it definitely helps Chelsea’s cause.

Further down the line, a similar situation could benefit Newcastle, who face Arsenal in their penultimate game when the Gunners might have a Champions League final to look forward to.

It’s the same for anyone who plays Manchester United and Tottenham before the end of the season too, because the Europa League is their priority now.

Even with that in mind, though, I still look at Chelsea’s fixtures as being among the toughest, just because they have got to travel to two of their rivals, Newcastle and Forest, as part of their run-in.

That’s why it was a huge result for them to turn things around against Fulham, particularly because there seems to be some unrest among their fans and issues with some of their key players.

April 21 (UPI) — Severe weather that hit Oklahoma over the weekend has killed at least three people, according to authorities, who are searching for at least two people reported missing.

The deceased include a victim of a tornado in Spaulding and a mother and her 12-year-old son who were in a vehicle that was swept away by floodwaters in Moore.

The tornado, an EF-1 with winds up to 110 mph, touched down in Spaulding, located about 80 miles southeast of Oklahoma City, at about 10:35 p.m. local time Saturday, destroying two homes and several small structures.

Two people were injured and a third died, Hughes County Emergency Management said in a statement Sunday. The identity of the victim was not released.

In Moore, located about 10 miles south of Oklahoma City, police said two bodies had been recovered Sunday after one of two vehicles stranded in floodwaters was swept away under a bridge.

The victims were identified as 44-year-old Erika Lott and her 12-year-old son, River Bond.

“We ask that you continue to keep the victims’ family and friends in your thoughts and prayers,” the Moore Police Department said in a statement.

Meanwhile, authorities in Tulsa County, located about 112 miles northeast of Oklahoma City, were searching Sunday for two people similarly swept away by floodwaters.

Its sheriff’s office said in a statement that a family vehicle was swept away. Two people were rescued but two others, including a child, remain missing.

The incident occurred along Highway 64 at around 4:45 p.m. local time, authorities said.

Wagoner County Emergency Management identified the missing victims as a 47-year-old woman and a 7-year-old girl.

“The father and one child were able to jump out of the floating vehicle and get to higher ground. The mother and daughter unfortunately were swept away by the rushing water,” WCEM said in a statement.

The National Weather Service reported there were several tornadoes that hit the state over Easter weekend. Severe thunderstorm, tornado and flooding warnings had been issued throughout the state.

A man who claims he visited North Korea said it could be confused for Dubai or Spain – but aside from the nation’s tight security, there’s something else preventing it from topping travel bucket lists

A tourist who claims to have visited North Korea made a stunning comparison, likening scenery in the country to Dubai or Spain – but with a crucial difference.

The Spaniard, who goes by Caminante Rojo on social media, visited the country weeks after it reopened to visitors after years of closed borders. He documented his experiences as a visitor on his TikTok account.

Commenting on the newly-built skyscrapers, he compared the high rises to more popular holiday destinations and visited a bar for drinks and food.

Inside the modern-looking bar he was given a menu of the drinks on offer, which included what he said were imported beers being sold at sky-high prices.

Describing his experience in the video, he said: “We have just been stopped at one of the newest streets in the centre of the city. This is by far the most luxurious part we have seen in our trip. It almost looks like Dubai.

“Don’t tell me it doesn’t. Look, I’m telling you, these buildings could be in Spain. And here it is, the beer bar, with a good pair of columns shaped like beer bottles. And look at the glass window, with beer foam and everything.”

Struck by the prices, he added: “A Delirium beer for $79 (£59.67)! It can’t be, that’s crazy! This six-litre one costs $629 (£475.12). The effects of sanctions and being a blocked country? Sky-high prices. I think we’ll leave the imported beer for another day.”

Finally, he decided to try a local beer that costs $3 (£2.27). “They haven’t put us separately like in other places.” he adds as he sits near to other residents.

“There are also Koreans here. We have ordered eight types of beer for a tasting.”

As an accompaniment, they brought him dried, salted fish, which he described as a “very typical” dish.

North Korea allowed western tourists to return to the country to visit a special economic zone near the Chinese border earlier this year but appeared to put a new halt on tourism just weeks later. However some tour companies are offering brave visitors the chance to take part in guided tours scheduled in the coming months.

Hundreds of foreigners were also allowed to take part in the Pyonyang marathon earlier this month.

Operator Young Pioneer Tours said while North Korea was officially closed to tourism, “it’s clear the country is starting to loosen its grip on international tourism. These gradual steps are a strong indication that Pyongyang won’t stay shut forever – and likely, it will happen sooner rather than later.”

However, due to the level of tension on the Korea peninsula, British travellers are advised by the Foreign Office against “all but essential travel” to North Korea. Meanwhile permission to film is tightly controlled by the government. People are urged to follow the advice of their tour operator.

Babagana Abacha’s sister had just died that November morning in 2024, in nearby Ajiri Mafa. He was saddened by the loss and deep in mourning. It was important that he pay his last respects and, if possible, do her one final honour by lowering her into her grave. But then there was his farm and the question of what would become of his produce if he didn’t go that day to cultivate it. He had been tending the land for a long time, and if he didn’t harvest the beans, they could spoil.

Babagana was an internally displaced person in the Mafa Garage IDP Camp in Borno State, northeastern Nigeria. The Boko Haram insurgency, which broke out over a decade ago and has since displaced more than three million people, had not spared him. As he and his family struggled to survive in the absence of humanitarian aid, he couldn’t afford to risk losing what little they had, especially not the farm produce they relied on.

In the end, he made the painful decision not to attend his sister’s burial, asking his wife, Fanna, to travel to Ajiri Mafa to represent him instead. They left the house around the same time, each heading in a different direction.

