Month: October 2026

CHICAGO — Wyatt Kaiser snapped a third-period tie, Spencer Knight made 25 saves and the Chicago Blackhawks beat the Kings 2-1 on Tuesday night.

Samuel Helenius scored for the Kings in the finale of a 3-2-0 trip. The Kings’ Anton Forsberg stopped 25 shots.

Chicago stopped a three-game slide while improving to 3-4-0 on a seven-game homestand. Roman Kantserov scored in the second, and the Blackhawks killed off a double-minor penalty on defenseman Sam Rinzel for high-sticking.

Kaiser picked up his first goal of the season at 7:17, beating Forsberg through the goaltender’s legs with a well-placed shot from the left circle. It was the 11th goal for the defenseman in 187 career games.

Kings captain Drew Doughty and forward Corey Perry were scratched after they played in Monday night’s 6-3 victory over the New York Rangers.

The Blackhawks played without defenseman Bowen Byram, who missed his fifth consecutive game with an upper-body injury.

The Kings got off to a fast start. Jared Wright’s shot trickled past Knight, and Helenius poked it home at 2:31 for his first goal of the season.

The Kings carried their 1-0 lead deep into the second period. But Joel Armia was whistled for tripping at 14:26 and interference at 16:29, and Connor Bedard set up Kantserov for the rookie’s team-high fifth goal at 16:40.

The Blackhawks improved to four for 38 (10.5%) on the power play in 12 games. They converted 16.9% of their chances last season, ranking 29th in the NHL.

Global stock markets have climbed as investors continue to bet on bright prospects for the tech giants driving the AI boom.

In the United States, all three major stock indexes rose on Tuesday, led by the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite, which gained 1.18 percent.

The benchmark S&P 500 rose 0.6 percent, while the narrower Dow Jones Industrial Average edged up 0.03 percent.

Five of the “Magnificent Seven” tech stocks rose, led by Tesla, up 4.04 percent.

Amazon gained 1.61 percent, while Apple and Alphabet gained 0.93 percent and 0.9 percent, respectively.

Nvidia, the world’s most valuable public company, rose almost 1 percent after announcing a $3bn investment in Meta’s equity offering.

Meta fell 1.64 percent, while Microsoft fell 0.24 percent.

Other big movers in tech included Advanced Micro Devices, Broadcom and Intel, which gained 5.45 percent, 4 percent and 3.61 percent, respectively.

Asia Pacific markets rally

Gains continued in the Asia Pacific on Wednesday, with stock markets in Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and Australia climbing.

The KOSPI in Seoul led the gains, with the benchmark index up 5.84 percent as of 03:00 GMT.

The surge came as South Korea’s SK Hynix, one of the world’s top three memory chip makers, announced blockbuster third-quarter results on Wednesday, with operating profit soaring about 630 percent year-on-year to 83.33 trillion won ($62.8bn).

SK Hynix shares listed in South Korea surged more than 8 percent following the results.

In Tokyo, the benchmark Nikkei 225 was up 1.26 percent, while the TAIEX in Taipei was up 1.32 percent.

The S&P/ASX 200 in Sydney was up 0.11 percent.

Investors are keenly anticipating upcoming earnings reports from major tech players as they try to gauge whether their massive investments in AI will pay dividends.

Microsoft and Alphabet report their latest results on Wednesday, followed by Amazon on Thursday and Apple on Monday.

On Monday, AI giant Anthropic filed paperwork for its hotly anticipated IPO, reporting a net loss of $80.7bn in the first half of 2026 on $16.3bn in revenue.

Tech firms have poured hundreds of billions of dollars each into AI infrastructure, fuelling debate over whether a speculative market bubble could be forming similar to the one that preceded the 2000 dot-com crash.

Global AI investment is forecast to hit $2.7 trillion in 2026 and $3.6 trillion in 2027, according to Gartner, a technology insights company.

Oil prices, which have been elevated since the start of the US-Israel war on Iran, rose about 1 percent as Asian markets opened on Wednesday amid the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, including hostilities between Saudi Arabia and Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis.

Futures for Brent crude, the global benchmark, stood at about $115 a barrel, up 59 percent from before the war began.

The tune of “Famous Last Words” reverberates throughout the Immanuel Presbyterian Church, a high-ceiling Gothic structure in Koreatown, on a rainy October morning.

The anthemic, life-affirming final track from My Chemical Romance’s 2006 album “The Black Parade” has taken on a new sound here. It’s being played on the church’s organ. Mallory Haney, the musician at the keys, also plays “Disenchanted “ and “Mama,” other songs from the same album celebrating its 20th anniversary, throughout the morning.

What connects this place of worship to a band known for its macabre aesthetic, however, is its music video for the song “Helena” from the album “Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge.”

Filmed here in 2005, the video sees frontman Gerard Way belt the sorrowful lyrics at the front of church with his bandmates and a group of dancers around him. Behind them is a black casket with the body of the eponymous Helena.

My Chemical Romance fans including Charlotte Calvert of Pensacola, Fla., top, attend Ghouls’ Day Out.

(Christina House / Los Angeles Times)

She eventually rises from the dead and dances her way through the congregation.

Now in 2026, several men wearing all black with red ties, like Way does in the music video directed by Marc Webb, trickle in as soon as the doors open. Later, a young woman in a black dress, mimicking what Helena wears on screen, makes an entrance and heads straight to the front to take photos with the casket and flower arrangements that re-create the scene.

“Helena: An Immersive Tribute,” as this experience is dubbed, also features multiple photo ops around the church’s premises that reference the band’s emblematic art (including a statue of Pepe, the marching skeleton on the cover of “The Black Parade” album).

Behind this fan-focused event are Sam Gomez and Kimmy Perez, a Mexican American married couple who make a living putting on pop culture-inspired events, and, in the case of Perez, selling her art under the brand SpooksieBoo at conventions around the country.

My Chemical Romance fans including Benji Godinez, left, and Jennifer Campos, both of Los Angeles, attend Ghouls’ Day Out at Immanuel Presbyterian Church in Los Angeles.

(Christina House / Los Angeles Times)

The festivities at the church will conclude Saturday with a larger event called Ghouls’ Day Out, featuring the same displays inside the space, plus food vendors, an artist market and a My Chemical Romance cover band, Sweet Revenge, out back for attendees to enjoy.

“We’re doing everything we can to give fans the best My Chem experience short of seeing the actual band,” Gomez says during a recent video call.

“I’ve heard some call it MCR Con, which that’s literally what it is!” Perez adds laughing:

Gomez and Perez held the first Ghouls’ Day Out in May 2021, making it an annual staple for My Chemical Romance fans. On top of the May event, this year they decided to bring it back in October to coincide with the band’s series of concerts at the Hollywood Bowl.

