Month: May 2025

UK holidaymakers could experience serious travel disruption over the busy summer holiday period, as workers in two major airports could ballot over strike action against their employer

Brits could face serious travel disruption over the summer holidays, as workers at two major UK airports threaten strike action.

Unite the Union has revealed that staff at Edinburgh and Glasgow Airport have overwhelmingly rejected ‘unacceptable’ pay offers from their employer, Menzies Aviation. An overwhelming 97 per cent of around 300 workers at Glasgow Airport and 100 per cent of some 300 workers at Edinburgh Airport voted against the proposed deals.

The union has since warned that unless Menzies Aviation presents an improved offer, it will be forced to ballot members for strike action, potentially causing summer travel chaos. “Summer strike action looms over Edinburgh and Glasgow airports because the pay offers on the table from Menzies Aviation aren’t good enough,” Unite industrial officer Carrie Binnie said.

READ MORE: UK passport warning as travellers experience Brexit rule hell at airports

“Menzies Aviation has the ability to improve its offers and they can easily resolve this pay dispute without any disruption to the travelling public. If the company fail to table a better offer to our members, Unite will have no option but to ballot our members for strikes over the summer holidays.”

Glasgow rejected a 4.25 per cent pay increase, while Edinburgh rejected a four per cent increase. The union emphasised that the ground crew workers, including dispatchers, allocators, airside agents, and controllers, all play a vital role in supporting major airlines.

The threat of industrial action follows similar tensions last year. However, these strikes were called off when workers accepted a new and improved pay deal in July, 2024.

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham added: “Unite’s Menzies members have emphatically rejected unacceptable pay offers. The Menzies group is posting sky-high profits and our members who contribute towards this success deserve far better from the company.”

Last year, Edinburgh Airport handled a record-breaking 15.78 million passengers, a 10 per cent increase compared to the year before. Despite only having one runway and one terminal, 37 airlines operate from the hub – travelling to 155 different destinations.

Glasgow Airport is much smaller, and only welcomed 7.5 million passengers last year. Still, it was a 13 per cent increase from the previous year – and outranks Aberdeen (2.2 million) and Inverness (801,000) combined. According to reports, the hub flies to 27 different countries and offers 185 routes.

If your flight has been cancelled delayed in the last six year, or five in Scotland, you could still be eligible for compensation. You can find out more here.

PA approached Menzies Aviation for comment.

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A federal appeals court has temporarily reinstated (PDF) US President Donald Trump’s tariffs a day after a trade court ruled that it exceeded the authorities granted to the president.

The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington temporarily blocked the lower court’s decision on Thursday, but provided no reasoning for the decision, only giving the plaintiffs until June 5th to respond.

The Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit granted an emergency motion from the Trump administration arguing that a halt is “critical for the country’s national security”.

The White House has applauded the move.

“You can assume, even if we lose tariff cases, we will find another way,” trade adviser Peter Navarro said.

Wednesday’s surprise ruling by the US Court of International Trade had threatened to halt or delay Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs on most US trading partners, as well as import levies on goods from Canada, Mexico and China related to his accusation that the three countries were facilitating the flow of fentanyl into the US.

The International Court of Trade said tariffs issued under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), which is typically used to address issues of national emergencies rather than addressing the national debt, were considered overreach.

Experts said the IEEPA, which was passed in 1977, is narrow in scope and targets specific countries, US-designated “terrorist organisations”, or gang activity pegged to specific instances. The US, for example, used the law to seize property belonging to the government of Iran during the hostage crisis in 1979 and the property of drug traffickers in Colombia in 1995.

“The 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act doesn’t say anything at all about tariffs,” Bruce Fain, a former US associate deputy attorney general under Ronald Reagan, told Al Jazeera.

Fein added that there is a statute, the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, which allows tariffs in the event of a national emergency. However, he said, it requires a study by the commerce secretary and can only be imposed on a product-by-product basis.

‘Product-by-product’

Despite the appeal court’s reprieve, Wednesday’s decision has been viewed as a blow to the administration’s economic agenda that has thus far led to declining consumer confidence and the US losing its top credit rating.

Experts believe that, ultimately, the tariffs will not last.

Posting on X, formerly known as Twitter, on Thursday, lawyer Peter Harrell, a fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, wrote that, if the trade court’s decision “is upheld, importers should eventually be able to get a refund of [IEEPA] tariffs paid to date. But the government will probably seek to avoid paying refunds until appeals are exhausted.″

“The power to decide the level of tariffs resides with Congress. The IEEPA doesn’t even mention raising tariffs. And it was actually passed in order to narrow the president’s authority. Now the president is using it to rewrite the tariff schedule for the whole world,” Greg Schaffer, professor of international law at Georgetown Law School, told Al Jazeera.