When Fanna returned to Mafa later that day, around 3 p.m., she ran into some women she knew. They approached her with quiet curiosity, scanning her expression for signs. Then, one of them asked if she hadn’t heard the tragedy. Confused, she asked what they meant. Her husband, they said, had been abducted by Boko Haram militants on his farm that morning. The abductors had already reached out to demand a ransom.

Fanna was stunned. It had to be a cruel prank, or maybe an unverified rumour. She rushed home, hoping for reassurance, hoping to disprove the whispers. But her neighbours and children confirmed the same story the women had told her on the road.

“I asked them how they knew: how did the terrorists reach out to us about the ransom?”

They told her the call had come through her own phone. That was when she knew it was real.

Her husband’s phone had broken a few months earlier, and she had loaned him hers to use in the meantime. He had it with him when he was taken. The terrorists had used the phone to contact the family, calling one of his friends. Fanna was instantly plunged into anguish.

The abduction of displaced persons had become a grim reality, not just in their camp, but across many others in Borno State. Still, it had never come this close. A month before the incident, terrorists had snuck right into the camp and abducted Yasin Dogo, a 25-year-old IDP. In March this year, there were several such abductions in other camps, leading to crowdfunding attempts for ransom. Terror groups have relied, in recent years, on abductions as a major funding stream. ISWAP, in particular, is estimated to have raked in at least ₦1 billion in ransom alone between last year and now.

Before Fanna and her children slept that night, the captors called again.

“I spent that entire night in pure agony, wondering what would happen, what would not happen. They demanded millions of naira, but we told them we could not afford it. We negotiated until they agreed to take ₦250,000.”

The following morning, Fanna sold off almost everything they had in the camp and, even then, only raised ₦100,000. The challenge of raising the rest of the money at first seemed insurmountable, but neighbours and friends started to spread the word to crowdfund the rest of the money, a common desperate resort by Nigerians in both rural and urban areas. For two days, friends went round the camp begging for money until they were able to raise the rest of the ransom. HumAngle spoke to one of Babagana’s friends who spearheaded the fundraising drive.

“I held a carton and went door to door myself begging for money,” he said. “Especially in the mosque after prayers. I begged alongside other people…”

When the money was finally complete, the terrorists shifted the goalpost and asked for additional items. They wanted three smartphones, they said.

“…They specified the kind of phones they wanted and even told us how much they cost,” the friend said. “They cost about ₦24,000 each. We then handed everything over to his wife to add to the money she had been able to raise on her own.”

The question then emerged as to who would deliver the ransom payment. 

Women are increasingly forced to step up to deliver ransom money in locations like that for a number of reasons: men believe they are more likely to be killed or held back. And the insurgents also believe women are less likely to collude with security forces to ambush them.

The duty fell on Fanna to deliver the ransom. 

They have been married for over 25 years and have overcome a lot in that time. Together, they fled their hometown of Katakara nine years ago, forced into displacement. Together, they buried two children—an unspeakable grief that never truly went away. And when, finally, their children began to survive infancy, they shared the quiet joy of each milestone. Once, many years ago, before the children came, they were all each other had. In some ways, they still are.

Even now, Fanna speaks of her husband like someone who knows the value of a lifeline.

“You see, I do not have anyone in the world. My parents are dead, and so are my siblings. Aside from my seven children, my husband is all I have in the world. And if something happened to him, I don’t know how I would have survived and also cared for these children,” she told me.

Each time the terrorists called to negotiate ransom, they would beat her husband throughout the call. He screamed as they whipped him, anguish bleeding through the phone line for his family to hear. It was a tactic designed to wound, to hasten, to coerce. And it worked.

So when the time came to deliver the ransom, daunting as it was, Fanna did not hesitate. She and two other women, each tethered to a missing loved one, took up the terrifying task. The terrorists gave them vague directions to a forest, promising to meet them, take the ransom, and free the captives. Things went differently.

“They would phone us and tell us to go to one area, and we would not see anyone there. They would then redirect us to another spot, and there would be no one there. They did this for many hours. It was not until around 5 p.m. that day that they finally gave us the right directions.”

When they finally arrived, armed men loomed in the trees like shadows, watching. On a mat nearby, the captives—her husband among them—sat silently, encircled. And when Fanna saw him, alive and breathing, a wave of relief swept through her.

“I was so relieved when I saw that he was alive.”

The men took her money and counted it. From the other women, they snatched the bundles impatiently, skipping the count.

“They seemed to want the transaction over as soon as possible. They were worried that we might have come with security forces.”

But that was never an option, Fanna says. Not in a terrain where life hangs by a thread. If they had come with soldiers, the terrorists, perched high in the trees and alert, would have spotted them long before contact, she believes. They might have opened fire. They might have also killed the captives in retaliation. Fanna knew there was no version of the story that would end without more pain.

And so, after the exchange, her husband, alongside the others, was released. But their ordeal was far from over.

“It was nightfall, and we had to trek for hours to reach our destination.”

The route back was haunted by the fear of running into soldiers, especially with the curfew. Thankfully, members of the civilian joint task force had informed security forces of their late return.

“They told us to keep walking even if we heard gunshots. They said we would be safe, nothing would happen.”

A fractured freedom

What came back with them from the forest was not whole. Babagana has not spoken much about what happened.

“He only spoke about how they would whip him whenever they were on the phone with us,” Fanna says, her eyes glassy with tears she refused to let fall.

Even when HumAngle requested to speak with him, he declined. 

