If tonight’s episode of Love Island wasn’t dramatic enough, viewers were informed that new bombshell Angel was on the way – and she’s sure to bring even more drama to the villa
22:58, 17 Jul 2025Updated 23:18, 17 Jul 2025
Angel will be entering the villa tomorrow night(Image: ITV)
The Love Island villa is about to descend into even more chaos as new bombshell Angel is set to join the mix – and fans think she comes with a savage twist.
Her arrival was teased at the end of today’s dramatic episode – and she’s not scared to shake things up. The 26-year-old Aesthetics Practitioner & Salon Owner who hails from Maidenhead isn’t looking to play games, as she’s headed to Mallorca to find the one.
“I’m ready to get into a relationship as I’ve been single for a year, so ready to make memories with someone, go travelling with them and fall in love,” she said. Although she’s willing to get to know everyone, Angel revealed her eyes are firmly on Ty. “I’d like to get to know Ty and see what he’s about,” she said.
Angel’s entrance was teased at the start of the episode(Image: ITV)
Angel’s arrival comes at a great time for the Casa Amor bombshell – who was recently dumped by his partner Shakira. The two were voted most compatible by the public, but just moments after, Shakira revealed that she felt like she had more of a connection with Conor – as the two explored their connection.
However, fans are convinced her arrival means one of the Islanders will be sent packing.
Taking to X, formerly known as Twitter at the end of the episode, one fan penned: “Is it gonna be whoever Angel chooses goes home,” while another thought her arrival would mean an exit for one of the girls.
“I will hate to see Shakira and Toni leave if she steals either Harrison or Connor though yikes!!!!!” said a second. “Can see a girl getting dumped. Producers literally making us rage!!” agreed a third.
Angel has her eye on Casa Amor bombshell Ty(Image: ITV)
Despite her first choice being one of the single Islanders, Angel revealed she has no problem in splitting up a couple if she has to.
“That is what’s going to happen so it’s quite exciting really. That’s what I’m in there for,” she said.
However, the new bombshell insists she doesn’t want to fallout with any of the girls, exclaiming she’s “a girls girl.”
“I’m a girl’s girl so I will get on with them all really well. I’m looking forward to getting ready with them all in the dressing room. My suitcase is about to be raided! I’ve got so much new stuff,” she said.
Love Island continues tonight at 9pm on ITV2 and ITVX.
The Trump administration immigration sweeps that have roiled Southern California have shown few signs of slowing despite lawsuits, a court order and growing indications the aggressive actions are not popular with the public.
The operations, which began in early June in the Los Angeles area, largely focused on small-scale targets such as car washes, strip malls and Home Depot parking lots before authorities hit their biggest target last week — two farms for one of the largest cannabis companies in California. One worker died after falling from a greenhouse roof during the raid, while 361 others were arrested.
Responding to the death, President Trump’s chief border policy advisor, Tom Homan, called the situation “sad.”
“It’s obviously unfortunate when there’s deaths,” he told CNN. “No one wants to see people die.”
“He wasn’t in ICE custody,” Homan said. “ICE did not have hands on this person.”
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said authorities plan to intensify immigration crackdowns thanks to more funding from the recently passed “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” spending plan from Congress.
The budget bill infuses roughly $150 billion into Trump’s immigration and border enforcement plans, including funding for ICE and Border Patrol staffing, building and operating immigrant detention facilities, and reimbursing states and local governments for immigration-related costs.
“We’re going to come harder and faster, and we’re going to take these criminals down with even more strength than we ever have before,” Noem said at a news conference over the weekend. Trump, she added, “has a mandate from the American people to clean up our streets, to help make our communities safer.”
But there are some signs that support might be slipping.
A Gallup poll published this month shows that fewer Americans than in June 2024 back strict border enforcement measures and more now favor offering undocumented immigrants living in the country pathways to citizenship. The percentage of respondents who want immigration reduced dropped from 55% in 2024 to 30% in the current poll, reversing a years-long trend of rising immigration concerns.
While the desire for less immigration has declined among all major political parties, the decrease among Republicans was significant — down 40% from last year. Among independents, the preference for less immigration is down 21%, and among Democrats it’s down 12%, according to the poll.
The poll also showed that a record-high 79% of adults consider immigration beneficial to the country and only 17% believe it is a negative, a record low for the poll.
Meanwhile, a Quinnipiac University poll published in June indicates that 38% of voters approve of the way Trump is handling the presidency, while 54% disapprove. On immigration, 54% of those polled disapprove of Trump’s handling of the issue and 56% disapprove of deportations.
At the same time, growing legal challenges have threatened to hamper the Trump administration’s efforts.
On Friday, U.S. District Judge Maame Ewusi-Mensah Frimpong, an appointee of President Biden, temporarily blocked federal agents in the Southland from using racial profiling to carry out immigration arrests after she found sufficient evidence that agents were using race, a person’s job or their location, and their language to form “reasonable suspicion” — the legal standard needed to detain an individual.
But the Trump administration vowed to fight back.
“No federal judge has the authority to dictate immigration policy — that authority rests with Congress and the president,” said Abigail Jackson, a White House spokeswoman. “Enforcement operations require careful planning and execution; skills far beyond the purview or jurisdiction of any judge. We expect this gross overstep of judicial authority to be corrected on appeal.”
On Monday, the administration asked a federal appeals court to overturn the judge’s order, allowing it to resume the raids across seven California counties.
Legal experts say it’s hard to say just how successful the federal government will be in getting a stay on the temporary order, given the current political climate.
“This is different from a lot of the other kinds of Trump litigation because the law is so clear in the fact finding by the district court,” said Erwin Chemerinsky, dean of the UC Berkeley School of Law. “So if you follow basic legal principles, this is a very weak case for the government on appeal, but it’s so hard to predict what will happen because everything is so ideological.”
In the past, legal scholars say, it would be extremely uncommon for an appeals court to weigh in on such an order. But recent events suggest it’s not out of the realm of possibility.
In June, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of allowing the federal government to deport convicted criminals to “third countries” even if they lack a prior connection to those countries.
That same month, it also ruled 6 to 3 to limit the ability of federal district judges to issue nationwide orders blocking the president’s policies, which was frequently a check on executive power.
Still, it’s not an easy case for the government, said Ahilan Arulanantham, professor of practice and co-director of the Center for Immigration Law and Policy at the UCLA School of Law.
“I think one thing which makes this case maybe a little bit harder for the government than some of the other shadow docket cases is it really does affect citizens in an important way,” he said. “Obviously the immigration agent doesn’t know in advance when they come up to somebody whether they’re a citizen or a noncitizen or if they’re lawfully present or not.”
The continued sweeps have resulted in a wave of other lawsuits challenging the Trump administration. Amid the legal battles, there are also signs of upheaval within the federal government.
Reuters reported on Monday that the Justice Department unit charged with defending legal challenges to the administration’s policies, including restricting birthright citizenship, has lost nearly two-thirds of its staff.
The administration has also faced scrutiny from Democrats and activists over its handling of last week’s raids at the marijuana cultivation farms, which were part of a legal and highly regulated industry in California.
“It was disproportionate, overkill,” Rep. Salud Carbajal (D-Santa Barbara) said of the operation.
Rep. Jimmy Gomez (D-Los Angeles) criticized Trump for targeting immigrant farmworkers as the administration continues to publicly state that its targets are people with criminal records.
“How many MS-13 gang members are waking up at 3 a.m. to pick strawberries? O’yeah, zero! Trump said he’d go after ‘bad hombres,’ but he’s targeting the immigrant farm workers who feed America. Either he lied — or he can’t tell the difference,” Gomez wrote on X.
Over the weekend, Jaime Alanís Garcia, 57, the cannabis farmworker who was gravely injured after he fell off a roof amid the mayhem of the Camarillo raid, was taken off life support, according to his family.
Alanís’ family said he was fleeing immigration agents at the Glass House Farms cannabis operation in Camarillo on Thursday when he climbed atop a greenhouse and accidentally fell 30 feet, suffering catastrophic injury. The Department of Homeland Security said Alanís was not among those being pursued.
His niece announced his death Saturday on a GoFundMe page, which described him as a husband and father and the family’s sole provider. The page had raised more than $159,000 by Monday afternoon, well over its initial $50,000 goal.
“They took one of our family members. We need justice,” the niece wrote.
Times staff writers Sonja Sharp, Dakota Smith and Jeanette Marantos contributed to this report.
A young woman emerged from the dark into a green and bushy clearing. Under the faux moonlight, she wandered the stage, speaking to herself. “Where’s my camera? I can’t believe I lost it. All my memories were there,” she said with a pang of panic in her voice.
Moments later, a young man surfaced from the same spot. His eyes scanned the area as well, with a pained look on his face. “Have you seen my drums?” When he plays his drums his heart races, he explained; his people feel joy, and the living, the dead and even the stars dance. “It’s like all our memories are there too,” he said.
With this poignant intro, Bad Bunny kicked off the “locals only” opening night of his 30-show residency in San Juan — which, for the first three weekends, will only be accessible to those who can show proof of their residence in Puerto Rico.
Taking place each weekend at the José Miguel Agrelot Coliseum, affectionately referred to as El Choli by locals, the concert series revolves around his latest album, “Debí Tirar Más Fotos,” and was advertised with name “No me quiero ir de aquí,” which translates to “I don’t want to leave here.” It’s a refrain that’s been associated with the artist since he used it as a lyric in his 2022 ode to his homeland, “El Apagón,” and he considers it still resonant today.
A celebration of Puerto Rican identity, a fighting spirit shaped indelibly by its music and history, “Debí Tirar Más Fotos” also urges its listeners that time is not to be taken for granted, and the past, present and future are not just distinct phases but one whole, inextricably tied together.
(Lorenzo Lagares/For Los Angeles Times)
Fans that flocked to the opening weekend concerts were treated to Benito at the apex of his talents, not to mention his stamina. For three hours and over 35 songs, he danced, strutted and sang to the approving roar of over 15,000 in attendance. The show opened with rumbles of bomba y plena, and an unreleased track that got the crowd buzzing — followed by popular recent bangers like “Ketu Tecré,” “El Clúb” and “Pitorro de Coco.” He then regaled the crowd with a catwalk performance of “Kloufrens” and “Weltita,” which featured an appearance by Chuwi, the beloved tropical jazz quartet from Isabela.
The two stages were grandiose, both in size and production quality. The main stage was a reproduction of a hill, made to approximate the lush foliage found in Puerto Rico’s rainforest and central hillside towns. On one side, you could spy the two iconic Monobloc chairs from the album’s cover, and on the other, a flamboyán tree blossoming with red flowers. On the opposite end of the coliseum’s arena was a pristine pink vacation home, built to mirror the one from the short film that debuted along with the album.
That film introduced the characters of Old Man, played by acclaimed Puerto Rican filmmaker Jacobo Morales, and Concho, the sweet-natured Puerto Rican crested toad voiced by Kenneth Canales, which was brought to life by the stop-motion work of Quique Rivera. The two unlikely housemates returned in two new vignettes shown at the concert, in which they live in a cabin in the middle of snowy woods. Concho misses the Caribbean warmth, and feels very far away from home. A kind Morales reminds him: “We’re Puerto Rican no matter where we are, and even from afar we defend what’s ours.”
Remember, he says while looking straight at the camera, Puerto Rico is “the real calentón.” This cued a barrage of images that flashed across the screen, showing photos of historic protests and civil disobedience carried out over the decades by revolutionary Puerto Ricans.
(Lorenzo Lagares/For Los Angeles Times)
Benito reappeared under the flamboyán tree, where he was joined by guitarist Antonio Caraballo. Here, we got some of his lovelorn “Sad Bunny” persona as they reinterpreted acoustic versions of older hits like “Si Estuviésemos Juntos,” “Ni Bien Ni Mal” and “Amorfoda” before ending with “Turista.” All the while, Benito waxed philosophically to the audience, commiserating about matters of the heart.
