Israel has repeatedly bombed Syria it says to protect the Druze minority from violence by pro-government forces, a stance the Syrian Druze community rejects. Syrian forces have reached an agreement with Druze leaders to improve security, ending days of fighting.

Good morning, and welcome to the Essential California newsletter. It’s Sunday, May 4. I’m your host, Andrew J. Campa. Here’s what you need to know:

Celebrate mom by taking her to a fantastic brunch

With Mother’s Day a week away, it’s a good time to preview suitable spots for celebrating mom.

The Los Angeles Times’ Food Team has, of course, aided the cause with its recommendations.

They picked their 32 Best Weekend Brunch Spots in Los Angeles. They include old favorites such as tart and bubbly mimosas, tasty Bloody Marys and bountiful Benedicts. But there are other delights, from seafood towers to stacked sandwiches and caviar service.

The locales range from breakfast nooks in Long Beach, to drinks in Pasadena and savory treats along the way on the Westside and in Inglewood.

Of course, you don’t need a special occasion to enjoy brunch, just an appetite, a little sense of adventure and an appreciation of quality.

So, here’s a sumptuous preview from that list. Of course, check out the entire article for all the details.

(Danielle Dorsey / Los Angeles Times)

Alder & Sage (Long Beach)

Our Danielle Dorsey selected this Kerstin Kansteiner Retro Row cafe, which buzzes with locals picking up daily pistachio-rose cold brews. Others settle in for a few hours of remote work on the sandy wraparound patio.

On weekends, the Streamline-style building is packed for brunch, with the restaurant serving as a popular stop before or after visiting nearby thrift stores or the beach.

The brunch menu skews seasonal with soyrizo hash, French toast bedecked with apple compote and rosemary maple syrup, and quiche threaded with mushrooms and leeks.

Cocktails encompass soju Bloody Marys, micheladas, a couple of low-ABV spritzes and mimosas that you can order with a flight of three juices, plus wine by the glass and bottle. A handful of nonalcoholic options are available, including a convincing mojito mocktail.

(Jenn Harris / Los Angeles Times )

Pez Coastal Kitchen (Pasadena)

The brunch menu at Bret Thompson and Lucy Thompson-Ramirez’s Pasadena restaurant is a celebration of seafood, with a grand chilled tower, ceviche, oysters and caviar that impressed my colleague Jenn Harris.

There’s a whole fried fish, and you can opt for smoked salmon on your eggs Benedict biscuit or avocado toast.

The bar slings spritzes, build-your-own mimosas and a handful of brunch-appropriate cocktails.

But Thompson has managed to create a menu that also will appeal to the diner looking for French toast or a breakfast sandwich.

Harris believes in starting brunch with the bacon flight, a wooden plank of four slabs of bacon rubbed with various flavorings.

Recently there was apple-cinnamon bacon, an apricot mustard variety and chipotle honey. The French toast fingers are more of a meal than the name might suggest, with tiles of perfect French toast that are crisp around all the edges and soft and tender in the middle.

The dish is scattered with toasted walnuts and slices of sweet, jammy banana and a drizzle of salted caramel sauce. There should be at least one order on every table.

Saltie Girl (West Hollywood)

Seafood lovers, climb aboard, says my colleague Stephanie Breijo.

Ever since docking in West Hollywood, the Boston-founded, seafood-slinging Saltie Girl has served some of L.A.’s best and most indulgent shellfish towers, lobster rolls and sea-tinged pastas, sandwiches and toasts — in addition to a tinned-fish list that’s roughly 150 options long.

But brunch is an especially good time to set sail, with dishes such as Eggs & Eggs, where caviar and crème fraîche top silken scrambled eggs; meaty hunks of fried lobster complement a fluffy-interiored waffle with spicy maple syrup and sweet corn butter; and the Benedicts can involve caviar, smoked salmon or lobster.

But one item worth launching a thousand ships isn’t seafood-focused at all: Don’t miss the cinnamon roll sweet buns — made by Ben Sidell’s SweetBoy bakery — which receive a tableside pour of a thick sweet-salty toffee syrup that will have your whole brunch party licking the mini cake stand clean.

Please check out the entire list here.

The week’s biggest stories

(Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)

Trump administration policies and reactions

Crime, courts and policing

Los Angeles fires and recovery

Education and testing

More big stories

Get unlimited access to the Los Angeles Times. Subscribe here.

Column One

Column One is The Times’ home for narrative and long-form journalism. Here’s a great piece from this past week:

Two men lay in a dark street in Pomona. The gunshot wounds made clear how they died. Their tattoos offered clues about how they lived: Swastikas. Lightning bolts. Iron crosses. The words “Blood and Honor” and “Death Squad.” The slain men were part of a white supremacist gang called Public Enemy Number 1, or PEN1. Prosecutors say they were killed in 2022 by members of their own crew, acting on orders from the Aryan Brotherhood, a syndicate with vast influence over white inmates in California prisons.

More great reads

How can we make this newsletter more useful? Send comments to [email protected].

For your weekend

(Illustrations by Lindsey Made This; photograph by Vivien Killilea / Getty Images for IMDb)

Going out

Staying in

L.A. Affairs

Get wrapped up in tantalizing stories about dating, relationships and marriage.

(Alexander Vidal / For The Times)

She was tired of working too many hours, of battling chronic illness and running ultramarathons. She couldn’t find love in New York, so why would Los Angeles be any different? Then one day, she went paddleboarding for first the time in Laguna Beach and found an unexpected neighbor, a 40-ton gray whale. The visit was a religious experience. Coming back to the shore, she gained new perspective and happened to run into James, an uncomplicated big guy who ran a bike shop. Would she fall for this other gentle giant, or is the perfect man her white whale?

Have a great weekend, from the Essential California team

Andrew J. Campa, reporter
Check our top stories, topics and the latest articles on latimes.com.

Francesca Albanese, the United Nations special rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territory, talks to Al Jazeera following her controversial reappointment. She discusses Germany’s threats of arrest and cancelled university events. Albanese also argues that Israel’s actions in Gaza, including the blockade of aid and rejection of UN oversight, violate the UN Charter. Despite being labelled “anti-Semitic” and accused of supporting “terrorism”, she denies all allegations and says the real issue is the suppression of critical voices.

