Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer drew a huge crowd to USC’s Bovard Theater at the L.A. Times Festival of Books on Sunday, where she addressed her recent photo-op with President Trump and her potential presidential run in 2028.

“People often ask me, ‘How did you get elected in a state like Michigan?’” Whitmer told an attentive audience. “I think it’s because people in Michigan believe that I am always going to put their interests first, even if it means threats or ridicule in the last month.”

The discussion with L.A. Times reporter Jessica Gelt was technically about Whitmer’s latest book “True Gretch — Young Adult Edition: Lessons for Anyone Who Wants to Make a Difference.” However, the conversation broadly addressed Whitmer’s professed commitment to understanding political differences, even when it puts her in hot water — as was the case after she was recently photographed alongside Trump at the White House as he signed two executive orders targeting his perceived political enemies. In some of the photos, the Democratic governor appears to attempt to hide her face behind a folder.

“Even as recently as a few weeks ago, I got caught in a situation that I never would have anticipated in a million years,” said Whitmer, directly addressing the situation on Sunday. “I got stuck in this press conference, and I disagreed with all the actions that were taken, all the rhetoric that was stated, but I had to stay to ask for help for Michigan.”

Whitmer said she had intended to have a one-on-one meeting with Trump to ask for aid for recovery efforts for an ice storm in northern Michigan.

“I’m not going to apologize for asking for that help, but I’m not happy about the situation,” she said.

Later in the talk, Gelt asked Whitmer about her future political plans. By law, she cannot run for a third term in the state’s 2026 election, and though she has denied the rumors, Whitmer is considered by many to be a potential Democratic presidential candidate in 2028.

“I don’t know yet,” Whitmer said. “I know enough about myself to know I care desperately about where this country is headed,” she continued, noting how much has happened in the first 100 days of Trump’s second presidency “and how much work is going to have to be done to make sure that we have the opportunity to put this country back on the right course.

“I want to be a part of that,” she said before noting, “I don’t know that I need to be the main character in that story.”

“True Gretch — Young Adult Edition” follows the adult-oriented “True Gretch: What I’ve Learned About Life, Leadership And Everything in Between,” yet features some additions, including references to resources for young people dealing with abuse or mental health issues and a question-and-answer segment with her daughters, 21 and 23 years old.

Both editions offer insights from the Democratic governor’s political life, which includes overcoming a kidnapping and assassination plot in 2020 along with steering her state through the COVID-19 pandemic.

The overarching talking point from the governor was that she “wouldn’t trade a thing.” She even said she wants to have a conversation with two of the men, now incarcerated, who co-operated with the government in their case against those arrested in the kidnap and assassination attempt against the governor herself.

Said Whitmer: “There are people that won’t engage, there are people who might engage, but the one thing I know is it’s impossible to find common ground if you don’t try to have a conversation.”

Match of the Day 2 pundits Danny Murphy and Shay Given debate Bournemouth striker Evanilson’s controversial “slip”, originally given as a yellow card then upgraded to a straight red following a video assistant referee review during their 1-1 draw against Manchester United.

MATCH REPORT: Bournemouth 1-1 Man Utd

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April 27 (UPI) — One person was killed and six others were wounded in an overnight shooting at a small university in North Carolina, officials said Sunday.

The shooting occurred in the early hours of Sunday at the center of the Elizabeth City State University campus, which is located in Elizabeth City near the North Carolina-Virginia border.

The school said in a statement that a 24-year-old man, who was not a student at the university, was pronounced dead at the scene. The man’s name was being withheld pending next-of-kin notification, it said.

Of the six people wounded, four sustained gunshot wounds, including three students. Two other students were injured during what the school called “the subsequent commotion.”

“Fortunately, none of the injuries are considered life-threatening, and all the injured were transported to a local hospital for treatment,” it said.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n2uMO0DpjfI

The incident occurred following an event held as part of Viking Fest, a week-long school celebration. The shooting prompted the university to go into lockdown, which was lifted later Sunday after law enforcement officials said the campus was safe.

“The university is deeply saddened by this senseless act,” Elizabeth City State University said in a second statement on Sunday. “Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims, their families and all members of the Viking community affected by this tragedy.”

Elizabeth City State University has about 2,260 students.

According to The Gun Violence Archive, there have been at least 85 mass shootings involving four or more victims so far this year in the United States.

North Korea has for the first time confirmed that it sent troops to fight for Russia against Ukraine.

In a report on state news agency KCNA, Pyongyang’s military claimed its soldiers helped Russian forces “completely liberate” the Kursk border region, according to an order given by leader Kim Jong Un.

It comes just days after Russian Chief of Staff Valery Gerasimov praised the “heroism” of North Korean troops during a Russian counter-offensive, the first time Moscow has publicly acknowledged their involvement.

He also claims Moscow regained full control of the country’s western Kursk region – a claim denied by Ukraine.

South Korean and Western intelligence have long reported that Pyongyang dispatched thousands of troops to Kursk last year.

The decision to deploy troops was in accordance with a mutual defense treaty between Pyongyang and Moscow, said KCNA.

“They who fought for justice are all heroes and representatives of the honour of the motherland,” Kim said according to KCNA.

North Korea and Russia demonstrated their “alliance and brotherhood” in Kursk, adding that a “friendship proven by blood” will greatly contribute to expanding the relationship “in every way”.

The KCNA did not say what would happen to the North Korean troops after their mission in Kursk has ended.

Reports that North Korean soldiers had been deployed emerged in October, following the deepening of bilateral ties between Kim and Putin. This included the signing of an accord where both Rusisan leader Vladimir Putin and Kim agreed to support each other if either country was dealing with “aggression”.

