U.S. Air Force Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) are set to take part in a large-force employment (LFE) exercise for the first time later this year. Sending CCAs to the next iteration of the Emerald Flag test exercise is another important new stepping stone toward fielding the drones operationally.
“We have not yet done a LFE with these [CCAs], for real. The first one is going to be Emerald Flag. That’s in December,” Lt. Col. Lyndon “OTTO” Bartlett, Director of Operations for the Experimental Operations Unit (EOU) at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada, said earlier today. “That’ll be our first tip dip of the toe in an actual force integration.”
One of the Air Force’s YFQ-44A Fury CCA drones flies together with an F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. Anduril
It is worth noting here that Boeing’s MQ-28 Ghost Bat, a CCA-type design, did take part in Valiant Shield 26, another LFE exercise, earlier this year. The EOU was also involved. However, the MQ-28, originally developed for the Royal Australian Air Force, is not officially part of the Air Force’s CCA program at present.
Emerald Flag in December “will, in OTTO’s mind, be the first time that we will ever do some CCA end-to-end chain [demonstration] live. That’s the first time we’ll ever be integrated in a fourth- and fifth-gen combined OCA [offensive counter air] push,” Lt. Col. Bartlett added. “It’ll be small, but those type [sic] of building blocks are where I think you get the intangibles like trust in the CCA.”
“Those learnings are going to be just as valuable as the technical, [like] does the radio work properly? Does the button I push to say ‘target’ work properly?” he continued.
A General Atomics YFQ-42A CCA drone during an earlier test flight. General Atomics
“If it’s in a simulated environment, it’s immediate,” Lt. Col. Bartlett said during the panel when asked about the “feedback loop” in testing the EOU is already taking part in. In that environment, “when the mission autonomy iterations are happening, our guys are literally with the programmers … They give the feedback, and if it’s possible to do immediately, they take that feedback. If not, then they work on it on the next turn of the software.”
Real-world testing, of course, offers opportunities to explore additional aspects of future CCA operations, including when it comes to loading weapons and maintenance. A key component of the Air Force’s vision for CCA employment is being able to forward deploy the drones to far-flung locations, including airstrips with limited infrastructure and access to logistics chains. Rapid, distributed deployments like this are central to still-evolving concepts of operations currently referred to collectively as Agile Combat Employment (ACE). The EOU has been involved in at least two rounds of ACE-focused testing this year, one at Edwards Air Force Base in California in April and another at Creech Air Force Base in Nevada in July. TWZ was the first to report on the latter event.
Visualizing ACE
During the panel today, Lt. Col. Bartlett also talked more generally about work EOU has done to date. This has included exploring “sortie generation, how easy they are to maintain, [and] how small a footprint could be.”
“We’ve been pleasantly surprised. The jets are extremely easy to maintain,” he continued. “We’re at a one-to-one maintainer-to-airplane ratio, which is crazy small.”
With “CCAs, [it] seems like because they’re a little bit simpler, because their role is so focused, what we found is that just about any – not just about, but we found that any AFSC [Air Force Specialty Code; alphanumeric codes used to identify specific jobs within this service] can be trained to generate sorties to load weapons, and we’ve done some of those things already,” he further explained. “It’s our job to bring them [CCAs] out and make sure that, beyond the technical specifications of it, that we’re kind of experimenting with the more complex things like logistics, and C2 [command and control], and how do we battle manage these things.”
Airmen prepare to load an inert AIM-120 Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missile onto a YFQ-44A CCA drone. USAF/Senior Airman Renee Blundon
The head of the EOU did acknowledge challenges that still have to be surmounted. This notably includes hurdles currently imposed by Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) regulations on the operation of fully uncrewed aircraft, even by the U.S. military, within U.S. airspace. This is further compounded by the explicit intention to operate CCAs with far more minimal human engagement compared to most existing drones.
“Mission autonomy is going to be the secret sauce that lets these things become decisive or not, and we’ll know that over the next couple years as that develops,” according to Bartlett. “If I were to identify the two biggest problems from the trenches of the EOU, [one] is FAA integration or policy implications to an autonomous airplane.”
“So these things don’t have pilots. They’re not RPAs [remotely-piloted aircraft]. They’re not manned fighters. They have no pilots,” he continued. “Our system is not set up for that, and that is a challenge that we are finding extremely hard to navigate through, and to not go around, but to make a policy.”
“We need to make sure the Air Force is ready for these things, to set policies that make sure the enterprise and the country is [sic] ready to receive these, and internalize an autonomous fighter that does not have a pilot that is running on a mission autonomy agent that doesn’t listen to ATC [air traffic control],” he added.
Another look at a YFQ-44A prototype during at test in 2026. USAF
The second problem, per Bartlett, is making sure the Air Force develops new internal policies and doctrine that are not “copy and pastes from old regulations” that do not take into account the specific nuances that CCAs will bring. What the service needs is “something that enables us to move quickly with these things, to weigh what we need, and to experiment with novel types of air superiority.”
All of this circles back to the discussion of trust in autonomous capabilities. It also speaks to the potential for future operations where CCAs could operate far more independently.
“It’s in the name that they’re collaborative,” Bartlett said. “Taking them out of that could technically be effective, but would not enhance the joint force the way that we see a collaborative, integrated force package to be.”
“What we need autonomously to do is written down. I won’t discuss the particulars in this forum, but we know what we need it to do, or we know what we think it really needs to do,” he noted. “We’ve structured our experimentation game plan to analyze ‘can it do those things?,’ and if not, then how do they need to be different? And then as they iterate on it, which we’ve already seen a couple times, we get that at the EOU, we get the new version down, we fly it again. Is it fixed? Yes or no.”
A General Atomics YFQ-42A seen from another angle during earlier testing. General Atomics
Some members of industry are clearly envisioning futures with different definitions of ‘collaborative’ that could lean more toward independent operations involving highly autonomous drones.
What “the whole entire program is trying to do is [figure out] what is the requirement to put out into the field to get to the warfighter and to start operating this thing this [sic; in] real time?” Robert “Otis” Winkler, Vice President of Corporate Development & National Security Programs at dronemaker Kratos, another one of the panelists, said. “The collaborative part of this makes it a much easier, I think, technical problem to be able to limit and grow the autonomy as you field this.”
“I think eventually we may see these aircraft utilized as collaborative aircraft, but not in conjunction with your traditional pulsed operation, but in support of that pulsed operation when the pulse isn’t there yet. But I do think that that is a bit of a stretch goal that’s going to be down the road.”
CCAs “have been designed really around increasing both survivability and lethality of current force packages. So there are many manned platforms that you would describe in the exact same fashion,” Jason Levin, Senior Vice President for Air Dominance and Strike at Anduril, who was also on the panel, said. He was responding here to a specific question about whether his use of the term “fighter” to describe these drones implied more emphasis on independent operations.
All of this underscores the importance of bringing CCAs to Emerald Flag in December, as well as other events in the future offering opportunities to see how the drones really fit in with other crewed platforms. The Air Force is hoping to start seeing CCAs enter operational service around the end of the decade, and have 500 of them, at least, in inventory by 2032.
During the panel today, the EOU’s Lt. Col. Bartlett made clear that “we’re going to learn a lot over the next couple years.”
