millions

If the United States federal government shutdown continues, millions of low-income Americans could lose access to a monthly benefit that pays for food.

About 42 million people receive money through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), sometimes called food stamps. The Department of Agriculture told states in an October 10 letter that if the shutdown continues, the programme would run out of money to pay for benefits in November.

President Donald Trump’s Republican administration is blaming the Democrats with Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins repeating a false healthcare talking point on October 16 on X: “Democrats are putting free health care for illegal aliens and their political agenda ahead of food security for American families. Shameful.”

The government shutdown stems from disagreements between Democrats – who want Congress, as part of approving federal funding, to extend expiring enhanced subsidies for the Affordable Care Act (ACA), through which uninsured Americans can buy health insurance – and Republicans, who want to extend federal funding first before negotiating over whether or how to extend the ACA subsidies.

SNAP is a federal programme operated by state agencies. Participants receive an average individual monthly benefit of about $190 or $356 per household. Recipients may use the benefits to buy fruit, vegetables, meat, dairy products, bread and other foods. The majority of SNAP households live in poverty.

Lawmakers and social media users have made several statements about SNAP with varying degrees of accuracy about the shutdown and the Republican tax and spending law that Trump signed in July. Here’s a closer look:

Social media posts say food stamps will disappear on November 1

Many social media posts have said food stamps are going away as soon as November 1.

“Let that sink in – just in time for the cold season and the month of giving thanks,” one Instagram post said.

That could happen for millions of people. But it might not happen for all of them, and it could happen throughout the month of November because the monthly date when people receive their benefits varies by state.

The Trump administration could use SNAP’s contingency fund to pay for nearly two-thirds of a full month of benefits, or it could transfer other Agriculture Department funds, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a liberal think tank. The administration has said it has found funding to continue the Women, Infants and Children programme, another food programme for low-income families.

According to an Agriculture Department funding lapse plan, SNAP “shall continue operations during a lapse in appropriations, subject to the availability of funding”.

An Agriculture Department letter told states to hold off on steps that would lead to people receiving their November benefits. Federal regulations require that reductions be made in a way that higher-income recipients lose more benefits than the lowest-income recipients.

We asked administration officials for more detail but received no response to our questions.

Many state officials – including in Illinois, New York, North Carolina, Texas and Wisconsin – said that if the shutdown continues, participants might not or will not receive benefits in November. A spokesperson for the Florida Department of Children and Families told PolitiFact that if the shutdown continues into November, benefits will not be issued.

California Governor Gavin Newsom said on Wednesday that he will deploy the National Guard and California Volunteers, a state agency, to support food banks and provide $80m in state money.

“Empty cupboards and stomachs are not abstract outcomes,” Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers told Rollins in a Wednesday letter. “They are the very real and near consequences of the dysfunction in Washington. These are also consequences you can prevent today.”

Meanwhile, food banks across the country have taken a hit from other Trump administration policies. ProPublica reported on October 3 that earlier in the year, the administration cut $500m in deliveries through the Emergency Food Assistance Program, which provides food to state distribution agencies.

So what have key lawmakers said on this issue and how true are their claims?

‘We are not cutting’ SNAP

– Mike Johnson, speaker of the US House of Representatives, on the TV programme Face the Nation on May 25

This is false.

Johnson spoke after the House passed a Republican-backed bill known at the time as the One Big Beautiful Bill, which included many of Trump’s policy priorities.

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO), the nonpartisan number-crunching arm of Congress, estimated in May that 3.2 million fewer people per month on average would receive SNAP benefits over the next nine years based on the bill’s changes to work requirements and restrictions on states’ ability to waive the work requirements in areas with high unemployment.

A more recent August CBO analysis estimated the changes would reduce participation in SNAP by roughly 2.4 million people.

‘Nearly 25 cents of every $1 spent via SNAP goes to farmers and ranchers’

– Wisconsin state Representative Francesca Hong in a June 12 X post

This is true.

In a series of X posts, Hong said it wouldn’t be only families receiving food aid that would be hurt by the legislation.

A chart published this year by the Agriculture Department’s Economic Research Service showed that in 2023, farm establishments made 24.3 cents of every dollar spent on food at home, including at grocery stores and supermarkets.

‘About 20 percent of households with veterans rely upon’ SNAP

– House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries at a May 8 news conference

This is mostly false.

An April 2 study found that 8 percent of veterans rely on SNAP benefits. No state had a share higher than 14 percent. Studies with data from a few years earlier showed rates from 4.9 percent to 6.6 percent.

Louis Jacobson, Staff Writer Loreben Tuquero and Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reporter Madeline Heim contributed to this article.

With the fate of President’s Trump’s right-wing agenda at stake, the California ballot measure crafted to tilt Congress to Democratic control has turned into a fight among millionaires and billionaires, a former president, a past movie-star governor and the nation’s top partisans.

Californians have been inundated with political ads popping up on every screen — no cellphone, computer or living-room television is spared — trying to sway them about Proposition 50, which will reconfigure the districts of the largest state congressional delegation in the union.

Besides opposing pleas from former President Obama and former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, the state’s powerful, left-leaning labor unions are another factor that may influence the outcome of the Nov. 4 special election.

Unions representing California school teachers, carpenters, state workers and nurses have plowed more than $23 million into efforts to pass Proposition 50, according to an analysis of campaign finance disclosure reports about donations exceeding $100,000. That’s nearly one-third of the six-figure donations reported through Thursday.

Not only do these groups have major interests in the state capitol, including charter school reform, minimum wage hikes and preserving government healthcare programs, they also are deeply aligned with efforts by Gov. Gavin Newsom and his fellow Democrats to put their party in control of the U.S. House of Representatives in the 2026 election.
“There are real issues here that are at stake,” said veteran Democratic strategist Gale Kaufman, who has represented several unions that have contributed to Newsom’s committee supporting Proposition 50.

“There’s always a risk when making sizable donations, that you’re putting yourself out there,” Kaufman said. “But the truth is on Proposition 50, I think it’s much less calculated than normal contributions. It really is about the issue, not about currying favor with members of the Legislature, or the congressional delegation, or the governor. Even though, of course, it benefits them if we win.”

High stakes brings in big money from across the nation

Newsom’s pro-Proposition 50 committee has raised more than $116 million, according to campaign disclosure filings through Thursday afternoon, though that number is sure to increase once additional donations are disclosed in the latest fundraising reports that are due by midnight Thursday.

The multimillion-dollar donations provide the best evidence of what’s at stake, and how Proposition 50 could determine control of the House during the final two years of Trump’s presidency. If the Democrats take control of the House, not only could that derail major parts of Trumps agenda, it probably would lead to a slew of congressional hearings on Trump’s immigration crackdown, use of the military in American cities, accepting a $400-million luxury airliner from Qatari’s royal family, the cutting of research funding to universities and the president’s ties to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, among many others.

The House Majority PAC — the Democrats’ congressional fundraising arm — has donated at least $15 million to the pro-Proposition 50 campaign, and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) was in Los Angeles to campaign for the ballot measure last weekend. Obama joined Newsom on a livestream promoting the proposition Wednesday, and Democratic National Committee Chairman Ken Martin hosted a bilingual phone bank in Los Angeles on Thursday.

“Make no mistake about what they’re trying to do and why it’s so important that we fight back,” Martin said. “We’re not going to be the only party with one hand tied behind our back. If they want a showdown, we’re going to give them a showdown and in just a little under two weeks it starts right here with Prop. 50 in California.”

Billionaire financier George Soros — a generous donor to liberal causes and a bogeyman to Republicans — has contributed $10 million. Others have chosen to fund separate entities campaigning in favor of Proposition 50, notably billionaire hedge-fund founder Tom Steyer, who chipped in $12 million.

On the opposition side, the largest donor is Charles Munger Jr., the son of the longtime investment partner of billionaire Warren Buffett, who has contributed $32.8 million to one of the two main committees opposing Proposition 50. The Congressional Leadership Fund — the GOP’s political arm in the House — has donated $5 million to the other main anti-Proposition 50 committee and $8 million to the California Republican Party.

Although Republicans may control the White House and Congress, the California GOP wields no real power in Sacramento, so it’s not surprising that Republican efforts opposing Proposition 50 have not received major donations from entities with business before the state.

The California Chamber of Commerce opted to remain neutral on Proposition 50. Chevron and the California Resources Corp., petroleum companies that have given to California Republicans in the past, also remain on the sidelines.

In contrast, Democrats control every statewide office and hold supermajorities in both houses of the California Legislature. The pro-Proposition 50 campaign has been showered with donations from groups aligned with Sacramento’s legislative leaders — with labor organizations chief among them.

Among the labor donors, the powerful carpenters unions have donated at least $4 million. Newsom hailed them in July when he signed legislation altering a landmark environmental law for urban apartment developments to boost the supply of housing. The California Conference of Carpenters union has become one of the most pro-housing voices in the state.

