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Nigeria’s corridors of power are again trembling under the weight of suspicion. President Bola Tinubu’s dramatic overhaul of the nation’s military command has ignited debate, fear, and whispers of betrayal within the ranks, days after reports of a foiled coup attempt surfaced.

On Oct. 24, the President dismissed General Christopher Musa, his Chief of Defence Staff, replacing him with General Olufemi Oluyede, formerly Chief of Army Staff. Major General Waidi Shaibu now heads the army, Air Vice Marshal Sunday Kelvin Aneke becomes the new Air Chief, and Rear Admiral Idi Abbas takes charge of the navy. Only Major General Emmanuel Akomaye Parker Undiandeye, Chief of Defence Intelligence, retained his seat — a notable exception in an otherwise sweeping purge.

A State House statement signed by Sunday Dare, Special Adviser on Media and Public Communication, claimed the changes were made “to strengthen Nigeria’s national security architecture.” But some Nigerians are taking the government’s explanation at face value.

The shake-up comes amid rumours of an attempted coup — reports that Tinubu’s administration has tried to downplay but cannot entirely dismiss.

Although the Defence Headquarters did not directly acknowledge any intentions of a coup, Brigadier General Tukur Gusau, a representative of the organisation, mentioned on Oct. 4 that 16 officers were being investigated for disciplinary issues and breaches of service protocols. This situation arose a year after Nigerians demanded a military intervention in response to escalating economic difficulties.

However, sources within Nigeria’s corridors of power have told HumAngle that more reshuffling will occur in the coming weeks as the Tinubu-led administration fights to maintain its grip on democratic power. The sources stated that amid ongoing investigations, the service chiefs were rejigged to fill the gaps in the military intelligence system. 

Over 20 officers are now under detention following what officials described as “disciplinary breaches”. However, insiders suggest something deeper, pointing to a widening rift inside the armed forces and a purge disguised as reform.

“All the suspects are from one region,” a source familiar with the investigation said. “If this were really a coup, how could it have succeeded? What’s happening looks more like a purge than a coup plot. Perhaps they may be clearing the path for someone not yet in the picture.”

The officer added that growing grievances among northern officers have festered for months, notably since recruitment shifted from state-based quotas to geopolitical zones. “The north, which has three regions, has now been reduced to one,” another senior officer lamented.

For many within the ranks, the move feels political. Yet the government remains tight-lipped, neither naming nor prosecuting the detained officers. And “the evidence is sketchy,” one insider admitted. “In the end, what may happen is compulsory retirement for many of them, and rarely will there ever be a treason trial.”

Nigeria has experienced this troubling pattern in its history. The country’s modern timeline is marked by a series of military interventions, beginning with the first coup in 1966 and continuing through violent takeovers in 1975, 1983, and 1985, culminating in the Abacha dictatorship that suffocated the nation during the 1990s. Each coup was accompanied by promises of reform, yet the reality was one of repression, economic decline, and bloodshed.

What makes today’s situation chillingly familiar is the regional context. Across Africa, coups are no longer distant echoes of a troubled past; they have become resurgent realities. From Mali and Burkina Faso to Niger, Gabon, and now Madagascar, nine coups have shaken the continent since 2020, eroding democratic norms and emboldening soldiers who see themselves as saviours of failed civilian governments.

In Nigeria, where frustration is soaring over economic collapse, inflation, and insecurity, the thin line between democracy and disorder is wearing dangerously thin.

For President Tinubu, the latest reshuffle is both a desperate consolidation of power and an implicit admission of fragility. Analysts warn that internal divisions within the military, especially along regional lines, could prove explosive if left unchecked.

“There’s no better time to reform the armed forces than now,” one senior intelligence officer told HumAngle. “It’s far more important than even a constitutional review. We cannot afford a significant population bearing guns to remain aggrieved.” There are so many things wrong with the security sector that we must pay attention to, said the senior intelligence officer. 

THE new EES is officially underway – and the new system has already been causing long wait times at certain airports.

Passengers at Brussels Airport have complained about waiting for up to three hours to get through border control this week.

One passenger spoke to The Brussels Times about her ordeal getting through border control at Brussels Airport claiming she waited for more than three hours.

Rebecca Wells who was travelling with a US passport, told the publication that the queue for those arriving outside of the EU was much longer than the one for EU passports.

She added: “There was nobody there to brief you or tell you what was going on.”

And when it came to the new EES system, it wasn’t used. Rebecca explained that her passport was “stamped like normal”.

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Despite there being a spot to take fingerprints, it wasn’t used.

Another disgruntled passenger took to social media taking a picture of the queue and remarked that just two out of the five customs booths were open during “peak time”.

However, another passenger who also spoke to The Brussels Times on an EU passport said it was “all digital” and she had no issues going through.

When The Brussels Times approached Brussels Airport for comment, they could not confirm whether the long wait times were due to the EES system.

A spokesperson for the Federal Police, which is responsible for the airport’s border control, told the publication that the long wait time was due to “a combination of factors”.

The new EES rules began the first phase of the rollout on October 12, 2025.

For travellers, it means having fingerprints scanned and photo taken at European borders.

The new system is being rolled out across Europe gradually and is set to be completely operational at all external Schengen border crossings by April 10, 2026.

At Dover, the new EES is required by coach drivers and won’t apply to other passengers until November 1.

Meanwhile, Eurostar has started with just business travellers, and the Eurotunnel will begin with coaches and lorries before moving to cars.

The first time you travel and will be required to use the EES system, you’ll need to register at a special machine called a kiosk.

You’ll scan your passport, then the machine will take your fingerprints and a photo.

Kids under 12 will not need to give fingerprints.

You will also answer four quick questions on the screen about your trip, such as where you are staying and confirming you have enough money for your holiday.

Once registered, your details are stored for three years, and on future trips, you’ll just need a quick face scan to verify it is you.

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Here’s more on the new EES rules and how it will affect your travels.

And here’s more information on the ETIAS – set to be in place from late 2026.

The United States and China have started charging additional port fees on ocean shipping firms that move everything from holiday toys to crude oil, making the high seas a key front in the trade war between the world’s two largest economies.

A return to an all-out trade war appeared imminent last week, after China announced a major expansion of its rare earths export controls, and US President Donald Trump threatened to raise tariffs on Chinese goods to triple digits.

But after the weekend, both sides sought to reassure traders and investors, highlighting cooperation between their negotiating teams and the possibility they could find a way forward.

China said it had started to collect the special charges on US-owned, operated, built or flagged vessels, but it clarified that Chinese-built ships would be exempted from the levies.

In details published by state broadcaster CCTV, China spelled out specific provisions on exemptions, which also include empty ships entering Chinese shipyards for repair.

Similar to the US plan, the new China-imposed fees would be collected at the first port of entry on a single voyage or for the first five voyages within a year.

“This tit-for-tat symmetry locks both economies into a spiral of maritime taxation that risks distorting global freight flows,” Athens-based Xclusiv Shipbrokers said in a research note.

Early this year, the Trump administration announced plans to levy the fees on China-linked ships to loosen the country’s grip on the global maritime industry and bolster US shipbuilding.

An investigation during the administration of former US President Joe Biden concluded that China uses unfair policies and practices to dominate the global maritime, logistics and shipbuilding sectors, clearing the way for those penalties.

China hit back last week, saying it would impose its own port fees on US-linked vessels from the same day the US fees took effect.

“We are in the hectic stage of the disruption, where everyone is quietly trying to improvise workarounds, with varying degrees of success,” said independent dry bulk shipping analyst Ed Finley-Richardson. He said he has heard reports of US shipowners with non-Chinese vessels trying to sell their cargoes to other countries while en route, so the vessels can divert.

The Reuters news agency was not immediately able to confirm this.

Tit-for-tat moves

Analysts expect China-owned container carrier COSCO to be the most affected by the US fees, shouldering nearly half of that segment’s expected $3.2bn cost from the fees in 2026.

Major container lines, including Maersk, Hapag-Lloyd and CMA CGM, slashed their exposure by switching China-linked ships out of their US shipping lanes. Trade officials there reduced fees from initially proposed levels, and exempted a broad swath of vessels after heavy pushback from the agriculture, energy and US shipping industries.

The Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Reuters.

China’s Ministry of Commerce on Tuesday said, “If the US chooses confrontation, China will see it through to the end; if it chooses dialogue, China’s door remains open.”

In a related move, Beijing also imposed sanctions on Tuesday against five US-linked subsidiaries of South Korean shipbuilder Hanwha Ocean, which it said had “assisted and supported” a US probe into Chinese trade practices.