The original 7 Up kids have returned for one final series of the groundbreaking social experiment.
70 Up is coming to an end (Image: Nick Wall/ITV)
70 Up viewers have shared their reaction to the series coming to an end, as the groundbreaking social experiment reaches its final chapter.
14 children, consisting of ten schoolboys and four little girls, gave cameras an insight into their lives back in 1964. Every seven years since, they’ve continued to show a glimpse of their story, from education, their early careers, marriages, raising children and retirement.
ITV has now returned one final time, for 70 Up. The synopsis previously teased: “Seven decades. One extraordinary experiment. The groundbreaking documentary series returns to meet the people we first saw as 7-year-olds as they reflect on life at 70.”
As well as several of the original children returning, now in their 70s, the programme paid tribute to two who have died, Nick and Lynn, and features Charles, who stopped taking part in the franchise from his 20s.
Viewers have admitted they found the series “heartbreaking”, as one person said: “I’m bawling already knowing Nick is no longer with us.” Another agreed, saying: “I’ve watched this all my life, makes me sad and reflective I’m the same age.”
Someone else wrote: “I admit to having shed a few tears, watching tonight. I’ve grown up with them. It’s been wonderful.” Another commented: “Absolutely, life’s ups and downs, at 7 full of hope and life, I feel i know these people, I don’t.”
Someone else said: “All of it is making me very emotional. In the blink of an eye, hopes and aspirations are just distant memories and time has run out. Life is over so very quickly . Too quickly.”
Another said: “I hope you’re watching seventy Up It’s heartbreaking.” Another added: “The sadness in watching #70UP is not only the lives drawing to a close and the challenges facing individuals but also the knowledge that television will never again be this ambitious.”
One person added: “Ah even a glimpse of Neil on #70UP bring the tears, watched religiously with mum and dad growing up, comparing, dreaming, crying, feel so blessed watching but also wish these were longer eps, I could watch for hours more…. this programme was a huge part of how I learned about life and my country.”
Several others called Neil’s journey heartbreaking and sad, after he opened up about his loneliness and being homeless at times in his life, candidly sharing his struggles. One person said: “I’ve watched all of these series from the get go even though I’m no where near their age group, just to add! It’s made me feel quite reflective on my own life, quite emotional really. But watching Neil’s story has flawed me, big time! His loneliness is a hard watch.”
Another echoed: “Watching #70Up. Neil breaks my heart every 7 years. He was such a happy little boy.” Yet another wrote: “Ooh that was a hard watch at times.” One person added: “I was in tears even from the opening titles Such a touching and interesting series.”
Ahead of the series airing, Jo Clinton-Davis, controller of factual ITV and commissioner of 70 Up, said: “The 7 Up story is much more than a TV documentary, it’s a document of our times. A truly distinctive landmark piece of film-making that has become part of our cultural fabric.
“In the evolving stories of our cast we see the universal themes of life play out. It is the series that made me want to get into television. It is the series that I am beyond proud of having been involved in since 56 Up. It is a tribute to Michael Apted who will forever be associated with it and to the continued dedication and remarkable skill of Claire Lewis.
“Yet in Asif Kapadia we have an outstanding director who will bring his passion, creativity and incredible flair whilst safeguarding the very precious ‘Up’ legacy. Ultimately, this is a tribute to the courage of all the cast who continue to share their lives with us so we can see our lives in them.”
Gulf investment is rising, but Africa needs long-term solutions to close a huge infrastructure financing gap.
Africa harbors grand aspirations. In the continent’s long-term development blueprint, Agenda 2063, “world-class” infrastructure is one of the goals under Aspiration 2.
Realizing the goal of linking the continent by rail, road, sea, and air, as well as energy and ICT, to specifically unleash regional and international trade is proving herculean. The reason is financing constraints. Annually, Africa wrestles with an infrastructure financing gap of more than $80 billion, according to the Africa Development Bank.
For decades, China was the blue-eyed boy, helping Africa address infrastructure bottlenecks. In recent years, however, Gulf states have emerged as strategic partners.
Dubai-based DP World is among Gulf companies investing billions in Africa’s infrastructure. The conglomerate’s latest foray is in Kenya, where it is investing $100 million in a mega special economic zone (SEZ). The complex is expected to integrate Kenyan companies into regional and global supply chains.
While Gulf partners are at the forefront of helping Africa meet infrastructure needs, the huge funding gap is forcing the continent to innovate in mobilizing long-term financing at scale. In this context, digital bonds are the latest capital-raising solution.
AFC Issues Digital Bonds
Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) became the first African institution to issue the asset class, raising 350 million Swiss francs ($427.4 million) through a five-year digital bond, structured as a tokenized security on a Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) platform and priced at a 1.4925% coupon.
As the largest ever issuance in the Swiss Franc market, it attracted unprecedented interest from high-quality investors, including banks, asset managers, and hedge funds.
“Digital bonds have the ability to resolve frictions that characterize traditional bond issuances, making them ideal for investors with a different kind of risk appetite,” said Eric Musau, Head, Research & Sustainable Finance at Kenya’s Standard Investment Bank.
Fragmentation, exorbitant costs, slow and manual processes, and a complex web of intermediaries are among the friction points digital bonds can resolve.
As debt securities issued and recorded on DLT or blockchain, digital bonds are gaining traction. In 2025, global DLT fixed-income issuance totaled €4.8 billion ($5.5 billion), a 48% increase from €3.2 billion in 2024, according to the Association for Financial Markets in Europe.
Asia remains the epicenter of issuances, with €3.8 billion issued in 2025, representing 78% of the world’s total.
AFC has identified inadequate infrastructure as the primary threat to Africa’s long-term growth. The institution, which has disbursed $19 billion to finance numerous projects across 36 countries, believes the new capital pool will help accelerate financing for critical sectors, including transport, power, natural resources, heavy industry, and telecommunications.
Transport, SEZs, and industrial parks are often cited as being central to the success of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). In transport, for instance, traffic flows are expected to increase significantly across all modes.
Maritime is a case in point. According to the Economic Commission for Africa, freight is projected to double from 58 million tonnes to 131.5 million tonnes by 2030 under the AfCFTA.
John Njiraini is a contributing writer based in Kenya.
Fewer than half of Americans believe the upcoming midterm elections will be “free and fair,” amid a broader decline in confidence in vote counts, according to a new nationwide poll.
While 49% of respondents said they expected the elections to be free and fair, 23% said they did not expect them to be, and 28% said they didn’t know what to expect.
Americans are more confident that ballots, once cast, will be counted accurately, though their trust in that varies depending on their political affiliation — with 63% of Democrats, 58% of Republicans and 49% of independent voters saying they are either “somewhat” or “very” confident in an accurate count, the Center for Transparent and Trusted Elections at UC San Diego poll found.
That is a sharp decline from after the 2024 election, when 77% of Democrats, 82% of Republicans and 73% of independents expressed such confidence, the same pollsters found then.
Lauren Prather, one of the center’s co-directors, said the latest findings reflect a decline in trust but also nuance in how respondents understand what it means to have a “free and fair” election — with an accurate count of cast ballots being a major factor, but not the only one.
Of those respondents who said they don’t know if the election will be free and fair, about a third — 31% — also said that they were “somewhat confident” that the vote would be counted accurately, Prather said.
