California is in a standoff with Texas over redistricting that could decide the balance of power in Congress for the end of Donald Trump’s presidency — a high-stakes gambit with risks for both sides. But if the courts have their say, Texas, facing accusations of racial discrimination, may find itself at a distinct legal disadvantage.
Partisanship unleashed
Both efforts by Texas Republicans and California Democrats are blatantly partisan, proposing a mid-decade redrawing of district lines for the express purpose of benefiting their party in the 2026 midterm elections.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom is working with a Democratic supermajority in the Legislature on “trigger” legislation that would schedule a ballot initiative this fall for the new maps. It was a direct response to a Texas plan, supported by Trump and currently in motion in the Austin statehouse, to potentially flip five seats in the upcoming election from blue to red.
The Supreme Court has ruled that judges are powerless to review partisan gerrymandering, even if, as it wrote in 2019, the practice is “incompatible with democratic principles.”
The court ruled in Rucho vs. Common Cause that partisan gerrymandering “is incompatible with the 1st Amendment, that the government shouldn’t do this, and that legislatures and people who undertake this aren’t complying with the letter of the Constitution,” said Chad Dunn, a professor and legal director of the UCLA Voting Rights Project who has argued multiple cases before the Supreme Court. “But it concluded that doesn’t mean the U.S. Supreme Court is the solution to it.”
What courts can still do, however, is enforce the core provisions of the Voting Rights Act, which bars states from redistricting that “packs” or “cracks” minority groups in ways that dilute their voting power.
“Texas doesn’t need to have a good reason or a legitimate reason to engage in mid-decade redistricting — even if it’s clear that Texas is doing this for pure partisan reasons, nothing in federal law at the moment, at least, would preclude that,” said Richard Pildes, a constitutional law professor at New York University. “But Texas cannot redistrict in a way that would violate the Voting Rights Act.”
Vestiges of a landmark law
In 2023, addressing a redistricting fight in Alabama over Black voter representation, the current makeup of the high court ruled in Allen vs. Milligan that discriminating against minority voters in gerrymandering is unconstitutional, ordering the Southern state to create a second minority-majority district.
Today, Texas’ proposed maps may face a similar challenge, amid accusations that they are “cracking” racially diverse communities while preserving white-majority districts, legal scholars said. Already, the state’s 2021 congressional maps are under legal scrutiny over discrimination concerns.
“The Supreme Court affirmed two years ago that the Voting Rights Act works the way we all thought it worked,” said Justin Levitt, a professor at Loyola Law School and former deputy assistant attorney general in the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division. “That’s part of the reason for current litigation in Texas, and will undoubtedly be a part of continuing litigation if Texas redraws their lines and goes ahead with it.”
The groundwork for the current Texas plan appears to have been laid with a letter from Harmeet Dhillon, assistant attorney general for civil rights at the Justice Department, who threatened Texas with legal action over three “coalition districts” that she argued were unconstitutional. Coalition districts feature multiple minority communities, none of which comprises the majority.
The resulting maps proposed by Texas redraw all three.
J. Morgan Kousser, a Caltech professor who recently testified in the ongoing case over Texas’ 2021 redistricting effort, said the politics of race in Texas specifically, and the South generally, make its redistricting challenges plain to see but harder to solve.
How do you distinguish between partisanship, which is allowed, and racism, which is not, in states where partisanship falls so neatly down racial lines?
That dilemma may become Texas’ greatest legal problem, as well as its saving grace in court, Kousser said.
“In Texas, as in most Southern states, the connection between race and party is so close that it is exceedingly difficult to distinguish between them,” he said. “That seems to give a get-out-of-jail free card, essentially, to anybody who can claim this is partisan, rather than racial.”
Today, nine states face ongoing litigation concerning potential violations of the Voting Rights Act, a law that turned 60 years old this week. Seven are in the South — states that had for decades been subject to a pre-clearance requirement at the Justice Department before being allowed to change state voting laws.
Newsom has been vocal in his stance that California should position itself to be the national bulwark against the Texas plan.
Last week, the Democratic caucuses of the state Legislature heard a presentation by the UCLA Voting Rights Project on how California might legally gerrymander its own maps for the 2026 midterms.
Matt Barreto, the co-founder of the project and a professor of political science and Chicana/o and Central American studies, said his organization’s position is that gerrymandering “should not be allowed by any state,” he said.