“He does not go to the farm anymore. He does not go too far from the camp. He only goes to the market occasionally. He is scarred by the experience…Thinking of all this is painful and heartwrenching, but if we do not endure, what can we do?”

Fanna is emotionally wounded and continues to hope for an end to it all. Not just his trauma, but the enduring insecurity that has so violently changed all their lives.

Playwright a.k. payne, photographed at the Geffen Playhouse, where “Furlough’s Paradise” is running through May 18.

(Marcus Ubungen / For The Times)

Among the notes included in the “Furlough’s Paradise” script is an etymology of the word “furlough” — as in, “permission, liberty granted to do something.” Its various definitions throughout the history of language make clear that, whether by going away, retreating from or abstaining from having to do with, to leave is, essentially, to allow to survive.

This idea is at the core of a.k. payne’s moving two-hander, which stars DeWanda Wise and Kacie Rogers as estranged cousins — one on a three-day furlough from prison, another an Ivy League graduate on a break from her tech job — who reunite in their hometown for a funeral. They begin to process their conflicting memories, clarify their respective resentments, share their dreams of freedom and, in the safety of each other’s company, they each allow themselves to let go of everything to just be who they are, wholly and fully, alongside the one person in the world who sees them in their entirety.

The West Coast premiere of “Furlough’s Paradise” — which just won the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, the prestigious international award that honors women+ playwrights — is directed by Tinashe Kajese-Bolden and runs through May 18 at the Geffen Playhouse. Between rehearsals, payne tells The Times about the real-life inspirations for these onstage cousins, the necessity of a choreographer for this production and the lessons learned from their graduate school professor, Geffen Playhouse artistic director Tarell Alvin McCraney. This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

What inspired this play?

The play first was conceived when I was in grad school, but I was thinking about it for years before then, without the language for it. The initial impulse came from my own curiosity around the ways that incarceration impacts families. Where I’m from, everybody who is Black in our city has a reference point to the Allegheny County Jail, which is in the middle of Pittsburgh. My earliest memories are writing letters to family members who were incarcerated; as a young person, seeing family who was in that place transformed how I saw the world.

I also wanted to write a play that was inspired by the relationship between my cousin and I. We’re both only children; we’re almost siblings. And though the play traffics realism and has an illusion of realism, I’m really passionate about it not being a living room play; it’s a play about the Afro-surreal and the ways that Black life is always a little bit askew, like our experience of it doesn’t always match the way people perceive it or understand it.

Who are these two characters to you?

Frederick Douglass talks about being free in form versus free in fact — the idea of seeking a freedom in your mind and how you see the world, and the fact that systems of oppression and power don’t get all of us because we’re able to imagine alternative ways to exist. Both of these characters are wrestling with real instances of denials of freedoms, and I want this play to invite us to see the ways that these different systems have impacted both of them.

“I’m really passionate about it not being a living room play,” says a.k. payne.

(Marcus Ubungen / For The Times)

Because Sade’s body is physically incarcerated, she really fights for her mind to be free. She stands on business, she speaks truth and names things as they are, and she doesn’t shy away from that. There’s something honorable about her absolute refusal to lie or cheat, even in the midst of what this world has deemed criminal, and the ways in which people who have committed crimes are not always seen in their full humanity or in their integrity. That’s why Sade is so clear about what her dreams are. I wanted to really center that in the play because it’s important to listen to folks who have existed inside and honor the dreams of those who are most affected by these systems.

Mina is trying to be free in many different ways. The life she’s lived has colonized her mind, her body, everything, and she’s fighting to let herself feel comfortable in a space for a few days. She can’t even find the language for what her dreams are because she’s trying to free her tongue from these institutions. So though the play started as a love letter to a lot of my family who’ve been affected by incarceration, I wanted to also draw a love letter to versions of myself and my friends who have been in academic institutions, and have really suffered as Black and brown people and people of color in these spaces.

What do you hope audiences experience during these three days with Mina and Sade?

Sometimes it’s hard to sit in the rehearsal room with this play, because I want another world for these characters; I want to just get them out of this room and get them somewhere else, away from everything. Who were they before all the stuff they put on each other, and how can they be able to just not have to carry all of that?

To me, that’s evocative of what abolition means; it’s the capacity to exist together, and to break apart the rigid ways that we contain and police ourselves. So my hope is that audiences watch the play and want to create alternative spaces for Black people to actually be and exist and care for each other, and cherish being present with each other without being confined.

Geffen Playhouse’s artistic director Tarell Alvin McCraney, also the chair of playwriting at Yale School of Drama, described you as “one of the most powerful writers I’ve encountered in my time as a professor.” What was it like to be taught by him?

Tarell is an extraordinary teacher and mentor, as well as artist, of course. I started at Yale School of Drama in 2019 — I had gone straight through from undergrad, which was really difficult because of the elitism, the white supremacy and all the things. Tarell was extraordinary at crafting an oasis and fugitive space within an institution that honestly had caused a lot of harm for so many people who looked like me.

Grad school had its challenges, but the community I found in the playwriting department was such a gift. Our entire nine-person cohort was students of color, and Tarell created a horizontal leadership model in the program that allowed me to feel supported as an artist and a full person, where you can really listen to your own voice as a playwright and trust that voice. He created such fertile ground for exploration and play.

“Tarell is an extraordinary teacher and mentor,” says a.k. payne.

(Marcus Ubungen / For The Times)

“Furlough’s Paradise” made its world premiere at Atlanta’s Alliance Theatre last year. What did you learn from that staging that you’re integrating into this one?