The poll also asked an open-ended question, inviting respondents to share what a “free and fair” election means to them, she said, and trust in the count was a “central part of people’s definition” and a “dominant theme.” However, they also identified other things, she said — with about a quarter of respondents also pointing to “voter access and voter eligibility, as well as freedom from interference and intimidation and having a real choice of candidates,” Prather said.
“In other words, trust in the count is the anchor of how Americans understand what it means to be free and fair but it sits within a broader set of concerns about the integrity of the whole process,” she said.
The polling reflects an American electorate that has grown increasingly concerned about U.S. elections amid unprecedented claims of widespread voter fraud from President Trump and his administration, and increasing warnings from Democrats and independent election experts that those claims — which Trump has made without evidence and which experts deny — are part of a broader effort to interfere with the election and intimidate voters.
Thad Kousser, the center’s other co-director, said the findings are in line with a broader era of distrust in civic institutions in the U.S., but also a result of the fact that “people are following different signals from their leaders” as to the trustworthiness of U.S. elections — with vastly different messaging coming from leaders on the left and the right.
Poll respondents shared some concerns about the fairness of the November midterms, he said, but also split by wide margins on other concerns based on their political affiliation.
Voters across party lines shared concerns about gerrymandering, the poll found — with 48% of both Democrats and independents and 36% of Republicans saying they distrust that congressional district lines are drawn in a way that fairly reflects what voters want.
“Nobody has loved the redistricting wars that have been a big story throughout this year,” Kousser said.
After Trump urged Texas and other Republican-led states to launch unprecedented mid-decade efforts to redraw their congressional lines to bolster their party’s chances of retaining control of the legislature through the remainder of Trump’s term, Democrats fought back — including in California, where voters passed Proposition 50 to allow state Democrats to redraw congressional lines in their party’s favor.
On potential foreign interference, 32% of Democrats, 42% of independents and 48% of Republicans said they didn’t trust that U.S. elections are well-protected.
More than three-quarters of Americans — including 79% of Democrats, 76% of Republicans and 75% of independents — said they were “concerned that misleading audio or video ‘deepfakes’ created using AI will impact” the midterms.
But on other issues — including those most discussed by the political establishment — the political divide was much starker, the poll found.
For example, while 53% of Republicans said they distrust that ballots are counted accurately, just 19% of Democrats said so. While 52% of Republicans said they distrust that noncitizens are prevented from voting, just 12% of Democrats said so.
Meanwhile, Democrats and independents were more concerned than Republicans about eligible voters being able to cast their ballots without facing obstacles or intimidation, the poll found.
Many poll respondents said they expected to face intimidation from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents at or near polling locations — with such fears being particularly pronounced among voters of color, who were about four times as likely as white respondents to say they expected such intimidation, the poll found.
While 49% of Black respondents, 45% of “Hispanic” respondents and 40% of Asian American and Pacific Islander respondents said they expected to face intimidation, just 11% of white respondents said so, the poll found.
Overall, 35% of respondents said an ICE presence would make them less confident of an accurate vote count, compared with 23% who said it would make them more confident. Those responses also varied greatly by race — and partisan leaning.
White respondents were nearly split, with 29% saying it would make them less confident and 28% saying it would make them more confident. Respondents of other races were vastly more likely to say an ICE presence would make them less confident — with 38% of Black respondents saying they would be less confident and 10% saying they would be more confident; 43% of “Hispanic” respondents saying less and 18% saying more; and 57% of AAPI respondents saying less and just 6% saying more.
Nearly 60% of Democrats said an ICE presence would lower their confidence, and less than 8% said it would increase their confidence. Among Republicans, meanwhile, about 46% said it would increase their confidence, and less than 9% said it would decrease it.
Kousser said the polling gives the sense that a “free and fair” election “means something more to people than simply tallying up correctly the votes of those who were able to cast a ballot.”
“You might doubt that the election was free and fair if you are concerned that congressional districts are gerrymanders, or that some voters stayed away from the polls because of worries about intimidation, or that some people cast a ballot who were not, in fact, eligible,” he said. “These concerns, which can come from all different parts of the ideological spectrum, could lead people to be concerned that [a] ‘correctly counted’ election was not, in fact, fully free and fair.”
Kousser and Prather said what effect diminished trust in elections will have on the midterms and how Americans view the results remains unclear, but will depend in part on how close the election is and what messaging leaders — particularly Trump — share about the results once they come in. Prather said she did not expect it to diminish turnout.
The national survey of 5,016 American adults was conducted Sept. 1-9, with a margin of error of plus or minus 1.4%.
For a third time, the US House approved a war powers resolution, halting Trump’s ability to continue military action.
For a third time, the US House has voted to end the war in Iran, approving a war powers resolution that would halt President Donald Trump’s ability to continue military action without congressional approval.
The roll call late Tuesday, 220-204, was similar to earlier efforts this summer, with a few more Republicans joining all Democrats voting to bring an end to the conflict.
Seven House Republicans backed the resolution, including three voting in favour for the first time.
Iowa congressman Zach Nunn, a Republican, explained his vote saying that “with the negotiating window closed, sustained combat operations now require congressional authorization.”
“I will not support another open-ended war,” Nunn said.
None of the resolutions has made it to the president’s desk, where Trump would almost certainly veto the measure.
Republican Representative Brian Mast of Florida, the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, questioned which military resources Democrats would want to remove from the region where he said Iran remains a threat.
Mast said Trump is against “forever wars, and that is what he is ending” – the decades of hostilities from Iran.
“They are a continuous ongoing threat to the United States,” Mast said. “Enough is enough.”
The run-up to the midterms
The action is likely to be the last House vote on the Iran war ahead of the midterm elections, where the conflict overseas is playing a substantial role in the political campaigns. The war that Trump launched on February 28 has dragged on, with on-again, off-again deadly missile strikes being exchanged and causing havoc in the region for nearly seven months.
Lawmakers are heading home at the end of the week to campaign nearly full-time, with fewer than 50 days to go before the elections that will determine control of Congress as Democrats try to wrest power from Republicans.
US war on Iran
The US war on Iran is worsening inflation and straining the country’s munitions stockpiles, a report from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has found.
The report, released on Tuesday, found that the cost of the six-month war has reached $38bn and is expected to rise by $3bn per month. The war is projected to increase inflation by 0.5 percentage points in the first three months of 2027.
Trump himself had promised not to involve the US in foreign wars when he won a second term in the White House, and his actions against Iran are weighing on the Republican Party that controls the House and Senate.
Most Americans say the war in Iran has not been worth fighting, according to an AP-NORC poll in July.
Previous war resolutions
Congress has tried repeatedly to alter the trajectory of the war against Iran, but efforts to limit the Trump administration’s military action remain a long shot so long as the president can fend off or veto the measures.
The House first approved a war powers resolution in June, and followed up with another one in July, both seeking to halt US action in Iran. The Senate on its 10th try also approved a war powers resolution to end the conflict, but Republican senators quickly reversed course the next day after Trump berated them during a closed-door lunch.
While the Constitution gives Congress the authority to declare war, it also gives the president authority as the commander-in-chief to engage in some military actions. The War Powers Act, created after the Vietnam conflict, sought to impose a more specific time limit on the president’s power, requiring congressional approval for sustained military actions after 60 or 90 days.
