Month: September 2026

Countries including Germany, South Africa and Canada suggest international institution to set and enforce standards.

Twenty countries and the European Union have issued a call for international cooperation to ensure AI remains under human control, including the potential creation of a global oversight body to set and enforce standards.

The countries, including Germany, South Africa, Canada, Australia, the United Arab Emirates and Singapore, issued the joint statement on Monday as global leaders prepare to discuss the risks posed by rapidly advancing AI at the annual gathering of the United Nations General Assembly.

The declaration, released by the office of Finnish President Alexander Stubb, calls on governments and industry to act immediately to ensure that AI is developed in line with international law and remains under “human direction, oversight and control”.

“To realise AI’s potential, industry, governments and society must act now,” the statement says.

“We must address these risks and strengthen oversight – without widening the gap between countries in access to the benefits of AI.”

The declaration urges countries to develop and coordinate “common standards”, share reports of serious safety incidents, and explore the establishment of an international institution to “set standards, enable verification, and convene states when capability thresholds are crossed”.

Signatories include German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Kenyan President William Ruto, Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan.

The United States and China, the world’s two leading AI powers, did not join the statement, which remains “open for endorsement” by other countries.

US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping are expected to discuss AI when they meet at the White House on Thursday for their third face-to-face summit in less than a year.

Washington and Beijing, which are in a race to dominate cutting-edge technologies, have both rebuffed calls to slow down AI development to ensure greater safety.

Other AI players not among the signatories include India, South Korea, Japan, the UK and France.

The declaration comes as the AI sector is engaged in a heated debate about safety following calls for a slowdown in development by top industry leaders.

In an essay earlier this month, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei called on firms to “slow the pace” of development to mitigate risks, a proposal that was swiftly endorsed by rivals including OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk.

Amodei’s call followed a series of cases of AI models engaging in unsanctioned malign activity, including an incident in July in which AI agents being tested by OpenAI hacked the AI start-up Hugging Face.

In the latest intervention by industry on Monday, OpenAI said the US should lead an international effort to develop technical standards for advanced AI.

“The United States is well positioned to lead because its AI industry is at the technical frontier, and it still stands in a privileged global network position in critical areas such as finance, trade, defense, technology, and information systems,” the San Francisco-based AI giant said in a blog post.

“Leading now will determine whether the United States shapes the global AI framework or watches a fragmented, uneven, and conflict-ridden system take hold around it.”

The UN-backed Independent International Scientific Panel on AI, which examined the Hugging Face incident, on Monday also added its voice to calls for new guardrails, saying the cyberattack had exposed the “unravelling” of existing safeguards.

CENTRAL Cee and Yasmin Hadlow’s romance has ramped up a notch – as insiders tell me he’s going all out to make her his girlfriend.

Just weeks after revealing he fell for Yasmin, 23, after watching her cracking on inside the Love Island villa, the Sprinter star, 28, is using every tool in his armoury to get her interested.

And the first is his bank balance.

Onlookers spotted the London-born rapper, real name Oakley Caesar-Su, in a very select part of Harrods on Friday with Yasmin, where he was overheard telling her: “Buy whatever you want.”

An onlooker said: “Cench seems he knows how to treat the ladies and Yasmin is no exception.

“Before they went on a date to his party at 77 London, he had organised a shopping experience for her.

“He had it all arranged to go to the private area of the store and told her to spend whatever she wanted and he’d pick up the bill.

“Cench wanted Yasmin to choose whatever she wanted for the date and more.

“She absolutely loved it. It seemed like no one had ever done anything like that for her before.

“You could tell he’s really into her because he was happy to spend thousands on her to make her feel special.

“They’re not officially dating but it seems like Cench was making a heavy play for her to want to see him as boyfriend material.”

We first revealed they were hooking up last week, after Yasmin was seen on a date with the Cee.

He made a move on Yasmin earlier this summer while she was still dating her villa co-star Tommy Stagg.

When asked if he had a celebrity crush, on 60 Seconds With Missy, Cench replied: “I do have one, I’ve got one I’m sure. Yasmin from Love Island.”

Helpfully, Yasmin and Tommy split not long after flying back from Mallorca – and Cee made his move.

Confirming their break up, Yasmin said: “Me and Tommy aren’t together anymore.

“It ended up being… It was just a lot to adjust to on the outside.

“We just ended up saying that we’ve got a lot going on. Our lives essentially weren’t aligning on the outside, but we’re still friends.”

Insiders said it was still early days between the pair but admitted Cee was smitten.

“He’s acting like he’s won the jackpot,” a source told me.

“Cench really fell for Yasmin after seeing her on the show and then on social media.

“Now he’s managed to get her on a date he is going all out to show Yasmin how special he thinks she is.

“It’s early days between them but Cench is absolutely mad for Yasmin.”

The Los Angeles freeway system has its downsides, especially during traffic-jammed weekdays, but the Rams are absolutely looking forward to commuting from their Woodland Hills facility to SoFi Stadium for Monday night’s game against the New York Giants.

After traveling about 16,000 air miles round trip for their season-opener in Australia — and suffering a humiliating loss to the San Francisco 49ers — the home opener requires only a 28-mile journey and offers a chance for a reboot.

And the embarrassed-but-still-Super-Bowl-favorite Rams are eager for the opportunity.

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Aaron Donald will play for the Rams against the New York Giants on Monday, but will Puka Nacua be on the field?

“An eternity,” coach Sean McVay said when asked about the 11-day wait between games. “It has been forever. We’re excited to compete again.”

In the 27-7 defeat by the 49ers, the Rams’ offense never established a rhythm, the defense gave up three touchdown passes and special teams gave up a long kickoff return.

Veteran receiver Davante Adams cautioned about overreaction.

“Everybody’s freaking out, which I understand,” he said. “We didn’t put together the greatest showing out there. But you’re a fool if you think that that’s what it’s going to look like every single week.”

The Rams will be without edge rusher Myles Garrett, who is on injured reserve for at least four games following knee surgery. Star receiver Puka Nacua is listed as questionable because of a hip injury.

But defensive lineman Aaron Donald is expected to give Rams a much-needed boost.