A CRICKETER left a commentator stunned after his PHONE fell out of his pocket while taking a run.

Tom Bailey may not have been completely ready to bat when he was called upon as No.10 in Lancashire‘s clash with Gloucestershire.

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The County Championship clash was taking place at the Old Trafford Cricket Ground.

Bailey, 34, would have started the match hoping to help Lancashire turn around their poor start to the season, which has been three defeats.

However, he caught the eye while he was batting as his phone fell from his pocket during a run.

As he attempted to score his first runs of his innings, the mobile fell at the non-striker’s end just a few feet from the umpire.

The phone was picked up by bowler Josh Shaw but it was not clear if he handed it to the umpire or back to Bailey.

The moment left the commentators stunned.

One said: “Something has dropped out of his pocket. I think it’s his mobile phone.”

While the other responded: “No way.”

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It was then said: “As much as it is hilarious and we are laughing about it, I almost wonder if that’s going to have to be reported.

“The fact that he was out in the middle, with a mobile phone in his pocket haha.”

The moment was caught on camera and has gone viral on social media.

Fans could not help but see the funny side as they shared their reaction.

Former England cricket ace Alex Tudor reacted with a face-palm emoji.

A fan wrote: “So village.”

A second commented: “Rubbish thigh pad.”

Another added: “Must be obsessed with counting his steps.”

Despite having his phone in his pocket, Bailey managed to score a respectable 22 runs not out.

Lancashire finished their first innings with a score of 450 runs with Marcus Harris the pick with 167 runs off 269 balls.

What do you think would happen, I asked my daughter, a nurse practitioner who works in addiction medicine, if Narcan, the drug that reverses opiate overdoses, were suddenly to disappear from pharmacy shelves?

“More people would die of overdoses,” she replied. Pretty simple.

Now, maybe you are the sort of person who thinks it’s OK for people to die from overdose because they shouldn’t be taking drugs like fentanyl in the first place. If you are that callous, I don’t have much to say to you.

But if you consider addiction a disease, as most medical experts do, then you would certainly be in favor of anything that helps preserve lives, and helps avoid the grief of those whose loved ones have died accidentally from a drug overdose.

And if you had spent, say, 14 years as a heroin addict, you would surely push as hard as you could to make Narcan, the trade name of naloxone, as widely available as possible, especially at a moment when fentanyl continues to kill Americans in depressingly high numbers.

That, at any rate, is what I would expect from Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the aforementioned heroin addict. However, a leaked version of President Trump’s budget proposes cutting the department’s $56-million program that distributes naloxone kits and trains people on how to use them.

The leaked document is a preliminary plan, and Kennedy has not specifically addressed the proposed cut. In fact, in late April at a drug summit in Nashville, he spoke about his addiction and acknowledged that solving the addiction crisis requires strategies including maintenance treatments using suboxone and methadone, which lessen drug cravings; fentanyl detectors to prevent unwitting ingestion of the drug; and Narcan, which has saved countless lives.

But in the face of numerous news reports about the proposed cuts, Kennedy has not offered full-throated, public support for the naloxone program. Maybe he simply doesn’t have time, busy as he’s been overseeing what the Washington Post described as “a sweeping purge of the agencies that oversee government health programs.”

In his quest to “make America healthy again,” Kennedy — with Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency — has slashed 20,000 of the agency’s 82,000 employees for an estimated annual savings of $1.8 billion. Here are some of the Health and Human Services programs that have vanished amid the cost-cutting frenzy:

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s lead poisoning prevention staff was sacked. “They played a key role in addressing lead contamination in applesauce pouches,” reported the Post.

The black lung screening program for coal miners was briefly killed off before an outcry led to a temporary reinstatement.

Programs on smoking cessation, diabetes prevention and cancer screenings have all been canceled.

The Food and Drug Administration lost senior veterinarians who worked to keep milk and pet food safe during the bird flu outbreak.

Scientists at the U.S. labs that track sexually transmitted diseases, such as drug-resistant gonorrhea and viral hepatitis, were laid off.

The list goes on. But the most worrisome development in all this bloodletting is how Kennedy’s antipathy toward vaccines is playing out.

For years, he has promoted conspiracy theories and undermined public confidence in vaccines.

Last month, he announced that in September, he will reveal the cause of autism, which has eluded actual experts for decades.

Chillingly, he has reportedly hired David Geier, who has no medical license, no scientific training and has been described as a “vaccine cynic and fraudster,” to conduct a study on whether vaccines and autism are linked. This is insanity masquerading as science.

The question has been studied, you might say, almost to death. The scientific consensus is clear — vaccines do not cause autism.

But can you imagine the damage Kennedy’s war on vaccines is going to do to the health of American children? These days, it takes very little to shake the public’s faith in vaccines.

After all, the misconception about vaccines and autism took flight after a single, fraudulent 1998 study involving only 12 children. The study was retracted, and its author Andrew Wakefield, guilty of ethical breaches and scientific misconduct, lost his medical license over it.

And yet the lie lives on.

Just last week, Kennedy told American parents to “do your own research” on vaccines as if the average American mother is capable of running a double-blind study at her kitchen table in her abundant downtime.

“It seems the goal of this administration is to prove that vaccines cause autism, even though they don’t,” Autism Science Foundation president Alison Singer told the Post. “They are starting with the conclusion and looking to prove it. That’s not how science is done.”

We are at a sad moment in American history for so many reasons. But putting a charlatan like Kennedy in charge of the nation’s health is like hiring an arsonist as your fire chief. It’s not going to end well.

Bluesky: @rabcarian.bsky.social Threads: @rabcarian

Bryson DeChambeau ended a run of near misses by cruising to his first LIV Golf win of the season in South Korea.

The American started the final day with a four-shot lead and did not let up as he secured his first win at any tournament since last year’s US Open.

The 31-year-old made six birdies on the back nine on Sunday to finish with a six-under 66 for a 19-under total.

That put him two shots ahead of compatriot Charles Howell III, who finished with a nine-under 63, with another American, Talor Gooch, three shots further back after a closing 66.

DeChambeau had endured three tough finishes over the past month, falling out of contention on the final day of the LIV events in Miami and Mexico City, as well as the Masters.

