Gogglebox star Ken Harwood from County Durham has died aged 77 following a short illness, with Channel 4 and fans remembering the beloved TV personality as a “legend”

The Gogglebox family is mourning the devastating loss of beloved former cast member Ken, but what do we know about the cherished TV personality?

Ken made his debut on the enduring Channel 4 series in 2021 during the opening episode of series 17, appearing alongside his wife Anne – and the pair swiftly captured viewers’ hearts.

The County Durham duo graced our screens for five series before departing in 2022. Tragically, this week brought news that Ken had passed away following a brief illness, at the age of 77.

But what’s the story behind Anne and Ken’s enduring marriage? And what touching moment did Ken create during their Gogglebox debut? Here’s what we know about Ken.

Born in Consett, County Durham in 1948, Ken dedicated three decades to working as a postmaster before transitioning into local council work. He eventually stepped back from public life in 2013, reports Chronicle Live.

While details about Anne remain relatively private, she shared more than half a century of marriage with Ken. Their inaugural appearance on the programme featured a particularly heartwarming scene when Ken surprised Anne with a stunning bouquet of roses.

During the episode, Anne graciously accepted the gorgeous arrangement, exclaiming: “God they are beautiful.” Ken then revealed there were 50 roses, representing each year of their life together.

Anne responded: “You have put me to shame now with a card and roses, and I got you nothing. But you have me and that’s all you need.”

In a separate episode, Anne had viewers in stitches with her brilliant reaction to Ken’s ill-timed sneezing bout. As the sneezes began, Anne attempted to halt them by reciting a rhyme, where each sneeze supposedly brought him something special.

Anne reckoned Ken had bagged a wish, a kiss, a letter and something better. But then she drew a blank on how it continued. In the end, she quipped: “Oh hell, here we go.”

Gogglebox announced Ken’s passing on Friday (May 15). In their statement, they shared: “Ken will be dearly missed by his wife Anne, sons Simon and Ross, daughter-in-law, Elle, grandchildren Freya and Tristram, and all who knew him.”

They added: “There will be a tribute to Ken at the end of Channel 4’s episode on Gogglebox tonight.” As word spread of the devastating news, fans poured out their grief. One wrote: “Sad news.” While another commented: “Rest easy legend.”

Gogglebox airs every Friday at 9pm on Channel 4

This article explores the historical significance and modern recognition of Girmit Day in Fiji, a holiday established to honor the legacy of indentured Indian laborers. Between 1879 and 1916, over 60,000 workers arrived in the country under British labor agreements, eventually forming a distinct Indo-Fijian identity through the merging of various castes and regions. The text highlights how these individuals transitioned from bonded field work to becoming influential leaders in business and politics, despite facing systemic challenges regarding land ownership. Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka officially inaugurated the national holiday to acknowledge their cultural contributions and status as an ess … 

NEW YORK — A federal immigration court in Lower Manhattan has come to represent the Trump administration’s deportation campaign in New York City, with agents carrying out chaotic and sometimes violent arrests in the hallway as migrants leave hearings.

Now the court is serving as a front in a different kind of battle: one of the city’s most closely watched congressional races.

In the Democratic primary between incumbent U.S. Rep. Dan Goldman and former city Comptroller Brad Lander — for a district so solidly blue that the June primary is considered its deciding election — both candidates have made the Trump administration’s treatment of migrants at 26 Federal Plaza a feature of their campaigns, but with decidedly different approaches.

Goldman — an heir to the Levi Strauss denim fortune and former prosecutor who was lead counsel for President Trump’s first impeachment — has approached the topic with a lawyerly bent that leverages the power of his office.

He sued the administration to open immigration detention centers to members of Congress, conducts oversight visits and turned his office across the street into what he’s called a triage center that connects immigrants with advocacy groups and legal services that has, his campaign said, helped more than 30 people get released from federal custody.

After a recent visit, Goldman credited his oversight work as a reason conditions at a holding facility inside the building have improved.

“What you see from our multipronged approach is the way that I push back, which is not performative, but it is substantive,” he told the Associated Press outside 26 Federal Plaza after he toured the detention center that is closed to the public.

Meanwhile, Lander — a progressive city government stalwart who is running with the support of Mayor Zohran Mamdani — has acted as protester and court observer, watching hearings and attempting to accompany immigrants out of the building past masked federal agents.

His efforts have gotten him arrested twice, with the most recent case headed to a trial scheduled to take place just before the primary.

“I would characterize his oversight function as strongly worded letters,” Lander told AP when asked about Goldman’s approach. “And my oversight function is: Show up with hundreds of your neighbors and bear witness and accompany people and demand access and stay until they give it to you or they arrest you.”

Lander’s first arrest happened last year when he linked arms with a person authorities were attempting to detain in the hallway outside the court. Lander was running for mayor at the time, and the arrest gave his campaign a jolt of excitement at a time when Mamdani and former Gov. Andrew Cuomo were considered the front-runners in the race.

A few months later, after losing the mayoral primary but not long before launching his congressional campaign, Lander was arrested again during a large protest at the building and hit with a misdemeanor obstruction charge.

But instead of accepting a deal that would have made the case go away in six months, Lander instead opted to go to trial. He said the case would extract information about the federal government’s immigration enforcement efforts at the building during a tense period that predates Goldman’s oversight visits.

Goldman dismissed Lander’s efforts as performative.

“I don’t understand why someone would reject a dismissal of a case so that he can have a public trial, ostensibly to ask for information that I could provide him whenever he wanted because I have the answers from doing my oversight,” he said.

This week, Lander returned to 26 Federal Plaza to sit in on hearings. But just before entering the building, his team got word that federal agents were lingering outside an immigration hearing at a different federal courtroom in a building across the street. He raced over and eventually found the agents, who were wearing masks and milling around in the court’s waiting room.

“The challenge is trying to figure out who they’re going to arrest,” Lander said, popping out of the hearing, where he sat in a back row and took notes. After a while, the agents walked away from the hearing room, down a hallway and exited the floor. It was not clear why they left.

“Maybe we have different styles,” Lander said of his opponent after the agents departed. He later went back across the street and filmed a campaign video in front of 26 Federal Plaza.

Izaguirre writes for the Associated Press.

Goalkeepers: Johnny Placide (Bastia), Alexandre Pierre (Sochaux), Josué Duverger (FC Cosmos Koblenz)

Defenders: Carlens Arcus (Angers), Wilguens Pauguain (Zulte Waregem), Duke Lacroix (Colorado Springs), Martin Expérience (Nancy), Jean-Kévin Duverne (KAA Gent), Ricardo Adé (LDU Quito), Hannes Delcroix (Lugano), Keeto Thermoncy (Young Boys Berne)

Midfielders: Leverton Pierre (Vizela), Carl-Fred Sainthé (El Paso Locomotive), Jean-Jacques Danley (Philadelphia Union), Jean-Ricner Bellegarde (Wolves), Pierre Woodenski (Violette), Dominique Simon (Tatran Presov)

Forwards: Louicius Deedson (Dallas), Ruben Providence (Almere City), Josué Casimir (Auxerre), Derrick Etienne (Toronto), Wilson Isidor (Sunderland), Duckens Nazon (Esteghlal), Frantzdy Pierrot (Caykur Rizespor), Yassin Fortune (Vizela), Lenny Joseph (Ferencvaros).

May 15 (UPI) — President Donald Trump told reporters Friday that the first sentence of Iran’s peace proposal was “unacceptable” and accused the country of backtracking on its nuclear policy, but Iran signaled it’s still ready to negotiate.

Trump said the first sentence was an “unacceptable sentence, because they have fully agreed no nuclear, and if they have any nuclear of any form, I don’t read the rest,” CNN reported he said. He added that he is unsatisfied with the “level of guarantee from them.”

Trump said Iran had agreed to give up its enriched uranium, which he calls “nuclear dust.” But “then they took it back,” he said.

But Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Friday that discussion about uranium enrichment “is currently not on the agenda of discussions or negotiations,” but the country is willing to talk about it later in negotiations, according to Iran’s news agency Tasnim.

Iran has said it doesn’t plan to build a nuclear weapon but has refused to give up its uranium.

Trump’s comments were on his trip from Beijing after meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

When reporters asked if Xi had agreed to pressure Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, the president replied, “We don’t need favors,” but that “we may have to do a little cleanup work,” without clarifying what he meant.

“We had a little monthlong cease-fire, I guess you’d call it, but we have a blockade that’s so effective, that’s why we did the cease-fire.”

China appears hesitant to get involved in the conflict, Al Jazeera reported.

Trump said the United States and China agree that the strait must be opened and the war must end. About half of China’s crude oil comes through the strait.

Araghchi said Iran would welcome Chinese diplomacy to help defuse the war with the United States.

“Any effort made by the Chinese to support diplomacy will be welcomed by the Islamic Republic of Iran,” he said at a press conference in New Delhi, India. He was attending the BRICS foreign ministers’ meeting.

But he also said that Iran considers itself as the protector of the strait.

Araghchi said on X that with Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, he “clarified that Iran will always carry out [its] historical duty as protector of security” in the Strait of Hormuz.

He added that “all friendly nations” can “rely on safety of commerce.”

Following his visit with Xi, Trump also said he is considering removing sanctions on Chinese companies that have been buying Iranian oil as the war and high gas prices linger.

“I’m going to make a decision over the next few days. We did talk about that,” Trump said on Friday.

U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright told CNBC Friday that China will likely buy more oil from the United States.

“I suspect we’ll see a growth in their oil imports from the United States,” Wright said.

“But ultimately, the world needs to get the Persian Gulf open. Iran’s attempt to hold the whole world hostage, people know it’s temporary.

“One way or the other, we will see an end to the Iranian nuclear program and we will see free flow of traffic through the Strait of Hormuz. That can happen relatively rapidly with an agreement with Iran,” he said.