One of the biggest things is embodiment — it’s an endless question and the conundrum of being a Black writer in America and writing in English. I love this quote by Ntozake Shange: “i cant count the number of times i have viscerally wanted to attack deform n maim the language that i was taught to hate myself in.” That feels so relevant to how I think about language — there’s the constant awareness that this is a colonial language that my people were forced to speak, and so much that we do and experience just cannot fit into English.

So in this rendition, I’ve been thinking more about the body. Mina and Sade keep doing these comparisons [of each other] where, in all of that language, there’s no space to actually fully see both of them. But in these dream sequences at night, we see what they’re wrestling with outside of language. My hope is that those allow us to go to the limits of language, and see what our bodies do when language isn’t enough. There were movement consultants for a few gestural beats in other renditions, but having choreographers from day one of this process has been incredible.

How did you first start writing plays?

I grew up doing some musicals and operas in Pittsburgh, and my mom is a music teacher so I was always in her choirs. When I went to an arts magnet school, I majored in literary arts, and I wrote my first play in seventh grade. I entered it in City Theatre’s Young Playwrights Contest and I remember being in rehearsals for my play and thinking, “I love making stuff, being with people and imagining stuff together. I just want to do this forever.” Theater making for me is not just about my own little independent vision; there’s so much collaboration that goes into a show and I love making space on the page for other artists.

In undergrad, I directed a lot because I didn’t see the spaces that I wanted to create work in and I didn’t feel comfortable acting. I didn’t really feel there were structures for the work I wanted to write. But I fell in love with the practice of making theater and building ensemble to support that — specifically Black theater, the histories of Black theater and the ways that Black theater artists have imagined alternate worlds.

What structures can theater institutions prioritize to encourage more of the work you want to make?

Institutions are trying to improve things — even Tarell being here [at the Geffen] and being deeply committed to the work of Black and brown people and bringing in voices that are not traditionally in white American theater spaces.

But I find it critical to create alternative spaces entirely, because there’s always going to be a limit to what institutions that are not owned by us can do. I love the concepts of fugitivity and how people have created spaces that are not always visible to the institutional or public eye, that go deeper and aren’t necessarily trying to be big or fit into the systems. I wonder if there are ways that larger institutions can support many different kinds of theater making, like pouring into smaller artist collectives in a way that enables them to create with autonomy.

I’m also obsessed with maroonage, a Black cultural tradition in which people who were enslaved would escape to the mountains and form independent communities. In a theatrical tradition, what does it mean to create our own stuff and center our own gaze in our making of things? I’ve been building a theater collective in line with these things, and it’s Black folks who gather by bodies of water and just make experimental stuff. This past summer, we gathered in New Rochelle and did double Dutch lessons, clowning classes and Pilates.

Spaces like that are so critical to creating community and ensemble, which is hard when working on a small play like “Furlough’s Paradise.” So for the next renditions on the East Coast next year, I’m hoping to gather all the artists working on it [at the various theaters] and spend three days mapping out freedom dreams.

“I find it critical to create alternative spaces entirely,” says a.k. payne.

(Marcus Ubungen / For The Times)

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It will be a shortened trading week for financial markets due to Easter holidays in Europe and the United States. While risk-aversion sentiment may continue to influence global market movements, key economic data, including manufacturing and services Purchasing Managers’ Indices (PMIs), and major corporate earnings are expected to play a critical role in shaping future market trends.

S&P Global is scheduled to release its flash manufacturing and services PMIs for April across major economies on Wednesday. These indices measure business activity based on new orders, employment, and confidence. A reading above 50 indicates expansion, while a figure below 50 signals contraction.

Europe

In March, the eurozone’s manufacturing PMI improved to 48.6 from 47.6 in February, marking the mildest contraction since January 2023. Germany and France both recorded notable improvements in manufacturing activity. Germany’s PMI rose to 48.3 from 46.5—the highest since August 2022—while France’s reading came in at 48.5, reflecting the softest downturn in over two years. However, “concerns over geopolitical uncertainty and client spending kept optimism in check,” according to the S&P Global report.

Consensus forecasts suggest that business activity may slow in April due to tariff-related economic uncertainty. The eurozone’s manufacturing PMI is expected to drop to 47.4, with Germany and France forecast to record 47.5 and 47.9, respectively.

The eurozone’s services PMI expanded for the fourth consecutive month in March, with a reading of 51.0, up from 50.6 in February. Germany’s services PMI also posted its fourth consecutive month of expansion, at 50.9. However, the pace of growth slowed as new business declined at the fastest rate in six months amid weak demand and heightened uncertainty. Optimism persisted, driven by Germany’s fiscal expansion, new product launches, and technological progress. In contrast, France’s services sector contracted for the seventh consecutive month, reflecting continued weak demand.

Consensus projections suggest further, albeit softer, growth in April. The eurozone’s services PMI is forecast at 50.4, with Germany and France expected to record 50.3 and 47.6, respectively.

Additionally, Germany’s Ifo Business Climate Index—a leading indicator of economic health—is due on Thursday. The index rose to 86.7 in March, the highest level since July 2023, supported by historic debt reforms that unlocked billions in funding for defence and infrastructure. However, the index is expected to edge lower this month, likely due to the impact of Trump’s newly announced tariffs.

United Kingdom

In the UK, the S&P Global manufacturing PMI fell to 44.9 in March, extending its downturn for a sixth consecutive month and marking the lowest reading in 17 months. Business confidence dropped to a two-and-a-half-year low amid expectations of tighter fiscal policy, tariff uncertainty, and geopolitical tensions. April’s reading is forecast to decline further to 44.0.

In the services sector, the index was revised up to 52.5 in March from the preliminary estimate of 53.2, the highest since August 2024. However, constrained household budgets and geopolitical tensions are expected to continue weighing on business sentiment. The services PMI is projected to ease to 51.4 in April.