The two-time major winner finished fifth in Miami, in a tie for second in Mexico, and then tied for fifth as Rory McIlroy triumphed at Augusta.

But DeChambeau held his nerve on Sunday to claim his third LIV win overall and his first since September 2023.

“I’ve been playing great golf, just haven’t gotten the job done,” he said.

“That was a lot of tension and I’m glad I was able to step up to the plate and get it done.”

Israeli soldiers and settlers have harassed a Palestinian activist featured in a recent BBC documentary that has received praise for shedding light on the plight of Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.

As the world’s attention has been fixed on Israel’s 18-month war on Gaza, settler attacks against Palestinians in the West Bank and occupied East Jerusalem have spiked, forcing Palestinians to flee their homes. A lack of Israeli police action has further emboldened settlers, who cite the Torah in claiming rights over Palestinian lands.

Issa Amro, who was featured in The Settlers documentary made by British-American journalist and broadcaster Louis Theroux, released footage online showing how armed soldiers and settlers raided his house in Hebron in the occupied West Bank.

Amro said police also threatened him with arrest and told him not to file a complaint in what he said is another instance of apartheid imposed by Israel in the West Bank. Rights groups, including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, have accused Israel of practising apartheid in occupied territory.

Amro added on Sunday that the Israeli settlers who attacked him a day earlier told him United States President Donald Trump backed them. The settlers felt “emboldened because of the Trump administration’s blind support”, the activist said.

Theroux said he and his team have remained in regular contact with Amro.

. @Issaamro who featured in The Settlers has posted videos of his latest harassment by settlers and soldiers. Our team has been in regular contact with him since the documentary and over the last 24 hours. We are continuing to monitor the situation. https://t.co/asEWKkVX5h

— Louis Theroux (@louistheroux) May 4, 2025

The BBC documentary, a follow-up to Theroux’s 2012 film The Ultra Zionists, reflects on how the situation has evolved in occupied Palestinian territory.

While conducting interviews with Palestinian and Israeli figures, the documentary explored how the settler population has grown significantly and how new military outposts and Israeli infrastructure have expanded across Palestinian territories, often with direct state support.

It delves into the religious and ideological motivations behind the Israeli expansion, which has led to mass displacement of Palestinians and violent clashes, and it questions the legality and morality of the occupation as courts rule that it undermines international laws and norms.

“You bring Jewish families [to the occupied West Bank], you live Jewish life, and this will bring light instead of darkness. And this is how the state of Israel was established, and this is what we want to do in Gaza,” Daniella Weiss, a key member of the Israeli settler movement for decades, says in the documentary.

Weiss, who has enjoyed support from a number of Israeli rabbis as well, said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is “happy” about the settler expansion. Netanyahu has opposed the Palestinian sovereignty over Gaza and occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.

Settlers are Israeli citizens who live on private Palestinian land in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. They now number more than 700,000. All Israeli settlements are considered illegal under international law.

Settlements and their expansions are seen as the biggest hurdle in the realisation of a sovereign and independent Palestinian state living side by side with Israel.

The United Nations General Assembly last year called on Israel to end its occupation of Palestinian territory. This came months after the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that the Israeli presence in Palestinian territory is ‘”unlawful”.

Theroux himself was harassed as well when making part of the documentary in Hebron when Israeli soldiers approached him and tried to make him leave the area.

The harassment of Amro comes shortly after Hamdan Ballal, the Palestinian co-director of the Oscar-winning documentary No Other Land, was attacked by Israeli settlers in his home in the West Bank village of Susya.

Armed and masked settlers vandalised his home and vehicle in late March and injured Ballal. While receiving treatment in an ambulance, Israeli soldiers blindfolded and arrested the filmmaker, who was later released without charge.

Like the harassment of Amro on Saturday, that attack was also seen as retaliation for the documentary’s international acclaim and its efforts to show the struggles of Palestinians in the West Bank.

The incidents have also further highlighted the dangers faced by journalists and filmmakers under Israeli occupation at a time when Israel has killed more than 200 media workers in the Gaza Strip.

The entire James Bond Collection comprising 25 Eon-produced films will be available to stream for a limited time.

James Bond enthusiasts will be excited to hear that MGM+ is set to release the entire James Bond Collection, featuring all 25 Eon films, for streaming soon. The film series will be accessible for a limited period on MGM+ in 32 countries.

UK viewers can access the MGM+ streaming service as an add-on via Amazon Prime Video. The service is already a hit among Outlander fans who watch the show through this platform.

While there are actually 27 James Bond films in total, including 1967’s Casino Royale and 1983’s Never Say Never Again produced by other companies, the official collection from Eon, the James Bond production company, consists of 25 films.

This announcement follows Amazon MGM Studios’ complete takeover of the Bond franchise, with long-standing producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G Wilson stepping down, reports Surrey Live.

Try MGM+ free for a week

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Amazon/MGM+

Get MGM+ here

Telly fans can get seven days of free access to binge top series like Outlander with a free trial of Amazon Prime’s MGM+ channel.

This also includes a 30-day free trial of Amazon Prime, just remember to cancel at the end and you won’t be charged

How many actors have played James Bond?

A total of seven actors have portrayed James Bond, with Sean Connery being the first to take on the iconic 007 role in 1962.

After Connery, David Niven, George Lazenby, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton, and Pierce Brosnan assumed the role.

Daniel Craig was the most recent actor to play the part, with the next Bond yet to be revealed.

All 25 James Bond films in order

Dr. No – Sean Connery

From Russia with Love – Sean Connery

Goldfinger – Sean Connery

Thunderball – Sean Connery

You Only Live Twice – Sean Connery

On Her Majesty’s Secret Service – George Lazenby

Diamonds Are Forever – Sean Connery

Live and Let Die – Roger Moore

The Man with the Golden Gun – Roger Moore

The Spy Who Loved Me – Roger Moore

Moonraker – Roger Moore

For Your Eyes Only – Roger Moore

Octopussy – Roger Moore

A View to Kill – Roger Moore

The Living Daylights – Timothy Dalton

Licence to Kill – Timothy Dalton

GoldenEye – Pierce Brosnan

Tomorrow Never Dies – Pierce Brosnan

The World Is Not Enough – Pierce Brosnan

Die Another Day – Pierce Brosnan

Casino Royale – Daniel Craig

Quantum of Solace – Daniel Craig

Skyfall – Daniel Craig

Spectre – Daniel Craig

No Time to Die – Daniel Craig

When is The James Bond Collection coming to MGM+?