In January, Western officials told the BBC they believed at least 1,000 of the 11,000 troops sent from North Korea had been killed over three months.

The North Korean troops, reportedly from an “elite” unit called the Storm Corps, are said to be unprepared for the realities of modern warfare.

“These are barely trained troops led by Russian officers who they don’t understand,” former British Army tank commander, Col Hamish de Bretton-Gordon had said earlier this year.

Despite this, Ukraine’s top military commander Gen Oleksandr Syrskyi had earlier also warned that North Korean soldiers were posing a significant problem for Ukrainian fighters on the front line.

“They are numerous. An additional 11,000-12,000 highly motivated and well-prepared soldiers who are conducting offensive actions. They operate based on Soviet tactics. They rely on their numbers,” the general told Ukraine’s TSN Tyzhden news programme.

There were some interesting developments in the latest episode

*Warning – this article contains minor spoilers for The Last of Us season two, episode three*

The latest episode of The Last of Us introduced viewers to key new factions within the show’s world.

Following on from one of the most dramatic episodes of the entire series, what followed was a slow tease on what might come next and key players involved.

Ellie is finally told which group Abby is now a part of after she left the Fireflies. More importantly, it gives away about her most likely whereabouts, along with the rest of her friends. However, her and Dina also come across another faction on her travels in a gruesome scene.

So what are the WLF in The Last of Us? Who are the robed people that Ellie and Dina discover and who is The Prophet that they mention? What role do they play in the story? Here is everything you need to know.

What are the WLF?

Essentially, the WLF could be seen as an equivalent to the Fireflies just with a different geographical origin. However, there are some key differences in their approach, goals and how they operate.

While the Fireflies seemed to have their origins on the East coast in Boston, the WLF, as their name gives away, were born on the West. Their name stands for Washington Liberation Front and they refer to themselves as Wolves, adopting the animal as their symbol.

They were founded in Seattle, Washington by husband and wife Emma and Jason Patterson who grew tired of living under government control, with food shortages a major issue. However, as we join them in the game, their leader is a man named Isaac who was elected to takeover after the couple’s death.

Much like the Fireflies, they are rebel faction that rose up against the fictional government arm FEDRA, which took control of quarantine zones across major cities in the world of The Last of Us following outbreak day.

However, while Fireflies want to reinstate the democracy of the United States and commit acts of guerrilla warfare, the WLF are a militant paramilitary organisation that aim to take control by force, often opting for open and direct conflict. Following the fall of the Fireflies as seen in season one’s finale, many of the surviving members, including Abby and her friends, travel to Seattle to join the WLF.

While Fireflies have a message of hope they share with each other that is “look for the light”, the WLF’s is more in line with seeing themselves as warriors. Their phrase is: May your survival be long. May your death be swift.

As seen in the final scene, they are surprisingly great in number. In the game, they are seen using massive football stadium as their home base.

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Who is the Prophet and Seraphites?

Late in the episode, we meet a group of people wearing brown robes with a strange symbol on their backs. They whistle to communicate with each other across distances. Eagle-eyed viewers will also notice the scars on their faces.

These people are the Seraphites and they have found themselves at war with the WLF, one reason being over control of territory in Seattle and the area surrounding Washington state. They also find their ideologies directly opposing each other.

They were also founded in Seattle, by a woman who would eventually only be referred to as The Prophet. She believed the Cordyceps infection was a punishment for humanity’s sins and began to preach that humanity was being given a chance to redeem itself.

She preached and inspired others to join her in doing so, which meant living off the land again. Eventually, she was captured by the WLF and although she befriended her guards, deemed too dangerous by the WLF leader and executed.

The Prophet is never seen in the original game apart from some painted images left on walls and altars. One character mentions it has been a decade since she died in the latest episode so it seems the series will also have her as a symbolic reference.

Seraphites are referred to by the WLF as Scars, due to their self inflicted wounds. They believe they are imperfect beings and so scar themselves to make them imperfect. They refuse to use any technology from the ”old world’ although their soldiers are often given an exception to fight the WLF.

While Ellie and Dina are shocked over the scene they find in the episode with a mass group of dead Seraphites, their introduction in the original game is much more gruesome. Ellie actually comes across a small group of members by herself. They have caught a WLF soldier who they string up and disembowel in a grim moment not yet seen in the show.

The Last of Us season two continues Mondays at 9pm on Sky Atlantic and streaming on NOW.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un says troops sent to help Russia ‘annihilate’ Ukrainian forces under military pact with Moscow.

North Korea has confirmed for the first time that it sent troops to Russia to support Moscow’s war against Ukraine, and that its forces had contributed to taking back Russian territory held by Ukraine’s military in the Kursk region.

In a statement provided to North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on Monday, the Central Military Commission of the ruling Workers’ Party said that the country’s leader, Kim Jong Un, had sent troops into combat alongside Russian forces as part of a mutual defence treaty between Moscow and Pyongyang.

The KCNA quoted Kim as saying that soldiers were deployed to “annihilate and wipe out the Ukrainian neo-Nazi occupiers and liberate the Kursk area in cooperation with the Russian armed forces”.

“They who fought for justice are all heroes and representatives of the honour of the motherland,” KCNA quoted Kim as saying.

North Korea “regards it as an honour to have an alliance with such a powerful state as the Russian Federation”, KCNA said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Kim signed a comprehensive strategic partnership treaty in June last year, committing the two countries to come to each other’s assistance, militarily, in the event of war.

According to South Korea’s official Yonhap News Agency, Kim also said that a monument would be built soon in the capital, Pyongyang, to honour those who had fought against Ukraine.