Hanwha, one of the world’s largest shipbuilders, owns Philly Shipyard in the US and has won contracts to repair and overhaul US Navy ships. Its entities will also build a US-flagged LNG carrier.

Hanwha said it is aware of the announcement and is closely monitoring the potential business impact. Hanwha Ocean’s shares sank by nearly 6 percent.

China also launched an investigation into how the US probe affected its shipping and shipbuilding industries.

A Shanghai-based trade consultant said the new fees may not cause significant upheaval.

“What are we going to do? Stop shipping? Trade is already pretty disrupted with the US, but companies are finding a way,” the consultant told Reuters, requesting anonymity because he was not authorised to speak with the media.

The US announced last Friday a carve-out for long-term charterers of China-operated vessels carrying US ethane and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), deferring the port fees for them through December 10.

Meanwhile, ship-tracking company Vortexa identified 45 LPG-carrying VLGCs — an acronym for very large gas carriers, a type of vessel — that would be subject to China’s port fee. That amounts to 11 percent of the total fleet.

Clarksons Research said in a report that China’s new port fees could affect oil tankers accounting for 15 percent of global capacity.

Meanwhile, Omar Nokta, an analyst at the financial firm Jefferies, estimated that 13 percent of crude tankers and 11 percent of container ships in the global fleet would be affected.

Trade war embroils environmental policy

In a reprisal against China curbing exports of critical minerals, Trump on Friday threatened to slap additional 100 percent tariffs on goods from China and put new export controls on “any and all critical software” by November 1.

Administration officials, hours later, warned that countries voting this week in favour of a plan by the United Nations International Maritime Organization (IMO) to reduce planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions from ocean shipping could face sanctions, port bans, or punitive vessel charges.

China has publicly supported the IMO plan.

“The weaponisation of both trade and environmental policy signals that shipping has moved from being a neutral conduit of global commerce to a direct instrument of statecraft,” Athens-based Xclusiv said.

The allure of sea cucumber, Addison on Cafe 2001 and its elusive watermelon cake, plus L.A.’s king of super chuggers and more. I’m Laurie Ochoa, general manager of L.A. Times Food, with this week’s Tasting Notes.

Crackle pop

The sea cucumber spring roll at Wing in Hong Kong before it is sliced and plated. Behind the roll is a display of dried sea cucumber before its undergoes a multi-day cooking process.

(Laurie Ochoa / Los Angeles Times)

The crackle of paper-thin pastry under a razor-sharp cleaver as the chef beside your table slices a golden fried spring roll in half is just one sign that you are about to eat something extraordinary.

There is also the sight of the otherworldly creature — a sea cucumber — displayed on a platter in its dried state before it has undergone a multi-day blooming and braising process and formed the filling of the spring roll before you.

You bite into the delicate wrapper and find that the sea cucumber has been transformed into something that on one level resembles braised pork belly but also has its own kind of lusciousness.

This is the sea cucumber spring roll by chef Vicky Cheng, one of the not-to-miss dishes he created at his restaurant Wing in Hong Kong.

Cheng, who was born in Hong Kong, grew up in Canada and came of age as a chef in North America, learning the intricacies of French cuisine at Toronto and New York restaurants, including Daniel with chef Daniel Boulud.

That French training shows in the lightness of the pastry wrapper of Cheng’s fried spring roll. Not to mention the showmanship of its presentation, which provides ASMR thrills when the cleaver cuts through the cylinder. But Cheng’s true purpose is to recontextualize a traditional Chinese ingredient that has been seen as old-fashioned, a luxury texture food often eaten more for medicinal purposes and status rather than deliciousness.

Chef Vicky Cheng in the dining room of his Hong Kong restaurant Wing.

(Laurie Ochoa / Los Angeles Times)

At his first Hong Kong restaurant, the Michelin-starred restaurant VEA, one floor above Wing in the same office building that houses a collection of Michelin-starred restaurants, including the Chairman, Feuille, Hansik Goo and Whey, sea cucumber quickly became one of Cheng’s signature dishes.

In the VEA preparation, a smaller, spikier type of sea cucumber surrounds a shellfish filling — in January, when I tried the dish, it was tiger prawn. But for the spring roll at Wing, Cheng uses a much larger and smoother species from New Zealand and Australia, which has the first sea cucumber fishery certified as sustainable by the Marine Stewardship Council.

The sea cucumber spring roll is one of the dishes Cheng is planning to serve at Kato here in Los Angeles when he collaborates with chef Jon Yao for a two-night dinner series on Oct. 14 and 15. Reservations quickly disappeared when they were made available this week, but I’ll be talking with Cheng onstage Sunday, Oct. 12 at UCLA’s Fowler Museum about his restaurants and the different ways he’s trying to shift the conversation about Chinese cuisine for a younger generation. Joining us will be chef Curtis Stone, who featured Cheng and many others in the Hong Kong episode of his PBS series “Field Trip With Curtis Stone,” which will be screened at the free event.

The appearances will cap off our L.A. Times Food Bowl Night Market at City Market Social House Oct. 10 and 11. VIP tickets are sold out, but limited general admission tickets remain for the Friday and Saturday night event presented by Square. The more than 40 participating restaurants include Holbox, Baroo, the Brothers Sushi, OyBar, Heritage Barbecue, Crudo e Nudo, Hummingbird Ceviche House, Rossoblu, Perilla L.A., Evil Cooks, Villa’s Tacos, Holy Basil, Heavy Handed, AttaGirl, Heng Heng Chicken Rice, the Win-Dow, Agnes Restaurant & Cheesery and Luv2Eat Thai Bistro. Check lafoodbowl.com for tickets and info.

Chasing watermelon

Chef Giles Clark and some of his breakfast, lunch and pastry specials at Cafe 2001 in downtown Los Angeles.

(Emil Ravelo / For The Times)

My habit at the Arts District’s Cafe 2001 has been to arrive just after 11 a.m. when chef Giles Clark‘s menu, restricted to breakfast items before that point, opens up with lunch choices. It’s the best way to experience the full array of inventive dishes Clark has cooked up for the day … with one big exception. The cafe’s gorgeous watermelon cake, taught to Clark by Tokyo chef Toshio Tanabe, doesn’t come out of the kitchen until 1 p.m., even if it’s sometimes visible earlier than that, tempting diners. All summer long I haven’t managed to get a slice of that cake. But our restaurant critic Bill Addison is a pro; he got the cake and so much more, which he elegantly describes in his new review of Cafe 2001 — “a peculiar and quietly serious little place, with a narrow yet soaring space reclaimed from urban decay, and casual, sophisticated daytime meals,” he writes. “Its eccentricities feel like welcome refuge.”

For more on Cafe 2001, read Food’s deputy editor Betty Hallock on Clark’s spring-green potato salad (with his recipe), plus my contribution to our brunch guide on the appeal of Clark’s morning offerings and my newsletter earlier this summer on how the chef’s corn fritter was a welcome sign of summer in a city recovering from downtown L.A. restaurant closures after immigration enforcement actions prompted a curfew.

The wine auteur

Winemaker Scott Sampler gets chuggy at Anajak Thai in Sherman Oaks.

(G L Askew II / For The Times)

Chances are good you’ve seen Scott Sampler‘s Scotty-Boy! wines in restaurants and local wine shops. And you may have sipped from bottlings of some of his other labels without realizing they came from the same mind.

“Sampler’s wines,” writes Food contributor Patrick Comiskey, “have managed to channel L.A.’s boundless culinary enthusiasms for the past decade.” Of course, Comiskey adds that Sampler’s wines — “pungent, savory, defiantly unfruity” — “can be polarizing even in the era of natural wine, when wine’s very range of flavors is in flux.”

Sampler and Comiskey met in a booth at Musso & Frank’s in Hollywood to talk wine, food, Serge Gainsbourg and how the king of the super chuggers got serious about what he puts in a bottle. A terrific read.

3 out of 50

Gilberto Cetina, chef and owner of Holbox, pictured outside his restaurant.

(Mariah Tauger/Los Angeles Times)

On Thursday night, three Los Angeles restaurants were named to the inaugural North America’s 50 Best Restaurants list from the World’s 50 Best franchise, as Food’s Stephanie Breijo reports. They are Kato at No. 26, Holbox at No. 42 and at No. 47 Providence, which also received its third Michelin star this year.

“Everybody’s really proud,” Holbox chef Gilberto Cetina told Breijo, “especially right now with these times when our people don’t feel as welcome as we have before, with the way politics are. Being able to be here at a national forum representing Mexican culture through our food is really cool.”

Diner talk

Chef Nancy Silverton and Phil Rosenthal share a milkshake at the counter of Fair Oaks Pharmacy and Soda Fountain in Pasadena.