The James Bond Collection will be available for streaming from June 1, 2025.

Viewers can indulge in all 25 iconic James Bond films, spanning from Sean Connery’s Dr No. to Daniel Craig’s No Time to Die.

The collection joins MGM+’s growing roster of exclusive series and blockbuster movie franchises, including eagerly awaited upcoming series like Outlander: Blood of My Blood and The Institute, as well as MGM catalogue classics such as Rocky, Legally Blonde, Teen Wolf and Stargate.

How can UK viewers access MGM+?

In the UK, MGM+ can be accessed as an additional subscription via Prime Video at a cost of £5.99 per month.

MGM+ boasts a lineup of exclusive original series, blockbuster movies, classic film franchises and legacy hit series, all available on demand.

At least seven people were killed and 20 injured after a Doctors Without Borders hospital was bombed in Old Fangak, South Sudan. MSF condemned the attack as ‘a clear violation of international humanitarian law’ as fears grow of a return to civil war.

For years, President Trump has blamed “communists” for his legal and political troubles. Now, the second Trump administration is deploying that same historically loaded label to cast his opponents — from judges to educators — as threats to American identity, culture and values.

Why? Trump explained the strategy last year when he described how he planned to defeat his Democratic opponent, then-Vice President Kamala Harris, in the presidential election.

“All we have to do is define our opponent as being a communist or a socialist or somebody who is going to destroy our country,” he told reporters at his New Jersey golf club in August.

Trump did just that — branding Harris as “Comrade Kamala” — and he won in November. Though slightly more than half of voters cast ballots against him, he won the assent of more than 77 million Americans — 49.8% of the vote. And Trump is carrying that strategy into his second term.

Not actually ‘communism’

In 2025, communism wields big influence in countries such as China, Vietnam, North Korea and Cuba. But not the United States.

“The core of communism is the belief that governments can do better than markets in providing goods and services. There are very, very few people in the West who seriously believe that,” said Raymond Robertson of the Texas A&M University Bush School of Government & Public Service. “Unless they are arguing that the government should run U.S. Steel and Tesla, they are simply not communists.”

The word “communist,” however, can carry great emotional power as a rhetorical tool, even now. It’s all the more potent as a pejorative — though frequently inaccurate, even dangerous — amid the contemporary flash of social media and misinformation. After all, the 20th century fear and paranoia of the Russian Revolution, the Red Scare, World War II, McCarthyism and the Cold War are fading into the past.

But Trump — 78 and famous for labeling his opponents, often insultingly — remembers.

“We cannot allow a handful of communist radical-left judges to obstruct the enforcement of our laws,” Trump said Tuesday in Michigan while marking the first 100 days of his second term. The White House did not reply to a request for what Trump means when he calls someone a “communist.”

The timing of his use of “communist” is worth noting.

Trump’s Michigan speech came during a week of dicey economic and political news. Days earlier, the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs published a poll showing that more Americans disagree with Trump’s priorities so far than agree with them, and that many Republicans are ambivalent about his choices of focus. After the speech, the government reported that the economy shrank during the first quarter of 2025 as Trump’s tariffs upend global trade.

On Thursday, senior presidential aide Stephen Miller stepped to the White House lectern and uttered the same c-word four times in about 35 minutes during a denunciation of past policies on transgender, diversity and immigration issues.

“These are a few of the areas in which President Trump has fought the cancerous, communist woke culture that was destroying this country,” Miller told reporters.

His collection of words offered a selection of clickbait for social media users, as well as terms that could catch the attention of older Americans. Voters over age 45 narrowly voted for Trump over his Democratic rivals in 2020 and 2024.

Smack in the middle of Miller’s sentence: “communist.”

“It tends to be a term that is loaded with negative affect, particularly for older Americans who grew up during the Cold War,” said Jacob Neiheisel, a political communications expert at the University at Buffalo. “Appending emotionally-laden terms to political adversaries is a way to minimize their legitimacy in the eyes of the public and paint them in a negative light.”

Red Scare figure influenced a young Trump

The perception that communists could influence or even obliterate the United States hovered over the country for decades and drove some of the country’s ugliest chapters.

The years after World War I and the Russian Revolution in 1917, along with a wave of immigrants, led to what’s known as the Red Scare of 1920, a period of intense paranoia about the potential for a communist-led revolution in America.

McCarthyism after World War II meant the hunt for supposed communists. It’s named for Sen. Joseph McCarthy, the Wisconsin Republican who conducted televised hearings at the dawn of the Cold War that drove anti-communist fears to new heights with a series of threats, innuendos and untruths.

Culturally, the merest suggestion that someone was “soft” on communism could end careers and ruin lives. Blacklists of purported communists proliferated in Hollywood and beyond. McCarthy fell into disgrace and died in 1957.

The senator’s chief counsel during the hearings, Roy Cohn, became Trump’s mentor and fixer in the 1980s and 1990s, when Trump rose as a real estate mogul in New York. The Cold War was more than three decades old. The threat of nuclear war was pervasive.

Communism started to collapse in 1989, and the Soviet Union was dissolved two years later. It’s now Russia, led by President Vladimir Putin — still authoritarian but no longer communist.

But communism — at least in one form — lives on in China, with which Trump is waging a trade war that could result in fewer and costlier products in the United States. By week’s end, Trump was acknowledging the potential consequences of his government stepping in: Americans might soon not be able to buy what they want, or they might be forced to pay more. He insisted China would be hurt more by the tariffs.

The real modern debate, Robertson says, is not between capitalism and communism, but about how much the government needs to step in — and when. He suggests that Trump is not really debating communism versus capitalism anyway.

“Calling people who advocate for slightly more government involvement ‘communists’ is typical misleading political rhetoric that, unfortunately, works really well with busy voters who do not have a lot of time to think about technical definitions and economic paradigms,” he said in an email. “It is also really helpful [to Trump] because it is inflammatory, making people angry, which can be addictive.”