“Flowers praying for immortality will be placed before the tombstones of the fallen soldiers, effectively acknowledging troops killed in combat,” Yonhap reports, noting that North Korea had so far remained silent about the thousands of soldiers it had sent to Russia in October.

Ukrainian officials said earlier this year that some 14,000 North Koreans were deployed against its forces, including 3,000 reinforcements who were sent to replace the North Koreans’ early battlefield losses.

Lacking armoured vehicles and unfamiliar with drone warfare, the North Koreans had taken heavy casualties early on in fighting but adapted quickly, according to reports, and later contributed to reclaiming Russia’s Kursk region from occupying Ukrainian forces.

Estimates of the casualty rate among North Korean forces fighting for Russia have varied widely.

South Korea’s National Intelligence Service (NIS) said in January that about 300 North Korean soldiers were killed in combat and another 2,700 had been injured.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy put the number of killed or wounded North Koreans at 4,000, while the United States estimated a lower figure of about 1,200 casualties.

North Korea’s statement follows Russia’s chief of staff, Valery Gerasimov, on Saturday hailing the “heroism” of the North Korean soldiers, who he said “provided significant assistance in defeating the group of Ukrainian armed forces”, while reporting to Putin that Kursk had been regained from Ukrainian forces.

Ukraine’s General Staff quickly countered, saying that its defensive operation in certain areas in Kursk was continuing.

The US State Department said in a statement on Sunday evening that North Korea and other “third countries” had “perpetuated” Russia’s war on Ukraine and that it must end, as should Moscow’s support for Pyongyang.

TOPEKA, Kan. — Campgrounds, boat ramps and other facilities in at least 30 locations at federal lakes and reservoirs in six states will be closed or have their hours curtailed as of mid-May as the Trump administration tries to rapidly shrink the U.S. government.

Officials at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which oversees the lakes and reservoirs and their amenities for boating, camping, hiking and sightseeing, said they are dealing with staffing shortages and other budgetary restrictions.

Corps spokesman Douglas Garman said concentrating staff at fewer recreational sites will allow those sites to keep the “full range of services” that visitors expect.

The corps’ district office in Omaha, which oversees facilities across a large swath of the Great Plains from western Iowa and Nebraska to Montana’s border with Canada, said the changes also will protect hydropower and dam operations.

“Decisions to make operational changes at recreation areas are not made lightly, and we understand those decisions can be disruptive to the public’s travel plans,” Garman said in an email to the Associated Press.

President Trump imposed a federal hiring freeze after beginning his second term in January, and his advisory team led by billionaire Elon Musk, the Department of Government Efficiency, is trying to eliminate tens of thousands of government jobs and, in some cases, eliminate agencies altogether.

In Pickstown, S.D., residents were appalled to learn the corps plans to close its visitor center at Fort Randall Dam and suspend tours of the dam’s powerhouse on May 1, said Cindy Broyhill, president of the town’s Board of Trustees.

“We have a lot of fishing and boating, but we also have a lot of just plain tourists coming through to see the dam,” Broyhill said of Pickstown, which is about half a mile east of the dam on the Missouri River and just north of the Nebraska state line.

“I think there are other places where they could cut that would make more sense,” she said.

In western Kansas, Sue Graham, manager of Knothead’s bait shop and camping supply store on the east side of Wilson Lake, was skeptical of a plan to limit a campsite there to daytime use as of May 15. The lake is about 230 miles west of Kansas City, Mo., home to the corps’ district office for parts of Kansas, Missouri and southern Nebraska.

Graham doesn’t think the move will save much money because the campsite is used only by residents who own boat ramps nearby, but Army Corps of Engineers officials would “shoot themselves in the foot” if they went further because of lost fee revenues, she said.

But Graham doesn’t expect her shop will be affected. “People are still going to come out,” she said.

The Kansas City district plans to close visitor information centers at two Kansas lakes: Hillsdale, outside the Kansas City area, and Kanopolis, in central Kansas. The corps will not allow overnight camping in 25 “primitive,” no-amenities spots in two areas at Harlan County Lake in western Nebraska near the Kansas state line. The sites and water nearby still will be accessible during the day.

Emily Coffin, the district’s natural resource section chief, said the district has pursued efficiency initiatives for five or six years that will lead to fewer visitor-staff interactions. They include self-service campsite registrations, cashless parking and payments through codes scanned with smartphones.

“It just may be a little bit more noticeable because we have more of that built on than maybe we did two years ago,” she said.

In March, the Army Corps of Engineers’ Baltimore district closed three campgrounds at Raystown Lake in central Pennsylvania and a campground, swimming beach and boat ramp at Cowanesque Lake in northern Pennsylvania.

The Omaha district announced this month that it would close six campgrounds in the Dakotas on May 1, as well as three visitor centers in South Dakota and Montana. It also plans to suspend or limit tours of four South Dakota dam powerhouses and decrease tours at Fort Peck Dam in northeast Montana.

The corps district for southeastern Washington state announced last week it was closing two visitor centers and eight camping and recreation areas there.

“By concentrating our resources, we can better maintain essential missions,” Lt. Col. Katie Werbeck, the district’s commander, said in a statement.

Hanna writes for the Associated Press.

Denis Bouanga scored two goals in the second half, including the equalizer in stoppage time, to rally LAFC to a 2-2 draw on Sunday after St. Louis City had taken the lead in the 89th minute on a shorthanded goal by Joakim Nilsson.

Nilsson’s first goal of the season and the second of the defender’s career put St. Louis City (2-4-4) in position to beat LAFC (4-4-2) for the first time in five tries.