Their relationship with Immanuel Presbyterian Church started when its operations manager, Niambi Rendon, attended one of the pop-up events they organize throughout Southern California.

My Chemical Romance fan Cecilia Calvert of Alamogordo, N.M., is overcome with emotion while attending Ghouls’ Day Out.

(Christina House / Los Angeles Times)

Struggling financially, the church sought new partnerships to raise funds. In fact, part of the proceeds from the “Helena” tribute and Ghouls’ Day Out goes to help the church’s food pantry.

But though it wants to take advantage of the My Chemical Romance connection, the church has one key rule: Nothing on display can cross the threshold from “spooky” to “satanic.”

A little blood is fine, Gomez says, but nothing too gruesome. “The most important thing is nothing that’s going to either make fun of or cast a shadow on the clergy. We’ve had many cosplayers that want to come as an evil priest or evil nun. We can’t have that,” Gomez says.

Now in its seventh edition (since 2026 had twice the festivities), the event’s popularity has grown, bringing fans from across the country and even international visitors.

MCR fans including Jenelle Smith, left, and Joanna Glezakos, both of Toronto, attend Ghouls’ Day Out.

(Christina House / Los Angeles Times)

Megan Rose, 33, traveled from rural Virginia to Los Angeles with her partner to attend one of the shows. Looking for other My Chemical Romance-related activities to do while in the city, she learned about the “Helena” tribute on social media.

“The architecture is beautiful and I’ve been having as much fun looking at the church as I have the fandom set up and I think they’ve done a very good job with all the props,” she says.

Mayela González, 41, came all the way from Monterrey, Mexico. A fan of the band since her teenage years, she was in disbelief stepping into a location she’d seen countless times on screen. “I hope the band keeps going, and they don’t stop after this tour,” says González. “I hope they release a new album and keep on performing live.”

“The event has just grown over the years as we allow fans to tell us what they want it to be,” Gomez says. “And over the years, the feedback has been, ‘More MCR theming.’” Gomez and Perez take that commitment to fan satisfaction seriously.

Tracy Phillips who portrays the titular “Helena” poses with a young MCR fan at Ghouls’ Day Out.

(Jonathan Garcia)

“We found the company, which is still in L.A., that made the ‘Helena’ casket that’s in a music video and they said, ‘We can make you an exact replica,’” adds Gomez.

More importan, they also have the real Helena on site. Tracy Phillips, the actor and dancer who played the title role in the music video, takes photos with fans. She made her first Ghouls’ Day appearance in 2025.

“Outside of the church I’m no one, and then I walk into the church in this makeup and dress and people are crying,” says Phillips with a smile. “It’s kind of a bizarre juxtaposition of people knowing me and people not knowing me at all.”

The church is the site where My Chemical Romance filmed its music video for its 2005 hit song, “Helena.”

(Christina House / Los Angeles Times)

Post-Helena, Phillips worked with the band once more as an assistant choreographer on the “Teenagers” music video. That was nearly 20 years ago. Earlier this month it hired her again after all this time so she could choreograph 20 dancers in three numbers for the Long Live the Black Parade shows at the Hollywood Bowl.

“I was fortunate to get to work with them again,” Phillips says. “They’re all such kind people. Gerard is so kind and brilliant and it was really fun to get to circle back around. It felt like this full-circle moment in a different capacity.”

In the past, the band had posted about Ghouls’ Day Out on its official Instagram account, which led Gomez and Perez to believe at least someone in its team was aware of their event.

My Chemical Romance fans including Savannah Monrreal of Inglewood attend Ghouls Day Out.

(Christina House / Los Angeles Times)

This time around, the band sent them an official “The Black Parade” flag, following its first night at the Bowl, that they now have on display at the church as one of the photo-ops.

Ghouls’ Day Out has generated new opportunities for the church, which hopefully means Gomez and Perez will be welcomed back for years to come.

“Now that the church is known in the My Chemical Romance community, they’ve had people go to them saying, ‘I want to have my wedding there,’” adds Gomez with a joyful grin.

As questions swirl this week about his future at USC and his potential fit elsewhere, Lincoln Riley didn’t mince words about where he wants to be coaching when asked Tuesday.

“I love it here,” the fifth-year coach said.

“Listen if I didn’t want to be at this place, I wouldn’t have come here in the first place. If I didn’t want to be at this place, I’ve had plenty of opportunities to leave. This is where I want to be. This is the right place for me. I’m the right person to be here. And that’s as honest and transparent as I can be with you guys.”

Whether Riley will actually have a say in that decision remains to be seen. After falling 24-7 to Wisconsin in one of the worst defeats of Riley’s tenure on Saturday, USC can’t afford another loss this season if it hopes to make the College Football Playoff for the first time.

That was the bar all parties at USC appeared to agree on ahead of Riley’s fifth season with the program. The coach himself said in August that expectations should be “through the roof.”

“We do expect to make the playoff,” USC athletic director Jennifer Cohen said in May. “We do expect to have a championship run. We do expect to be competing for championships every single year. I think that’s what’s awesome about USC, is that that’s what we all expect of it.”

That looks unlikely now, with three of USC’s final four games coming against top-10 teams, beginning with No. 2 Ohio State on Saturday. It has led to speculation that USC is bound for a breakup with its football coach.

A recent report from USA Today described the relationship between USC and Riley as “an unhappy marriage.”

But when asked about Cohen on Tuesday, Riley heaped praise on the athletic director. He said they had “an incredible working relationship.”

“She’s a tremendous AD,” Riley said. “Even though she’s not the AD I came here with, and I’m not the head coach she hired, [we have a] fantastic relationship. She’s been a huge part of the progress that we’ve made and has been incredibly supportive.”

It’s unclear how long Riley will hold on to that support if USC’s season starts to slip away. A person familiar with discussions around the coach’s future told The Times after USC’s loss to Oregon that “all options are on the table” with Riley. The trajectory of the Trojans’ season has turned downward since.

That’s led to further speculation that Riley and USC could potentially agree to a mutual parting of ways after this season. And that Riley could land at a program like Baylor, which just fired its coach.

Riley still has six years remaining on his contract at USC, according to a person familiar with the deal, due to an automatic one-year extension he accrued after the Trojans earned a New Year’s Six bowl bid in 2022. Buying Riley out of his deal would mean forking over upwards of $70 million, plus more for his assistants.

If Riley were to find another landing spot, though, it would allow the Trojans to offset the otherwise astronomical cost of his departure.

USC coach Lincoln Riley talks with quarterback Jayden Maiava during the team’s win at Penn Sate on Oct. 10.

(Barry Reeger / Associated Press)

Riley said Tuesday that was nowhere near his mind.

“Like I told you guys a lot of times, there’s not a lot of people in college football history that gave up what I gave up to come here,” Riley said. “I came here because this is where I want to be. I came here because I believe in this place. And none of that has changed whatsoever.”