WASHINGTON: For a third time, the US House has voted to end the war in Iran, approving a war powers resolution that would halt President Donald Trump’s ability to continue military action without congressional approval.
The roll call late Tuesday, 220-204, was similar to earlier efforts this summer, with a few more Republicans joining all Democrats voting to bring an end to the conflict. None of the resolutions have made it to the president’s desk, where Trump would almost certainly veto the measure.
“Remember when Donald Trump said that this war would last just a few weeks?” said Rep. Seth Moulton, D-Mass., who served as a Marine during the Iraq War and pushed the resolution forward.
He said it’s time for Congress to “actually ask tough questions, as the Constitution directs us to do, rather than be subservient to another warmongering administration.”
Republican Rep. Brian Mast of Florida, the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, questioned which military resources Democrats would want to remove from the region where he said Iran remains a threat.
Mast said Trump is against “forever wars, and that is what he is ending” — the decades of hostilities from Iran.
“They are a continuous ongoing threat to the United States,” Mast said. “Enough is enough.”
Last war powers vote before the midterms
The action is likely the last House vote on the Iran war ahead of the midterm elections, where the conflict overseas is playing a substantial role in the political campaigns. The war that Trump launched Feb. 28 has dragged, with on-again, off-again deadly missile strikes being exchanged and causing havoc in the region for nearly seven months.
Lawmakers are heading home at the end of the week to campaign nearly full-time, with less than 50 days to go before the elections that will determine control of Congress as Democrats try to wrest power from Republicans.
Voters are confronting high prices, particularly for gas at the pumps, as the conflict disrupts the flow of oil resources through the vital Strait of Hormuz.
The Congressional Budget Office said Tuesday that the war has cost more than $38 billion, as of Aug. 1, and is projected to be costing between $2 billion and $3 billion monthly, depending on the intensity of the fighting. The budget office projected inflation will be 0.5 percentage points higher than expected heading into 2027 due to the war.
Trump himself had promised not to involve the U.S. in foreign wars when he won a second term in the White House, and his actions against Iran are weighing on the Republican Party that controls the House and Senate. Most Americans say the war in Iran has not been worth fighting, according to an AP-NORC poll in July.
In the previous House actions, four Republicans voted to halt the war in Iran, but that number rose to seven in Tuesday’s war powers vote, including GOP lawmakers from battleground Iowa, Rep. Zachary Nunn and Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, and retiring Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina.
They joined GOP Reps. Tom Barrett of Michigan, Warren Davidson of Ohio, Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania and Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky voting in favor of the war powers resolution, with all Democrats.
War powers being put to the test
Congress has tried repeatedly to alter the trajectory of the war against Iran, but efforts to limit the Trump administration’s military action remain a longshot so long as the president is able to fend off or veto the measures.
The House first approved a war powers resolution in June, and followed up with another one in July, all seeking to halt U.S. action in Iran. The Senate on its 10th try also approved a war powers resolution to end the conflict, but GOP senators quickly reversed course the next day after Trump berated them during a closed-door lunch.
While the Constitution gives Congress the authority to declare war, it also gives the president authority as the commander in chief to engage in some military actions. The War Powers Act, created in the aftermath of the Vietnam conflict, sought to put a more specific time limit on the president’s power, requiring congressional approval for sustained military actions after 60 or 90 days.
House Speaker Mike Johnson acknowledged at a press conference Tuesday the need to bring gas prices down.
But the Republican speaker said he believes the Iran conflict is entering a “new phase” as allies step up to help stabilize the region. When that happens, he said, “you’re going to see, as the president said, anytime gas prices will go down again, the cost of groceries will as well.”
Johnson said Trump expects the shift after the election, and the speaker added, “I’d love it to happen today.”
Former Gladiators star ‘Giant’ has accused the show of exploiting its power over performers and accused Holly Willoughby’s TV producer husband Dan Baldwin, 51, of double standards
Jamie Bigg has accused Holly Willoughby’s TV producer husband Dan Baldwin, 51, of double standards for platforming adult star Lily Phillips on his wife’s new YouTube show.(Image: Instagram)
Jamie Bigg, better known as Giant on the hit TV show Gladiators, has opened up about his biggest battle behind the scenes on the BBC show.
After Jamie separated from his wife, Katie Christian, late last year he began a relationship with OnlyFans model Taylor Ryan, 28. The pair first met at a Gladiators Live event in Sheffield. Taylor, from Exeter, Devon, was there as she was a fan of the show.
The pair began dating and their romance was so serious that in April Jamie, then 40, quit the programme after he was ordered to dump Taylor or lose his job. TV bosses reportedly said Taylor’s role as an online adult content creator conflicted with the show’s family-friendly image.
Jamie said at the time: “I had to choose between dating Taylor and keeping my job.”
The 6ft 5in Gladiator has now accused Holly Willoughby’s TV producer husband Dan Baldwin, 51, of double standards for interviewing adult star Lily Phillips on his wife’s new YouTube show.
In an exclusive interview with The Sun, Jamie, now 41, said the Lily interview left a bad taste in the mouth and said his exit “f***ing sucked” after insisting Dan had promised him a future on the show.
He said: “For the person who deleted or helped delete me, for his wife to do that interview, it just seemed too close to home to be comfortable with it.”
Dad-of-two Jamie said Dan allegedly told him “you’re definitely in the next series. Giant’s a huge character. We can’t imagine season four without Giant”. But when he refused to end his relationship, he was axed from the show.
Jamie is critical of the lack of duty of care shown to him, claiming the show completely washed its hands of him.
He told The Sun: “They did try and delete me from the past, present and future with no duty of care for my mental health or the ADHD or the divorce or the getting older, which I thought was very, very harsh.”
Jamie described himself as a “pawn in their game” and accused the show of exploiting its power over performers.
Dan’s media firm Hungry Bear produces Gladiators and Holly’s Together show has been approached for comment by The Mirror but at the time of publication have not responded.
Jamie is now working as a motivational speaker and wants to use his experience as a bodybuilder and former Gladiator to inspire and help people overcome adversity in their own lives. He is represented by Champions Speakers for bookings.
The Mirror has also contacted the BBC for comment.
‘You’re going to Samobor? You must try kremšnita,” my Dubrovnik friends told me before I set off on my trip north. “But I’ve already had kremšnita in Zagreb,” I told them. They do it better in Samobor, they insisted. I wasn’t about to get embroiled in a battle of the cream cakes in a region where Croatians, Slovenes and Austrians all like to celebrate their own versions of this decadently thick, fat custard slice topped with puff pastry and icing sugar. But I was more than willing – happy, even – to follow everyone’s suggestions to try kremšnita in Hotel Livadić’s Kavana Livadić, in Samobor’s main King Tomislav Square, a mere half-hour drive west of Zagreb.
The excellent kremšnita at Kavana Livadić, Samobor. Photograph: Mary Novakvoich
It lived up to the hype – delicately rich, creamy and with a light touch. After spending a few weeks in sun-bleached Venetian Dalmatia, amid the scrubby, limestone Dinaric Alps, I had swapped empires and was firmly in Habsburg Croatia. Here, in Zagreb County’s prettiest town, handsome baroque houses in pastel shades of buttery yellow, apricot and pistachio, festooned with stucco, line narrow King Tomislav Square, whose umbrella-shaded cafe terraces were filled with Croatians getting their morning fix of coffee and chatter.