(Ron De Angelis / For The Times)

Food’s columnist Jenn Harris took chef Nancy Silverton and TV’s Phil Rosenthal to Pie ‘n Burger and the soda fountain at Fair Oaks Pharmacy in Pasadena to discuss the many debates the two have during the making of their soon-to-open diner Max and Helen’s in L.A.’s Larchmont Village. Patty melt or hamburger? Both was the compromise. And the secret of a great milkshake? The answer might surprise you.

Reeling

PCH seafood stalwart The Reel Inn before the Palisades fire.

(Stephanie Breijo / Los Angeles Times)

Will the Reel Inn rise again? That’s the question Food’s Stephanie Breijo asked in her story about the challenges the iconic restaurant is facing as it tries to rebuild after the Palisades fire.

And in her Quick Bites report on new restaurants, Breijo has details about Bub and Grandma’s Pizza in Highland Park; Michelin-starred Kali‘s pivot away from tasting menus to steakhouse favorites; the appearance of Pino’s Sandwiches in Los Feliz from the owner of Salumeria Verdi in Florence and the expansion of Tacos Villa Corona to Eagle Rock.

Also …

SACRAMENTO — Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a law giving California the power to set its own immunization schedules based on state health experts and independent medical groups — a sharp break from decades of reliance on guidance from the federal government.

The move came the same day that California and its West Coast allies issued joint recommendations for COVID-19, flu and RSV vaccines, part of a regional alliance formed to counter what they say is a politicized U.S. Centers for Disease Control.

“Our states are united in putting science, safety, and transparency first — and in protecting families with clear, credible vaccine guidance,” said the governors of California, Oregon, Washington and Hawaii, which make up the West Coast Health Alliance.

The flurry of vaccine actions came as lawmakers and the University of California proposed a $23-billion ballot measure to replace federal research dollars lost to Trump-era cuts, underscoring efforts by Democrats in the state to shield science and public health from shifting federal policies. The measure, if passed by the California Legislature when lawmakers return in January, would go before voters in November 2026.

“The loss of critical federal funding awarded to the University of California presents an unprecedented and perilous moment for the state and its communities,” Theresa Maldonado, UC vice president for research and innovation, said in a statement.

The healthcare clash comes following a wave of COVID cases and as the annual flu season nears. For decades, the CDC has been the nation’s trusted authority on vaccines — setting childhood immunization schedules, guiding which shots adults should receive and shaping state health policies across the country.

Now, at the direction of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a Trump ally, the CDC fired top leadership, lost senior scientific advisors and remade its vaccine advisory committee with members who the Associated Press found spread misinformation and conspiracy theories about immunizations.

Kennedy, a longtime vaccine skeptic, has defended the shakeup as necessary to create trust and “eliminate politics from science.”

“They deserve the truth and that’s what we’re going to give them for the first time in the history of the agency,” Kennedy told the Senate Finance Committee earlier this month during a contentious hearing.

The overhaul triggered a fierce backlash as more than 1,000 employees at the health agency and national health organizations have called on Kennedy to resign. Some states, however, have embraced the approach — Florida announced plans to become the first state to end all vaccines mandated, including for schoolchildren.

The polarization is taking a toll. A recent KFF poll found Americans are increasingly uncertain about public health guidance and whether new recommendations from the administration will make them more or less safe.

Public health experts say that not only are vaccines crucial for the health of individuals and the community but they also ultimately save money — preventing sickness and the rise in healthcare costs that would accompany widespread disease outbreaks.

The changes in federal vaccine recommendations have been sweeping. The Food and Drug Administration, which falls under Kennedy’s purview, now requires adults 65 and younger and otherwise healthy — who report no underlying health issues — to consult with a healthcare provider before getting the COVID vaccine. Similarly, the CDC requires parents of healthy children to talk to a healthcare provider before their child can receive the COVID vaccine, a barrier the American Academy of Pediatrics called “deeply troubling.”

The American Academy of Pediatrics issued its own COVID vaccine guidance, countering what the CDC recommended, that says all young children 6 months to 23 months should be vaccinated, as well as certain high-risk older children. The group has also said that older children should be offered the vaccine if their parents request it.

The CDC also changed its vaccine schedule from recommending the COVID vaccine to all pregnant women to offering “no guidance” as to whether healthy pregnant women should get the vaccine. In response, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists recommended that people receive the updated COVID-19 vaccine at any point during their pregnancy.

California said it too will reject CDC guidance, starting with the recommendations released Wednesday from the West Coast Health Alliance. Those recommendations were developed by health officers and subject matter experts from each state, who considered guidelines from medical organizations such as the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the American Academy of Family Physicians.

The COVID-19 vaccine recommendations from the West Coast Health Alliance include vaccinating all children 6 months to 23 months and those 2 years old to 64 years old with risk factors. The alliance also recommended all pregnant and postpartum women or those planning to become pregnant to be vaccinated.

The alliance recommended children 6 months and older and all adults and pregnant women to receive the flu shot. For the RSV vaccine, the alliance recommends it for children younger than 8 months, as well as anyone 75 years or older. The alliance recommends the RSV vaccine for all other ages if a person has risk factors.

“We want the people who live and work in our states to know that there is a strong public health, healthcare and scientific community that will continue to stand together to provide and use the data and evidence needed for you to make healthy choices, and we are here to protect our communities,” said Dr. Erica Pan, director of the California Department of Public Health, in a statement.

Noel Gallagher scanned the audience at the Rose Bowl on Saturday night and pointed down at a fan in the front row. “Young lady, what’s your name?” he asked, tilting his head to try to catch the answer. “I can’t really hear you, but this next song is for you.” As he spoke, a camera found a woman wearing an Oasis T-shirt openly weeping — openly sobbing — and sent her image to the giant video screens flanking the stage. “She’s been in tears all night, this girl,” Gallagher added, “which I hope is not a review of the f— gig.”

Not far from it, in fact: Since launching its reunion tour in early July, Oasis — the swaggering British rock band formed in the early 1990s by Gallagher on guitar and his younger brother Liam on lead vocals — has been traveling the world inspiring great outpourings of emotion wherever it goes. On social media, memes have proliferated equating the catharsis to be had at an Oasis concert to a form of therapy; more than one observer has suggested that gathering with tens of thousands of people to sing along with the Gallaghers’ songs might turn out to be the cure for the male loneliness epidemic.

Along with the blockbuster ticket sales and the pop-up merch stores, this nightly purification ritual has positioned Oasis Live ’25 — the band’s first run of shows in more than a decade and a half — as this year’s version of Taylor Swift’s Eras tour. Which of course some tour was destined to be: At a moment of encroaching technological alienation, humans are naturally searching out opportunities for real-world connection (which is one reason why thousands paid money last month to sit in a movie theater and watch Netflix’s “KPop Demon Hunters” for the second — or fifth, or 12th — time with other humans).

Oasis performs Saturday night at the Rose Bowl.

(Kevin Winter / Getty Images)

Yet I’m not sure I’d have called that it would be an old rock group with three guitarists that would get it done, never mind this old rock group in particular: The first of two dates at the Rose Bowl, Saturday’s sold-out show came 31 years after Oasis almost broke up for the first time following a chaotic 1994 gig at the Whisky a Go Go where the famously combative Gallaghers — having mistaken crystal meth for cocaine, as the story goes — nearly came to blows; Oasis’ long-promised breakup finally took in 2009, after which the brothers spent years trading savage insults in the press (and anywhere else they could do it).

How exactly Noel, now 58, and Liam, 52, managed to come back together hasn’t yet been told; one suspects that sufficiently humongous bags of cash had something to do with it. On the road, the Gallaghers are accompanied by Oasis’ original guitarist, Paul Arthurs (known delightfully as Bonehead), along with Gem Archer on guitar, Andy Bell on bass, Joey Waronker on drums and Christian Madden on keyboards. At the Rose Bowl, celebrities in attendance included Paul McCartney, Leonardo DiCaprio, Billie Eilish, Metallica’s James Hetfield, Laufey and MGK — a varied list of names that tells you something about the broad appeal of classic Oasis songs like “Wonderwall,” “Roll With It,” “Some Might Say,” “Champagne Supernova” and “Don’t Look Back in Anger,” the last of which was the tune Noel dedicated to the woman shedding tears of joy in the front row.

Liam Gallagher, left, and Noel Gallagher at the Rose Bowl.