United States

In the US, the manufacturing PMI fell sharply to 50.2 in March from 52.7 in February. The decline was largely attributed to a pullback from February’s front-loaded output surge. Nevertheless, business confidence weakened to its lowest level since December 2024 amid uncertainty surrounding government policies.

In contrast, the services PMI rose to 54.4 in March, the highest level in 2025. Despite the strong reading, business optimism declined, weighed down by concerns over tariff-related disruptions and federal cost-cutting initiatives. Analysts anticipate that manufacturing will return to contraction in April, with a projected reading of 49.3, while the services index is expected to fall to 52.9.

Big tech earnings in focus

Crucially, this week will also see first-quarter earnings releases from major US technology firms, including Tesla, Microsoft, and Alphabet. These companies, particularly Tesla, have seen their shares come under pressure amid fears that Trump’s tariffs could disrupt supply chains and key international markets.

Analysts expect Tesla’s revenue for the first quarter to grow by 2.6% year-on-year. However, earnings per share are forecast to decline due to factory retools for the new Model Y SUVs and a slowdown in sales due to Elon’s political intervention.

More than 200 Cherokees and other Native Americans have signed a letter urging Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren to fully retract her past claims to being Native and help dispel false beliefs held by many white people that they have American Indian ancestry.

The letter cites a Los Angeles Times investigation that found more than $800 million in government contracts reserved for minorities instead went to companies set up by members of groups with dubious claims to being Cherokee and Creek Indian tribes.

The letter describes The Times’ findings as an example of the harm done when white people rely on family lore and DNA tests to falsely assert Native American identity.

The criticism comes at an awkward time for Warren. The Massachusetts senator did not win any of the first three states in the nominating calendar and faces an uphill battle in the South Carolina primary this Saturday.

In response, Warren sent a 12-page letter to the Cherokee authors on Tuesday night. Her letter repeated past apologies, reiterated that she is a “white woman” and detailed a policy agenda that she said was good for Indian Country.

“I was wrong to have identified as a Native American, and, without qualification or excuse, I apologize,” she wrote. Warren’s campaign provided a copy to The Times.

She also distanced herself from the cases cited in The Times investigation, which she called an “injustice.” She said her “situation differs from these cases because I never benefited financially or professionally,” and cited a Boston Globe story that concluded her past identification as Native American never boosted her career.

Warren previously apologized for claiming to be Native American, and for publicizing the results of DNA test that showed she likely had a distant ancestor indigenous to the Americas. She has apologized to the chief of the Cherokee Nation, has said she is not a member of a tribe and expressed regret over causing “confusion” about tribal membership.

But the authors of the letter — Cherokee Nation citizens Daniel Heath Justice, Joseph Pierce, Rebecca Nagle and Twila Barnes — called those apologies “vague and inadequate.” They say she needs to state clearly that family stories she heard were false, and that it is wrong to use DNA tests to determine Native American identity.

“As the most public example of this behavior, you need to clearly state that Native people are the sole authority on who is — and who is not — Native,” wrote the authors, who are Cherokee citizens but don’t speak on behalf of the tribe.

After receiving Warren’s response, three of the authors — Justice, Pierce and Nagle — said Warren “made an effort” to address their points about DNA tests and who gets to determine who is Native, but noted that Warren hasn’t recanted her family story. “We hope that after further dialogue with the campaign, Warren will bravely and publicly tell the truth about her family,” they said in an email to The Times.

For years, Warren has contended with allegations that she falsely claimed to be Native American, specifically Cherokee and Delaware. The former Harvard University professor was identified as a minority law professor in a Harvard directory, and wrote that she was “American Indian” on a registration card for the State Bar of Texas.

The controversy started in 2012, when questions arose about her university listing. Barnes researched Warren’s genealogy and found that, despite Warren’s claims, she had no ancestral ties to Cherokee tribes.

The senator doubled down on the claim after attacks from President Trump, who derisively called her “Pocahontas” and challenged her to take a DNA test. She did and released the results in late 2018. The test showed she likely had an ancestor indigenous to the Americas between six and 10 generations ago.

The test was condemned by some American Indians who said Warren undermined tribal sovereignty by equating racial science with tribal affiliation and Native American identity.

Barnes, one of the letter’s coauthors, said in an interview that she and other Cherokees often encounter Warren supporters who insist that the DNA test proved Warren’s claims and that her recounting of family history was harmless.

“It’s totally misrepresenting who Cherokees are and ignoring our voices in it,” Barnes said. “There are so many people using our Cherokee identity to defraud or trick other people for their own benefit. It’s just an incredibly huge problem.”

Kinship with a tribe is key to how Native Americans identify themselves. There are many groups calling themselves tribes, often comprised of people who have unproven family legends of an American Indian ancestor, that Native Americans consider to be illegitimate.

ELIZABETH Hurley’s son Damian has revealed what he thinks about her shock new romance with a US music star.

Last night actress and model Liz, 59, left fans stunned when she appeared to go public with country music icon Billy Ray Cyrus, 63.

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The Royals star shared a snap of them kissing in a field as they celebrated Easter Sunday.

Wearing a brimmed hat and plunging blue plaid shirt, Liz looked smitten as she leaned into a casually dressed Billy, who planted a peck on the corner of her mouth while wearing bunny ears.

Damian’s comment caught the eye on Instagram, with the young filmmaker endorsing the union.

He posted a streamer blowing party emoji followed by a love heart – particularly fitting given Billy’s best known for the song Achy Breaky Heart.