But Bouanga, a 20-goal scorer in each of the past two seasons, found the net unassisted in the fifth minute of extra time to help LAFC improve to 3-0-2 against St. Louis City. It was his fourth goal this season.

Bouanga tied it 1-1 in the 70th minute but had Ben Lundt turn away his penalty kick five minutes later with a chance for the lead.

Cedric Teuchert ended a scoreless match when he scored seven minutes into the second half. Teuchert has seven goals in 19 career appearances with the club.

St. Louis City had to play a man down from the 83rd minute on after Alfredo Morales was tagged with two yellow cards in the second half.

Hugo Lloris totaled four saves in goal for LAFC.

Lundt stopped seven shots for St. Louis City. Lundt had four saves and Lloris one in the scoreless first half.

St. Louis City travels to play the Seattle Sounders on Saturday. LAFC will host the Houston Dynamo on Saturday.

Reuters

What happened?

What is the Lapu Lapu festival?

Who were the victims?

Who is the suspect?

TEMPLEGATE’S Monday picks are below.

Back a horse by clicking their odds.

TYCOON (6.00 Windsor, nap)

This son of super sire Kingman created a good impression on his debut at Sandown in late August. He travelled sweetly enough but finished the line full of running in third place. He gave the impression he would come on plenty for that experience and has much more to offer the Gosdens who have made a flying start to the new Flat season. They can bag another winner with Oisin Murphy in the saddle.

BELL SHOT (2.45 Lingfield, nb)

He shaped well on turf when third at Thirsk last time. He was just a little tapped for toe over the six-furlong distance there and moving back to this best trip can pay dividends. His last visit to Lingfield saw him beaten just a length and he’s back from the same handicap mark.

BARMYBLADE (4.40 Ayr, treble)

He took advantage of a falling handicap mark to land a battling victory at Catterick last time. He was returning from more than six months off there and showed a good attitude. The handicapper has been more than fair with just a 2lb nudge up the weights and he has few miles on the clock so there should be improvement to come.

DOUBLETHETROUBLE (2.15 Lingfield, Lucky 15)

He has been knocking on the door and made it three podiums in a row when a close-up third in a similar contest to this at Kempton last time. He stays well and his rider’s 7lb claim brings his weight down nicely.

Templegate’s tips

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In the eastern Mediterranean, a beachside resort that was once a hub for holidaymakers has become a ghost town after years of neglect

Once a hotspot for Hollywood royalty, this seaside resort has become an eerie ghost town. But this Cypriot destination has taken on a second-life for travellers, becoming a hub for ‘dark tourism’.

Not far from popular Cyprus holiday resorts like Paphos and Limassol sits Varosha. Varosha was once a glamorous holiday destination in its own right, frequented by Elizabeth Taylor and other stars of the 1960s.

But when the Turkish army invaded the northern region of Cyprus on July 20, 1974, the seaside resort changed forever. Five days prior, there had been a coup attempt supported by the Greek junta. The 15,000 residents of Varosha were forced to flee in large numbers as a result of the military invasion, abandoning their homes, places of business, and immaculate beaches.

READ MORE: Beautiful EU country named the best to retire in and it’s not Spain

Thus, the area became a ghost town with buildings left largely empty. Even today, the neighbourhood remains untouched under the control of Northern Cyprus. Naturally the area lost all appeal to holidaymakers, as plants began to reclaim the pavements and sea turtles nested on Varosha’s once sunbather-friendly beaches.

However, in October 2020, a decision was made by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the then prime minister of Northern Cyprus, Ersin Tatar, to reopen the area to visitors. But Varosha has begun to attract a different type of tourist than it did during its 1960s heyday.

More than 1.8 million tourists have visited the ghost town in the last four years – according to statistics released in 2024. However, the tourists seem to be drawn to the town’s dark historical significance and dilapidated landscape.

Speaking to the Daily Express, Hubert Faustmann, a professor at the University of Nicosia, said: “The section found itself in the top tourist sites in terms of dark tourism, so they started to open up certain parts of Varosha, and it’s now a tourist destination with guided tours, with e-bikes, vehicles and coffee shops.”

Faustmann continues: “Varosha is being used as a tourist destination, as a tourist attraction, without a single inhabitant prior to 1974 returning. It’s changed in the sense that it’s open to the public, but it’s not open for return.” Varosha has sought to repair its decaying image by clearing trash in preparation for its reopening. Today, the town offers many facilities for all varieties of visitors, including beach umbrellas and canteens.

And a matter of days after its tourism figures were released, Varosha’s struggling circumstances were discussed in Oslo by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE).

The PACE rapporteur for Varosha Piero Fassino, who visited the ghost town in mid-May, presented a report to the group during the meeting. The Italian senator said he hoped Varosha could be rejuvenated into a “living town” again after his visit.

That said, dark tourism has long been a feature of the travel industry, gaining mainstream recognition with the Netflix show, Dark Tourist. The show captures the weird, creepy and superstitious traditions and lore tied to many destinations around the world.

Speaking to The Mirror, the dark tourist enthusiast Louise Joy explained: “”Traditionally, dark tourism is visiting places associated with death and tragedy.” Joy is a blogger and founder of The Morbid Tourist and says she regularly searches for “spooky” haunts when travelling.

Joy says TikTok has also made a huge contribution to the dark tourism industry in recent years. “The individuality on TikTok [helps] people seeing stuff that is different and you don’t necessarily see that out there offline, like in books,” says Joy.

Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry faltered in their bid to win back-to-back Zurich Classic of New Orleans titles as American pair Andrew Novak and Ben Griffin claimed their first PGA Tour win.