“This is the third of the last four years we’ve been together signing landmark housing reforms, and it simply would not have happened without the Carpenters,” Newsom said at the time.

Daniel M. Curtin, director of the California Conference of Carpenters, pointed to a letter he wrote to legislators in August urging them to put redistricting on the ballot because of the effect of Trump’s policies on the state’s workers.

“These are not normal times, and this isn’t politics as usual. Not only has the Trump administration denied disaster assistance to victims of California’s devastating forest fires, he’s damaging our CA economy with mass arrests of law-abiding workers without warrants,” wrote Curtin, whose union has 70,000 members in the state. “The Trump administration is now unilaterally withdrawing from legally binding union collective bargaining agreements with federal workforce unions. The President has made it clear that this is just the beginning.”

Proposition 50 was prompted by Trump urging Republican leaders in Texas to redraw their congressional districts to boost the number of GOP members in the House and keep the party in control after the 2026 election. Newsom sought to counter the move by altering California’s congressional boundaries in a rare mid-decade redistricting.

With 52 members in the House, the state has the largest congressional delegation in the nation. But unlike many states, California’s districts are drawn by an independent commission created by voters in 2010 in an effort to end partisan gerrymandering and incumbent protection.

The state’s districts would not have been redrawn until after the 2030 U.S. census, but the Legislature and Newsom agreed in August to put Proposition 50, which would give Democrats the potential to pick up five seats, on the November ballot.

Money from California unions pours in

Although much of the money supporting the efforts comes from wealth Democratic donors and partisan groups aimed at helping Democrats take control of Congress, a significant portion comes from labor unions.

The Service Employees International Union, which represents more than 700,000 healthcare workers, social workers, in-home caregivers and school employees and other state and local government workers, has contributed more than $5.5 million to the committee.

On Oct. 12, the union celebrated Newsom signing bills ensuring that workers, regardless of immigration status, are informed about their civil and labor rights under state and federal law as well as updating legal guidance to state and local agencies about protecting private information, such as court records and medical data, from being misused by federal authorities.

“Thank you to Governor Newsom for … standing up to federal overreach and indiscriminate, violent attacks on our communities,” David Huerta, president of SEIU California, said in a statement.

Huerta was arrested during the first day of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids in Los Angeles in June and charged with a felony. But federal prosecutors are instead pursuing a misdemeanor case against him, according to a Friday court filing.

An SEIU representative did not respond to requests for comment.

The California Teachers Assn., another potent force in state politics, has contributed more than $3.3 million, along with millions more from other education unions such as the National Education Assn., the California Federation of Teachers and the American Federation of Teachers.

CTA had a mixed record in this year’s legislative session.

Newsom vetoed a bill to crack down on charter school fraud, Senate Bill 414. The CTA opposed the bill, arguing that it didn’t go far enough to target fraud in some of the schools, and had urged the governor to reject it.

Newsom signed CTA-backed bills that placed strict limits on ICE agents’ access to school grounds. But he also vetoed union-backed bill that would have required the state Board of Education to adopt health education instructional materials by July 1, 2028.

CTA President David Goldberg said their donations are driven not only by issues important to the union’s members, but also the students they serve who are dependent on federally funded assistance programs and impacted by policies such as immigration.

“It’s about our livelihood but it really is about fundamental issues … for people who serve students who are just incredibly under attack right now,” Goldberg said.

“The governor’s support for labor would be exactly the same with or without Proposition 50 on the ballot. But he would acknowledge this year is more urgent than ever for labor and working people,” said Newsom spokesperson Bob Salladay. “Trump is taking a wrecking ball to collective bargaining, to fair wages and safe working conditions. He would be backing them up under any circumstances, but especially now.”

Critics of Proposition 50 argue that these contributions are among the reasons voters should oppose the ballot measure.

“The independent redistricting commission exists to prevent conflicts of interest and money from influencing line drawing,” said Amy Thoma, a spokesperson for the Voters First Coalition, the committee backed by Munger Jr., who bankrolled the 2010 ballot measure to create the independent commission. “That’s why we want to preserve its independence.”

Other labor leaders argued that although they are not always in lockstep with Newsom, they need to support Proposition 50 because of the importance of Democrats winning the congressional majority next year.

Lorena Gonzalez, the head of the powerful California Labor Federation, said the timing of the member unions’ donations of millions of dollars to Newsom’s ballot measure committee for an election taking place shortly after the bill-signing period was “unfortunate” and “weird.”

“Because we have so many bills in front of him, we were gun-shy,” she said, noting that the federation has sparred with the governor over issues such as the effect of artificial intelligence in the workplace. “Never be too close to your elected officials. Because we see the good, the bad, the ugly.”

Times staff writers Andrea Flores and Brittny Mejia contributed to this report.

RYANAIR has launched its winter 2025 schedule for a popular Spanish destination – and it means more flights from the UK.

The budget airline has announced its winter schedule for Alicante, with 79 routes in total including 10 new destinations.

Alicante is known for having pretty beaches with clear waters and a famous nightlife scene.

And new flights to Alicante will include from Cardiff in Wales as well as Aberdeen in Scotland.

Three flights a week will operate from each airport to Alicante.

And extra flights will be added from Edinburgh to Scotland, a route already in place.

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As a result of the additions, Ryanair‘s winter capacity in Alicante will rise by 12 per cent.

However, the additions come as Ryanair has scrapped around two million seats to Spain in the past months.

Last month, the airline said that they would be cancelling all of their flights to Tenerife North, Vigo and Santiago.

Ryanair currently has two aircraft based at Santiago de Compostela and when Sun Travel looked at Ryanair’s booking platform, it found that the last flight to the destination before operations cease, departs on March 27, 2026.

For Tenerife North, no flights appear on the booking platform and all Ryanair flights to Vigo will stop in January 2026.

Both of the airline’s bases at Valladolid and Jerez will remain closed as well.

Just last week O’Leary also confirmed that a further 1.2million seats would be axed to Spain next summer, yet the airports that will be impacted have not been revealed yet.

The flurry of cancellations come as the airline disagrees with current airport tariffs in Spain.

AENA, which owns and operates 46 airports across Spain, recently announced that airport charges would increase by 6.5 per cent at the start of 2026, marking the highest rise in a decade.

The charges are for airlines’ use of airports and services at them, such as using terminals, runways, security and baggage handling.

Last week, O’Leary said: “AENA and its major shareholder, the Spanish Govt, continue to harm regional traffic growth, tourism and jobs in Spain through high airport fees and unjustified price increases.

“AENA should be lowering airport fees at underused Regional airports, but instead they plan to increase them by seven per cent, the highest fee increase for over a decade.

“The Spanish Govt has failed to stimulate Regional tourism and jobs, as it continues to protect the Aena Monopoly’s high fee operations.

“We regret that these fee increases make Regional Spanish airports uncompetitive, and this is why Ryanair is switching 1.2m more seats away from Regional airports in Spain in S2026, to some of Spain’s bigger airports, but mainly to lower-cost competitor airports in Italy, Morocco, Croatia, Sweden, and Hungary.”

It is believed that AENA is implementing the increased tariffs to fund investments in its airports.

This includes Malaga Airport, which is set to undergo a £1.3billion multi-year expansion project which will include making the terminals larger and security more efficient.

Barcelona Airport is also due to get a major upgrade.

If plans are approved, AENA will invest £2.8billion into expanding the airport, with the operator hoping to reach a runway capacity of 90 flights per hour.

Both projects form part of the DORA III plan – a £11.3billion investment plan for the next five years.

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MILLIONS of pensioners will be hit with £300 tax bills from HMRC this winter.

From November, around nine million pensioners will begin to see up to £300 land in their bank accounts.

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The cash boost comes as part of the Winter Fuel Payment, which is a benefit issued by the DWP to help elderly people with fuel costs over the colder months.

It comes after a previous £300 payment was axed for millions of pensioners last winter and only those on certain benefits qualified.

The move triggered a massive backlash for Labour as some 10million pensioners lost their winter fuel allowance in the benefit cut.

It saved the Treasury just £1.4billion but caused a massive public outcry.

The government later cracked under pressure and was forced to perform a half baked U-turn.

Most pensioners are now eligible for the support, which is worth between £100 and £300.

However, if your income is more than £35,000, HMRC will take the money back.

Your income can come from a range of factors including your private pension and state benefits.

If you fall into this earnings category, you can opt out of payments.

But the deadline to do so ended on September 15.

What happens now?

If you did not opt out, HMRC will change your tax code and you will receive a tax code notice letter.

Changing your tax code means that your Winter Fuel Payment will be deducted from your income and paid to HMRC in monthly instalments.

So for example, if you received a £100 Winter Fuel Payment but had an income of £35,000, you will pay back around £9 every month.

You will be charged from April 2026, which is the start of the new tax year.

Households can check if they are over the income thresholds by visiting www.tax.service.gov.uk/guidance/check-if-hmrc-will-take-back-your-winter-payment/start/country.