Donald, 35, ended a two-year retirement when he returned to the team a few weeks ago. The three-time NFL defensive player of the year did not travel to Australia for the opener, but McVay is happy to have him available for the first time since 2023.

“Aaron is a stud, and he’s been at the forefront of setting the foundation of everything that we’re about here,” said McVay, who is in his 10th season as Rams coach. “I remember my interview process included meeting with him and he’s looking at me like, ‘This is the guy that they’re thinking about hiring?’”

One of the reasons Donald returned was to play alongside Garrett, a two time NFL defensive player of the year who amassed an NFL season-record 23 sacks last season.

Now that combination — which boasts a combined 236½ sacks — is on hold.

The double- and triple-team schemes Donald thought he had put behind might once again be in full effect.

“You think they’re going to double/triple team me [after] not playing for two years?” Donald quipped when asked about the prospect. “They ain’t worried about me, man. They don’t have to be worried about me.

“They don’t have to worry about me at all. No man, they don’t have to worry about me.”

But does he anticipate getting that kind of attention?

“I don’t know what they’re going to do out there,” he said of opponents. “I don’t know what I’m going to get. All I can know is I got a game plan. I’m going to go out there, execute it, and just try to play ball. That’s it.”

The Giants, under new coach John Harbaugh, are coming off a 28-20 victory over the Dallas Cowboys.

Second-year quarterback Jaxson Dart, receiver Malik Nabers, tight end Isaiah Likely and running back Cam Skattebo lead the offense, outside linebacker Brian Burns the defense.

Rams players have said that they quickly put their performance against the 49ers behind and were focused on the Giants.

Quarterback Matthew Stafford, the reigning NFL most valuable player, passed for only 155 yards, with an interception, against the 49ers.

“You get trained, whether it’s a game or a play. Good, bad, and different, move on to the next,” said Stafford, an 18th-year pro. “Don’t think too much about it. Don’t harp too much about it. Just be honest with yourself, play in and play out, game in and game out.”

That next game is here.

The Rams will be “primed and ready,” Adams said, “at the right time.”

Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is running in October’s election for a fourth non-consecutive mandate as Brazil’s president.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Senator Flavio Bolsonaro remain deadlocked in the latest polls, with the first round of Brazil’s election less than two weeks away.

Two new polls on Monday showed that the pair are statistically tied in simulated runoffs ahead of next month’s election. If no candidate wins more than 50 percent of valid votes in the October 4 first round, the two frontrunners advance to a runoff on October 25.

Lula is seeking a fourth non-consecutive term as Brazil’s president, but faces a challenge from the political right in Flavio Bolsonaro, the son of former far-right President Jair Bolsonaro, an ally of US President Donald Trump.

The elder Bolsonaro was ruled ineligible for office after Brazil’s top electoral court found he had abused his power while in office. He was later convicted separately over a plot to overturn his 2022 election loss to Lula.

A Quaest poll released on Monday showed Bolsonaro with 42 percent of voter support in a potential runoff, versus 41 percent for Lula.

Meanwhile, a BTG Pactual/Nexus poll has Lula receiving 46 percent of voter support, compared with 45 percent for Bolsonaro in a potential runoff.

The latest polls mark a narrowing from an earlier Quaest poll on August 5, which put Lula ahead by a wider five-point margin, 44 percent to 39 percent.

US pressure looms over election

Lula launched his re-election bid on August 2 at the Workers’ Party convention in Sao Paulo, casting himself as a defender of Brazilian “sovereignty” as pressure from the US administration looms over the race.

The US imposed two fresh rounds of tariffs on Brazilian products in July, which Lula denounced as an attempt to influence the elections through economic pressure.

The Brazilian leader is currently in New York, where he is preparing to address the United Nations General Assembly.

Lula met New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani for the first time on Monday. In a brief statement to reporters after the meeting, the Brazilian president said the two had talked about problems common to both Brazil and the United States, particularly the rising cost of living.

Asked about the state of the relationship between the UK and US, the prime minister said he believes it is “as strong as it’s ever been”.

Burnham has travelled to New York with his wife, Marie-France Van Heel, for a day of diplomacy and a speech to the UN General Assembly, which is expected to focus on the opportunities and dangers associated with artificial intelligence (AI).

He said: “I will be making the case for closer international co-operation on AI, a just and lasting peace in Ukraine, and renewed efforts to bring an end to the conflict in the Middle East because what happens abroad impacts each and every one of us at home.”

The prime minister will also announce the start of work on a new AI and Autonomy partnership between the UK and the US, focused on protecting critical national infrastructure using AI tech.

Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey is expected to criticise this plan at the final day of his party’s conference, saying it “doesn’t come close to meeting the scale of the threat” and “only risks making us more dependent on a Trump administration in the pocket of the tech bros”.

He will also call for a global pause on superintelligent AI and propose a new International AI Safety Agency.

His criticisms come after a series of stark warnings from the AI industry about the technology’s possible dangers.

For a new British prime minister, the first meeting with a US president has always been a pivotal encounter, but officials are well aware of the added jeopardy of a public appearance alongside the most unpredictable president in American history.

In advance of the meeting, the UK revealed that the UK and the US have, for the first time, fired an American torpedo from a British undersea drone in a military exercise.

The torpedo, described as “heavyweight” by UK officials, is “designed to sink ships and deep diving submarines”, Downing Street said.

It was launched in UK waters last week from a 12-metre long undersea drone called Excalibur, made in Plymouth.

It is the first time either the UK or the US have launched a torpedo from an uncrewed underwater vessel, rather than a crewed submarine, and is seen as a breakthrough in attempts to protect vital infrastructure such as deep sea data cables.

“Our work together already shows what can be achieved when our two countries combine our expertise and innovation,” the prime minister said.

Burnham was also asked by reporters about the UK government seeking to hand over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius and pay to lease back the joint US-UK military base on Diego Garcia.

It was confirmed in April that the deal had been paused indefinitely because of Trump pulling his support.

Burnham spoke to the Mauritian prime minister, Navin Ramgoolam, on Monday.

He was asked by reporters to outline what he had told Ramgoolam, whether he supported the deal and if he had a plan to convince Trump to back it.