(Kevin Winter / Getty Images)

The songs indeed were the thing on Saturday. Oasis sounded great, with those three guitars snarling and shimmering over sturdy grooves that mapped a middle ground among punk, glam and late-Beatles balladry; Liam’s voice was somehow both brawny and sweet as he reached for the high notes with a kind of taunting effortlessness. And the brothers engaged in a bit of lovable stage business, as when Liam — looking superb as always in his signature shades and anorak — balanced a tambourine on his head and offered gnomic shout-outs to Woody Woodpecker and to the sword swallowers in the audience.

But this was the least showy pop show I’ve seen in years; Oasis’ comeback is as much about the crowd as it is about the band — as much about the people singing along with the music as it is about the people making it. Song after song took the imperative mood: “Acquiesce,” “Bring It On Down,” “Fade Away,” “Stand By Me,” “Cast No Shadow,” “Slide Away” — each a command happily obeyed until the next one was issued forth, each abstract enough in its emotional specifics to satisfy whatever need it might meet. (“Someday you will find me / Caught beneath the landslide / In a Champagne supernova in the sky” still makes gloriously little sense.)

Because they’d done so much to bring the audience together, you couldn’t help by the end of the concert to long for a glimpse of a little brotherly love between the Gallaghers. They obliged during the finale, Liam circling Noel then clapping him on the back as the last chords of “Champagne Supernova” rang out and fireworks filled the sky with smoky light. It wasn’t much, and it was more than enough.

Police briefly detain some lawmakers at the demonstration, including opposition leader Rahul Gandhi.

India’s opposition parties have held a protest demanding the rollback of a revision of the voter list in the eastern state of Bihar, where elections are scheduled for its legislature in November.

Hundreds of lawmakers and supporters began Monday’s protest from parliament and were confronted by police who stopped them from marching towards the Election Commission office in the capital, New Delhi. Police briefly detained dozens of lawmakers, including the leader of the opposition Rahul Gandhi.

“This fight is not political but for saving the constitution,” Gandhi, who is an MP from the Indian National Congress party, told reporters after being detained.

“The truth is before the entire country,” he added.

More than 200 people took part in the protest, according to police officials quoted by the NDTV channel.

India’s opposition accuses the Election Commission of rushing through a mammoth electoral roll revision in the eastern state of Bihar, saying the exercise could render vast numbers of citizens unable to vote.

Gandhi last week said the revision of electoral rolls in Bihar is an “institutionalised chori [theft] to deny the poor their right to vote”.

The revision of nearly 80 million voter registrations

The revision affecting nearly 80 million voters involves strict documentation requirements from citizens, triggering concerns it could lead to the exclusion of vulnerable groups, especially those who are unable to produce the paperwork required to prove their citizenship.

Some of the documents required include birth certificates, passports and matriculation records.

Critics and opposition leaders said they are hard to come by in Bihar, where the literacy rate is among the lowest in India. They said the exercise will impact minorities the most, including Muslims, and bar them from voting.

India does not have a unique national identity card. The widely used biometric-linked identity card, called Aadhaar, is not among the documents listed by the Election Commission as acceptable proof for the electoral roll revision.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi‘s ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) called the opposition leaders’ protest a “well-thought-out strategy” to create a “state of anarchy”, the NDTV reported.

‘Intensive revision’ needed, Election Commission says

The election body has denied the voter disenfranchisement allegations and has promised to ensure that no eligible voter is “left behind”. It has also said the “intensive revision” is a routine update needed to avoid the “inclusion of the names of foreign illegal immigrants”.

According to the commission, 49.6 million voters whose names were included in a similar exercise in 2003 are not required to submit any further documents. But that still leaves almost 30 million other voters potentially vulnerable. A similar roll revision of voters is scheduled to be replicated across the entire country of 1.4 billion people.

Bihar is a crucial election battleground where the BJP has only ever governed in a coalition. Election results there could likely impact the balance of power in India’s Parliament.

The BJP has backed the revision and said it is necessary to update new voters and delete the names of those who have either died or moved to other states.

It also claimed the exercise is essential to weed out undocumented Muslim immigrants from neighbouring Bangladesh. But many Indian citizens, most of them Muslims, have been arrested and even deported to Bangladesh as part of a campaign launched by the BJP.

Critics and opposition leaders have also warned that the exercise is similar to that of a 2019 citizenship list in eastern India’s Assam state, which left nearly 2 million people at risk of statelessness.

Many of those left off the final citizenship list were Muslims who were declared “foreigners”. Some faced long periods of detention.

The tiny chocolate box village of Great Tew in Oxfordshire has just 156 residents and is served by one pub and a small cafe – but A-listers are moving in in their droves

Welcome to Britain’s Beverly Hills – where the hum of private jets fills the air and a single sausage roll will set you back £8.

The tiny chocolate box village of Great Tew in Oxfordshire has just 156 residents and is served by one pub and a small cafe. But in recent years, famous names have arrived in their droves, with everyone from the Beckhams and Simon Cowell to US chat show host Ellen DeGeneres calling it home.

And hundreds descended on the local church last month to watch the late tech billionaire Steve Jobs’ daughter Eve, 27, wed Olympic showjumper Harry Charles, 26. The newfound popularity of Great Tew – which has more thatched cottages per square mile than anywhere else in the country – has sent house prices skyrocketing, with a simple three-bed in the OX7 postcode now fetching at least £2.5million.

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Villagers reckon celebrities are drawn to the peace and quiet, but fear the parish will buckle under the strain. One says: “We’re overrun. People come here to celebrity spot. We’ve gone from being a place virtually nobody’s heard of to one of the UK’s most sought after. It’s pretty unbelievable when you think about it.”

It hasn’t always been this way. In the 1970s, many of the cottages lay derelict. One historian described it as “one of the most depressing sites in the country” and coachloads of people would visit to get a glimpse of the abandoned village that time had forgotten.

But things changed in 2015, when exclusive private members’ club Soho Farmhouse pitched up on the outskirts. The venue hosted Meghan Markle’s hen do in 2018. The £2,500-a-year club, which offers everything from surfboard yoga sessions to a Japanese grill house serving seared fish salads, quickly became the go-to weekend escape for the well-to-do.

A year later, David Beckham, 50, and wife Victoria, 51, nabbed the neighbouring barn conversion, which boasts a pool, football pitch and outdoor kitchen, for £6.15m. They were quickly followed by Simon Cowell, 65, and his fiancée Lauren Silverman, 48, who, locals say, have got stuck into village life.

One resident reveals: “Simon rides an electric bicycle. He’s a creature of habit and rides around the village each day on his set route before picking up a latte and smoothie from Quince and Clover.”

A small coffee at that cafe-cum-delicatessen costs £4, while ice creams start at £6.50 and smoothies at £7.95. Eggs and avocado on toast is priced at £17.50, a salt-beef bap is £16.95, and a sausage roll – albeit one adorned with fennel and sunflower seeds – comes in at £8.

Prices at the Falkland Arms pub next door – the go-to watering hole for the Soho Farmhouse set – are more modest, with cocktails starting at £8.45. Many of the rich and famous arrive in helicopters and private jets, landing at nearby Enstone Airfield before being ferried to the pub in one of the club’s electric Porsches.

Ellen DeGeneres is another local – and the 43-acre pad she bought there is on the market for £22.5m. The US TV host, 67, and her wife Portia de Rossi, 52, paid £15m in 2019 and, according to the estate agent, have transformed the converted barn into “an enchanting and secluded rural retreat”. There is a gym and pool, and the potential to turn the helicopter hangar into a tennis or padel court.

There wasn’t, however, enough room for Portia’s beloved horses, so they moved nearby. Great Tew is smack bang in the middle of the so-called Cotswolds’ golden triangle, sandwiched between the affluent market towns of Chipping Norton and Burford. Former PM Boris Johnson, 61, and his wife Carrie, 37, live in the nearby village of Brightwell-cum-Sotwell and 65-year-old Jeremy Clarkson’s Diddly Squat Farm is a 15-minute drive away. And US Vice President JD Vance, 41, is reportedly spending his summer in a sprawling manor house a stone’s throw away.

SACRAMENTO — For nearly 20 years, Maria would call her sister — a nurse in Mexico — for advice on how to manage her asthma and control her husband’s diabetes instead of going to the doctor in California.

She didn’t have legal status, so she couldn’t get health insurance and skipped routine exams, relying instead on home remedies and, at times, getting inhalers from Mexico. She insisted on using only her first name for fear of deportation.

Things changed for Maria and many others in recent years when some Democratic-led states opened up their health insurance programs to low-income immigrants regardless of their legal status. Maria and her husband signed up the day the program began last year.

“It changed immensely, like from Earth to the heavens,” Maria said in Spanish of Medi-Cal, California’s Medicaid program. “Having the peace of mind of getting insurance leads me to getting sick less.”