From here, the action swiftly moved from the countryside to the pink house which suddenly filled with dancers in club wear — and Benito’s longtime tour DJ Orma. Those craving a rowdy perreo party got their wish, as his salsa-dembow hybrid track “Nuevayol” launched a 16-song stretch of frenzied, sweaty reggaeton and trap bops. Bouncing feverishly from “Titi Me Preguntó” and “La Jumpa” to “Yo Perreo Sola” and “Efecto,” Benito transformed the coliseum into a nightclub.
James and Benito have a friendship going back several years, and it’s hard to blame the superstar for wanting to hang with his pal — even if said pal is an American — during a concert by an artist who is not really vibing with the United States right now. But then again, if the home we see on stage is supposed to represent an Airbnb owned by non-Puerto Ricans — which is what was narratively implied — Benito might as well flex and bring in some elite gringos. Chants of “MVP! MVP!” rang out at one point, provoking the four-time NBA champion to throw up a hand heart gesture to the crowd. It’s all love.
That being said: “LeBron James sat on an air conditioner and danced while Bad Bunny sang ‘Safaera’” is a ridiculous Mad Libs sentence that actually happened.
As he paced from side to side on the house’s rooftop, Benito would again touch on the topic of time. “You get so caught up in the euphoria of the moment that you forget to appreciate the present,” he said. He asked the crowd to put their phones away and focus on the next song, and on whoever is accompanying them, or even someone across the aisle who has caught their eye. “This is the moment to act,” he added, and ask them for a dance, just before the thrust of “Eoo,” made famous from his sensual Calvin Klein underwear ad, got the whole building quaking.
Puerto Rican plena ensemble Los Pleneros de la Cresta appeared to interpret “Café Con Ron,” as well as one of their own songs, “Ábreme Paso,” which gave way to a second video vignette. It showed Morales’ Old Man leaving the cabin and trudging through a snowstorm, until he ran into Benito’s musical director Julito Gastón — the young man from the opening skit — sitting behind his drum. As they lock eyes, Morales leaves him with a word of advice that’s not just about the music, but the core of his being: “Never stop playing your drums.”
(Lorenzo Lagares/For Los Angeles Times)
Bad Bunny resurfaced, looking a bit more subdued. He spoke softly, but sternly, about Puerto Rico and its struggle against gentrification and government neglect. “We have to protect this land,” he said. “We have to protect what’s ours if we want our children to make a life here.” He followed it up by crooning “Lo Que Le Pasó A Hawaii,” the solemn décima all about how the archipelago is being threatened existentially.
An animated crash course in salsa history, narrated by Néstor Galán, set the scene for Benito’s touring live band, Los Sobrinos to assemble. Dressed in a vintage ‘70s garb of a Fania bandleader, Benito led the group into the last and most rousing part of the concert: a salsa reimagining of “Callaíta,” which gave way to to “Baile Inolvidable” and “Dtmf.” The crowd leapt to their feet, twirling and stepping to the rhythms.
Before he launched into the opening freestyle of “La Mudanza” he paused to gather himself; he took off his sunglasses to reveal his eyes had welled up with tears and gratefulness. As the image of a giant Puerto Rican flag graced the ceiling, he motioned for everyone to sing and scream the final lyrics in unison: “Nobody’s taking me from here, I’m not moving anywhere, tell ‘em this is my home, where my grandfather was born, I’m from P f—in’ R!”
In the lead-up to last year’s gubernatorial elections, Bad Bunny spent hundreds of thousands of his own money buying ad space on billboards across Puerto Rico urging its citizens to not vote for the ruling party, accusing them of being the main culprits of the island’s woes. The ads consisted of a simple, white text on a black background. In the end, the same party that has led since 2017 won reelection; and since then, the current governor, Republican Party member Jenniffer González-Colón, has only continued to be mired in controversy.
When entering the concert area, the large screens over the main stage showed one message with white letters on a black background: “Yo Te Lo Dije,” or “I Told You So.” When the show was over and everyone began to trickle out, a new message appeared, recognizable to all: “No Me Quiero Ir De Aquí.”
With his residency, Bad Bunny issues a rallying cry for Puerto Ricans: Act now. Change the future, so that you don’t regret the past. And most importantly, never stop playing your drums.
Serial con-artist Samantha Cookes assumed multiple identities and made up wild stories. BBC’s documentary tonight sheds a light on the true crime case
06:00, 08 Jul 2025Updated 06:07, 08 Jul 2025
Fraudster Samantha Cookes has been dubbed ‘Bad Nanny’(Image: CREDIT LINE:BBC/ Alleycats TV)
Like an evil Mary Poppins, serial con-artist Samantha Cookes posed as a nanny and scammed families with disabled children – even taking their money for a fake trip to Lapland. Gripping two-parter Bad Nanny (Tues 8th July, BBC1, 10.45pm) rakes over all the shocking details of this true crime case, that saw Cookes assume multiple identities, including a child therapist, an arts teacher and a surrogate mother, to con families in the UK and Ireland between 2011 and 2024.
She even posed on TikTok as Carrie Jade Williams, a terminally ill woman and disability activist, winning the sympathy and support of thousands. But when one of her posts went viral, some followers became suspicious and began to dig, discovering her real name was Samantha Cookes, a fraud with multiple aliases and a troubling history.
Speaking for the first time, Katie and Luke in North Yorkshire describe how she posed as a surrogate mother, defrauding them of their savings.
Katie and Luke Taylor were scammed(Image: CREDIT LINE:BBC/ Alleycats TV)
Mother-of-three Layla describes how she believed she was hiring ‘Lucy Hart’, a Mary Poppins-like au pair at their home in County Offaly. When Layla became suspicious, ‘Lucy’ vanished, leaving an ominous note that left Layla fearing for her children. And Dublin mums Lorraine and Lynn reveal how they hired ‘Lucy Fitzwilliams’ as a child therapist for their disabled children, eventually handed over desposits for a fake trip to Lapland. ‘Lucy’ also told wild stories, pretending she was the 3M company heiress and was set to marry a pastor. Lorraine says: “She took advantage of people’s trust and their emotions and vulnerability.”
Bad Nanny is airing on BBC One tonight at 10.45pm
There’s plenty more on TV tonight – here’s the best of the rest…
TRAINWRECK: THE REAL PROJECT X,NETFLIX
The Trainwreck documentary series revisits headline-making events that went terribly wrong. This latest instalment recounts what happened when a teen’s birthday invite accidentally went viral on Facebook, leading to a full-blown riot. In 2012, a teenage girl in the small Netherlands town of Haren created a Facebook event for her sixteenth birthday party, but made the page public instead of private.
Inspired by a love of the Hollywood movie Project X, which saw three high school seniors throw a party that spiralled out of control, Dutch teenagers made the event go viral, and soon thousands of people had RSVP’d. Despite warnings, police and local authorities didn’t seem to think that anyone would turn up, so no provisions were made to entertain the 3,000 young people who arrived in Haren. Before long the quiet Dutch town became host to a night of drunken chaos, the birthday girl fled her home and riot police were deployed. If it wasn’t true, you’d never believe it…
SHARKS UP CLOSE WITH BERTIE GREGORY,NAT GEO WILD, 8pm
Wildlife filmmaker Bertie Gregory is a braver man than most as he gets extremely up close to some scary-looking sharks. Arriving on the coast of South Africa, he says: “I have dived with a lot of sharks around the world, but I have never seen the most famous and the most feared – the Great White. I’m going to try something that my mum really doesn’t want me to do. I’m going to dive with a Great White Shark without a cage.”
There is only one place where this is possible, thanks to its shallow waters, which prevent sharks from attacking from below, and clear visibility, which allows the team to see the predators coming. It still doesn’t feel completely reassuring. Bertie works alongside local shark spotters, a community-led initiative developed in response to past fatal shark attacks. Their shared mission is to explore how humans and Great White sharks might coexist in these waters. With a cage, I’d suggest…
A YORKSHIRE FARM,5, 7pm
As a new series kicks off, farmers Rob and Dave Nicholson pick sloes from their farm hedgerows before turning them into artisanal chocolate. JB Gill takes a trip to the rolling hills of Wales, visiting a farmer who is reaping the rewards from a rather unusual diversification – he’s making medicine from daffodils. And on his farm in the Cotswolds, Adam Henson works hard looking after his native pigs, which are some of the rarest breeds in the UK.
EMMERDALE,ITV1, 7.30pm
Joe is fearful as the harassment campaign against him continues with an envelope containing a blackmail demand for £100,000 being placed in the Home Farm kitchen. Unsure of who else to trust, Joe shows the blackmail demand to Sam, but he’s none-the-wiser. When Ross confronts Robert about the missing weed, Robert threatens to cancel the land deal with Moira, forcing Ross to back down. Forced to take Gabby’s car to Kammy at the garage, Vinny faces unavoidable questions about his sexuality.
Emmerdale’s Robert Sugden featured in a huge twist with new villain Ray on the ITV soap on Tuesday night, and it won’t end well for Mackenzie Boyd or Ross Barton
20:00, 01 Jul 2025Updated 20:08, 01 Jul 2025
Emmerdale’s new villain Ray made his debut leading to a twist(Image: ITV)
There was a dangerous new alliance on Emmerdale on Tuesday night, as new villain Ray made his debut – and it’s bad luck for Ross Barton.
As the character arrived claiming to be an acquaintance of Mackenzie Boyd, he suggested he was selling farm machinery and wanted to see if he was interested. But soon his real agenda became clear when he was shown the weed crops that were stashed in the barn.
Ross, his brother Lewis Barton, who owns the cannabis and has been harvesting it for a while, and Mack were secretly hiding the crops there with a plan to sell it for money. With Moira Dingle’s farm facing closure and the family in crisis, Mack blamed himself for his sister’s situation and wanted to raise the funds.
But he left Ross and Lewis furious when he secretly told Ray about the crops and took him to see them. Lewis refused to sell to him, with it soon clear Ray was a dealer.
As the end of the episode approached though, the crops vanished and one person was thought to be to blame. Ross accused Mack, believing he’d stolen them and sold them onto Ray like he’d initially suggested.
There was a dangerous new alliance on Emmerdale on Tuesday night(Image: ITV)
But Mack protested his innocence and insisted he had nothing to do with it. Ross didn’t believe him, with Mack saying he planned to take it but had cold feet.
He told Ross to call Ray from his phone knowing he’d prove he was innocent, before he then showed him messages that showed he was not in contact with the dealer all day. They both then feared Lewis had actually fled to Leeds with the crops to sell them on.
But when Lewis returned home Ross asked him about it, and he had no idea what he was talking about. Ross then had to explain the weed was gone, leaving his sibling horrified.
As Lewis questioned whether Mack was to blame wanting answers, Ross shared his determination to track down the real culprit. But soon enough the camera panned to Ray who was asking someone about selling drugs, and soon we saw the stolen crops in the back of a van.
Emmerdale’s Robert Sugden featured in a huge twist with new villain Ray(Image: ITV)
It was none other than Robert Sugden who then stepped forward and was confirmed to be the person who stole the drugs and then sold them for a huge amount to Ray without telling Lewis, Mack or Ross. He’d come across the weed while working on the farm, before selling them on for the cash.
He told Ray there would be no other dealings, most likely because Lewis now had nothing left. Then he made it clear he planned to “cause mayhem” wanting to use the money to do so, so what does he have up his sleeve?
Either way, it’s bad news for Ross as his relationship with Lewis is now at risk because of the whole drama, and him getting Mack involved – leading to Ray and Robert being able to steal everything. Ross is also set to face drama when he confronts Robert about the theft, with Robert threatening to ditch his deal with Moira as a result – so will Ross bring more trouble to Moira’s door?