Kellman writes for the Associated Press.

Every time Dearica Hamby substitutes out of a game or goes into a timeout, she tells Rae Burrell the same thing:

Stay ready.

“She’s playing behind two of the best guards in this league, so it’s very hard to find consistent minutes, especially with the format of the league,” Hamby said. “… But I try to remind her every game, because for me, I’ve been a role player. I’ve been that player that wanted to fight for more and felt like they deserved more.”

And on Feb. 21, Burrell got the opportunity she had been waiting on ever since she signed to Unrivaled, the three-on-three women’s basketball league started up by WNBA players Napheesa Collier and Breanna Stewart. Vinyl Basketball Club, the team featuring Burrell and Hamby, had blown a fourth quarter lead to the Mist. Hamby immediately got the lead back on a fast break layup and from there, Burrell took over.

Vinyl’s Dearica Hamby catches a rebound in front of teammate Rae Burrell and Rose’s Azura Stevens during an Unrivaled game on Jan. 17 in Medley, Fla.

(Marta Lavandier / Associated Press)

She went coast-to-coast off the inbound, slashing her way to the rim and hitting a floater. During the next possession, Burrell froze her defender with a head fake that opened up just enough space for her to lay it up. Then, she drained a three. Hamby tried to ice the game with a layup on the Vinyl’s ensuing possession, but her shot banked off the glass and bounced off the front of the rim. The Mist’s Stewart ran the floor, but her layup attempt rimmed out and landed right into the hands of Hamby, who launched a perfectly placed pass from one free throw line to the other for Burrell’s ninth consecutive point — the game winner.

“I just feel like that was like the perfect ending to the game,” Burrell said. “Especially because I feel like I was hitting her throughout the game, and then for her to give me that assist to my first win in Unrivaled as well, it was a special moment for me.”

Hamby assisted Burrell on the final three scores of that game, a testament to how much the chemistry between the two Sparks teammates has grown during the offseason. But there’s also something deeper there: a friendship that predates their time with Unrivaled and the Sparks.

Before being traded to the Sparks in 2023, Hamby was a member of the Las Vegas Aces and she’d occasionally cross paths with Burrell, a Las Vegas native who at the time was a five-star high school recruit.

“She was always just kind of around, but we didn’t have a relationship,” Hamby recalled.

Burrell would go on to star at the University of Tennessee for four years before being drafted ninth overall by the Sparks in the 2022 WNBA draft. Once Hamby was acquired by the Sparks a year later, the two still weren’t close but would carpool on drives back to Vegas. In the event that only one of them was making the four-hour trip, they’d ask each other for favors such as taking their dog with them.

Hamby says the friendship really began to take off last season, when she lived three doors down from Burrell in team housing and they began spending a lot more time together.

“I can’t give you like a pinpoint moment,” Hamby said. “But we’ve just kind of gravitated towards each other.”

Vinyl wing Rae Burrell, center, tries to slip past pressure from Lunar Owls forward Napheesa Collier, left, and wing Allisha Gray during their Unrivaled semifinal game on March 16 in Medley, Fla.

(Rebecca Blackwell / Associated Press)

The two also lived near each other at Miami-based Unrivaled, which has brought them even closer. Hamby sometimes popped in on Burrell’s workouts. Burrell often visited Hamby and her two kids at her apartment. Hamby typically cooked — spaghetti and meatballs is one dish that Burrell name dropped — while Burrell baked cookies.

That chemistry carries over onto the court. Burrell loves running the pick-and-roll after learning to read where Hamby’s going to be and what moves she likes to get to. Hamby’s also constantly communicating on the floor, telling Burrell when to wait, when to come off a screen, when to stay on it or when to pass.

“The thing about Dearica, she never stops talking,” Burrell said. “So when I’m on the floor with her, it’s just great because she’s always just communicating what play she wants to be run. It’s just very easy to play with her.”

Burrell refers to Hamby as her mom on the team. She’s always going to her for advice, and Hamby always seems to know when to nurture and when to light a fire under Burrell.

During the offseason, the two spent anywhere from three to five hours a day together in the gym, with Burrell eager to learn from the Olympian and three-time WNBA All-Star. But beyond the Xs and O’s, Hamby has focused on showing Burrell how to navigate the professional basketball world. She noted that Burrell — entering just her fourth WNBA season — has already dealt with a season-ending injury, being cut from training camp, playing on a hardship contract and signing a multi-year contract.

“She’s kind of gone through every process that she can as a pro,” Hamby said. “[I’m] just trying to just keep reminding her that her moment’s coming, and that we’re going to rely on her a lot. And I would say being able to kind of see her in a different element at Unrivaled has shifted my perspective.”

It’s not just the flashes of potential and confidence from Burrell that have impressed Hamby. It’s also her work ethic, how seriously she approaches the offseason. It’s her willingness to change her shot and being strict about her diet, which Hamby says even she hasn’t done during her career. It’s how Burrell’s always in the gym first thing every morning and never missing a workout, even if she was “still being her silly self late at night.”

And for as much as Hamby has helped Burrell’s development as a young player, the inverse is also true: Burrell has been instrumental in Hamby’s growth as a leader. Hamby said her leadership style has always been more empathetic and nurturing because she’s a mother, but she’s shied away from having tough conversations because she didn’t want to hurt anyone. But she’s been forced to have those conversations with Burrell, even if they’re uncomfortable, because of the care and respect they have for each other.

Sparks guard Rae Burrell celebrates after scoring against the New York Liberty at Crypto.com Arena on Aug. 28.

(Ashley Landis / Associated Press)

“There was a couple days we didn’t speak,” Hamby said. “But you know, we came back together and it was like, ‘OK, look.’ And I said, ‘You know, this is what I meant. And like, I want the best for you, so like, I’m standing on that.’ And she was very receptive. And I think it was just a very critical moment for both of us, for different reasons.”

Kelsey Plum played with Hamby for six seasons in Las Vegas and when the two reunited this offseason after the Sparks traded for Plum, one of the first things she noticed was Hamby’s growth.

“You can see it just in the way you talk to her and her interactions,” Plum said. “And someone like Rae is super fortunate to be able to have Dearica, because she’s so loving and nurturing. As a young player, what a gift to have a player like that, that is a perennial All-Star, but takes the time to care about your day-to-day.”