At least seven states and the District of Columbia have offered coverage for immigrants, mostly since 2020. But three of them have done an about-face, ending or limiting coverage for hundreds of thousands of immigrants who aren’t in the U.S. legally — California, Illinois and Minnesota.

The programs cost much more than officials had projected at a time when the states are facing multibillion-dollar deficits now and in the future. In Illinois, adult immigrants ages 42 to 64 without legal status have lost their healthcare to save an estimated $404 million. All adult immigrants in Minnesota no longer have access to the state program, saving nearly $57 million. In California, no one will automatically lose coverage, but new enrollments for adults will stop in 2026 to save more than $3 billion over several years.

Cuts in all three states were backed by Democratic governors who once championed expanding health coverage to immigrants.

The Trump administration this week shared the home addresses, ethnicities and personal data of all Medicaid recipients with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials. Twenty states, including California, Illinois and Minnesota, have sued.

Healthcare providers told the Associated Press that all of those factors, especially the fear of being arrested or deported, are having a chilling effect on people seeking care. And states may have to spend more money down the road because immigrants will avoid preventive healthcare and end up needing to go to safety-net hospitals.

“I feel like they continue to squeeze you more and more to the point where you’ll burst,” Maria said, referencing all the uncertainties for people who are in the U.S. without legal permission.

‘People are going to die’

People who run free and community health clinics in California and Minnesota said patients who got on state Medicaid programs received knee replacements and heart procedures and were diagnosed for serious conditions like late-stage cancer.

CommunityHealth is one of the nation’s largest free clinics, serving many uninsured and underinsured immigrants in the Chicago area who have no other options for treatment. That includes the people who lost coverage July 1 when Illinois ended its Health Benefits for Immigrants Adults Program, which served about 31,500 people ages 42 to 64.

One of CommunityHealth’s community outreach workers and care coordinator said Eastern European patients she works with started coming in with questions about what the change meant for them. She said many of the patients also don’t speak English and don’t have transportation to get to clinics that can treat them. The worker spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity to protect patients’ privacy.

Health Finders Collective in Minnesota’s rural Rice and Steele counties south of Minneapolis serves low-income and underinsured patients, including large populations of Latino immigrants and Somali refugees. Executive director Charlie Mandile said his clinics are seeing patients rushing to squeeze in appointments and procedures before 19,000 people age 18 and older are kicked off insurance at the end of the year.

Free and community health clinics in all three states say they will keep serving patients regardless of insurance coverage — but that might get harder after the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services decided this month to restrict federally qualified health centers from treating people without legal status.

CommunityHealth Chief Executive Stephanie Willding said she always worried about the stability of the program because it was fully state funded, “but truthfully, we thought that day was much, much further away.”

“People are going to die. Some people are going to go untreated,” Alicia Hardy, chief executive officer of CommuniCARE+OLE clinics in California, said of the state’s Medicaid changes. “It’s hard to see the humanity in the decision-making that’s happening right now.”

A spokesperson for the Minnesota Department of Health said ending the state’s program will decrease MinnesotaCare spending in the short term, but she acknowledged healthcare costs would rise elsewhere, including uncompensated care at hospitals.

Minnesota House Speaker Lisa Demuth, a Republican, said the state’s program was not sustainable.

“It wasn’t about trying to be non-compassionate or not caring about people,” she said. “When we looked at the state budget, the dollars were not there to support what was passed and what was being spent.”

Demuth also noted that children will still have coverage, and adults lacking permanent legal status can buy private health insurance.

Healthcare providers also are worried that preventable conditions will go unmanaged, and people will avoid care until they end up in emergency rooms — where care will be available under federal law.

One of those safety-net public hospitals, Cook County Health in Chicago, treated about 8,000 patients from Illinois’ program last year. Dr. Erik Mikaitis, the health system’s CEO, said doing so brought in $111 million in revenue.

But he anticipated other providers who billed through the program could close, he said. “Things can become unstable very quickly,” he said.

Monthly fees, federal policies create barriers

State lawmakers said California’s Medi-Cal changes stem from budget issues — a $12-billion deficit this year, with larger ones projected ahead. Democratic state leaders last month agreed to stop new enrollment starting in 2026 for all low-income adults without legal status. Those under 60 remaining on the program will have to pay a $30 monthly fee in 2027.

States are also bracing for impact from federal policies. Cuts to Medicaid and other programs in President Trump’s massive tax and spending bill include a 10% cut to the federal share of Medicaid expansion costs to states that offer health benefits to immigrants starting October 2027.

California health officials estimate roughly 200,000 people will lose coverage after the first full year of restricted enrollment, though Gov. Gavin Newsom maintains that even with the rollbacks, California provides the most expansive healthcare coverage for poor adults.

Every new bill requires a shift in Maria’s monthly calculations to make ends meet. She believes many people won’t be able to afford the $30-a-month premiums and will instead go back to self-medication or skip treatment altogether.

“It was a total triumph,” she said of Medi-Cal expansion. “But now that all of this is coming our way, we’re going backwards to a worse place.”

Fear and tension about immigration raids are changing patient behavior, too. Providers told the AP that, as immigration raids ramped up, their patients were requesting more virtual appointments, not showing up to routine doctor’s visits and not picking up prescriptions for their chronic conditions.

Maria has the option to keep her coverage. But she is weighing the health of her family against risking what they’ve built in the U.S.

“It’s going to be very difficult,” Maria said of her decision to remain on the program. “If it comes to the point where my husband gets sick and his life is at risk, well then, obviously, we have to choose his life.”

Nguyễn and Shastri write for the Associated Press and reported from Sacramento and Milwaukee, respectively. AP journalist Godofredo Vasquez in San Francisco contributed to this report.

Connie Francis, the angelic-voiced singer who was one of the biggest recording stars of the late 1950s and early 1960s, has died. She was 87.

Her friend and publicist, Ron Roberts, announced the singer’s death Thursday, according to the Associated Press.

A month prior to her death, Francis was hospitalized for “extreme pain” following a fracture in her pelvic area. The singer, who shared details about her health with fans on social media, used a wheelchair in her later years and said she lived with a “troublesome painful hip.”

Francis emerged when rock ’n’ roll first captivated America. Her earliest hits — a dreamy arrangement of the old standard “Who’s Sorry Now?,” the cheerfully silly “Stupid Cupid” and the galloping “Lipstick on Your Collar” — fit neatly into the emerging genre’s lighter side. Although she targeted teen listeners with such songs as the spring break anthem “Where the Boys Are,” Francis ultimately gravitated toward the middle of the road, singing softly lit, tasteful pop for adult audiences.

Francis’ commercial peak roughly spanned from Elvis Presley’s induction into the U.S. Army to the Beatles first setting foot on American soil. Over that five-year period, Francis was one of the biggest stars in music, earning three No. 1 hits: “Everybody’s Somebody’s Fool,” “My Heart Has a Mind of Its Own” and “Don’t Break the Heart That Loves You.” As her singles offered familiar adolescent fare, her albums were constructed for specific demographics. During the early ’60s, she cut records dedicated to “Italian Favorites,” “Rock ’n’ Roll Million Sellers,” “Country & Western,” “Fun Songs for Children,” “Jewish Favorites” and “Spanish and Latin American Favorites,” even recording versions of her hits in Italian, German, Spanish and Japanese.

This adaptability became a considerable asset once her pop hits dried up in the mid-’60s. Francis continued to be a popular concert attraction through the 1960s, her live success sustaining her as she eased into adult contemporary fare. A number of personal tragedies stalled her career in the 1970s, but by the ’90s, her life stabilized enough for her to return to the stage, playing venues in Las Vegas, Atlantic City and elsewhere until her retirement in the 2010s.

Connie Francis circa 1960.

(Archive Photos/Getty Images)

Connie Francis was born Concetta Maria Franconero on Dec. 12, 1938, in Newark, N.J. When she was 3, her father bought her an accordion and she spent her childhood learning Italian folk songs. By age 10, her parents enrolled her in local talent contests. When her father attempted to book her on the New York-based television show “Startime,” producer George Scheck only agreed because Francis played the accordion and he was “up to here in singers.” Francis remained a fixture on “Startime” through her early teens — Scheck served as her manager during these formative years — during which time she also appeared on Arthur Grodfrey’s “Talent Scouts.” Godfrey stumbled over her Italian name, suggesting she shorten it to something “easy and Irish,” thereby giving birth to her stage name.