The lush green Samobor Hills overlook the medieval town, through which the Gradna – part river, part stream – flows and ripples under wooden bridges adorned with flowers. One of these bridges led to the onion-domed church of Saint Anastasia; another, with a fairytale wooden roof, took me to one of Samobor’s many green spaces, dotted with free red deckchairs, which had the slogan “Volim Samobor” (“I love Samobor”) written in white. In front of them, the stately former home (now the town’s museum) of one of Croatia’s foremost 19th-century composers, Ferdo Livadić, added to the air of gentle refinement, of culture worn lightly. It was easy to visualise Livadić entertaining his artistic friends, including Franz Liszt, in this august setting.
As well as the graceful architectural legacy of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy, this rolling green landscape is crisscrossed with forested trails, particularly within the Žumberak nature park, about 16 miles (26km) west of Samobor, where weekenders from Zagreb come to hike and bike in woods of hornbeam, oak and beech with bubbling waterfalls. Not having time for a full-on hike, I could still drive to Potočna dolina Slapnica, near the Vranjak waterfalls, and scramble up the path beside a series of cascades each more impressive than the last.
Closer to Samobor, the hilltop ruins of Okić castle rose to nearly 500m above sea level, one of the best-preserved romanesque fortifications in the country. The Mongols couldn’t defeat it, nor could the Ottoman Turks. Sadly, it defeated me when I attempted to hike to the top. Not realising there was a newer, easier path, I ended up on one that was little else but vertical tree roots. With a newly healed ankle and no phone signal, I thought it unwise to continue. But it’s on my list for next time.
The mist-shrouded ruins of Okic castle. Photograph: Ivan Smuk/Alamy
A much easier path to take was along the Plešivica wine road, where more than three dozen wineries were scattered on a heart-shaped route between the village of Plešivica (10 miles south-west of Samobor) and the town of Jastrebarsko. In a harmonious landscape that could out-Tuscany Tuscany, vineyards clung to steep slopes between forested hills, many producing the sparkling wine Plešivica is renowned for. I met Martina and Krešimir Ivančić, whose ancestors were given a noble title and coat of arms by the Austrian empress Maria Theresa in 1759. The griffin on the family crest inspired the name of the Griffin Winery, which came about when a Hungarian count gave them a licence to plant a vineyard in 1773.
Rudarska grebalica: a salty, stuffed pastry from Nikl in Rude. Photograph: Pixsell/Alamy
Martina took me to the covered patio of a wooden hut above the vineyards, a suitably bucolic place to taste an elegant and lightly fruity sparkling rose made from red portugieser grapes. We carried on in the extremely stylish tasting room, where plates of cured meats and cheeses accompanied glasses of full-bodied chardonnay.
I was also offered copanjek, a thin savoury pastry pie of cheese and greens. “They’re very portable, so workers would take them to the vineyard,” Martina told me. This looked like the winemaker’s version of rudarska greblica, which I had tasted that morning in the village of Rude, about a 10-minute drive west of Samobor, and liked so much I had to have two. Filled with cheese and walnuts, carrots or greens, these used to be made by the wives of Rude’s long-gone miners. They’re such an integral part of the region that they have their own festival every July and have been given EU protected status. At Pekarnica Nikl, in Rude, I met Jelena and Andrejas Nikl, the only authorised bakers of this much adored speciality. Jelena acknowledged the responsibility of keeping up this tradition of rudarska greblica, especially with the paperwork that came with legal protection – but, she said, it was worth it.
The sunny terrace at Korak winery and restaurant. Photograph: Mary Novakovich
All around the Samobor Hills, people were holding fast to their heritage and infusing it with life. The Korak family is one of the most illustrious, with its Michelin-starred Korak winery and restaurant in Plešivica. Not a whiff of Michelin stuffiness or pretentiousness here, just the fourth and fifth generations of a family producing superb wine and making beautiful food in a serene setting facing the vineyards. Brother Bernard is chef (and has worked with Massimo Bottura of Italy’s Osteria Francescana and Ana Roš of Slovenia’s Hiša Franko); sister Vera is front of house; and parents Velimir and Mirjana tend the vines – even the siblings’ grandparents are still making cheese and pršut (prosciutto) for the restaurant.
Bernard grows as much as he can – the rest comes from local producers, including the farmer whose pigs are fed on scraps from Bernard’s kitchen. And if it’s not in season, it’s not on the plate. My June visit rewarded me with a truffle tagliatelle, and clams and green beans in a caviar sauce, among other delicious dishes in a five-course tasting menu at €118 (a very reasonable price, and in keeping with the region’s overall lower prices).
I could only imagine what delights autumn will bring, especially during the annual Wine Days festival in Jastrebarsko from 25-27 September. The Samobor Hills will be teeming with autumn truffles and mushrooms, and welcoming the change in season the best way they know – on the plate.
They “are feeling very pessimistic,” said Mark Baldassare, PPIC’s statewide survey director. “You know that comes out not just in the questions we ask about the economy, but generally about the direction of the state and the nation. This just indicates the level of negativity that people have going into this final stage before people cast their ballots this November.”
More than half of the state’s likely voters believe that California is headed in the wrong direction, and 73% predict sour economic times in the state next year. Less than a quarter of likely voters believe the nation is headed in the right direction.
President Trump has an approval rating of 27% of likely voters, but that’s better than Congress, which has a 16% approval rating. Majorities do not have confidence in either major political party’s ability to solve problems.
Ballots will begin arriving in 23.2 million voters’ mailboxes in a little over two weeks. Nearly 80% of likely voters are frustrated by the length of the ballot, which includes 14 propositions as well as statewide, congressional and local elections. This a rare consensus among Democratic, Republican and independent voters.
“This year, there are more propositions on the ballot than we’ve seen for a decade,” Baldassare said. “Overwhelming majorities of Californians say that there are too many propositions on the ballot, too many things for them to decide. And many Californians feel that the wording of ballot initiatives makes it very hard for them to understand what happens if one passes.”
The proposal to tax the assets of billionaires to make up for federal government healthcare cuts, Proposition 40, has a slim lead in the poll, with 52% of likely voters saying they support the one-time 5% levy.
However, there are two ballot measures, Propositions 41 and 42, that would nullify the wealth tax if one is approved and gets more votes than Proposition 40. Narrow majorities support both of these proposals, creating a quandary for wealth tax supporters: ensuring their proposal receives the support of a majority of voters while also tamping down support for the competing efforts.
Findings about the proposal to require showing government-issued identification to vote and the governor’s race show less competitive contests that break along predictable partisan lines in a state where registered Democratic voters outnumber Republicans nearly 2 to 1.
The voter ID measure is opposed by 55% of likely voters. In the race to succeed termed-out Gov. Gavin Newsom, 60% of likely voters support Democrat Xavier Becerra, and 38% support Republican Steve Hilton. The other 2% were undecided or do not plan to vote on the race.
The poll of 1,745 adult Californians was conducted Sept. 4-10, and has a margin of error of about 3 percentage points in either direction, and 3.8 percentage points among the 1,103 likely voters.