How to opt out of future charges

The deadline for opting out of the Winter Fuel Payment for 2025 to 2026 has passed. 

But you can opt out of getting the benefit for 2026 to 2027 from April 2026.

When it reopens, you will need to complete either an online form or phone the helpline on 0800 731 0160.

If you opt to complete the form online, you will need details such as your National Insurance number.

Who is not eligible for the payment?

You can get a Winter Fuel Payment if you were born before September 22 1959 and live in England or Wales.

But a small group of individuals will not be eligible, including:

• live outside England and Wales
• were in hospital getting free treatment for the whole of the week of 15 to 21 September 2025 and the year before that
• need permission to enter the UK and your granted leave says that you cannot claim public funds
• were in prison for the whole of the week of 15 to 21 September 2025

Most people are paid the benefit automatically but if you think you are risk of missing out you can apply.

NOTHING brings the country together like football.

But there are some people who have more than a little insight into the game and the hype surrounding it – the WAGs.

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Belinda Coleman was also once one of them, having a front row seat to all the money, the pleasures – and pitfalls – of life as a Premier League wife.

She was the spouse of the Welsh football coach Chris Coleman – but in 2011, their 19-year relationship came to a bitter end following cheating accusations.

The divorce ended in Chris, now 55, giving Belinda just two months to leave the two bedroom flat she shared with their four kids, Sonny, Christy, Faraday and Georgie – all whilst he planned his marriage to blonde TV presenter Charlotte Jackson.

Belinda previously lifted the lid on how their dream marriage turned into a nightmare – and how his flings led to their split after 19 years together.

Belinda then said. “He’s an adulterer and I just became bored of his indiscretions.

“His affairs were into double figures. And I’d even confronted three or four of the women. I never ranted at them. I just told them they weren’t the first and they wouldn’t be the last.

“And I told him if he wanted to be with them, he should just walk out and leave us alone to get on with our lives.”

Now, over a decade later, Belinda has revealed what life is like when your millionaire marriage ends, the money disappears, and you go from the A-list lifestyle to having the bailiffs at your door.

By 1991, when she met Chris, then a player with Crystal Palace, Belinda owned a flat of her own and was managing a hotel health club.

“I’d been invited to a match by a player who’d come to the health club for physiotherapy. The first time I spoke to Chris in the lounge after the match it was so natural. I had no idea this man would change my life forever,” Belinda told The Telegraph.

Just six months later the pair tied the knot – and according to Belinda, it felt like a fairy tale.

As Chris’ career began to climb, they went from a two-bedroom rental to purchasing a small house before Chris moved to Blackburn – ”and suddenly, there was so much money”, Belinda said.

There were luxurious holidays, shopping sprees galore and private school education for their four kids.

“I decorated our lovely home in the country, called the Old Stables, with all the top-of-the-range equipment I could find.”

But with so much money coming in, there was no planning for their financial future – something Belinda looks back at now and cringes at how ”financially irresponsible” the two were.

Meet the WAGS of the England footballers

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Katie Goodland (Harry Kane’s wife)

The fitness instructor has been married to the England captain since 2019 and joined him in Germany with their four children after he joined Bayern Munich.

Laura Celia Valk (Jude Bellingham’s girlfriend)

The stunning Dutch model, 25, has more than half a million Instagram followers and is said to be absolutely smitten with the Real Madrid star.

Rebecca Cooke (Phil Foden’s girlfriend)

Foden’s childhood sweetheart and the mother of his two kids tends to keep out of the spotlight, but is a regular at England games.

Dani Dyer (Jarrod Bowen’s girlfriend)

England’s most famous Wag, former Love Island winner and daughter of Eastenders’ Danny Dyer.

Iris Law (Trent Alexander-Arnold’s girlfriend)

Dani Dyer isn’t the only actor’s daughter dating an England star. Iris’ dad is Hollywood legend Jude Law.

Megan Davison (Jordan Pickford’s wife)

Megan has been with Pickford since he was 14 years old. The couple married in 2022 and have one son.

Olivia Naylor (John Stones’ girlfriend)

The 33-year-old former beautician has stepped back from her role after giving birth to a baby son.

Read more about the Wags supporting England at Euro 2024 here

“I couldn’t be sensible about it because I couldn’t bear to think about it. There was a lot of guilt at having money when people I loved didn’t, so spending it as quickly as I could on myself and others seemed to make sense.”

Of course, there was also the pressure to look the part, which came with a hefty price tag – the scrutiny of Premier League wives and girlfriends was intense.

There were amazing times together, she explained – the fun of supporting their men at their games, the lavish getaways abroad, the luxurious parties and the fun of watching their children grow together.

But the lifestyle also came with lots of troubles to share, such as woman ”falling over” their husbands, which ”took a huge psychological and emotional toll” on Belinda.

As rumours of Chris’s infidelity became louder, with headlines everywhere, the trust between the couple crumbled.

While Belinda was trying her best to pretend everything was okay for the sake of her children, it was just a mask – and in reality, she was losing her mind.

It eventually led the mother-of-four to do things that she wasn’t proud of, including hiring a private detective and hiding a tracker in Chris’s car – something, she now thinks, created ”suffering”.

As for why the separation and then divorce meant swapping a millionaire pad for a two-bed flat, Belinda is frank.

“Despite once having millions, the money had run out. It was my fault too, of course, but suddenly I was facing financial ruin.”

Bailiffs knocking on door

But the worst was yet to come.

One day, Belinda, now 60, heard loud banging at the door – it was two men who turned out to be bailiffs.

Paralysed with fear, she didn’t dare to move, and when the two finally left, she collapsed.

Following their visit, Belinda’s car was repossessed, and then an eviction notice arrived.

Eventually managing to find a private rental she could just about afford, this was the first of 11 forced moves in ten years for Belinda and the children, Sonny, now 32, Christy 30, Faraday, 27, and Georgie, 25.

While she did eventually receive spousal and child maintenance, the money was nothing compared to her previous lavish lifestyle and Belinda felt as if she ”was depriving the children of the life they’d become accustomed to”.

On one occasion, she remembers, her card was declined at the supermarket checkout, despite calculating everything in the trolley to the penny.

Now raising four kids as a single mum, Belinda took whatever jobs she could fit around their schedule, working nights, weekends and 12-hour shifts.

“I packed boxes for a removal company, worked in a call centre and cleaned. One day in 2016, a year after our divorce was finalised, I drove through the wrought-iron gates of the Old Stables. I was there to clean the house we’d once owned.

Standing in the beautiful home, the memories of the happy times came flooding back and Belinda realised just how much her life had changed.

But she refused to feel sorry for herself. Instead, she appreciated being alive and having four wonderful kids, friends and family who loved her.

Then in 2019, during yet another forced house move, she was packing a book – and things in her life were about to change.

The sentence read: ”Sometimes the universe is just waiting for you to say yes.’’

For Belinda, it was a sign – a sign that if she truly wanted something different in her life, she needed to do something different.

This was the start of Belinda’s journey with manifestation, journaling, meditating, visualisation and expressing gratitude daily that turned her life around – as did winning a legal case.

On a whim one day, the mum-of-four wrote herself a cheque for the amount she believed was achievable from an ongoing legal dispute, placing it beside her bed and acknowledging it every day.

In the end, she ended up winning that case against the odds, and the money meant she could finally achieve the dream of owning her very own home.

”The house I bought was listed for exactly the amount I’d written on the cheque.”

Now a qualified motivational coach and NLP (neuro-linguistic processing therapy) practitioner, Belinda has written a book about her journey.

Wag to Warrior, Every Woman’s Roadmap to Overcoming Life’s Challenges and Rewriting Her Story is a book that Belinda hopes will help other women who are struggling, including other WAGs.

More than four years after the family of deceased Angels pitcher Tyler Skaggs filed a wrongful death suit against the Angels, jury selection will begin Monday in Orange County Superior Court.

Skaggs’ widow Carli Skaggs and parents Debra Hetman and Darrell Skaggs stated in a court filing that they seek at least $210 million in lost earnings and damages. A lawyer for the Angels said in a pretrial hearing that the plaintiffs now seek a judgment of $1 billion, although the lead attorney representing the family said the number is an exaggeration.

The trial is expected to last several weeks. Pretrial discovery included more than 50 depositions and the witness list contains nearly 80 names.

Lawyers for the Skaggs family aim to establish that the Angels were responsible for the death of the 27-year-old left-handed pitcher on July 1, 2019, after he snorted crushed pills that contained fentanyl in a hotel room during a team road trip in Texas.

An autopsy concluded Skaggs accidentally died of asphyxia after aspirating his own vomit while under the influence of fentanyl, oxycodone and alcohol.

Angels communications director Eric Kay provided Skaggs with counterfeit oxycodone pills that turned out to be laced with fentanyl and is serving 22 years in federal prison for his role in the death. Skaggs’ lawyers will try to prove that other Angels employees knew Kay was providing opioids to Skaggs.