Several women sexually violated in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have come forward to report the war crimes committed against them by the M23 rebels amid the ongoing war in the country. The women spoke to Human Rights Watch researchers, but asked to be kept anonymous out of fear of retribution from the predators. 

The international organisation documented it in a report the atrocities committed by the rebels and Rwandan soldiers against the Congolese women. The report, published on May 13,  revealed how the duo summarily executed men and raped women during raids on civilian communities. Victims described being raped under threat of death and at gunpoint in their homes or in fields while searching for food, according to the HRW report. The attackers assaulted or killed relatives who attempted to stop them from sexually violating women. The absence of operational healthcare services in Uvira during the violent operations deprived survivors of crucial medical attention, including access to post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) to prevent HIV infection.

A woman who was allegedly raped by a combination of the M23 rebels and Rwanda soldiers in Uvira told  HRW researchers about the hell she was put through by the invaders in Uvira. 

“They stripped me completely naked, tied my hands behind my back with my clothes and then raped me. They continued doing so for a long time, and when my husband tried to intervene, they took him outside our house and shot him dead, ” the woman whose identity is being withheld in order to maintain her dignity told HRW.

The woman eventually lost consciousness and later consulted a health professional, receiving analgesics and a post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) kit. She says she still suffers from a persistent infection. The woman is one of eight individuals identified in the recent HRW report. 

According to the report, survivors of the atrocities identified their torturers as M23 combatants and soldiers of the Rwandan army, notably because they spoke the Kinyarwanda language and wore uniforms of the Rwandan army. They also carried military hardware which could easily be recognised and linked to the Rwandan army. 

Another woman cited in the report revealed how she was sexually violated on the same day, while she was working on her farm in Katala, situated in Uvira territory. She said two fighters approached her, one of them pointed a gun at her and declared in Kinyarwanda: “If you don’t do what I tell you, I will kill you”. The men, whom she identified through their Rwandan army uniforms, then went ahead to rape her. She eventually went to the Kavimvira health centre in Uvira for treatment, but she received no medical attention.

A third woman revealed that she was also sexually assaulted in December when she went to search for food, as provisions have been dwindling since the arrival of the M23 rebels in the zone. She said a Congolese and a Rwandan assaulted her sexually.

“The Rwandan man said he wanted to kill me, but the Congolese said ‘no, rape her’,” the woman revealed. She said after having been raped, she was afraid to go to a hospital for treatment and rather opted to go buy drugs from a pharmacy which only sold antibiotics to her. She stated that she continues to experience pain and has ongoing bleeding, but she has been unable to undergo medical tests, including an HIV test. 

Another woman told HRW that she was sexually assaulted on January 3, 2026, while she was on her farm on the periphery of Uvira. She said an M23 combatant and a Rwandan soldier who were pretending to be searching for water accosted her, and one of them ordered, “If you shout, we will kill you”, adding that they had not been with a woman for over six months, during which time they were in the bush. Since the rape incident, she has been bleeding and sick.

The woman revealed that during the occupation of Uvira by the M23 rebels, hospitals were not providing treatment for sexual violence, so she did not benefit from the medical kit necessary within 72 hours following sexual violence.

“In all the accounts rendered, the survivors underlined the almost total absence of accessible health services during the M23 and Rwandan occupation, and in particular, the absence of post-rape treatment at the appropriate time, as well as adequate treatment for wounds and infections provoked by sexual violence. Other essential services, including psycho-social support, the collection of proofs and judicial assistance were also not available”, the HRW report reveals.

The United Nations Population Fund, on its part, notes that sexual violence committed by the belligerent parties in the Eastern DR Congo has increased, with more than 80,000 cases of rape reported between January and September 2025, which is a 32 per cent increase compared to the same period in 2024.

The sudden and chaotic cuts in international aid introduced by the American government at the beginning of 2025 abruptly halted emergency medical treatment and various forms of support for thousands of survivors of sexual violence.

The survivors have been confronted by a bigger risk of contracting HIV or unplanned pregnancies because the clinics and hospitals in the Eastern DR Congo no longer have stocks of post-exposure prophylactic (PEP) kits, which were hitherto mostly supplied by projects financed by the United States. These kits are supposed to be administered 72 hours after exposure in order to prevent infections like HIV.

The strategic town of Uvira has, since the M23/AFC rebels occupied Bukavu at the beginning of December 2025, become the provisional capital of South Kivu province despite the signing of the Washington Accords by Felix Tshisekedi and Paul Kagame in the presence of Donald Trump. Supported by Rwanda, the M23/AFC rebels launched a rapid offensive, resulting in the capture of the town.

Coronation Street actress Nicola Thorp has revealed that she has been in tens of thousands of debt for 17 years after struggling to pay off her drama school fees

It’s perhaps every drama student’s dream to become an acclaimed actor in film or TV. But former Coronation Street star Nicola Thorp has revealed the downside to following her passion to work in the arts, as she racked up a £30,000 debt accrued from drama school fees.

The 36 year old ITV former soap star, who landed the role of Nicola Rubinstein, on the iconic TV show back in 2017, admitted to being in debt for 17 years. While on This Morning the actress claimed that students were missing their lectures as they were too tired from working to support their schooling.

Nicola studied at the Arts Educational School in London between 2007 and 2010. When asked by host Ben Shepherd about her school fees, she replied: “Yes I did. I had to pay. I am still in about £30,000 of debt now.” She added: “Even 17 years later.” Left in shock by her answer, Ben said: “And that’s the reality for a lot of these students. They don’t have a choice.”

Nicola played Nicola on the ITV soap for two years and left in 2019. Leaving the acting world behind, she has now become a journalist and presenter.

With regular spots on This Morning over the past six years, she has also co-hosted TalkTV’s Talk Today for four years, ending in 2024.

She has also delved into the world of reality TV as she appeared on Celebrity Hunted alongside her husband Nikesh Patel in 2023. The couple became parents to a baby girl the following year.

Speaking of her daughter she took to social media and wrote: “We are delighted to say that we recently welcomed our beautiful baby daughter into the world.” She added: “Everything they say about birth being a rollercoaster of emotions is true. We’re shattered and smitten and everything in between.”

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As Eileen Wang and her supporters tell it, the former Arcadia mayor was led astray by a man she trusted and loved.

After chasing her political ambitions in the San Gabriel Valley suburb, Wang, 58, won a City Council seat in 2022 with the help of a campaign advisor who was also her romantic partner. Two years later, he was charged by federal authorities with secretly working on behalf of the Chinese government.

Wang, a naturalized U.S. citizen, distanced herself from her ex and remained in office, becoming mayor earlier this year. The scandal had mostly quieted — until Monday, on the eve of President Trump’s planned trip to Beijing, when a plea deal was unsealed revealing Wang’s own murky role as an agent for China.

A man walks past an empty space where a photograph of former Mayor Eileen Wang was removed in the lobby of Arcadia City Hall.

(Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times)

Now, Wang has become a national political talking point, with critics painting her as a calculating foreign agent who sought to infiltrate the American government and undermine democracy.

Katie Miller, wife of top Trump advisor Stephen Miller, blasted Wang on social media site X as a “spy.”

“This is pure China trying to influence U.S. politics and U.S. elections,” Katie Miller said on Fox News.

Back home, some of Wang’s former colleagues in local government say they repeatedly tried to raise alarms about her.

“There were red flags everywhere,” said Sharon Kwan, an Arcadia city council member and former mayor.

Wang admitted in her plea agreement to posting and editing web content at the request of the Chinese government — without disclosing her ties to U.S. authorities, as the law requires. She ran afoul of the Foreign Agents Registration Act, or FARA, a federal statute that experts said has seen ramped up enforcement over the last decade, particularly in cases involving China.

But those familiar with the law — and international espionage — said it does not appear that Wang was engaged in spycraft as it is commonly understood.

Dennis Wilder, a former senior U.S. intelligence official and professor at Georgetown University, said that, in the CIA, Wang would be referred to as “an agent of influence.”

“She’s not a spy in the Jason Bourne sense,” Wilder said, referring to the fictional American agent. “She’s not out there recruiting sources and that sort of thing. That’s not the role that they want for her. But they see this other role as extremely important.”

A man exits Arcadia City Hall on Tuesday.

(Christina House/Los Angeles Times)

A run for city council

Wang moved to the U.S. around 30 years ago, in part, she told The Times in 2024, because she wanted “freedom for speech, freedom [for] thinking.”

Her mother was a Chinese medicine and acupuncture doctor and her father was a physician in Sichuan province before working at USC, she said. Authorities have not detailed how she immigrated or her path to citizenship. She landed in Arcadia, she said, lured by what the school district in the affluent city of 54,000 could offer her two young boys.

She ran an after-school program and was involved in some community organizations, but said she did not move in political circles until shortly before her 2022 run for city council. She switched her party affiliation from Republican to Democrat, which, she said, spoke more to the needs of voters in her district, where many share her Chinese roots.

“I walk about 140 days,” she said of her campaign, adding that she hit every door in her district five times. “I never stop.”

Yaoning “Mike” Sun, Wang’s former fiance, managed her campaign.

Arcadia City Councilmember Sharon Kwan stands outside the front entrance of the San Gabriel Valley suburb’s City Hall. “This is not something where we can just dismiss and pretend nothing happened,” said Kwan regarding the case against ex-mayor Eileen Wang.

(Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times)

Kwan, who was elected to the city council at the same time, recalled Sun as a constant presence at city meetings and events, “always with the camera.”

“Always recording, always promoting her,” Kwan said. “She was like a celebrity to him.”

Two years after Wang took office, in December 2024, federal authorities arrested Sun on suspicion of acting as an illegal agent of China.