Burnham replied: “I said that we remain determined to secure the long-term operation of the base, which is crucial to our security and that of our allies.

“The assurance I gave was I will work towards a resolution, at the moment we don’t have that, but I gave an assurance that I would commit to working towards one.”

Miranda Hart has explained why she decided to sign up to Celebrity Traitors, which comes after years out of the spotlight as she dealt with a series of health struggles

Miranda Hart has explained why she decided to sign up to Celebrity Traitors following her “long term ill health issues.” The comedienne, 53, is best known for fronting her eponymous sitcom in the late 2000s but took a break from the spotlight after becoming increasingly unwell.

The TV star previously told how she had suffered a “tick-borne illness” while living in the USA as a teenager. At one point, she was diagnosed with myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME), also known as chronic fatigue syndrome, before eventually being diagnosed with Lyme Disease in 2020.

The Celebrity Traitors will mark Miranda’s first mainstream television appearance in six years, and she has now explained that she jumped at the chance to take part.

She said: “My decision making in life generally, and certainly work, is follow the joy. I haven’t done much TV work for a long time, having only recently come out of long-term ill health issues and when I was offered this, my whole body sort of relaxed, I smiled, and I just wanted to jump about like a schoolgirl with joy.

“It’s just fun. It’s outdoors, it’s games. All the stuff I love. It’s play basically. And I’m passionate about encouraging people to play more generally, and this game is that in spades.

“It’s a brilliant television show – the only flaw in taking part is that as a fan of the show it will be less fun to watch it with myself in it!”

Despite her new lease of life, the former Call the Midwife star, who secretly got married in late 2024, is still living with elements of her illness and is struggling to a point but has been able to manage her symptoms and insisted she felt well enough to join Claudia Winkleman’s hit BBC game show.

She added: “I’m still living with elements of ME, and that brings fatigue and pain to manage, but I have come to a point where I feel well enough to step out, and that’s also partly why I’m doing this.

“The joy of mucking about on television again will hopefully outweigh some of the challenges. And I think it will be challenging on my body, so it’ll be interesting, and it’ll take some courage as this is a big next step.

“When you live with a chronic illness, it’s invisible, so people don’t know that you’re sitting there in pain. But then it reminds you that everybody’s got their thing. So, I’m also really looking forward to making friends and looking after each other and hopefully they can carry me up a hill or whatever we’re going to have to do!”

Miranda, who will appear alongside the likes of Little Mix singer Leigh-Anne Pinnock, Coronation Street legend Julie Hesmondhalgh, and Love Island host Maya Jama, even teased that there could be a nod to her sitcom past.

She added: “When someone said on Instagram, “Oh, I hope you gallop in the castle,” I foolishly replied, Right, I now take that as a dare.” So that was idiotic of me.

“I will have to at some point gallop down a corridor. I’ll gallop when no one’s watching…or who would be the best person to encourage to gallop?

“I don’t know. I mean, Kenny probably doesn’t even know who I am. So, if I could get him to gallop…I could get a new generation galloping.”

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If El Camino Real’s boys’ soccer team wins its third consecutive City Section championship this season, then Cal State Northridge soccer fans should be feeling good because three of the team’s players are taking their talents to CSUN.

Jayden De La Cruz, Diego Apolinar and Roman Holiday are teammates at El Camino Real, play on the same club team and also will be college teammates next year.

Holiday is the goal scorer, with De La Cruz and Apolinar serving as the playmakers to get him in position to score.

The Royals will be this year’s City title favorite, but rival Birmingham is lurking, and the two teams are scheduled to open West Valley League play on Jan. 6 at El Camino Real.

When asked if the team was ready to face Birmingham, Holiday suddenly got excited.

“Oh my God, yes,” he said.

This is a daily look at the positive happenings in high school sports. To submit any news, please email eric.sondheimer@latimes.com.

Dispatch calls reveal supermodel Cindy Crawford’s son, Presley Gerber, who died Sunday, suffered an apparent overdose while staying at a luxury outpatient rehab facility.

After Santa Monica police received a call reporting a cardiac arrest and another call for an overdose, officers responded to Resolutions Living, a $7.7-million, seven-bedroom mansion that operates as a rehabilitation home, at about 9:35 a.m., a law enforcement source told The Times.

Paramedics pronounced Gerber dead at 9:45 a.m. Sunday. The onetime Calvin Klein model had checked into the facility just hours before, around 10 p.m. Saturday.

On Monday, the L.A. County medical examiner’s office said that it was in the early stages of investigating the 27-year-old model’s death and that limited information was available.

An autopsy was performed Monday, but the cause and manner of death have been deferred, “which means additional testing and/or studies were requested in order to make a determination.” Due to the ongoing investigation into Gerber’s death, the medical examiner’s office cannot disclose what testing and/or studies were requested.

It could take a few months for a cause of death to be determined, the statement continued.

Police say that, at this time, there is no indication of foul play, but they are also investigating Gerber’s apparent overdose. According to the law enforcement source, police are attempting to track where and whom the drugs came from.

According to Resolution Living’s website, it operates as a partial hospitalization and intensive outpatient program for the treatment of myriad mental health issues, including depression, trauma and addiction, and offers dual diagnosis treatment for co-occurring disorders.

Gerber had been candid about his mental health struggles for years through various podcast appearances and his social media, and revealed that he’d sought treatment through various rehab facilities from the time he was a teenager.

In 2023, he told “Studio 22” podcast that he wanted to use his own experience to help others battling the same issues.

“Having struggled with mental health, depression and some other things that come along with that,” he said, “I think that whether I help one person or 100 people get out of that place that I was in at one point in my life, that’s all I need to do.”

NEW YORK — Imelda Marcos made a cash payment of $50,000 to then-Gov. George Ariyoshi of Hawaii when she visited Honolulu in 1982, three days after the Democrat announced that he was running for reelection, according to logs of the former Philippine first lady’s travel expenses.

A record of the previously undisclosed cash payment to Ariyoshi was found amid voluminous evidence recently introduced here by federal prosecutors in the fraud and racketeering trial of Mrs. Marcos.

