Nathan Kehn has rescued cats and kittens from some tough spots — dumpsters, an abandoned police car and, in one case, a cramped space behind a water heater.

The Sherman Oaks resident swung into action yet again last week after hearing that the Los Angeles Animal Services department was threatened with $4.8 million in reductions, part of a larger list of cuts in Mayor Karen Bass’ latest budget.

Kehn and scores of other animal rescue advocates turned out at two packed budget hearings to demand that the City Council reject employee layoffs, keep animal shelters open and preserve spay-and-neuter programs.

“If you stop fixing cats,” Kehn said, “the problem is going to be out of control in a matter of months.”

Bass and her budget team say the concerns are rooted in a misunderstanding.

The mayor’s spending plan spells out a $4.8-million cut to Animal Services. But it also sets aside an extra $5 million for that agency’s operations in a little-known section of the budget known as the “unappropriated balance,” which serves as a holding tank for funds that have not yet been finalized.

That $5 million is enough to keep all six of the city’s animal shelters open, Bass said in a social media post Monday, halfway into a five-hour budget hearing where the fate of those facilities was repeatedly discussed.

“We understand the need to continue operating all City shelters, and will work with the City Council to assure that the priority for animal care and their well being is reflected in the final budget,” she said.

The confusion over the city’s troubled animal shelters, which have been plagued by overcrowding and rising euthanasia rates, began with the rollout of the mayor’s proposed 2025-26 budget.

Bass’ $14-billion spending plan, released last week, proposed deep cuts to the city workforce to close a nearly $1-billion shortfall. About 2,700 positions would be eliminated — more than half through layoffs — across a wide range of agencies.

While preparing those budget documents, the mayor’s team initially did not think there would be enough money to prevent layoffs at Animal Services, Deputy Mayor Matt Hale said. By the time they found the $5 million, it was too late to incorporate the money into the part of the budget that lists the department’s salaries and expenses, he said.

The $5 million was then set aside in the unappropriated balance, also known as the UB, which appears on Page 1,013 of one of the mayor’s budget books, under the category “animal services operations.”

On the day the budget was released, city officials issued a one-page explainer on the proposed job cuts, which showed that 111 positions would be eliminated at Animal Services, 62 of them through layoffs. That document did not reference the $5 million.

A day later, officials at Animal Services issued their own memo warning that a $4.8-million cut would result in the closure of three animal shelters — Harbor, West Los Angeles and West Valley. Residents who live nearby would need to be rerouted to the city’s other three animal shelters, wrote Annette Ramirez, the agency’s interim general manager.

That, in turn, would result in overcrowding and a dramatic increase in the euthanasia of dogs and cats to free up space, Ramirez said.

Ramirez’s memo also acknowledged the $5 million set aside for her agency. Nevertheless, the prospect of increased euthanasia alarmed the city’s animal rescue volunteers — and one of their champions, City Controller Kenneth Mejia, who featured his corgis prominently in his campaign literature when he ran for office in 2022.

On Sunday, Mejia posted about the potential cuts on X, making no mention of the $5 million listed in the budget’s unappropriated balance. The following day, animal rescue activists rallied outside City Hall, then packed the budget committee’s five-hour public hearing to voice their frustrations.

Meri Kopushyan, while attending the hearing, said the $4.8 million in cuts would mean a “death sentence” for animals inside the city’s shelters.

“These animals are already scared, abandoned, living in horrible conditions, and they have no family to love them,” Kopushyan told the committee, fighting back tears.

Another speaker vowed to send her fellow activists — “cat and dog warriors,” as she described them — to Petco stores across the city to publicize the name of any council member who votes for cuts to Animal Services.

Yet another speaker, Mid-City resident Devin Bennett, warned council members that they would be remembered for having “the blood of thousands of puppies and kittens” on their hands unless they stopped the cuts.

“This will end your political careers,” said Bennett, founder of a nonprofit group called Here, Have a Kitten!

To prevent the layoffs and closures, the City Council still must vote to move the $5 million out of the unappropriated balance and into Animal Services.

On Tuesday, Councilmembers Traci Park and John Lee — whose districts include two of the three shelters that were at risk of closure — sent a letter to Councilmember Katy Yaroslavsky, the chair of the budget committee, calling for the money to be transferred. That same day, Yaroslavsky and Tim McOsker, another budget committee member, voiced support for the move.

“I do want to speak to the acting general manager of Animal Services and talk about some of the structural issues within their organization,” McOsker said. “But I do absolutely want to move the $5 million … to restore those positions.”

Council members must approve a budget by the end of May. Some advocates say they should go beyond the $5 million and give an infusion of new funds to a department they view as seriously underfunded.

Jennifer Naitaki, a vice president at the Michelson Center for Public Policy, which is affiliated with the Michelson Found Animals Foundation, acknowledged that saving animals’ lives is expensive. Still, additional funding would pay off in dividends by reducing births of unwanted animals and easing the strain on the city’s shelters, she said.

Naitaki said city leaders could have avoided a political headache by providing clear information from the start about the funding set aside for the department. That would have also brought relief to worried animal advocates, she said.

“It just wasn’t communicated as well as it as it could have been,” she said. “Obviously, that caused a huge uproar and a lot of anger and a lot of advocacy. And I also think maybe that’s not bad, right? It’s always good to get in front of our City Council members and the budget committee, and have them hear from the folks that care.”

In 2021, the Clippers lost Game 5 in the first round of the playoffs to the Dallas Mavericks to go down 3-2 in the best-of-seven series but won the next two games and eventually advanced to the franchise’s first conference finals.

Here the Clippers stand again, having lost Game 5 of the playoffs to the Denver Nuggets to fall behind 3-2 in the best-of-seven series and face a must-win Game 6 on Thursday night at Intuit Dome to stave off elimination.

Clippers center Ivica Zubac was a part of that group in 2021 and he’s a major part of this squad now. He recalled the mental fortitude it took for the Clippers to fight back.

After the Clippers were blown out in Game 5 in Denver on Tuesday night, Zubac said it will probably take even more from them this time because the Nuggets are far more formidable with transcendent superstar Nikola Jokic, with All-Star guard Jamal Murray and home-court advantage.

“We got to win,” Zubac said late Tuesday night in Denver. “We got to win both. Take it one game at a time. It’s an elimination game for us. So, we can’t start out like this. We got to leave everything out there, play hard, whatever it takes, whatever we have to do. We got to be better. We got to be ready to do whatever it takes. Treat it one game at a time. Win a Game 6, give yourself a chance to come back here [to Denver] and try to force a Game 7.”

The Clippers have lost the last two games to the Nuggets and in both defeats James Harden hasn’t been a factor.

He has averaged 13 points per game in the two losses, shot 40% from the field and 25% from three-point range.

It’s become clear that the Nuggets have focused their defense on Harden, making sure that Christian Braun is with Harden every step he takes on the court. Harden hasn’t talked to the media after the last two games so it was left up to Clippers coach Tyronn Lue to explain what’s happening with his All-Star guard.

“I think Denver made their mind up, they are going to try to take him out of the series after the first two or three games,” Lue said late Tuesday night in Denver. “They are doing a good job. I got to do a better job of just finding ways to get him open, to get him space and provide more [isolations], just because they are blitzing him so much and trying to beat him to his spots.”

With their season on the line, Lue also talked about the three-point shooting and the effects that has had on the series.

When the Clippers blew out the Nuggets in Game 3 by 34 points, they shot 18 for 39 (46.2%) from three-point range. When the Nuggets blew out the Clippers in Game 5 by 16 points, they made 17 of 33 (51.5%) from three-point range, and that effort was led by Murray, who shot eight for 14 from three.

“I mean, we got to respond,” Lue said. “We blew them out in Game 3 and they came back and responded in Game 4. So, we got to do the same thing. I mean, I don’t know what changes you can make. They made shots. Like I said, making 17 threes and they blew us out. We made 18 threes and we blew them out. So, the three-point line is going to be the most important thing. We got to make sure we are taking care of that, which we didn’t do a good job of tonight. But going back home, Intuit will be rocking. We’ll be fine.”