The US trade court did not weigh in on tariffs put in place by other laws, such as the Trade Expansion Act – the law used to justify tariffs on steel, aluminium, and automobiles.

There are additional targets for similar narrow tariffs, such as pharmaceuticals from China. In April, the White House announced that the US Department of Commerce launched an investigation to see if the US reliance on China for active ingredients in key medications posed a national security threat, thus warranting tariffs.

“This is not an issue of whether the president can impose tariffs,” said Fein, the former associate deputy attorney general. “He can under the 1962 act after there’s a study and after showing that it’s not arbitrary and capricious and that it’s a product-by-product, not a country-by-country approach.”

“If he doesn’t like that, he can ask Congress to amend the statute.”

LOOSE Women star Judi Love has landed a huge new job just days after ITV announced their daytime cull.

The ITV show’s line-up had been left in the dark about cuts to their lunchtime talk show, which will take effect from January amid a cash crisis.

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Sweeping changes announced earlier this month mean the female-led, lunchtime talk show will only air for 30 weeks a year.

So, it’s a good job Judi, 44, has bagged herself a lucrative podcasting gig to keep the cash rolling in.

The comedian announced on Instagram today that the first episode of Our Table will be released tomorrow.

Fellow Loose Woman Charlene White is joining her, along with actor David Gyasi, comedian Michelle Deswarte and actress Deborah Ayorinde.

She wrote: “Our Table will launch on Friday, the 30th, on YouTube and all major podcast platforms!

“We have an exciting series lined up, featuring incredible guests and engaging conversations. Join us at Our Table!! #Ourtable #JudiLove.”

A second post saw the Strictly star posed with her special guests ahead of the series premiere.

The Sun previously revealed how Loose Women is in chaos backstage with some of the stars doing the show “through gritted teeth” as they face a 60 per cent pay cut. 

An insider told us: “It’s very tense backstage as the cast are all fuming. It’s like they’re putting on a brave face and doing the show through gritted teeth. 

“Some people’s pay could be cut by 60% as some get paid by the episode and they’ll be slashed next year.

“For some it’s their main source of income and it’s worrying to everyone.”

This comes after an ITV source revealed: “We are not planning any radical changes to the panel.

“All of our Loose Women are hugely valued and we celebrate each and every one and the experience and opinions they bring to the show every day.

“Many of our long standing panellists have appeared on the show for the majority of its 25 year run on screens and those stalwart, Loose legends are at the core of the show’s success and hugely popular with the audience.

“The show remains a big priority within our daytime slate, having secured a BAFTA nomination, launched a podcast and celebrated a milestone anniversary in the last year alone.”

MORE ITV CUTS

Loose Women isn’t the only show affected by recently announced changes at ITV, that will come into play in 2026.

Lorraine Kelly’s show has been cut to just 30 minutes a day and will also only air for 30 weeks of the year.

Good Morning Britain, with hosts including Susanna Reid, Ed Balls and Kate Garraway, will take half an hour from Lorraine and will run from 6am to 9.30am.

More than 220 jobs will be lost as part of the shake-up — almost half of the 450 employed on the four flagship shows GMB, Lorraine, This Morning and Loose Women.

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After losing last month in Orange County Superior Court, the state of California is asking a state appellate court to overturn a Huntington Beach measure that could require voters to present photo identification to cast ballots in local elections.

Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta and Secretary of State Shirley N. Weber, the state’s top elections official, have been tangling with Huntington Beach in court for more than a year over Measure A, which amends the city charter to say that local officials “may” require photo ID for municipal elections starting in 2026.

In April, Orange County Superior Court Judge Nico Dourbetas said the state had not shown that “a voter identification requirement compromises the integrity of a municipal election.” Huntington Beach Mayor Pat Burns called the ruling a “huge victory.”

Bonta appealed Wednesday to the 4th Appellate District, where the state hopes for a more favorable hearing. In February, a three-judge panel from the 4th District said that Huntington Beach’s assertion of a “constitutional right to regulate its own municipal elections free from state interference” was “problematic,” but kicked the case back down to Orange County Superior Court.

More than 53% of Huntington Beach voters supported the charter amendment in the March 2024 election.

The amendment also requires that Huntington Beach provide 20 in-person polling places and to monitor ballot drop boxes. The city has not shared plans on how the law could be implemented in next year’s elections.