The question is whether USC still believes in Riley.

Inside the locker room, at least, there seems to be no doubt whether Riley should be USC’s coach.

“I know he’s the right guy,” said left tackle Elijah Paige. “I believe there’s not a better leader in the country.”

“He’s the greatest coach I’ve been around,” added freshman wideout Trent Mosley. “We’re all right there with him.”

Imprisoned “That ’70s Show” actor Danny Masterson on Tuesday suffered a legal blow that ensures he will remain behind bars for at least another decade.

Three California appeals court judges rejected Masterson’s efforts to overturn his 2023 rape convictions and allegations that he did not receive a fair trial, deciding in an opinion filed in the state’s 2nd District Court of Appeals that “judgment is affirmed.”

The decision “ignores the extraordinary new evidence that has been before them for more than a year,” Masterson attorney Cliff Gardner said, referencing statements from “both complaining witnesses that their sexual experiences” with the actor were “both consensual and positive.”

“Danny is serving a life sentence for crimes he did not commit,” Gardner added in his statement. “No one in California — not defendants and not victims who have actually been the victim of a sex crime — is safer by virtue of today’s unfortunate decision.”

Masterson’s legal team is seeking further review in California Supreme Court and exploring additional legal action regarding evidence presented to the jury.

Attorneys for Masterson first filed their notice to appeal the actor’s conviction in November 2023, then filed a 242-page opening brief in December 2024. Key witness testimonies changed over time, the court excluded significant exculpatory evidence and judicial rulings skewed the jury’s view of the evidence against Masterson, his lawyers alleged at the time. The attorneys also argued that “jurors had significant reservations.”

A mix of errors by another defense attorney and a law enforcement investigation heavily biased against Masterson’s faith led to a wrongful conviction, the actor’s attorney Eric Multhaup alleged in another motion filed November 2025. Multhaup said Tuesday in a statement that the appeals court judges’ recent decision “are fundamentally wrong.”

“The Court of Appeal did not address any of the exculpatory evidence that was contained in the habeas corpus petition, and instead justified the denial with a one-paragraph summary of the one-sided evidence presented by the prosecution,” Multhaup alleged. “This cursory treatment reflects poorly on the administration of justice in the Court of Appeal, and will be rectified by a petition to the California Supreme Court.”

Los Angeles prosecutors charged Masterson in 2020 for three counts of rape involving three different women in the early 2000s. He denied all wrongdoing and maintained all sexual encounters were consensual. He also framed the accusations as an attack of the Church of Scientology. The women said they took years to report the rapes to police out of fear of retaliation from the church.

Masterson first went to trial in 2022, but jurors failed to reach a verdict on any of the three counts, leading the case to end in a mistrial. He was tried a second time in 2023 and found guilty of raping two women, both former members of the Church of Scientology. The jury was deadlocked on a third woman’s accusations. His attorneys argued in December 2024 that there was “no physical evidence supporting the state’s theory [of rape]” and the case was a “a pure credibility contest.”

The actor is currently carrying out his sentence at the California Men’s Colony prison in San Luis Obispo. According to a state database, he will be eligible for parole in June 2042, but is scheduled for a consultation in May 2038.

Times staff writers Clara Harter and James Queally contributed to this report.

Deion Sanders was just kidding.

The Colorado Buffaloes coach told reporters on Tuesday that he actually would not be willing pay them or any of their colleagues to refrain from covering him, despite what a close associate of his said during a livestream days earlier.

“Oh, no, no, no. I think you misinterpreted that,” Sanders said. “That was a joke. That’s what we were saying, like, some people live on your name.”

YouTube host and documentary maker Christopher Neely brought up the topic on Saturday during a livestream on “Thee Pregame Network.” A longtime videographer for Sanders, Neely mentioned that some members of the media seem to thrive off of negative coverage of Sanders, nicknamed Coach Prime.

“For the most part, the people that attack him wouldn’t be making the money they were making if he wasn’t here to attack,” Neely said, “which is why he told some of them, ‘Hey man, let’s just do this. I’ll give you $50,000 to not mention my name for a year.’ And ain’t nobody took the deal yet.”

Neely added: “You love talking about this man so much, and you make so much talking about this man that you turn the deal down. That’s what we’re dealing with.”

On Tuesday afternoon, Neely addressed the matter on “TMR Live,” the daily livestream he co-hosts with BiggDogg Chico. Neely clarified that Sanders made the so-called offer while joking around on the show in May and hadn’t actually floated the idea to actual media members.

“This was clearly a tongue-in-cheek, joking example to prove a point that there’s so many people who are negative toward us and they’re making so much money being negative toward us that even if I offered them what they were making or more, they still wouldn’t stop,” said Neely, who played the clip of a smiling Sanders making the comment in the spring.

“All I did this weekend on like October 26 was say, ‘Hey, by the way, ain’t nobody still reached out to Coach Prime and say, ‘Hey, give me that 50, I’ll stop talking about you.’ And then what do they do? [They said] ‘Neely says Coach Prime’s feelings are hurt and he wants to pay people to not talk about him.’”

Neely added: “He was clearly playing. Do you think this man with all he’s worth and been through and been talked about since he first caught a ball that he would literally pay somebody in Colorado to stop talking about him? He’s got better ways to blow $50,000.”

Although amused by the notion, Sanders made it clear that reporters aren’t going to get a dime from him.

“I would never offer a man money not to say — I don’t give a darn what you say about me,” Sanders said. “That was really a joke about someone who is prospering off of your name and your brand but they don’t like you.”

A two-time Super Bowl champion, one-time NFL defensive player of the year and a 2011 inductee into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, Sanders became Colorado’s head coach in 2023. Since then, the Buffaloes have gone 18-26, including a 9-4 effort from a 2024 roster that including his son Shedeur Sanders, who is now with the Cleveland Browns, and Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter, now with the Jacksonville Jaguars.

The team is 2-5 and 0-4 in the Big 12 Conference this year. It hosts conference foe Kansas State (4-3, 1-3) on Saturday.

Despite narrower exit poll figures, opposition leaders insisted the result was a defeat for Netanyahu’s government.

Israeli political leaders have traded sharp reactions to exit poll projections showing no clear winner between the country’s main political blocs.

Updated figures broadcast by Israel’s Channel 13 showed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud-led coalition tied at 51 seats with the opposition bloc led by challenger Gadi Eisenkot in the 120-seat Knesset.

Despite narrower exit poll figures, opposition leaders insisted the result was a defeat for the government.

Eisenkot, head of the Yashar party and a former military chief of staff, told supporters after voting closed that the initial projections showed a “complete lack of confidence in Netanyahu and the October 7 government”, according to the AFP news agency.