It was unclear from the document whether the $50,000 cash payment was intended to aid the Ariyoshi campaign or was tendered for some other reason. Ariyoshi did not list it among his campaign contributions, which by law were limited to $2,000 from any one source in the primary election.

Although unrelated to any of the criminal charges pending against Mrs. Marcos, the Ariyoshi payment discovered in the Marcos expense logs raises new questions about how the former first lady spent what the U.S. Justice Department asserts were Philippine government funds.

No explanation for the $50,000 expenditure was listed in the court documents, and Ariyoshi did not respond to numerous requests by The Times for an interview.

In the past Ariyoshi has acknowledged receiving gifts from the Marcoses but has declined to describe the extent or nature of those offerings, calling gift giving “a private act of courtesy” that he would not discuss publicly.

The recently admitted court documents are notebooks in which a private secretary to Mrs. Marcos, identified in testimony as longtime aide Fe Roa Gimenez, maintained a running log of expenses incurred by the Philippine first lady and her entourage during trips abroad. Many of the handwritten entries record payments for art, jewelry and shopping trips that federal prosecutors contend were financed with money looted from the Philippine national treasury.

Prosecutors submitted the expense logs to support charges in the federal indictment that Mrs. Marcos spent great amounts of Philippine public money for non-governmental and other personal expenses. For instance, some of the recorded art and jewelry transactions have been confirmed by other documents and testimony.

Ariyoshi’s name appears in the log of a July, 1982, trip that Mrs. Marcos made to the Soviet Union, Morocco and the United States.

On a page listing “cash disbursements” for July 20, 1982, is the brief handwritten entry: “$50,000–Given to Gov. Ariyoshi.”

Also on July 20, Ariyoshi’s lieutenant governor, Jean King, announced that she would challenge him for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination. It would be, according to local news accounts, the toughest campaign of Ariyoshi’s political career.

The Marcoses’ possible financial interest in U.S. political campaigns became the object of a federal investigation in 1986, soon after the deposed couple arrived in Honolulu after fleeing a popular revolt that February.

U.S. customs agents, going through more than 300 boxes and suitcases filled with cash, jewelry and documents, found a financial statement indicating that the Marcoses may have made illegal contributions in excess of $175,000 to 10 U.S. politicians, including then-President Ronald Reagan and former President Jimmy Carter. The document was dated 1982 and purported to recount spending of Philippine military intelligence money in the United States as approved by Fabian C. Ver and Irwin Ver, former leaders of military and security forces under Marcos.

Based in part on discovery of that document, the Federal Election Commission launched an inquiry into whether the Marcoses had secretly funneled intelligence funds into American political campaigns through a California company owned by a Philippine businessman.

The investigation was dropped in 1988 for lack of evidence, over the objection of one commission member who complained that investigative leads had not been thoroughly pursued. How the document came to be among Marcoses’ private papers was never established.

Although contributions from foreign sources are not permitted in federal elections, Hawaii state races were not subject to such restrictions in 1982. The names of contributors who gave more than $100 had to be reported to the Hawaii Campaign Spending Commission, however, and a limit of $2,000 from any single source in both the primary and general gubernatorial campaigns was set.

State records show that Ariyoshi, who was governor from 1974 to 1986, did not report the $50,000 payment from Mrs. Marcos as a campaign contribution.

The former governor and his wife, Jean Ariyoshi, are longtime friends of the Marcoses, and Mrs. Ariyoshi has been a regular shopping companion of Mrs. Marcos on the former Philippine first lady’s frequent stopovers in Hawaii.

When the Marcos regime fell in 1986 and the Marcoses were forced to go into exile, Ariyoshi invited them to make their new home in Hawaii.

When the Marcoses stepped from an American military aircraft at Hickham Air Force Base in Honolulu, the governor was the highest-ranking American official to meet them, offering a traditional red carpet and Hawaiian lei greeting.

Soon after the Marcoses arrival, reports surfaced that the Ariyoshis had received unspecified gifts from the Philippine leader over the years. Under pressure from local media, Ariyoshi issued a statement in which he called gift giving by officials “a custom which prevails among people as private citizens or formal representatives.”

“The govern engages in this custom with government officials and other dignitaries, national and international,” the statement continued. “This is done in a variety of settings and is an especially traditional custom in Asia and the Pacific.

“Because the governor regards the bestowing and receiving of gifts a very personal matter, it will remain a private act of courtesy between himself and others.”

Ariyoshi is now an attorney in private practice in Honolulu. A secretary said he was traveling on business in Japan but that she had forwarded The Times’ interview requests to him.

Honolulu freelance writer Susan Essoyan contributed to this story.

Be careful what you wish for when you’re wishing for a new offensive coordinator.

Chargers fans were so over Greg Roman. Anything would be better than his run-heavy scheme stunting quarterback Justin Herbert’s anticipated ascension. Anyone would be preferable to the man holding the reins while the Chargers scored just three points in last season’s wild-card loss to the New England Patriots, after which Roman was fired.

Anyone such as, say, former Miami Dolphins coach and purported offensive guru Mike McDaniel?

Yeah?

About that.

Somehow, after just two games, the Chargers’ offense under McDaniel has Bolts fans wishing anyone else was running the show. Roman included.

Because Roman wouldn’t have overcomplicated a third-and-inches play-call. He wouldn’t have had the 6-foot-6, 240-pound Herbert line up in shotgun and call for motion.

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The Chargers lost to the Las Vegas Raiders 26-14 on Sunday, and the schedule doesn’t get any easier for them moving forward.

And the subsequent snap wouldn’t have hit receiver Tre’ Harris before it got to Herbert. And instead of losing five yards and having Herbert, in a rare show of emotion, slapping the turf in frustration, the Chargers probably would have gotten a fresh set of downs.

So far, McDaniel’s brief Chargers’ tenure hasn’t just been a disappointment. It has, through two games, been a disaster. Because the Chargers really needed these first two wins against opponents who both won only three games last season.

Instead, the Chargers’ offense looked as disjointed and discombobulated in Sunday’s 26-14 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders as it did the previous week in their 26-14 loss to the Arizona Cardinals.

It was an unwanted second helping of “humble pie,” as McDaniel described the Chargers’ Week 1 defeat. And it was nasty.