The image sent their fans into a frenzy as they speculated on whether the pair are in fact a couple.

Liz and Billy appeared in a film together back in 2022 – Christmas in Paradise, in which they played love interests.

And earlier this month, Liz posted a video of herself dancing in her bikini – with one of Billy’s songs playing in the background.

One excited fan commented: “So miley Cyrus could end up with Liz as a step mum…love it!”

Another person added: “What on earth!! When did this happen?”

While someone else wrote: “Wooowww – İs a new love born ??”

Last year Damian revealed that both he and his mother were dating.

He said: “We are seeing people at the moment, but we’re both quite private.

“I’ve seen first-hand how devastating relationships in the public eye can become, and we’ve both made a decision that until somebody is incredibly serious, we’re not going to speak publicly about who we’re seeing.”

Country musician Billy was previously married to Tish – with whom he has famous daughter Miley – but the pair divorced in 2017.

Billy and Tish share five children: Miley, Noah, Brandi, Trace, and Braison.

The two were married for nearly 30 years following his first marriage to Cindy Smith, which ended in 1991.

He then wed Australian singer Firerose, however they had a very acrimonious split after a year of marriage in 2024.

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Elizabeth’s last public relationship was with the late cricketer Shane Warne, which ended in 2015.

Liz shot to fame as Hugh Grant‘s girlfriend back in the 90s, and she went on to have son Damian in 2002 after a fling with US businessman Steve Bing.

She married  Indian textile heir Arun Nayar in 2007 and they divorced in 2010.

Speaking about dating last year, she told Hello!: “I would think very carefully about bringing anyone into my life, knowing that it will cross over with Damian’s life. I’d never jeopardise our family dynamic.

“I’ve never hung out with anybody who didn’t have a positive influence on his life. Everybody I loved, and continue to love, has always loved Damian as much as they love me, I’m sure.”

“And the people I’ve remained close to have always felt like my family. Now I guess there’s only Hugh and Arun, and I love them both, and they both love Damian.”

The Sun has contact Liz’s rep for comment.

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Oklahoma had won two of the last three gymnastics national championships. The Sooners appeared in 11 of the past 13 finals.

For UCLA to win its first NCAA national championship since 2018 — and eighth overall — the Bruins were going to have to show their best on every rotation to take down the recent titans of the sport.

And at first, the Bruins could believe.

Oklahoma scored a 49.615 on balance beam, an event in which it is ranked No. 1 nationally. UCLA responded with an identical score on floor exercise, its signature event, with Jordan Chiles’ almost-flawless routine — receiving three perfect 10s from six judges en route to a meet-high 9.9750.

UCLA’s Jordan Chiles runs to celebrate with her team after competing on the beam during the NCAA women’s gymnastics championships in Fort Worth, Texas, Saturday.

(Tony Gutierrez / Associated Press)

But to finish first in Fort Worth, Texas, on Saturday afternoon, the Bruins needed the Sooners to stumble like they did when they tied their worst score of the season at the national semifinal. Under pressure, the Sooners did the opposite. Outpacing UCLA in every event from the second rotation onward, Oklahoma claimed the 2025 NCAA gymnastics national championship with a 198.0125 final score, four-tenths higher than the second-place Bruins, who ended the meet with a 197.6125 overall.

“I didn’t think second place was gonna sting as much as it does, but I think when you’re in a competitive sport getting so close, it does sting,” UCLA coach Janelle McDonald told reporters in Fort Worth. “If you had told me last year, or even at the beginning of the season, that we would finish in second — I would be ecstatic.”

Missouri finished in third place and Utah was last.

Whether it was Oklahoma all-arounder Faith Torrez scoring a 9.9365 on floor and vault or Audrey Davis’ national-title clinching uneven bars routine, the Sooners hit on each event to return to the top of the NCAA podium as the Bruins failed to make up ground.

If it wasn’t for Oklahoma, everything else was falling UCLA’s way.

Former Pac-12 rival Utah battled rare-shaky performances on balance beam — including a fall from All-American Grace McCallum — while Missouri never threatened second place, only recording five 9.9 or higher scores during the meet.

Fifth-year graduate student Chae Campbell, in her final meet as a Bruin, notched 9.90-plus scores on two of four events, finishing eighth in the all-around competition. Campbell, fighting back tears during the post-meet news conference, reminisced about her final floor routine — bringing back her sophomore-year choreography — as a Bruin.

“I’ll never get tired of that feeling of finishing a floor routine and nailing it for the team,” Campbell said. “I don’t know when, or if I’ll ever get the same gratification that I get when I compete for UCLA.”

UCLA celebrates earning second place during the NCAA women’s gymnastics championships in Fort Worth, Texas, Saturday.

(Tony Gutierrez / Associated Press)

Chiles, who became NCAA uneven bars champion on Thursday evening, kept UCLA within four-tenths of Oklahoma heading into the final rotation with a team-high 9.9625 score.

For Chiles, her junior-year return to Westwood ended a cut above her first year in blue and gold when the Bruins fell in the national semifinals. Embroiled in the 2024 Paris Olympics floor exercise bronze medal controversy, Chiles forged ahead and led UCLA to a Big Ten Championship in its first year in the conference. She ended the national championship with a 39.7750 all-around score, the best of the meet.

Closing the national championship on balance beam, seniors Emily Lee and Emma Malabuyo book-ended the Bruins final rotation with a 9.9250 and a 9.9375, respectively.

As Oklahoma celebrated at Dickies Arena — close to a tradition since the NCAA switched the final round from the Super Six to Four on the Floor in 2018 — Lee and Malabuyo, who arrived at UCLA in the same freshman class, consoled each other and their teammates in tears.