Starting slowly is another problem the Clippers have dealt with.

In Game 4, they got down by 20 points in the fourth, took a one-point lead and then lost on a buzzer-beating dunk by Aaron Gordon. In Game 5, the Clippers got down by 22 in the fourth, cut the deficit to eight points and then faded.

“Just try to get out to a better start early,” Kawhi Leonard said Tuesday night. “I think pretty much the whole series they probably got out to a great start on us. Just trying to stay in the game early instead of trying to make the heroic comebacks. That’s all we can do. We got to fight, man.”

In the end, the Clippers win or go home for the summer.

“We got to figure it out,” Zubac said. “We got to be better in Game 6.”

Clashes have erupted in Jaramana and Ashrafiyat Sahnaya on the outskirts of the Syrian capital, Damascus, this week.

The violence, which initially involved local armed men from the Druze religious minority and unknown gunmen from other towns, has killed at least 30 people.

Syrian security forces intervened to restore calm, but then Israel attacked Syria, claiming it was “defending the Druze”.

The unrest comes as the Syrian government, in power since the fall of former President Bashar al-Assad in December, tries to assert its control over the whole country.

So, what’s going on in Syria?

How did the latest unrest in Syria start?

Observers agree that the unrest seems to have started when a voice recording of a man cursing the Prophet Muhammad circulated, with claims that a Druze leader was speaking. The authenticity of the recording is questionable.

But it provoked the fury of many Syrians, and on Tuesday, a group of unknown gunmen attacked the mostly Druze town of Jaramana.

The Syrian Ministry of Interior says that its forces went to break up the clashes, before being attacked themselves.

The dead on Tuesday included at least two members of Syria’s General Security Services, the authorities said, while the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said six Druze fighters and three “attackers” were also killed.

Then, on Wednesday, fighting spread to Ashrafiyat Sahnaya, another town in the Damascus suburbs with a significant Druze population.

A source in the Syrian Interior Ministry told Al Jazeera that 16 members of the security forces were killed in an attack on a security checkpoint in Sahnaya. That prompted more fighting, and six Druze fighters were killed, according to the SOHR.

Israel then launched air attacks on Sahnaya, targeting security personnel, according to the Interior Ministry, while Israel said it had attacked “extremists”.

The Syrian authorities have since announced that calm has been restored in both Jaramana and Ashrafiyat Sahnaya.

What led to the violence?

Syria’s new administration is trying to stabilise the country, but fallout from 12-plus years of war, the many armed groups in the country and the instability that comes with big changes have made for a volatile environment.

The worst unrest was in early March when hundreds were killed in Syria’s coastal region.

Fighters loyal to the Assad regime attacked security forces, setting off the violence as fighters from other areas came in to fight, and widespread attacks were reported against civilians, many from the former president’s Alawite sect.

There is fear in Syria that al-Assad’s supporters will keep trying to overthrow the new authorities, who have not yet been able to exert power and provide security across the whole country.

Some of that fear has morphed into suspicion of minorities such as Alawites and Druze.

The minorities, in turn, fear this suspicion and worry about the fact that there are still armed fighters with backgrounds in groups such as al-Qaeda.

The new government has emphasised that all are equal in the new Syria, but that has yet to quieten these fears.

Add to this mix the potential for fake news to spread on social media, and the country is rife with the tensions that led to the most recent fighting in Jaramana and Ashrafiyat Sahnaya.

Why is Israel involved?

Israel seems to have stepped up its attacks on Syria and is occupying more and more land since the fall of al-Assad.

It already illegally occupied part of the Syrian Golan Heights along the border, and regularly bombed sites in Syria it claimed belonged to pro-Iranian groups like Lebanon’s Hezbollah.

When al-Assad fled, Israel saw an opportunity, analysts say, and stepped up its attacks, claiming that the new government is “extremist” and cloaking itself as a defender of the Druze in Syria, part of whose community lives under Israeli control.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said “he would not allow” Syrian government forces to operate in Syrian territory south of the capital, Damascus, calling for the “full demilitarisation” of the area.

Some Israelis have called for taking control of Druze-majority areas in southern Syria, claiming that would create an alliance of minorities across the Middle East.

On Wednesday, after the fighting in Ashrafiyat Sahnaya, the Israeli military said that it had taken three Syrian Druze to Israel to receive medical treatment.

Who are the Druze, and who do they support?

The Druze, an ethnoreligious Arabic-speaking group that grew out of Ismaili Shia Islam, live in Jordan, Lebanon and Syria as well as Israel, especially the occupied Golan Heights.

Nobody can claim to know who “all the Druze” support. Individuals or sub-groups within each national community will have differing opinions.

The Druze population in Israel is estimated at 150,000, and Israel conscripts their young men into the army, whereas it does not conscript Palestinian citizens of Israel.

The Druze in Jordan, Lebanon and Syria are openly supportive of the Palestinian cause, while Syrian Druze leaders have vehemently rejected the idea of friendlier ties with Israel.

The communities are important players in their countries’ politics, particularly in Lebanon, where Druze leader Walid Jumblatt has been influential for decades.

In Syria, many Druze were active in the opposition against al-Assad, and have been publicly supportive of the new government.

More than 1,000 religious schools have been shut and people have begun readying walled bunkers.

Authorities in Pakistan-administered Kashmir have shut more than 1,000 religious schools over fears of possible retaliatory military action from India over last week’s deadly attack in the disputed region, as tensions soar between the nuclear-armed neighbours.

India blames Pakistan for the gun attack that killed 26 people on April 22 in Pahalgam in Indian-administered Kashmir, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi providing his military “complete operational freedom” to deal with it.

Denying any involvement in the attack, Pakistan has said it has “credible evidence” that India is now planning an imminent military strike, promising that “any act of aggression will be met with a decisive response”.

Pakistan’s Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said in a televised statement early on Wednesday that the attack could take place in the “next 24 to 36 hours”.

‘Readying underground bunkers’

Fearing a military escalation, authorities have shut more than 1,000 religious schools in Pakistan-administered Kashmir.

“We have announced a 10-day break for all madrassas in Kashmir,” Hafiz Nazeer Ahmed, head of the local religious affairs department told the AFP news agency.

A department source said it was “due to tensions at the border and the potential for conflict”.

About 1.5 million people live near the Line of Control (LoC) in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, where residents are also readying simple, mud-walled underground bunkers – reinforced with concrete if they can afford it.

“For one week we have been living in constant fear, particularly concerning the safety of our children,” Iftikhar Ahmad Mir, a 44-year-old shopkeeper in Chakothi near the LoC, told AFP.

“We make sure they don’t roam around after finishing their school and come straight home.”

Emergency services workers in Muzaffarabad, the main city in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, have also begun training schoolchildren on what to do if India attacks.

“We have learned how to dress a wounded person, how to carry someone on a stretcher and how to put out a fire,” said 11-year-old Ali Raza.

Will India attack?

On Wednesday, Modi chaired a Cabinet Committee on Security meeting, the second such meeting since the Pahalgam attack, the state-run Doordarshan broadcaster reported.

Meanwhile, as the neighbours continued to exchange gunfire along the LoC dividing Indian and Pakistan-administered Kashmir, other world leaders stepped up diplomacy in an attempt to ease spiralling tensions.

India on Wednesday also closed its airspace to Pakistani planes, after Pakistan banned Indian planes from overflying.

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has urged the United States to press India to “dial down the rhetoric and act responsibly”.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has asked both nations to “de-escalate tensions,” a State Department spokesperson said in a statement on Wednesday.

Rubio “urged Pakistani officials’ cooperation in investigating this unconscionable attack”, according to White House spokesperson Tammy Bruce.

Also on Tuesday, the spokesperson for United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that he had spoken to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Indian foreign minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, offering his help in “de-escalation”.