Prosecutors accused Sun in a criminal complaint of working with another man to cultivate Wang as a political asset for the People’s Republic of China or PRC. Federal prosecutors in Los Angeles identified the other man as John Chen, describing him in a sentencing memorandum as “a high-level member of the PRC intelligence apparatus,” who had “met personally” with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Chen instructed Sun to submit reports on Wang, referred to throughout the complaint as “Individual 1,” to Chinese officials, including one the federal complaint said they referred to as the “Big Boss.” A draft of the report allegedly included a request for $80,000 to “support pro-PRC activities in the United States.” Sun was also told to tout Wang’s relationship with an unnamed U.S. congressperson, the complaint said.

Both men eventually pleaded guilty to working as unregistered agents of China, with Sun sentenced this year to four years in prison. Chen was sentenced to 20 months.

Wang spoke with Chen on the day she was elected and three more times over the next few months, according to the complaint in Sun’s case.

“You are doing a good job, I hope you can continue the good work, make Chinese people proud,” Chen told Wang, in a conversation on Jan. 23, 2023, according to the complaint in Sun’s case.

Chen and Sun also coordinated a trip to China in 2023 for Wang to meet with “leadership,” which would include stops in six different places, according to the complaint. It’s unclear whom Wang met with on the trip.

The fallout

After Sun’s arrest, Wang denied to several people that they had been engaged to marry. She said during a council meeting that their relationship ended in spring 2024.

Jolene Cadenbach, a pastor in Arcadia, said Wang confided in her that “she had been lied to” by Sun.

“I think he did a con job on her,” Cadenbach said.

The recent plea agreement gave the wrong impression about Wang, the pastor said.

“It made her sound like she was some kind of spy and it wasn’t like that at all,” she said. Wang was only following Sun’s orders, she added: “He told her to put up this site, she did it. She didn’t really investigate it.”

In a statement, Wang’s lawyers said she “apologizes and is sorry for the mistakes she has made in her personal life.” They said “she genuinely loves this city and is devoted to the people and the community within it,” but “her trust and love for apparently the wrong person… ultimately led her astray.”

Arcadia resident Sonia Martin sits on the porch of her home. Martin said she had long expressed concerns about the city’s former mayor, Eileen Wang.

(Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times)

After Sun was charged in 2024, Sonia Martin and other Arcadia residents showed up at council meetings carrying protest signs. Martin said she expected Wang to be pushed out. Instead, she said, most council members appeared to unite behind Wang.

“They wanted to have this feeling of, like, everything’s great here. We’re all warm. Look at us, it’s kumbaya,” Martin said.

Kwan said she repeatedly tried to bring up the concerns of constituents to her fellow council members but was brushed off.

“Everybody was just so silent,” Kwan said. “This is not something where we can just dismiss and pretend nothing happened.”

The job of mayor rotates among Arcadia City Council members, and when it was Kwan’s turn last April, she warned during her swearing-in speech that constituents “must remain vigilant against influence of foreign governments, including efforts by the Chinese Communist Party, that may seek to shape local policy for the interests that do not align with our residents.”

Since Wang’s plea agreement became public, some have scoffed at the notion that Chinese spies would establish an outpost in Arcadia, or that the web posts she made before becoming mayor amounted to any sort of meaningful propaganda campaign.

But according to Sun’s plea agreement, local office was just the start. Prosecutors said Sun’s 2023 report for Chinese officials boasted that “during the 2022 U.S. midterm elections, I orchestrated and organized my team to win the election for city council.” He called Wang a “new political star.”

Wilder, the former U.S. intelligence official, said that sounded like a familiar strategy.

“Maybe she would end up in Congress some day or at the state government level. They invest in these folks hoping they move up the political food chain,” the Georgetown professor said. “That is part of the Chinese long game.”

‘San Gabriel Valley deserves better’

In her plea agreement, Wang admitted that from late 2020 through at least 2022, she worked with Sun to run a website called U.S. News Center that branded itself as a news source for Chinese Americans.

Wang and Sun “executed directives” from Chinese government officials, posting requested articles and reporting back with screenshots showing how many people viewed the stories, the agreement says.

Prosecutors also say Wang edited articles at the request of officials and shared information showing the reach of the posts.

“Thank you leader,” she wrote on Aug. 20, 2021, after being complimented for a post that was viewed more than 15,000 times, according to the plea agreement.

Wang never disclosed that the Chinese government had directed her to post the content, according to court documents.

That sort of low-level violation of the law is not supposed to trigger federal charges unless, according to a February 2025 memo by then-Atty. Gen. Pam Bondi to Justice Department prosecutors, the case involved “conduct similar to more traditional espionage.” The Trump administration has pursued other high-profile foreign agent cases recently, with prosecutors winning a conviction Wednesday of a man charged with running a covert police station in Manhattan and keeping tabs on political dissidents.

When news broke of the charges and plea deal involving Wang, current and former city officials said they were not surprised.

A wall of photographs of former Arcadia mayors hang inside Arcadia City Hall. Eileen Wang is shown second from left on the bottom row. Wang admitted in court filings this week to working as an unregistered agent for China.

(Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times)

“The warning signs around Eileen Wang were public for more than a year before this plea, agreement, and too many people in positions of influence defended and supported her,” April Verlato, a former mayor of Arcadia, said in a statement. “Our electeds should have represented what was best for the community and held her accountable. The San Gabriel Valley deserves better.”

Paul Cheng, mayor pro tem of Arcadia, said the council didn’t move earlier to oust Wang because a majority of its members wanted to let the federal investigation run its course.

“The public always says, ‘Why didn’t you investigate her when her boyfriend was arrested? Why didn’t you do something?’” he said.

Pedestrians walk along a sidewalk next to Huntington Drive in downtown Arcadia on Wednesday.

(Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times)

But, he emphasized, “council members are not federal investigators.”

“We are not supposed to get involved,” said Cheng, an attorney. “It would make the situation 10 times worse.”

Cheng spoke highly of Wang, painting her as a committed civil servant with a passion for veterans, first responders and diversifying the businesses on Baldwin Avenue, the city’s main corridor.

“She probably attended the most events compared to all of us,” he said. “People have tried getting me to say she’s a horrible person, but I can only say what I saw, which was I thought she did a good job on council.”

I’m haunted by the perfection of Roxy board shorts from the early aughts. As a teen surfer girl in El Porto, they were my holy grail. In those years, all the cool surf brands made cute surf clothing, but the emphasis was decidedly more on the aesthetic than the function, which was a bummer when it came to, you know, surfing. Roxy board shorts changed that, especially the particular style I’m thinking of: slightly longer to actually prevent thigh chafe from the board, they sat perfectly on my hips and stayed on with their Velcro and lace-up fly. Unlike when I tried to borrow from the boys section, the board shorts weren’t comically long or baggy or cut straight across the waist. These were made for girls who actually surfed. I bought them in every (very cute) color I could find and surfed them until I couldn’t any longer.

Sonia Kasparian, the original designer of Roxy’s board shorts back in the mid-’90s, smiles in our recent conversation when I recount my astonishment at their discovery. She’s grinning because of course they fit — that was the ethos behind her design. “I wanted [the board shorts] to be totally functional, exactly to the same standards that the men’s were, but designed for women. There was a completely different fit for women than men.” And true to Roxy’s style bona fides, the board shorts looked good enough to pair with a T-shirt. “Everything was designed with the idea of being something that women would not only want to wear in the water, but just wear out walking around in everyday life,” Kasparian explains. “But if you were to go out in the water, those shorts would stay put. They would be comfortable — and they would be completely authentically built.” The brand was testing prototypes in the surf, eventually with pros like longtime Roxy team rider Lisa Andersen, but initially with Kasparian and her fellow Roxy and Quiksilver colleagues Lissa Zwahlen, Melissa Martinez and Amy Grace Patrick, among others. They’d paddle out in the board shorts in the morning to try out their designs before heading into the office, their noses dripping saltwater later in the day as they bent over fabric bins and sales reports.

Some of the first pairs of Roxy board shorts from designer Sonia Kasparian’s personal archive.

(Sonia Kasparian)

The functional ethos was always part of Quiksilver too. For the uninitiated, Roxy is the women’s brand of Quiksilver, the legendary Australian company that began in 1969 and made board shorts that performed as well as they looked. Their innovative, stylish design quickly became a nonnegotiable for the best and coolest surfers, and when Angeleno Bob McKnight discovered the board shorts on a surf trip in the early ’70s, he knew they’d become ubiquitous among surfers in California too. But when McKnight brought the brand to the U.S., he was met with skepticism. As McKnight tells it during our conversation at Quiksilver HQ, when he first approached Walter Hoffman, the renowned California maker of Hawaiian print fabric and eventual supplier and mentor, Hoffman exclaimed that board shorts were “the worst idea I’ve ever heard in my life.” The apparel business, according to him, was an impossible one to succeed in. McKnight protested to Hoffman, though: “We’re not in the apparel business. We’re making equipment for surfers.” The distinction paid off with pros and wannabes alike, and by the time Quiksilver launched Roxy with Kasparian in 1990, they were a cultural juggernaut. PacSun, anyone?

When I ask Kasparian about being a part of my personal archives, about being part of the historical surfwear archives, she’s “just so happy.” Despite Roxy’s eventual runaway success — it’s responsible for about 30% of Quiksilver’s sales — it was hard work to convince others in the industry that there was absolutely a need and a desire for fashionable, functional surfwear for girls. “I mean, you would go into the surf shops and you’d see all this men’s product, and you’d see a poster of the Reef girl with her butt in your face, wearing a thong,” Kasparian recounts. It’s not an exaggeration to say that Kasparian and her team made history, not just for teenage me but for countless other girls who wanted to look and feel confident in and out of the surf. “[Roxy board shorts] changed the dynamic of where women fit in the surf industry. They weren’t just the girls that sat on the sideline with the thong and watched their boys out in the water. They were the ones out in the water. And that was huge.”