Kieron: Kilmarnock could have won by three or four and it wouldn’t of flattered them. Hibs were so poor tonight. David Gray’s position is hanging by a thread.
Stuart: The players on that pitch have to take as much responsibility as Gray for this result, nowhere near good enough. Amateur performance.
Andy: How can Gray continue to keep his job? The players are not playing for him. The club is a mess. Banning the only fans that bring an atmosphere. Benching three of our best players. So confusing.
Chris: Question the tactics. Thought for long time long ball is desperate and lacks ambition. Pressure indeed on David Gray.
Lee: If we end the game two points off bottom spot then it’s surely time up for the Hibs manager. It’s not a run and recovery from a bad position needed, it’s deliver and results from the get go the support demands for a club of our size.
Stuart: The players on that pitch have to take as much responsibility as David Gray for this result, nowhere near good enough. Amateur performance.
Paul: Long balls to no-one as usual from Hibs and as usual our keeper is a weak link. Gray has to go even if we win as this is awful football. Bring in Neil Lennon or Steve Clarke asap before our season drifts to nothing as usual.
Andy: How can Gray continue to keep his job? The players are not playing for him. The club is a mess. Banning the only fans that bring an atmosphere. Benching three of our best players. So confusing.
Brian: Worst backline in Scotland, midfielders trot about like headless chickens, feel sorry for strikers. Gray clueless. No plan. No tactics. Blah, blah, blah after game as usual but won’t resign. Board have to act.
SMcDhfc: David Gray has lost the team, it was obvious tonight. As an attacking force, we were shocking, lots of huffing and puffing but not one real effort on target. The players should be embarrassed after that display, but they will get the result they are after, Gray sacked.
Craig: I like Gray but believe it’s time he goes. He has one formation. It’s just not good enough. But, if he goes, Malky MacKay [director of football] should go too. His signings have been terrible.
Fog Walk is a seasonal outdoor entertainment destination that combines nature and relaxation. Runs until Feb. 28, 2027. For more details, visit abha.platinumlist.net .
The US has poured billions into cancer research, yet it remains one of the country’s biggest killers. Ted Okon, executive director of the Community Oncology Alliance, tells Al Jazeera’s ‘This is America’ that even with a cure, the US wouldn’t be able to treat everyone.
Liam (L) and Noel Gallagher are returning with their band Oasis next year on a European and U.S tourCredit: PAOne of the bands tipped to support Oasis is CastCredit: Getty
Indie rockers Cast have already supported Oasis on their 2025 reunion to and bookies now have the at 5/4 favourites to play at Oasis’ Knebworth concerts.
Bookies William Hill also have Manic Street Preachers as the next favourite band to join the Hertfordshire gig after first supporting Oasis there in 1996.
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Other rumoured acts rumoured to appear include, The Charlatans, Ocean Colour Scene, Kula Shakers, and The Chemical Brothers.
Bookies are also anticipating Noel and Liam Gallagher will release a new album as Oasis next year and have them headlining Glastonbury at 14/1.
And Manic Street PreachersCredit: GettyOasis will also perform in Paris for the first time since 2009Credit: Getty
But they are also giving odds that the brothers will split up before the Paris leg of next year’s tour.
“With the inclusion of Knebworth in Oasis’ 2027 tour dates announcement – on what will be 31 years since their historic concerts at the Hertfordshire venue – there’s a frenzy of speculation on who will support the Britpop titans,” spokesperson for William Hill, Lee Phelps.
“It is safe to say next year’s Knebworth gig will be nostalgic for many, and we make it 1/5 for any of their 1996 support to make a reappearance in the 2027 revival of one of Britpop’s most iconic performances.”
From they they will perform at Manchester City’s ground, Noel, 59, and Liam, 53, will fly to Europe for a round of shows including France, where Oasis will play for the first time in Paris since the group split in 2009.
The shows in Paris will begin on 23 July, before they fly to Italy for shows at the Stadio Olympico in Rome which start on 29 July.
Noel and Liam will then move stateside after the European shows before returning to Ireland and, as The Sun exclusively revealed earlier this year, Noel and Liam will then end their triumphant run of shows at Knebworth.
The four performances there will begin on September 11.
THE HAGUE, Netherlands: Former Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte is expected to appear in public for the first time on Wednesday since being transferred to the International Criminal Court 18 months ago to face murder charges related to his war on drugs.
Duterte, 81, served as president from 2016 to 2022, before being charged with crimes against humanity for creating, funding and arming death squads that targeted narcotics peddlers and users. He was arrested and taken to The Hague in March 2025.
On Wednesday, judges will hear arguments about his health and ability to stand trial, which is scheduled to begin in November. His lawyers have argued that he suffers from cognitive decline and is not well enough.
Duterte’s lawyer and family did not respond to requests for comment.
ICC judges said in January that Duterte’s health was good enough for him to follow proceedings and requested his presence in court, rather than by video link from the detention unit.
Duterte’s warrant says he was responsible for a widespread and systematic campaign that led to thousands of killings between 2011 and 2019, including when he served as mayor of the southern Davao city.
ICC prosecutors have said as many as 30,000 people may have been killed in the crackdown, the details of which were reported in a Reuters investigation.
According to police, 6,200 suspects were killed during anti-drug operations. Duterte said he instructed police to act in self-defense and told supporters he was ready to “rot in jail” if it meant ridding the Philippines of illicit drugs.
WASHINGTON — A bold military push by Iran and its proxies to create a choke hold on global oil supplies has once again caught the Trump administration off guard, threatening a market shock and a steep political backlash in the U.S. midterm elections.
A drone attack on Saudi Arabia’s most crucial pipeline, which siphons crude oil from the Persian Gulf to the Red Sea to bypass the Strait of Hormuz, has led to the line’s closure, potentially taking 4% of the world’s supply off the market.
And a lightning advance by Iran-backed Houthi rebels along Yemen’s Red Sea coast threatens commercial traffic through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, second only to Hormuz in its importance to regional shipping.
The strikes put the Trump administration in a newly precarious position less than two months until the November midterms. President Trump’s military advisors have warned him that any retaliation could lead to a further depletion of critically low U.S. munition stockpiles, endanger American personnel in the field and risk escalation that could spiral out of Washington’s control.
A semi prepares for departure from a Pilot fuel station Monday in Buda, Texas.
(Brandon Bell / Getty Images)
On Tuesday, the global price of oil topped $107 a barrel — the first time in U.S. campaign history that an incumbent president has faced rising pump prices at this stage of an election.
The Iranian strikes come as Europe and the United States are facing increased energy needs entering the fall and winter months, and as Ukrainian attacks on Russia’s energy infrastructure have surged, pushing diesel prices up to record highs.
Signs are emerging that the latest attacks could trigger an acute market panic, with Brent crude buyers paying a steep premium for early delivery — an indication that the industry fears an impending supply crisis.
“I fear there is a considerable risk of much higher gas and diesel prices in the weeks to come,” said Michael O’Hanlon, director of research of the foreign policy program at the Brookings Institution.
“No one is quite sure how to predict the fuel markets,” he added, “but the military dynamics are seriously worrisome.”