A representative for Huntington Beach didn’t respond to requests for comment Thursday. The city’s lawyers have argued that the city charter gives local officials autonomy to oversee municipal issues, including local elections.

Bonta and Weber contend that while California’s 121 “charter cities” can govern their own municipal affairs, local laws can’t conflict with state laws on issues of “statewide concern,” including the integrity of California elections and the constitutional right to vote.

The voter ID law is one of several fronts in the ongoing battle that conservative officials in Huntington Beach have waged against California since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The city has used similar arguments about its charter city status in fights over state housing laws, education policies for transgender students and “sanctuary state” immigration laws.

The issue of voter ID has become a flashpoint with conservative politicians, including President Trump, who in January demanded that California enact a voter ID law in order to receive aid for the devastating Los Angeles area wildfires.

California voters are required to verify their identities when they register to vote, and the state imposes criminal penalties for fraudulent registration. California does not require photo identification at the polls but does require that voters provide their names and addresses.

The photo ID measure may also be invalidated by Senate Bill 1174, which Gov. Gavin Newsom signed last fall, which bars local election officials from requiring photo identification in elections.

Legendary rocker and Indiana native John Mellencamp apologized Thursday “on behalf of most Hoosiers” for the “poor, poor sportsmanship” displayed during the Pacers’ home win over the New York Knicks in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference finals two days earlier.

Although the Rock & Roll Hall of Famer. did not call out any specific Indiana sports fan in the statement he posted to X hours before Game 5, Mellencamp seemed to have a particular person in mind — popular ESPN personality Pat McAfee.

“I was embarrassed when somebody, under whose direction I don’t know, called out some of the people who had made the trip from New York to support their team — and in turn, support our team,” the “Hurts So Good” singer wrote. “The audience booed these people. I’d say that was not Hoosier Hospitality. One could only say it’s poor, poor sportsmanship.”

Hours after Mellencamp posted his statement, McAfee reposted it on X and identified himself as the one who instigated Pacers fans to behave in such a manner.

“I am ‘somebody,’” McAfee wrote.

Mellencamp and McAfee were both on hand Tuesday at Gainbridge Fieldhouse as the Pacers defeated the Knicks 130-121 to take a 3-1 series lead. Addressing the crowd during a fourth-quarter timeout, McAfee called out celebrity Knicks fans Spike Lee, Ben Stiller and Timothée Chalamet — all of whom were in attendance that night — and encouraged Pacers fans to “send these sons of b— back to New York with their ears ringing!”

Stiller addressed the matter later that night on X, saying he assumed that McAfee was “playing around” and that all the fans he met at the arena were “awesome and incredibly cool.”

Mellencamp, however, was not happy with the shenanigans.

“I was not proud to be a Hoosier, and I’ve lived here my entire life,” the singer once known as Johnny Cougar wrote. “On behalf of most Hoosiers, I would like to apologize for our poor behavior. I’m sure the Pacers had nothing to do with this smackdown.”

Mellencamp’s use of the “smackdown” appears to be a thinly veiled reference to McAfee, who is a color commentator and occasional wrestler for WWE. “Friday Night SmackDown” is one of the organization’s signature TV shows.

It is unclear why Mellencamp opted to voice his displeasure so long after the incident occurred. Perhaps he plans to be in attendance Thursday night at Madison Square Garden as his Pacers attempt to seal their first trip to the NBA Finals since 2000.

One person who won’t be there is McAfee, despite a friendly invite from Stiller.

Chairman of the Inaugural Committee and real estate investor Thomas J. Barrack Jr. stops to talk to members of the media in the lobby of the Trump Tower in New York, N.Y., in 2017. Barrack was appointed a special envoy to Syria Thursday. File Pool Photo by Anthony Behar/UPI | License Photo

May 29 (UPI) — The United States ambassador’s residence in Damascus, Syria, re-opened Thursday after being closed for 13 years, presaging a warming of relations between the two countries.

Tom Barrack, the current U.S. ambassador to Turkey, has also been appointed special envoy to Syria, and raised a U.S. flag outside the residence to inaugurate it, according to the Syrian run news agency SANA.

“Tom understands there is great potential in working with Syria to stop Radicalism, improve Relations, and secure Peace in the Middle East,” a statement from the State Department on X said. “Together, we will make America and the world, SAFE AGAIN!”

Barrack met with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa to witness the signing of an agreement with Middle Eastern countries aimed at developing a $7 billion, 5,000 megawatt energy project that would revitalize Syria’s aging and worn electricity grid and use it as the backbone of the new power project.