Starting the alternate-shot final round five shots off the lead, McIlroy and Lowry shot two-under 34 on the front nine, but stumbled with bogeys at 13, 15 and 17 after play resumed following a 90-minute weather delay.

With a birdie on the last, McIlroy and Lowry carded a closing even-par 72 to finish in a tie for 12th.

As McIlroy, playing for the first time since winning the Masters, and Lowry faded on the back nine, a three-way battle emerged in the closing stages.

Novak and Griffin, who held a three-shot lead after three rounds, finished strongly to clinch a one-shot win over Danish twins Nicolai and Rasmus Hojgaard.

The overnight leaders were tied at -27 with another American pair in Jake Knapp and Frankie Capan III before a decisive two-shot swing on the par-three 17th.

While Knapp and Capan III made bogey after finding water, Griffin holed a superb birdie putt from the back of the green to establish a two-stroke cushion with one hole left.

The Hojgaard brothers birdied the par-five 18th to card a four-under 68, but finished one shot shy as Novak and Griffin made par for a winning 71.

It was a particularly satisfying victory for Novak, who lost to Justin Thomas in a play-off at last week’s RBC Heritage.

April 27 (UPI) — A hotel in the Japanese city of Kyoto asked an Israeli traveler who had served in the Israeli Defense Forces to voluntarily sign a declaration asserting that he had not committed any war crimes during his time in the military.

The Wind Villa Guesthouse shared on social media a copy of the form it asked the former Israeli Navy fighter to sign last week, noting that the business was later visited by officials in Kyoto who inquired about the incident after a complaint from the Israeli Embassy.

“The city official also told us that the city’s staff had been told that the pledge was discriminatory against Israelis. The city official also asked whether Israelis are the only ones who are required to fill out the form,” the hotel owners said.

“We ask all guests who may have committed war crimes to sign a pledge. It is not discriminatory because it is not intended only for Israelis.”

The hotel asserted that Israel is a garrison state with mandatory military conscription at the age of 18 for nearly all its Jewish citizens. It added that “cannot be ignored” that Israeli men may have been involved in military operations since October 7, 2023.

“The pledge refers only to acts of war crimes and does not call for disapproval of military operations,” the hotel said in its statement. “Since international humanitarian law must be observed by everyone, regardless of nationality, we believe that all human beings retain the right to affirm their non-involvement in war crimes.”

The hotel said that up until the most recent guest, no others had refused to fill out the form. It did not disclose exactly how many people had been asked to sign it.

“Just because the Israeli Embassy claims this is discrimination, the Japanese administration should not uncritically accept it and put pressure on its own citizens, but should examine both sides’ claims neutrally and fairly, and make its own judgment,” it said.

Days after the initial post, the hotel published a letter purporting to be from Gilad Cohen, Israel’s ambassador to Japan. In it, Cohen called the incident “deeply troubling” and said it “raises serious concerns about discriminatory practices” at the hotel.

“This discriminatory act, based solely on nationality, caused the guest significant emotional distress and discomfort. We view this incident as highly serious and unacceptable,” Gilad purportedly said in the letter.

“Singling out individuals in this manner stands in clear violation of Japan’s Hotel Business Law and of the values of equality and non-discrimination that we believe are shared by our two nations.”

Gilad asked for the hotel to make “sincere” efforts to deliver an apology to the guest. The hotel said Saturday that a response to the Israeli Embassy is currently being prepared.

The news was confirmed Saturday in a report from the Israeli newspaper Ynet, which spoke to the Israeli traveler.

“The clerk handed me this form and told me that without signing it, I wouldn’t be allowed to check in,” the man, who served as a combat medic, told the newspaper. “It’s ridiculous and absurd. I told him we don’t kill women and children. Why would we do that?”

Last year, another Kyoto hotel operator issued an apology after it refused to let an Israeli man stay at the hotel.

EXPLAINER

Suspect arrested after vehicle rams into crowd at the Philippine street festival in Canada, killing nine people.

Police in Canada have ruled out “terrorism” as a motive for a deadly car ramming at a street festival in Vancouver.

At least nine people were killed and several injured on Saturday night while they attended celebrations for a major Filipino festival.

Investigations are ongoing as a 30-year-old suspect is in custody.

Here is what to know about the incident and the latest on the ground:

What happened in Vancouver?

At 8:14pm on Saturday (03:14 GMT on Sunday), a man drove into a crowd gathered for Lapu-Lapu Day, according to the Vancouver Police Department.

The festival’s main act had just concluded, and crews were taking down the stage, tents and vendor stalls. They also lifted a barricade that had been blocking traffic to allow a vehicle through when a car suddenly sped into the area, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp (CBC) reported.

Witnesses described the vehicle as a black SUV and said they heard a car rev its engine before ploughing into the area. Photos of the vehicle believed to be involved circulated online with a damaged front.

A witness who did not want to be named told the Reuters news agency that the driver had tried to run but was chased down by festival-goers and held against a fence for about 10 minutes until police arrived and arrested him.

Advanced life support ambulances were dispatched to the scene, where bodies were seen lying on the ground.

About 1am on Sunday (08:00 GMT), police ruled out “an act of terrorism” as a motive for the crash while they continued to investigate the incident.

At this time, we are confident that this incident was not an act of terrorism.

— Vancouver Police (@VancouverPD) April 27, 2025

Where did the car crash in Vancouver?

The incident occurred near the intersection of East 41st Avenue and Fraser Street.

Vancouver is a coastal city in Canada’s westernmost province of British Columbia. It is known for its natural beauty, including mountains, forests and the Pacific Ocean.

Home to 662,248 people, it is considered one of the most diverse cities in Canada. According to the 2021 census, a little more than half of the city’s population identified with one or more racial minority groups, and at least 244 different cultural origins were identified by its residents.