“Don’t let anyone confuse you: the Netanyahu bloc has suffered a crushing defeat,” opposition leader Yair Lapid said in a statement. “This is a total collapse and the public has told them to go home.”

Under the updated figures, unaligned Arab parties were expected to hold 18 seats, leaving both major camps 10 seats short of the 61 required for an absolute majority.

Supporters at Eisenkot’s watch party in Tel Aviv cheered projections as voter turnout reached 77.7 percent, according to the Central Elections Committee.

However, senior figures in Netanyahu’s camp pushed back against opposition declarations, saying the final results could shift the balance.

Gideon Saar, Israel’s foreign minister and a key Netanyahu ally, dismissed opposition statements as “premature”, writing on social media that Likud remained the largest single party in parliament.

Meanwhile, leaders of Arab political factions highlighted their potential role in upcoming coalition negotiations.

“We will transform the mandate we received into a new reality in the country,” Mansour Abbas, leader of the United Arab List (Ra’am), told reporters.

At the Joint List alliance headquarters in Nazareth, candidate Faten Gattas told supporters that high participation among Palestinian citizens of Israel aimed to block the return of Netanyahu’s nationalist coalition.

“We refuse the occupation and racism, and we will remain here,” Gattas said, according to the Reuters news agency.

With neither camp reaching a governing majority, political analysts suggested smaller parties would be key deciders as formal coalition talks begin in the coming days.

The Makin Island Amphibious Ready Group (ARG) tied up in Yokosuka, Japan, on Monday, a week after the Theodore Roosevelt Carrier Strike Group departed from the same base to participate in exercise Keen Sword 27. Both are reportedly destined for the Middle East, two U.S. officials confirmed to Fox News, which would place three CSGs and two ARGs in the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) area of responsibility (AOR) sometime in November, unless a group leaves before their arrival. More than 10 guided-missile destroyers are also operating independently in the region, as the U.S. beefs up force posture ahead of the possibility of renewed hostilities against the Iranian regime.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the world, the USS Ronald Reagan remotely controlled an MQ-25A Stingray tanker drone thousands of miles away for the first time, and the Navy announced that USS Abraham Lincoln, which just returned from a historic deployment, will conduct a homeport shift to Bremerton, Washington.

Here’s TWZ’s weekly carrier tracker monitoring America’s flattop fleet, including deployed CSGs and ARGs, using publicly available open-source information. Check out our last report here.

Where Is The USS Theodore Roosevelt?

Surrounded by allied warships, the USS Theodore Roosevelt steamed through the Philippine Sea last week as large-scale combined exercise Keen Sword 27 got underway. Roosevelt and guided-missile cruiser USS Chosin departed Commander, Fleet Activities Yokosuka, on October 19 following a three-day port call. Roosevelt deployed on September 27 and was the first non-resident American carrier to pull into the vital naval port in over four years.

Three American warships are participating in the exercise, a Navy official confirmed to TWZ. The third participant, Pearl Harbor-based guided-missile destroyer USS Decatur, another element of the five-ship strike group, also called port in Yokosuka and transited out of Tokyo Bay on October 26.

Australian, Canadian, and French warships joined the exercise alongside the U.S. and Japan in a large show of force. Keen Sword 27 runs through October 29, but it’s unclear if Roosevelt and her escorts will remain until the conclusion before heading toward the Middle East via the Strait of Malacca. More than 45,000 Japan Self-Defense Forces personnel and 11,000 U.S. service members are participating.

F/A-18 Super Hornets and F-35Cs launched from Roosevelt and other airbases in Japan to complete a simulated strike against a target in the East Sea/Sea of Japan, which also included land-based launchers, an exercise spokesperson told Stars and Stripes. Japanese destroyers JS Kongo and JS Maya assumed the red team role. The precise location and munitions employed were not disclosed.

The Theodore Roosevelt CSG, which a different Navy official confirmed also includes USS Paul Hamilton and USS Carl M. Levin, will arrive in the Middle East, Fox News reported last week. Both destroyers are disaggregated from the rest of the group. Hamilton, the last ship to deploy, left San Diego on October 10 and most recently pulled out of Pearl Harbor last week. Levin, the first ship to deploy, is already operating in the CENTCOM AOR, based on public images posted on the military’s content platform, DVIDS.

If the CSG and ARG, which also includes amphibious transport docks USS Anchorage and USS John P. Murtha, arrive in the Middle East before the other two carriers on station, USS George H.W. Bush and USS George Washington, and big-deck amphibious assault ship, USS Boxer, depart, that would add roughly 10,000 sailors and Marines to CENTCOM’s arsenal, the most significant force posture in the region since the war began. However, the overlap can only be maintained for a limited time given normal rotation schedules.

Acting Secretary of the Navy (SECNAV), Hung Cao, said during a panel at the Association of the United States Army (AUSA) convention that “the Teddy Roosevelt carrier strike group just deployed on October 8 with a medium sized unmanned surface vessel (MUSV). This is the first carrier strike group to ever deploy with a large size unmanned surface vessel.” However, despite multiple requests to comment, the Navy has not confirmed to TWZ that MUSV Seahawk (2) is assigned to the strike group. Seahawk was 10 nautical miles north of Guam, publicly available Automatic Identification System (AIS) data on MarineTraffic showed, as of publication.

The USS Ronald Reagan Controlled A Tanker Drone Thousands Of Miles Away

Providing a glimpse of the future, the USS Ronald Reagan used her brand-new Unmanned Air Warfare Center (UAWC) to operate a MQ-25A Stingray tanker drone at a Boeing facility in Illinois. “In a historic U.S. naval aviation event, an aircraft carrier connected to, and controlled, an unmanned aerial refueler MQ-25A Stingray more than 2,100 miles away,” the Navy said in a press release.

The UAWC, installed during Reagan’s recently completed 15-month maintenance available, used its MD-5C ground control station to link beyond line-of-sight with the drone while the flattop was underway in the eastern Pacific Ocean. “The MQ-25A Stingray’s carrier-based refueling capabilities enable F/A-18 Super Hornets to fly farther and longer,” the Acting SECNAV said. “The integration of this unmanned aerial refueler demonstrates the transformational change our manned and unmanned asset integration provides the Fleet.”

The test took place during a preliminary sea trial, part of a “series of build-up exercises designed to validate procedures, networks and interfaces,” reads the release. Capt. Daniel Fucito, program manager of the Navy’s Unmanned Carrier Aviation Program Office’s (PMA-268), said, “We have redefined naval power projection. This first-ever underway connection between a carrier-based UAWC and an MQ-25A aircraft proves that the Carrier Air Wing of tomorrow is a reality today.”

Reagan is the second Nimitz class carrier equipped with the UAWC. The MQ-25A will eventually take the role held by the F/A-18E/F Super Hornets that are tasked with fueling carrier-based aircraft, freeing up aircraft to take on higher-end combat roles.