The new energy project could supply Syria with 50% of its electricity needs, according to a statement from Qatari-based UCC Holding, which is among the partners in the project.

In a further sign of warming relations between the United States and the Middle East, President Donald Trump met earlier this month with al-Sharaa in Riyadh, a move that prompted the United States to begin walking back sanctions imposed on Syria during the repressive regime of Bahsar al-Assad.

During the reopening of the ambassador’s residence Thursday, Barrack called lifting the sanctions a “bold move,” and said it comes with “no conditions, no requirements.”

Barrack credited Trump for “your bold vision, empowering a historically rich region, long oppressed, to reclaim its destiny through self-determination.”

Aid workers are also having to cope with a wave of cholera outbreaks in war-torn Sudan.

The World Food Programme (WFP) has said it is “shocked and alarmed” that its premises in southwestern Sudan have been hit by repeated shelling from the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), as the paramilitary group wages a brutal civil war, now in its third year, with the Sudanese army.

“Humanitarian staff, assets, operations and supplies should never be a target. This must stop now”, the United Nations body said on X on Thursday.

#Sudan pic.twitter.com/c4aXtS9zhY

— WFP Media (@WFP_Media) May 29, 2025

El-Fasher is the last major city held by the Sudanese army in the Darfur region. It has witnessed intense fighting between the army and RSF since May 2024, despite international warnings about the risks of violence in a city that serves as a key humanitarian hub for the five Darfur states.

For more than a year, the RSF has sought to wrest control of el-Fasher, located more than 800km (500 miles) southwest of the capital, Khartoum, from the army, launching regular attacks on the city and two major famine-hit camps for displaced people on its outskirts.

Adding to humanitarian woes on the ground, the Health Ministry in Khartoum state on Thursday reported 942 new cholera infections and 25 deaths the previous day, following 1,177 cases and 45 deaths the day before.

Aid workers say the scale of the cholera outbreak is deteriorating due to the near-total collapse of health services, with about 90 percent of hospitals in key war zones no longer operational.

Since August 2024, Sudan has reported more than 65,000 suspected cholera cases and at least 1,700 deaths across 12 of its 18 states. Khartoum alone has seen 7,700 cases and 185 deaths, including more than 1,000 infections in children under five, as it contends with more than two years of fighting between the army and the RSF.

Sudan’s army-backed government in Khartoum state announced earlier this month that all relief initiatives in the state must register with the Humanitarian Aid Commission (HAC), a government body that oversees humanitarian operations in Sudan.

Aid workers and activists are fearful these regulations will lead to a crackdown on local relief volunteers, exacerbating the catastrophic hunger crisis affecting 25 million people across the country.

The HAC was given expanded powers to register, monitor and, critics argue, crack down on local and Western aid groups by former leader Omar al-Bashir in 2006, according to aid groups, local relief volunteers and experts.

The army-backed government announced last week that it had dislodged RSF fighters from their last bases in Khartoum state, two months after retaking the heart of the capital from the paramilitaries.

The city, nonetheless, remains devastated with health and sanitation infrastructure barely functioning.

The RSF has been battling the SAF for control of Sudan since April 2023. The civil war has killed more than 20,000 people, uprooted 15 million and created what the UN considers the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.

FORMER Tory MP Crispin Blunt will face no further action over an allegation of rape, police have confirmed.

The ex-justice minister, 64, was detained in October 2023 on suspicion of the sex attack as well as possession of a controlled substance.

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Dad-of-two Blunt was suspended by his party and told to stay away from Parliament.

He denied wrongdoing and accused the person behind the allegation of attempted extortion.

Yesterday Surrey Police confirmed there was insufficient evidence to proceed over claims of rape.

Mr Blunt, who stood down as MP for Reigate last year, remains under investigation for drug possession.

A second man, in his 50s, is being investigated for the same alleged offence.

A Surrey Police spokeswoman said: “An investigation was launched following a report of rape in October 2023.

“Extensive enquiries have been carried out and a man in his 60s and a man in his 50s were arrested on 25 October 2023 in Horley in connection with the offence.

“It has since been determined that there is insufficient evidence to proceed and that no further action will be taken against either of the men in relation to the report of rape.

“However, both men will remain under investigation on suspicion of possession of controlled substances pending further enquiries.

“Enquiries into this matter are ongoing.”

The US Court of Appeals temporarily lifted the US Court of International Trade’s order that froze Trump’s ability to move forward with most of his tariffs.