Sparks assistant coach Zak Buncik, who’s also an assistant coach for the Vinyl, sees it too.

“They’re around each other all the time. It’s kind of like the W, like they’re staying in the same hotel. They’re around each other every day,” he said. “They just lean on one another.”

Hamby and Burrell are excited about what the upcoming WNBA season holds.

In addition to the Plum trade, the Sparks signed free agents Emma Cannon, Mercedes Russell and Shaneice Swain. The team will also be running a new offense under new coach Lynne Roberts, which Hamby is excited about.

Hamby’s also looking forward to seeing how Burrell’s confidence carries over back into the WNBA. She fully believes that Burrell can be a solid sixth woman — if not a full-time starter — on this year’s squad, and she foresees a lot more than that down the line.

“When I had that talk with her, I said, ‘You know, in two to three years when you’re an All-Star, you’re gonna look back and you’re gonna thank me,’” Hamby said. “I think when her number’s called though, either way she’s going to be ready.”

Since taking office in January, United States President Donald Trump has undertaken policy after policy that has shocked Americans and the world. From launching an immigration crackdown and persecuting legal residents sympathetic to the Palestinian people to dismantling diversity and inclusion programmes and assaulting higher education and free speech, Trump has fully embraced far-right agendas. His critics at home and abroad have readily called him a fascist.

But fascism is not the ideology of choice for the US president. Fascist movements varied in their approaches to political and economic issues, but they have had several elements in common: The good of the nation is elevated above all, and the state plays an overarching role in society and the economy.

In other words, fascism was an attempt to reformulate the socialist ideal into a strong nationalistic framework. And as a historical reaction to communism and liberalism, it remains exiled in the 20th century, in “the age of extremes,” as the British historian Eric Hobsbawm famously called it.

Trump may be using the language of “America first” in his rhetoric, but he is not really pursuing the “good of the nation”. He is pursuing the good of the 1 percent.

Trump and his cheerleaders want to go beyond neoliberalism, which maintains that a minimal state is ideal for economic prosperity, and establish hypercapitalism by dissolving any controls the state has over the accumulation of wealth by the extremely rich.

They understand that we are living in times when extracting profit from society is not as easy, so they want to free capitalism from the hindrances of democracy and the demands of the people that their rights – political, social and human – be protected by the law and by the state.

The tech bros that Trump has surrounded himself with have wrapped this hypercapitalism in a technological cover, claiming that technology can solve all woes and unlimited growth – read unlimited profits for the rich – is the only way to progress.

This is clearly outlined in writings produced by the likes of Marc Andreessen, a Silicon Valley billionaire, who penned a Techno-Optimist Manifesto a year before US elections brought Trump to power for a second time. With an almost religious conception of technology and markets, he wrote: “Techno-Optimists believe that societies, like sharks, grow or die. … We believe in ambition, aggression, persistence, relentlessness – strength. … We believe in agency, in individualism. … We believe that there is no material problem – whether created by nature or by technology – that cannot be solved with more technology.”

This view combines unrestrained capitalism with transhumanism – the belief that humans should use technology to enhance their abilities – and an individualistic interpretation of Charles Darwin’s survival of the fittest. It is easy to see that this sharp individualistic vision is the opposite of historical fascism, which prioritises the nation and the community over the individual.

Some may point to Trump’s tariff policies as proof that he has statist tendencies. But if you scratch the surface, you would see that the trade war the US president is waging is really not about “bringing jobs back”, “defending national interests” or reversing globalisation.

Trump is using tariffs as a coercive tool to force various countries into negotiating with him. When he announced a 90-day pause on some tariffs, he himself bragged about 75 governments reaching out to his administration. It is far more likely that these bilateral talks will be used to extort concessions that will favour big capital closely associated with the Trump administration rather than to defend the rights of American workers and to create the conditions for the return of manufacturing jobs to the US.

It is true that Trump has attracted the support of postfascist politicians in Europe and uses fascist language and tools, but that is not enough to brand him a “fascist”. European postfascists, like Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, have themselves veered away from fascist conceptions of state and economy. Meloni and others have readily embraced “free market” policies of cutting taxes for the rich and wiping out social security provision for the poor. Her economic policies differ little from Trump’s.

The US president has fully embraced xenophobic and racist language reminiscent of fascist rhetoric and launched a vicious campaign against immigrants. He does so not only to scare and win over marginalised parts of society but also to divert their growing discontent towards a racialised “other” rather than the wealthy class.

This strategy is working not only because of the growing resentment for liberal elites that the impoverished majority has accumulated but also because the left has failed to act.

Leftist and progressive politicians have condemned themselves to fruitlessly repeating the old right and left cliches, going on tirades about “Trump’s fascism” and debates about the Nazi or Roman salutes of his associates. Engaging in such rhetoric is futile and a waste of time and energy.

Instead, the left should focus on developing concrete strategies to counter Trump’s popularity and hypercapitalist drive. It should go back to the root of problems that ordinary people face in their lives: jobs, healthcare, education and the ever-deepening cynicism about politics. It needs to not only expose Trump for who he really is – a champion of big capital interests – but also to provide a solid, realistic alternative.

The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera’s editorial stance.

TOMORROW is the May Bank Holiday, which means many shops and supermarkets will be closed or they may open for a reduced time. 

So if you need to pop to the shops tomorrow then it is worth double-checking when your local stores will be open.

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For example, Tesco has said that it will stick to its usual weekend opening times but Aldi has confirmed that its stores will close early.

Here we reveal the shops that will be open tomorrow and explain which ones will close early.

Sainsbury’s

Sainsbury’s has confirmed that its supermarkets will be open during the May Bank Holiday.

Its local stores and petrol stations will also remain open on May 5.

But stores in England, Wales and Northern Ireland will close early tomorrow.

All the stores will pull down their shutters at 8pm.

Sainsbury’s Locals and the branches in Scotland will remain open as usual until 11pm.

You can check if your local store will be open online using its store locator.

Iceland 

Iceland stores usually open during bank holidays, except on Christmas Day and Easter Sunday.

You can use the supermarket’s store locator to find information on opening and closing times.