While it is unclear what course of action India could take, it has in the past used a range of military tactics like covert military operations, publicised surgical strikes, aerial strikes, attempts at taking over Pakistan-controlled land, naval missions and a full-blown military conflict.

India and Pakistan have fought over the Himalayan territory of Kashmir since the violent end of British rule in 1947.

Rebels in the Indian-run area of Kashmir have waged an armed rebellion since 1989, seeking independence or a merger with Pakistan.

The worst attack in recent years in Indian-run Kashmir was at Pulwama in 2019, when a suicide bomber rammed a car packed with explosives into a security forces convoy, killing 40 people and wounding 35.

Indian fighter jets carried out air strikes on Pakistani territory 12 days later.

A MUM has shared how she makes her teenage daughters pay rent to stay in their own “apartments” at home.

Taja went all out to make her girls their own spaces, complete with doorbell, welcome mat, numbers on the door, a “seasonal” wreath and a letter box.

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But staying in the self-contained room doesn’t come cheap, and the girls are made to pay rent every week.

However, Taja explained in a video on her TikTok page that the only reason she does so is because the kids are listed as employees in her company, and therefore get a salary into their accounts on a weekly basis.

And in the clip, she showed a whiteboard with all the costs they have to cover with their wage.

“This is their bills,” Taja said.

“They have to pay £3.75 ($5) every week for rent and another £3.75 ($5) every week for utilities.”

They also have to put £7.50 into their savings account, with all the money due by 9pm on a Friday night.

“If they do not have it paid by 9.01, their first notice is no phone for 24 hours and they have to pay an extra dollar,” she added.

“Second notice is no phone for three days, and five dollars.

“And the third notice is eviction.”

Another thing Taja can do as their “landlord” is to inspect their apartments at any point.

“Random inspections can happen anytime,” she explained.

“The first notice they get 24 hours to clean it, the second notice they get no phone for two days and the third notice is no phone for a week.”

Taja also said that she’s been trying to get them to do “extra chores” but that was “not happening”.

“But do they do their extra chores?” she sighed.

“Absolutely not.”

Taja’s setup for her kids divided opinion in the comments section, with one writing: “How can you make your children pay bills when it is your responsibility as a parent to take care of them?

More parenting hacks

IF you want to make your life easier as a first-time mum, here’s nine hacks you won’t want to miss.

1. Routine Charts

Create visual charts for daily routines. Use pictures and stickers to make them engaging for younger children.

2. Meal Planning

Plan meals a week in advance to save time and reduce stress. Involve your children in meal prep to teach them cooking skills.

3. Toy Rotation

Keep a portion of toys stored away and rotate them periodically. This keeps playtime fresh and exciting without the need for constant new purchases.

4. DIY Cleaning Solutions

Make child-safe cleaning solutions using vinegar and baking soda. It’s effective and keeps harsh chemicals away from little hands.

5. Time-Out Jar

Create a time-out jar filled with calming activities written on slips of paper. When emotions run high, children can pick an activity to help them settle down.

6. Educational Apps

Utilise educational apps and websites to make screen time productive. Look for ones that offer interactive learning in subjects your child is interested in.

7. Command Centre

Set up a family command centre with a calendar, key hooks, and a bulletin board. It helps keep everyone organised and aware of daily schedules.

8. Emergency Kit

Keep a small emergency kit in the car with essentials like snacks, water, first aid supplies, and a change of clothes. It’s a lifesaver for unexpected situations.

9. Label Everything

Use labels for clothes, school supplies, and lunch boxes. It makes it easier to keep track of belongings, especially in shared spaces like schools.

“I understand if they were adult children but they are not!”

“Dang you gotta keep it clean 24hrs?” another added.

“That’s unreasonable – especially when they are paying rent…in apartments you have a heads up!”

However, others insisted she was doing the right thing by asking her kids to pay for their accommodation.

“Setting kids up for success,” one wrote.

“Such a neat idea!” another added.

“Oh my God, I think this is an amazing idea when they pay the rent,” a third commented.

“I would definitely put their money in like a bank account to save for them for like college or when they turn 18.”

“This is GENIUS,” someone else said.

“Those kids will be independent and successful because of you momma! I am inspired!! Good job mama!!”

“What a creative way to teach them to be responsible,” another added.

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The plane, dubbed WindRunner, would be the largest aircraft ever built and would be able to carry 12 times more than a Boeing 747. The 356ft long aircraft would be capable of carrying 12 times the weight of a Boeing 747

The world’s biggest ever plane dubbed ‘Skytanic’ will take-off in five years or less.

Radia, an energy company, is embarking on an ambitious aeronautical venture to develop a gargantuan aircraft named WindRunner. This massive plane, stretching 108m in length, would dwarf a Boeing 747 by carrying twelve times its load, while being 38m longer.

Rocket scientist Mark Lundstrom plays a pivotal role in crafting the design of this grand aircraft intended for a unique purpose: transporting colossal wind turbine blades to far-flung locations. Such blades rank among the world’s lengthiest objects, potentially restricting the cargo jet to haul just one at a time.

Radia aims to overcome major logistical hurdles associated with moving these bulky offshore blades, currently a complex task due to their sheer size. This endeavour could pave the way for an increase in wind farms, which Radia, established in 2016, strongly supports. Some of these mammoth blades tip the scales at around 26,000kg.

READ MORE: World’s longest flight lasts nearly 19 hours and has no economy cabin

In the coming years, wind turbine blades are expected to grow from 70 metres to 100 metres long, to catch more wind while also rotating in a slower, less disruptive fashion. Already, some companies have had to build special roads to transport blades at their current length, as they’ve proven so difficult to transport through tunnels and under bridges.

Radia has seen an opportunity to overcome the logistical opportunities by taking turbine blades to the air. For the past decade it has been working on the WindRunner, a huge plane with a cargo volume a dozen times bigger than a Boeing 747.

The company plans to get the plane up in the air before the end of the decade, New York Times reports. When it does, it will be the biggest plane ever to fly – dwarfing the Ukranian jet Mriya, which was destroyed at the onset of the Russian invasion in 2022.

Addressing the transportation issues tied to wind turbine blades, Paul Hanna, Radia’s vice-president of marketing, detailed some painstaking logistics to a publication: “It takes a year and a half to plan a move of these things down a highway. You’ve got road bridges to get underneath, traffic signs that need to come down, homes that are near the off-ramp that may have to be moved.”

Lundstrom has stated that the “only viable solution” for transporting large wind turbine blades was to create an enormous aircraft, hence the birth of the WindRunner. Despite the mammoth dimensions of a 24m height and 79m long wingspan, the craft can only carry a single 105m blade or up to three 80m blades in one go.

With aspirations for Radia to kick-off aerial blade transport by 2030, Hanna expressed his ambitious goal to Aerospace: “We have the opportunity to take a dramatic and lasting amount of CO2 out of the atmosphere, and we’re giving the aerospace industry the opportunity to participate in reducing the cost of energy by as much as 30%.”

Addressing the World Economic Forum, Lundstrom highlighted the driving force behind their project: “The necessity to fight climate change is something that’s a big motivating factor.

“It’s very unique to be able to have an aerospace solution to climate change, as opposed to contributing to the problem. And so for an aerospace engineer or for an aerospace company to be able to contribute their skills to fighting climate change, instead of just optimizing passenger seat miles or making a defence product, this is a unique opportunity for the aerospace industry to both get exposure into the energy world, and also be able to take many percentage points of CO2 out of the world.”

WASHINGTON — California is already leading the way in lawsuits against the Trump administration since the president resumed office in January, taking the White House to court over its funding cuts, its rollback of diversity initiatives and its aggressive immigration policies. Yet the office at the forefront of those legal battles is set to expand even further in the coming months.

The state attorney general’s office was granted $25 million in supplemental funding in February to help bolster its litigation efforts. But even after filing 15 lawsuits against Trump’s team, challenging his administration an average of twice a week in court, that money is still untapped.