The Carnival Triumph cruise from Texas to Mexico in 2013 turned into a nightmare when an engine room fire cut power to the ship, leaving over 4,000 passengers and crew adrift
14:26, 25 Jun 2025Updated 14:35, 25 Jun 2025
A passenger on the notorious Carnival Triumph “poop cruise” said the upcoming Netflix documentary fails to capture the true horror of four days at sea(Image: SWNS)
A passenger who endured the ill-fated Carnival Triumph “poop cruise” has lifted the lid on what the horror sailing was really like.
The smelly voyage is the focus of the Netflix documentary “Trainwreck: Poop Cruise,” which premiered on June 24. The voyage from Texas to Mexico descended into chaos after an engine room fire caused a massive electrical failure, leaving over 4,000 passengers and crew to wade through urine and feces and camp on deck.
Tay Redford, 24, a passenger who was only 12 at the time of the incident, has watched the trailer and feels “hurt” by the portrayal. Now a bakery owner from Enid, Oklahoma, Tay vividly recalls the fear and chaos, arguing that Carnival failed to provide meaningful support after the ordeal.
Still grappling with long-term trauma, Tay is concerned that the documentary does not adequately represent the voices of those passengers onboard and has vowed never to go on a cruise again.
Sewage began to spill out on the deck(Image: SWNS)
“I’ve only seen the trailer, but from what I saw, it doesn’t even scratch the surface,” she said. “It’s just Carnival workers telling the story. It’s really hard watching the documentary come out and seeing all these people making money from it.
“To me, it feels like they’re profiting off something that deeply affected and traumatized me.”
On February 10, 2013, a blaze broke out in the engine room of the Carnival Triumph, located at the rear of the ship, while it was off the coast of Mexico. A faulty flexible fuel line had ruptured, spewing fuel onto a scorching surface, which in turn crippled the ship’s generators.
As a result, the vessel lost all primary power and propulsion, stranding over 4,000 passengers and crew in the Gulf of Mexico for four days. Raw sewage inundated numerous cabins, and essential services ground to a halt as the ship was laboriously towed to Mobile, Alabama over the course of several days.
Tay was on board the ship, accompanied by her parents, older brother, and a group of family friends. What was intended as a relaxing family getaway rapidly descended into a traumatic experience.
“It was the most fear I’ve ever felt in my life,” Tay recounted. “I’m not that old yet, but that was hands down the scariest thing I’ve ever been through.”
The fire caused a total blackout, plunging the ship into darkness and depriving passengers of basic necessities. Due to the unhygienic conditions and poor ventilation, Tay’s family was forced to vacate their cabin.
The cruise ended with all passengers brought safely back to shore(Image: SWNS)
“My first thought is we’re sinking, we’re going down. That was the only thing I thought. I was crying hysterically, trying to follow my parents around in the dark,” she recalled. “When we went down to our room, we were up to our ankles in sewage and urine and feces, and there was no air flow. There were no lights.”
The situation was nothing short of chaotic and terrifying, compelling the family to take refuge on the uppermost deck for nearly four days. Passengers on a cruise ship faced a nightmare holiday when access to food, water, and sanitation became severely limited.
“They ran out of water to give us, so they said, ‘Hey, we’ll open up the bar and let people drink liquor,'” one passenger recounted.
The situation quickly deteriorated as inebriated guests, furious over the scant information and deteriorating conditions, started brawling. Tay, a passenger, recalled how some resorted to “throwing their bodily fluids over the ship” amid rising tensions.
During the ordeal, Tay’s brother came up with a clever solution.
“My brother actually had this great idea. He said, I’m going to build a tent out of these sheets. And he cut the sheets up and invented Tent City where everybody followed him to make tents to keep us out of the sun,” Tay said.
After enduring days of hardship, the crippled vessel was towed back to port in Mobile, Alabama. Although Carnival offered a modest compensation – $500 and a refund for the journey home – Tay feels the company failed to truly acknowledge the trauma suffered by passengers.
A spokesperson for Carnival said: “The Carnival Triumph incident over 12 years ago was a teachable moment for the entire cruise industry. A thorough investigation following the incident revealed a design vulnerability which was corrected and led Carnival Cruise Line to invest more than $500 million across our entire fleet in comprehensive fire prevention and suppression, improved redundancy and enhanced management systems, all in support of our commitment to robust safety standards. This is in addition to our vigorous Health, Environmental, Safety and Security (HESS) protocals that guide the entire Carnival Corporation fleet as we maintain our commitment to industry leadership in this area.”
The statement ended by pointing out that the company is “proud of the fact that since 2013 over 53 million guests have enjoyed safe and memorable vacations with us, and we will continue to operate to these high standards.”
Following the U.S. attack on Iran’s primary nuclear facilities at Fordo, Natanz and Isfahan, Tehran faces nothing but bad options. Militarily, Iran can escalate the conflict by attacking U.S. forces and allies in the region, as it did on Monday with missile attacks on U.S. bases in Qatar and Iraq. Iran could also close the Strait of Hormuz, withdraw from the nuclear nonproliferation treaty or even attempt a rapid “breakout” run to a bomb with its residual capabilities. Each of these options virtually assures an American military response that goes far beyond Iran’s nuclear program, possibly leading to a targeted campaign to topple the regime, the Islamic Republic’s greatest nightmare.
A more likely military response would therefore be for Iran to respond by continuing to attack Israel — as it did just hours after the U.S. strike — in an attempt to turn the conflict into a war of attrition that Israel can ill afford. Israel could escalate to try to end the war more swiftly and avoid prolonging losses.
Diplomatically, Iran can return to negotiations but rebuff President Trump’s demand for an “unconditional surrender,” whose terms he had not spelled out. In reality, these would likely include the complete dismantlement of Iran’s nuclear and missile programs and significant curbs to its regional role, along with long-term inspections and more. Should Tehran rebuff these demands, it would greatly increase the risk of further American military action, including against the regime itself — targeting military and civilian leaders and infrastructure, not just nuclear sites.
Alternatively, it can essentially accede to Trump’s demands, in which case it avoids direct American intervention and the war ends, but Iran loses its ultimate security guarantor — the nuclear capability — and virtually all of its leverage to seek any concessions in further international talks. The regime would also appear so weak that the probability of a domestic uprising would increase exponentially.
Whichever option Iran chooses, the very future of the Islamic Republic has never been in greater peril. Accordingly, the prospects for a dramatic positive transformation of the Middle Eastern strategic landscape have never been greater.
The decades-long American effort to establish a regional coalition of Arab states and Israel, to contain Iran, will be given a significant boost, as the former gains confidence to do so in the face of a greatly weakened Iran and resurgent U.S. in the region. The dangers of proliferation, at least in the Middle East, might be greatly reduced. Israel will have demonstrated — albeit this time only with critical American assistance — that the “Begin doctrine” (Israeli determination to take all means necessary to prevent a hostile regional state from developing nuclear weapons) still applies. Turkey, Egypt and Saudi Arabia, the three most likely proliferators in the region after Iran, will have little reason to pursue nuclear weapons.
Russia’s and China’s inability to provide their Iranian ally with any practical backing during the war stands in stark contrast to the U.S. and Israel and is particularly galling for Iran because of its strong support for the Kremlin during Russia’s war in Ukraine. Moscow and Beijing will suffer a significant reduction in their regional standing, accruing to Washington’s benefit. The Middle East will once again be considered a clearly American-dominated region, in which Russia and China will have to tread more carefully.
There are some in the U.S. who fear Mideast conflicts distract American attention from the competition with China — the only nation approaching the economic influence of the U.S. today — and Russia. But taking a direct role in this Iran-Israel conflict has not diverted American focus from Moscow and Beijing. On the contrary, it has significantly strengthened Washington’s global stature compared with both countries. China will be more hesitant to attack Taiwan now that the U.S. has demonstrated willingness to bomb aggressors against American allies.
An Israel whose enemies have been dramatically weakened, and which no longer faces an existential threat from Iran, would be in a far better position to make progress on the Palestinian issue, beginning with an end to the war in Gaza. Indeed, it would not be far-fetched to assume that Trump, always transactional, may have made this a precondition for his support for Israel in the war. Saudi-Israeli normalization will be back on the table.
Netanyahu has prepared for this moment for 30 years, for the opportunity to put an end to the only existential threat Israel continues to face. From the reviled leader whose administration allowed the Oct. 7 fiasco and various outrages in domestic affairs, he now stands to be remembered as one of Israel’s great heroes. Moreover, a favorable outcome to the war may very well save him from what otherwise appears to have been a looming electoral defeat — which could have been followed by jail time, given the corruption charges he faces.
The bigger question is whether Netanyahu — whose deep understanding of Israel’s overall strategic circumstances no one has ever doubted — will wish to use this opportunity to crown his legacy not just with saving Israel from an existential military threat, but also from an almost equally severe demographic challenge to its own future as a Jewish and democratic state. Fordo may be gone; the Palestinians remain. He would truly cement his standing in history if he ended the Gaza war and paved the way to a resolution of the Palestinian issue.
Both Netanyahu and Trump deserve credit for taking daring action, and they must be prepared to continue doing so. This is not the time to be fainthearted but to continue pressing the advantage. They have engaged in a classic case of coercive diplomacy, the use of military force for diplomatic ends, and must see it through to the desired end: a diplomatic agreement with Iran that ensures, with an inspections regime of unprecedented intrusiveness, that it can never again develop nuclear capabilities for military purposes, puts severe limits on its missile capabilities and curtails its malign regional role.
Even with a tentative cease-fire now in place, achieving an agreement of this sort will not be easy. The Iranians are unlikely to fully accede to American demands unless they truly feel that they have their backs to the wall, and even then, they are unusually effective negotiators. Persistence, focus and attention for detail, not known to be Trump’s forte, will now be called for. A historic opening has been made; it must not be squandered.
Chuck Freilich, a former Israeli deputy national security advisor, is a senior fellow at Israel’s Institute for National Security Studies. Colin P. Clarke is the director of research at the Soufan Group, a security and intelligence consulting firm based in New York City.
Mick Ralphs, the guitarist and co-founder of stylish ‘70s rockers Mott the Hoople and the supergroup Bad Company, has died. He was 81.
Ralphs’ death was confirmed in a statement from his representative, though no exact date or cause of death was given.
“Our Mick has passed, my heart just hit the ground,” Bad Company singer Paul Rodgers said in a statement. “He has left us with exceptional songs and memories. He was my friend, my songwriting partner, an amazing and versatile guitarist who had the greatest sense of humour. Our last conversation a few days ago we shared a laugh but it won’t be our last. There are many memories of Mick that will create laughter. Condolences to everyone who loved him especially his one true love, Susie. I will see you in heaven.”
Born in 1944 in Herefordshire, England, Ralphs co-founded the Doc Thomas Group in the mid-1960’s, which signed to Island after some lineup changes and revamped as Mott the Hoople. Ralphs’ songwriting and guitar work in that band helped move rock ‘n’ roll out of the psychedelic ‘60s and into the struts and arty pomp of ‘70s glam. The band’s raucous live shows won a devoted following — future collaborator David Bowie and Mick Jones of the Clash were early fans — but chart success eluded them.
At Bowie’s behest, the group changed management and got a career jolt when he gifted them his song “All The Young Dudes,” which made their 1972 LP of the same name a global hit. The band’s follow-up, “Mott,” was also a smash, sporting singles “All the Way From Memphis” and “Honaloochie Boogie.”
Yet Ralphs had ambitions beyond the band, and departed in 1973 to join ex-Free members Rodgers and Simon Kirke and former King Crimson bassist Boz Burrell in a new supergroup.
Bad Company became one of the first acts to sign with Zeppelin’s Swan Song label, and immediately found global success. Its 1974 self-titled debut went five times platinum, on strength of hits like “Can’t Get Enough” and a retooled take of Ralphs’ “Ready for Love,” which he’d originally recorded with Mott the Hoople. A follow-up, “Straight Shooter,” featured the classic rock staple “Feel Like Makin’ Love,” and Bad Company remained chart fixtures until breaking up in 1982.