I haven’t had any luck in finding the grown-up surfer girl version of Roxy board shorts. I still comb thrift racks and bulk bins for something close enough, even trying on the odd pair of early aughts Quiksilver men’s board shorts, as if, just by wanting it enough, I can somehow manifest the completely different fit that Kasparian was so intentional about designing. But board shorts for women these days just don’t hit the same way, especially the longer ones. They read midlife modesty, not stoke; they’re lacking in the joyous, playful audacity that Kasparian and her team infused into their groundbreaking designs. Maybe the board shorts I’m seeing aren’t the vibe because, well, they’re made for women, not girls, and despite my best efforts to never grow up (see: still surfing), I am in fact an adult woman and no longer a girl. And maybe, most of all, when I say I long for those Roxy board shorts from long ago, what I really mean is that I’m nostalgic for a younger version of myself: a surfer girl who was just discovering clothes that made her feel more like herself, with all the evolutions of that person still ahead of her.

SANTAIGO, Chile, May 15 (UPI) — The departure of more than 30,000 Venezuelan workers from Chile’s labor market in recent months has become an unprecedented trend that analysts say appears linked to tougher immigration policies under President José Antonio Kast and, to a greater extent, Venezuela’s political reconfiguration.

A study by the Economic Context Observatory at Diego Portales University found that the Venezuelan labor force in Chile fell 5.4% during the January-March quarter, marking five consecutive months of year-over-year declines.

Over that period, Chile’s overall labor force grew 1.1%.

“This is not an isolated phenomenon. The magnitude of the decline in the Venezuelan labor force had not been observed in previous periods,” economist Juan Bravo, director of the Economic Context Observatory and author of the study, told UPI.

Bravo said the gradual, but noticeable, return home of Venezuelans living in Chile began after the arrest of Venezuela’s president, Nicolás Maduro during a U.S. military operation Jan. 3.

“Venezuela is undergoing a transition and internal reconfiguration process, with some signs of change, but still facing high social tensions and a fragile economic situation,” he said.

With Kast taking office in March after campaigning on stricter measures against undocumented immigrants, Venezuela’s recovery process has become a more significant factor in migration patterns.

“While it is not appropriate to assume that the entire Venezuelan population in Chile will return to their country, it is also unrealistic to assume that no one will,” Bravo said.

The decline in Venezuela’s labor force is concentrated among people who have lived in Chile for fewer than five years, are age 34 or younger, male, single and hold university degrees. That group represents 80.1% of the total decrease.

Researchers warned that the reduced Venezuelan presence is directly affecting jobs in sectors that include delivery services, hospitality and customer service.

“By far, the occupation that could face the greatest labor shortage is motorcycle drivers, where 61.1% of workers are Venezuelan,” Bravo said.

He said Venezuelan workers also are heavily represented among vehicle cleaners, gas station attendants, hotel receptionists, electronics technicians and mechanics, cosmetologists and restaurant servers.

The drop in Venezuelan participation also comes as Kast’s government advances another campaign promise: the construction of a border trench aimed at stopping undocumented migration.

The so-called Border Shield Plan calls for a 37-mile trench in northern Chile along the borders with Peru and Bolivia. Authorities said in late April that 20% of the project had been completed, including an initial 7.5-mile stretch.

At the same time, Kast is seeking to restore diplomatic relations with the government of interim Venezuelan President Delcy Rodríguez to begin deporting undocumented foreigners living in Chile.

Authorities estimate that 75% of undocumented migrants in Chile are Venezuelans who cannot be deported because the lack of consular relations prevents Chilean authorities from verifying their identities and Venezuela will not accept them back.

Ernesto León, national director of migration and international police at Chile’s Investigative Police Department, or PDI, told Spanish newspaper El País that 6,000 deportations to Venezuela remain pending, while another 2,000 Venezuelans have left Chile voluntarily.

Russia launched more than 1,400 drones and 56 missiles into Ukraine on Wednesday and Thursday.

Much of the onslaught was aimed at the capital Kyiv, days after Russia threatened to do so only if Ukraine attacked its Victory Day parade in Moscow’s Red Square on May 9. It is a major Russian holiday commemorating the end of the Second World War.

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had proposed a ceasefire, beginning as early as May 5.

Moscow did not respond until May 7, and presented its peace proposal as a unilateral initiative, accompanied by threats to punish Kyiv if it did not respect its terms.

Moscow said Russian front line units would “launch a massive missile strike” on central Kyiv if attacked.

Forty-three Russian drones and a number of ballistic missiles were launched into Ukraine on May 9, and another 27 drones on May 10. It was not until May 11 that Ukraine had a day of peace.

Moscow justified these attacks as reciprocity for Ukrainian assaults. Kyiv accused Moscow of breaking its own ceasefire.

Once the ceasefire was over, on the night of May 11, Russia launched 216 drones and followed up with a massive strike involving 892 drones overnight on May 12 and during the day on May 13.

The night of May 13-14 was worse with 675 drones accompanied by 56 missiles.

Official Ukrainian reports recorded strikes in at least 20 locations in the capital, including a nine-storey apartment building where 12 people were killed in the collapse.

“These are ordinary residential buildings, a school, a veterinary clinic, and other purely civilian infrastructure,” wrote Zelenskyy on his Telegram messaging channel. “These are definitely not the actions of those who believe that the war is coming to an end.”

Throughout the week, Ukraine said it shot down 92 percent of the 1,930 drones launched, close to Zelenskyy’s 95 percent kill target, with 41 out of 57 missiles downed.

Russia’s army slows down

Russia’s onslaught of came as its armies in eastern Ukraine slowed down.

The Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank, estimated they had advanced by an average of 2.9 sq km (1.1 sq miles) in the first four months of 2026, compared with 9.76 sq km (3.76 sq miles) a day in the first third of 2025 and 14.9 sq km (5.8 sq miles) a day between October 2024 and March 2025.

Two weeks into May, that daily average had already dropped to 2.63 sq km (1 sq mile), suggesting Russia’s advance is slowing almost daily.

The ISW recently estimated that Ukraine made net territorial gains of 116 sq km (45 sq miles) in April – its first such advance since a September 2023 counteroffensive.

Some of that success is attributed to Ukraine’s successful use of drones behind the front lines.

On May 8, the Azov Corps of Ukraine’s National Guard announced it had “returned to Mariupol”, four years almost to the day since it surrendered control of the city to Russian forces.

The Corps filmed drone strikes on Russian diesel tankers, army trucks and other logistics 160 km (99 miles) behind the front line along the T-0509 highway, which feeds the Russian war effort in the Donetsk region.

“The strike depth will increase,” said the Azov Corps.

Their strikes are part of a broader Ukrainian campaign to hit Russian logistics at middle ranges of about 120-150 km (75-90 miles) from the front line as announced by Zelenskyy at the end of April.

“This primarily involves military logistics, enemy warehouses and headquarters, air defence systems and other components,” he said, adding that Ukraine had increased its strikes at this depth five-fold during the past year.

“We’re already carrying out about five thousand successful strikes at a depth of 20 plus km (12 miles) every month,” said Ukrainian Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov this week.

Also this week, a Russian military reporter said Ukrainian Hornet drones were targeting Russian logistics on roads closer to the frontlines.

“Although the front line is more than 35 km away from the M-30, it is currently paralysed due to enemy [First Person View drone] surveillance,” wrote the Russian reporter.

“In 2014-2015 the front line was closer, but the M-30 was safer,” he added. “This is because many people think that if the front line moves away from large cities and logistics routes they become safer, but for some reason no one takes into account that the range of enemy drones, even FPV surveillance, increases more rapidly relative to the movement of the front line.”

Russia’s declining performance is not due to lack of effort.

“The enemy has intensified offensive actions along almost the entire front and is regrouping its troops,” said Ukrainian commander-in-chief Oleksandr Syrskii on May 8. “The most tense area is currently the Pokrovsk direction, where the Russian aggressor has concentrated about 106,000 personnel,” he said.

Since March, Ukraine has increased strikes against Russian oil infrastructure as many as 1,700 km (1,056 miles) inside Russia, in an effort to starve its war machine of diesel and export revenue.

Andriy Kovalenko, the head of Ukraine’s Center for Countering Disinformation, said the Ukraine Security Service (SBU) hit the Yaroslavl oil refinery and Perm oil pumping station on May 8 – Perm sends oil in four directions across Russia to refineries and export terminals.

Russian media reports said the fire from a previous strike on the pumping station was not put out until May 11.

The SBU also said it hit the Perm refinery that day.

During the week, Ukrainian forces struck drone bases and a radar research centre in Rostov-on-Don, the Bryansk chemical plant, an explosives warehouse in Nizhny Novgorod and other targets.

Fedorov on Monday thanked Germany for investing $1bn in Ukraine’s deep strike capabilities, when his German counterpart, Boris Pistorius, visited Kyiv.

“Overall, Ukraine’s positions right now – on the front line, in our long-range sanctions, and in our joint results with partners – are the strongest they have been in years,” said Zelenskyy.

A soap star being probed by cops for child sex offences against five teenage boys remains on bail despite being arrested more than 18 months ago

A soap star previously accused of child sex offences against five teenage boys still remains under investigation 18 months after being arrested. The household name was arrested in October 2024 but has been on bail since. It is understood he has been reinterviewed since then over the claims, which date back to the 1990s when the man had major roles in some of Britain’s most popular television shows.

The police force investigating the actor, who can’t be named for legal reasons, has confirmed that inquiries are ongoing, and he remains on bail. Guidance suggests suspects can generally be on bail between three to nine months before needing to be charged or released.