“It’s not spent,” Rob Bonta, California’s attorney general, told The Times in an interview at its Washington bureau. “We’re completely committed to suing the president whenever we have standing and he’s violating the law, and we will.”

“If we don’t need all the $25 million, we won’t use it all,” he added. “If we need more, they’ll give us more.”

Gaining from D.C.’s brain drain

California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta, with Gov. Gavin Newsom, announces a lawsuit against the Trump administration on April 16.

(Justin Sullivan / Getty Images)

Bonta’s office is first setting up hiring panels and job listings, a process that will help build out its team to take on new challenges against the administration over the next four years.

Several of California’s lawsuits against Trump target his gutting of federal agencies and intimidation of big law firms. And yet, in an ironic twist, the attorney general’s office may end up benefiting from the flood of legal talent entering the job market as a result of Trump’s tactics.

“The process has started, but the people haven’t been hired yet,” Bonta said. “We think the folks leaving federal jobs provide a great source of talent to join our office.”

Just this week, approximately 70% of the Civil Rights Division at the Justice Department accepted buyout offers, gutting an office that had employed nearly 350 people. Attorneys with decades of experience at other federal agencies, including the Department of Homeland Security, are also taking part in mass resignations.

The funding was allocated by Democratic supermajorities in the California Legislature.

“They understand the need to protect California’s funding, and future, and rights,” Bonta said.

California sees Trump complying with orders

Over 100 days into Trump’s presidency, Bonta sees the new administration taking an aggressive stance toward the judiciary — but ultimately complying with court orders, so far.

“I think there’s a delta between the American perception of court compliance and what we’re seeing,” Bonta said. “I think more people in America think there’s less compliance than there is. I don’t think there’s complete, good-faith compliance, but broadly, largely in our cases, they’re complying.”

Instead, Bonta sees the administration as taking advantage of a legal “gray area” often created by judges and justices issuing orders that are vaguely or poorly written — the sort of manipulation that all litigants engage in at the highest levels. If there were true, outright defiance — which may have occurred or may yet — then judges have the ability to hold individuals in contempt.

“There’s a progression of steps between a court order not being complied with preliminarily and being at a constitutional crisis,” he said. “There are a number of steps we take to enforce an order when we think it’s not being complied with.”

The administration has been accused of violating court orders several times since Trump took office.

It slow-walked enforcement of a case in which the Office of Management and Budget was ordered to release assistance to states after attempting to cut it. A judge questioned whether Trump administration officials were in contempt of court after he ordered them to turn around a deportation flight filled with Venezuelan nationals, only for the flight to continue.

And several courts, including the Supreme Court, directed the White House to facilitate the return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a man accused of gang ties, back to the United States after the administration deported him despite a standing court order against his removal. The administration has said Abrego Garcia will never return, flouting a judge’s orders to document its efforts to get him back.

“I think that we’re not at a constitutional crisis yet. I’m not saying we might not be. I disagree with probably a majority of my colleagues in that position,” he said. “But I think there needs to be a very clear U.S. Supreme Court order that this administration acknowledges their understanding of, and then refuses to comply with. And I don’t think that’s happened yet.”

Early test coming on judicial power

Out of all of California’s cases making their way through the courts, Bonta said one particular case — challenging Trump’s attempts to undo birthright citizenship — could soon provide some clarity from the Supreme Court, not on the merits of the case itself, but on a critical underlying question of whether judges at the district level are allowed to issue injunctions that halt the administration’s policies nationwide.

Trump is hardly the first president to express frustration over this practice, which is often used by the party out of power to challenge administrative actions. But the ability of district court judges to continue issuing them will finally be put to the test soon in the birthright citizenship case.

“The U.S. Constitution applies to every American, period, no matter what state you’re in,” Bonta said, explaining California’s defense of the practice.

“The substantive, underlying issue is really strong for us,” he continued. “And whether you should have a national injunction on a constitutional right — it seems obvious. Either everyone has the right, or no one has the right. It’s not that red states don’t enjoy a constitutional right, but the blue states brave enough to sue do.”

On Capitol Hill, congressional Republicans are attempting to limit the powers of district judges through legislation. A bill authored by Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Bonsall), a senior member of the House Judiciary Committee, and passed by House Republicans would do just that: the No Rogue Rulings Act of 2025, his office said, would stop “single district court judges from solely determining national policy — an authority the Constitution reserves for Congress, the President, and, in limited instances, the Supreme Court.”

Bonta dismissed Issa’s proposal, expressing doubt it would overcome the 60-vote filibuster threshold in the Senate. But even if it did pass, Bonta said, he would expect his office to sue over its constitutionality.

“I’d have to look at it more closely, but if there’s a legal defect to it, yes,” Bonta said. “It could be a separation of powers violation. Let’s say Congress says, ‘the Trump administration keeps losing in court. We’re not happy with that.’ And then they say, ‘OK, the courts can’t issue any more court orders.’ They could pass it with a majority in both houses, they could pass the filibuster, Trump could sign it, and it’s completely unlawful.”

“The Constitution has the final word on that — Article III defines the judicial branch — and they have power. Congress can’t take it away,” he added. “I think it’s likely a candidate for being constitutionally defective.”

What else you should be reading

The must-read: California has sued Trump 15 times in his first 100 days. Where do those cases stand?
The deep dive: ‘Disrupt, break, defund’: Trump’s imperial first 100 days
The L.A. Times Special: Trump signs orders ramping up immigration showdown with sanctuary cities and states

More to come,
Michael Wilner

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Transgender women will no longer be able to play in women’s football in England from 1 June, the Football Association has announced.

English football’s governing body amended its rules on 11 April, applying stricter eligibility criteria for transgender women to continue playing in women’s football at all levels.

However, following the UK Supreme Court’s ruling on 15 April that the legal definition of a woman is based on biological sex, the FA has scrapped that policy and says only those born biologically female will be permitted to play.

“This is a complex subject, and our position has always been that if there was a material change in law, science, or the operation of the policy in grassroots football then we would review it and change it if necessary,” the FA said.

“We understand that this will be difficult for people who simply want to play the game they love in the gender by which they identify, and we are contacting the registered transgender women currently playing to explain the changes and how they can continue to stay involved in the game.”

May 1 (UPI) — A federal grand jury in Phoenix has returned a five-count indictment accusing a 35-year-old man of setting fire and destroying a Cybertruck at a Tesla dealership in Mesa, Ariz., the latest case involving attacks targeting the Elon Musk-owned carmaker.

Ian William Moses, of Mesa, was charged Wednesday with maliciously damaging property and vehicles in interstate commerce by means of fire. Each of the five counts carries a penalty of between five and 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.

The Tesla dealership in Mesa was attacked early Monday.

According to charging documents, Moses was wearing a dark hooded sweatshirt, baseball cap and a black mask when he allegedly set the fire at the dealership.

Federal prosecutors allege that he was captured on video placing fire-starter logs next to the building and then pouring gasoline on the logs, the facility and three Tesla vehicles.

At 1:38 a.m. local time, he is alleged to have ignited the fire that authorities said destroyed a silver Cybertruck.

Police arrested Moses about an hour and a half later, approximately a quarter-mile from the dealership. Federal prosecutors said he was detained wearing the same clothing seen on the suspect in the video footage, and a hand-drawn map of the dealership was found in one of his pockets.

“There is nothing American about burning down someone else’s business because you disagree with them politically,” U.S. Attorney Timothy Courchaine for the District of Arizona said in a statement.

“These ongoing attacks against Tesla are not protests; they are acts of violence that have no place in Arizona or anywhere else.”

Tesla has become a target of public anger as Musk, the car maker’s CEO, has cut hundreds of thousands of government jobs and billions of dollars in federal programs through his Department of Government Efficiency, which was tasked by the Trump administration with shrinking the government and ending wasteful spending.

Musk and his department’s actions have ignited protests across the country and have become a focal point of criticism for those who oppose the drastic and controversial measures enacted by the Trump administration.