“Heading into this year, [the seniors] wanted to make sure they left this program better than they found it, and they showed up every single day to do just that,” McDonald said. “They’ve rewritten this chapter and now we can look forward to the future knowing that they’ve laid a foundation for us to build upon.”

It wasn’t just about falling short in the national championship, but for Bruins including Campbell, it is the end of their collegiate careers.

“I’ve seen this program at its worst, I’ve seen it at its best now,” said Campbell, who competed for former UCLA coach Chris Waller before he resigned in 2022. “The goal was to have the legacy restored, and I think we did that.”

April 21 (UPI) — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth used his personal phone last month to share military plans for a then-upcoming attack on the Houthis in Yemen via an open-source encrypted messaging group chat that included his wife and brother, according to reports.

This marks the second use of the Signal smartphone application by Hegseth to share sensitive military information concerning the March 15 attack targeting the Houthi rebels in Yemen.

Last month, The Atlantic reported that its editor-in-chief, Jeffrey Goldberg, had mistakenly been added to a Signal group chat in which top Trump administration officials, including Hegseth, discussed sensitive military details of the pending attack.

The second Signal group chat in which similar information about the attack was shared was reported Sunday by The New York Times, CNN and NBC News, each of which cited unidentified sources.

According to the reports, the newly revealed second Signal group chat involved Jennifer Hegseth, Pete Hegseth’s wife and former Fox News producer, who is not a Defense Department employee; as well as the defense secretary’s brother, Phil, and his personal lawyer, Tim Parlatore, both of whom work at the Pentagon.

The reports state 13 people were involved in the group chat and that it was created by Hegseth — unlike the previously reported on group chat involving Goldberg, which National Security Advisor Mike Waltz has taken credit for creating.

The Trump administration quickly tried to downplay the latest scandal to disrupt the Department of Defense, with Sean Parnell, the chief Pentagon spokesman, labeling it an “old story” that was “back from the dead.”

“There was no classified information in any Signal chat, no matter how many ways they try to write the story,” he said in a statement.

“What is true is that the Office of the Secretary of Defense is continuing to become stronger and more efficient in the executing of Trump’s agenda.”

Hegseth, a former Fox News host and veteran, was a controversial pick for secretary of defense due to his lack of military leadership experience, financial mismanagement of a veterans nonprofit organization and allegations of alcohol abuse and sexual misconduct.

Opponents called for Hegseth’s resignation following the revelation of the initial Signal group, with expectations that those calls will resume following Sunday’s reporting.

“Sec Hegseth recklessly used an unsecured app to discuss war plans with senior officials. Now we know he also shared those sensitive details with his family over Signal, even after being explicitly warned not to,” Rep. Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., said on X on Sunday.

“Republicans must join me in calling on him to resign immediately.”

Military veteran Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., similarly called on Hegseth on Sunday to “resign in disgrace.

“How many times does Pete Hegseth need to leak classified intelligence before Donald Trump and Republicans understand that he isn’t only a [expletive] liar, he is a treat to our national security?” she asked on X.

“Every day he stays in his job is another day our troops’ lives are endangered by his singular stupidity.”

Last week, three top Pentagon officials were placed on leave of absence over accusations of leaking unauthorized information.

On Sunday, John Ullyot, a Pentagon official who resigned last week, penned an opinion piece for Politico in which he described a department in dysfunction that has become a “major distraction” for Trump — and that Hegseth appears to be close to being removed as secretary.

“The building is in disarray under Hegseth’s leadership,” Ullyot wrote, adding that the last month has seen “a full-blown meltdown at the Pentagon.”

Last week, a prominent Saudi Sheikh, Mohammed Al-Issa, visited the Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland to commemorate the 75th anniversary of its liberation, which signalled the end of the Nazi Holocaust. Although dozens of Muslim scholars have visited the site, where about one million Jews were killed during World War Two, according to the Auschwitz Memorial Centre’s press office, Al-Issa is the most senior Muslim religious leader to do so.

Visiting Auschwitz is not a problem for a Muslim; Islam orders Muslims to reject unjustified killing of any human being, no matter what their faith is. Al-Issa is a senior ally of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman (MBS), who apparently cares little for the sanctity of human life, though, and the visit to Auschwitz has very definite political connotations beyond any Islamic context.

By sending Al-Issa to the camp, Bin Salman wanted to show his support for Israel, which exploits the Holocaust for geopolitical colonial purposes. “The Israeli government decided that it alone was permitted to mark the 75th anniversary of the Allied liberation of Auschwitz [in modern day Poland] in 1945,” wrote journalist Richard Silverstein recently when he commented on the gathering of world leaders in Jerusalem for Benjamin Netanyahu’s Holocaust event.

READ: Next up, a Saudi embassy in Jerusalem 

Bin Salman uses Al Issa for such purposes, as if to demonstrate his own Zionist credentials. For example, the head of the Makkah-based Muslim World League is leading rapprochement efforts with Evangelical Christians who are, in the US at least, firm Zionists in their backing for the state of Israel. Al-Issa has called for a Muslim-Christian-Jewish interfaith delegation to travel to Jerusalem in what would, in effect, be a Zionist troika.

Zionism is not a religion, and there are many non-Jewish Zionists who desire or support the establishment of a Jewish state in occupied Palestine. The definition of Zionism does not mention the religion of its supporters, and Israeli writer Sheri Oz, is just one author who insists that non-Jews can be Zionists.

Mohammad Bin Salman and Netanyahu – Cartoon [Tasnimnews.com/Wikipedia]

We should not be shocked, therefore, to see a Zionist Muslim leader in these trying times. It is reasonable to say that Bin Salman’s grandfather and father were Zionists, as close friends of Zionist leaders. Logic suggests that Bin Salman comes from a Zionist dynasty.