The original bail period can be extended to six months by an inspector, nine months by a superintendent, with further extension needing Magistrate court approval. Detectives have spent time since his arrest analysing computers and documents which they seized upon his arrest.

The star was initially held for several hours before being released on bail. His family, including his partner, were left stunned by his arrest and he is also understood to be shocked by the historic allegations, which he denies. The five alleged victims are now all adults.

A police spokesman initially said in October 2024: “A man has been arrested on suspicion of historical child sex offences involving five victims. Officers investigating allegations relating to the 1990s detained a man. He was arrested on suspicion of several sexual offences relating to five men who were teenage boys at the time of the alleged offending. He has been conditionally bailed while enquiries continue.”

TALLINN, Estonia — Belarus’ authoritarian leader on Friday greeted U.S. Rev. Franklin Graham, who arrived in the tightly controlled country to hold the largest evangelical Christian gathering in its history.

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko asked Graham to convey warm greetings to President Trump and tell him that he has “reliable friends and supporters in Belarus.”

Since Trump returned to the White House, Lukashenko has released hundreds of political prisoners as part of U.S.-brokered deals that lifted some U.S. sanctions, part of the isolated leader’s efforts to improve ties with the West.

“Without the U.S. president, it might have been more difficult for us to establish our relations,” Lukashenko told Graham, president of Samaritan’s Purse and the Billy Graham Evangelistic Assn. Graham was accompanied by Greta Van Susteren, the anchor for Newsmax TV who is married to Trump’s special envoy for Belarus, John Coale.

Lukashenko has ruled the nation of 9.5 million with an iron fist for more than three decades, and the country has been sanctioned repeatedly by Western countries — both for its crackdown on human rights and for allowing Moscow to use its territory in the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Graham is set to hold the largest gathering of evangelicals ever in Belarus’ history, with thousands expected to attend what the organizers called the Festival of Hope at an indoor sports arena in Minsk, the capital.

Lukashenko’s rule was challenged after a 2020 presidential election, when hundreds of thousands took to the streets to protest a vote they viewed as rigged. In an ensuing crackdown, tens of thousands were detained, with many beaten by police. Prominent opposition figures fled the country or were imprisoned.

Five years after the mass demonstrations, Lukashenko won a seventh term last year in an election that the opposition called a farce.

As part of a deal in March that Washington helped broker, Lukashenko ordered the release of 250 political prisoners, while the U.S. agreed to lift sanctions from two Belarusian state banks and the country’s Finance Ministry, and to remove the top Belarusian potash producers from a sanctions list.

Another deal in April released prominent journalist Andrzej Poczobut in a swap with Poland that saw a total of 10 people freed.

However, Belarus still has 845 political prisoners, including 22 journalists, according to the Viasna human rights center.

Belarus opposition leader-in-exile Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya voiced hope that Graham’s visit will help the release of all political prisoners. “We continue to push for a complete end to the harsh political repressions in Belarus,” Tsikhanouskaya told the Associated Press.

Belarusian authorities’ permission for the massive gathering of evangelicals marks a shift, following years of crackdown on clergy — Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant — which saw dozens jailed, silenced or forced into exile for protesting the 2020 election. In the country of 9.5 million, about 80% are Orthodox Christians; nearly 14% are Catholics, residing mostly in western, northern and central parts of the country; and about 2% belong to Protestant churches.

A 2024 law required all religious organizations to reregister with authorities or face being outlawed if their loyalty to the state is in doubt.

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom has listed Belarus among countries with religious freedom violations, particularly noting its restrictive legislation.

Natallia Vasilevich, coordinator of the Christian Vision monitoring group, noted that even as Graham’s visit to Belarus was a “mega-important event” for evangelicals in the country, they continue to face a repressive environment.

“Some believers view Graham’s visit as a miracle and a window of opportunity, while others see a risk that they will have to turn a blind eye to repression and take part in something that makes the regime look nice,” Vasilevich said.

Karmanau writes for the Associated Press.

Didn’t hit. Didn’t pitch.

But that didn’t make Shohei Ohtani not the story.

On the contrary. Seeing him chillin’ in a Dodger-blue hoodie — and not dressed for success in his white home uniform top — was the most striking part of the Dodgers’ 5-2 victory over the San Francisco Giants on Thursday at Dodger Stadium.

Back on Tuesday, before the Dodgers’ fourth consecutive loss, with Ohtani having recorded just four hits in 36 at-bats, manager Dave Roberts announced plans to bench baseball’s best player.

To get him some R&R — rest and reset. “A good spa day,” Roberts would joke Thursday.

Of course, it’s Ohtani, so much is being made of the much-needed breather.

Dodgers two-way player Shohei Ohtani rounds the bases after hitting a solo home run Tuesday at Dodger Stadium.

(Eric Thayer/Los Angeles Times)

Maybe you hate it. Maybe you hate it for him. Maybe you think a $700 million contract doesn’t account for days off. Maybe you were among the unfortunate 51,048 paying customers who came to watch the Dodgers even their series with the Giants without Ohtani’s help, and you’re sad about it.

Maybe, though, you should give Roberts the benefit of the doubt. Maybe you should remind yourself Ohtani isn’t actually a unicorn. Not a myth, but a man.

“Mentally, the days that he does pitch, it’s tougher on him [to also hit],” Roberts said Thursday. “Physically, it’s the day after.”

And so the manager wasn’t joking; he wasn’t juking. Even after Ohtani homered for the first time in 53 plate appearances in Tuesday’s 6-2 loss, Roberts stuck with the plan and gave his superstar a whole day off Thursday after having him only pitch the night before.

Only. As in that he only pitched seven scoreless innings, only struck out eight and only lowered his ERA to a major-league leading 0.82. Yes, he only teed up the Dodgers for a 4-0 victory. An honestly exceptional day’s work for anyone else.

Then on Thursday, Ohtani contributed only vibes.

Which was weird. Which was good.

Instead of swinging a bat, Ohtani served as the welcoming committee after Will Smith led off the game with a home run. Ohtani was later an accessory to Smith’s prank filling Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s hood with wrapped pieces of bubble gum. And still, for the second consecutive game without him in the lineup, the Dodgers (26-18) finished the job.

For all of their recent scuffing and shuffling, these loaded, baseball-ruining Dodgers should be able to survive an Ohtani skip day every so often.

Even without Ohtani or Mookie Betts, a lineup with Smith, Freddie Freeman, Kyle Tucker, Andy Pages, Max Muncy and Teoscar Hernández should be able to overpower the lowly Giants, who have been outscored by 45 runs and now are 18-26.

Dodgers pitcher Shohei Ohtani laughs with teammates while sitting in the dugout before a game against the Giants Thursday.

(Ryan Sun / Associated Press)

But maybe you think: Here the Dodgers go again, making it too complicated, being too cute. They’re back to being too cautious, too careful.

But don’t think of it as load management. Consider it asset management.

The Dodgers are going to protect their personnel from as much wear and tear as possible — and from themselves.

Obviously, Ohtani — who came into the season appearing to really covet the Cy Young award — is capable of multidimensional greatness. He’s the Him who closed out the National League Championship Series with a wildest-dream-exceeding, 10-strikeout, three-home run game.

But it’s important that the Dodgers don’t let the 31-year-old burn himself out.

“The thing is with all players, once you get to a point where you’re exhausted and tired and that’s in the middle of the summer, it’s tough to recoup,” Roberts said. “So you kind of have to know how to push them but not get to the red line point. If we can kind of hold and get a good rhythm, which I think we’re getting a good grasp on now, then we’ll have more of a base, a foundation to push him when the time is right. It’s certainly not right now.”

Roberts said Ohtani is sharing in these decisions. If there are days that Roberts feels like Ohtani would benefit from a day off, he’s given the manager his blessing.

Sometimes less is more, even for the guy who can do it all.

Who: Chelsea vs Manchester City
What: English FA Cup final
Where: Wembley Stadium in London, United Kingdom
When: Saturday, May 16 at 3pm (14:00 GMT)
How to follow: We’ll have all the buildup on Al Jazeera Sport from 11 GMT in advance of our live text commentary stream.

History will be made on Saturday as Manchester City become the first side to line up in four consecutive finals as they take on Chelsea for the trophy.

Between them, the sides have won 15 FA Cup titles, but this is a first meeting between the clubs in the final itself – despite the teams between them appearing in five of the last six finals.

City, who have already claimed the League Cup, are still in with the chance of a domestic treble. Chelsea, however, have been engaged in a managerial merry-go-round – all off the back of beating Paris Saint-Germain to claim the expanded FIFA Club World Cup last year.

Al Jazeera Sport takes you through all the information you need to know in the run-up to the 145th FA Cup final.

Who won last season’s FA Cup final?

Crystal Palace beat City 1-0 in last season’s final to lift the trophy for the first time in their history.

Eberechi Eze scored the only goal of the game after 16 minutes to sign off from the Eagles in style. The England forward joined Arsenal at the end of the season.

City had dominated the final with a staggering 78 percent of possession.

Who did Chelsea beat in the FA Cup semifinal?

Chelsea overcame Leeds United 1-0 in their last four clash, with Enzo Fernandez scoring the only goal in the 23rd minute.

The Blues thumped Port Vale in the quarterfinals with a 7-0 win, while there was a more Hollywood feel to their clash with Wrexham in the prior round.

Extra time was required in their 4-2 win in Wales.

Who did Man City beat in the semifinals?

City were well tested in the semifinal by Championship side Southampton as Nico Gonzalez scored with three minutes remaining after Jeremy Doku’s 82nd-minute strike cancelled out Finn Azaz’s opener.

Liverpool were seen off in the quarterfinals with a 4-0 thumping at Etihad Stadium, while a 3-1 win was recorded at Newcastle United in the round prior to that.