Now the Chargers’ schedule is about to come at them fast, with their next games against the Buffalo Bills, the Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks, Denver Broncos, Kansas City Chiefs and then the Rams, the preseason Super Bowl favorites.

After consecutive 11-win seasons under Jim Harbaugh — who’d never lost to the Raiders and never previously lost two consecutive games to start a season — the Chargers might blink and find themselves 0-7.

What’s worse than frustratingly quick postseason exits? Not making the playoffs at all.

And the Chargers are going to need to engineer a quick turnaround if they’re going to be among the 15% of teams that start a season 0-2 and still reach postseason play.

Chargers offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel walks on the sideline before a preseason game against the San Francisco 49ers at SoFi Stadium on Aug. 20.

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

To do that, they’ll need to score more points. They’ll need to stop shooting themselves in the proverbial feet and take some better shots downfield. Stop dropping the ball — figuratively, literally. They fumbled six times Sunday!

And stop thinking so much. Sundays are for reacting, and any amount of thinking is overthinking.

Maybe it’s personnel? The fact that, outside of Ladd McConkey, the Chargers are short on receivers who can reliably create separation.

Maybe it’s just a matter of time that the Chargers don’t have much of, cramming to learn McDaniel’s methods, to dial in the timing and coordination.

Or maybe, for McDaniel, it’s as simple as simplifying what he’s trying to do with this Chargers offense.

When he was hired in January, the prevailing thought was that the cerebral partnership between McDaniel and Herbert would prove a perfect match.

Even though McDaniel was dismissed after the Dolphins missed the playoffs two consecutive seasons, the coach — who’d developed a reputation as a talented offensive mind under Kyle Shanahan with the San Francisco 49ers — was a hot commodity on the coaching market.

McDaniel reportedly drew interest from the Baltimore Ravens, Cleveland Browns, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Bills and Raiders. But he opted to come to L.A. to work with Herbert as the All-Pro QB’s fifth offensive coordinator in seven seasons (following three offensive coordinators in his four years at Oregon).

Starting over again, in these two games with McDaniel, Herbert has thrown for a modest 401 yards, just two touchdowns and three interceptions — though one of them bounced off David Njoku’s hands Sunday.

Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert watches a pass attempt fall incomplete after he is hit by Raiders defensive end Malcolm Koonce during the fourth quarter Sunday.

(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

There have also been protection problems, fumbles, a missed field goal, and lots of penalties — including four on star left tackle Joe Alt, who was called for a hold that resulted in a safety on an anything-that-can-go-wrong-will-go-wrong Sunday.

“I’m not looking in any one direction,” Harbaugh said Sunday. “I’m looking at it all.”

On TV, Herbert appeared to be looking off into space on the sideline as McDaniel sat chattering beside him, the game mercifully winding down.

Asked what McDaniel’s message was to the offense, Herbert said: “I haven’t been able to speak with him after.”

There’s a lot to talk about, but be careful what you ask.

Storm is moving northeast of Japan’s eastern coast across the Pacific, leaving a path of destruction behind.

A powerful storm has triggered evacuation advisories for more than 1.6 million people, causing widespread travel chaos, flooding and landslides near Tokyo.

On Monday, Typhoon Dujuan packed wind speeds of about 144 kilometres (89 miles) per hour as it moved 130km (80 miles) south of Katsuura, near the Japanese capital, cutting power to thousands of households.

Two people have been confirmed dead, Kyodo News reported, citing local authorities.

By early Tuesday, the storm had shifted away from the coast and was heading northeast out to sea towards the Aleutian Islands, with slightly diminished winds, the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) said.

In areas where warnings have been issued, “there’s a risk the rain will continue as the typhoon moves north”, the JMA’s Takuya Hosomi said.

Passengers were stranded at airports after Japan Airlines cancelled 135 flights and All Nippon Airways scrapped 140 on Monday.

Some rail services were suspended, including bullet train services connecting Tokyo and Osaka, Japan Railways said.

The JMA warned on Sunday that rain and winds were expected to intensify even before the typhoon’s arrival.

“The total rainfall through Tuesday could exceed the average monthly rainfall for September, resulting in record-breaking heavy rain,” the agency said.

Social media posts showed images of flooded roads in front of Kamakura station, a popular sightseeing spot.

“There is flooding in various parts of the city, so travelling by car is dangerous,” Kamakura Mayor Takashi Matsuo said on X.

Floodwaters also inundated parts of Ichikawa, east of Tokyo.

Dujuan forced the early closure of the Tokyo Game Show, one of the world’s biggest video game trade fairs, on Monday, its final day.

A major outdoor music festival and a baseball match, both scheduled to be held in Chiba, were also cancelled.

Dujuan is Japan’s 25th typhoon this year. The country often sees strong typhoons in the late summer and early autumn.

I CRASHED Kim Kardashian’s ultra-exclusive VIP launch of her London Skims store in a £35.99 knock-off jumpsuit – and ended up sipping dirty martinis with the A-list.

Arriving at the top-secret Regent Street bash in the pouring rain after a long day at work, I was armed with nothing but a mission and the confidence to somehow convince everyone I was wearing Kim’s Skims brand.

Amazingly, it worked.

In fact, I’d bought my entire outfit, a £35.99 Bershka gym jumpsuit, on the way there — and everyone believed it was one of Kim’s £116 creations.

And, after a humbling 30 minutes in the rain, I blagged my way inside at 7.40pm on Friday.

A couple of months ago I trekked down to an MPS Body and Paint car garage in Kent to recreate Kim’s Met Gala outfit.

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Now I’d gone one step further and found myself inside her crazy world — with the crowds parting like the Red Sea as the 5ft 2in brunette bombshell stepped inside.

Security assumed I had been there from the start and began backing everyone else up behind me.

Before I knew it, I was apparently first in line for a selfie with Kim — and I certainly wasn’t about to correct them.

Kim, 45, looked incredible in a custom leather Ludovic de Saint Sernin gown and, despite my unconvincing Skims impersonation, told me: “It’s lovely to meet you, you look amazing.”

Sadly, I later heard her parrot that to every other person she met in the plush new shop, so alas the compliment wasn’t just rolled out for me.