“The Angels owed Tyler Skaggs a duty to provide a safe place to work and play baseball,” the lawsuit said. “The Angels breached their duty when they allowed Kay, a drug addict, complete access to Tyler. The Angels also breached their duty when they allowed Kay to provide Tyler with dangerous illegal drugs. The Angels should have known Kay was dealing drugs to players. Tyler died as a result of the Angels’ breach of their duties.”

The Skaggs family planned to call numerous current and former Angels players as witnesses, including future Hall of Famers Mike Trout and Albert Pujols as well as pitcher Andrew Heaney — Skaggs’ best friend on the team — in an attempt to show that Skaggs was a fully functioning major league pitcher and not an addict.

Pretrial filings and hearings indicated that the Angels were attempting to show that Skaggs was a longtime drug user who acquired pills from sources other than Kay. Skaggs’ mother, Debbie Hetman, testified during Kay’s 2022 criminal trial that her son admitted he had an “issue” with oxycodone as far back as 2013.

Hetman said her son quit “cold turkey” but she testified the addiction remained enough of a concern that Skaggs wasn’t prescribed opioids after undergoing Tommy John surgery in August 2014.

Judge H. Shaina Colover dashed a key Angels defense strategy when she ruled that Kay’s criminal conviction could not be disputed during the civil trial. Angels attorney Todd Theodora contended that new evidence indicated Skaggs died of a “cardiac arrhythmia, second to the fact that Tyler had 10 to 15 drinks in him, coupled with the oxycodone, for which Angels baseball is not responsible.”

Theodora said that if the Angels could prove Kay was not guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, neither Kay nor the team would be culpable in Skaggs’ death. Colover, however, ruled that Kay’s “conviction, based on applicable law and facts, was final.” Kay’s appeal was denied in federal court in November 2023.

Pretrial depositions of Angels players and support personnel provided a rare glimpse into the rowdy, often profane culture of a major league clubhouse.

Angels clubhouse attendants testified that Kay participated in stunts such as purposely taking an 85-mph fastball off his knee in the batting cage, having a pitcher throw a football at his face from short range, eating a bug and eating pimples off the back of Trout.

Tim Mead, the Angels longtime vice president of communication and Kay’s supervisor, acknowledged as much in his deposition, saying, “If you try to describe a clubhouse or a locker room in professional sports, or even college, and probably even the military in terms, and try to equate it to how we see — how this law firm is run or a corporation is run, you know, unfortunately, there’s not lot of comparison…. There’s a lot of fun, there’s a lot of release.”

And a lot of painkillers. Former Angels players Matt Harvey, C.J. Cron, Mike Morin and Cam Bedrosian testified at Kay’s trial that he distributed blue 30 milligram oxycodone pills to them at Angel Stadium. Skaggs, testimony revealed, was a particularly frequent customer.

Testimony established that Kay was also a longtime user of oxycodone and that the Angels knew it. In a filing, the Skaggs family showed evidence that Angels team physician Craig Milhouse prescribed Kay Hydrocodone 15 times from 2009 to 2012. The Skaggs family also plans to call Trout, who according to the deposition of former Angels clubhouse attendant Kris Constanti, offered to pay for Kay’s drug rehabilitation in 2018.

Skaggs was a top prospect coming out of Santa Monica High in 2009, and the Angels made him their first-round draft pick. He was traded to the Arizona Diamondbacks a year later and made his major league debut with them in 2012.

Traded back to the Angels in 2014, Skaggs made the starting rotation, where he remained when not battling injuries until his death. His numbers were rather ordinary, a 28-38 win-loss record with a 4.41 earned-run average in 96 career starts, but his lawyers pointed to his youth and the escalating salaries given to starting pitchers in asking for a jury award of at least $210 million and as much as $785 million.

Skaggs earned $9.2 million — including $3.7 million in 2019 — and would have become a free agent after the 2020 season. Effective starting pitchers at a similar age and comparable performance can command multi-year contracts of $100 million or more.

Skaggs’ death prompted MLB to begin testing for opioids and cocaine in 2020, but only players who do not cooperate with their treatment plans are subject to discipline. Marijuana was removed from the list of drugs of abuse and is treated the same as alcohol.

MLB emergency medical procedures now require that naloxone be stored in clubhouses, weight rooms, dugouts and umpire dressing rooms at all ballparks. Naloxone, also known by the brand name Narcan, is an antidote for opioid poisoning.

A delegation from Kyiv was in Washington this week to work out the details of what could be a huge deal to sell the U.S. tens of millions of drones. After nearly four years of brutal all-out war with Russia, Ukraine is a world leader in some types of uncrewed weapons technology, and there is increasing demand for these systems. 

The potential deal has the support of both U.S. President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Ukrainian military officials said they presented U.S. counterparts with the latest developments in their drone tech as well as proposals for “specific models, their effectiveness and conditions of use,” according to the Ukrainian Defense Ministry. 

The MoD did not provide details about exactly what kinds of systems were discussed. We’ve reached out to the Pentagon and Ukrainian officials for more information.

“The American team noted Ukraine’s expertise in developing the drone industry – the production of not only UAVs, but also sea drones and ground robotic complexes,” the MoD explained. “The negotiations of the technical teams became a preparatory stage for the signing of the Drone Deal agreement,” previously announced by Zelensky.

Ukraine is “working on the issue of exports – controlled exports of our weapons, some types that we have in surplus, which can really give Ukraine additional finances for the production of scarce items that are so needed on the front now, and those that have shown themselves best in strikes deep into Russian territory,” Zelensky said in his evening message on Wednesday. “There are already agreements on four export platforms: the United States of America, Europe, the Middle East, and also Africa. We will prepare the appropriate agreements.”

Zelensky had previously said Kyiv had proposed a five-year, $50 billion framework “that would involve producing up to 10 million drones annually, with the program not expected to take effect until the war with Russia ends,” the Kyiv Post noted. It is unclear if the drone deal is part of an exchange for weapons from the U.S. or another type of compensation deal.

We have reached out to the White House for comment.

The U.S. military is already testing out Ukrainian long-range attack drones that Kyiv has used to great effect in attacks on Russian oil and gas infrastructure. You can see one of those attacks in the video below.

As we have frequently reported, Ukraine has developed weapons like Baba Yaga bomber drones, many types of first-person view (FPV) drones, Magura uncrewed surface vessels (USVs) with a wide range of capabilities and several models of ground drones. Just as importantly, Ukraine has also developed the tactics and techniques to use these weapons in an evolving changing battlespace. This includes incorporating emerging artificial intelligence capabilities into some of its drone systems.

You can see a Magura V7 USV, armed with a pair of AIM-9 Sidewinder infrared-guided air-to-air missiles, shoot down a Russian Su-30 Flanker fighter flying over the Black Sea in the following video.

Some of this could be of great value to the U.S., which makes more exquisite, complex and expensive drones, but in numbers that pale in comparison to what Ukraine produces. America is very far behind in its development and use of some drones types at scale and this deal could help change that. However, it also benefits Kyiv in several ways, a top Ukrainian defense official told us.

“I truly believe we can support this, because it is a win-win for both nations,” Andriy Hyrtseniuk, the new head of Ukraine’s Brave1 defense tech incubator, told The War Zone in an exclusive interview in August. “This is a very good deal that needs to be concluded with the best conditions for both sides.”

Hyrtsenuik said not only does he have confidence that Ukraine has the capacity to supply the U.S. with drones, but such a deal would have major benefits for Kyiv beyond a massive infusion of funds.

“Joint ventures between the companies and teams from both parties will allow us to create even more effective and better solutions,” he noted.

The parameters of this deal are being worked out as Trump has seemingly changed his stance toward Russia after failing to secure a pathway to peace, moving strongly in favor of Ukraine’s point of view. Following his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska last month, Trump seemed far more amenable to Moscow’s point of view. However, the American leader’s messaging appears to be moving strongly in favor of Kyiv, calling Russia a “paper tiger.”

As we noted last week, Trump’s change of heart could result in massive policy shifts. Yesterday, reports emerged indicating the U.S. has agreed to provide Ukraine with targeting intelligence for the aforementioned long-range strikes against Russian energy infrastructure. These attacks are depriving Russia of critical resources to fight Ukraine and raise revenue. You can read more about that in the story we published today here.

The Trump administration will provide Ukraine with intelligence for long-range missile strikes on Russia’s energy infrastructure https://t.co/OvFWtNimXY

— The Wall Street Journal (@WSJ) October 1, 2025

In addition to talking about the drone deal, Ukrainian officials also discussed the Prioritized Ukraine Requirements List (PURL) initiative. Created by the U.S. and NATO in August, PURL sells U.S. weaponry to NATO, which then provides it to Ukraine.

“Six NATO member states have already funded four defense support packages for Ukraine totaling more than $2 billion,” under PURL, Zelensky’s office said.