Vancouver also has the second largest Filipino population in Canada after Toronto.

What is the Lapu Lapu festival in Vancouver?

It is an annual celebration in the Philippines to honour their Indigenous leader Datu Lapu-Lapu, who fought against Spanish colonisation. On April 27, 1521, he led his men in defeating Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan in the Battle of Mactan.

British Columbia officially recognised this date as Lapu-Lapu Day in 2023.

Saturday’s event marked the second year that Filipino community groups in Vancouver organised a block party to commemorate the occasion. It featured a parade, a film screening, dancing and a concert with two members of the Black Eyed Peas featured in the lineup published by the organisers.

What do we know about the victims?

Police confirmed early on Sunday that nine people have been killed while the number of those injured remains unclear.

Vancouver interim Chief Constable Steve Rai said at a news conference that the victims were taken to multiple hospitals in the region.

Who is the suspect?

The Vancouver Police Department said its officers took the 30-year-old “lone male” suspect into custody at the scene.

No further details about the man have been released although Rai said he was “known to police in certain circumstances”.

Rai also declined to comment on a video circulating online that shows a young man in a black hoodie apologising while surrounded by shouting bystanders.

What’s the latest on the ground?

A heavy police presence remains in the area as of early Sunday. A 24-hour assistance centre for affected individuals has been established at the Douglas Park Community Centre.

Additionally, police and victim services professionals have been deployed to assist people who have not heard from friends or family members who attended the festival.

What are the reactions to the Vancouver car ramming?

Prime Minister Mark Carney said he was “devastated” to hear about the deadly incident.

“I offer my deepest condolences to the loved ones of those killed and injured, to the Filipino Canadian community, and to everyone in Vancouver,” he wrote in a post on X.

Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre, who is facing off against Carney in elections on Monday, said in a post on social media that he was “shocked by the horrific news”.

Philippine Senate President Francis Escudero condemned the act and urged the Philippine consulate in Vancouver to provide assistance to the victims.

Jon M. Chu suspects artificial intelligence may have been born wicked.

The hit filmmaker’s Silicon Valley upbringing, which he details in his 2024 memoir “Viewfinder: A Memoir of Seeing and Being Seen,” made him comfortable with technology from an early age, he said Sunday during an L.A. Times Festival of Books panel. It even gave him an edge as a young person pursuing a creative career that now includes directing credits for blockbuster films such as “Wicked” and “Crazy Rich Asians.”

But Chu said he believes the entertainment industry has been too lax about tech companies’ ethically questionable training methods since the advent of generative AI, calling the unauthorized use of Hollywood creations an “original sin.”

“There was an initial sin that I think we’re not over yet, which is they gathered all the data. They took all the scripts, they took all the movies,” Chu told the audience. In his view, the studios who owned such copyrighted materials didn’t fight back hard enough.

“It feels like they’re saying, ‘We’re past it, move on,’” he said, adding that he could “never forgive that.”

But the “Crazy Rich Asians” director said that despite generative AI being “freaking scary” for the entertainment industry, he is confident it will never replace human creativity. Nor will it rob people of the right to define “art” for themselves.

“I don’t think the robots choose what we decide is valuable,” Chu said.

“We decide, and that’s very empowering for me,” he said.

Chu also spoke during the Sunday panel about his forthcoming projects, including “Wicked: For Good,” which is slated for a Nov. 21 theatrical release. Outside of the movie musical, Chu is also working on adaptations of Britney Spears’ 2023 memoir “The Woman in Me” and the video game “Split Fiction,” which centers on two writer friends who become trapped in a high-tech simulation of their imaginations.

“That was leaked, so I cannot confirm or deny that, but yes,” he said of the latter adaptation project reportedly starring Sydney Sweeney.

Still, the director said the challenge of visualizing the video game’s dual realities “excites me, because I don’t know how to balance that correctly yet.”

When the Sparks acquired Kelsey Plum, they signaled they were ready to leave last season behind, and at the start of training camp, their newest superstar is making that clear.

“With all due respect, we finished last last year, so everything that we did last year was thrown out the window,” Plum said Sunday in Torrance, where the Sparks opened training camp. “I was brought here for a reason.”

After another offseason spent rebuilding a once-proud franchise, Plum is leading the charge. She came to L.A. not only to change the team’s fortunes on the court with her playmaking ability, but also to bring the leadership she demonstrated during her championship tenure in Las Vegas, helping establish a winning culture.

“It’s the turn of a new leaf in a lot of different ways, in leadership and investment in the franchise,” Plum said. “That’s why I decided to come here.”

Plum, an All-Star for the third straight season last year, is coming off a top-10 scoring season, averaging 17.8 points per game. But more importantly, she’s transitioning from a 27-win team and a WNBA semifinal appearance to a squad that finished with just eight wins and landed in last place in the league.

But before the Sparks can become a winning team, a cultural shift is necessary, and Plum is spearheading that change by leading by example and uplifting those around her.

When players lined up for three-point shooting after sprints, Plum was the first to catch and shoot, setting the tone for the drill. After practice, she stayed on the court, working alongside first-round pick Sarah Ashlee Barker and former first-rounder Cameron Brink, focusing on ball movement and post play.

By the end of day one, she’s already seeing her efforts take shape, confident that hard work will rise to the top — and her dedication will push her teammates.

“Changing the culture, that’s a day-to-day process,” Plum said. “That’s not something that you can rush. There’s a lot of young talent…I’m excited about the opportunity, and I’m excited about the potential this team has.”