Ralphs joined Mott the Hoople for a reunion tour in 2009, and performed in several reunited incarnations of Bad Company and his own Mick Ralphs Blues Band until suffering a stroke in 2016, which confined him to bed in his final years. His last performance with Bad Company was in 2016, at London’s O2 Arena. That group will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame later this year.
“He was a dear friend, a wonderful songwriter, and an exceptional guitarist,” said Bad Company drummer Kirke, in a statement. “We will miss him deeply.”
Ralphs is survived by partner Susie Chavasse, his two children and three step-children.
Warner Bros. Discovery is in poor shape — so much so that Chief Executive David Zaslav has decided to unwind the 2022 merger he orchestrated by splitting the company in two.
But Zaslav himself is doing just fine, to the chagrin of shareholders.
In a rare searing rebuke, investors recently cast a symbolic vote disapproving of Zaslav’s 2024 compensation package, which rose 4% to $51.9 million compared with the year before.
The package, approved by the company’s board of directors, ensured that Zaslav remained one of the nation’s highest-paid corporate leaders. Proxy advisory firm Institutional Shareholder Services, known as ISS, described the company’s executive compensation packages as “an unmitigated pay-for-performance misalignment.”
The situation renewed scrutiny of the compensation levels for leaders of the top entertainment companies, which remain high compared with peers in other industries.
Although 2024 was a bad year for Hollywood, it was a very good year for some of the industry’s top executives, according to a survey of data by Equilar, which studies executive pay, for The Times.
The median compensation for those executives for 2024 was $33.9 million, up 7% from 2023, Equilar said. That’s about double the median compensation of CEOs at S&P 500 companies, which was $17.1 million last year.
The compensation data include stock options, base salaries, bonuses and other perks for CEOs from Netflix, Fox Corp., Roku, Lions Gate Entertainment Corp., AMC Networks, Comcast, Warner Bros. Discovery and the Walt Disney Co.
Paramount was excluded from the median data because of a change from one CEO to three in April 2024.
“The compensation packages remain somewhat out of whack based on the good old days where the margins were substantially higher,” said Evan Shapiro, a former NBCUniversal executive who now runs his own company. “The Hollywood era got used to very specific — some would argue irrational — pay packages and never readjusted itself when the business went haywire.”
Pay packages increased for Netflix co-CEOs Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters, reflecting the streaming giant’s strong performance. The value of Sarandos’ pay package went up 24% to $61.9 million, while Peters’ went up 50% to $60.3 million.
Other executives whose compensation increased included Bob Bakish, who was ousted as CEO of Paramount in April 2024. He had a package worth $86.96 million in 2024 (which included his roughly $69 million severance), up 178% from $31.3 million a year earlier.
Disney chief Bob Iger, who spent 2024 mounting a turnaround for the Burbank-based company, earned $41.1 million, up 30% from the previous year. During the year, Disney had renewed strength at the box office and achieved streaming profitability after years of losses.
Fox Corp.’s CEO Lachlan Murdoch’s total pay rose 9% to $23.8 million, while Roku CEO Anthony Wood got a bump of 37% to $27.7 million.
Others got a pay cut. Comcast CEO Brian Roberts’ 2024 compensation declined 5% to $33.9 million, primarily due to a lower cash bonus. AMC Networks CEO Kristin Dolan had a 40% drop to $8.7 million last year related to a $6.8-million equity award she received in 2023 tied to her promotion to CEO.
Lionsgate CEO Jon Feltheimer earned $18.2 million in the company’s fiscal 2024 year, down 15% compared with $21.5 million from fiscal 2023.
For 2024, the highest-paid chief executives among publicly traded media and entertainment companies compiled by Equilar for The Times were Bakish, Zaslav, Sarandos, Peters and Iger.
Most of the companies declined to comment or referred The Times to proxy statements filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Fox Corp. did not return a request for comment.
The increase in pay reflects a broader trend at publicly traded companies. Compensation is increasing as companies try to align pay with performance by handing out large stock awards, said Amit Batish, senior director of content for Equilar. Certain awards such as stock options typically benefit executives only if the stock goes up.
Some executives are also adding security perks after the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson last year, he said.
Several Hollywood executives had pay packages last year that were worth substantially more than the median, Equilar said. With so much change and disruption happening in the entertainment business and plenty of competition for skilled leadership, companies believe they need to pay up to hold on to executive talent.
“Especially in the entertainment industry that’s constantly evolving, with streaming services taking over, there’s constant fluctuations in the market, so companies are looking to find ways to keep their executives on board and motivated,” Batish said.
Sky-high executive compensation has resurfaced debate about a subject that has been simmering since even before the 2023 strikes led by writers and actors — the widening pay gap between executives and workers.
Many entertainment workers have left Southern California due to the lack of work, as more productions are moving out of the area due to increased costs. Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery, NBCUniversal and Paramount have continued to lay off employees. Some entertainment workers struggling to find jobs have adopted the saying “Persist to ’26,” replacing last year’s “Survive ‘til ’25.”
“Any survey of executive pay, generally there’s a disconnect between what people see in their own checking accounts and when they see what executives, particularly for top Fortune 500 companies, earned,” said David Smith, a professor of economics at the Pepperdine Graziadio Business School. “There’s often discontent with the chasm between the rank and file and CEOs.”
Zaslav became a symbol of that ire in 2021 when his compensation package was valued at $246.6 million, which included stock options tied to the merger. The value of his 2024 compensation was much lower at $51.9 million, but still higher than other executives such as Disney’s Iger.
Following the nonbinding shareholder “say on pay” vote, Warner Bros. Discovery pledged to address shareholder concerns. Those changes are expected to lower Zaslav’s future payouts. Similarly, Disney and Netflix in recent years have been hit with negative shareholder votes on the pay, leading to adjustments.
Zaslav’s target annual cash bonus opportunity will shrink from $22 million to $6 million after splitting Warner Bros. Discovery in two, separating studios and streaming services from linear cable networks, the company said. Zaslav’s base salary would remain $3 million.
“We structured the new compensation packages to address shareholders’ feedback by fostering pay-for-performance alignment,” Warner Bros. Discovery board chair Samuel A. Di Piazza Jr. said in a statement.
While Warner Bros. Discovery worked on retiring $4.4 billion in debt through cost-cutting and launched its streaming service Max (which is being rebranded back to HBO Max) in 70 markets last year, the company also had some fumbles, including losing the NBA on its TV networks.
“It appears the board may have been out-negotiated,” said Lloyd Greif, chief executive of Los Angeles investment bank Greif & Co. “They created incentives that did not directly translate into a higher stock price, or higher revenue and EBITDA growth” — referring to earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization. “So,” he added, “you have to look at the results and say, the board blew the call.”
The company’s compensation committee said it took into account Zaslav’s performance across different goals including revenue, cash flow, enhancing the motion picture slate, cost controls, launching Max globally and securing talent.
Warner Bros. Discovery’s revenue in 2024 fell 5% to $39.3 billion, compared with 2023. Adjusted earnings excluding certain items fell 11% during that same time period. The stock price declined about 7% in 2024.
“It just sends a very bad message to your teams,” said Paul Verna, vice president of content at research firm Emarketer, adding that leaders should inspire their teams amid challenges facing the industry. “It’s very hard to do that when you’re firing thousands of people but not really absorbing any pain yourself in your own compensation.”
The committee saw the loss of the NBA U.S. TV rights as a positive, saying it resulted in a “more efficient long-term relationship with the league,” according to the company’s proxy filing.
When the compensation committee evaluated those figures, it took out costs related to a joint venture called Venu Sports that was meant to launch in 2024 but was scrapped, as well as new sports rights programming and packages.
That irked some groups, including ISS, though some executive compensation experts said it is not uncommon for companies to factor out some costs deemed to be out of the executive’s control.
The reverberations of the shareholder vote continue.
It could cause the board to put pressure on the compensation committee to improve its performance or activist shareholders to target the company for a proxy contest, Lawrence Cunningham, director of the University of Delaware’s Weinberg Center for Corporate Governance, wrote in an email to The Times.
“Shareholder votes on pay, even when non-binding, send a signal that can be important,” Cunningham wrote. “A 60% no vote is huge.”
Love Island fans are convinced the Islanders will be shocked by a brutal twist following a shock recoupling announcement at the end of Sunday night’s episode of the dating show
22:58, 22 Jun 2025Updated 23:02, 22 Jun 2025
Love Island fans ‘work out’ brutal recoupling twist after dramatic cliffhanger(Image: ITV)
Love Island fans were surprised as they received a text announcing there would be a recoupling in the villa – with the power in the girls’ hands. Confused fans thought the timing was “random” – and they’re now convinced there’s a huge twist to come.
At the moment, there’s an even number of girls and boys after Malisha was dumped. It came after single girls Toni and Malisha went on a date with new bombshell Harrison. He chose to bring Toni back, and the two coupled up. Everyone is now coupled up, and therefore there won’t be any left single after tomorrow night’s reshuffling.
Although there may not be a dumping straight after the re shuffle – fans think one may be following straight after. Taking to X, formerly known as Twitter to discuss, fans are convinced viewers will finally be getting their say – with a public vote after.
Love Island fans think the next recoupling will come with a brutal twist(Image: ITV)
“They’re recoupling then we vote for least compatible #LoveIsland,” said one fan, as another penned: “It shouldn’t have ended on a cliffhanger but probably means the aftermath of recoupling is chaos #LoveIsland,” said a third, as another said: “I bet there would a recoupling and public vote.” A fourth later agreed: “Noooo, that recoupling is going to be juicy #loveisland.”
Another suspicious fan tweeted: “somethings fishy about this recoupling……#LoveIslandUK#loveisland.”
The shock recoupling came after a dramatic day in the Love Island villa. Once again, it was the games that brought all the drama, as the Islanders played a brutal game of spin the bottle.
The Islanders were swapping partners left, right, and centre as they were given a series of difficult questions to answer.
The Islanders took part in a brutal game of Spin the Bottle tonight(Image: ITV)
When he got to Helena, Shea called her a “mug,” although Helena saw the funny side of it. “I think every given opportunity Harry has mugged me off left, right and centre,” she said.
Later, Megan pulled a truth card, and Harry asked her how she really felt about Conor. Megan is currently happily coupled up with Tommy.
However, in a shock twist on Friday night, Conor, who is coupled up with Emily, revealed he fancies Megan. Megan revealed the two had “unfinished business” from the start.
The 31-year-old “Nuevayol” singer posted to Instagram a video, with commentary, of ICE agents conducting a raid on the island.
“Look, those mother— are in these cars, RAV4s. They’re here on [Avenida] Pontezuela,” he said of the officials arriving in the Puerto Rican city of Carolina, “instead of leaving the people alone and working.”
Since the onset of President Trump’s second term, the U.S. territory has been subjected to ICE raids, which have targeted the island’s largely Dominican immigrant population. For years, immigrants from the neighboring Caribbean island have been allowed to open bank accounts and obtain special driver’s licenses that indicate their immigration status. The Associated Press estimates that over 55,000 people from the Dominican Republic live in Puerto Rico.
Rebecca González-Ramos, ICE’s top investigator in Puerto Rico, told NPR that the agency has made nearly 500 arrests, of which roughly 75% have involved Dominicans. NPR further noted that fewer than 80 of the 500 people arrested have a criminal record, with the most common charge being reentry into the country following a deportation.
An added barrier for those apprehended on the island is that they must be transferred to the U.S. mainland to be processed.
“It’s something that creates a great difficulty because people who had ongoing immigration cases here have been detained — meaning their legal representation is in Puerto Rico,” ACLU lawyer Annette Martínez Orabona said in a news conference earlier this month. “I know it’s terrible anywhere in the United States, but in Puerto Rico’s case, it’s worse because we are not contiguous to the mainland. It’s not a matter of just getting in a car and getting there.”