Last week, Trump told reporters that the Iranian government is “desperate to try and affect the election” and could be trying to keep oil prices elevated to hurt Republican prospects.
“Right after the election, oil prices are going to be tumbling downward,” Trump said. “I think it’s going to take a little bit longer than the midterm.”
Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange on Monday morning.
(Michael M. Santiago / Getty Images)
Polls have found that likely voters are prioritizing the economy far beyond any other policy matter going into the fall election season, with a New York Times poll published Tuesday showing voters trusting Democrats to handle the economy more than Republicans.
“There’s no quick fix,” said Simon Henderson, the director of the Washington Institute’s Gulf and Energy Policy program. “The main question is whether it is a big shock to the oil market or just another more minor shock. The answer depends on whether the damage to the East-West pipeline cable is repaired quickly.”
Region on edge
The latest Iranian campaign threatens Saudi Arabia’s economic core, straining a long-standing alliance built on robust U.S. defense of Riyadh’s vital interests.
The attack on the East-West oil pipeline originated in Iraq, where Iran continues to operate proxy militias, according to government officials in Riyadh and Baghdad. Saudi Arabia agreed not to retaliate militarily against targets on Iraqi soil, temporarily staving off a regional conflagration.
While the Iraqi militia group denied involvement, it also praised the Houthi advance in Yemen and the militants’ “ongoing battlefield victories against Saudi forces.”
Israel has been providing Saudi Arabia with intelligence to help thwart further attacks, using American military intermediaries, according to Israeli media reports.
Active combat in the war between Iran and the United States eased after a ceasefire was brokered in June. While that truce collapsed in July, the two sides have opted for asymmetric tactics over the resumption of direct attacks, with the United States maintaining a full naval blockade of Iranian ports.
The Trump administration has since focused instead on targeting Iran’s economic partners with aggressive secondary sanctions, seeking to further pressure Tehran into a meaningful peace agreement. But negotiations have failed for months to get back off the ground.
When he first launched the war in February, Trump projected the mission would last roughly six weeks. He said the goal of the U.S. operation was to incapacitate Iran’s ballistic missile program, its navy and its nuclear program.
Trump was warned ahead of the war by his joint chiefs of staff that Iran could attempt to close the Strait of Hormuz in response. But he dismissed the threat, anticipating Tehran would quickly back down from a direct confrontation with the United States.
More than six months on, Iran’s ballistic missiles continue to pressure U.S. defense systems across the Middle East. Traffic through the Strait of Hormuz remains disrupted and discussions on Iran’s future nuclear work have broken down. In private, Trump administration officials fear the war could drag through the remainder of the president’s term.
CINCINNATI — A simple change opened up a dramatic offensive turnaround for Dodgers left fielder Teoscar Hernández.
Hernández’s two-run homer Tuesday, in the Dodgers’ 4-0 win against the Reds, was his second home run in as many nights, as the team trimmed its magic number to clinch the division to two. And, significantly, this one was against a right-handed pitcher.
“It’s been very helpful,” manager Dave Roberts said after the game. “As certain guys are not seeing the ball as well, it’s nice to kind of backfill with guys like Teo swinging the bat. And when you can slug like he can, you can win baseball games, and he can carry us for a while. And the last 10 days, something like that, it’s been really good from him.”
Through the end of August, Hernández had just a .668 OPS against right-handed pitchers this season. So, when manager Dave Roberts was asked in Detroit whether the Dodgers would consider setting up a left-field platoon with the team’s September call-ups, he said yes.
Hernández homered off Tigers left-hander Framber Valdez on the last day of the series. And before the Dodgers opened a three-game set against the Cardinals at Dodger Stadium, Hernández met with the hitting coaches.
Against Valdez, Hernández was in a closed stance, to delay his front hip from opening, according to Dodgers hitting coach Aaron Bates. But the team’s hitting group thought a return to a familiar setup could be a long-term solution.
“It was a great meeting we had,” Bates said. “We all talked about it, and then he felt comfortable enough to do it, and then the rest is to his credit. He’s just been who he is.”
In the past, Hernández had used a “twister tap” as his stride. He started in a more open stance, tapped his toe in line with the pitcher, and then set his foot down. But lower-body injuries the last couple of years — a left groin strain last season and a left hamstring strain earlier this season — forced him away from it.
His improved health and hip flexibility opened up the avenue for him to return to that timing mechanism.
“When Teo’s hips are loose that way, and his front leg looks like an Elvis knee, it’s a good sign for us,” Bates said. “Because that means that he can open and close it without his upper body going with it.”
The advantage of the twister tap, as Hernández explained it, is how repeatable it is. A more traditional stride can be sped up or slowed down.
“Just being able to control my body and being in a good position,” Hernández said earlier this month. “I can see the pitch a little sooner and identify what kind of pitch it is and if it’s going to be a strike or a ball.”
Yoshinobu Yamamoto pitches during one of his seven shutout innings against the Reds Tuesday.
(Carolyn Kaster / Associated Press)
With that change, he’s rewarded the Dodgers for deciding against platooning left field. Hernández entered Tuesday with a .777 OPS against right-handed pitchers — a sample size of just 28 plate appearances but still a significant jump.
“The biggest thing is his plate coverage away,” Bates said. “Because now he can spoil pitches, and he’s staying in at-bats longer.”
Hernández’s dramatic offensive turnaround, along with fellow corner outfielder Kyle Tucker’s improvement, have helped steady a Dodgers offense that’s missing Shohei Ohtani (on the IL with right biceps and left knee injuries) and includes a hobbled Freddie Freeman (right knee soreness).
Rookie Josue De Paula, mostly filling in for Ohtani at designated hitter, has already shown he can take mature at-bats and provide some pop. But he’s still finding his footing in a new league.
It lengthens the Dodgers lineup for Hernández, after a slow start to his year, to return to being a veteran power threat — just in time to, ideally, carry the momentum into the postseason.
On Monday, he launched his two-run shot off left-hander Nick Lodolo. On Tuesday, he replicated the feat off right-hander Rhett Lowder.
On the second pitch of the at-bat, Hernández recognized a hung slider, and he roped it over the left-field fence at 109.3 mph, according to Statcast. The blast put the Dodgers up 3-0 in the third inning, with Dodgers starter Yoshinobu Yamamoto settling into a groove on the other side.
Yamamoto had walked the first two batters he faced, but he reigned in his control to pitch seven scoreless innings and allow just one more baserunner, on a double by Reds star shortstop Elly De La Cruz.
The Dodgers also scored on Hunter Feduccia’s second-inning single and Alex Freeland’s seventh-inning homer. And the Dodgers bullpen completed the shutout.
Freeman staying in the lineup
Freeman was all smiles after his three-hit game Tuesday — after going hitless for his last four games.
“I was supposed to be off tomorrow, but I played myself in there,” he said. “So I’m very excited.”
Roberts explained: “He was joking, saying, ‘If I get three hits, then can I be in there tomorrow?’”
Sure enough, the mechanical adjustments he made in the batting cage — focusing on getting his foot down early and making contact out in front — got him there.
“I’m just trying to find something that gives me results,” Freeman said. “We’re at the time where we’re just trying to get hot for five weeks here. So kind of like I did in the World Series a couple years ago, I did the step-out move. That’s not sustainable over six months. I’m not trying to find something that’s sustainable.”