A federal appeals court on Thursday paused the US Court of International Trade’s (CIT) ruling that struck down President Donald Trump’s sweeping use of emergency powers to impose tariffs on dozens of countries.

The ruling by US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit temporarily restores Trump’s ability to move forward with tariffs using the emergency powers he declared last month. The court set a deadline of June 5 for the plaintiffs and June 9 for the government to reply.

The latest development muddies the regulatory back-and-forth over whether tariffs would be ultimately implemented and, if so, how steep they could be.

Recall how Trump began threatening tariffs back in February. Despite the rhetoric, substantive orders didn’t emerge for several weeks after that. “He kept doing this kind of seesaw effect of putting them on again, off again, on again, off again,” economist Phillip Magness, a senior fellow at the Independent Institute and David J. Theroux Chair in Political Economy, says. “And it wasn’t really until we got to the so-called ‘Liberation Day’ tariffs on April 2 that we had anything even resembling a permanent policy.”

Clarity seemingly came in the form of a rebuke from a bipartisan panel of three judges on late Wednesday. The judges explained that many of Trump’s tariffs—imposed under the obscure and rarely used International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA)—“exceed any authority granted” to the president by law. It was a sharp blow to Trump’s trade agenda, considering tariffs are one of his most aggressive policy maneuvers during his first 100 days in office.

The CIT’s ruling undercut a central pillar of the president’s global trade strategy by forcing the Trump administration to begin unwinding tariffs within just 10 days.

“It may be a very dandy plan, but it has to meet the statute,” Senior Judge Jane Restani, who was nominated to the court by former President Ronald Reagan, said during proceedings on the issue, which took place last week.

While not all the tariffs were struck down, the decision exposes the legal overreach behind Trump’s self-proclaimed dealmaking prowess and undermines his claims of unbounded executive control over international trade.

Magness, meanwhile, describes it as “a wild month”—in more ways than one.

This week’s CIT ruling “throws a wrench into all these supposed ongoing negotiations that Trump claims he’s been doing over the last several weeks,” Magness adds. Also, it highlights a “deeper legal problem” with the approach Trump has taken to negotiating.

Long-standing procedures go back to the 1930s, and US statutes detail how to negotiate trade agreements with foreign countries.

In 2002, for instance, President George W. Bush secured Trade Promotion Authority (TPA), also known as Fast Track, which allowed the executive branch to negotiate trade agreements that Congress could approve or reject but not amend. This authority helped streamline the approval process.

“Trump has essentially thrown those all out the window and says he’s just going to do it himself,” Magness says. “If you go through the normal process, it requires that certain agreements have to be approved by a congressional vote.”

In a research note from Goldman Sachs, published late Wednesday, analysts noted that they “expect the Trump administration will find other ways to impose tariffs.”

For example, the firm cites Section 122 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, which grants the president authority to take action to address unfair trade practices that affect US commerce.

Whether the Trump administration can skirt the court’s ruling to justify tariffs remains to be seen. Until then, Goldman Sachs says “this ruling represents a setback for the administration’s tariff plans and increases uncertainty but might not change the final outcome for most major US trading partners.”

The tariffs that were struck down by the ruling include: “Reciprocal” levies on 60-plus countries (which were paused for 90 days); the 10% baseline tariff; the 25% tariff on Canadian goods; the 30% tariff on all China-made goods; and the 25% tariff on most goods made in Mexico.

Levies issued by the Trump administration under other legal authorities, such as tariffs on steel, aluminum, cars, pharmaceuticals, and semiconductors, for example, remain in place.

UBS’s Kurt Reiman said in an analyst note published Thursday that he expects the administration to “prepare the groundwork for a more surgical increase in tariffs beginning this summer” once trade investigations into whether certain imports threaten national security are completed.

It has been a dreadful start to the season in the County Championship for Lancashire, who named former T20-winning captain Steven Croft as interim head coach, with no wins from their seven games.

Jennings had already resigned as red-ball captain and the club apologised to its members before Benkenstein’s exit.

Back in charge for the T20 Blast, Jennings brought up his 50 off 30 balls and put on 79 for the first wicket with Luke Wells.

But a brilliant catch in the deep from Ethan Brookes removed Jennings and halted Lancashire’s progress, and the hosts lost five wickets for 22 runs to keep the target to under nine runs an over.

When Kashif Ali smashed 39 off 21 balls, the Rapids were well over the required rate and on course for an away win.

But the loss of captain Brett D’Oliveira (30) and Adam Hose (13) to reduce Worcestershire to 93-4 after 10.1 overs changed the complexion of the game.