Deliveries of the first two packages began in mid-September. In addition, the United States has already finalized with Canada and Germany the composition of the third and fourth packages.

“The initiative is working, providing very active assistance – it is precisely the mechanism that allows us to purchase American weapons with funding from our NATO partners,” Zelensky said. “These include items such as missiles for Patriots and missiles for HIMARS.”

It will take several months for the drone deal to be finalized, if it comes together at all. Given that it all depends on the war ending, it may be years to kick off, even if a deal is worked out.

Regardless of whether this sees the light of day, the drone deal being discussed is a major sign of how far ahead Ukraine is from the rest of the world when it comes to uncrewed weapons. It also highlights how the U.S. has a long way to go to ramp up its production of drones, something we have discussed at length. Leveraging Ukrainian production and expertise, as well as battle-tested tactics and systems, could give the U.S. a jump start on certain drone capabilities, especially on the lower-end of the capability spectrum.

Contact the author: [email protected]

MILLIONS of Brits who pop pills for heartburn could be at greater risk of a deadly tummy bug, experts warn.

The drugs, called proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) and handed out by GPs and bought over the counter to tackle heartburn and indigestion.

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The latest NHS figures show more than 73 million prescriptions were dished out in England in 2022/23 alone, making them some of the most prescribed drugs in England.

The pills work by reducing the amount of acid in the stomach, easing the burning pain that comes with acid reflux.

And although generally considered safe PPIs, which include omeprazole, lansoprazole and pantoprazole, are not without risks.

Experts have long warned the drugs can increase the chances of Clostridioides difficile, otherwise known as C. diff, a nasty bug that causes severe diarrhoea and can sometimes be fatal.

Last year, the UK saw a spike in cases of the nasty bacteria.

From February 2024 to January 2025, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) received 19,239 reports of C. diff sufferers. The higest number of cases since 2011/12.

A new study, published in The Journal of Infection in May of this year, checked for the first time if taking higher doses of the pills makes the risk even worse.

Pharmacist Deborah Grayson, dubbed the “godmother of pharmacology” on TikTok, also sounded the alarm in a viral video.

She said: “It can be helpful to have omeprazole if you’ve got gastritis or erosion in your oesophagus, but if you’ve only got simple heartburn-related problems, longer term it can have greater impacts on the body.”

While reflux is uncomfortable, stomach acid is essential for digestion.

It activates pepsin, an enzyme that breaks down proteins in the gut, and helps soften food. 

It also protects against harmful microbes in food. 

“Reduced stomach acid can also compromise the gut’s natural defense barrier, increased susceptibility to infections such as C. diff, campylobacter and small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO),” Deborah added. 

“These can cause further gastrointestinal symptoms and, in some cases, serious complications.”

But researchers behind the new review said that while PPIs are linked to a higher risk of C. diff overall, there was no strong evidence that taking bigger doses raised the danger further.

The team from Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, Sweden, carried out what’s called a “dose-response meta-analysis”, pooling results from previous trials and studies to see if higher amounts of the drug meant higher risk.

The study confirmed the pills are linked to a higher risk of C. diff, but found no clear proof that bigger doses make things worse.

The experts say it’s still a wake-up call to stop overprescribing and keep patients under review.

Patients should never suddenly stop taking PPIs without medical advice, as this can make acid reflux worse.

Anyone worried about their prescription should speak to their GP.

Supporters of the November ballot measure to reconfigure California’s congressional districts — an effort led by Gov. Gavin Newsom to help Democrats win control of the U.S. House of Representatives next year — have far out-raised the opposition campaigns, according to fundraising disclosures filed with the state.

The primary group backing Proposition 50 raked in $77.5 million and spent $28.1 million through Sept. 20, according to a campaign finance report that was filed with the secretary of state’s office on Thursday.

The committee has $54.4 million in the bank for the final weeks of the campaign, so Californian should expect a blizzard of television ads, mailers, phone calls and other efforts to sway voters before the Nov. 4 special election.

The two main groups opposing the ballot measure have raised $35.3 million, spent $27.4 million and have roughly $8.8 million in the bank combined, campaign finance reports show.

Despite having an overwhelming financial advantage, the campaign supporting Proposition 50 has tried to portray itself as the underdog in a fight to raise money against opposition campaigns with ties to President Trump and his supporters.

“MAGA donors keep pouring millions into the campaign to stop Prop. 50 in the hopes of pleasing their ‘Dear Leader,’” said Hannah Milgrom, a spokesperson for the Yes on 50, the Election Rigging Response Act campaign. “We will not take our foot off the gas — Prop. 50 is America’s best chance to stop this reckless and dangerous president, and we will keep doing everything we can to ensure every Californian knows the stakes and is ready to vote yes on 50 this Nov. 4th.”

A spokesperson for one of the anti-Proposition 50 campaigns, which was sending mailers to voters even before the Democratic-led California Legislature placed Proposition 50 on the November ballot, said their priority was to help Californians understand the inappropriateness of redrawing congressional boundaries that had been created by a voter-approved, state independent commission.

“We started communicating with voters early about the consequences of having politicians draw their own lines,” said Amy Thoma, a spokesperson for a coalition that opposes the ballot measure. “We are confident we’ll have the resources necessary to continue through election day.”

A spokesperson for the other main anti-Proposition 50 group agreed.

“When you’re selling a lemon, no amount of cash can change the taste. We’re confident in raising more than sufficient resources to expose Prop. 50 for the blatant political power grab that it is,” said Ellie Hockenbury, an advisor to the No on 50 – Stop Sacramento’s Power Grab campaign. Newsom “can’t change the fact that Prop. 50 is nothing more than a ploy for politicians to take the power of redistricting away from the voters and charge them for the privilege at a massive cost to taxpayers.”

The special election is expected to cost the state and the counties $282 million, according to the secretary of state’s office and the state department of finance.

If approved, Proposition 50 would have a major impact on California’s 2026 congressional elections, which will play a major role in determining whether Trump is able to continue enacting his agenda in the final two years of his tenure. The party that wins the White House frequently loses congressional seats two years later, and Republicans hold a razor-thin majority in the House.

After Trump urged GOP-led states, notably Texas, to redraw their congressional districts to increase the number of Republicans elected to Congress in next year’s midterm election, Newsom and other California Democrats responded by proposing a counter-effort to boost the ranks of their party in the legislative body.

California’s congressional districts are drawn once every decade after the U.S. Census by a voter-approved independent redistricting commission. So Democrats’ proposal to replace the districts with new boundaries proposed by state lawmakers must be approved by voters. The state Legislature voted in August to put the measure before voters in a special election on Nov. 4.

Polling about the proposition is not definitive. It’s an off-year election, which means turnout is likely to be low and the electorate is unpredictable. And relatively few Californians pay attention to redistricting, the esoteric process of redrawing congressional districts.

There are more than 30 campaign committees associated with Proposition 50 registered with the secretary of state’s office, but only three have raised large amounts of money.

Newsom’s pro-Proposition 50 effort has received several large donations since its launch, including $10 million from billionaire financier George Soros, $7.6 million from House Majority PAC (the Democrats’ congressional political arm) and $4.5 million from various Service Employees International Union groups. Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt and his wife have contributed $1 million to a separate committee supporting the proposition.

The opposition groups had few small-dollar donors and were largely funded by two sources — $30 million in loans from Charles Munger Jr., who for years has been a major Republican donor in California, and a $5-million donation from the Congressional Leadership Fund, the GOP political arm of House Republicans.

AN ICONIC Norwegian-style house featured in a TV show watched by millions – but do you recognise it?

Nestled in the picture postcard landscape of the Wye Valley in Hertfordshire, the wooden home appeared in a hit Netflix series.

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The Edwardian building features in Netflix’s high school comedy drama, Sex Education, which first aired in 2019.

It features prominently throughout the series and fans may have recognised it as the home of high schooler Otis Milburn and his mum Jean, played by Gillian Anderson.

The Scandinavian inspired property has room for 10 people and is located near the Forest of Dean with cycle trails and a river nearby for canoeing and fishing.

Fans will recognise certain rooms in the house from many of the scenes between Otis and Jean.

Built in 1912, it was initially used as a fishing lodge and also featured in Extraordinary Escapes on Channel 4.

With five bedrooms over three floors, the property has breathtaking panoramic views of the valley.

And the main bedroom can be found at the top of the house, spanning the entire floor.

As you approach the Norwegian-inspired home, you are immediately struck by it’s distinctive exterior.

It’s comprised of red wooden slats and white detailing amidst the expansive greenery on the slopes overlooking the River Wye.

It has a winding drive lined with trees leading up to a garage.

Viewers had the chance to own it in 2023 where it hit the market for an eye-watering £1.5 million.

It was renovated in 2002 that saw the conservatory dining room extended and a bespoke painted wood kitchen installed alongside a contemporary bathroom and shower rooms.

It was done in such a way that it blends effortlessly into the rest of the house.