Several car dealerships have been attacked, prompting the FBI to launch a task force in late March to investigate the string of crimes.

Attorney General Pam Bondi has described the attacks as “domestic terrorism,” though it is not clear if any of the defendants have been charged with terrorism related-offenses.

“If you engage in domestic terrorism, the Department of Justice will find you, follow the facts and prosecute you to the fullest extent of the law,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said Wednesday.

“No negotiating.”

A wave of Russian missile strikes hit residential buildings in the Ukrainian city of Odesa, killing two people and injuring at least 15. Emergency crews evacuated hundreds of survivors from burning buildings after the attacks.

The L.A. Dodgers are (thus far) leading the league with the most wins this season, and a celebratory spirit seems to have settled over the city. Perhaps it’s aided by the start of fesitval season and a bounty of new seasonal fruits and veggies hitting the shelves of our local markets.

In case you’re wondering how to maximize your farmers market spoils, the Food team rounded up our favorite cookbooks released this spring, as well as culinary titles, new and old, that we can’t imagine living without. Sample the splendor with recipes for Queen St.’s mackerel tartare, Fat + Flour’s London Fog brownies and a hibiscus margarita from cocktail expert Caroline Pardilla’s new book.

The month of May often brings showers and flowers, along with Mother’s Day and Memorial Day holidays. Consult our staff guide for the city’s best weekend brunch spots.

And if you’re still looking for dining ideas this month, bookmark this list with new openings including a rooftop temaki bar in the Original Farmers Market, a modern diner in Santa Ana and a recently reopened superette in Altadena.

Before the word “adult” attached to any form of media — books, movies, websites — became a synonym for “pornographic,” it meant a sort of entertainment that was made for people who had experienced a little bit of life. People who wanted to read or see things that reflected their experience in a grown-up way, in which they could recognize familiar challenges, rendered as comedy or tragedy. It was the opposite of “juvenile.”

There was definitely a market for such things, perhaps even a market dominated by them — films like “Kramer vs. Kramer,” “The Big Chill” and “An Unmarried Woman” pop to my aged mind. Even young(er) people, before they had the option of watching themselves exclusively, took an interest, if memory serves. (Maybe they still, do; let me know, young people.) The “49 and over” demographic may not be TV’s most prized, but it’s a fat slice of the population and many own televisions.

So there is something old-fashioned about “The Four Seasons,” a very watchable, breezy, bumpy new Netflix comedy from Tina Fey, Lang Fisher and Tracey Wigfield, remaking a super-successful 1981 movie about no-longer-young marrieds. (Alan Alda, who wrote, directed and starred in the film makes a cameo appearance here, so we may infer his approval.)

The TV version adds original twists and new scenes — the series lasts twice as long as the film, after all — but generally follows the shape of the original story and the character of its characters, who share names with their prototypes (though Claudia has become Claude).

It’s an adult entertainment in the original sense, notwithstanding a character “only” in her early 30s, with jokes about aches and pains, flagging energy, earlier bedtimes, the stresses of long relationships in longer lives, and here and there a sense of nostalgia for the people they used to be. Many will relate.

Steve Carell and Kerri Kenney-Silver also star as a couple, married 25 years, who separate.

(Jon Pack / Netflix)

The narrative gambit concerns three couples who meet for a holiday every three months, if you can imagine that. They are upper-middle class, upper-middle-age, and in such control of their lives that they can afford to take, like, a week off four times a year. Their vacation schedule brings them together in spring, summer, fall and winter — in that order, in the story — a plan that conveniently allows for Vivaldi’s well-known violin concerti to fill up the soundtrack.

Fey plays Kate, married to Jack (Will Forte), who is a history teacher; anyway, he is very hot on a biography of Napoleon. (It doesn’t really matter what anyone does for work; some of them have jobs, but all of them have money.) Jack briefly worked for hedge-fund guy Nick (Steve Carell), at whose upstate New York lake house, shared with wife Anne (Kerri Kenney-Silver), the first movement of this “Four Seasons” takes place. Danny (Colman Domingo), who was in college with Jack and Kate, is an interior designer, married to Claude (Marco Calvani), an emotional Italian, whose main (pre)occupation is worrying about Danny’s health. (Jack worries about his own health, but he is merely a hypochondriac.)

It begins a little slow — a little “why should we care about these people, with their abundant vacation time?” Perhaps it was just class resentment on my part. Soon enough, however, things start to percolate, with Nick’s announcement that he is leaving Anne; her replacement in their pod is his dental hygienist, Ginny (Erika Henningsen, from Fey’s “Mean Girls” musical), a lively young woman in her 30s. (Her age — that is to say, she’s an adult — will be pointed out.) No one speaks the words “midlife crisis” — maybe that’s not a thing anyone says anymore? (Research shows the term has been with us 60 years, long enough to have a midlife crisis of its own.) But both Nick and Ginny take pains to declare it’s not like that. And it’s true that Anne, currently addicted to playing some farm game on her iPad and not using the potting shed, complete with kiln, that Nick built her, has let joy leak from her life.

Erika Henningsen plays Ginny, Nick’s (Steve Carell) new love interest.

(Francisco Roman / Netflix)

Nick’s energized romantic do-si-do destabilizes the group, and gives them something new to gossip about and compare their own lives with as they wobble through the ensuing year. Ginny comes into view in the third (summer) episode, set in the Bahamas, where, indulged by Nick, she has booked the six of them into an uncomfortable vegan eco-resort. (Naturally, the writers will have some fun at the expense of eco-veganism, and of the older characters’ reaction to it.)

Fall is set during parents weekend at the New England college where Kate and Jack, and Anne and Nick, each have a daughter enrolled (Ashlyn Maddox and Julia Lester, respectively) and where Kate, Jack and Danny were students. Winter finds them in a chalet up a snowy mountain, with a return to the lake house for circular closure.

Dramatically, Carell’s storyline is dominant, and he’s sympathetic in a part that doesn’t hesitate to make him look silly. But Fey, being Fey — “SNL” headwriter, winner of the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor, named the best comedian of the 21st century by the Guardian, twice listed on the Time 100, four times chosen one of People magazine’s most beautiful people, and the series’ designated Least Quirky character — comes across as its hub, its central intelligence. (Which puts Forte’s definitely quirky character at something of a disadvantage.)

If one is as aware of watching famous faces like Fey and Carell and Forte and Domingo at work as following the people they’re playing, of course it’s nice to see them, and knowing them as actors doesn’t relieve the tension their characters create as they scrape against each other. (Everybody’s got problems.)

Across the course of the show we will learn that marriage is work, that not everybody believes in soulmates, that people in a new relationship might have more and noisier sex than those who have been together for many years, and that humans have the capacity to drive one another crazy, perhaps especially on vacation — a sad irony. There will be tension within and between the couples; some of their annoyance may in turn annoy the viewer.

But that, I suppose, is the desired effect, and when the characters do wake up to one another, “The Four Seasons” can be quite moving.

The Red Sea is a vital waterway for global trade, connecting the Mediterranean Sea with the Gulf of Aden through the Suez Canal. Approximately 12 percent of global shipping traffic normally passes through the Red Sea, including key oil shipments and commercial goods.

The Red Sea attacks began on November 19, 2023, when Houthi forces seized Galaxy Leader, a British-owned, Japanese-operated vehicle carrier, off the coast of Hodeidah. The 25-person crew was detained, and the ship was held for more than a year.

The Houthis justified the seizure as an act of solidarity with Palestinians, stating they would continue their actions until Israel’s war on Gaza came to an end.

Since November 2023, the Houthis have carried out more than 100 attacks, including missile, drone and boat raids, targeting Israel-linked commercial vessels as well as US and UK military ships in the Red Sea. The attacks have resulted in two ships being sunk and one seized.

The map below shows some of the locations of these attacks.

Yemen’s devastation over the past decade

The war in Yemen has left the country in severe poverty.