Reagan moored at Kilo Pier at Naval Air Station North Island in San Diego on October 27 after finishing Fleet Replacement Squadron and Carrier Qualifications.

What’s Next For The USS Abraham Lincoln?

The USS Abraham Lincoln recently returned from a record-setting deployment. The carrier arrived back home on October 8 after being at sea for 321 days, less than a week short of the longest carrier deployment in the post-Vietnam era.

The Navy has confirmed what TWZ was the first to report: the Lincoln will complete a homeport shift to Bremerton, Washington, to undergo an overhaul following a grueling deployment that left the carrier looking worse for wear. The release did not disclose the length of the availability, but Reagan was out of commission for more than a year, and was not previously involved in combat operations.

“The carrier repeatedly demonstrated unmatched multi-theater combat lethality and safeguarded critical sea lanes across the Indo-Pacific and Middle Eastern theaters. Home port shifts are part of the Navy’s continued commitment to the strategic dispersal of ships,” a statement released from Commander, Naval Air Forces reads.

The move is a permanent change of station for the crew and their families.

Where Is The Rest Of The Fleet?

• The two carriers enforcing the ongoing blockade of Iranian ports and coastal cities, USS George H.W. Bush and USS George Washington, have both been dark on AIS since arriving in the Middle East. The former is 210 days into her deployment and recently arrived back in CENTCOM after a five-day port call in Phuket, Thailand. The latter, forward-deployed out of Yokosuka, Japan, was spotted on DVIDS conducting flight operations on October 24.
• USS Nimitz, homeported in Norfolk, welcomed the public with tours during Naval Station Norfolk’s Fleet Fest over the weekend, and got underway again for training on October 27. The 51-year old carrier is scheduled to be deactivated in Spring 2027. USS Dwight D. Eisenhower, also based at NS Norfolk, left port for work ups on October 24.
• Also on the east coast, USS John C. Stennis has been undergoing maintenance since 2021. The RCOH was expected to be completed and the carrier redelivered in October 2026, according to budget documents, but it’s unclear if that timeline will hold. However, USS Harry S. Truman recently moved to begin an RCOH, suggesting Stennis is nearing completion.
• On the other side of the country, USS Carl Vinson is in port in San Diego. Vinson returned on September 4 after a 25-day underway for a Final Evaluation Period and Tailored Ship’s Training Availability.
• The future USS John F. Kennedy was operating in the Atlantic Ocean launching a T-45C Goshawk training aircraft and EA-18G Growler, both attached to the “Salty Dogs” of Air Test and Evaluation Squadron (VX) 23, on October 25.

The Big Deck Fleet At A Glance

Overall, three U.S. carriers are deployed, three are working up in various states of readiness, three are in maintenance availabilities, one is post-deployment, one is being used primarily for training before deactivation, and another will be delivered in 2027. Two amphibious ready groups are deployed, one is forward-deployed, three are working up or in port, and three are in maintenance.

Note: Positions are general approximations. Non-deployed LHA/LHD amphibious warships are not shown.

Contact the author: ian@twz.com or @ianellisjones

The L.A. City Council took modest steps Tuesday to help the homegrown film industry as it struggles to keep production in California.

The City Council passed two film-friendly measures, one that creates free permits for so-called micro-shoot productions and another that limits parking fees on city-owned lots, yards and civic properties and staging areas to $1 a day, regardless of the size of the project.

The city currently charges $450 a day for base camp parking at city-owned parks and $100 to $300 a day for crew parking, according to FilmLA.

“Both efforts advanced today aim to support independent shoots and attract aspiring storytellers to our city,” Councilmember Adrin Nazarian, who introduced the initiatives, said in a statement. “As we work to protect established productions, we must also uphold Los Angeles’ reputation as a hub for the next generation of filmmakers. People need to believe that this is still the town to turn their filmmaking dreams into reality.”

Micro-shoot permits refer to sets with up to 10 filmmakers on site that have a minimal community impact. Under this new ordinance, student filmmakers, documentary crews and ultra-low-budget projects will be able to obtain free permits. City departments soon will report back to the Council on how they plan to implement this.

The idea behind the $1 permits is to turn more areas of L.A. into homes for all kinds of productions.

Nazarian is chairman of the Council’s recently formed Ad Hoc Committee on Film, Entertainment and the Creative Industry, aimed at making filming in L.A. more accessible.

The steps come as film and TV production in the area continues on a downward trend. FilmLA, the nonprofit group that handles film permits for the region, recently reported that shoot days between July and September were down 4.8% from the same period last year and nearly 29% below the five-year average.

“The stark reality is that California is on the brink of losing its position as the nation’s premier destination for production spending,” Nazarian said during a City Council meeting this month. “While we retain the Hollywood name, the data makes it urgently clear, crisis-level clear, that Los Angeles is fast losing its footing as the center of film and television production.”

A federal judge on Tuesday seemed skeptical of a Trump administration request to immediately block California officials from counting about 20,000 ballots from voters whose citizenship the administration questions, but said he would not issue a ruling until Wednesday.

U.S. District Judge David O. Carter questioned how the administration had derived its list of suspect voters, worried about disenfranchising eligible voters, said the demands would represent a “monumental change” to California elections and suggested federal prosecutors bringing the case had other means of holding illegal voters accountable.

But just one day after a federal appeals court rejected the same request, Carter said at the conclusion of a 3½-hour hearing in Los Angeles that he needed more time to rule — except on one related issue.

“This court believes it would be wise — that it would be wise — that any threats to state and county elected employees cease immediately,” he said — a clear reference to federal authorities threatening elections officials with criminal penalties if they count any of the flagged ballots.

After the hearing, First Assistant U.S. Atty. Bill Essayli, the top federal prosecutor in Los Angeles who argued on behalf of the Trump administration, said he had made it “abundantly clear that American voters are being disenfranchised in real time,” and that the administration will wait to see what Carter says Wednesday but was likely to appeal the matter back up to the appellate court.

He also denied threatening state officials, despite the Justice Department having sent formal letters to election officials statewide last week warning them of criminal punishments, and Essayli reiterated that position Tuesday.

Carter’s hearing came after Monday’s decision from the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals — the reverse of what’s normal — because Justice Department attorneys had tried to go over Carter’s head after he didn’t acquiesce to a deadline they’d set for him to rule on their request for a temporary restraining order against the state last week.

However, when the three-judge appellate panel — composed of two appointees of President Trump and one of President Biden — ruled 2-1 Monday that it had no jurisdiction to hear the case given Carter hadn’t yet had the chance, the case returned to Carter’s courtroom.

And there, Carter — an appointee of President Clinton — seemed loath to rush to judgment, despite the Trump administration’s claims of urgency. He said the administration’s method for arriving at its list of potential noncitizen voters was unclear and that he would like to develop the record further, including by bringing in an expert for the court.