But “if other states are playing the game, the governor is saying he wants to play the game too,” Barreto added.
He said that although five seats have been discussed to match what Texas is doing, he sees a pathway for California to create seven seats that would be safely Democratic.
That includes potential redraws in Orange County, San Diego, the Inland Empire and the northern part of the state. Barreto said there are many districts that currently skew as much as 80% Democratic, and by pulling some of those blue voters into nearby red districts, they could be flipped without risk to the current incumbents, though some new districts may have odd shapes.
For example, districts in the north could become elongated to reach into blue Sacramento or the Bay Area, “using the exact same standards that Texas does,” he said.
Legislators seemed receptive to the idea.
“We’ve taken basic American rights for granted for too long,and I think we’re ill equipped to protect them,” said Assemblymember Maggy Krell (D-Sacramento), who attended the meeting.
“To me, this is much bigger than Texas,” she said.
State Sen. Tom Umberg (D-Santa Ana), who has worked on redistricting in the past, echoed that support for Newsom, saying he was not “comfortable” with the idea of gerrymandering but felt “compelled” in the current circumstances.
“In order to respond to what’s going on in Texas in particular,” Umberg said, “we should behave in a like manner.”
Barreto, the UCLA professor, warned that if any redistricting happens in California, “no matter what, there’s going to be a lawsuit.”
Dunn said that it’s possible voters could sue under the Voting Rights Act in California, claiming the new districts violate their right to fair representation — even white voters, who have more traditionally been on the other side of such legal actions.
The 1965 law is “for everybody, of every race and ethnicity,” Dunn said. A lawsuit “could be on behalf of the places where the white community is in the minority.”
The prospect of that litigation and the chaos it could cause gives pause to some voting rights experts who see the current situation as a race to the bottom that could ultimately harm democracy by undermining voters’ trust in the system.
“It’s mutual destruction,” said Mindy Romero, a voting expert and professor at USC, of the Texas-California standoff.
The best outcome of the current situation, she said, would be for Congress to take action to prohibit partisan gerrymandering nationwide. This week, Rep. Kevin Kiley (R-Rocklin), who represents a district north of Sacramento that would be vulnerable in redistricting, introduced legislation that would bar mid-decade redistricting. So far, it has gained little support.
“Just like lots of other things, Congress is dropping the ball by not addressing this national problem,” said Richard Hasen, a UCLA professor of political science and director of the Safeguarding Democracy Project.
“When it comes to congressional redistricting, fairness should be evaluated on a national basis, since the decisions made in California or Texas affect the whole country,” he said.
The creator of Blue Lock: Rivals thought kids on Roblox might like a soccer video game with an anime vibe. It sold a few months later for more than $3 million.
The 19-year-old, who asked that his name be withheld because he has never shared it publicly, made the game in just three months with the help of co-developers. It attracted more than 1 million simultaneous players following its release last year, he said, generating $5 million a month in purchases for Roblox Corp., the popular gaming platform.
Do Big Studios, an owner of other Roblox games that had helped develop Blue Lock: Rivals, bought the game in March, delivering a hefty payout to its teen owner.
Like YouTube, Roblox started two decades ago as an online stage for young creators. Video-game lovers could use the service’s tools to develop inexpensive, low-resolution entertainment. Now, as the company grows toward 100 million active daily users, contributors are finding there’s money to be had in selling the games they’ve created, with buyers prepared to pay seven or even eight figures.
“We’ve seen a real shift in Roblox’s ecosystem,” said David Taylor, senior consultant at the video-game-analytics firm Naavik. In June, seven of the 15 highest-earning games on Roblox had been acquired from their original owners, according to his research.
The shift has been spawned in part by policy changes at Roblox. A December update to the service lets players easily transfer game ownership. Previously, Roblox said such sales were against its terms of service and community guidelines. A company spokesperson added that Roblox isn’t currently participating in secondary-market transactions.
Do Big has been scooping up other titles, including Roblox’s biggest hit ever. In May, the company bought a stake in Grow a Garden, currently the most popular game on Roblox, for an undisclosed sum. The farming title broke records in late June, when it attracted over 21 million simultaneous players — more than Fortnite from Epic Games Inc. Another Roblox game company, Splitting Point, had taken it over the prior month from an anonymous teenage developer for an undisclosed sum.
Representatives of Do Big didn’t respond to a request for comment.