What happened the last time Chelsea played Man City?

Manchester City were 3-0 winners in the last meeting between the sides, which came in a Premier League fixture in west London on April 12.

All three goals came within 17 minutes of each other in the second half, with Nico O’Reilly, Marc Guehi and Jeremy Doku netting at Stamford Bridge.

Where are Man City and Chelsea in the Premier League?

City sit second in the English top flight, just two points behind leaders Arsenal with two games to play.

Club World Cup holders Chelsea have sacked both Enzo Maresca and Liam Rosenior this season and sit ninth in the league.

Calum McFarlane will be taking charge of his sixth game in his second spell as the club’s interim manager.

What happened the last time Chelsea and Man City met in the FA Cup?

The teams last met in the FA Cup in a semifinal clash at Wembley Stadium in April, 2024.

Bernardo Silva scored the only goal of the game to send City through to the final, where they were beaten 2-1 by Erik ten Hag’s Manchester United.

Alejandro Garnacho, now of Chelsea, gave United the lead, which Kobbie Mainoo doubled before the break. Jeremy Doku netted an 87th-minute goal to set up a tense finale.

How many times have Chelsea won the FA Cup?

Chelsea have had their name etched on the trophy on eight occasions, with their first win coming in 1970 as they beat Leeds United 2-1 in a replay at Manchester United’s Old Trafford.

The first attempt ended in a 2-2 draw, leading to the first time a final would be replayed. Wembley hosted the opening match, but was unavailable for the replay due to the pitch being in unfit condition.

How many times have Man City won the FA Cup?

City have lifted the cup on seven occasions, with their first win coming in 1904 with a 1-0 win over Bolton Wanderers.

When did Chelsea last win the FA Cup?

Chelsea’s last win came in 2022 and required penalties against Liverpool to seal the win.

The match ended 0-0 after extra time – the first final to end goalless since Sir Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United beat Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal on spot kicks in 2005.

When did Man City last win the FA Cup?

City last lifted the trophy in 2023, beating Manchester United 2-1.
In a final that would see a rerun between the cross-city rivals the following year, Ilkay Gundogan opened the scoring in the first minute and later restored his side’s lead five minutes after the break, after a Bruno Fernandes penalty had levelled the tie at the break.

Who has won the most FA Cup titles?

Arsenal are the record winners of the competition with 14 victories to their name. The first was in 1930 under the club’s famous manager, Herbert Chapman. The Gunners beat Huddersfield Town 2-0 in the final.

Their last win came in 2020 when they beat Chelsea 2-1. It was the first of three successive finals for the Blues, who tasted defeat the following year against Leicester City before the 2023 win against Liverpool.

Manchester United are the second-most successful side in the competition’s history with 13 wins. Chelsea’s eight victories are joint third on the list with Liverpool and Tottenham.

When was the first FA Cup final and who won it?

The first FA Cup final was staged in 1872 with Wanderers beating Royal Engineers 1-0 in a match staged at the Kennington Oval cricket ground, which remains the current home to the English county cricket club, Surrey.

Head-to-head

This will be the 181st meeting between the teams, with Chelsea winning 99 of the meetings and Manchester City winning 68 of the encounters.

The first match was played in 1907 in the old Division One of English football (now the Premier League), with the match ending in a 2-2 draw in London.

How many times have Man City and Chelsea met in the FA Cup?

This will be the 11th meeting between the sides in the FA Cup, with City winning six of the matches to Chelsea’s four wins.

The first cup meeting was in February, 1915, with Chelsea winning 2-1 in Manchester. City had to wait 33 years for a chance of cup revenge, which they took at first attempt with a 2-0 home win in January 1948.

This will be the side’s seventh meeting in the competition in the last 13 seasons.

Chelsea team news

Estevao Willian, Jamie Gittens and Jesse Derry are all out with injuries, but Robert Sanchez, Pedro Neto and Alejandro Garnacho have all trained in the build-up to the game as they attempt to shake off knocks.

Chelsea predicted starting lineup

Sanchez; Gusto, Fofana, Colwill, Hato; James, Caicedo; Palmer, Fernandez, Cucurella; Pedro

Manchester City team news

Guardiola made several changes to his starting lineup for their last outing in the Premier League game against Crystal Palace, ⁠with Erling Haaland playing no part.

The Norwegian will be leading City’s attack in Saturday’s showpiece, though, aiming to correct a remarkable statistic.

Haaland has scored 161 goals in 196 games for City in all competitions, yet has never found the net or made an assist in the 12 semifinals or finals in which he has ⁠featured.

Rodri remains an injury doubt with a groin issue.

Manchester City predicted starting lineup

Trafford; Nunes, Khusanov, Guehi, O’Reilly; Gonzalez, Bernardo; Semenyo, Cherki, Doku; Haaland

The Pentagon has outlined plans to acquire at least 10,000 lower-cost cruise missiles over the next three years, as well as a similar number of relatively ‘cheap’ Blackbeard hypersonic missiles. The new framework deals are part of a broader strategy to dramatically bolster America’s stockpiles of standoff strike munitions and prime the industrial base to sustain those inventories going forward. This is all seen as especially critical for supporting the demands of future high-end fights, such as one in the Pacific against China, and doing so in a cost-effective manner.

“The Department of War has reached new framework agreements with a slate of disruptive new entrants and commercial innovators to aggressively expand the United States military’s strike capabilities,” the Pentagon declared in a press release today. “Agreements with Anduril, CoAspire, Leidos, and Zone 5 will launch the Low-Cost Containerized Missles [sic; Missiles] (LCCM) program, while a parallel agreement with Castelion advances an initiative to scale low-cost hypersonic solutions.”

“The new frameworks for LCCM will drive a fast-paced experimentation and assessment campaign that will culminate in a Military Utility Assessment by the sponsoring Service Components. Designed to move at the speed of commercial industry, the agreements establish the terms for future firm-fixed-price production contracts,” the release adds. “This effort positions the Department to procure over 10,000 low-cost cruise missiles across these portfolios in just three years, starting in 2027. The Department is creating a pathway for rapid and repeatable production of high-volume, lethal strike capabilities. The agreements include firm fixed material-unit costs for production lots in 2027 through 2029.”

The Pentagon has not yet explicitly defined what it means by “containerized” in this context, or how exactly these munitions might be fielded. However, there is already a clear focus on designs that could be fired from containerized launchers on land or loaded on ships. As TWZ has reported on many occasions, containerized systems offer immense operational flexibility, as well as the ability to blend in with standard shipping containers, creating targeting challenges for opponents. The LCCM munitions could be adapted for air launch, if they are not expected to also be employable in that mode already. Common munitions that could be employed from launch platforms across domains would offer additional benefits in terms of logistics and production, as well as helping to keep costs down through economies of scale.

Anduril has already announced that its contribution will be the surface-launched version of its Barracuda-500M design, a weapon that can also be air-launched. The company says it plans to deliver a minimum of 1,000 of these weapons to the U.S. military each year for the next three years.

Leidos says it will supply an LCCM design that leverages existing work on its air-launched AGM-190A Small Cruise Missile (SCM), also known as Black Arrow, originally developed for U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM). The company plans to deliver 3,000 of these units under the new framework deal.

Leidos completes successful test launch of a Small Cruise Missile

“At approximately twice the size of the AGM-190A, the LCCM offers increased mission effectiveness and fuel capacity to maximize range. Building on the Leidos Small Cruise Missile’s heritage, the LCCM leverages key design features including a modular airframe and a common Weapon Open Systems Architecture (WOSA) to enable rapid integration, upgrades and mission adaptability,” Leidos’ press release adds. “The design also utilizes Leidos’ established supply chain and scalable production approach. While initially ground-launched, LCCM’s modular design could also support maritime platform integration and air-launched variants.”

At the time of writing, CoAspire and Zone 5, the latter of which was recently acquired by Norway’s Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace, do not appear to have issued press releases regarding the Pentagon’s LCCM announcement. However, both companies have already developed cruise missile designs under the U.S. Air Force’s Extended Range Attack Munition (ERAM) program, which was focused first on delivering new, lower-cost air-launched strike capabilities to Ukraine. CoAspire’s ERAM design is called the Rapidly Adaptable Affordable Cruise Missile (RAACM), while one from Zone 5 is named Rusty Dagger.

RAACM Cruise Missile Video Long Range Flights Summer 2025 Cleared for Public Release

ERAM is also now feeding into the Air Force’s Family of Affordable Mass Missiles (FAMM) program. That service’s proposed budget for the 2027 Fiscal Year had already laid out plans to buy nearly 28,000 FAMM munitions over the next five years.

CoAspire has talked in the past about surface-launched versions of its RAACM and its new longer-range RAACM-ER. Zone 5 could similarly look to adapt its existing Rusty Dagger missile to meet the specific LCCM requirements.

“Concurrently, once Castelion achieves testing and validation, the Department will award a two-year multi-year procurement contract for a minimum of 500 Blackbeard missiles annually, with options to extend for up to five years,” the Pentagon’s press release today also notes. “To further encourage Castelion’s self-funded facility expansion, the Department is actively seeking the necessary authorizations and appropriations to purchase over 12,000 Blackbeard missiles over five years.”

Castelion has already been developing a ground-launched version of Blackbeard for the U.S. Army. Last month, the company formally announced that it had received a separate contract from the U.S. Navy for an air-launched version to arm that service’s F/A-18E/F Super Hornets.

“The experimentation and assessment campaign for LCCM will be led by the Office of the Under Secretary of War for Research and Engineering, with the Army Program Acquisition Executive Fires serving as the transition partner and acquisition lead for procurement,” according to the Pentagon. “To kickstart this initiative, the Department will procure test missiles from all four LCCM companies starting in June 2026, laying the groundwork for the assessment phase of the program. These agreements were developed in close coordination with the United States Air Force Program Acquisition Executive Weapons, the Test Resource Management Center and multiple components across the War Department, including the Office of the Under Secretary of War for Acquisition and Sustainment.”