Despite being a two-time champion and widely recognized as an “alpha,” first-year head coach Lynne Roberts says Plum’s leadership style is free of arrogance or ego, driven solely by her sheer competitiveness. As Plum enters a new environment and begins establishing herself with her new teammates, they are already gravitating toward her.

Roberts is giving Plum the freedom to establish herself as the team leader, allowing her to strike a balance between being a quiet and vocal leader — leading by example with her work ethic while also speaking up when necessary.

“Kelsey is different, and I mean that in the biggest compliment,” Roberts said. “Just everyone being around her, it’s going to elevate them in terms of how they prepare themselves, how they work and how they handle it.”

The Sparks open camp with 18 players on their roster, only seven returning from last season. Both Roberts and Plum emphasized that the struggles of previous years are in the rearview mirror, making way for a fresh start this training camp with a shared desire to be better.

“The players are eager to get this franchise back where it belongs, and so there’s a definite commitment,” Roberts said. “In conversation I’ve had, and even today, for them to just play their tails off and compete.”

April 27 (UPI) — On the heels of a private meeting between President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky while attending the funeral for Pope Francis in Vatican City, Moscow attacked Kyiv with 149 drones, Ukraine reported Sunday.

The Ukrainian air force claimed that its forces shot down 57 of the drones, 67 were lost in flight, and that six of the country’s regions sustained damage in the attack. This is the latest in a series of back and forth drone volleys between the neighbors. Kyiv said it recorded attempted strikes by 48 missiles and 442 drones launched by Moscow in the past week.

Trump pushed back on Moscow’s aggression and called on Russian President Vladimir Putin to stand down, questioning whether he is sincerely interested in an end to the fighting.

Trump wrote on social media that there was “no reason for Putin to be shooting missiles into civilian areas, cities and towns, over the last few days.”

“It makes me think that maybe he doesn’t want to stop the war, he’s just tapping me along, and has to be dealt with differently, through ‘Banking’ or ‘Secondary Sanctions?’ Too many people are dying!!!” he continued.

Russia said it downed eight Ukrainian drones overnight into Sunday morning.

White House Communications Director Steven Cheung described the Sunday meeting in Vatican City as a “very productive session” to media traveling with Trump, ABC reported.

Zelensky described the meeting as “good” in a social media post.

“We discussed a lot one on one,” Zelensky said. “Hoping for results on everything we covered. Protecting lives of our people. Full and unconditional ceasefire. Reliable and lasting peace that will prevent another war from breaking out. Very symbolic meeting that has potential to become historic, if we achieve joint results.”

It was the first time the two leaders have met in person since February, when discussions devolved into threats and finger pointing in Washington after Zelensky warned Trump and Vice-President JD Vance that Russian aggression was an international problem and that the United States would feel the effects of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s tactics.

Trump and Vance fired back in what was seen by many as an apparent effort to intimidate and bully Zelensky on the international stage.

Trump said he presented a “final offer” to Moscow and Kyiv last week to end the war. It includes recognizing Crimea as part of Russia and recognition that Russia assumes control areas unoccupied since its 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

Russia launched a sweeping drone assault and air attacks across Ukraine, killing at least four people, officials say, a day after United States President Donald Trump cast doubt over Russian President Vladimir Putin’s willingness to end the war.

According to a Facebook post by the Donetsk regional prosecutor’s office, Russia dropped three glide bombs on the city, about 10km (6 miles) from the front line, on Sunday. Russian forces have inched closer towards it over the past year.

A couple, aged 47 and 48, were killed, along with a 78-year-old pensioner, the post said, and 21 homes were damaged. Pictures from the scene showed a destroyed single-storey house and the shell of a burned-out car.

Another person died and a 14-year-old girl was wounded in a drone attack on the city of Pavlohrad in the Dnipropetrovsk region, which was hit for the third consecutive night, Governor Serhii Lysak said.

Russia also fired 149 exploding drones and decoys in the latest wave of attacks, the Ukrainian air force said, adding that 57 were intercepted and another 67 jammed.

One person was wounded in drone attacks on the Odesa region, and another in the city of Zhytomyr. Four people were wounded in an air attack on Kherson city on Sunday morning, according to local officials.

The attacks came hours after Putin claimed Russian forces had regained control over the remaining parts of the Kursk region, which Ukrainian forces seized in a surprise incursion last August. Ukrainian officials insisted the fighting in Kursk was continuing.

US questions peace efforts

Trump said on Saturday that he doubts Putin wants to end the more than three-year war in Ukraine, expressing scepticism that a peace deal can be reached soon. Only a day earlier, Trump had said Ukraine and Russia were “very close to a deal”.

During the presidential campaign, Trump often boasted he could end the war in 24 hours, but reality has proved more difficult.

“There was no reason for Putin to be shooting missiles into civilian areas, cities and towns, over the last few days”, Trump wrote in a social media post as he flew back to the US after attending Pope Francis’s funeral at the Vatican, where he met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy briefly on Saturday. Trump also hinted at further sanctions against Russia.

The Trump-Zelenskyy conversation on the sidelines of the pope’s funeral was the first face-to-face encounter between the two leaders since they argued during a heated Oval Office meeting at the White House in late February.

The two leaders, leaning in close to each other with no aides around them while seated in Saint Peter’s Basilica, spoke for about 15 minutes, according to Zelenskyy’s office, and images of the meeting released by Kyiv and Washington.

Zelenskyy said the meeting could prove historic if it delivers the kind of peace he is hoping for, and a White House spokesperson called it “very productive”.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Sunday that a peace deal needs to happen soon and that Washington is trying to determine whether it is worth continuing to serve as mediator.

“We cannot continue to dedicate time and resources to this effort if it’s not going to come to fruition,” Rubio told NBC’s Meet the Press programme.