Famed for her selfie taking, and as one of the most photographed women in the world, it came as little surprise that Kim takes this very seriously.

And as I stepped forward for my snap, I was almost blinded as one of her assistants suddenly held up a huge dazzling torch over our faces.

But after a day at work and a trek through the rain, I have never been more grateful for good lighting.

Kim had three outfit changes throughout the night and I’d already experienced one of them from the front row.

Earlier, I found myself at the front of a queue for the loo when Kim was suddenly escorted ahead of everyone.

In what felt like the longest wardrobe change in history, at least ten people were left waiting cross-legged before she eventually emerged in the same dress.

Kim later fully committed to the change and slipped into a brown leather corset and a floor-length skirt.

Her third and final look of the night was a tight-fitting, nude two-piece which drew gasps of appreciation from the seven people glued to her side at all times.

As well as two burly security guards — and her lighting flunky of course — she spent the evening with Ludovic, the man who had designed her gown, Tracy Romulus Nguyen — chief communications officer of Skims — and two other assistants who were on hand to bat away anyone trying to get more than Kim’s pre-planned compliment out of her mouth.

Three immaculate bars were dotted around the store, serving gorgeous cocktails in translucent and nude shades to match Kim’s three looks.

Staff floated around with the prettiest — and tiniest — canapes I’d ever seen, from tuna tartare to miniature potatoes smothered in caviar.

I feared I’d be starving by the end of the night, but thankfully the microscopic morsels of food were eventually replaced with much more substantial burgers and fries.

I also made good use of the bar, sipping dirty martinis with celebs including Emma Grede, Rochelle Humes, Love Island’s Lorenzo Alessi and rapper Central Cee.

Kim’s famous hairdresser and current Strictly contestant Chris Appleton was also never far from her side, checking up on her hair throughout the evening and constantly patting down stray flyaways.

Just under two hours later, Kim was whisked away to an afterparty, held in lavish private members. club Maison Estelle. She used a secret lift to escape the 200 fans who had gathered outside.

My exit was a little more down to earth and, naturally, I got my hands on two Skims goody bags before jumping on the Northern Line home.

Inside one of them was an unreleased branded tracksuit worth £220, which some cheeky party-goers have since put on eBay for almost double the price.

Given how much of an upgrade it was from my Bershka number, I’ll be holding onto mine.

Marvin Reid can’t say how many pedestrians he’s seen get hit while trying to brave the North Hollywood intersection of Magnolia Boulevard and Tujunga Avenue. He gave up keeping count long ago.

One afternoon last spring, he watched a man get run over while walking toward a 7-Eleven on the corner. Fortunately, the man popped to his feet “like nothing ever happened” and hustled into the store, Reid said. A week or two prior, he said, an out-of-control motorist nearly plowed into the statue of Amelia Earhart that sits next to a library bearing the famous aviator’s name.

“This is really a bad spot,” said Reid, who has helped run a Jamaican food pop-up at the busy street corner for the past five years. “It doesn’t matter if it’s an old lady crossing the street with a walker.”

The number of Angelenos who die in traffic crashes now regularly outpaces those killed by homicide. From 2016 to 2023, the annual traffic death toll rose nearly 29% overall, and pedestrian deaths jumped roughly 54%. Fatal crashes fell slightly last year, but deaths still exceeded 300 in each of the last three years.

The city is rolling out 125 speed cameras in school zones, known street-racing corridors and places where speeding has contributed to a high rate of collisions — including Reid’s intersection.

But for him, the cameras aren’t a replacement for police traffic enforcement, which he said seems virtually nonexistent.

Even though LAPD squad cars are posted up outside the library “everyday,” he says, they rarely do anything about the drivers who come careening off the exit ramps from the nearby 170 Freeway.

Similar complaints are being echoed around the city. Historically, Los Angeles — like other places across the U.S. — has relied on police stops to produce road safety. But in recent years, public pressure has compelled city leaders to think more critically about whether enforcement can continue without the historical harms that has come along with it.

LAPD data show the department is far less proactive than it used to be.

In 2019, LAPD officers made about 713,000 stops across the city; by 2025, that number had decreased to roughly 308,000 — a roughly 57% decline. A Times analysis of police stop data found that the drop-off was especially pronounced in the Central, West Valley, 77th Street and Southeast police divisions.

In some ways, the decline in stops is unsurprising. Other large U.S. cities have seen similar changes in enforcement strategies by police since the pandemic. As the department continues to shrink, LAPD commanders say they have fewer resources to devote to traffic duty. Officials have been under pressure to curb the use of so-called “pretext stops,” in which officers use a minor violation — a broken turn signal, say, or a cracked windshield — as justification to stop someone in order to investigate whether a more serious crime has occurred.

Reform activists and some city leaders argue the stops are fishing expeditions that lead to police abuses — while failing to deliver safer streets.

The practice of pulling over random vehicles, often based on little more than a hunch, has been a cornerstone of the city’s crime-fighting strategy for decades. The tactic is especially prevalent among the department’s elite Metropolitan Division and anti-gang units, several of which have come under investigation in recent years for failing to document the stops and improper searches.

Since 2019, when a Times investigation found significant racial disparities in LAPD crime suppression tactics, officials have slowed — but never abandoned — the practice of flooding neighborhoods with tactical officers to pull people over and search their vehicles.

Four years later, stops for minor violations began dropping again after LAPD overhauled its policies to limit the circumstances under which officers can make pretext stops, joining law enforcement agencies in cities like Philadelphia, Seattle and Berkeley, Calif.

Yet a report published last year found that officers are still disproportionately targeting Black and Latino drivers.

LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell and other department leaders have fought against more restrictions, arguing they risk losing an essential weapon against serious crime.

But in May, the Los Angeles City Council passed a measure urging the Police Commission, the LAPD’s policy-making body, to further limit arbitrary pull-overs for non-moving traffic violations.

Commission officials said they would wait for the results of a pair of audits by the inspector general’s office before making any further policy changes. The first report suggested that problems with the department’s gang officers were far more widespread than the department has publicly let on.