Bad Bunny’s calling out of ICE’s activities comes as other major Latin American music acts have used their platforms to condemn the ICE raids and align their sympathies with immigrants. Becky G, Ivan Cornejo, Fuerza Regida, Junior H, Grupo Frontera and Maná are among the acts to have voiced concerns recently for the immigrant community.
Laura Mealer‘s bases-loaded, walk-off single to right field in the bottom of the ninth propelled Tennessee to a 5-4 win and a semifinal meeting with Texas at 9 a.m. PDT Monday.
The Volunteers (47-16) did what UCLA couldn’t in the ninth: deliver with the bases loaded. The Bruins got singles from Savannah Pola and Jordan Woolery followed by an intentional walk to Grant. But Alexis Ramirez grounded out to first to end the inning.
Taylor Pannell hit a deep fly to left field to lead off Tennessee’s half of the ninth, a ball that caromed off Rylee Slimp’s glove and hit the white padding on the top of the wall but didn’t leave the field. The play was reviewed and ruled a double.
Mealer, who knocked in two runs in the first inning to give the Volunteers an early 2-0 lead, delivered again, this time on a 2-2 pitch from Taylor Tinsley, who came on in relief of UCLA starter Kaitlyn Terry.
“Just a great battle to the end,” UCLA coach Kelly Inouye-Perez said. “I could not be more proud. Period. Just the ability for us to be able to fight, the ability for us to come back, the epic [rally], just down to the last pitch … there’s something about what UCLA softball can do, with your backs against the wall and just rising to the occasion creates some amazing memories.”
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NBA PLAYOFFS RESULTS
All Times Pacific
Conference finals
Western Conference
No. 1 Oklahoma City vs. No. 6 Minnesota at Oklahoma City 114, Minnesota 88 (box score) at Oklahoma City 118, Minnesota 103 (box score) at Minnesota 143, Oklahoma City 101 (box score) Oklahoma City 128, at Minnesota 126 (box score) at Oklahoma City 124, Minnesota 94 (box score)
Eastern Conference
No. 3 New York vs. No. 4 Indiana Indiana 138, at New York 135 (OT) (box score) Indiana 114, at New York 109 (box score) New York 106, at Indiana 100 (box score) at Indiana 130, New York 121 (box score) at New York 111, Indiana 94 (box score) at Indiana 125, New York 108 (box score)
NBA FINALS
West No. 1 Oklahoma City vs. Indiana
Thursday at Oklahoma City, 5:30 p.m., ABC Sunday, June 8 at Oklahoma City, 5 p.m., ABC Wed., June 11 at Indiana, 5:30 p.m., ABC Friday, June 13 at Indiana, 5:30 p.m., ABC Monday, June 16 at Oklahoma City, 5:30 p.m., ABC* Thursday, June 19 at Indiana, 5:30 p.m., ABC* Sunday, June 22 at Oklahoma City, 5 p.m., ABC*
“No,” he said when asked if his Dodgers had the New York Yankees’ proverbial number, having followed up their defeat of the Bronx Bombers in last year’s World Series with two impressive wins to start this weekend’s rematch at Dodger Stadium.
“I think we’ve had their number the last two nights,” Roberts said, “but today’s a different day.”
Was it ever.
Twenty-four hours after a total annihilation of the Yankees in a 16-run rout on Saturday, the Dodgers suffered the kind of setback that has so often plagued them this season, squandering the chance to build further momentum in a 7-3 loss that prevented a series sweep.
José Ramírez homered during a three-run fourth inning, Gavin Williams gave up only one hit in 6⅔ innings and the Cleveland Guardians defeated the Angels 4-2 on Sunday.
Ramírez extended Cleveland’s lead to 2-0 when he connected on a slider from Angels starter Jack Kochanowicz (3-7) and put it into the stands in right-center for his team-leading 11th homer to lead off the fourth.
Nolan Jones added a two-run single with the bases loaded for the other runs in the inning as the Guardians took two of three games in the weekend series.
The Bruins continued to roll in every facet of the game in the Los Angeles Regional final, scoring early and trusting their bullpen to defeat UC Irvine 8-5 on Sunday night. The Bruins advance to the super regionals of the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2019 and will host the Texas San Antonio at Jackie Robinson Stadium this week.
UTSA defeated Texas 7-4 in the Austin Regional final, taking down the national second-seed Longhorns to advance to its first-ever super regional.
If UCLA beats UTSA, it’ll advance to the College World Series in Omaha for the first time since 2013.
From Shotgun Spratling: USC baseball wanted to be aggressive knowing it was entering a hostile environment, playing in front of a sold-out crowd of 4,347 at Goss Stadium.
The Trojans tried to set the tone early.
Instead, it backfired, costing them early opportunities, early momentum and ultimately Sunday night’s matchup in a 14-1 loss to Oregon State in the Corvallis Regional final.
USC has a chance for redemption Monday as Oregon State’s win forces a winner-take-all regional final at 3 p.m. PDT (ESPNU).
From Benjamin Royer: In the game early Sunday that advanced UC Irvine to the Sunday night game against UCLA….
Under threat of elimination, UC Irvine‘s bats emerged once again.
Bringing the power for a second straight game, the Anteaters connected for five home runs Sunday, eliminating Arizona State 11-6 in the Los Angeles Regional of the NCAA baseball tournament.
Needing to win four straight games to advance to the super regionals after losing to Arizona State on Friday, UC Irvine is halfway to its goal.
Alonso Reyes — who had just one home run in 2025 entering Sunday’s game — ripped a two-run home run off of Sun Devils starter Derek Schaefer in the fourth inning. Later in the inning, after Arizona State coach Willie Bloomquist went with Lucas Kelly out of the bullpen, Chase Call cleared the batter’s eye in dead center field for a two-run home run to give the Anteaters a 6-1 lead.
From Anthony De Leon: Sunday’s matchup between the Sparks and Phoenix Mercury felt like déjà vu. When the Sparks faced Phoenix last month, the game ended with a failed Sparks comeback.
In a twist of fate, Sunday’s comeback belonged to Phoenix.
Unable to stay ahead after building an 18-point lead, the Sparks fell 85-80 to the Mercury at Crypto.com Arena for their third consecutive loss.
As with the first meeting, the third quarter proved to be the Sparks’ undoing. After scoring just seven points in the third quarter of their loss to Phoenix on May 21, the Sparks were outscored 24-9 in the third Sunday.
We asked readers of of our Sports Report and USC newsletters: Could a smoother path to the College Football Playoff be worth losing the USC-Notre Dame rivalry?
After 1,154 votes,
Yes, 17.6% No, 82.4%
NHL PLAYOFFS SCHEDULE, RESULTS
All times Pacific
STANLEY CUP FINALS
P3 Edmonton vs. A3 Florida Wednesday at Edmonton, 5 p.m., TNT Friday, June 6 at Edmonton, 5 p.m., TNT Monday, June 9 at Florida, 5 p.m., TNT Thursday, June 12 at Florida, 5 p.m., TNT Saturday, June 14 at Edmonton, 5 p.m., TNT* Tuesday, June 17 at Florida, 5 p.m., TNT* Friday, June 20 at Edmonton, 5 p.m., TNT*
* If necessary
THIS DAY IN SPORTS HISTORY
1896 — Hastings, ridden by H. Griffin, edges Handspring by a neck to capture the Belmont Stakes.
1908 — Royal Tourist, ridden by Eddie Dugan, posts a four-length victory over Live Wire in the Preakness Stakes.
1909 — Joe Madden, ridden by Eddie Dugan, wins the Belmont Stakes by eight lengths over Wise Mason.
1935 — French Championships Men’s Tennis: Englishman Fred Perry wins his only French title, beating Gottfried von Cramm of Germany 6-3, 3-6, 6-1, 6-3.
1947 — After a six-year layoff, 13-year-old Honey Cloud wins the second race at Aqueduct. His jockey, Clarence Minner, takes his first ride in 10 years.
1962 — French Championships Women’s Tennis: In an all-Australian final Margaret Smith beats doubles partner Lesley Turner 6-3, 3-6, 7-5.
1971 — European Cup Final, Wembley Stadium, London: Ajax beats Panathinaikos, 2-0; Dutch champions begin 3-year period of domination.
1985 — Nancy Lopez beats Alice Miller by eight strokes to win the LPGA championship.
1991 — Andrettis finish 1-2-3 in the Miller 200 at Wisconsin State Fair Park Speedway in Milwaukee. Mario Andretti finishes third, his son Michael wins the race and his nephew John finished second.
1996 — Annika Sorenstam closes with a 4-under 66 to win her second consecutive U.S. Women’s Open. Sorenstam’s 8-under 272 is the best ever in the Open.
2002 — Annika Sorenstam matches the LPGA record for margin of victory in a 54-hole event while winning the inaugural Kellogg-Keebler Classic. Sorenstam finishes at 21-under 195 to win by 11 strokes.
2005 — Jockey Russell Baze records his 9,000th career victory aboard Queen of the Hunt in the eighth race at Golden Gate Fields.
2007 — Daniel Gibson scores a career-high 31 points as Cleveland beats Detroit 98-82 to advance to the NBA Finals. The Cavaliers are the third team to come back from an 0-2 deficit in a conference finals, joining the 1971 Baltimore Bullets and 1993 Chicago Bulls.
2008 — Pittsburgh outlasts Detroit 4-3 in three overtimes of Game 5 of the Stanley Cup finals. Petr Sykora scores at 9:57 of the third overtime ending the fifth-longest finals game in NHL history.
2011 — Dirk Nowitzki makes the tie-breaking layup with 3.6 seconds left, and the Dallas Mavericks roar back from 15 points down in the fourth quarter to beat the Miami Heat 95-93 and tie the NBA finals at one game apiece. The Mavs outscore the Heat 22-5 down the stretch and pull off the biggest comeback win in an NBA finals since 1992.
2019 — US Open Women’s Golf, CC of Charleston: Lee Jeong-eun of South Korea wins her first major title; beats runners-up Lexi Thompson, Agel Yin and Ryu So-yeon by 2 strokes.
THIS DAY IN BASEBALL HISTORY
1928 — Les Bell of the Boston Braves hit three home runs and a triple at Braves Field, but the Cincinnati Reds came away with a 20-12 triumph.
1928 — The Philadelphia Phillies defeated the St. Louis Cardinals 2-1. All the runs came from three pinch-hit home runs.
1941 — Lou Gehrig died in New York at age 37.
1949 — The Philadelphia Phillies hit five homers in the eighth inning against the Cincinnati Reds. Andy Seminick hit two and Del Ennis, Willie Jones, and Schoolboy Rowe hit one apiece. Seminick had homered earlier in the game.
1959 — The Baltimore Orioles-Chicago White Sox game at Comiskey Park was delayed for nearly half an hour as a swarm of gnats overcame the field. Groundskeepers tried using bug sprays and torches, but the gnats wouldn’t budge. A postgame fireworks display was brought in from center field and a smoke bomb was attached to the framework. The gnats left and the Orioles defeated the White Sox, 3-2.
1990 — Randy Johnson pitched the first no-hitter in the Seattle Mariners’ history as he beat the Detroit Tigers 2-0. The 6-foot-10 left-hander, walked six and struck out eight while pitching the first no-hitter at the Kingdome, which opened for baseball in 1977.
1996 — Houston starter Darryl Kile tied the modern major league record by hitting four batters in a 2-0 loss at St. Louis, and the first to do it in the NL since Moe Drabowsky in 1957.
2000 — Tampa Bay’s Fred McGriff hit his 400th career home run, but the Devil Rays lost to the Mets 5-3.
2000 — Rick Aguilera of the Chicago Cubs became the 13th pitcher with 300 saves in a 2-0 win over Detroit. Aguilera reached the mark in 614 career appearances, third quickest.
2002 — Philadelphia pitcher Robert Person drove in seven runs with a grand slam and a three-run homer in an 18-3 win over Montreal. Person had just come off the disabled list and collected his first win of the season.