Scheck managed to secure Francis a record contract with MGM in 1955. As she received work dubbing her singing voice for film actresses — she subbed for Tuesday Weld in 1956’s “Rock, Rock, Rock” and Freda Holloway in 1957’s “Jamboree” — MGM steadily attempted to move her from pop to rock. Nothing clicked until Francis recorded “Who’s Sorry Now?” as a favor to her father, giving the 1923 tune a romantic sway.

“Who’s Sorry Now?” caught the ear of Dick Clark, who regularly played the record on his “American Bandstand,” which had just expanded into the national market. Clark’s endorsement helped break “Who’s Sorry Now?” and sent it into the Billboard Top 10. MGM attempted to replicate its success by having Francis spruce up old chestnuts, but to no avail. The singer didn’t have another hit until she cut “Stupid Cupid,” a song co-written by Neil Sedaka and Howie Greenfield, a pair of young songwriters at the Brill Building who were navigating the distance separating Broadway-bound pop and rock ’n’ roll.

“Stupid Cupid” was the first of many hits she’d have with the songwriters, including the slinky ‘Fallin’” and the ballad “Frankie.” She later said, “Neil and Howie never failed to come up with a hit for me. It was a great marriage. We thought the same way.” Sedaka and Greenfield weren’t the only Brill Building songwriters to command Francis’ attention: She developed a romance with a pre-fame Bobby Darin, who was chased away by her father.

Over the next few years, Francis recorded both standards and new songs from Sedaka and Greenfield, along with material from other emerging songwriters, such as George Goehring and Edna Lewis, who wrote the lively “Lipstick on Your Collar.” Within less than two years, her popularity was such that MGM released five different Connie Francis LPs for Christmas 1959: a set of holiday tunes, a greatest-hits record, an LP dedicated to country, one dedicated to rock ’n’ roll and a set of Italian music, performed partially in the original language.

Connie Francis and Neil Sedaka in 2007.

(George Napolitano / FilmMagic / Getty Images)

With her popularity at an apex, Connie Francis made her cinematic debut in the 1960 teen comedy “Where the Boys Are,” which also featured a Sedaka and Greenfield song as its theme. Francis appeared in three quasi-sequels culminating in 1965’s “When the Boys Meet the Girls,” but she never felt entirely comfortable onscreen, preferring live performance. “Vacation” became her last Top 10 single in 1962 — the same year she published the book “For Every Young Heart: Connie Francis Talks to Teenagers.” Too young to be an oldies act, Francis spent the remainder of the 1960s chasing a few trends — in 1968, she released “Connie & Clyde — Hit Songs of the ’30s,” a rushed attempt to cash in on the popularity of Arthur Penn’s controversial hit film “Bonnie and Clyde” — while busying herself on a showbiz circuit that encompassed Vegas, television variety shows and singing for troops in Vietnam.

A comeback attempt in the early 1970s was swiftly derailed by tragedy. After appearing at Long Island’s Westbury Music Fair on Nov. 8, 1974, she was sexually assaulted in her Howard Johnson’s hotel room; the culprit was never caught. Francis sued the hotel chain; she’d later win a $2.5-million settlement that helped reshape security practices in the hospitality industry. As she was recovering from her assault, she underwent a nasal surgery that went astray, leading her to lose her voice for years; it took three subsequent surgeries before she regained her ability to sing. Francis spent much of the remainder of the ’70s battling severe depression, but once her voice returned, recordings happened on occasion, including a disco version of “Where the Boys Are” in 1978.

Connie Francis.

(ullstein bild via Getty Images)

Francis returned to the public eye in the early 1980s, first as a victims rights activist, then as a live performer. Her comeback was marred by further tragedy — the murder of her brother George, a lawyer who became a government witness after pleading guilty to bank fraud; the police indicated the killing was related to organized crime.

Francis continued to work in the wake of his death, playing shows and writing her 1984 autobiography, “Who’s Sorry Now?,” but she continued to be plagued with personal problems. She told the Village Voice’s Michael Musto, “In the ’80s I was involuntarily committed to mental institutions 17 times in nine years in five different states. I was misdiagnosed as bipolar, ADD, ADHD, and a few other letters the scientific community had never heard of.” After receiving a diagnosis for post-traumatic stress disorder, Francis returned to live performances in the 1990s; one of her shows was documented on “The Return Concert Live at Trump’s Castle,” a 1996 album that was her last major-label release. When asked by the Las Vegas Sun in 2004 if life was still a struggle, she responded, “Not for the past 12 years.”

Francis regularly played casinos and theaters in the 2000s as she developed a biopic of her life with Gloria Estefan, who planned to play the former teen idol. The film never materialized. In 2010, Francis became the national spokesperson for Mental Health America’s trauma campaign. By the end of the 2010s, she retired to Parkland, Fla., and published her second memoir, “Among My Souvenirs: The Real Story, Vol. 1,” in 2017.

Connie Francis married four times. Her first marriage, to Dick Kanellis in 1964, ended after three months; her second, to Izzy Marion, lasted from 1971 to 1972. She adopted a child with her third husband, Joseph Garzilli, to whom she was wed from 1973 to 1978. Her fourth marriage, to Bob Parkinson, ended in 1986 after one year.

Good morning, and welcome to L.A. on the Record — our City Hall newsletter. It’s Noah Goldberg with an assist from David Zahniser, giving you the latest on city and county government.

A few Los Angeles city councilmembers got in some final zingers before packing their bags for summer recess.

It was the final council session before the three-week pause, and members were working their way through a thick agenda Tuesday. After weeks in which the main focus has been President Trump’s immigration crackdown in the city, it didn’t appear there would be fireworks.

Then, Councilmember Traci Park rolled her eyes at Councilmember Hugo Soto-Martínez while he was speaking. And Councilmember Monica Rodriguez had some sharp words for both of them.

Let’s backtrack and figure out how we got there.

In May, the council passed an ordinance to raise the minimum wage for hotel and airport workers to $30 per hour — higher than the city’s minimum wage — with Park, Rodriguez and Councilmember John Lee voting against it.

Soto-Martínez, a former organizer with the hotel and restaurant union Unite Here Local 11, which pushed for the minimum wage hike, led the charge at City Hall.

Park said she voted against the ordinance because she thought that it didn’t take into account economic realities and that it would result in hotel and airport workers losing their jobs. Park’s opponent in a bitterly contested general election for her Westside council seat in 2022 was a Unite Here-backed candidate, Erin Darling.

After the minimum wage hike passed, a business coalition called the L.A. Alliance for Tourism, Jobs and Progress began a campaign to overturn it by gathering signatures to place it on the June 2026 ballot, which would at least delay its implementation.

Things quickly got ugly. Unite Here’s lawyer alleged in a letter to the L.A. County district attorney and the city attorney that petition circulators for the business coalition misrepresented their campaign to voters and even assaulted activists on multiple occasions.

Meanwhile, a petition circulator alleged that she was assaulted outside a Food 4 Less in Inglewood by an SEIU-USWW executive board member while gathering signatures. The woman filed a police report, and a judge granted her request for a temporary restraining order against the board member.

Enter Soto-Martínez and Park.

Soto-Martínez quickly drafted a motion asking for the LAPD to investigate the petition circulators for fraud and other misconduct alleged in the Unite Here letter.

When Soto-Martínez introduced his motion at the City Council’s Economic Development and Jobs Committee last month, Park spoke up, saying it was hypocritical for Unite Here to complain about misleading campaigns when it engaged in the same tactics “on a regular basis.”

Park quoted from a text message campaign that she said dozens of her constituents had brought to her attention.

“A new complaint alleges paid signature gatherers are using misdirection and misconduct to collect these signatures. Don’t sign the petition. Email Traci Park to tell her to stop this misleading effort to lower the minimum wage,” read a text message from Citizens in Support of the LA Olympic Wage, a campaign backed by Unite Here in favor of the hotel and airport minimum wage.

Park said the text made it sound as if she were involved in the campaign to repeal the ordinance.

“I have nothing to do with it. No one ever consulted me about it. No one ever asked my opinion about it,” she said at the committee meeting.

When the committee approved Soto-Martínez’s motion on June 17, she voted “no,” saying any investigation should scrutinize both sides of the wage campaign. The motion reached the full council on Tuesday.

Park quoted from the text campaign again and introduced an amendment asking for the LAPD to investigate both sides of the petition fight — those aligned with the L.A. Alliance for Tourism and those aligned with Unite Here.

“We know that engaging in misleading tactics are not unique to one group or one organization,” she said. “I know this because I have personally been targeted by misleading smear campaigns by the very group now complaining about this behavior.”

Soto-Martínez fired back at his colleague.

“There have been plenty of things said about me that have been misleading and I didn’t agree with, but I didn’t bring it into this chamber,” he said.