M&S 

The upmarket supermarket often varies its opening hours during bank holidays and sometimes reduces its opening times to give workers time off.

Smaller stores seem to be working as normal tomorrow while larger stores are operating on shorter hours.

You should check the M&S store locator to find out the opening times of your nearest branch.

But there may be a shortage of some popular items due to the ongoing cyber attack.

How to save money on your food shop

Consumer reporter Sam Walker reveals how you can save hundreds of pounds a year:

Odd boxes – plenty of retailers offer slightly misshapen fruit and veg or surplus food at a discounted price.

Lidl sells five kilos of fruit and veg for just £1.50 through its Waste Not scheme while Aldi shoppers can get Too Good to Go bags which contain £10 worth of all kinds of products for £3.30.

Sainsbury’s also sells £2 “Taste Me, Don’t Waste Me” fruit and veg boxes to help shoppers reduced food waste and save cash.

Food waste apps – food waste apps work by helping shops, cafes, restaurants and other businesses shift stock that is due to go out of date and passing it on to members of the public.

Some of the most notable ones include Too Good to Go and Olio.

Too Good to Go’s app is free to sign up to and is used by millions of people across the UK, letting users buy food at a discount.

Olio works similarly, except users can collect both food and other household items for free from neighbours and businesses.

Yellow sticker bargains – yellow sticker bargains, sometimes orange and red in certain supermarkets, are a great way of getting food on the cheap.

But what time to head out to get the best deals varies depending on the retailer. You can see the best times for each supermarket here.

Super cheap bargains – sign up to bargain hunter Facebook groups like Extreme Couponing and Bargains UK where shoppers regularly post hauls they’ve found on the cheap, including food finds.

“Downshift” – you will almost always save money going for a supermarket’s own-brand economy lines rather than premium brands.

The move to lower-tier ranges, also known as “downshifting” and hailed by consumer expert Martin Lewis, could save you hundreds of pounds a year on your food shop.

The retailer’s IT systems have been down for nearly two weeks, which has affected product availability.

Morrisons

Morrisons will be keeping most of its 500 stores open as usual on Monday but the hours will vary by location.

Some stores will be open between 8am and 5pm, while others will be operating between 7am and 8pm.

Meanwhile, some locations will not open their doors at all, so it is important that you check before you head out.

Check your local store’s opening hours for exact times as they vary across the country.

You can find your local store’s trading hours by visiting my.morrisons.com/storefinder.

Some in-store services such as cafes, fish and butcher counters may no longer be available as the supermarket is closing many of these in the coming months.

Waitrose

Waitrose has confirmed it will operate as usual over the May Bank Holiday.

The supermarket chain will open its doors to customers from 8am to 8pm.

But some branches will trade with slightly different hours.

Many Little Waitrose stores will operate between 7am and 10pm but these will also vary, so it is wise to check with your chosen location.

You can find your local store’s trading hours by visiting waitrose.com/find-a-store.

Co-op

Co-op stores across the country will remain open during the early May Bank Holiday.

Larger stores will operate their usual hours of 7am to 10pm during the Early May Bank Holiday.

But some stores may vary their opening hours so it is best to ask a member of staff for more details.

You can find your local store’s trading hours by visiting coop.co.uk/store-finder.

Tesco

Tesco will be open as normal tomorrow.

Most of its stores will open at 8am and close at 6pm, as normal.

But Tesco Express stores may vary their hours.

You should check ahead of time to avoid disappointment.

Visit the Tesco website or check its app for more information about opening times.

Aldi

Aldi has confirmed that its stores in England and Wales will be open until 8pm tomorrow.

But shops in Scotland will close at 10pm as normal on the bank holiday.

As with other supermarkets, the opening times may vary, so customers should check their local shops on the Aldi website before they head out.

You can check the opening times at your nearest store by visiting: stores.aldi.co.uk/store-finder.

Do you have a money problem that needs sorting? Get in touch by emailing [email protected].

Plus, you can join our Sun Money Chats and Tips Facebook group to share your tips and stories

IT was an ordinary day when Mount Vesuvius plastered nearby towns in thick volcanic ash 2,000 years ago.

A treasure trove of objects was buried, each giving an insight into the lives people led.

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Butchered giraffe

In the drains beneath the long-gone markets of Pompeii, archaeologists have found a rich variety of foods – from sea urchin to shellfish.

But perhaps the most exotic find was the leg joint of a butchered giraffe.

It is thought to be the only giraffe bone ever recorded from an archaeological excavation in Roman Italy, according to archaeologist Steven Ellis, who directs the University of Cincinnati’s excavations at Pompeii.

The discoveries point to busy trade relationships outside of Italy.

“How part of the animal, butchered, came to be a kitchen scrap in a seemingly standard Pompeian restaurant not only speaks to long-distance trade in exotic and wild animals, but also something of the richness, variety and range of a non-elite diet,” explains Ellis.

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Glass brain

In Herculaneum, a town to the west of Mount Vesuvius, two bizarre pieces of dark-coloured glass were found inside the skulls of two individuals.

The first piece of glass suspected to be of ‘organic origin’ was identified in Herculaneum in 2020.

A glassy, black material was found inside the skull of a man on a wooden bed, who was buried by volcanic ash.

While the second was hunk of black glass was found earlier this year.

Experts believe these are fossilised brains, caused by the extreme heat from the short-lived ash cloud that swept through the ancient town of Herculaneum in 79CE.

Herculaneum was buried under roughly five times the amount of ash that Pompeii was.

Similarly, the second victim had also been lying on their bed when the cloud descended.

For the brain to become glass, it must have been heated to above 510°C before quickly cooling.

This is an incredibly rare process is called vitrification.

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Cheeky art

The Romans’ affinity for brothels, alcohol, and pornography has been well documented and discovered among the ruins of Pompeii.

Hundreds of sexually explicit works of art from Pompeii have been placed in the Secret Museum in the National Archaeological Museum in Naples.

These include graphic sex scenes – which experts believe could be advertisements for local brothels – as well as lots of phallic statuary, believed to bring wealth, fertility, and good luck.

Some of these pieces were so cheeky that they were deemed “pornographic” in 1821, and the museum closed the room to visitors in 1849.

The Secret Museum didn’t reopen for good until 2000.