2005 — Kansas City completed a sweep of the New York Yankees with a 5-2 victory. The Royals, who have the worst record and second-lowest payroll in the major leagues, finished their first three-game sweep of the Yankees at home in 15 years.
2009 — Dan Uggla of the Marlins became the fastest second baseman to 100 homers in Florida’s 10-3 win over Milwaukee. Uggla’s two-run shot in the bottom of the second came in his 502nd game as a second baseman, beating Alfonso Soriano to 100 by 34 games.
2010 — Ken Griffey Jr. announces his retirement after 22 seasons in the major leagues. Hitting only .184 in part-time duty for the Mariners, he retires with 630 career home runs and six seasons of 40 or more homers. Most of his career was spent with Seattle and the Cincinnati Reds.
2010 — Armando Galarraga of the Detroit Tigers lost his bid for a perfect game with two outs in the ninth inning on a call that first base umpire Jim Joyce later admitted he blew. First baseman Miguel Cabrera cleanly fielded Jason Donald’s grounder to his right and made an accurate throw to Galarraga covering the bag. The ball was there in time, and all of Comerica Park was ready to celebrate the 3-0 win over Cleveland, until Joyce emphatically signaled safe.
2011 — Aubrey Huff hit three home runs and matched his career best with six RBIs and the San Francisco Giants posted a 12-7 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals. Huff hit two-run homers in the fourth and ninth and a solo shot in the seventh.
2015 — In a memorable major league debut, Rangers 3B Joey Gallo hits a two-run homer in his second at-bat on the way to collecting 3 hits and 4 RBIs in leading Texas to a 15-2 beating of the White Sox.
2017 — Clayton Kershaw of the Dodgers records his 2,000th career strikeout.
2018 — Jacob deGrom matches a career high set just two weeks earlier by racking up 13 strikeouts in 7 innings in a start against the Cubs.
Compiled by the Associated Press
Until next time…
That concludes today’s newsletter. If you have any feedback, ideas for improvement or things you’d like to see, email me at [email protected]. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.
Antiques Roadshow expert John Benjamin was on hand to deliver a valuation on a pair of drop earrings and a sapphire ring
22:19, 01 Jun 2025Updated 22:19, 01 Jun 2025
On Sunday’s Antiques Roadshow, expert John Benjamin gave two hopeful guests some disappointing news at the stunning Wollaton Hall in Nottingham.
The episode featured locals bringing in their treasures, with a pair of guests presenting family Art Deco jewellery for valuation. At first glance inside an old tin, John discovered exquisite platinum drop earrings and a sapphire ring.
One of the guests related the tale of his mother receiving the jewels from a friend, who was acquainted with a man with connections to France.
John, upon closer inspection, found a significant alteration: “Someone who has owned these in their history has taken them to a jeweller and said: ‘I’m not sure if I like the fittings!’
Antiques Roadshow expert, John Benjamin, delivered some ‘bad news’ to two guests on Sunday’s episode of the show(Image: BBC)
“So what they’ve done is they’ve removed the original fittings from the back and they’ve soldered on these long gold sort of posts with nine carat gold screw fittings at the end”, reports Edinburgh Live.
While examining the ring, John revealed a surprising fact about its authenticity, revealing: “Here’s an interesting point, in the 1920s, when that was made, synthetic rubies and sapphires were beginning to appear on the market.”
He delivered the blow when he declared: “The sapphires on the shoulders in the ring are actually synthetic. They’re not real. So, there we are.”
During the valuation, he revealed: “Here’s the bad news, those drops, today, if they were having the original fittings on them. I think would be worth between £4,000 and £5,000.
He found a spectacular pair of drop earrings set in platinum and a sapphire ring(Image: BBC)
“But because the fittings have been changed, I think we’ve got to now drop that price to probably £2,500 to £3,000 simply because of a clumsy conversion.”
Regarding the sapphire ring, he estimated: “The ring about £1500.”
This led to one of the guests quipping: “How much is the box worth?” which prompted John to respond with a chuckle: “Priceless, absolutely priceless the box!”
In another segment, art expert Rupert Maas appraised a monochrome painting of Princess Daisy of Pless, an icon of Edwardian high society.
One of the guests explained that it was given to his mother by a friend of hers who had met a guy who spent a lot of time in France(Image: BBC)
The owner explained how her father had found the artwork in a Watford junk shop for a mere £13.50.
Rupert encouraged her to keep it on display, especially after revealing its surprising value of £2,000 to £3,000.
The owner was shocked, saying: “Really? Gosh! I was thinking you were going to say a couple of hundred,” to which Rupert acknowledged it wasn’t a huge sum but definitely a significant increase from what was paid.
Antiques Roadshow continues on Sundays at 7pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.
And don’t get me started on Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s inane move that could make it harder for pregnant women to get COVID-19 shots, thus depriving their infants of protection against the virus when they are vulnerable and not yet eligible for vaccination.
Good heavens, I needed a distraction. Happily, it arrived in the form of an unexpected video.
You may have seen it: Last Sunday, French President Emmanuel Macron’s wife, Brigitte, got tongues wagging when she did something that seemed entirely out of character for the painfully elegant first lady. She was caught on camera squishing her hands right into his handsome face. It looked like an act of hostility. I was intrigued.
I know, I know. It’s hardly world-shattering news. But who doesn’t perk up a bit when the scrim of perfection that shields the private lives of high-profile, perfectly turned-out couples is torn, even for one brief moment?
Who can forget the sight of First Lady Melania Trump swatting away her husband’s hand during a 2017 visit to Tel Aviv? Or the way her smile faded during his first inauguration the moment he looked away from her, inspiring the #FreeMelania hashtag?
For all the drama and rumor that swirled around the Clintons’ marriage, I can’t think of any public moment when they did not appear civil with one another, even after his disastrous relationship with a White House intern.
And the Obamas? Is there any other intensely scrutinized political couple who seem so downright normal? Not that anyone ever really knows what’s going on in anyone else’s marriage.
Which brings us back to the Macrons.
His plane was on the tarmac in Hanoi, where he was kicking off a tour to strengthen ties with countries in Southeast Asia. As the plane door opened, the couple were caught unawares. A startled-looking Macron backed up as disembodied hands smushed his face. He instantly collected himself, and his wife appeared at his side. As they began to descend the staircase, he offered her his arm, which she did not take.
Part of the chaos stemmed from the government first claiming that the clip was not real but was possibly a deep fake created by AI and exploited by Russia to make Macron seem weak. After the Associated Press authenticated the video, the French government changed its tune, describing the moment as merely a playful interaction between the couple.
Unsurprisingly, given their back story, the Macrons have been the subject of intense fascination for years.
They met in 1993 at a Catholic high school in northern France when he was 15. She, nearly 40 at the time, and a married mother of three, was his drama teacher. His parents were so concerned about the impropriety of their relationship that they sent him away to Paris for his senior year.
In 2006, she divorced her husband, and married Macron the following year. He was 29. She was 54.
“Of course, we have breakfast together, me and my wrinkles, him with his youth, but it’s like that,” Macron told Elle France in 2017. “If I did not make that choice, I would have missed out on my life.”
Unfortunately, Le Slapgate threatened to overshadow the Macrons’ trip.
“We are squabbling and, rather, joking with my wife,” he told reporters, complaining that the incident was being overblown into “a sort of geo-planetary catastrophe.”
A few days later, though, he was making light of the incident. Or at least trying to.
On Tuesday in Jakarta, Indonesia, as his plane door opened, another disembodied hand appeared, this time waving before Macron stepped into the camera frame smiling before he walked down the stairs arm in arm with his wife. Ha ha.
For a brief moment, the squabbling of one of the world’s most interesting couples gave us a much needed break from the actual geo-planetary catastrophe unfolding around us. For that, the Macrons have my gratitude. Merci, you crazy lovebirds.
Readers of the L.A. Times Sports section give their thoughts and opinions about Bill Plaschke and ESPN’s now-defunct show and a variety of other topics.
The Nigerian military’s quest to reclaim the North East from the brutal grip of Boko Haram over the past decade has been a turbulent journey. The region was a tapestry of terror; towns like Baga, Bama, and Gwoza in 2014 and 2015 had become grim reminders of the country’s vulnerabilities. Yet, the Nigerian military, bolstered by regional allies in the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF), wrestled control of these towns, turning them from insurgent safe havens into battle-scarred victories.
The Sambisa Forest Offensive of 2016–2017 was a turning point, a brutal dance through a dense jungle of death, where Boko Haram’s leadership once thrived under a thick green ecological canopy. The military’s seizure of “Camp Zero,” the so-called fortress of terror, amounted to an audacious triumph. Hundreds of insurgents fell, their weapons seized, a testament to the military’s ability to breach even the most fortified sanctuaries of bloodshed.
Though what followed that victory was a cat-and-mouse race between the military, who could dislodge the insurgents, but do not have the numbers to stay back and lay the guard, and Boko Haram who employ a retreat strategy when faced with superior fire, only to return to the areas that the military has abandoned until the next fight.
In the years that followed, from 2019 to 2023, the military turned its focus on ISWAP, a more powerful splinter of Boko Haram, by surgically eliminating a lot of the group’s leaders and dismantling camps that once hummed with the machinery of war. In the North West, Operation Hadarin Daji, and in the North-central, Operations Safe Haven and Whirl Stroke, have pushed organised armed groups into retreat, forcing criminals to burrow deeper into the forests.
Even on the high seas, the navy has scored victories against oil thieves and pirates by destroying illegal refineries. These significant achievements are the result of the tireless efforts of soldiers who are committed to safeguarding Nigeria’s sovereignty; yet, this hard-won ground remains dangerously fragile.
The Dasukigate arms scandal robbed frontline troops of essential gear, turning the fight into a test of sheer will against an enemy armed not only with bullets but also with a government’s betrayal. HumAngle has also documented how corruption and a lack of accountability negatively impacted the welfare of security officials on the frontlines. These soldiers, who have prevented every Nigerian from becoming a refugee, live in some of the most deplorable conditions along with their families.
Though the military itself didn’t do too well, reports of torture and extrajudicial killings cast long shadows, eroding public confidence and breeding a dangerous cynicism.
Corruption, the most persistent adversary, flourishes. According to a PwC report, if Nigeria’s kleptocratic elites continue to enrich themselves, the country’s GDP could plummet by 37 per cent by 2030. That’s $2,000 ripped from every Nigerian’s pocket, a future mortgaged by greed.
Nigeria has already lost over $550 billion to corruption since 1960, says the World Justice Project. In 2019 alone, Nigerians paid ₦675 billion in bribes. The theft of these monumental figures is as destructive as the acts of terrorism committed against innocent citizens by Boko Haram and other similar groups.
The adaptive enemy
Meanwhile, the insurgents continue to adapt and evolve, capitalising on the governance vacuum. Driven from urban centres, they’ve slithered into rural areas, away from the spotlights of many news platforms, to rule over these populations. The borders, a frayed edge where fighters dart in and out, are also important. Weapons from Libya’s collapse and Mali’s war zones bolster them. These ungoverned spaces are the oxygen that fuels the fires of terrorism across Nigeria.
In many rural communities, the only governance they have known is by a brutal armed group that leaves them with only one option: comply or die.
The free-for-all ransom economy
Between May 2023 and April 2024, an estimated 2.2 million people were kidnapped across Nigeria, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). During this period, families and communities paid roughly ₦2.2 trillion in ransoms. The North West accounted for the highest payments, totalling ₦1.2 trillion, while the South-East recorded the lowest, with ₦85.4 billion. Rural areas bore the brunt of these abductions, with 1,668,104 reported cases compared to 567,850 in urban centres.
These ransom figures are conservative estimates, reflecting less than half of the total money that changes hands between families and non-state actors in grisly exchanges. Accurate data is scarce because there is no functional system in place to prevent abductions or to track and regulate ransom payments. Despite efforts to curb kidnappings, families, driven by desperation and love, often pay ransoms directly to secure the release of their loved ones.