The country has been divided between the Houthis, also known as Ansar Allah, who control the west, including Sanaa, and the internationally recognised Yemeni government, which controls the south and east, with Aden as its capital.

Since 2015, the civil war in Yemen, with the intervention of a Saudi-led coalition on the government’s side, has devastated the country.

More than 4.5 million people have been displaced and 18.2 million need humanitarian aid. The risk of nationwide famine is at its highest, with nearly five million people facing acute food insecurity, according to the United Nations Refugee Agency.

EVERY household has its fiery moments – but when you have 22 Kids & Counting, the potential for scandals is multiplied even more.

Sue and Noel Radford, the matriarch and patriarch of Britain’s biggest family, may draw in thousands of fans with their wholesome antics and lavish trips.

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But the Radfords are also not immune to social media criticism, following a range of drama over the years – and more recently.

Earlier this month, in April, mum-of-22 Sue came under fire after she was seen enjoying a lavish £52k trip to Florida – whilst leaving heavily pregnant daughter Chloe, 29, back in Morecambe.

The blonde beauty who is already mother to adorable daughter Mila, two, with security guard boyfriend Jacob Wallace, gave birth earlier this week.

Critics came after Sue who had already missed the birth of her 13th grandchild last year while enjoying a holiday in Dubai.

Katie Radford, 22 – the eighth eldest of Britain’s largest family – gave birth to a healthy baby boy, Ronnie Hudson Carter, back in October 2024.

Despite the mum-to-be wanting Sue, then 49, to be present for the birth, a booking blunder from Noel meant parents of the brood ended up missing the arrival of Ronnie – much to Sue’s disappointment.

After sharing a series of holiday snaps on the family’s Instagram account, Sue was met with a barrage of abuse.

One critic said: ”Can’t believe you’ve gone away so close to Chloe’s due date after the drama when Noel booked you to go away close to Millie’s due date.”

But this is not the first time the bumper brood has come under fire, leaving Instagram fans and TV viewers furious.

From a ”distasteful” act tricking fans into thinking Sue’s battling ”dementia” to ”using kids”, here we take a look at some of the biggest scandals the Radfords have weathered throughout the years.

False earth-shattering diagnosis

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Back in January 2025, Sue was brutally criticised over a ”distasteful” episode which ”falsely lead viewers to believe she has dementia at 49”.

Mum-of-22 revealed the earth-shattering diagnosis on 22 Kids and Counting after she was seen behaving unusually quiet and not like herself.

The first part of the episode showed the now 50-year-old and her husband, Noel, 54, becoming more distant as the typically outgoing mum-of-22 became more withdrawn.

The pie whizz, naturally, was seen growing increasingly worried about his wife, whom he got married to in 1992.

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After Noel accidentally stumbled across a leaflet for dementia in the family vehicle he feared the worst – but the latter part of the episode then revealed it wasn’t the matriarch whose life had been turned upside down.

Channel 5 viewers slammed the episode as ”distasteful” that ”set up” fans of the mega brood to believe Sue had a life-changing illness.

A second said: ”Distasteful ….wanting to make people think Sue had dementia. Scripts need looking into.” 

”Wow the show is really setting this up as though Sue has dementia. She doesn’t. A family friend has early onset dementia,” a third lamented. 

Another wrote: ”If it’s not all scripted then I think she’s out of order not just telling him she’s fine and it’s someone else. Poor guy must’ve been so worried! Have gone off her!” 

Teen pregnancy

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In their joint tell-all book The Radfords: Making Life Count, published in February 2024, Noel addressed the controversy over his and Sue’s respective ages at the time of their first pregnancy.

As revealed on their TV show, Sue had only just turned 13 when she gave birth to their eldest child Chris, now in his late 30s. Nearly five years her senior, Noel was 17.

Sue, who turned 50 this year, was three years below the age of the consent at the time, but Noel has revealed there was “no knock on the door” from authorities regarding her pregnancy.

Back in 1989, and as the law is today, it is an offence for anyone to have any sexual activity with a person under the age of 16.

However, the Crown Prosecution Service doesn’t always pursue prosecutions against teenagers in these circumstances.

It is still illegal for a person aged 18 or over to have any sexual activity with a person younger than 16.

Hitting back at the criticism the loved-up pair faced, Noel defended their decision to start a family at such a young age.

“We were both kids,” he penned. “It was not as if I was 10 or 15 years older than Sue.

“For a lot of people, though, things are just black and white and you are tarnished with the same brush as other people in totally different situations.

“We were young and we were daft.

“But we wanted to continue as a couple,” he wrote in the book that hit number 2 on Sunday Times bestseller list.

‘Using kids’ to cash in

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As Britain’s biggest brood, it may come as no surprise that Sue and Noel have some hefty bills and expenses to cover – especially if they want to enjoy lavish trips (a whopping 18 in 2024 alone) as often as they do.

The bumper brood famously don’t rely on benefits, with a big chunk of their earnings coming from dad Noel’s pie business, as well as brand partnerships on social media.

They do receive child benefits, but no other government help.

However, the couple came under fire for ”using their kids” to rake in extra cash to fund their lifestyle in 2024.

The pair regularly share vlogs documenting their family life at home, and took to YouTube to post a video of their trip to IKEA.

After the clips from their shopping haul, Noel and Sue sat down with five-year-old daughter Bonnie on the sofa to demonstrate the tutoring app they’ve been using for their kids.

At the bottom of the video, a line also flashed up saying: “Use the link in our description box for 30-day money back guarantee and afterwards 60% off.”

Sadly for the two, the decision to include the tot in the video plug of the app didn’t go down too well with everyone.

“Selling products using the kids,” one person raged in a remark that’s since been deleted from the comments section.

How many people are in the Radford family?

Sue and Noel Radford have 22 children and 11 grandchildren.

• Noel – Born December 24, 1970
• Sue – Born March 22, 1975
• Chris – Born May 7, 1989 – married to Nicole Spencer and have three children: Maisie (June 3, 2017), Jacob (July 31, 2019), and Oaklyn, September 21, 2021). He is a stepdad to Nicole’s four kids
• Sophie – Born December 13, 1993– married to Joe Broadley and have three children: Daisy (August 27, 2012), Ayprill (October 13, 2014) and Leo, (December 24, 2015)
• Chloe – Born July 31, 1995– dating Jake Wallace and have one child: Mila (July 23, 2022), and due to have baby number two in 2025
• Jack – Born April 9, 1997
• Daniel – Born March 3, 1999
• Luke – Born October 1, 2000
• Millie – Born August 29, 2001 – married to Harley Passmore and have three children: Ophelia (September 12, 2020), Chester (February 20, 2022), and Elodie (September 19, 2023) 
• Katie – Born November 14, 2002 – dating Connor Carter and have baby Ronnie (October 8, 2024)
• James – Born October 17, 2003
• Ellie – Born May 6, 2005
• Aimee – Born April 21, 2006
• Josh – Born July 3, 2007
• Max – Born December 11, 2008
• Tillie – Born May 2, 2010
• Oscar – Born October 22, 2011
• Casper – Born October 3, 2012
• Alfie – Stillborn July 6, 2014
• Hallie – Born June 3, 2015
• Phoebe – Born July 24, 2016
• Archie – Born September 18, 2017
• Bonnie – Born November 6, 2018
• Heidie – Born April 3, 2020

‘Favourite’ grandchildren feud

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In April 2023, Sue and Noel’s daughter Millie, now 23, sparked rumours of a fiery feud after she appeared to slam her parents on social media.

Mum-of-three Millie, who first became a mum at 19 and is Sue and Noel’s third eldest daughter, accused her mum and dad of making money from their grandchildren – while also alleging that they choose “favourites” to take with them on holidays.

The 23-year-old, who was pregnant with her youngest child, Elodie, at the time, accused her parents of excluding Ophelia and Chester from a family trip to the sunny Florida.