It should be stressed here that the problem set that LCCM and the tangential framework arrangement with Castelion are intended to address, that of a critical need for production of cost-effective strike munitions at scale, is not new. Expenditures of critical air-to-surface and surface-to-surface munitions, as well as anti-air interceptors, by the U.S. military, as well as its allies and partners, in conflicts in recent years have only underscored the vital need to bolster these inventories. Demand for stand-off munitions, in particular, would be far greater in any future high-end fight against a near-peer adversary like China. That is a scenario where American forces could easily find themselves tasked to prosecute tens of thousands, of targets, just in the opening phase.

Furthermore, existing munitions are often exquisite in design, and take months, or more often years, of lead time to produce. The Pentagon’s focus on “disruptive new entrants and commercial innovators,” rather than any of America’s long-established prime defense contractors, with its newly announced framework deals, is extremely significant in its own right. This is the latest example of a major shift away from awarding high-profile contracts to large legacy providers, helping to diversify the industrial base and promote competition. This also means moving away from companies accustomed to very long lead procurement and production arrangements.

The LCCM effort follows years of work in the pursuit of lower-cost stand-off munitions, especially by the U.S. Air Force. This is underscored by the fact that all of the companies named today already have relevant designs that they have been working on under contract to the U.S. military. This, in turn, has already led to an explosion in the market for munitions in this general category, many of which increasingly blur the line between long-range kamikaze drones, traditional cruise missiles, and decoys. It should also be noted that the new lower-cost munitions are not intended to replace existing exquisite designs, but instead to form a valuable high-low capability mix that offers a more cost-effective and flexible blend of options for striking targets.

The U.S. Army and U.S. Navy have also made significant investments already in containerized launchers capable of firing various types of longer-ranged missiles.

If the frameworks announced today produce the promised results, they could be instrumental in laying the foundation for the production of lower-cost strike munitions for years to come.

Update: 6:20 PM EST –

Zone 5 has now provided a statement regarding today’s announcement from the Pentagon.

“Zone 5 is proud to partner with the Department of War on the Low-Cost Containerized Missiles program to deliver affordable, scalable strike capacity to our warfighters needed to deter and defeat emerging threats,” Thomas Akers, CEO of Zone 5 Technologies, said. “This program reflects exactly where American defense innovation must go: faster development, on-demand production, and high-volume weapons that can be fielded at the pace of relevance. We are honored to be a part of this effort to expand the munitions industrial base and strengthen America’s arsenal.”

Contact the author: joe@twz.com

Rivals Season 2 has landed with fans just discovering Dermot O’Leary’s personal connection to the saucy comedy-drama.

Dermot O’Leary may not be in Rivals Season 2 but he does have a close link to the Disney Plus hit.

Two years after Rivals exploded onto our screens, the raunchy Disney Plus drama is back for more with the first three episodes of Rivals dropping today, Friday, May 15.

As fans eagerly await for the rest of the series to become available, many are only just discovering This Morning star Dermot O’Leary has a close tie with the 1980s phenomenon.

He is married to Norwegian-British television and film producer and director Dee Koppang O’Leary who has worked behind the scenes on both seasons of Rivals.

She is also well known for her work on other major shows such as The Split, Bridgerton and The Crown, just to name a few.

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Dermot and Dee have been married since September 2012, having met at a TV production company where they were both working. They dated for nine years before getting engaged in New York in 2011 and married the following year.

The pair now share one son together, Kasper, who was born in June 2020. While the famous couple tend to keep their marriage out of the spotlight, Dermot did show his support on Rivals season two by hosting an “in conversation” event with its cast and producers earlier this month.

Following the success of the first series, Dermot also posted that he was “proud as punch” of his wife after winning two Broadcast Awards.

Dermot previously spoke to Fabulous magazine about the secret to having a happy marriage.

“We don’t have the recipe, but it’s going well.

“It’s a work in progress, isn’t it? The key for me is giving each other space, not giving each other a hard time and actually having fun together. And we do.”

He added: “It’s about the neighbourhood you live in.

“If you embrace the greengrocers, the local store, the dry cleaners, you just become a face and part of a community. And that’s how you have a normal life.”

Rivals Season 2 will continue to air weekly every Friday on Disney Plus.

A MAIN road into a major UK airport is set to shut over the half term – and could spark getaway chaos for thousands of Brits heading on holiday.

The works will take up to 11 days to complete.

An overnight road closure will block a main access route into Leeds Bradford Airport, with works starting next Monday (May 18).

From 7pm to 6am, the route between the Pool Bank and Dyneley Arms junction and Leeds Bradford Airport will be shut, with works set to last until Friday, May 29.

The airport notified travellers of the disruption via social media, and said a sign-posted diversion route will be in place, operating via the A660.

It added that those travelling from North Yorkshire, the North East, and Wetherby may find their journey times up to 30 minutes longer than usual.

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The airport also suggested to factor in additional time when travelling to or from the area, as disruption is to be expected.

Online, travellers reacted with disbelief and frustration over the schedule of the closures.

One said: “Staggering timing as the Friday and the overnight on Saturday is the first day of half term so lots of families will be travelling.”

Others complained that the works in place last week had caused “horrendous” traffic, where “there was no way to get through”.

Leeds Bradford Airport welcomes more than four million passengers a year, with flights from airlines like Jet2, Ryanair, and easyJet.

Last year, it opened a new multi-million pound terminal and aims to serve seven million travellers annually by 2030.

NEW YORK — Democratic leaders, desperate to compete in red states where their party brand is toxic, are embracing something new this midterm season: not backing Democrats.

In states like Nebraska and Alaska, Democratic officials are, in some cases, looking past their own party’s candidates while subtly encouraging — or even openly promoting — independent candidates they hope can outperform the Democratic label. The Democratic National Committee and some of its allies in Washington are quietly supporting the new strategy.

Meanwhile, some of the independent candidates are chatting in a group text about their approach as they plot a path that could shake up Congress, which is consumed by partisan gridlock.

Nebraska Democrats this week chose a nominee for U.S. Senate, Cindy Burbank, who said a major campaign priority was to ensure a Democrat wouldn’t be on the fall ballot to pull support from independent Dan Osborn. Shortly after polls closed, Burbank reiterated her plan to drop out in the coming weeks during a private conversation with a party official, according to state Democratic chair Jane Kleeb.

Democratic leaders believe Osborn, who came within 7 percentage points of winning a Senate seat in 2024, has the best chance to defeat Republican Sen. Pete Ricketts.

Democrats’ pivot toward independents is part of an intentional strategy in some places — and something closer to a wink and a nod in others — that covers a handful of high-profile Senate and House and even statehouse contests. Independent Senate candidates are also running in states like Idaho, South Dakota and Montana, where Democratic leadership has so far been unwilling to fully embrace the independents, although many view them as the Democrats’ best chance to stop Republicans this fall.

“For some states, and Nebraska is one of them, where Democrats are 32% of the electorate, this is a long-term strategy for us,” said Kleeb, who also serves as a vice chair to the Democratic National Committee.

Kleeb said her state party is backing independents in at least four state legislative seats in addition to the U.S. Senate: “We have to build a coalition with independents in order to win elections so we can do good work for the people. Period.”

Some of the Democratic Party’s national political machine appears to be on board.

The Democrats’ fundraising site, ActBlue, serves some of the independent candidates, as do popular Democratic-allied website builders. At the same time, some of the party’s campaign committees in Washington quietly provide logistical support in some cases, while avoiding public criticism of the independent candidates even in some races where there is a Democratic nominee.

“The Democratic Party’s brand is awful right now,” said Democratic strategist Josh Schwerin. “The combination of the brand problem and the existential nature of the threat that our country is facing requires us to have a big tent and look for candidates who can win.”

There are risks for the Democratic Party

Some Democratic donors, strategists and party leaders from other states have privately pushed back, insisting Democrats should not look past their own nominees for short-term political gain. They want Democratic officials, in Washington and on the ground in red states, to work harder to make the Democratic brand more attractive — even if it takes several more years to be competitive.

“What’s the independent going to do for the Democratic Party if they win?” asked Democratic strategist Mike Ceraso, who sees the shift toward independents as an attempt to disguise Democrats in some cases. “We’re the party of truth and honesty and integrity, but we’re playing these stupid political games?”

And there is no guarantee that the independent candidates, if elected, would support all of the Democrats’ policy priorities or even Democratic leadership in Congress.

In Idaho, independent Senate candidate Todd Achilles, an Army veteran and former Democratic state legislator, said he won’t be caucusing with either party if elected. He explained his politics as “straight down the middle,” and said he believes in individual liberties.

“Idahoans should be able to live how they want,” he said. But the Democratic Party was a bad fit because it “has given up on little red states like Idaho.”

On his list of problems with Democrats is that the party made a big mistake by initially running Joe Biden again for president in 2024. But he also said “the shine is coming off” Trump, whom Idaho voters backed by 36 points in 2024.

Achilles said he and other military veterans running for Senate as independents chat in the text chain and are “very much on the same page.” He says the group wants to see “guardrails,” including term and age limits and campaign finance reform.

“The priority is to get Congress functioning again,” he said. “We gotta break the grip of the two-party system.”

‘I’ll never vote for a Democrat’

In South Dakota, Navy and Air Force veteran Brian Bengs has launched an independent bid to defeat Republican incumbent Sen. Mike Rounds, who’s seeking a third term this fall.

Bengs ran as a Democrat against Senate Majority Leader John Thune four years ago and lost by 43 points.