In February, an anonymous developer sold Roblox’s then-most popular game Brookhaven RP to Voldex Entertainment Ltd. Voldex’s founder and chief executive officer, Alex Singer, said the deal, with financing arranged by Raine Group and Shamrock Capital, was “bigger” than the reported sum that Embracer Group AB paid for Roblox’s Welcome to Bloxburg in 2022, though he declined to be more specific.
“When there are more dollars paid out to creators, it attracts more people,” said Singer, 24.
A report at the time put the Welcome to Bloxburg sale price at $100 million, though officials at Embracer said it was less.
According to Roblox, the company’s top 10 developers earned $36 million each in the 12 months through March. The San Mateo, California-based company may pay out more than $1 billion in total to creators for the first time this year. In 2023, CEO Dave Baszucki predicted that by 2028 a Roblox developer will be valued at $1 billion.
Over a dozen companies buy, develop and sometimes flip Roblox games. Much of the activity is conducted over the chat app Discord, according to Connor Richards, a lawyer with Odin Law & Media who’s been involved in a dozen deals. He’s seen minors earn a few hundred thousand dollars from these deals.
Another technology lawyer, Adam Starr, said he’s facilitated about 20 Roblox deals over the last year and is receiving more inquiries than ever. The developers often opt to remain anonymous.
Voldex’s first major acquisitions, Driving Empire and Ultimate Football, cost the company seven figures, Singer said. A subsequent agreement with the NFL allowing the company to rename the property NFL Universe Football helped grow its audience.
“We’ve been able to sustain our communities and games and grow them while keeping players happy,” Singer said. “That’s really important.” He’ll assign a team of programmers to analyze and improve a game, often alongside the original creator.
Roblox games rise and fall with kids’ whims. A paintball simulator might die off after another creator publishes a Roblox clone of Ubisoft Entertainment SA’s Rainbow 6 Siege. Only the rare game remains popular for months or years. Creators who know this will sometimes sell their games at a price equal to just one or two months’ revenue. Others go for 12 months’ worth of sales, according to Naavik’s Taylor.
Independent game developers also trade their art or programming work for a share of game ownership.
“Roblox is very capitalist,” Voldex’s Singer said. The company “wants creators to be economically successful.”
White unspoilt sand, almost deserted coastlines and gripping flora and fauna gives this cove a ‘secluded’ feel in the Canary Islands, away from the maddening throngs of tourists
Thousands of travellers will be heading to the crystal waters of the Canaries this summer(Image: Getty Images)
Thousands of Brits will be heading to the crystal waters of the Canaries this summer to admire the area’s stunning coastline and temperate climate.
The best part? Apart from the popular hotspots that everyone and their mother knows, the archipelago also has several secret spots that are situated away from the maddening throngs of tourists, just waiting to be explored. One such hidden gem with unspoilt sands, almost deserted coastlines, and a ‘secluded’ feel is Lanzarote’s Playa de Papagayo.
Playa de Papagayo belongs to a set of six beaches that make up the Los Ajaches Natural Monument(Image: Getty Images)
Due to its location deep inside a nature reserve — which makes it even more exciting to discover — this ‘secret cove’ of white sand with its unique flora and fauna will make travellers feel like they’re in their own personal paradise.
Away from the noise of large resorts and crowded beaches, Playa de Papagayo offers the perfect respite. However, before heading out in search of this cove, it’s important to make sure you’re carrying the necessary equipment: comfortable walking shoes to traverse the rocky patches, water, food, and sunscreen, as well as any essential beach accessories you may require. Since hidden locations are usually not well equipped with sun loungers and too many cafés or restaurants, it’s vital to ensure your own comfort.
In the south of Lanzarote lie the Papagayo beaches, widely recognised as the most beautiful in Lanzarote. There are a set of six beaches in total at Papagayo, and Playa de Papagayo belongs to that set. Together, they make up the Los Ajaches Natural Monument.
The Papagayo beaches lie at the southern tip of Lanzarote(Image: Getty Images)
Playa de Papagayo is situated in a secluded gully, so one has to go down some steps (offering spectacular views of the beach) to get there. And while Playa de Papagayo is the most well-known in the region, it is surrounded by several uncrowded coves and caves on either side.
Located in a wild area on the southern tip, Playa de Papagayo is nature’s paradise. Access to the beach is either via a bumpy track (cars can be parked at one of the nearby parking lots for £2.5), on foot, or by boat.