“What are these systems? What are the algorithms? How was this derived?” he said.

He also seemed unmoved by the Justice Department’s argument that the ballots must be segregated immediately to prevent noncitizen votes from being counted, and more focused on whether noncitizens who illegally vote can be identified and held accountable while avoiding disenfranchising legitimate voters in the process.

For those who do vote illegally, “you’ve got a remedy, for goodness sakes,” he told Essayli. “Go out and indict.”

The Justice Department sued California, Secretary of State Shirley Weber and Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk Dean Logan on Oct. 15, two days after Acting Deputy Atty. Gen. Trent McCotter gave Weber and Logan 48 hours to set aside the ballots for the 20,000 flagged voters, whom McCotter described as “likely noncitizens.”

During the hearing, Essayli argued on behalf of the Trump administration that its demands on California and L.A. County were not onerous, could be complied with easily and did not call for ballots to go uncounted. Essayli said the federal government was in court “on a very narrow request for an injunction to separate ballots of those suspected of being noncitizens” only until the state can prove their citizenship.

He argued that the “reliability and credibility” of the federal government process for flagging the 20,000 voters is unquestionable — while also telling Carter, “We’re never going to stand here and tell you that everything is 100%.” He said every vote counts, as some elections “are decided by a handful of votes,” and that the federal government is simply asking California not to break existing federal law barring noncitizens from voting.

“We’re not telling California what they have to do. We’re telling them what they can’t do, which is just count these ballots without doing more to ensure whether they’re citizens or not,” Essayli said.

Essayli — who has aggressively sparred with California officials on social media for weeks — also argued to the court that the federal government has maintained a collaborative “tone” since first asking the state to segregate the ballots, and that he was surprised at how “adversarial” state elections officials have been on the issue.

Attorneys for Weber and the state said the Trump administration’s demand on the state “distorts several legal doctrines beyond recognition” and is clearly illegal, particularly during an ongoing election. They said the administration has provided no evidence that the 20,000 voters aren’t citizens, and has used “data and methods known to be unreliable.”

Michael Cohen, a deputy attorney general for the state, said the Trump administration questions California law that allows voters to attest to their citizenship under penalty of perjury, while ignoring the fact that standard was set not by the state but by Congress.

Anne Bellows, another deputy attorney general, said California has an established framework for running elections, and the Trump administration is trying to “sweep it off the table and replace it with a new, unclear procedure in which the federal government can issue a list and require California to change the way a subset of its voters’ ballots are received, and whether or not they are tabulated,” which she said was illegal and a “recipe for disenfranchisement” of thousands of legitimate voters.

“The stakes here are enormous,” she said.

Attorneys for Logan said the Trump administration has made its demands “without any credible argument” as to how it is legal, that the “proposed remedy” it is demanding from the state is “vague and unworkable,” and that if it wants to question California’s existing processes, “the proper audience for that argument” is Congress — not the federal court.

Several attorneys for voting and civil rights groups also argued against the Trump administration during the hearing, including by arguing that its reliance on third-party data sets — including from Lexis Nexis — was not a trustworthy way of identifying whether voters are citizens.

The litigation is just one part of a much wider battle by the Trump administration to intervene in state-run elections nationwide, and particularly in California, including on the notion that state elections have insufficient guardrails to prevent noncitizens from voting. Elections experts say such fraud occurs, but is exceedingly rare.

While the 9th Circuit panel’s unsigned ruling Monday rejected the Trump administration’s appeal for lack of jurisdiction, both judges in the majority — Mark J. Bennett, a Trump appointee, and Gabriel P. Sanchez, the Biden appointee — wrote independently to make clear that they would have rejected the case on its merits too.

They said it ran afoul of federal law barring interventions in voting in the immediate lead-up to elections, and the U.S. Constitution, which reserves control of elections for the states and oversight for Congress, not the executive branch.

Judge Patrick J. Bumatay, the other Trump appointee on the panel, also wrote independently in dissent — arguing the federal government must “have the power to stop this potential attack on the integrity of our elections.”

Carter previously rejected an administration lawsuit demanding California’s unredacted voter rolls as “unprecedented and illegal” — a decision similar to those made by dozens of other federal judges in other states. Federal prosecutors recently charged 28 lawful permanent residents in California with election-related crimes, including illegally registering to vote. Some of those charged expressed confusion, said they had no recollection of registering or had never voted.

There are more than 23 million registered voters in California.

Last week, Justice Department officials sent letters to election officials in counties across California demanding they sequester any flagged ballots in their jurisdictions, and warning them that they could face criminal penalties if they don’t. State officials denounced the letters as a legally baseless intimidation tactic.

Federal judges also have slapped back executive orders in which President Trump demanded new nationwide voter ID and citizenship requirements, and blocked a Trump administration plan to empower the U.S. Postal Service to vet mail ballots for the first time.

Beyond the courts, Democrats and voting rights groups have been strategizing for months on how to prevent the Trump administration from interfering in the midterm elections, which will determine control of Congress. The Trump administration has said it is merely trying to enforce the law and ensure that noncitizens do not illegally vote and negate the ballots of U.S. citizen voters.

If you need permission to watch “The Permission” — a.k.a. Rhyne Howard of the Atlanta Dream — try to keep her team’s WNBA championship dreams alive, Flavor Flav’s got you covered.

The rapper issued signed permission slips Tuesday on social media for everyone to be excused from work on Thursday to watch Game 6 of the WNBA Finals. The next matchup in the best-of-seven championship series between the Dream and the Golden State Valkyries is set to tip off at 9:30 a.m. Pacific that day, when many people would be at work.

“Thursday is a paid holiday. Because Flavor Flav said so,” Flav, whose name is William Jonathan Drayton Jr., declared on Instagram and Threads. “Everyone should be able to watch Women’s Sports.”

The document, which includes a blank space for fans to fill in their own names, urges bosses to “go ahead and approve that day off” for the “very important” Game 6 of the WNBA Finals.

“You support women’s sports, RIGHT?!” the self-proclaimed “World’s Greatest Hype Man” wrote in the note. “Consider it your contribution to gender equality.”

The Valkyries clinched Game 5 at home at the Chase Center on Monday night 64-55 to move within one game of the team’s first-ever WNBA title. The Bay Area expansion team, led by head coach Natalie Nakase and known for its emphasis on defense, is just in its second season.

Flav’s note echoes the message Valkyries stars Veronica Burton and Kiah Stokes sent after Monday’s win to encourage their fans to tune in to Game 6.

“Call in sick,” Burton said. “I recommend it.”

“Y’all know how to fake a cough,” Stokes added.

Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens also shared a statement Tuesday on Threads asking employers and educators to “show a little love and extend a little grace” to those who may be cheering the Dream on during their school or work hours.