Soto-Martínez also said he wanted to draw a distinction between the text message campaign about Park and the alleged physical assaults against Unite Here campaigners.

Still, in the end, he said he supported Park’s amendment.

Park could be seen in a video recording of the council meeting rolling her eyes as Soto-Martínez finished his speech.

In a statement, Unite Here co-President Kurt Petersen called Park’s comments at the council meeting “unbelievably narcissistic.”

“Working people plea for her help after they were allegedly assaulted while they campaigned to raise wages. Instead of focusing on helping the victims, Councilmember Park complains about being criticized for her vote against the minimum wage, and equates criticism of her to the alleged political violence,” Petersen said. “This kind of greedy self involvement in the face of injustice is a hallmark of the billionaire allies of Councilmember Traci Park, and it’s why working people don’t trust her.”

Park responded in a statement, “Kurt Petersen is killing jobs and tanking our local economy. Iconic restaurants are closing, airport workers are being replaced by kiosks, hotels are pulling out, and working families are losing, not winning. His divisive and reckless tactics are speeding up automation and driving opportunity out of Los Angeles.”

Councilmember Rodriguez chastised both Park and Soto-Martínez.

“I think this idea that’s trying to assign blame to one side or another is kind of futile, given the demands of what we need LAPD to be focused on, but I think performative politics is the name of the game these days,” Rodriguez said. “Everyone needs to grow the hell up.”

State of play

— SANCTUARY SUIT: The Department of Justice filed suit against the city of Los Angeles on Monday over its sanctuary ordinance, calling the ordinance illegal and saying that it discriminates against Immigration and Customs Enforcement. L.A.’s refusal to cooperate with federal immigration authorities has resulted in “lawlessness, rioting, looting, and vandalism,” according to the lawsuit. Mayor Karen Bass called the lawsuit part of an “all out assault on Los Angeles” by President Trump. Immigrant rights groups filed their own lawsuit against the Trump administration Wednesday, seeking to block the administration’s “ongoing pattern and practice of flouting the Constitution and federal law” during immigration raids in the L.A. area.

— HOMELESSNESS DROP: Homelessness declined by 15% overall in three areas of Los Angeles in 2024, according to a new Rand study. The biggest drop came in Hollywood, where the report found that the number of homeless people decreased 49% from 2023. The number fell 22% in Venice and went up 9% in Skid Row, according to the report. The Rand study linked the Hollywood decrease to a series of Inside Safe operations in 2024.

— SEE YA, CEQA: As part of the state budget, the California State Legislature passed Assembly Bill 130 and Senate Bill 131 Monday, which exempts most urban housing projects from the California Environmental Quality Act. The act, known as CEQA, has often mired construction projects in years of litigation. Gov. Gavin Newsom muscled the new rules through the Legislature despite concerns from progressive lawmakers and environmental interest groups.

— MANSION SPEND: The L.A. City Council approved a plan Tuesday to spend almost $425 million collected from the city’s “mansion” tax on property sales over $5 million. Backers of the controversial tax — which has been criticized by the real estate industry for limiting property sales and reducing property tax revenue — say the fund is producing crucial dollars for affordable housing and homelessness prevention programs.

— FROZEN FUNDS: The Trump administration moved to withhold $811 million from California that would have helped students who are learning English or are from migrant families. “The [Education] Department remains committed to ensuring taxpayer resources are spent in accordance with the President’s priorities and the Department’s statutory responsibilities,” the administration said in a letter to states on Monday.

QUICK HITS

• Where is Inside Safe? The mayor’s signature homelessness program returned to locations of past operations in Echo Park, Watts and South L.A. this week, according to the mayor’s office.
• On the docket for next week: The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors will vote to appoint Sarah Mahin as the first executive director for the county’s new Department of Homeless Services and Housing.

Stay in touch

That’s it for this week! Send your questions, comments and gossip to [email protected]. Did a friend forward you this email? Sign up here to get it in your inbox every Saturday morning.

At Primavera Sound Barcelona, Rhian Teasdale, 32, emerges from smoke, stained the color orange by stage lights, gallantly flexing her arms in the air. She hovers over the mic, revealing bleached eyebrows and hair that fades from brown roots to pink. Her outfit is highlighted by a trimmed white shirt and neon fishnet leggings — a clear departure from the bohemian style that proved prevalent amid the release of “Wet Leg” in 2022.

Anyone who has seen the five-piece rock ensemble in 2025 will know that this is a visually different band than that of three years ago.

“It was five years ago that we made the ‘Chaise Longue’ video,” Teasdale says. “People have seen your image as a certain way, and then you grow, you change.

“It’s funny how much people expect you to stay the same, and it’s somehow this big statement to grow and change.”

Rhian Teasdale and Hester Chambers of the rock quintet.

(Alice Backham)

She also notes that “subconsciously,” she had chosen her former attire out of discomfort. Now, feeling more at home in her own skin, she can take a more authentic approach to herself.

“I did not want to be sexualized by men,” she reflects. “The thought of showing any skin and anyone maybe thinking that it was for the male gaze made me want to cover up and not be noticed.

“It wasn’t a conscious gear shift kind of thing, but there are a few things that I can look back on and pinpoint why I’m able to have so much more self-expression.”

Still, their self-titled debut — as kitschy and cottagecore as it was in appearance and sound — certainly warranted the reception that it received, featuring tantalizing tracks such as “Chaise Longue” and “Wet Dream.” In the latter’s music video, Teasdale and Chambers unforgettably prance around in long, blue dresses while sporting lobster claw gloves. But it would be “Chaise Longue” that snatched up a Grammy award in the alternative music performance category; the band also won for alternative music album.

For being stuck within the confines of an island populated by just 140,000 people, Wet Leg’s rise was meteoric. Teasdale mentions that the lives of the Isle of Wight natives were “completely changed”; she was a stylist assistant for commercials in London, bassist Ellis Durand was putting up scaffolding, drummer Henry Holmes was a surf instructor, guitarist Joshua Mobaraki worked in a café and Chambers had taken up a position making jewelry in the family business.

Indeed, the “very sleepy and small-minded” island off the coast of England, known for its beautiful coasts, isaltogether a grain of sand in the Channel, hidden underneath the mainland’s shadow.

“You have to take a boat over there,” Teasdale says of the island. “There’s no bridge, there’s no tunnel.”

Though she’s since moved to London, leaving it in the rearview at 18, she notes that Chambers, Mobaraki and Durand still call it home. Holmes also made the mad dash to the city.

“We’re all just living our little lives and all of a sudden you’re touring the world,” Teasdale says. “It’s crazy going to the Grammys and looking at all the famous people off the telly and just feeling very odd.”

Though, it now seems that the group are well adjusted to fame, as they return for their sophomore album, “Moisturizer.” It’s a far more sonically expressive, authentic and raw record than that of its predecessor. Though no one can deny the hypnotic nature of hits like “Chaise Longue” and “Wet Dream,” the group has undeniably evolved and it shows across the entire 12-track project.

Wet Leg has experienced a change of appearance since their debut three years ago.

(Iris Luiz)

It opens up with the oh-so-smooth “CPR,” the second single released off the album, which Teasdale describes as “walking up to a great height [and] jumping into the abyss that is love.” This proves to be a consistent theme across “Moisturizer,” which often feels like Teasdale’s ode to an aching heart. “CPR” is just the “launchpad” for the “rest of the tunes to spawn from.”

This pours into “liquidize,” which teems with a sense of yearning, questioning in heartache , “So many creatures in the f— world / How could I be your one?” On the rougher “jennifer’s body,” Teasdale’s soft delivery shines through to say “Every day starts and ends with you / Hold me down I get high on you” before taking a backseat and letting Chambers’ guitar wail away.

“I think before falling in love this time around with my current partner, I just had no interest in writing love songs,” Teasdale confesses. “I’d only dated men up until my partner… I feel like the world is so saturated with love songs from a very heteronormative perspective and I felt no interest in it at all.”

As for the change of heart: “I think love just hit me really heavy this time… I’m just so very, very, very, in love.”

Hilariously, she also compares the album rollout process this time around to a fairly obscure occupation she was thrown into prior to the band’s rise. Teasdale, who once worked as a baker, says their debut was like “when you start a new job and you’ve been told you have to make doughnuts.”

“You don’t know where any of the stuff is, so someone has to teach you… where the cookie cutters are, and where the box of sugar is,” she says, laughing. “You know, just like rolling out an album, rolling out the doughnut, rolling out that dough.”