From there, Lancashire turned the screw and with the visitors needing 15 runs off the last over, Tom Aspinwall conceded just seven to deliver a morale-boosting first win of the season in any competition.

NewsFeed

Protesters held a silent vigil outside Harvard University’s commencement ceremony, demanding an end to US support for Israel’s war on Gaza. The demonstration came amid rising political pressure, as the Trump administration targets pro-Palestinian activism with deportation threats.

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Residents of Tulkarem in the occupied West Bank retrieve their belongings from their homes before they’re demolished by the Israeli military. Tens of thousands have already been forced out. This comes as Israel approves 22 illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank, the largest expansion in decades.

Pride Month, which officially starts Sunday, is already in full swing and continuing through June with a host of activities and events. (After Long Beach Pride in mid-May, West Hollywood, Los Angeles, Venice, Santa Monica, San Fernando Valley, Catalina Island and other communities are following up with their own Pride celebrations.)

Although there is no shortage of opportunities for enjoying this worldwide celebration of the LGBTQ+ community, this year seems like a particularly pivotal time to partake in activities that uplift queer arts programs.

In 2025 and beyond, arts and culture funding is facing increasing threats of cancellation and cuts by the Trump administration. Los Angeles is home to numerous forms of art, but nothing is guaranteed to last forever. And in a world increasingly dominated by AI and virtual technologies, engaging with our imaginations can play a more important role than we might realize.

“I think more than ever people need to embrace the arts because we don’t know how much time we have left or how bad things can get,” said Lucé Tomlin-Brenner, a queer comedian and filmmaker who hosts the film-comedy show “Video Visions” at Highland Park video rental store Vidéothèque.

“We have to get into the practice of recognizing that what makes us feel free and joyful matters because that will strengthen us for the hard times,” she said. “If we’re just despairing, if we feel like we’re trapped already, then they’ve won because we’re not using our voices or our talents to change our realities.”

So this Pride Month, along with celebrating via boozy drag brunches and dancing at the Pink Pony Club until the sun rises, partake in L.A.-area activities that serve as a lifeline for queer community and creativity.

From learning how to use oil paints to discovering queer films streaming networks ignore and sewing your own Pride flag, opportunities abound throughout June to connect with your imagination and help ensure the survival and growth of local arts programs.

Josh Klinghoffer, the former Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist, accepted a plea deal after facing a vehicular manslaughter charge.

Klinghoffer, 45, was charged in the death of Israel Sanchez in March after a collision last year in Alhambra. Klinghoffer was driving a black GMC Yukon at the corner of West Main Street and South Meridian Avenue when he turned left at the intersection while 47-year-old Sanchez was walking in a marked crosswalk. Klinghoffer then struck and killed Sanchez.

On Wednesday in court in Alhambra, Klinghoffer pleaded no contest to misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter without gross negligence. He was sentenced to 60 days of community labor and one year of informal probation. He will also have to take a driver safety course and pay restitution.

During the hearing, the prosecutor told Klinghoffer, “If you continue to drive while distracted, and as a result of your driving someone is killed, you can be charged with murder.”

Sanchez’s family sued Klinghoffer for wrongful death after the incident, alleging that Klinghoffer was on his phone at the time of the collision. “Video of the incident shows that defendant Josh Adam Klinghoffer made no braking or slowing motion until after he fatally struck Israel Sanchez, indicating that Defendant was likely driving while distracted.”

“This horrible outcome was foreseeable and demonstrates a willful disregard for the rights and safety of others,” the suit continued.

Klinghoffer’s attorney in the civil suit, Andrew Brettler, said in a statement to The Times last year, “After Josh struck this pedestrian in the intersection, he immediately pulled over, stopped the car, called 911 and waited until police and the ambulance arrived. Obviously, he’s cooperating with the police throughout the traffic investigation. This was purely a tragic accident.”

Klinghoffer played guitar with the Red Hot Chili Peppers from 2009 to 2019, when longtime guitarist John Frusciante returned. Klinghoffer was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame with the band in 2012. He has since performed as a member of Jane’s Addiction and Pearl Jam.

A cadre of civil rights groups brought a lawsuit late Wednesday challenging Riverside County’s use of cash bail to detain people as they await trial, citing squalid conditions inside the county’s jails where dozens of inmates have died in recent years.

The class-action suit is the latest to challenge the legality of cash bail systems in California after a 2021 state Supreme Court ruling found it is unconstitutional to jail defendants solely because of their inability to pay their way out from behind bars.