A lifelong independent, he said he got turned down by the party this time when he sought to run with its organizational support but without the label. Still, he insists he can win without the party’s formal backing.

One key lesson from his 2022 campaign, he says, was how hard it was to break through with the Democratic Party label.

Voters would immediately ask, “What are you?” he recalled.

“When you say, ‘I’m a lifelong independent running as a Democrat,’” Bengs said, the response was quick. “‘I’ll never vote for a Democrat.’ And that was it,” he said.

“So that takeaway soured me on running again in any party system, because it was just a soul-sucking experience.”

In Alaska, some Democrats believe that commercial fisherman Bill Hill, a retired school superintendent, may represent their best hope in defeating first-term Republican Rep. Nick Begich for the state’s only House seat.

Hill, a lifelong independent, raised more than $780,000 in the first three months of the year, besting Democrat Matt Schultz, a pastor, who raised $578,000 from last October through March.

The state Democratic Party declined to endorse Schultz at its recent convention, which Hill also attended. The House Democrats’ campaign committee in Washington has also declined so far to promote Schultz’s candidacy. Hill, meanwhile, is racking up local union endorsements.

Hill’s message to voters, he said, is the same for Republicans, Democrats and independents: “You need to be pragmatic about who you choose to support in this election cycle, because at the end of the day, we need a change in the House seat in Alaska.”

A spokeswoman for the National Republican Senatorial Committee criticized independents like Osborn, Bengs, Achilles and Seth Bodnar, who is running in Montana, as “fake Independents who would push liberal Democratic policies in the Senate.”

Currently, there are two independents in the Senate: Maine Sen. Angus King and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders. Both caucus with Democrats.

In an interview, Hill said he’s unlikely to caucus with Republicans in Washington if elected, but he’s not committing to joining Democrats either. He was reluctant to criticize the Democratic Party or Trump.

Hill acknowledged the challenge of running for Congress as an independent, but said there are benefits, too.

“There’s freedom,” he said. “I can truly represent the working people of Alaska.”

Peoples and Catalini write for the Associated Press.

Hi, and welcome to another edition of Dodgers Dugout. My name is Houston Mitchell and I’m back. The wedding was beautiful. Thanks to all of you who wrote in with well wishes.

The big news is that the Dodgers have continued to slump. Since starting the season 15-4, they have gone 11-14, including two four-game losing streaks. Why is this happening? Well, there’s usually not one thing that causes team slumps. It’s easy to blame Shohei Ohtani, since he isn’t hitting at his normal spectacular level, but you can say that about other players too.

Let’s look at some numbers. Let’s see where the Dodgers rank among the 30 MLB teams in some categories. These numbers are through Wednesday:

Runs per game
4.93 (seventh in MLB)

Batting average
.263 (second)

OB%
.342 (first)

Slugging%
.433 (second)

Grounded into double play
37 (tied for third)

Grounded into double play %
10.6% (eighth)

Batting average with runners in scoring position
.266 (ninth)

Batting average with two out and RISP
.241 (11th)

ERA
3.40 (third)

Rotation ERA
3.28 (fourth)

Bullpen ERA
3.60 (10th)

Nothing really stands out there. They are in the top 10 in almost every category. If you had to point at a troubling spot, it’s double plays. They hit a lot of hard grounders right at fielders with runners on base. Is that just bad luck? Better scouting by opponents? Too soon to tell.

The team slump really began on April 28. They were 20-9 going into that game, 6-9 since then. Let’s look at some individual numbers (through Wednesday) during that bad streak:

Kyle Tucker: .318/.446/.545, 7 doubles, 1 homer, 5 RBIs
Freddie Freeman: .288/.362/.423, 4 doubles, 1 homer, 5 RBIs
Andy Pages: .283/.333/.528, 1 double, 4 homers, 10 RBIs
Will Smith: .270/.333/.324, 2 doubles, 3 RBIs
Alex Call, .267/.368/.400 (4 for 15)
Teoscar Hernández: .256/.347/.279, 1 double, 1 RBI
Alex Freeland: .250/.344/.357, 1 homer, 2 RBIs
Max Muncy: .214/.313/.405, 2 doubles, 2 homers, 6 RBIs
Hyeseong Kim: .200/.243/.286, 1 double, 1 triple, 1 RBI
Dalton Rushing, .167/.200/.167, 1 RBI
Santiago Espinal, .167/.167/.417 (2 for 12)
Mookie Betts, .154/.154/.385 (2 for 13)
Shohei Ohtani, .143/.294/.238, 1 double, 1 homer, 4 RBIs
Miguel Rojas, .095/.136/.095 (2 for 21)

Almost every player is hitting below their career averages in almost every category. It’s a teamwide slump that has lasted two weeks. It’s dragging the team numbers down, because remember above when I said they are in the top 10 in every category? Well, before the slump they were in the top five. If this continues, they will keep sliding down the rankings.

And while it’s certainly not all Ohtani’s fault, he is mired in a deep slump. The Dodgers gave him two days off from hitting Wednesday and Thursday (he pitched Wednesday).

“For me, with any hitter, when the quality of at-bat starts to go down consistently, I think that’s a telling sign there needs to be a break,” Dave Roberts told reporters. “Because you’re just not able to — whether it’s the mechanics, the mind — stay within your game plan, and then the chase starts to spike.”

Dalton Rushing has crashed back to earth. Teoscar Hernández has lost all his power. The whole team, except for Andy Pages and Kyle Tucker, has lost power. Maybe they forgot to pay their Edison bill. They are on pace to hit 214 homers this season. Last season, they hit 244. The last time they hit fewer homers in a season was 2012, when they hit 121. And won 111 games.

Should we be worried about the Dodgers? Well, they’ve gone through teamwide slumps in the past. If they are still hitting poorly when June begins, then be worried. And keep in mind, they are 26-18 and on pace to win 96 games this season. Last season they won 93 and were 29-15 after 44 games. In 2024, they won 98 games and were 29-15 after 44 games. And those seasons ended pretty well. The Dodgers are just getting their teamwide slump out of the way early this season.

Of course, I was tracking the team while gearing up for the wedding, and once I came back they have now won two in a row. Perhaps the slump is already over.

Unfortunately, the team the Dodgers seem to have the most trouble with, the lowly Angels, are up next on the schedule. Last season, the Dodgers lost all six games against the Angels. If the Angels sweep them this weekend, maybe I’ll start writing an Angels newsletter.

René Cárdenas dies

When I was a kid, the Dodgers’ Spanish broadcast crew was always Jaime Jarrín and René Cárdenas. Unfortunately, one half of that duo, Cárdenas, is no longer with us as he died Sunday. He was 96.

Cárdenas started with the Dodgers in 1958 and was the No. 1 broadcast, with Jarrín the No. 2 man. Cárdenas left the team to broadcast elsewhere, then returned to the Dodgers for the 1982 season.

As colleague Ed Guzman writes in the Cárdenas obit: By this point, Jarrín was firmly in place as the team’s lead Spanish-language play-by-play announcer — particularly in the wake of Fernandomania the season before, when Jarrín’s profile was raised as Fernando Valenzuela’s interpreter during his media interviews.

“It was explained to him by our producer, ‘You can’t come back as the No. 1 announcer because Jaime is established, he has many years as the lead announcer and he is beloved by the community,’” Jarrín said Monday. “René said, ‘I don’t care, I’ll come back as the No. 2 with Jaime. I just want to come back to the game of baseball.’ He was determined to return to the Dodgers.

“It was during that time that we established a close-knit friendship and we were well-received by the community as a broadcast duo.”

Cárdenas worked with the Dodgers through the 1998 season and moved back to Houston.

Our condolences to his family, friends and loved ones.

Jason Heyward is back

But not as a player. He has rejoined the team in the front office as a special assistant to the general manager. “I asked for an opportunity,” Heyward said. “I asked for an opportunity to learn. I have a goal of potentially one day being in the front office. But I understand there’s a lot I have to learn on this side of things. It’s great to be a player, it’s great to have that experience. I think that will help me along the way. But at the same time, I knew it was important to learn to scout, how to evaluate players, learn the R&D, analytics, terminologies and things like that.”

Heyward played for the Dodgers from 2023-24.

Up next

Friday: Dodgers (*Justin Wrobleski, 5-1, 2.42 ERA) at Angels (Jack Kochanowicz, 2-2, 3.97 ERA), 6:38 p.m., Sportsnet LA, KTTV, AM 570, KTNQ 1020, KLAA 830

Saturday: Dodgers (*Blake Snell, 0-1, 12.00 ERA) at Angels (Jose Soriano, 6-2, 1.66 ERA), 6:38 p.m., Sportsnet LA, KCOP 13, AM 570, KTNQ 1020, KLAA 830

Sunday: Dodgers (Roki Sasaki, 1-3, 5.88 ERA) at Angels (TBA), 1:07 p.m., Sportsnet LA, KCOP 13, AM 570, KTNQ 1020, KLAA 830

All times Pacific

*-left-handed

In case you missed it

Kiké Hernández ‘little bit shocked’ by reception in Albuquerque while on rehab assignment

Shohei Ohtani holds Giants scoreless, Dodgers’ bats heat up to snap losing streak

Fan favorite Jason Heyward joins Dodgers as a special assistant with an eye on more

Shaikin: Mark Walter says the Dodgers can’t win all the time. Even Magic Johnson agrees

Dodgers tout outfielder Alek Thomas’ upside after acquiring him from the Diamondbacks

René Cárdenas, broadcasting pioneer who was Dodgers’ first Spanish-language announcer, dies

And finally

One hour of Vin Scully telling stories. Watch and listen here.

Until next time…

Have a comment or something you’d like to see in a future Dodgers newsletter? Email me at houston.mitchell@latimes.com. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.