Shaped like a shell and situated in a hollow, Playa de Papagayo is extremely well sheltered from Lanzarote’s prevailing winds and will win you over with its pristine, soft sand and crystal clear, emerald green water — perfect for snorkelling and laid-back marine adventures. Ensure that you’re carrying snorkeling goggles or any other necessary equipment in order to enjoy your time to the hilt.
Due to its local popularity, Playa de Papagayo has a couple of beach bar restaurants perched on the hillside overlooking it, giving travellers the opportunity to grab something to eat, drink, and get some respite from the sun.
Shaped like a shell and situated in a hollow, Playa de Papagayo is extremely well sheltered from Lanzarote’s prevailing winds(Image: Getty Images)
Leaving the beach without seeing the gorgeous sunset would be a travesty, so make sure to stick around and catch the magical moment.
Tripadvisor reviews warns Playa de Papagayo can get quite packed during the peak summer months of June, July, and August, however it’s still recommended for its breathtaking scenery and opportunities for snorkelling and swimming. But there’s more to Papagayo than just lounging on the beach. The surrounding area boasts hiking trails that offer awe-inspiring views of Lanzarote’s unique volcanic landscapes.
Just a short drive away, the charming town of Playa Blanca beckons visitors to browse its quaint shops and indulge in tasty cuisine at local restaurants.
Lanzarote is conveniently accessible from the UK, with nonstop flights available from numerous airports. It takes roughly four hours to reach this sun-drenched destination, so you know where to head next.
So far, more than 288million people have joined the viral online discussion, which has taken over Reddit, TikTok, YouTube and Instagram, after a user called DreamChasnMike posed the hypothetical question on X.
Ukrainian slugger Usyk boldly claimed that he could take on the challenge single-handed.
Meanwhile Elon fancied himself in a team of 100 against a single silverback gorilla when YouTube star MrBeast, who has 386million followers, asked for volunteers to put it to the test.
“What’s the worst that could happen?” Elon asked.
It’s a good question.
But big-primate dentist Paul Cassar, from Chichester, West Sussex, warned there is no contest when it comes to man versus beast.
He said: “While I’d never condone this, 100 unarmed men wouldn’t stand a chance.
“I once treated a gorilla who was only slightly agitated, yet he started picking up a giant iron ball that no human could have lifted and throwing it against the wall.
“The whole building shook.”
Terrifying moment Sir David Attenborough’s cameraman Vianet Djenguet is attacked by gorilla
Kartick Satyanarayan, of conservation charity Wildlife SOS,, also opposed any face-off.
But he added: “A hundred Mike Tysons are unlikely to be able to tackle a gorilla with bare hands.
“One look at those gigantic teeth can indicate the damage they can inflict.”
Gorillas have powerful bites and just one punch can shatter a human skull.
Even so, England midfielder Cole Palmer struggled to pick sides in the debate, saying: “Bro, it’s split though . . . 100 men that are willing to fight . . . ”
American basketball idol Shaquille O’Neal claimed one gorilla would “knock out” 100 men.
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Even Tesla tycoon Elon Musk has waded into the debateCredit: Getty
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American basketball idol Shaquille O’Neal claimed one gorilla would ‘knock out’ 100 menCredit: Getty
But MMA champ Merab Dvalishvili reckoned he could see off the beast alone, bragging: “I’m smart. I’m strong. Easy.”
President of the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund, Tara Stoinski, reckons 100 blokes would win by co-operating and co-ordinating strategies.
She added: “They can take turns, so their endurance is going to be a lot longer than a single gorilla fighting for hours.”
And Ron Magill, of Zoo Miami, added: “Gorillas only fight to protect their families.
“But I’ve seen a gorilla break a coconut and flip a 300lb boulder like it’s styrofoam.”
Psychologists warn that relying on others in extreme situations is a gamble, and fitness experts agree.
Emily Cleary, of Embrace Fitness, said: “Our strength is our brain and ability to work in teams, but I question the brain strength of anyone who tries to put it to the test.”
Dan Simmonds, from London Zoo, added: “Gorillas are gentle and shy, so they prefer not to waste energy on aggression unless provoked.”
So who WOULD win?
Perhaps the real question, in a scenario so ludicrous is: Who gives a monkey’s?