While LAPD officials had acknowledged issues in a handful of police divisions, the latest audit found that gang units citywide routinely flouted the department’s rules on pretext stops, including by often failing to obtain proper consent to search the vehicles they stopped. The inspector general’s office also found that gang officers didn’t always turn on their body-worn or dashboard cameras as required during these encounters and at times failed to properly log who they were stopping — resulting in an undercount of “both the number of detentions and the enforcement actions taken,” the report said.

The review, based on a sample of 300 stops as well as interviews with current and former gang officers, also highlighted ongoing confusion about what the department expects its officers to do when pulling someone over.

The findings of the second report — which reviewed pretext stops by officers from other units in January — are expected to be presented at an upcoming commission meeting.

The Los Angeles Police Protective League, the union for rank-and-file officers, and other proponents of pretext stops argue that elected leaders don’t grasp the consequences of doing away with the tactic, which the U.S. Supreme Court has deemed lawful.

Reform advocates have fought to deploy unarmed civilians instead of LAPD officers for traffic enforcement — as the city has already started doing for certain mental health-related calls — but the union has warned that the work is too dangerous. A state bill that would have allowed trained civilian workers to make traffic stops failed to make it through the state assembly.

With the death toll from speeding on the rise, more enforcement is needed, not less, department leaders say. The city, they argue, can’t afford to wait on alternative programs that require study, money and public buy-in that could take years.

Amid the debate over how to proceed, LAPD enforcement hasn’t vanished completely.

Even though the department no longer dispatches officers to the scenes of minor accidents, LAPD statistics show that enforcement the department’s 308-member traffic bureau has gone up. As of July, the number of traffic tickets issued had climbed 44% from the same time last year — increasing to more than 14,600 from around 10,100. Citations for impaired driving have also risen, and the department continues to crack down on street takeovers.

Still, progress toward new, non-police approaches to traffic enforcement has been frustratingly slow in Los Angeles, advocates say.

Advocates have pointed to mounting research in other cities that showed road improvements along high-injury street corridors were more effective than police at changing driver behaviors, ultimately reducing the number of traffic-related deaths and serious injuries more than the threat of being ticketed.

Supporters of so-called “self-enforcing” roads say narrowing lanes can lead to a considerable decline in crashes as drivers reduce their speed and move more cautiously than when the road is less wide. Such changes also reclaim space for protected bike lanes, public transit lines, or safer walkways — after long prioritizing convenience for cars, advocates say.

Car accidents are dangerous for everyone involved, but they have become even more hazardous for pedestrians and cyclists.

Experts cite speeding and cellphone distractions as two of the biggest problems.

Another factor is the proliferation of larger vehicles — a phenomenon known as “autobesity” — which have bigger blind spots and more likely to seriously injure a pedestrian or bicyclist.

Andres Ramirez, executive director for the transportation advocacy nonprofit People for Mobility Justice, said he’s cautiously optimism that the mayor’s promise of a “No Car” 2028 Olympic Games will help fast-track some of the most pressing road safety projects.

“The streets needs to be a lot safer for pedestrians, for bicyclists, different modes,” Ramirez said. “The most obvious way is ensuring that infrastructure projects are prioritized in communities that have long been ignored.”

Fox Sports announcer Tom Brady might have spoken for all of us when viewing the play in which Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels dislocated his left elbow Sunday against the Dallas Cowboys.

Brady said an expletive on the air, expressing a genuine reaction to the gruesome sight of Daniels’ joint bending in the wrong direction after he planted his left hand to break a fall.

The same expression was no doubt used by countless Commanders fans who had seen their quarterback miss much of the 2025 season with the same injury to the same elbow.

Chicago Bears fans also probably reacted with similar words when star quarterback Caleb Williams was carted off the field with a hamstring injury.

The coaches of both teams had injury updates Monday about the quarterbacks who were selected first (Williams) and second (Daniels) in the 2024 draft. Bears coach Ben Johnson told WMVP in Chicago that Williams appears to have avoided a major injury but would “likely miss some time.”

Hours later, however, Johnson told reporters he wasn’t yet ruling out Williams for the Bears’ “Monday Night Football” game against the Philadelphia Eagles. He said Williams underwent an MRI scan on Monday and that the team received news that was “somewhat encouraging.”

“He’s right now working through every avenue that he’s got available to get back on track here,” said Johnson, who added that Williams probably would not practice this week. “We’ll see what that looks like. Here’s what I know: This guy’s a little bit different than the average human being. … He gets back, he has in the past, a lot faster than what people can anticipate. I’m not putting a timeline on this. We’re going to say week to week.”

Commanders coach Dan Quinn told reporters that Daniels underwent imaging that morning and would see specialists the following two days.

“We’ll go through the process from there,” Quinn said. “I know you’ll have some questions regarding timelines, but until we go through that process, I’d be guessing to give you any.”

Quinn did say that veteran backup Marcus Mariota would start Sunday against the Seattle Seahawks and that he might have an update on Daniels on Thursday or Friday.

Williams, after going 5-12 as a rookie, threw for a franchise-record 3,942 yards while leading the Bears to an 11-6 record and the NFC North title. He got hurt during Chicago’s 9-3 loss Sunday while scrambling deep in Minnesota Vikings territory midway through the fourth quarter.

Williams was replaced by Tyson Bagent, a fourth-year player who has appeared in 13 games and is 2-2 as a starter. Johnson told reporters Monday that he was confident in Bagent should he have to start any games in Williams’ place.

“If it goes that route, I feel strongly about what he’s capable of, and our team does, too,” Johnson said. “They know he’s a darn good football player.”

Daniels was an immediate star in Washington, leading the Commanders to a surprise appearance in the NFC championship game his rookie season, but he missed all but one game in the second half of last season after dislocating the same elbow Nov. 2 against the Seattle Seahawks.

He injured it Sunday on a play from the Dallas one-yard line with three seconds remaining before halftime. Left guard Chris Paul stepped on Daniels’ foot as he backed away from center and the quarterback threw a wild incomplete pass as he braced himself on the ground with his other hand.

Mariota replaced Williams in the second half and completed 11 of 16 passes for 111 yards with one touchdown.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

FAA halts East Coast flights due to equipment outage, affecting major US airports in New York, Newark, and Philadelphia.