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Graffiti

Pompeiians were politically active – and they have the graffiti to show for it.

There was an upcoming election when the city was buried by Mount Vesuvius.

Political slogans and messages of support for candidates can still be seen preserved on the walls today.

Though it wasn’t just political statements being plastered around.

Last May, charcoal wall drawings were unearthed that archaeologists believe were made by children as young as five.

The drawings, which were of children’s height, suggest they had attended gruesome gladiator battles in the city.

The simple etchings depict men with shields and spears fighting animals and each other.

Gabriel Zuchtriegel, director of the Archaeological Park of Pompeii, said children of the time would have come into contact with extreme forms of speculated violence.

This includes the frequent executions of criminals and slaves.

“We came to the conclusion that in all likelihood the drawings of the gladiators and hunters were made on the basis of a direct vision and not from pictorial models,” he said in a statement at the time.

“Probably one or more of the children who played in this courtyard, among the kitchens, latrine and flowerbeds for growing vegetables, had witnessed fights in the amphitheatre.”

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Surgical tools

Archaeologists have also recovered surgical instruments from Pompeii – which paint a squeamish picture of medical practices in 79 AD.

Medical tools have been found in various parts of the excavated city, but most most were found at a structure known as the House of the Surgeon.

While the Romans had not yet developed germ theory, many of the tools were made of copper alloys.

Copper has antimicrobial properties – meaning the tools may have prevented infections.

Authorities were searching Saturday for a kayaker who fell into the water along the American River near Auburn, Calif., the Placer County Sheriff’s Office said.

The missing man was on a kayak with another man when their vessel capsized Friday evening in fast-running water beneath the No Hands Bridge near Auburn, the Sheriff’s Office said.

The other man reached nearby rocks and safely made it back to shore, the Sheriff’s Office said. The missing man wasn’t identified, and officials said it wasn’t known whether he might still be alive.

“It’s tough to say,” said Elise Soviar, a spokesperson for the Sheriff’s Office. “You never want to give up hope until you know.”

Authorities started to search for the missing kayaker on Friday. A dive team also went out on the water on Saturday morning, she said.

While the river might look inviting during a sunny day, authorities say people should avoid going into the water during this time of year.

“The water is very, very swift and it’s very, very cold because it’s coming from the mountains and this is a known dangerous portion of the American River,” she said.

The Sheriff’s Office teamed up with Cal Fire’s Nevada-Yuba-Placer Unit on the search. State Parks, the El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office and the California Highway Patrol also offered assistance, according to a social media post from the Placer County Sheriff’s Office on Friday.

Ed Hadwin, BBC Radio Bristol commentator

Inigo Calderon’s short tenure as Rovers’ head coach has been a difficult one for him. He was so excited to get the chance of his first senior job in football management he spent Christmas away from his family in Spain to prepare.

And while there were definitely some games where he – and the team – showed some real promise (back-to-back wins over Huddersfield and Bolton in a run of five home wins in seven games) their awful finish to the season sealed his fate.

He certainly made mistakes during that time, with some of his substitutions leaving fans scratching their heads. But potentially the biggest issues he’s faced weren’t of his making.

Rovers’ owner, Hussain AlSaeed, told us this season’s playing budget is the largest in the club’s history, and while plenty of the players recruited in the summer are undoubtedly talented, the blend of a lot of youngsters and a handful of very senior players wasn’t right.

Then in January, with all his senior strikers having had significant injury issues, they didn’t sign an experienced player as cover.

And with just five goals scored in their past 10 games, that decision probably cost Calderon his job and Rovers their place in League One.

May 3 (UPI) — The U.S. The Environmental Protection Agency is consolidating staff and shifting resources, part of a larger restructuring effort that will seek to “bring much needed efficiencies,” officials announced.

The agency is also planning to cut jobs as part of the shake-up, reducing staffing to levels seen during the 1980s, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said this week.

“With these organizational improvements, we recommit to fulfilling all of our statutory obligations and exceptionally delivering on EPA’s core mission of protecting human health and the environment. This reorganization will bring much needed efficiencies to incorporate science into our rulemakings and sharply focus our work on providing the cleanest air, land and water for our communities. It will also save at least $300 million annually for the American people,” Zeldin said in the agency’s statement.

Zeldin said the agency will strive to “operate as efficiently and effectively as possible,” signaling the possibility of looming job cuts.

The New York Times previously reported President Donald Trump‘s administration planned to fire over 1,500 scientists from the EPA at some point, citing an internal government document.

The agency had a workforce of 15,130 people and a $9.158 billion budget in the most recent fiscal year.

“This phase of reorganization will save taxpayers more than $300 million annually by Fiscal Year 2026. It is all part of a larger, comprehensive effort to restructure the agency, and when finalized, EPA expects to have employment levels near those seen when President Ronald Reagan occupied the White House,” the EPA said in a press release announcing the restructuring.

Under the directive, the focus will shift to strengthening partnerships with state-level agencies, particularly when it comes to air and water monitoring.

“In the Office of Air and Radiation, we’re establishing the first-ever Office of State Air Partnerships to improve coordination with state, local, and tribal air permitting agencies. This collaborative approach will resolve permitting concerns more efficiently and ensure EPA is working with states, not against them, to advance our shared mission,” Zeldon wrote in an op-ed written for Newsweek and republished on the EPA’s website.

Part of that will also see the creation of a new Office of Clean Air Programs.

The EPA also plans to begin consolidating staff to save on office space costs and prioritize approval of the use of certain chemicals currently under review.

“Under the previous administration, EPA’s buildings stood largely empty, with headquarters attendance peaking at just over one-third occupancy as the record high attendance day last year. Agency spending had ballooned from around $8 billion to $10 billion to more than $63 billion. Hundreds of new chemicals remained in regulatory limbo far beyond statutory review timelines, as did more than 12,000 pesticide reviews, and 685 State Implementation,” Zeldin wrote.

He pointed to some 504 new chemicals currently under EPA review beyond the statutorily required timeframe and more than 12,000 pesticides in a similar situation.

“The American people deserve an EPA that effectively balances environmental protection with economic prosperity,” Zeldin wrote.

“Through this reorganization, we’re positioning the agency to do just that.”