Move outside and you’ll notice it’s beautiful gardens where there are steps that lead straight down to the river.

It also has a decked balcony where a Swedish hot back and stone pizza oven can be used as you take in the spectacular views.

The property’s 4.5 acres of land includes two greenhouses, a stone and tile outbuilding and an orchard.

It’s currently a private residence but fans used to be able to rent the whole house for £75 per person a night – but you can still admire its beauty from afar.

Other properties

There’s also this very famous house from an iconic 90s kids TV show that’s just hit the market for £1.1 million.

The property is located next to an breathtaking ocean view and was regularly featured in the Australian comedy drama.

And this breathtaking beachfront house featured in a beloved BBC drama

The stunning waterfront property on the Scottish west coast has picture postcard views of Loch Long and the Firth of Clyde.

Millions of Brits also grew up watching this iconic house on another beloved kids TV show.

If you need a clue, the character of Miss Hoolie lived in the property in the BBC series.

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The budget airline has issued a warning to all passengers travelling to the EU from October 12, as the new Entry/Exit System will replace manual passport stamping with an automated process

EasyJet has sounded the alarm over a series of “important changes” to border controls for Brits heading to the EU from next month.

The budget airline is warning passengers that from October 12 the fresh Entry/Exit System (EES) will swap manual passport stamping for an automated system that gathers biometric information.

This means your face will be photographed and fingerprints taken to help handle travellers “more efficiently,” the low-cost carrier explained, no matter which airline you’re flying with. It continued by making clear that youngsters under 12 won’t need to undergo the fingerprinting process.

READ MORE: Brits warned of little-known post-Brexit rule to visit EU starting in two weeksREAD MORE: Where is hot in October? Best European destinations for autumn breaks with £13 flights

EasyJet’s announcement stated: “From October 12, 2025, the Entry/Exit System (EES) will replace manual passport stamping with an automated process that collects biometric data (facial photo and fingerprints) to help process travellers more efficiently. Children under 12 are exempt from fingerprinting.”

It explained: “Non-EU nationals visiting one of the 25 EU Member States or 4 Schengen Associated Countries for short stays may be affected – read the full list of participating countries. You may experience longer wait times at passport control while the system is being rolled out.”

The Foreign Office had previously issued fresh guidance for all affected Schengen nations: “New Schengen entry requirements.”

From October 12 2025, the European Union’s (EU) new Entry/Exit System (EES) will commence. When journeying into and out of the Schengen zone, for brief visits, you may be required to: “If you enter the Schengen area through the Port of Dover, Eurotunnel at Folkestone or St Pancras International, this information will be taken at the border, before you leave the UK.”

“You may also need to provide either your fingerprint or photo when you leave the Schengen area. EES may take each passenger a few extra minutes to complete so be prepared to wait longer than usual at the border once the system starts.”

READ MORE: Europe’s ‘cheapest city for beer’ where a drink costs as little as 65p

The European Commission has also previously outlined the reasoning behind the scheme, with a spokesperson explaining: “The EES is an advanced technological system that will digitally record the entries and exits of non-EU nationals travelling to 29 European countries, including Schengen Associated ones, for short stays.”

“It will capture biometric data, such as fingerprints, facial image, and other travel information, gradually replacing the current system of passport stamping. The EES will modernise and improve the management of EU external borders. It will provide reliable data on border crossings, systematically detect overstayers as well as cases of document and identity fraud.”

It continued: “The EES will thus contribute to preventing irregular migration and protecting the security of European citizens. Additionally, with the increased use of automated border checks, travelling will become smoother and safer for all. The new system meets the highest standards of data and privacy protection, ensuring that travellers’ personal data remain protected and secure.”

By the end of the six-month process for the EES scheme, it is anticipated that the rollout will be complete., reports Birmingham Live. This gradual approach is deemed crucial to allow border authorities, the transport industry, and travellers to adapt to the new procedure step by step.

MILLIONS of struggling households on Universal Credit could be missing out on discounted broadband worth up to £200.

Social tariffs are offered to those on Universal Credit and other government benefits such as Pension Credit.

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And it can help you save hundreds of pounds a year compared to the standard deals.

Not only that, but they often come with no exit fees, although you should always check the terms and conditions carefully.

It comes after fresh analysis by Policy in Practice shows that there was over 7.5million missed claims for the tariffs.

And the average household is missing out on £200 a year.

It means you can get access to broadband at a discounted price, which can help if you are struggling with other costs.

For example, 4th Utility social tariffs offers a broadband for £13.99 a month.

Meanwhile, BT offers a Home Essentials package for those on Universal Credit and the guaranteed element of Pension Credit.

And those Employment and Support Allowance, Jobseeker’s Allowance and Income Support can also apply.

You’ll need to provide some personal information when you apply, including your National Insurance Number, so we can check that you’re eligible.

Community Fibre also offers an essentials package that costs just £12.50 a month.

Meanwhile, EE also offers a £12 monthly sim deal, for those on claiming Universal Credit.

The group will ill carry out an eligibility check every 12 months to see if you still meet the criteria to get the discounted deal.

How to get the best deal

Like with any offer, it is worth shopping around to ensure you are getting the best deal.

The regulator Ofcom has a list on its website of all the firms offering social broadband and mobile phone tariffs.

The list can be found here – www.ofcom.org.uk/phones-and-broadband/saving-money/social-tariffs.

It’s worth scanning the list to find the package that best suits your needs.

You can also compare deals via comparison sites like Uswitch.

What other support can I get

If you claim Universal Credit you could be missing out on extra support, such as discounts to your council tax bill.

The support is given out by local councils in England, so how much is cut will depend on where you live, your income, dependants and other benefits.

You can find out if you’re eligible by visiting gov.uk/apply-council-tax-reduction.

Households can also get access to free school meals, and school uniform grants which can be worth up to £300.

During the winter, claiming benefits such as Universal Credit can also make you eligible for the warm home discount scheme.

This is a £150 discount on your electricity bill to help tackle rising costs during the winter.

MILLIONS of households are facing a £100 rise in their energy bills next year due to the Government’s net zero policies, according to new analysis.

Energy analysts Cornwall Insight said changes being made to push the country towards net zero will fuel a rise in energy bills for the average household.

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It predicted the changes will add more than £100 to the energy price cap in April 2026 compared with January.

The energy price cap is the maximum amount energy suppliers can charge you for each unit of energy and standing charge, and it’s updated every three months.

Cornwall Insight said bills will increase for households because of the cost of connecting new wind and solar farms, the construction of the Sizewell C nuclear power station, and upgrades to the gas networks.

It also suggested further rises will follow later because of the construction of pylon lines, underground cables and substations.

It means households are likely to be paying more for their energy at a time when inflation remains high and many are struggling with the cost of living.

The UK has legally committed to achieving net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

This means the total amount of emissions produced is equal to or less than the amount removed from the atmosphere. 

But the Government is having to balance this with extra costs to households up and down the country.

Ahead of the election, Energy Secretary Ed Miliband had pledged to cut household energy bills by £300 by 2030.

He repeated that promise again last month.

Cornwall Insight’s Dr Craig Lowrey said investing in renewables would eventually reduce bills and it was necessary in the long run.

But he said: “Rising energy bills are never welcome, and this latest view of transmission charges – although only indicative – will add yet another cost to the long list of pressures on household finances.”

The average energy bill for a dual-fuel home is currently £1,720 per year.

However the energy price cap is set to rise at the beginning of October, bringing it to £1,755.

Yet another rise is expected in January because of seasonal increases in wholesale costs.

The £100 bill increase predicted by Cornwall Insight is unrelated to the wholesale cost of gas.

The experts say it’s due to the cost of maintaining and expanding the UK’s power grid.

It said electricity network costs alone would add £30 a year, and this will rise to £50 a year by 2028.

Meanwhile green levies will add another £18, including £12 of advance payments for building Sizewell C.

Upgrading the gas network, which is partly needed to accommodate the introduction of green hydrogen, will add another £53.

Cornwall Insight said the bill increases were “not totally unexpected but highlight potential further financial pressures than households will face”.

It’s expected households will end up paying higher standing charges.

A standing charge is a fixed daily fee added to your energy bill, charged by your supplier regardless of how much energy you use.

Increasing standing charges is controversial as households aren’t able to avoid paying them.

While you could bring down your energy bills by cutting down on how much energy you use, there isn’t a way of reducing the cost of a standing charge.

This can leave struggling households forced to pay extra.

Ofgem has said households will later feel the benefit of an expanded electricity network through their bills, but this will take time.

Dr Lowrey said: “These costs are not just another item to tag onto the bill, they are essential to the long-term security and affordability of Great Britain’s energy system.

“For years, households have been at the mercy of global energy markets, with prices soaring and crashing in response to events happening thousands of miles away. It’s unpredictable, and it’s ultimately unsustainable.