The so-called “ransom economy” is not only vibrant and fast-growing but also an unchecked, chaotic, and lucrative sector that operates without oversight. This lack of regulation fuels the expansion of kidnappings and enables militant groups and criminal gangs to thrive. Given the military’s critical role in counterterrorism and counterinsurgency efforts, it is imperative that it track every ransom payment, every penny that ends up in the hands of its adversaries.
A dedicated, trained, and multi-agency unit should be established to track and monitor every ransom transaction. This unit must ensure that every negotiation is carefully aligned with the broader military and counterinsurgency strategy to avoid inadvertently strengthening the enemy or undermining ongoing security operations.
The accountability problem
Pre-trial detainees languish in Nigeria’s overcrowded cells, their fate suspended in a limbo that mocks the very notion of justice. High-profile cases of notorious terrorists and violent criminals, especially those who once sowed terror and death, remain unresolved, further deepening public despair. Worse still, many of these fighters are offered amnesty deals, returning to communities they once ravaged, where their victims now live with trauma and betrayal.
The Knifar Movement is a stirring example. HumAngle has tirelessly documented the plight of women whose husbands were whisked away by the military under vague suspicions of insurgency, many of them never to be seen or heard from again. Their demands for truth and justice highlight the release of a thousand of them with no compensation and further create a system that prides itself on “winning the war”, yet cannot even account for those it detains in the name of that victory.
Meanwhile, in places like Giwa Barracks in Maiduguri, disturbing allegations of torture and extrajudicial killings fester in the shadows. Human rights groups have decried the treatment of detainees, where beatings, starvation, and summary executions appear to be the grim tools of interrogation, a chilling echo of the very brutality the military claims to fight.
A broken justice system
Beyond the barracks, justice in rural Nigeria is too often a distant rumour. Communal disputes and cattle rustling, particularly in the North-central and North West regions, have become chronic afflictions. Villagers watch, disillusioned, as security forces fail to resolve their grievances. In the absence of real justice, people turn to self-help: vigilante groups rise from the ashes of neglect, meting out their brand of “law” with machetes and hunting rifles.
The Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) of 2015 was meant to reform these dismal realities — to inject some semblance of speed and fairness into a system that moves with all the urgency of a snail in a marathon. Yet, despite its lofty promises, the ACJA has struggled to take root, hampered by state-level inertia and a persistent culture of impunity.
In this climate, the real business of justice is still little more than a distant ideal. Without meaningful reform, these injustices will continue to fester, infecting every corner of the nation’s already fragile peace.
A fragile peace — and a stark choice
Nigeria’s National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, reported that military and intelligence operations have significantly advanced counter-terrorism efforts, killing 13,543 insurgents and criminals nationwide over the past two years. Ribadu added that at least 124,408 insurgents and their families have surrendered and are now in the government’s deradicalisation and reintegration program.
The military works hard to recapture towns and forests, but fostering trust within the people remains a gap. Unfortunately, victory on the battlefield holds minimal significance if young people perceive their future solely through the lens of violence, if their sole option is to don a uniform, jeopardise their lives, and return to communities still plagued by hunger, fear, and injustice.
At the heart of this cycle lies a grim truth: bad governance and corruption are not just the enemies of good policy or a good fighting military force; they’re the quiet architects of endless war.
The final battle, it seems, is not in Sambisa or the Lake Chad islands. The real enemies are corruption, indifference, and political expediency, all conspiring in the echoing halls of Abuja to mock every military triumph. Young men and women in uniform are traumatised and are merely pawns in an endless battle.
Without accountability at all levels, from the barracks to the boardrooms of government, these military victories risk being as fleeting as they are bloody, quickly undone by the same rot that has haunted Nigeria’s past. The choice, then, is stark: to demand more from those in power or to continue burying the hopes of a generation under the rubble of bad governance.
Esai Morales is on a death-defying mission to make Tom Cruise’s life impossible, yet again, in the latest installment of the “Mission: Impossible” action film franchise. Titled “The Final Reckoning,” the movie was released Friday.
Morales reprises his role as Gabriel, an assassin liaison set on carrying out a dangerous mission for Entity, an artificial intelligence system gone rogue, whose capabilities render it a danger to human society. This role dates back to the first “Mission: Impossible” film in 1996, as a murder Gabriel committed was the impetus for Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) to join the Impossible Missions Force.
“I have to look at Gabriel as the star of his own movie,” said Morales in a video call. “I play these characters with as much humanity as I can.”
Although for most of the franchise Gabriel is presumably dead, audiences are introduced to Morales’ character in the 2023 summer flick, “Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One.” Besides shouldering responsibility as the main antagonist, which involves risky stunts opposite veteran adventurer Cruise, Morales also made franchise history as the first Latino lead in the action series.
The Brooklyn-born Puerto Rican actor is best known for his role as Bob Morales in the 1987 Chicano film “La Bamba” and as Jesus “Chucho” Sánchez in 1995’s “Mi Familia” — both of which been added to the National Film Registry at the Library of Congress. Morales is also known for his roles as Joseph Adama in the “Battlestar Galactica” prequel spin-off of “Caprica,” as well as Camino del Rio in Netflix’s “Ozark” and villain Deathstroke in the DC “Titans” series.
“The thing I love about ‘Mission: Impossible,’ with Gabriel, is that you don’t know he’s Latino,” Morales said. “It doesn’t focus on race. It focuses on the race to get the key!”
Likewise, the release of the last two “Mission: Impossible” films was a dash to the finish. Directed by Christopher McQuarriel, filming spanned five years with some stops along the way due to the COVID-19 pandemic, plus the 2023 strikes by members of the Screen Actors Guild (SAG-AFTRA) and the Writers Guild of America. Additional costs due to inflation brought the total budget of the Paramount Pictures movie up to $400 million, making it one of the most expensive films of all time.
Morales considers its release a momentous occasion — and a “graduation” of sorts.
“All those obstacles are like the pressure that creates a diamond out of coal,” he said. “I hope that the audiences feel what I felt and continue to feel when I watch the film.”
This interview has been edited for clarity and shortened.
How did you prepare physically and mentally for the role in ”Mission: Impossible”? I was asked if I was physical and I said, “Actually, yeah.” I love playing tennis so my conditioning is really good. During the pandemic, I [would sneak] into the ocean at dusk and I would swim at night for hours at a time. It was kind of scary. Then [I got] to London and met some of the finest stunt people who do fighting, acrobatics, knife fighting, boxing. The thing is to get your reflexes in shape, because sometimes you have to do take after take and you don’t want to gas out.
Mentally it’s a lifetime of preparation. It’s not like I can study the life of Gabriel, so you apply what you can about your own character and characteristics under imaginary circumstances. Some of it comes from the ether… from the ether going after Ethan [laughs]. It’s an instinct and a lifetime of seeing movies, including the “Mission: Impossible” movies. They work hard. One of the most comforting things they instill is [that] “we’re not gonna leave until we get it right.”
Cruise is known for his gutsy live-action scenes. What was it like to join him on these scenes? It’s thrilling. I couldn’t think of anyone else whose hands I’d want to put my well-being in, because look at his track record: He’s still alive and extremely healthy, and he doesn’t take these things lightly. He’s extremely strict about safety. Life is inherently risky. If you’re gonna take other risks, it’s best to take them with people that have survived and thrived for decades doing the same.
There’s a death-defying scene up in the air that was being teased a lot in this press run. What was going through your mind as you were up there? After the initial prayers and thanking God, the universe and the angels, who and whatever has kept me alive and blessed me with an amazing life so far… You’ve gotta let go and let God, as they say.
What impact has this franchise had on your long-term career? It’s a blessing. I got the job during one of the most trying times of my life — and everyone else’s. I hope it’s not all downhill from here. I’m just grateful because I got to work on something at this scale, with these kinds of collaborators.
I am hoping that the work I continue to do leads to meaningful roles and characters that enhance the human condition for having watched it. I wanna do things that make people feel good about being human. Even if I’m the bad guy, somebody’s gotta play the bad guy. Right?
But is Gabriel really the bad guy? Not in this actor’s eyes. For me, I have to look at Gabriel as the star of his own movie. Wars are not fought by people who feel they’re gonna lose them. So I play these characters with as much humanity as I can.
How did the COVID-19 pandemic and Hollywood strikes impact production of this film? I am on the board of SAG-AFTRA. I did feel the impact of both COVID-19 and the strikes. I mean, it was not easy, it was not fun. It’s still not easy. We still have to deal with new media or new technology, speaking of AI. The production stuck together. When you struggle with adversity, it makes you stronger.
You consider yourself an honorary Chicano, particularly because of your role as Bob Morales in “La Bamba.” What memories come to mind when you think back to that role? So many, but the incredible irony or synchronicity or synergy that a role with my [last] name on it would be one of the most remembered. They’d say, ‘That has your name all over it.’ Well, this [role] literally did. When people wanted me to focus more on Ritchie, I wanted to bear witness and lend my pain to the role of Bob [Ritchie Valens’ brother].
I don’t know where my career would be without that film and a few others. When you have the ability to be with the person you are portraying, first of all, it’s an extreme amount of pressure because they’re there and you’re not them. And it’s like you’re gonna pretend to inhabit their being and their life. You don’t wanna mess up. But [Bob and I] were able to bond and have a few beers and really kick back, and I was able to absorb Bob’s biorhythm. I absorbed his Mexicanismo, [the same way] Anthony Quinn portrayed “Zorba the Greek.” [Whenever] he went [into] a Greek restaurant, plates would crash in honor of him and his portrayal … and he is a Mexican Irish actor.
I think a lot of people forget that you’re Puerto Rican because you play the Mexican role so well. I’m proud to be Puerto Rican, but I’m so secure in it that I don’t feel like I have to wear my banner on my head. I just want my work to speak for itself. We have to embrace that which has toughened us and has given us character and has given us something a little extra yearn for and live for.
There are many Latinos in sci-fi films. I’m thinking of you in “Caprica.” There’s also Diego Luna and Adria Arjona in “Andor,” Zoe Saldaña in “Guardians of the Galaxy,” Pedro Pascal in “The Mandalorian,” Ricardo Montalbán in “Star Trek …” What do you think of space roles introducing Latino actors to new audiences? How about to their own audience? We make up 25% of the movie-going audience, at least. It’s a wise decision to include people that in the past were overlooked. We were overlooked. So to put in all the great people is serving your market and representing them. It’s long overdue but extremely welcomed.
Is outer space the gateway to more Latinos in mainstream roles in rom-coms or action? I would like to see that. I would like to see us play more central characters, people that we can grow to learn, grow to love and feel for, because I think that’s what movies do. They let you inside the heart of your lead characters. And you just can’t help but to love them, you know?
Russia questioned Ukrainian sovereignty and undermined the authority of its president as the two countries engaged in their first direct talks since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy arrived in Istanbul on May 15 for the talks his Russian counterpart suggested days earlier. Accompanying him were his foreign and defence ministers.
But Russian President Vladimir Putin did not show up, nor did his cabinet members. He sent a junior delegation, headed by ambassador-at-large Rodion Miroshnik, that was not empowered to sign a ceasefire.
However, in sour tones, Russia cast aspersions on the legitimacy of the Ukrainian team.
“The delegation is waiting for the clown to speak out, for the hallucinogens to wear off, and for him to finally allow those he’s banned from negotiating for three years to sit down at the table,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova wrote on social media, referring to Zelenskyy’s decree against direct talks while Russia waged war in Ukraine.
“We analysed Ukrainian legislation, and according to it, we understand that Zelenskyy’s powers as the legitimate leader of the country have expired,” said Russian lead negotiator Rodion Miroshnik on May 16, the day of the talks.