A highlight of the album comes in their third single, “davina mccall,” a mellow and dreamy song that references the famed British “national treasure” known for her work as a TV presenter on “Big Brother.” Teasdale says she watched the show as a kid in the 2000s and was always fascinated when McCall would turn to the camera and say, “This is Davina, I’m coming to get you” when a contestant was eliminated.

“It was a very dramatic moment when Davina McCall was coming to get you,” she says. “It’s kind of a little joke that I’ll come and pick you up wherever you are.”

Teasdale says McCall even recently came to a Wet Leg show after the band had told her they’d written a song using her name. Thankfully, she was “so cool” and gave “the best hugs ever.”

But fans will also be pleased to notice that the group has still maintained their signature, bold tongue-in-cheek style of lyrics. On “mangetout,” Teasdale sings “You wanna f— me? / I know, most people do” over a smooth riff and declares on “pillow talk” that “Every night I f— my pillow / I wish I was f— you.”

“The more muscular sound that is on this album is just the result of five people that have been touring together for something shy of three years,” she says. “I think my sense of humor will always be the same… it’s kind of impossible to leave that behind.”

In the last few tracks, the album noticeably slows down. “11:21” is a beautiful song that finds strength in its simplicity. The title is a call back to the day Teasdale met her partner: “Time goes by / But I feel the same about you since the day we first met,” she sings.

(Top to Bottom) Hester Chambers, Joshua Mobaraki, Ellis Durand, Henry Holmes and Rhian Teasdale of Wet Leg.

(Alice Backham)

It’s sandwiched between “don’t speak,” which falls short of capturing the same essence that the rest of “Moisturizer” is peppered with, and “u and me at home.” The latter is the album’s closer and features some of Chambers’ best performances on the album; it’s a befitting farewell to an excellent project.

“I think when you’re really close with someone, it just means that you don’t have to use words,” Teasdale says of working with Chambers. “It’s just easy and joyful and the most natural thing.”

“Moisturizer” hits streaming services and music store shelves on July 11, with all the potential of outperforming their debut, even with it being as successful as it was. Together, the band sounds more refined than three years ago and — if their recent performances are anything to go off of — looks to light up the stage on their North American tour, which starts in September and makes a stop in Los Angeles on Oct. 17.

“I’m just excited for people to hear the rest of the album, because it’s just a fun album,” Teasdale says. “We made it to be played live, so I’m excited for when it’s not a secret thing anymore.”

GREGGS’ sausage roll is being honoured with its own wax figure at Madame Tussauds. 

The iconic savoury treat’s effigy will be unveiled at the attraction for National Sausage Roll day next week. 

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It will be displayed on a regal blue velvet cushion, sitting on a plinth and accompanied by a plaque, which salutes the “significant contribution it delivers to Britain’s culinary heritage”. 

For a limited time, it will take its place alongside the likes of William Shakespeare, Sir David Attenborough and Stormzy at the London wax museum’s Culture Capital zone, dedicated to those who have shaped Britain. 

Greggs chief exec Roisin Currie said: “Seeing our sausage roll receive the celebrity treatment is a proud and slightly surreal moment for all of us at Greggs.” 

The model snack was crafted at Madame Tussauds’ London studio following the same process used for human figures. 

Artists spent hours ensuring it was correct in every detail. 

The plaque notes Greggs was founded in 1951 — and that 365million of its sausage rolls, each with 96 layers of flaky pastry, are bought every year. 

It is the first time that an individual food item has been so honoured at the attraction. 

Jo Kinsey, studio manager at Madame Tussauds London, said: “The Greggs sausage roll is synonymous with British culture — we just had to put it in our Culture Zone. 

“Our artists have put in numerous hours to capture every detail. The pressure was on to capture it perfectly because we know how passionate Brits are about their favourite pastry.” 

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A series of new executive orders seeks to fast-track approvals to grow the US’s nuclear energy sector, a lengthy process.

United States President Donald Trump has signed a series of new executive orders aimed at boosting nuclear energy production in the country, while rolling back regulations.

Friday’s orders, signed by Trump at an Oval Office event, called on the nation’s independent Nuclear Regulatory Commission to cut down on regulations and fast-track new licences for reactors and power plants.

One order requires the body to make decisions on new nuclear reactors within 18 months. That would severely pare down a process that can take more than a decade. Speaking from the Oval Office, Trump described the nuclear industry as “hot”.

“It’s a brilliant industry. You have to do it right,” he said, flanked by CEOs of nuclear companies, as well as Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum.

Burgum told reporters that the president’s actions would “turn the clock back on over 50 years of overregulation” in the nuclear industry.

Trump’s orders also called for assessing staffing levels at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and directed the US Departments of Energy and Defense to work together to build nuclear plants on federal land.

Building more nuclear reactors, an official told reporters in advance of the signing, is aimed in part at addressing the increased energy needs created by artificial intelligence (AI) technology.

It was not immediately clear how much authority Trump and the executive branch could assert over the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which Congress created as an independent agency in 1974.

Trump’s orders also called for growth in the domestic production and enrichment of uranium, the primary fuel used in nuclear power.

‘National energy emergency’

Trump has focused heavily on energy industry deregulation since taking office for a second term in January, but much of the emphasis has been directed at fossil fuels.

On January 20, the day he returned to the White House, Trump declared a “national energy emergency”.

As part of that order, he called on the heads of federal agencies to identify any emergency powers they could use to “facilitate the identification, leasing, siting, production, transportation, refining, and generation of domestic energy resources” on federal and non-federal land.

He further called high energy prices an “active threat” to US citizens and national security.

Nuclear energy has long been a thorny issue in the US, splitting those who seek alternatives to fossil fuels.

On one hand, the industry offers a means of producing energy with low levels of greenhouse gas emissions. But on the other hand, the production of nuclear energy creates waste that can remain radioactive for long periods of time, and requires special storage to ensure public safety.

Nuclear power also carries the risk of rare, but potentially cataclysmic, accidents.

For many, incidents like the Three Mile Island accident represent the possible dangers. In 1979, the nuclear generator on Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania suffered a mechanical failure, releasing radioactive gases into the air and spurring a backlash against nuclear power.

Even with Trump’s regulatory rollback, many experts in the field believe it would take years for the US to scale up its nuclear infrastructure.

A MAJOR retailer has revealed a plan to roll out self checkouts to more than 100 stores – and its proving divisive with shoppers.

Homeware experts Dunelm will have unveiled the new till systems in more than half of its UK stores by the end of 2026.

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Dunelm announced the move in a financial update to shareholders, explaining it was focused on “harnessing our operational capabilities”.

It has since revealed that trials had been held for 12 months and generated positive feedback.

A Dunelm spokesperson said: “We have been trialling assisted self-service tills in a number of our stores over the past year, receiving some very good feedback from customers who have welcomed the ease, speed and convenience of this option.

“As a result, we will be rolling out to more stores in our estate in the future. We continue to offer regular tills across all our stores should customers prefer this option.”

Despite the store’s claims, self service checkouts have long proved divisive for consumers.

Dunelm’s Taunton store was among the first to see the new systems installed and a report in the local press attracted varied comments.

One reader said: “I will not be using them! I very much disagree with upper management’s underhand way of getting rid of staff so they get more money in their salary and they very rarely work properly anyway.”

When the news was first revealed another shopper said they “hate” self service tills and wanted “just regular” ones instead.

Another customer said they would only use it if they were given “a discount for doing someone’s job“.

While a third person said they “absolutely” hate them too.

Last month the boss of Booths supermarkets admitted that its customers were happier after the business took the decision to remove self-checkouts from stores.

Previously released data from The Grocer revealed that the checkouts could see service satisfaction scores fall by as much as 8%.

Last year, Asda also said it will put more staff on the tills as part of a £30m investment to get customers back in stores.

But, despite some negative reviews other stores are increasing their use of self checkouts.

Sainsbury’s is currently testing a giant hybrid self-scan till with a scanner on a moving conveyor belt.

This would give shoppers more space to scan and pack bigger trolleys.

Primark has also introduced self scanning tills across a number of its stores, alongside Zara and Berskha.

A full list of the Dunelm stores to receive the self-checkouts has yet to be revealed.

How to dodge the self checkouts

If you want to dodge the self checkouts, you may want to consider using scan as you go technology.

Scan as you go systems are the latest addition to the supermarket shopping experience with several retailers making them a permanent feature in big stores.

They allow customers to scan as they browse, either using their smartphone or a handheld device.

Then most shops allow you to check out at a completely different area to other shoppers, saving time in queues.

It means that shoppers can keep track of how much they’re spending as they go around the aisles, allowing you to budget and stick to your list.

It also means that you can bag your groceries as you wander around too – saving you even more time.

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