Sharing a screenshot from a clip of her parents surprising some of their grandchildren, Millie reposted it with caption that read: “Cute? But you’ve made money from all your grandchildren, but choose your favourites.”

It wasn’t long until she deleted the furious post, while Sue later pleaded with fans not to speculate over the alleged fallout.

In a message shared under their Facebook video, the mum-of-22 wrote: “Thank you so much for all your comments. The grandkids’ reaction was just so lovely and had us all crying [heart emoji].

”Please could we just not comment on Millie? We are on holiday and don’t want all the drama,” she begged.

On the brink of a bankruptcy

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Sue and Noel may have been together for years, appearing to have a strong marriage on the surface – but that doesn’t mean the two haven’t had their fair share of trials and tribulations.

Back in 2000, there was one particularly frustrating period that almost broke their seemingly strong bond, after Foot and Mouth Disease hit their bakery business hard.

The rapid decline in tourist footfall nearly plunged the bumper brood into bankruptcy.

In their 2024 interview with OK!, Sue recalled: “We almost went bankrupt and thought we would lose the house. I just kept thinking, ‘There’s no way out of this, and I really don’t see how our marriage can survive.”

However, the pair eventually managed to work through the dark days, and onto more prosperous times.

Sue added: “The whole thing took its toll on me and Noel. Looking back now, I can see that we would never, ever have called it a day, but when you’re in that highly pressurised moment, it’s hard to see a way out.”

Professional intervention following a long dispute

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The festive season can be an exceptionally stressful period for any family – and the Radford bumper brood are no exception, having to whip up a mammoth feast.

But Christmas 2023 proved to be a particularly challenging time, with two of the siblings – Chloe, 29, and Luke, 24 – being at war with each other.

As revealed in a festive episode, the two hadn’t been on speaking terms for over a year, with a squabble over a shelf of frozen pastry pies tipping things over the edge.

Luke explained to viewers that, although the longstanding feud had been about a “mix of things”, working together had caused matters to escalate even further.

Luke shared: “Anyways, they [the pies] just took up so much space, and Chloe had set it up that way, and it was early in the morning.

”I’m not a morning person… and it just kicked off. It’s the most pathetic thing, but it’s the straw that broke the camel’s back.”

Offering her perspective on the situation, Chloe reflected: “Sibling arguments are different. You definitely hold a grudge more.”

Desperate to see the once-close duo put their differences aside, the parents took a drastic step and invited a trained intervention counsellor into their 10-bedroom family home, in hopes that the row would be put to bed.

Mum Sue confessed: “To see them not speaking has been really, really hard. Especially as when we look back over the years and see how close Luke and Chloe were.

”But they are both very strong-willed and stubborn.”

Noel chimed in: “The longer it goes on, the harder it gets. There has been no backing down first. It’s not nice to see them not talking to each other.”

BASEBALL
City Section
Angelou 8, Santee 7
Banning 8, Narbonne 0
Carson 4, San Pedro 0
Chavez 12, Vaughn 2
Cleveland 2, Taft 1
Collins Family 11, Central City Value 1
Eagle Rock 6, Lincoln 0
El Camino Real 3, Chatsworth 0
Fairfax 2, Westchester 1
Granada Hills 6, Birmingham 2
Franklin 2, Bravo 1
Hawkins 8, Washington 5
Huntington Park 17, Locke 7
Jordan 17, Dymally 7
Mendez 3, Hollywood 2
Monroe 10, VAAS 0
Palisades 11, LACES 1
Rancho Dominguez 13, Gardena 1
Reseda 24, Panorama 1
SOCES 16, Canoga Park 1
Stella 11, Animo Robinson 8
Sun Valley Magnet 18, Bert Corona 4
University 4, Hamilton 1
Van Nuys 7, Grant 1
Venice 2, San Fernando 1
Wilson 8, Marshall 6

Southern Section
Adelanto 11, Victor Valley 2
Alhambra 6, Montebello 4
Aliso Niguel 4, Tesoro 2
Alta Loma 5, Los Altos 3
Animo Leadership 4, Ambassador 1
Arroyo Valley 8, Fontana 2
Bell Gardens 2, Schurr 0
Brea Olinda 5, Ocean View 2
California 9, Whittier 1
Carpinteria 3, Nordhoff 2
Castaic 7, Saugus 4
Chadwick 7, St. Pius X-St. Matthias 6
Chaminade 11, Bishop Alemany 9
Chaparral 10, Murrieta Valley 9
Chino 12, Ontario 0
Chino Hills 4, Rancho Cucamonga 2
Colton 4, Eisenhower 1
Corona del Mar 10, Capistrano Valley Christian 5
Crean Lutheran 7, La Habra 2
Crespi 12, Harvard-Westlake 1
Crossroads 20, Viewpoint 1
de Toledo 8, Buckley 0
Desert Christian Academy 13, Hamilton 12
Don Lugo 17, Chaffey 6
Eastside 5, Knight 0
El Modena 2, El Dorado 0
El Segundo 3, Peninsula 1
Elsinore 7, Temescal Canyon 3
Etiwanda 10, Upland 2
Fullerton 4, Laguna Hills 0
Gahr 6, Bellflower 0
Garden Grove Pacifica 9, Yorba Linda 4
Grace Brethren 7, Channel Islands 1
Grand Terrace 9, Rialto 2
Hart 8, Canyon Country Canyon 0
Highland 13, Palmdale 3
Hueneme 9, Fillmore 1
Huntington Beach 3, Edison 0
Jurupa Hills 11, Carter 1
Kaiser 10, San Gorgonio 0
Keppel 15, San Gabriel 0
Laguna Beach 9, University 0
Lancaster 24, Antelope Valley 3
Littlerock 4, Quartz Hill 3
Long Beach Wilson 5, Long Beach Poly 1
Los Alamitos 7, Fountain Valley 4
Los Osos 9, Damien 4
Loyola 11, Sherman Oaks Notre Dame 3
Marshall 8, South El Monte 5
Millikan 12, Lakewood 3
Mira Costa 5, Redondo Union 3
Montclair 7, Diamond Ranch 1
Mountain View 13, Gabrielino 4
Newport Harbor 4, Marina 3
Northwood 8, Sage Hill 1
Nuview Bridge 18, California Military 0
Orange Lutheran 3, Mater Dei 1
Rancho Mirage 4, La Quinta 3
Righetti 4, Lompoc 0
Riverside Notre Dame 11, Rim of the World 1
Rosemead 11, El Monte 1
Royal 14, Camarillo 4
San Clemente 5, El Toro 1
San Jacinto Valley Academy 25, SJDLCS 7
Santa Fe 6, El Rancho 3
Santa Maria St. Joseph 11, Lompoc Cabrillo 0
Santa Margarita 6, Servite 2
Santa Paula 31, Malibu 0
Silverado 7, Barstow 3
Simi Valley 9, Moorpark 1
SLOCA 15, Laton 5
Sonora 3, Troy 1
South Hills 5, Colony 4
South Torrance 6, North Torrance 0
St. Bernard 3, St. Monica 0
St. Francis 7, Sierra Canyon 2
St. John Bosco 11, JSerra 3
Summit 10, Bloomington 0
Sunny Hills 6, Esperanza 3
Tahquitz 10, San Jacinto 1
Temecula Prep 12, San Jacinto Leadership 1
Temecula Valley 5, Great Oak 4
Torrance 6, West Torrance 0
Trabuco Hills 6, Capistrano Valley 0
Valencia 11, Trinity Classical Academy 6
Vasquez 13, Faith Baptist 6
Victor Valley Christian 14, Lucerne Valley 3
Villa Park 6, Santa Ana Foothill 4
Vista Murrieta 13, Murrieta Mesa 5
Warren 2, Downey 0
West Ranch 9, Golden Valley 1
Woodbridge 14, Portola 3