He was referring to the fact that Zelenskyy did not hold a scheduled presidential election last year. The Ukrainian constitution allows Zelenskyy to remain in office at a time of national crisis, and the Ukrainian parliament extended Zelenskyy’s term until the end of martial law. But Russian officials have used the extension to paint Zelenskyy as illegitimate.
“There is a risk that agreements reached and signed in an illegitimate manner may be disavowed,” said Miroshnik.
“The most important and fundamental thing for us remains who exactly will sign these documents on the Ukrainian side,” said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov the day after the talks.
(Al Jazeera)
But Russia’s stance has stirred suspicion that Moscow is laying the groundwork to eventually wriggle out of any agreement.
“This rhetorical campaign is part of efforts to set conditions for Russia to withdraw from any future peace agreements at a time of Russia’s choosing,” wrote the Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank.
What the two sides proposed
Ukraine proposed a ceasefire followed by a meeting between Zelenskyy and Putin.
Russia rejected both demands, proposing instead an exchange of 1,000 prisoners of war from each side, followed by a submission of ceasefire proposals in writing.
“We agreed that each side would present its vision of a possible future ceasefire, laying it out in detail,” said Putin aide Vladimir Medinsky, a member of the negotiating team.
The war will meanwhile continue – in its favour, Russia believes.
During the talks, Russian forces launched assaults near Pokrovsk and Toretsk in Ukraine’s east, capturing some turf.
On Saturday night, Russia unleashed 273 drones on Ukraine’s cities – its largest barrage of the war.
And on Monday, the Russian Ministry of Defence claimed to have captured two settlements, Maryino in Sumy and Novoolenovka in Donetsk.
(Al Jazeera)
Moscow has answered Kyiv’s calls for a ceasefire by insisting on talks without preconditions, but it reportedly demanded them on Friday.
Sources familiar with the proceedings told Bloomberg the Russian delegation demanded a priori recognition that the four provinces Russia partly occupies, Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson, be handed over in their entirety.
Russian Security Council deputy chairman Dmitry Medvedev insisted that the four regions Russia invaded in 2022 were Russian by law.
“They first proclaimed themselves the subjects of international law following referendums and then addressed us with a request to accede to the Russian Federation. So, from the standpoint of international law, everything is fine here,” he told the St Petersburg International Legal Forum on Tuesday.
It appeared that Russia was trying to set another precondition for a second round of talks, which should entail an agreement on Ukraine’s non-aligned status, Leonid Slutsky, the head of the State Duma’s committee on international affairs, told the pro-Kremlin newswire TASS on Tuesday.
The surrendering of the four regions and neutrality – an agreement never to join NATO and the European Union – are among conditions Putin set in a speech last June.
As delegations resumed their talks on Monday, Zakharova confirmed that those still constituted Russian goals.
“Russia is ready and will continue to work with the Ukrainian side on a memorandum on a potential future peace treaty outlining a number of positions, such as, for instance, settlement principles, the timeframe for signing a potential peace agreement, and so on, including a potential ceasefire for a certain period in case relevant agreements are reached,” Putin told reporters .
The next day, Putin called Ukrainians Neonazis for tearing down World War II monuments, and “idiots” who “would come second in a contest of idiots”, as he visited the border region of Kursk for the first time since Russian forces reclaimed it following a Ukrainian counter-invasion.
(Al Jazeera)
Trump urged Putin to meet with Zelenskyy.
Peskov downplayed the demand, saying they “touched upon the issue of direct contact”.
“It is important that America remains engaged in the process of bringing peace closer. It is America that Russia fears, and it is American influence that can save many lives, if used as leverage to make Putin end the war,” Zelenskyy said in his Tuesday evening address.
But others had doubts that Trump’s negotiating tactics were going to produce a good result for Ukraine.
US former ambassador to Kyiv Bridget Brink explained on Monday why she resigned her post last month.
“I resigned from Ukraine and also from the foreign service because the policy since the beginning of the [Trump] administration is to put pressure on the victim, Ukraine, rather than on the aggressor, Russia,” she told CBS’s Face the Nation. “Peace at any price is not peace at all. It’s appeasement. And as we know from history, appeasement only leads to more war.”
Europe, Canada and Australia remain the holdouts among Ukraine’s allies in favour of a harder line against Russia.
A 17th EU sanctions package came into force on Monday, restricting the movement of 189 tankers considered to be smuggling Russian oil, and bringing the total to 342. The EU also sanctioned Russian arms manufacturers and 28 Russian judges for human rights violations.
THE SECRET ingredients to the perfect Eurovision song have been revealed and it might be bad news for the UK’s act.
As various European countries go head-to-head tonight, a leading betting company has revealed that winning Eurovision songs always have three key traits.
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Country girl group Remember Monday will be representing Britain at the 2025 contestCredit: BBC
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Nemo won the 2024 competition, meaning Switzerland will host the 2025 competitionCredit: Reuters
Sport Betting Online found that the first of the three factors relates to whether the song is written in a minor or a major key; minor keys often sound sadder, where major keys tend to sound happier and more joyful.
The final factor relates to language, as ten of the last 15 winning songs were written in English.
Despite that advantage, the UK act has the odds stacked against them – according to exclusive information from Sports Betting online.
Remember Monday’s track is written in a major key and has an average BPM rate of 136.
A spokesperson from the betting company said: “Remember Monday’s entry brings a vibrant and relatable energy to Eurovision 2025.
“Their harmonious vocals and genre-blending style align with several successful trends.
“However, the song’s major key and humorous theme might set it apart from the emotionally intense entries that have recently won.
“If audiences are ready for something fun and feel-good, the UK may have a dark horse on its hands.”
Eurovision fans spot moment winner Nemo suffers huge fail and breaks trophy
Despite the track bucking several winning trends, Remember Monday’s song was well-received when they took to the stage on Thursday.
Fans could be heard cheering throughout the trio’s performance, while singing along to What the Hell Just Happened’s catchy lyrics.
Brits loved the track too, with one writing on social media: “Remember Monday could WIN THIS WHOLE THING. INCREDIBLE. Perfection in the arena!”
UK fans can only hope that its broad appeal – with country aesthetics being on trend and English being the language of most winning songs – will take the trio to a win.
Sports Betting Online also analysed the frontrunners at this year’s singing competition, though, and one group is set to take the contest by storm.
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Finnish band KAJ will be representing Sweden at Eurovision
Sweden’s Bara Badu Batsu – performed by KAJ – has an average BPM of 106 and is written in the minor key, specifically A Minor.
The track is sung in Swedish with Finnish phrases, which does buck the trend of winning songs being in English.
However, experts think this may work in the trio’s favour – just a singing in Italian took Maneskin to a win.
Following close behind is Austria’s JJ who will be singing a track entitled Wasted Love.
This track has 133 BPM, which is much faster than the average winning BPM, but is written in a minor key.
It is also sung in English, which normally broadens a song’s appeal at the competition.
The final frontrunner is France’s Louane, whose track was recorded at 88 BPM and is sung in the singer’s native language.
Her heartbreaking song is entitled Maman – the French word for “mother”.
With all of the data considered, the competition is Sweden’s to lose.
The contest will kick off on May 13, 2025, in Basel, Switzerland, before ending on May 17.
Last year’s winning artist Nemo will be performing their track – entitled The Code – at the finale.
However, not every country in Europe will be appearing at the competition.
Russia has been banned from competing due to controversies surrounding the invasion of Ukraine.
Other countries, including Bulgaria and Romania, have pulled out due to funding problems.
Israel has confirmed that it will be competing at Eurovision 2025, despite an open letter – signed by several former winners – urging judges to ban the country from the contest.
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Austrian singer JJ is projected to come in second placeCredit: AFP
A PRISON governor has been jailed over an illicit relationship with a drug gang boss who gifted her a £12,000 Mercedes.
Kerri Pegg was seen as a “rising star” in the Prison Service and quickly rose through the ranks to become governor at HMP Kirkham in Lancashire.
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Kerri Pegg received a car from her lag lover after she green-lit his releaseCredit: PA
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She has now been jailedCredit: PA
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The prison governor had a fling with Anthony SaundersonCredit: Unpixs
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He gifted her a £12,000 MercedesCredit: PA
But her career is now in ruins after she embarked on a relationship with inmate Anthony Saunderson, who was known as Jesse Pinkman after the series Breaking Bad.
Pegg, 42, has now been jailed after she was found guilty of two counts of misconduct in a public office.
One relates to the divorcee’s fling with Saunderson and the second by failing to disclose county court judgements about her debts.
She was also convicted of one count of possessing criminal property, the Mercedes car, from Saunderson.
Preston Crown Court heard Pegg released Saunderson on licence in 2019 despite not having the authority to approve the bid.
After he was granted his freedom, the prisoner used cash from selling 34 kilos of amphetamines to buy Pegg the Mercedes coupe.
On April 6, 2020, Saunderson was sent a message on Encrochat saying “car her for ya bird 12 quid or work” and a photo of the vehicle.
The court was told “12 quid” meant £12,000 and “work” meant drugs.
Saunderson asked “what work they want” and he was told “top or weed” – meaning cocaine or cannabis.
Two days later, he arranged for “17 packs” to be dropped off in Manchester to pay for the car.
The Mercedes was registered in Pegg’s name, with a pal messaging Saunderson: “Where u ya seedy man u and Peggy out floating orrel in the new whip?”
Law enforcement agencies cracked the criminal’s Encrochat and discovered he was involved in drug trafficking on a huge scale.
Saunderson, who was also known to his criminal pals as James Gandolfini -the actor who played Tony Soprano in the mafia TV Series – has now been locked up for 35 years.
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Police found flip flops at Pegg’s home that contained Saunderson’s DNA
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She was arrested in November 2020
The court was told other messages revealed the “ongoing nature” of his relationship with Pegg.
Police searched her home on November 19, 2020, and found a toothbrush and flip flops containing Saunderson’s DNA.
Officers also discovered a haul of designer clothing and found Pegg was subject to a number of county court judgements for unpaid debts.
Prosecutor Barbara-Louise Webster said: “Her downfall was two-fold, the first, despite having a good income, she lived beyond her means.
“She spent all her income and more, incurring debts and she had county court judgements made against her.
“As a consequence, she became vulnerable and open to exploitation.
“The second was that she became emotionally and personally involved with a serving prisoner, Anthony Saunderson and later accepted an expensive car, a Mercedes C class, which was paid for by him out of his proceeds of criminal activity ie trading in drugs.”
Pegg joined the prison service in 2012 as a graduate entrant and worked at prisons in Risley, Liverpool and Styal.
By April 2018, she was a governor at HMP Kirkham, where Saunderson was serving a lengthy jail term.
He had been locked up in 2014 for his part in importing £19m of cocaine in shipments of corned beef from Argentina.
From the start, there were concerns about Pegg being inappropriately close to prisoners.
It was also noted that she spent a lot of time in her office with Saunderson.
In October 2018, he put in a request to be released on temporary licence.
Despite Pegg not having the authority to green light his release, she intervened and approved his application without notifying the official who should have dealt with the case.
Days later she was moved to another jail, later becoming duty governor at HMP Lancaster Farms.
Saunderson meanwhile was revealed as one of nine gangland figures responsible for producing amphetamines on an industrial, multi-million-pound scale.
The gang made and dealt 2.6 tonnes of amphetamines worth £1million – as well as trafficking heroin, cocaine, cannabis, ketamine, MCAT and diazepam.
Tarryn McCaffrey, from the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), said: “Kerri Pegg’s conduct fell far short of what might be expected from any professional within the Prison Service, let alone one of such a senior grade as prison governor.
“She was clearly involved in an inappropriate relationship with Saunderson after he was released and the evidence points to this going back further, to a time when he was in jail.
“This relationship, and the fact that Pegg failed to disclose her debts to her employers, amount to a gross breach of trust and are therefore extremely damaging to public confidence.”
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Pegg started up the relationship while she was prison governor
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She was seen as a ‘rising star’ in the prison serviceCredit: PA