Though Roberts has been trying to find opportunities to rest Freeman, he saw promising signs Tuesday beyond the results.
“Just my eyes, just watching him move, I feel good about him going tomorrow,” Roberts said.
De Paula, Freeland and third baseman Max Muncy will be out of the lineup Wednesday, Roberts said.
Join Tarek Al-Arabi and his children for an unforgettable evening and relive “Spacetoon” songs on Sept. 18 at Bakr Al-Sheddi Theater. Tickets are available on riyadh.platinmulist.net .
Anthropic’s CEO says he ‘didn’t appreciate’ the speed with which AI’s growth would underpin the global economy. His call to slow down AI development sent shockwaves in global stock markets, but was supported by other tech leaders who believe better safeguards are needed.
AMANDA Seyfried and her husband, Thomas Sadoski, have split after nine years of marriage.
The couple revealed in a statement to People on Tuesday that they’re going their separate ways.
Amanda Seyfried and her husband Thomas Sadoski have quietly split after nine years of marriageCredit: GettyThey revealed via a joint statement to People that they’ve been separated for a whileCredit: Getty
“We have been separated for a while, and it’s proven to be the right move for us and our family unit. We’ve got each other forever—and it’s GOOD,” their joint statement read.
Amanda, 40, and Thomas, 50, first connected in 2015 while starring in the off-Broadway production of The Way We Get By.
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The actors reunited months later as love interests in The Last Word and began dating in March 2016.
Their love story quickly blossomed as they got engaged later that year and quietly eloped in March 2017.
“We eloped. We just took off into the country with an officiant and just the two of us, and we did our thing,” Thomas revealed at the time about their secret wedding.
“It was beautiful. It was everything that it should be. It was just the two of us talking to each other.”
Their daughter Nina arrived just days after they said, “I do,” followed by their son, Thomas Jr., in September 2020.
The pair had kept their relationship relatively out of the public eye while living on a farm in upstate New York.
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They’ve each made brief remarks about their romance in the past, with Thomas gushing in 2017 that Amanda was “the person that I love, admire, respect most in the world.”
Amanda also boasted about her husband, saying in 2023 that their relationship was like “yin and yang.”
They certainly shared a passion for the cameras, as both have had successful acting careers for decades.
The former couple quietly eloped in March 2017, two years after meeting on the set of an Off-Broadway playCredit: GettyThey share two children: a daughter born in March 2017, and a son born in September 2020Credit: Getty – Contributor
She’s preparing for the release of her newest film, The Life and Deaths of Wilson Shedd, next month.
Thomas is best known for playing Don Keefer in the HBO series The Newsroom.
His acting career began when he landed the role of Mark Ruffalo’s understudy in the Off-Broadway play This Is Our Youth.
The Connecticut native made his film debut in 2000, starring as Chris in Loser.
It remains illegal in California for a school district to force teachers and other staff to alert parents about their child’s gender identity, but parents must be told when they ask about it, a judge ruled Tuesday in a widely watched case dealing with parental rights.
San Bernardino County Superior Court Judge Michael Sachs, weighing both state law and a Supreme Court order, rejected an attempt by the Chino Valley Unified School District to reinstate its mandatory parent-notification policy.
“There is no requirement that the school district, on its own, after learning of transgender issues, contact parents and let the parents know of them,” Sachs said in court. At the same time, “in the event a parent makes an affirmative inquiry of a minor child regarding their status, whether transgender or not, that will trigger an obligation by the school district to respond.”
Under the Chino Valley policy, approved in July 2023, a school would have to notify parents of any request by a student “to use pronouns that do not align with the student’s biological sex or gender listed on the student’s birth certificate or other official records.” The same notification rules applied to the use of bathrooms or participation in sports.
State Attorney General Rob Bonta immediately challenged that policy in court and it was put on hold. In October 2024, Sachs had ruled that most of the policy was discriminatory — and therefore illegal — because it singled out a group of students for treatment that was different than the treatment of other students.
As an example, he cited the possibility that a student would come out confidentially to a school counselor — and then that counselor would immediately be required to alert the parents, even against the student’s wishes.
A policy that could result in mandated actions by a school employee continues to conflict with the intent of a 2025 California law that barred a school system from forcing teachers to tell parents about a student’s gender, Sachs concluded.
“That’s inappropriate and it’s still inappropriate,” Sachs said Tuesday.
New rules, new rulings
What has changed in the legal landscape, he added, is what happens when a parent requests information about their child’s gender status or sexual orientation or any number of other issues affecting that child.
Trial court rulings — affirmed by a Supreme Court majority in March — said that parents have the right to demand information about their child’s gender identity at school. School staff cannot lie to parents — including matters that a student wishes to conceal from their parents.
Attorney Emily Rae, representing Chino Valley, said Sachs was correct to acknowledge that parents had the right to information about their child, but that his ruling did not go nearly far enough — and that parent notification should be mandatory statewide.
Chino Valley also has a separate pending court challenge to the 2025 California law, contending it is at odds with the direction of the Supreme Court, which should take precedence.
Dept. Attorney General Delbert Tran, representing the state, declined to be interviewed Tuesday, but in his exchanges with Sachs, it was clear that he saw the ruling as about as much of a win as would be possible, given the Supreme Court’s recent directives.
He also said that supporters of parent-notification policies misstate or misunderstand the parent-teacher relationship that exists in practice and under state law. Parents, he said, have the legal right to observe classes and meet with teachers, and the expectation is that teachers will communicate freely and often with parents about a child’s needs and progress.
Chino Valley champions its view of parent rights
Chino Valley, a school district of 26,000 students in San Bernardino County, has adopted and defended a series of policies favored by parent activists, religious conservatives and President Trump under the leadership of school board President Sonja Shaw, a Republican currently running for the office of state superintendent of public instruction.
Under her leadership, the school system has taken a stand for a flag-ban policy in schools and classrooms, widely viewed as targeting gay pride flags; for removing school library books with passages deemed to be sexually obscene, and for working to ban trans athletes from girls sports and girls locker rooms.
Shaw attended Tuesday’s hearing and criticized Sachs’ reasoning.
“When he talks about a parent has a right to know now only if they ask, how do you know you’re being lied to or secrets being kept?,” Shaw said after the hearing. “That absolutely makes no sense.”
Shaw said the judge should have done “what’s right: Upheld parents’ constitutional right to the upbringing of their own child.”
In anticipation of Sachs’ ruling against the original policy, the Chino Valley school board revised the policy, expanding it to all students. Under the current policy, if any student “requests a change to their official or unofficial records, parents/guardians shall be notified to ensure that parents/guardians are informed and involved in all aspects of their child’s education.”
In other words, if a straight male student named William suddenly decided he wanted to be referred to as Robert on the class roll sheet — an official record — his parents would be notified.
In 2024, Sachs accepted this version of notification because students were not singled out for different treatment on the basis of their gender.
That form of the policy remains in effect.
Since that time, Shaw said, the district has been “transparent” with parents regarding important issues in the lives of their children. And Tuesday’s ruling would not change that.
Moving forward, she added, the district could assertively ask parents if they want to be informed about their child’s gender issues and that permission — if given — would continue to apply as the student proceeds through grade school.