“Every day, Riverside County imprisons people based on nothing more than their inability to pay an arbitrary, pre-set amount of cash that Defendants demand for their release,” attorneys for the civil rights groups argue in the 80-page complaint. “These individuals are not detained because they are too dangerous to release: The government would release them right away if they could pay. They are detained simply because they are too poor to purchase their freedom.”

The suit was brought by the Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit Civil Rights Corps, Public Justice in Oakland and several other law firms on behalf of two people incarcerated in Riverside County jails and two local faith leaders. It names as defendants the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department, Sheriff Chad Bianco, the Riverside County Superior Court system and the county.

Lt. Deirdre Vickers, a sheriff’s department spokesperson, said she could not comment on pending litigation, as did a representative for the county court system. The county executive’s office did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

While the suit argues money bail is unconstitutional across California and seeks an injunction ending its use, attorneys said they are focusing on Riverside County following a spate of deaths in the jails in 2022. That year, Riverside County recorded 18 inmate fatalities, the highest number in a decade.

The following year, California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta, a Democrat, opened what remains an ongoing investigation into complaints about living conditions in the county jails and allegations that deputies use excessive force against detainees.

Inmate deaths have fallen since 2022. The county reported 13 jail fatalities in 2023 and six last year, according to Vickers.

Bianco — a law-and-order conservative who has joined a crowded field of Democrats to succeed Gov. Gavin Newsom in the 2026 election — has previously dismissed the state’s investigation into his jails as politically motivated. Bianco maintains the jail deaths, many of which authorities attribute to drug overdoses and suicides, are a reflection of the inmates’ life choices rather than a sign of any problem with the jail system.

“Every single one of these inmate deaths was out of anyone’s control,” Bianco said after news of the state investigation broke. “The fact of the matter is that they just happened to be in our custody.”

The cash bail system has deep roots in the U.S. as a means of pressuring defendants to show up for scheduled court appearances. Attend trial, and the sizable cash payments are returned to you or your family; skip court, and you forfeit your deposit.

Critics argue it effectively creates a two-tiered justice system, allowing wealthy defendants to pay their way out while awaiting trial, and leaving low-income defendants stuck behind bars. Proponents of eliminating the bail system contend that decisions about whether to jail defendants ahead of trial should be based on the severity of their crimes and the risk they pose to public safety, and not hinge on their income status.

Brian Hardingham, a senior attorney with Public Justice, said people sometimes spend days in jail awaiting their first court appearance, only for a prosecutor to decline to file a case presented by local police. That stint behind bars can have an outsize effect on people’s lives, especially if they are low-income, Hardingham said.

“You meet people with 6-month-old kids in jail who, if they’re lucky, there is a partner or a parent or someone who can watch their kids,” he said, adding that even a brief stretch in a county jail can result in people losing their job, vehicle or even their residence.

Supporters of the cash bail system, including many law enforcement groups, say that doing away with it would leave too many defendants free to potentially flee and re-offend, leading to crime spikes.

The issue grew increasingly controversial during the COVID-19 pandemic, when the virus spread with deadly consequences through the state’s jails and prisons. Los Angeles County instituted a zero-bail policy for most offenses in 2020, trying to reduce jail crowding at a time when the virus was spreading rapidly. That policy was rescinded in June 2022.

Despite concerns from police groups, a 2023 report to the L.A. County Board of Supervisors showed re-arrest and failure-to-appear rates remained relatively static among those freed pre-trial while the zero-bail policy was in place.

A similar lawsuit to the one filed against Riverside County prompted Los Angeles County court officials to revise their bail policies in 2023. Under the new system, the vast majority of defendants accused of misdemeanors or nonviolent felonies are now cited and released, or freed under specified conditions after a judge reviews their case. Defendants accused of serious offenses, including murder, manslaughter, rape and most types of assault, still face a stiff cash bail schedule.

Fears that the new system would result in a crime spike have not been borne out. Total crime in areas patrolled by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department fell by about 2% in 2024, the first calendar year the reduced bail policy was in place, according to department data. The city of Los Angeles has seen significant decreases in the number of robberies, property crimes and aggravated assaults committed this year, as of mid-May, records show.

Given the 2021 state Supreme Court ruling and the changes in Los Angeles, Hardingham said he is hopeful other counties will shift their bail policies without having to engage in a court fight.

“We would hope that they would be willing to see the writing on the wall and make the changes that are necessary,” he said.

Tutu Atwell played quarterback. He played receiver, and he also played on defense.

Years before diminutive and speedy Atwell matured into an NFL prospect, the Rams receiver played flag football.

Could anybody stop him?