SOFTBALL

City Section
Alliance Bloomfield 23, ESAT 12
Animo Bunche 23, Downtown Magnets 13
Animo South LA 18, AHSA 0
Bernstein 10, Orthopaedic 8
Birmingham 8, El Camino Real 2
Dymally 23, Jordan 19
Eagle Rock 6, Bravo 5
Franklin 8, Marshall 1
Garfield 16, Bell 4
Granada Hills 15, Chatsworth 0
Kennedy 9, Chavez 5
Legacy 11, Huntington Park 0
Lincoln 12, Wilson 6
Marquez 14, Torres 1
Maywood Academy 20, Maywood CES 10
Poly 8, Arleta 3
Reseda 32, Grant 0
San Fernando 5, Verdugo Hills 4
Santee 37, Manual Arts 7
SOCES 19, Community Charter 1
Stella 23, Animo Watts 13
Taft 10, Cleveland 7
Van Nuys 22, Canoga Park 1
Washington 30, Hawkins 29

Southern Section
Adelanto 19, Victor Valley 9
Alta Loma 5, San Dimas 4
Anaheim 7, Los Amigos 5
Anaheim Canyon 5, Garden Grove Pacifica 4
Barstow 10, Silverado 9
Bolsa Grande 17, Saddleback 7
Buena Park 11, Santa Ana Calvary Chapel 1
Burbank Burroughs 11, Burbank 0
Capistrano Valley Christian 8, Southlands Christian 2
Carter 9, Eisenhower 8
Chino Hills 11, Etiwanda 4
Colton 12, Bloomington 1
Diamond Ranch 11, Montclair 5
Don Lugo 10, Chaffey 9
El Monte 11, Rosemead 1
El Segundo 6, Torrance 1
Elsinore 9, San Jacinto 3
Fullerton 10, Ocean View 0
Grand Terrace 22, Jurupa Hills 6
Great Oak 12, Temecula Valley 1
Hamilton 12, Desert Christian Academy 3
Hesperia Christian 7, ACE 3
Irvine 11, Portola 1
Katella 25, Laguna Hills 6
Lakewood St. Joseph 10, Bellflower 0
La Quinta 20, Rancho Mirage 7
Orange Lutheran 9, Los Alamitos 2
Los Osos 10, Rancho Cucamonga 3
Murrieta Mesa 14, Vista Murrieta 4
Murrieta Valley 15, Chaparral 1
Nuview Bridge 15, California Military 10
Palos Verdes 5, Mira Costa 2
Peninsula 6, Wiseburn Da Vinci 0
Placentia Valencia 12, Whitney 0
Rialto 11, San Gorgonio 1
Rio Hondo Prep 4, Pasadena Poly 2
Riverside Notre Dame 13, Rim of the World 6
Rosary 11, Northwood 1
Royal 2, Santa Paula 1
San Clemente 6, Trabuco Hills 0
San Jacinto Leadership 24, Temecula Prep 20
Santa Ana Valley 7, Orange 1
Segerstrom 12, Garden Grove 4
Sierra Canyon 4, Muir 1
Simi Valley 5, Camarillo 4
South El Monte 16, Marshall 1
South Hills 17, Colony 1
South Torrance 14, North Torrance 5
St. Paul 14, St. Anthony 3
Summit 6, Kaiser 2
Temescal Canyon 16, Tahquitz 2
United Christian academy 26, California Lutheran 8
Westminster 13, Costa Mesa 10
Westminster La Quinta 16, Estancia 4
Woodbridge 4, University 0

Intersectional
South Gate 8, Ramona Convent 7

May 1 (UPI) — An American citizen detained in Belarus has been released, according to Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

“Thanks to @POTUS, Belarus has released another wrongfully detained U.S. citizen,” Rubio said Wednesday in a statement on X. “No president has done so much, so quickly to keep Americans safe abroad.”

Rubio did not identify the released American, but officials confirmed to CNN and Axios that it was lawyer and activist Youras Ziankovich, who had been detained for more than 3 1/2 years.

Ziankovich was captured in Moscow in April 2021 by four men who were waiting for him outside his hotel room, according to the James Foley Foundation.

With a hood over his head, he was forced into a car and then driven more than 400 miles to Minsk where he was wanted for his criticism of the country’s dictatorial president, Alexander Lukashenko.

He was later convicted in a secret trial, the foundation said.

“It’s a relief to see Youras Ziankovich — an American citizen wrongfully detained in Belarus — on his way back to the U.S.” Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H, and ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said in a statement. “I’m grateful to those who worked tirelessly to facilitate his return, including @StateDept career staff.”

“Welcome home, Youras,” she continued.

In a statement reported by Radio Free Europe, Ziankovich’s wife, Alena Dzenisavets, thanked President Donald Trump, Rubio and those who had aided in advocating for her husband’s released.

“It took 1,480 days but he survived and is on his way home to me and to America,” she said.

Ziankovich was one of thousands arrested for opposing Lukashenko following mass protests that erupted in the country after the president’s election to a sixth term a year prior in a contest that has been widely discredited.

According to the Viasna human rights center, there were 1,198 political prisoners in Belarus as of Thursday.

Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya said in a statement that she is “relieved” to see Ziankovich released, and that “we’ll keep fighting to free all 1,200 political prisoners held hostage by Lukashenka’s criminal regime.”

EastEnders fans think Teddy Mitchell might not actually be the biological father of Harry Mitchell, amid Nicola Mitchell’s lies being at risk thanks to newcomer Benji

There could be another DNA bombshell set to hit the Mitchells on EastEnders according to fans.

After the truth about Nicola Mitchell killing her son Harry’s girlfriend Shireen four years ago, covered up by her accomplice Benji, we also recently found out she was harbouring another big secret. We found out Zack Hudson was the real father of Barney Mitchell, Nicola’s son with Teddy Mitchell.

Now fans think there’s another big paternity bombshell on the way in a twist that could expose Nicola for once and for all. This week she was dealing with the repercussions of telling Teddy the truth, about how she killed Shireen and had Benji dispose of the body.

Teddy took action when Benji admitted an action that could reveal Nicola’s guilt if the body was ever found. As Nicola decided to dig up the body and move it, also wanting to find the evidence linked to her, Teddy had other ideas and made a deal with Benji.

But Teddy set him up and soon as Benji began to dig at the grave of Shireen, the police arrived and caught him. In the fallout Shireen’s death was finally confirmed and Benji claimed Nicola had set him up, and it’s her who was guilty.

READ MORE: Coronation Street airs surprise double exit in Daisy Midgeley’s final storyline

We then saw Nicola pleading her case when questioned, but it was clear a traumatised Harry didn’t know what to believe or who. He seemed to know that Nicola’s story to the police was all a lie and that she may well be involved in Shireen’s death.

This led to some fans wondering if Harry had spoken with Benji and had been told the truth. A scene in particular also had fans wondering if Harry and Benji were linked in some way, and might have worked together in the past.

When Benji was brought into it Harry seemed alarmed and the mention of his name had him asking about him. Some fans questioned why Harry seemed to know Benji well enough to react the way he did to the mention of his name, while given he is Nicola’s accomplice it’s likely they did know each other.

That said, with spoilers teasing another big secret waiting to come out that could ruin Nicola’s life, likely the Barney and Zack twist, fans couldn’t help but wonder if it was something else we did not yet know. Viewers began to predict that Benji could be the biological father of Harry, and not Teddy.

Taking to social media, one viewer said: “Could Benji be Harry’s father, making neither him nor Barney a proper Mitchell?” Another said: “Are we sure both Harry and Barney are actually Teddy’s sons because Benji could be one of their fathers?”

A third fan posted: “Who thinks Nicola has another secret? Barney from Zack as his son and Harry from Benji. It wouldn’t be a far stretch of imagination storyline.”

Meanwhile another fan said: “Considering Harry arrived moments after Benji’s threats – I’m convinced that Benji is Harry’s father or he’s been contacting him from prison.”

EastEnders airs Mondays to Thursdays at 7:30pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer. * Follow Mirror Celebs and TV on TikTok , Snapchat , Instagram , Twitter , Facebook , YouTube and Threads .