The United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has halted flights to several busy East Coast airports amid an equipment outage, snarling more than 1,000 flights.

On Monday, the FAA issued ground stops at large commercial airports, including New York’s John F Kennedy International (JFK) and LaGuardia; Newark Liberty International in New Jersey, as well as Boston Logan and Philadelphia International Airport.

The flights were halted on the day that 130 world leaders and dozens of ministers were arriving in New York for the annual high-level meeting of the United Nations General Assembly.

US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said in a post on social media platform X that flights have resumed into New York’s LaGuardia and into Philadelphia, but that ground stops are still in effect at Newark, JFK, and Teterboro Airport in New Jersey. The ground stop has also been lifted in Boston.

FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford told reporters on Monday that it had “lost the primary circuit” at what is called Philadelphia TRACON, or Terminal Radar Approach Control, which controls air traffic into Philadelphia and airports across the busy northeast US airspace.

Bedford said that the backup fibre had a break and told reporters that it could take up to 13 hours to repair. He said the cut was between the city of New Brunswick, New Jersey, and Newark, New Jersey, which is home to Newark Liberty International Airport.

“An Amtrak construction crew accidentally cut into a fiber line in New Jersey which caused a telecom outage and forced FAA to pause flights in the Northeast,” Duffy said in a post on X.

Newark delays

At Newark alone, more than 1,000 flights had been delayed or cancelled. Throughout the US, there were nearly 4,000 delayed flights and 500 cancelled.

United Airlines said it would waive change fees for impacted travellers. Newark serves as a major hub for the airline.

“Flights that had been destined for Newark have either been held at their departure airport or diverted to alternative airports. Once the FAA outage is resolved, we will work to safely get our customers to their destinations and have issued a travel waiver to give our customers flexibility to manage their travel plans,” a representative for United Airlines said in a statement provided to Al Jazeera.

Newark has recorded the highest levels of delays and cancellations of any airport, according to FlightAware, which tracks flight disruptions in real time. As of 3pm Eastern Time in the US (19:00 GMT), 31 percent of departing flights from Newark had been cancelled, along with 29 percent of inbound flights. Meanwhile, 17 percent of departing flights from the United hub had been delayed, as had 17 percent of inbound flights.

A ground stop was also issued at Teterboro Airport in New Jersey, a private airport neighbouring New York City.

Hundreds of flights have been delayed at major airports in the US after construction workers accidentally cut a cable needed for air traffic control.

Ground stops and delays were issued on Monday afternoon for airports in New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Massachusetts.

Hours later, US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the cable had been repaired and airports would resume normal operations, though delays were still expected.

The major east coast disruption came ahead of the UN General Assembly (UNGA) in New York City on Tuesday, which is expected to be attended by scores of world leaders arriving into New York-area airports.

That includes UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham, who managed to board his flight before the delays began and was expected to arrive on time.

The delays happened after the damaged cable impacted the Terminal Radar Approach Control system, which is used to guide planes during takeoff and landing, transport officials said.

New Jersey public transportation agency NJ Transit told CBS News, the BBC’s US partner, that its construction workers had accidentally severed the line and that markers had been wrongly placed at the digging site.

The BBC has reached out to NJ Transit for comment.

Duffy earlier said the damage was caused by workers from Amtrak, the US national operator of intercity railroad service, who were doing the construction work. This “caused a telecom outage” which forced the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to ground flights, Duffy posted on X.

An Amtrak spokesperson said in a statement, reported by US media, that the incident involved a NJ Transit contractor. Telecommunications company Verizon, which owns the cable, also said it was not responsible.

The severed cable was actually a backup network, and the error was only discovered after the primary circuit failed, according to the head of the FAA, Bryan Bedford.

Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey – one of the three major airports that services New York City – was the most heavily impacted by today’s air traffic control disruptions, according to flight-tracking website FlightAware.

It reported that 267 departing flights were delayed today, while a further 257 flights destined for Newark were also delayed.

John F Kennedy International Airport and LaGuardia Airport, both in New York, were also affected, as was Philadelphia International Airport.

One passenger, Douglas Tewnion, said he boarded a flight to New York from Edinburgh and that his plane had been diverted to Boston, Massachusetts instead.

He told the BBC that, two hours after his flight was due into New York, he and the other passengers were still “sitting on the same plane, on the tarmac at Boston with no information”.

Though “everyone is in good spirits”, Tewnion said “it’s just a pain” to see two more hours waiting added onto a lengthy flight.

Additional reporting by Ione Wells

Sept. 21, 2026 12:58 PM PT

The Queen of Country is being honored with a special day on Californians’ calendars.

Gov. Gavin Newsom signed legislation Sunday that establishes Sept. 25 as Dolly Parton Day. The date’s significance may be obvious to fans of the late country legend: 9-2-5 references Parton’s hit single “9 to 5” from the soundtrack of the 1980 comedy film of the same name that starred Parton, Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin.

“Dolly Parton was an icon,” Newsom said in a video accompanied by his wife, Jennifer Siebel Newsom, announcing the bill’s passage. “Dolly was larger than life with big hair and a bigger heart. People around the world have been touched by her music, by her philanthropy, and by her humor.”

Parton died Aug. 25 at 80 years old following a battle with cancer. The beloved songwriter, recording artist, actor and businesswoman was an honored musician, earning 10 Grammy Awards and 10 Country Music Assn. Awards, as well as two Academy Award nominations and a Primetime Emmy. She was the recipient of the National Medal of the Arts in 2005 and the Kennedy Center for the Arts Award in 2006. Parton was also inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1999 and the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2022.

“Her legacy goes well beyond her music,” Sen. John Laird (D-Santa Cruz), who co-authored the bill with Sen. Shannon Grove (R-Bakersfield), said in a statement. “Through the Imagination Library, she put books into the hands of millions of children, and throughout her life she led with kindness, acceptance, and a belief that everyone deserves to be treated with dignity and respect. She was also no stranger to the Central Coast, where she performed for packed crowds and spent time over the years. Now, every 9-2-5, California gets to celebrate Dolly and the remarkable legacy she shared with all of us.”