“Nah, nah,” Atwell said, chuckling.

So Atwell, a 2021 second-round draft pick who will earn $10 million this season, said he would be cool and fun if he got the opportunity in a few years to try out for the 2028 U.S. Olympic flag football team.

Atwell echoed the feelings of Minnesota Vikings star receiver Justin Jefferson and other players in the league since NFL owners last week approved a resolution that would allow them to try out for flag football. The resolution limits only one player per NFL team to play for each national team in the Los Angeles Games.

NFL players would compete for spots with others already playing flag football.

“It’s great,” Rams coach Sean McVay said. “If that’s something that players say they want to be able to do, then I think it’s a really cool experience for them to be able to be a part of while also acknowledging that, man, there are some other guys that have been doing it.

“I’m not going to pretend to understand the nuances tactically and what that game entails, but I think it’s good. I think it’s great.”

Current flag football players might feel otherwise about an influx of NFL talent.

“This is a sport that we’ve played for a long time, and we feel like we are the best at it and we don’t need other guys,” Darrell Doucette III, the quarterback for U.S. men’s teams that have won five consecutive world championships, recently told the Washington Post. “But we all have one goal in mind, and that’s to represent our country.

“We’re definitely open to all competition. If those guys come in and ball out and they’re better than us, hats off to them. Go win that gold medal for our country.”

Details regarding NFL players’ participation in the Olympics still must be worked out by the NFL, the NFL Players Assn., the International Federation of American Football (IFAF) and national governing bodies.

Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford, one of the top passers in NFL history, grinned broadly when asked about playing flag football in the Olympics. Stafford would be 40.

“Sure,” he said, laughing. “I mean, nobody’s going to want me to, but yeah, sure. It’d be fun. I’ll coach.”

Etc.

The Rams signed offensive lineman David Quessenberry to a one-year contract, the team announced Thursday. Quessenberry appeared in 84 games with the Houston Texas (2017), Tennessee Titans (2018-21), Buffalo Bills (2022) and Minnesota Vikings (2023-24). The Encinitas, Calif., native was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma after being drafted in 2014 but underwent his last cancer treatment in 2017. He was the 2017 recipient of the George Halas Award, given by the Pro Football Writers of America to an NFL player, coach or staff member who succeeds in the face of adversity.

May 29 (UPI) — Hungry Gazans broke into an aid warehouse in central Gaza on Wednesday, which caused two reported deaths, according to officials with the U.N. World Food Program.

“Hordes of hungry people broke into WFP’s Al-Ghafari warehouse in Deir Al-Balah, central Gaza, in search of food supplies that were pre-positioned for distribution,” the WFP said Wednesday in a prepared statement.

“Humanitarian needs have spiraled out of control after 80 days of complete blockade of all food assistance and other aid into Gaza,” the WFP said.

The agency said “alarming and deteriorating conditions” in Gaza and a limited availability of humanitarian aid to “hungry people in desperate need of assistance” have increased risks associated with aid distribution.

“Gaza needs an immediate scale-up of food assistance,” the WFP said. “This is the only way to reassure people that they will not starve.”

The WFP said initial reports indicate two died and several more were injured, but those reports were not confirmed as of Wednesday night.

Another 121 trucks owned by the United Nations and international organizations carrying flour, food and other aid entered Gaza on Wednesday, the BBC reported.

Wednesday’s warehouse incident occurred after Gazans overwhelmed two aid distribution sites in southern Gaza on Tuesday.

The Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry reported three Gazans were killed, 46 injured and seven others were missing after Israel Defense Forces fired warning shots into the air as crowds of hungry Gazans swarmed over one of the aid distribution sites, NBC News reported.

The U.N. Human Rights Office said 47 people were injured during Tuesday’s aid-distribution chaos and gunfire from Israel Defense Forces caused most of the injuries.

IDF and Gaza Humanitarian Foundation officials initially denied the reports and said no one was injured or killed during the first three days of food and aid distribution.

IDF soldiers fired into the air and did not shoot towards people, an IDF spokesperson told the BBC. The IDF is investigating the incident.

They said the GHF and IDF are preventing Hamas militants from stealing the aid from four distribution sites in southern and central Gaza, which Hamas has denied, the BBC reported.

The U.S.-supported GHF is in charge of distributing aid within Gaza after Israel ended an 11-week blockade of all aid into the war-torn Gaza Strip after a recent cease-fire deal collapsed.

At least four distribution points in southern Gaza are being used to deliver aid to Gazans, and more distribution sites are to be added, NBC News reported.