“Lean into the historic moment, embrace the excitement and let Atlanta show up for Atlanta,” he wrote.

The WNBA announced Monday that Game 6 would be played at State Farm Arena in Atlanta with the earlier start time. The game was originally scheduled for 5 p.m. Pacific but was rescheduled so it could be played in the larger arena. Games 3 and 4 of the series were also moved to the larger venue.

The Dream normally play at the 3,500-seat Gateway Center Arena at College Park. State Farm Arena, which can seat around 17,000 for basketball games, will host all Dream home games starting in the 2027 season.

The matinee timing of Game 6 is because of Atlanta’s NBA team, the Hawks, also being scheduled to play at State Farm Arena on Thursday. The team will face the Cleveland Cavaliers for a regular-season matchup at 5 p.m. Pacific.

“Thank you for your cooperation and for doing the right thing,” Flav wrote.

Record-breaking voter turnout in Palestinian-Israeli communities around 80 percent, early indications show.

Israel’s Arab parties are projected to win 18 seats in the Israeli parliament, exit polls indicate, after voting among Palestinian citizens of Israel surged to their highest levels in decades.

Exit polling data from Tuesday’s vote suggested that the leading Arab-led parties, the Joint List and Ra’am, are set to hold a record number of seats in the 120-member Knesset. Updated exit polling indicated that the opposition bloc led by former Israeli military chief of staff Gadi Eisenkot’s Yashar party and the bloc led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party were tied at 51 seats each.

Early indications put voter turnout among Palestinian citizens of Israel at around 80 percent, historic numbers that break 1999 records, Israel’s Channel 12 reported on Tuesday.

The leader of Ra’am, or the United Arab List, Mansour Abbas, said he hopes the final election results will allow the anti-Netanyahu bloc, including his party, to win the 61 seats required to form a government.

“With the numbers we have now, there is no government,” Abbas told Israel’s Channel 12.

Abbas, whose Ra’am party currently holds five seats in the Knesset and joined the coalition that governed Israel from 2021 to 2022, added that both main blocs reached out to his party before and after the election.

‘Arabs can’t be kept outside’

Speaking to Al Jazeera, Alon Pinkas, a former Israeli ambassador, said creating a government might prove difficult for parties such as Eisenkot’s – which earlier exit polls had put narrowly ahead – because they promised not to form coalitions with Arab parties during the campaign.

“There’s a price to pay,” Pinkas said, because the “Arabs can’t be kept outside and only being considered and co-opted when you need their votes”.

He added that the Arab-led lists will make demands that a Jewish-led coalition government may not support.

Netanyahu and his far-right coalition made last-ditch efforts on Tuesday to get their supporters to the polls, warning of surging voter turnout among Palestinian citizens of Israel, a tactic Arab politicians denounced as racist and inflammatory.

Cars flying Netanyahu’s Likud party flags drove through Jerusalem blaring the Islamic call to prayer and urging supporters to cast their ballots because “Arabs are voting”, witnesses said.

In social media posts, the embattled prime minister highlighted long queues at polling stations in Arab communities and published an image that he said showed Arab voters, including women wearing the niqab, a veil that covers the lower half of the face, waiting to vote.

“If we don’t wake up now, we’ll find ourselves with a government of Mansour Abbas and Ahmad Tibi,” he said, referring to two leading Palestinian members of the Knesset.

Overall voter turnout was also historic, reaching its highest level since 1999 with 77.7 percent casting ballots in Tuesday’s election, the Central Elections Committee reported. Palestinian citizens of Israel make up about 21 percent of the country’s population of 10 million and have traditionally voted at lower rates than Jewish Israelis.

‘Existential moment’

Al Jazeera’s Nour Odeh, reporting from Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, called the election “an existential moment for Palestinian-Israelis”.

She noted the record turnout among what has emerged as a key voting bloc, which drew “even [voters] who would usually boycott elections, who didn’t believe it would amount to any kind of influence, that it would change their reality, that it would alter the systemic discrimination that they face”.

The Knesset has passed more than 100 laws discriminating against Palestinian citizens of Israel, who also face discrimination in receiving state funds, Odeh said.

Given their league positions, form and pedigree there could only have been one winner predicted.

Fleetwood played Arsenal on Tuesday with 83 places separating the teams and most home fans arriving in hope rather than any expectation. But remarkably, it was the hosts who booked their place in the Carabao Cup quarter-final thanks to their penalty shootout win over the Gunners.

For the Cod Army, who won six promotions in 12 years in their impressive journey from non-league, this result will surely be remembered longest of all. Against the reigning Premier League champions, the club from a small seaside town in Lancashire created history in claiming one of the biggest cup upsets ever.

Aaron Loupalo-Bi gave the hosts the lead after 21 minutes but, after the break, Viktor Gyokeres pulled the visitors level.

And from there, they might have been expected to take charge but Fleetwood remained resolute, prospering from a wasteful performance from Arsenal that included Max Dowman being sent off for kicking out after a robust challenge from Harrison Neal.

Fleetwood, who sit 18th in League Two having won just once in their past eight league games, dared to dream and took the game to penalties, with fans spilling on to the pitch in the after Conor Haughey’s decisive spot kick.

“The biggest night in the club’s history in terms of opposition coming to town and we’ve managed to beat the champions,” boss Matt Lawlor told Sky Sports in the aftermath of his side’s stunning victory.

“I’m a big football fan and I watch National League all the way through to the Premier League, Championship. So for me it was a tough game to prepare for, but I’m just so glad that the lads have the feeling the way they are and took that performance in to make that town, the club, everyone proud.”

TWO major stars have been ruled out as the mystery fourth actor currently vying to be the next James Bond.

The coveted role has been up for grabs following the release of 007 blockbuster No Time To Die in 2021, Craig’s fifth and final outing as the Martini-swilling secret agent.

Final screen tests were held with four remaining hopefuls at London’s Bray Studios over the weekend, but an official announcement is yet to be made by new franchise owners Amazon MGM Studios.

It’s understood that three of those actors – understood to be Jack Lowden, Callum Turner and Josh O’Connor – were joined by a fourth, currently unnamed star, as decisive auditions got underway.

But two British actors, both previously linked with the role, have been ruled out as the final candidate – widely thought to be Jack Barton.

“We’ve heard, reliably so, that Harris Dickinson and Nicholas Hoult are not the 4th person. Testing is said to be occurring today and going into the weekend,” read an article shared by The Hollywood Reporter on Friday.

READ MORE ABOUT BOND HERE

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James Bond fans ‘work out’ secret fourth actor up for 007 role

Dickinson, 30, is currently in the midst of back-to-back shooting schedules for director Sam Mendes’ ambitious four-film Beatles project, in which he will play John Lennon.