“Investing in Britain’s transmission network means building a cleaner, more resilient energy system – one powered by renewables grown right here at home. Yes, it will take time. Yes, it will cost money. But every pound we invest today is a step toward a future where our energy is not only greener, but also more secure and, in time, more affordable.

“People rightly expect renewables to bring bills down, and they will. But first, we need to lay the foundations. There are a lot of costs involved in the transition, but the costs of doing nothing will be far greater.”

Help with energy bills

If you are struggling with your energy bill then there is plenty of support on offer.

For example, the Winter Fuel Allowance offers £300 to pensioners to help cover the cost of their heating during colder months.

Around 75% of pensioners are expected to receive the support this year, after Labour U-turned on the tighter eligibility criteria it announced last winter.

Struggling families can also get access to money through the Household Support Fund (HSF).

Each council in England has been allocated a share of the £742million fund and can distribute it to residents in need.

Exactly how much you can get and how the money will be paid depends on your council and situation.

Plus, thousands of households will receive the Warm Home Discount, which is worth £150.

The discount is given to households on a low-income or claiming certain benefits, such as Universal Credit.

It is not paid as cash and is instead applied as credit to your energy bill.

If you are falling behind on your energy bill then you can also get help through your energy supplier.

British Gas has announced a £140million support package to help customers facing financial hardship.

This includes free energy grants, tailored support for households and small business customers and funding for advice centres and charities.

It has also launched You Pay: We Pay, which gives households the opportunity to have their payments matched by British Gas for a period of six months.

Octopus Energy’s £30million Octo Assist fund is designed to help customers keep on top of their energy bills.

It includes free electric blankets, Winter Fuel Payments and standing charge waivers.

EDF’s Customer Support Fund gives grants and help to vulnerable customers who are struggling with energy debt.

It can support customers with electricity or gas bill debts, and provide essential white goods such as a fridge or cooker.

MILLIONS of Brits who rely solely on the state pension face having to pay income tax within the next two years.

Rises guaranteed under the triple-lock will push many dangerously close to the £12,570 tax threshold.

State pensions rise each year by the rate of either inflation, earnings growth, or 2.5 per cent — whichever is highest.

With wage growth at 4.7 per cent, the full new state pension will rise to £12,535 a year next April.

That is £35 short of the frozen income tax threshold, meaning OAPs in question are certain to be paying up by 2027.

Despite warnings, the Government has made no commitment to raising tax thresholds or making an exemption for Brits who have only the state pension.

A spokesman said: “We are committed to helping pensioners live their lives with dignity and respect, which is why millions will see their pension rise by up to £1,900 this Parliament.”

They also stated that people completely reliant on the state pension would not have to pay any income tax “this year”.

HMRC is expected to deduct tax directly through pension providers — or send pensioners a Simple Assessment tax bill that they have to work out.

Campaigners last night blasted the news, with ex-Pensions Minister Sir Steve Webb calling it a “creeping injustice” due to “drag millions more into the tax net”.

Rachel Vahey, of pensions firm AJ Bell, said it would force many older Brits to fill out their first self-assessment, and warned that present financial woes made reforms on taxes and pensions unlikely.

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THE NHS is chucking tens of millions of pounds down the drain by failing to stamp out health tourism.

At a time of sky-high taxes, it’s intolerable that money is being lavished on “free” care for foreign visitors.

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New figures show that hospitals are owed £252million for treatment given to patients from abroad — that’s enough to provide 5,000 extra nurses.

The NHS prides itself on providing medical attention free at the point of use to anyone who needs it, irrespective of their status or wealth.

But it is not a charity and trusts have a duty to safeguard taxpayers’ money.

With 7.4million on waiting lists for routine treatment in England, it is an outrage that bosses are writing off such huge sums.

Brits facing long delays for ops or forced to wait for hours on hospital trolleys will be appalled that this small fortune is not being spent on them and their families.

To make matters worse, one of the main reasons managers do not bother to chase outstanding fees is simply that it makes them feel “uncomfortable”.

Public satisfaction with the NHS — which also spent £1.8million on “staff networks” hosting “woke” events over the past two years — has sunk to a record low.

Three-quarters of hospitals are in debt.

Health Secretary Wes Streeting has warned senior execs there is “nowhere to hide” on “wasteful spenders”.

They’re hiding in plain sight currently.

Petering out

PAINFULLY slowly, the truth about the Peter Mandelson debacle is being dragged out of Number Ten.

After going to ground at the end of last week, Sir Keir Starmer surfaced yesterday to admit he HAD known about emails from Mandelson to the paedophile Jeffrey Epstein when he defended his US ambassador at Prime Minister’s Questions.

Specifically he knew the Foreign Office was investigating what would prove to be a huge scandal, but did not know — or did not ask — precisely what had been written.

This is a prime example of the PM blasting himself in both feet.

First by chaotically backing then sacking Mandelson — and then by taking an age to set out the facts.

Danny ploy

WHILE Labour rips itself apart, Nigel Farage is getting on with making Reform more professional.

MP Danny Kruger — the latest Tory defector to his party — is a serious thinker, with experience of No10.

Putting him in charge of Reform’s preparations for Government is another sign Farage isn’t messing around.

WASHINGTON — There’s bipartisan support in Congress for extending tax credits that have made health insurance more affordable for millions of people since the COVID-19 pandemic. But the credits are in danger of expiring as Republicans and Democrats clash over how to do it.

Democrats are threatening to vote to shut down the government at the end of the month if Republicans don’t extend the subsidies, which were put in place in 2021 and extended a year later when Democrats controlled Congress and the White House. The tax credits, which are due to expire at the end of the year, go to low- and middle-income people who purchase health insurance through the Affordable Care Act.

Some Republicans who have opposed the healthcare law, known as Obamacare, since it was enacted in 2010 are suddenly open to keeping the tax credits. They acknowledge that many of their constituents could see steep hikes in coverage if the subsidies are allowed to lapse.

But the two sides are far apart. Republicans are divided, with many firmly opposed. GOP leaders in the House and Senate have been open but noncommittal on the extension, and many of those Republicans who say they support it argue that the tax credits should be reworked — potentially opening up a new healthcare debate that could take months to resolve.

Democrats would be unlikely to agree to any changes in the subsidies, increasing the chances of a standoff and mounting uncertainty for health insurers, hospitals, state governments and the people who receive them.

“In just a few weeks, unless Congress acts, millions of Americans will start getting letters in the mail telling them their health insurance costs are about to go through the roof — hundreds of dollars, thousands in some cases,” Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said last week.

Surging enrollment

Enrollment in Affordable Care Act plans has surged to a record 24 million people in large part due to the billions of dollars in subsidies that have lowered costs for many people. The expanded subsidies allowed some lower-income enrollees to access health plans with no premiums and capped the amount higher earners pay for premiums to 8.5% of their income. It also expanded eligibility for middle-class earners.

With expiration just a few months away, some of those people have already gotten notices that their monthly premiums are poised to surge next year. Insurers have sent out notices in nearly every state, with some proposing premium increases of as much as 50%.

Lawmakers are facing pressure to act from some of the country’s biggest industries, including the insurers that cover people on the marketplace and hospital executives who say they’re already going to be squeezed by the Medicaid cuts in President Trump’s massive spending and tax bill enacted this summer.

“There’s broad awareness that there’s a real spike in premiums coming right around the corner, both Republicans and Democrats,” said David Merritt, senior vice president of external affairs at Blue Cross Blue Shield. “It’s certainly lining up for Congress to have an opportunity to head off this problem.”

Companies have said they’ll need to raise premiums without the subsidies because healthier and younger people are more likely to opt out of coverage when it gets more expensive, leaving insurers to cover older and sicker patients.

In Iowa last month, the state’s insurance commissioner weighed increases ranging from 3% to 37% against a stream of angry public comments. One woman who runs a garden center in Cedar Falls said she was considering dropping her health insurance.

“I am already living as frugally as I possibly can while working as hard as I possibly can, putting in as many hours as I am allowed to at my job, never missing a day of work,” the woman, LuAnn, wrote in a public comment published to the commissioner’s website.

Feud over Obamacare

On Capitol Hill, the issue has become entangled in a larger fight over government funding as the threat of a shutdown looms at the end of the month. Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) have said Democrats will not vote to keep the government open unless an extension of the healthcare tax credits is part of the deal. Republicans have said that they want more time to look at the subsidies and potentially scale them back. They will also have to wait for a signal from Trump, who has not yet weighed in.

Jeffries said last week that “we will not support a partisan Republican spending bill that continues to rip away healthcare from the American people.”

Republican leaders are eyeing a potential stopgap bill that would keep the government open for a few weeks, but they are unlikely, for now, to include the extension. GOP leaders in both the House and Senate are also under pressure from some members who worry that premium increases will be a political liability before next year’s midterm elections.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) has said he wants to see a proposal from Democrats on how to extend the subsidies since they are pushing the issue. “Maybe there is something we can do in the middle as a solution,” he said in a Punchbowl News interview Thursday, adding that his members are divided on the issue.