This has been evident from his close relationship with Zionists and positive approaches to the Israeli occupation and establishment of a Jewish state in Palestine, calling it “[the Jews’] ancestral homeland”. This means that he has no issue with the ethnic cleansing of almost 800,000 Palestinians in 1948, during which thousands were killed and their homes demolished in order to establish the Zionist state of Israel.

“The ‘Jewish state’ claim is how Zionism has tried to mask its intrinsic Apartheid, under the veil of a supposed ‘self-determination of the Jewish people’,” wrote Israeli blogger Jonathan Ofir in Mondoweiss in 2018, “and for the Palestinians it has meant their dispossession.”

As the de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia, Crown Prince Bin Salman has imprisoned dozens of Palestinians, including representatives of Hamas. In doing so he is serving Israel’s interests. Moreover, he has blamed the Palestinians for not making peace with the occupation state. Bin Salman “excoriated the Palestinians for missing key opportunities,” wrote Danial Benjamin in Moment magazine. He pointed out that the prince’s father, King Salman, has played the role of counterweight by saying that Saudi Arabia “permanently stands by Palestine and its people’s right to an independent state with occupied East Jerusalem as its capital.”

UN expert: Saudi crown prince behind hack on Amazon CEO 

Israeli journalist Barak Ravid of Israel’s Channel 13 News reported Bin Salman as saying: “In the last several decades the Palestinian leadership has missed one opportunity after the other and rejected all the peace proposals it was given. It is about time the Palestinians take the proposals and agree to come to the negotiations table or shut up and stop complaining.” This is reminiscent of the words of the late Israeli Foreign Minister Abba Eban, one of the Zionist founders of Israel, that the Palestinians “never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity.”

Bin Salman’s Zionism is also very clear in his bold support for US President Donald Trump’s deal of the century, which achieves Zionist goals in Palestine at the expense of Palestinian rights. He participated in the Bahrain conference, the forum where the economic side of the US deal was announced, where he gave “cover to several other Arab countries to attend the event and infuriated the Palestinians.”

US President Donald Trump looks over at Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Mohammad bin Salman al-Saud as they line up for the family photo during the opening day of Argentina G20 Leaders’ Summit 2018 at Costa Salguero on 30 November 2018 in Buenos Aires, Argentina [Daniel Jayo/Getty Images]

While discussing the issue of the current Saudi support for Israeli policies and practices in Palestine with a credible Palestinian official last week, he told me that the Palestinians had contacted the Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro to ask him not to relocate his country’s embassy to Jerusalem. “The Saudis have been putting pressure on us in order to relocate our embassy to Jerusalem,” replied the Brazilian leader. What more evidence of Mohammad Bin Salman’s Zionism do we need?

The founder of Friends of Zion Museum is American Evangelical Christian Mike Evans. He said, after visiting a number of the Gulf States, that, “The leaders [there] are more pro-Israel than a lot of Jews.” This was a specific reference to Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince, and his counterpart in the UAE, Mohammed Bin Zayed.

“All versions of Zionism lead to the same reactionary end of unbridled expansionism and continued settler colonial genocide of [the] Palestinian people,” Israeli-American writer and photographer Yoav Litvin wrote for Al Jazeera. We may well see an Israeli Embassy opened in Riyadh in the near future, and a Saudi Embassy in Tel Aviv or, more likely, Jerusalem. Is Mohammad Bin Salman a Zionist? There’s no doubt about it.

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.

The 2025 Celebrity Big Brother housemates are set for a major shock this week after host Will Best announced that they’ll face a triple eviction in a major show first

Celebrity Big Brother host Will Best has revealed that three contestants will be leaving the ITV show for the first time in the show’s history in tomorrow’s live eviction. Will announced during Sunday night’s episode of Late and Live that the remaining housemates will be making their nominations face-to-face in tonight’s episode.

However, in a new eviction twist, three housemates will be booted from the show following the public vote. This will leave just six celebrities in the house in the final week of the competition. It also marks the last time that the housemates will be nominating one another this series.

Fans took to social media to give their thoughts on the latest twist, with one writing: “A triple eviction? Oh that’s gonna be awful.”

Meanwhile, another was sure that there would be more drama to come – with a back door eviction on its way. “What do you think that easter twist is I’m thinking it’s got something to do with a back door eviction but if that’s the case four people are going early this week,” they said.

Earlier this week, fans speculated that Ella Rae Wise could be the victim of a back door eviction. One wrote on X: “what do you think that easter twist is I’m thinking it’s got something to do with a back door eviction but if that’s the case four people are going early this week.

“Ella’s jealous of JoJo and Chris’s relationship. I heard there’s going to be a backdoor eviction soon, seems a bit coincidental to me,” another said.

It comes after the last dramatic eviction, which saw retired athlete Daley Thompson leave the house with a few brutal parting words for his fellow housemates.

When asked whether he was surprised about who nominated him, Daley said in his exit interview: “None of them surprised me because they’re all rats.”

He added that his housemates “saw him as a threat”, before continuing: “I was chatting to everybody, offering people advice if they wanted it and I was generally trying to be friendly with everyone…Jealously always rears its ugly head.”

Last night, viewers were convinced that they had worked out Ella’s game plan after her bitter clash with Chris Hughes. Many speculated that she entered the house with a plan to start a romance with Chris.

One fan wrote on X: “Ella is projecting, she’s the one that came in with a game plan and that was to get with Chris #CBBUK #cbb.”

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