Meanwhile, Hoult, 36, has four major films in post-production – among them the eagerly anticipated DC adventure Man Of Tomorrow, which sees him reprise his role as Superman nemesis Lex Luthor.

Australian star Jacob Elordi is also out the running, while the much-fancied Idris Elba, Theo James and James Norton are believed to be out of contention.

Instead, Amazon MGM Studios are said to be keen on the lesser known Barton, 31, whose past screen credits include the popular Netflix drama Heartstopper.

Other than a handful of other minor TV roles, little else is known about the young actor, but he reportedly impressed producers enough to earn critical screen tests alongside his three Bond rivals.

Despite Barton’s emergence, fans remain convinced they have already worked out who the final star in the James Bond race is – and Taylor Swift fans will be very familiar with him.

The latest Bond theory suggests that the singer’s ex-boyfriend Joe Alwyn, 35, who she dated for six years until 2023, is the secret actor.

Fans believe the link to the actor and the 007 role is Bond casting director Nina Gold, 59.

Taking to Reddit to discuss, a fan wrote: “Nina Gold was one of the casting directors for Thor, too, and cast Joe in his first movie role. She knows him as far back as drama school”

Agreeing this person penned: “Nina Gold is doing the casting and knows Joe and cast him in the brutalist and Hamnet so he’s known by the department and may be on the radar of the casting team”

A third added: “Yeah, and he is supposed to be filming in NYC for a Rom com. but was in London this week for a friend’s wedding and potentially this audition.”

A fourth agreed: “Never thought about him as a contender before, but it makes sense.”

Daniel Craig’s fifth and final outing as James Bond was five years ago, and since then a whole host of high-profile actors have been linked to the famous franchise.

But Amazon MGM Studios, who paid $20million for full creative control of the franchise, is said to be picking a more “alternative” actor, rather than a mainstream Hollywood star.

No one in Angel City history has played in more games or worn the captain’s armband more often than Sarah Gorden. So it’s unlikely any player has enjoyed this season, Angel City’s fifth in the NWSL, more than her.

With Saturday’s 2-0 win over Bay FC, the team extended its franchise record for wins (14) and points (49) with one game to play. It has averaged more goals scored (1.7) and fewer goals allowed (1.07) than any team in franchise history, has the best goal differential (plus-19) in the league and has qualified for the postseason for just the second time.

If Angel City (14-8-7) beats Boston in its regular-season finale Sunday, it could play host to a playoff game for the first time. For Gorden, none of that success is surprising. What is surprising is that it took so long to achieve.

“Did I think we’d get here? Yeah,” she said. “I always felt like we take two steps forward, one step back. Maybe two steps forward, three steps back. But I always felt like strategically, at some point, the right pieces would be here and we’d be doing the right things at the right time.

“The backing was always there, the passion was always there, the vision was always there. For a long time it was just about getting the right pieces together.”

That was the part that took a bit of trial and error, with the team going through 64 players, five coaches, three general managers/sporting directors and two controlling ownership groups since its founding. And Gorden, who became the second player in team history when she was acquired in a trade with the Chicago Red Stars in December 2021 — five months before Angel City’s first game — has been with the team for all of it.

Gorden missed Angel City’s inaugural season after tearing her left anterior cruciate ligament in preseason training. But she’s missed just three games and four starts since then, which gives her a unique take on the team’s journey, from losing records in three of its first four seasons to the possibility of hosting a playoff game.

“This is my job and my life,” said Gorden, 34, who is finishing her 11th NWSL season. “If I’m not believing in the plan and the vision of what the people ahead of me are saying, then I wouldn’t be able to put my heart and my passion into it.

“Maybe blind faith, maybe not. But you have to believe or how are you going to continue to grow?”

Angel City finally found its stride this summer when it fired manager Alexander Straus and replaced him with assistant Leif Gunnar Smerud. Under the interim coach, Angel City has lost just twice in 18 matches and is unbeaten since Aug. 26. Smerud, however, declines to take credit for the turnaround.

“A lot of players have stepped up,” he said. “It’s the details. It’s part[ly] how we organize, especially in the defensive part.”

Since Smerud took over, Angel City keeper Angelina Anderson has had eight shutouts and given up just a goal five other times — a hot streak that coincides with the July hiring of goalkeeper coach Louis Hunt.

“We managed to build momentum,” Smerud continued. “If we can sustain that, we have proven we are not easy to beat. I don’t think a lot of teams want to play us.”

Smerud, 49, had a 12-year playing career in Norway that included 24 appearances for the country’s youth national teams before he turned to coaching, where he lost more often than he won before taking over for Straus. But his biggest strength as a manager isn’t something he learned on the soccer field. It’s something he learned in school, where he earned a psychology degree.

“The mental part of the game is big,” said Smerud, who has a license to practice psychology as well as a UEFA Pro coaching license. “I’m a big believer in building a culture, building a mentality in a group, and we have done quite a bit of work on that.

“How do you compete in training? How do you prepare? How do you get that calmness and that focus that you need in the key moments? So of course that informs a lot of my decision-making and the work I do.”

That philosophy fits in well with Angel City, which, under sporting director Mark Parsons and majority owners Willow Bay and Bob Iger, has expanded its support staff to include a psychologist and a mental performance coach.

Angel City’s Sveindis Jonsdottir passes during a match against Portland at BMO Stadium in April.

(Jessie Alcheh / Getty Images)

It’s also been helpful that the league’s youngest team has gotten nine goals each from Sveindis Jónsdottir, 25, and Maiara Niehues, 22, and eight assists from Evelyn Shores, 21.

Everything resets going into the postseason, however. But if Angel City manages at least a draw with Boston on Sunday, it will enter those playoffs riding a franchise-best 10-game unbeaten streak; no other NWSL team has been as hot over the past two months.

Moreover, if Angel City wins and Kansas City does not win its finale in Louisville, Angel City would jump to fourth in the table, earning the right to open the playoffs at home. One win in the postseason would mark another franchise record while two would get Angel City into the NWSL Championship at Audi Field in Washington, D.C.

But wherever the playoffs end, it’s likely to be a bittersweet finish for Gorden and Smerud. Both will see their Angel City contracts expire when the season does, and both appear ready, if not eager, to move on.

“This has been, of all my experiences in 11 years, my favorite locker room by far,” Gorden said. “But the job is bigger than just the locker room and you have to be where you’re valued and people want you and people see you for the future.

“Wherever that is for me, I’m still figuring it out.”

“The focus was on doing the job now and then take it from there,” added Smerud, whose family remains in Norway. “I was asked to do a job and my focus has been on doing that. And then I’ll take it from there.

“It’s not really for me to answer.”

⚽ You have read the latest installment of On Soccer with Kevin Baxter. The weekly column takes you behind the scenes and shines a spotlight on unique stories. Listen to Baxter on this week’s episode of the “Corner of the Galaxy” podcast.