Still, Thune has ruled out quick action, even as he noted that premium notices will go out soon. He has said a short-term spending measure to fund the government for several weeks while Congress finishes its budget bills is not likely to include an extension of the benefits,

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) has said that many of his members would oppose an extension, but he has not ruled it out.

In recent days, 15 House Republicans in competitive political districts introduced legislation to extend the tax credits for one year. “While the enhanced premium tax credit created during the pandemic was meant to be temporary, we should not let it expire without a plan in place,” said Rep. Jen Kiggans (R-Va.), who led the effort with Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-N.Y.).

Middle-class and small-business owners, including many in Kiggans’ coastal Virginia district, will be especially vulnerable to big health insurance hikes if the subsidies are not extended.

Several Senate Republicans also said they’d favor an extension. Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri said that if Congress doesn’t act, some premiums will “skyrocket, and not by a little bit. We’re looking at massive increases. People will not be able to afford it.”

Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) said he thinks Congress should scale back the subsidies for the highest-income people who receive them. “I think we all know that access to healthcare is important and we take it very seriously,” he said.

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), whose panel has jurisdiction over the tax credits, said he’s working with his colleagues to find a solution. “There are a lot of ideas being thrown out there,” he said. “I’m trying to find a solution; I’m not telling you what the solution is.”

Others were firmly against it. “It’s costing us billions of dollars,” Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) said.

Open enrollment begins Nov. 1, and people will begin to see “real sticker shock” as Affordable Care Act plan prices are posted next month, Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) said.

“Timing is important,” she said.

Jalonick and Seitz write for the Associated Press. AP writers Lisa Mascaro in Washington and Hannah Fingerhut in Des Moines contributed to this report.

The island of 10 million’s worsening energy and economic crisis has led to a series of ‘frustrating’ grid collapses.

Another total electricity blackout has struck Cuba, the latest in a string of grid collapses that have rocked the island of 10 million over the past year.

The island-wide outage, which hit just after 9am local time on Wednesday, is believed to be linked to a malfunction at one of Cuba’s largest thermoelectric plants, the Ministry of Energy and Mines said.

The ministry said crews had been dispatched to build a microsystem capable of providing basic services, and were prioritising the return of electricity to essential sites such as hospitals and food production plants.

Prime Minister Manuel Marrero also made an appearance on state TV at Cuba’s state-run power company, asking Cubans for their trust and promising that electricity would be restored gradually.

Cuba’s worsening economic and energy crisis has led to repeated daily blackouts and full grid outages. In March, a breakdown at a substation in the capital, Havana, led to rolling blackouts across the island, with three more blackouts occurring late last year.

Across Havana, traffic lights were down as people scurried around to buy groceries and basic goods before dark. Pumps supplying the capital’s apartments with water rely on electricity.

Havana resident Danai Hernandez told Al Jazeera she had left work to prepare her home for the blackout. “We just have to wait. There’s no other choice,” she said.

“We’re cooking with wood and charcoal, so we have to adjust our schedules,” resident Ernesto Gutierrez told Al Jazeera. “It’s complicated, stressful, and frustrating, too.”

Cuba’s energy supply crisis has deteriorated in recent years because of US sanctions, which prevent it from holding sufficient foreign currency to upgrade or repair fast-ageing plants that have been in use for more than three decades.

Havana has tried to fill the gap by renting floating Turkish power ships and installing Chinese-funded solar parks. Some wealthier families have installed rechargeable devices and solar panels in their homes.

Still, the blackouts have prompted rare protests, with crowds flooding the second-largest city of Santiago last year.

As many as 16 million households are in danger of Freeview being taken off the air as the Labour government appeared unsure about securing its future

Millions of households across the country could lose a major television service as MPs warned of a potential blackout. Currently, 16 million Brits use Freeview and the network is seen as a lifeline for those who cannot afford subscription-based TV services.

However, its future has been thrown into doubt as the Government did not appear to commit to securing its future beyond 2034, when the digital terrestrial TV (DTT) licence is due to be renewed. There are fears ministers could scrap Freeview or make it available only via the internet, not standard TV aerials.

Stephanie Peacock, the media and culture minister, acknowledged the spiralling cost of running Freeview to public service broadcasters (PSBs) and households, while claiming fewer people are actually using it. She said the Government will work alongside broadcasters and other organisations.

She said: “We also know this is not an easy decision. The choices ahead are complex and must be guided by evidence, and that is why we are taking the time to get them right, drawing on data, research and the views of people across the sector and across the country.”

Freeview was launched on October 30, 2002 following the catastrophic collapse of ITV Digital almost two weeks earlier. The joint venture between the BBC and Arqiva (formerly Crown Castle) is home to the UK’s beloved networks such as BBC One and ITV1, as well as other digital channels like BBC Three, ITV2 and E4.

Since its inception, it has proven a worthy rival to the likes of Sky Digital and Virgin Media TV, but it faced greater challenges in recent years thanks to streaming services such as Netflix and Disney+. Such topics took centre stage in a heated debate at the House of Commons last week when MPs made an impassioned plea to save Freeview.

Parliamentarians also took issue with the lack of commitment from the Government to renew the DTT licence. Conservative MP David Mundell said: “Freeview is a universal service reaching 98.5 per cent of the UK population, including those in remote and rural areas.

“It is available at no additional cost over and above the licence fee. This is a crucial point: people do not need to pay any additional monthly bills to watch terrestrial TV; all they need is a TV set and an aerial.

“The options for watching TV have broadened in the last few years, with the arrival of TV streaming over the internet. Many of us enjoy those services, but the fact is that to do so, someone needs a high-speed fixed broadband subscription of sufficient speed and reliability, and not everyone has that.”

He added: “Millions of people are relying exclusively on mobile for access to the internet. Indeed, data from Citizens Advice suggested that, in 2022 alone, up to 1 million people cancelled their broadband subscription because of the high cost of living reports.

“Despite being a widely used and, in my view, essential service, it [Freeview] is currently under threat of being switched off within a decade. The licences that support terrestrial TV expire in 2034, and the Government have so far not provided a long-term commitment. Yet there is no need to consider switching off terrestrial TV in the mid-2030s, be that for political, technological or financial reasons.”

Labour’s Richard Quigley claimed that Freeview has helped many elderly viewers combat loneliness and warned axing it would add to the cost of living crisis blighting the country, reports Plymouth Live.

He said: “Three quarters of people say that terrestrial TV has helped to reduce loneliness, and among those aged 65 and over the figure rises to 87%. Additionally, I worry that any decision to switch off terrestrial TV could further exacerbate the cost of living crisis and deepen existing inequalities in our communities.”

In response, Ms Peacock said: “The way we watch TV is changing rapidly. Over the past decade, we have seen significant shifts in how content is delivered and consumed. Increasing numbers of viewers are moving to internet-based platforms, both for on demand content and, increasingly, for live programming.

“DTT is guaranteed until at least 2034. Before making any decisions, we will carefully consider the challenges for public service broadcasters and, importantly, the impact on loyal daily viewers, especially those who rely on digital terrestrial services.

“The cost of DTT to the PSBs is substantial. As fewer people rely on DTT, the cost per house is going up and will continue to do so. I am aware from my visits and meetings with providers that as part of the network reaches the end of life, investment would be needed to carry on even the current services.”

The Mirror has contacted Freeview for comment.

MORE changes are coming to Sky TV tomorrow, set to affect four favourite channels for millions of viewers.

The premium TV giant is known to regularly switch-up their channels to keep things fresh for customers.

1

This often involves common favourites vanishing or taking on new names.

There have already been eight changes that were made to Sky TV at the beginning of this month.

And four more are expected to be introduced tomorrow which customers should be aware of.

From Monday, September 8, Back to School (Satellite 306/850 – Sky Glass/Stream 306) is reverting back to the name Sky Family/Sky Family HD after a temporary change.

Sky 90s (Satellite 302 – Sky Glass/Stream 302) is being renamed to Sky 00s/Sky 00s HD for a bit.

Sky Monsters (Satellite 311 – Sky Glass/Stream 311) is also reverting its name back to Sky ScFi/Horror/Sky ScFi/HorHD following a temporary change.

Finally, Sky Hits (Satellite 303 – Sky Glass/Stream 303) is changing its name to Sky Gems/Sky Gems HD temporarily.

There is also another change due to come at the end of the week.

On Friday, September 12, Sky Cinema Action (Satellite 307/851 – Satellite 307) will turn into SkySpider-Man/Spider-Man HD for a short period.

It comes after several rebrands to Sky’s kids channels occurred at the start of the month.

This included Nick Jr. Paw Patrol and Nick Spongebob being replaced by Nick Jr. Peppa and Nicktoons.

Overhauls also came to Sky Cinema channels, such as Sky Lord of the Rings being reverted back to Sky Action.

Several channels turned into Christmas themed to prepare for the festive season.

And Sky Sports Action disappeared to make way for Sky Sport NFL.