“The last week has really been about figuring out how close are these sides really, and are they close enough that this merits a continued investment of our time as a mediator,” he added.

Suspect in car bomb attack

Separately on Sunday, Russian investigators filed terrorism charges against a man suspected of killing a senior Russian military officer near Moscow, the Interfax news agency reported.

The Kremlin has blamed Kyiv for Friday’s car bomb blast that killed 59-year-old Yaroslav Moskalik, the latest in a series of Russian military officers and pro-war figures to be assassinated since the start of the war in Ukraine.

Ukraine has not commented on the incident.

Interfax, citing Russia’s Investigative Committee, said the suspect, Ignat Kuzin, who used to live in Ukraine, had pleaded guilty to killing Moskalik and had said he was recruited and paid by Ukraine’s security services.

Moskalik, who was deputy head of the main operations directorate of Russia’s General Staff, was killed on Friday in the town of Balashikha, hours before Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff was due to hold talks with Putin in Moscow.

The Investigative Committee said Russian authorities were trying to identify others who might have been involved in Moskalik’s killing.

Actor Ross Kemp makes the grim discovery about his great grandfather’s older brother in the latest instalment of Who Do You Think You Are? on BBC1

EastEnders hard man Ross Kemp tells of his sadness over the “dreadful” discovery his great uncle was a violent alcoholic who was blacklisted from British pubs – and never spoken about by his family.

For BBC1’s Who Do You Think You Are? the actor turned TV presenter finds that Albert Chalmers was brought up in a Portsmouth pub alongside his ten siblings, who included Ross’s great grandfather Arthur, nicknamed Pop. He imagines that the family might have had a ‘Disney-style’ existence, perhaps similar to his alter ego Grant Mitchell, who spent most of his time in The Queen Vic alongside his mother Peggy, played by the late Barbara Windsor.

But while Ross’s great grandfather Arthur was nicknamed Pop after Popeye, because of his successful life on the high seas, his great uncle Albert’s time in the navy didn’t end well after he was discharged.

READ MORE: David Tennant issues plea to JK Rowling over ‘medieval and absurd’ trans rights row

The actor discovers he spent years gathering court charges for being drunk and violent, with one report revealing he threatened to decapitate his own mother. Reading from the story in the local paper at the time, Ross says: “It was alleged he threatened to cut his mother’s head off, and everyone else in the house, at the same time chasing after her with a table knife.”

Calling him “a bit of a wrong ‘un”, Ross learns that his behaviour not only led to several spells in prison, but also to him being barred from every pub in the land after he was named on the “blacklist” of the 1902 Licensing Act.

The 60-year-old dad of four says that the story relates to his long-running role in EastEnders. “It doesn’t matter whether I’m in Afghanistan or Columbia, I’m always going to be Grant Mitchell in a leather jacket going ‘get outta my pub!’

“One story in the family, which I think has been very conveniently forgotten, is about Pop’s brother, my great uncle Albert, who was a bad man. A blacklister.” After learning more about his ancestor he ends up feeling some sympathy for Albert, who was sent to the Inebriate Reformatory for three years to try and cure his out-of-control drinking. The facility, contained within a prison in Warwick, aimed to reform inmates with no medical treatment other than denying them access to booze.

It didn’t work and, just one year into his term in 1914, Albert was moved to a psychiatric hospital back in Portsmouth, at the age of 31. Ross, who has made award-winning documentaries, says the same problems are still commonplace today. “Having been to prisons in the UK recently, I see mental health issues and I see people with addiction issues. It’s dreadful to think that in four generations, very little has changed,” he says sadly.

Looking at a photograph of his troubled ancestor, he adds: “I feel very sorry for him. I look at the picture and think ‘there was a life there’. And he wasn’t remembered by anyone, even by his own brother. My great grandfather never mentioned him to his daughters and it was definitely not handed down to my mum and certainly wasn’t handed down to me.

“Albert’s life was never really mentioned in the family history. This is not what I was expecting. I thought they all lived in the pub and it was all slightly Disney. The reality is my great uncle was an alcoholic with mental health issues and there is nothing romantic or sweet or sugar-coated about that.”

Ross says he can relate to both Pop, born in 1892, and older brother Albert, born a decade earlier, being in the Navy because he has always loved the sea. Brought up by his detective dad John and hairdresser mum Jean in Essex, Ross said that he and his brother Darren were taken on many trips around Europe in the early 1970s before it became popular. “We travelled at an early age when a lot of people weren’t doing that. I’ve always loved being in water. I strongly suspect that there is a connection to the ocean and to travel is in my DNA,” he says, before setting out on his journey of discovery.

In the programme he learns that his maternal great grandfather Pop transferred from the merchant navy to become an ordinary seaman at the start of WWI, quickly rising to become a quartermaster by the age of 22.

When the actor wonders if there is any truth to the family story that he was later shipwrecked, he finds out that in 1943 Pop’s troop carrier, the Duchess of York, was bombed while en route to Algeria, 300 miles off the coast of Portugal. Dozens of men lost their lives when the ship sank, but Pop was one of the lucky ones, rescued and taken to the Allied-controlled port of Casablanca 700 miles away.

Ross, who is a qualified diver, becomes tearful as he imagines what his ancestor went through that day, saying: “I’ve been on my own in the water for a period of time and it’s frightening – you start to hallucinate. I’ve been lost at sea twice when I was diving – of course, it’s nothing like what Pop would have gone through, with the horrors of oil in the water, flames, and dead men floating around you.”

– Who Do You Think You Are? with Ross Kemp airs on BBC1, 9pm,Tuesday 6 May

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