SPORT

Angel City and the Denver Summit played to a 3-3 draw at BMO Stadium on Friday.

Angel City (9-8-6) opened the scoring in the 45th minute when defender Sarah Gorden intercepted the ball and immediately played it to Maiara Niehues for a goal. The midfielder matched the club record with her eighth goal of the season.

Denver forward Yuzuki Yamamoto scored for the third straight game in the 49th minute with a shot from inside the box. A minute later, Lindsey Heaps scored her first goal for the Summit (8-8-7) on a rebound.

Janine Sonis added a long-range goal for the Summit in the 61st minute to give Denver a 3-1 lead.

On a breakaway in the 63rd minute, Angel City’s Sveindís Jonsdottir passed the ball to Prisca Chilufya for a tap-in. It was initially ruled offside but video review overturned the call.

Later, Denver defender Ayo Oke’s high boot in the box caught Angel City midfielder Ally Sentnor in the face. Sentnor converted on the ensuing penalty kick for the final goal in the 74th minute.

In the evening session, with a star-studded crowd watching on, it was over to Shelton and Tiafoe to provide the entertainment – and they did not disappoint.

The pair combined for 74 winners, with 47 coming from the racquet of Shelton, who also sent down 20 aces as he backed up a stunning quarter-final win over Carlos Alcaraz with another memorable showing.

He won 77% points behind his first serve, while successfully targeting the second serve of Tiafoe, winning 62% of points when he opponent failed to land a first serve.

Shelton signalled his intent with an ace hammered down the T to start the match as the pair went at each other from the outset.

While an early break-point chance passed Tiafoe by, the 11th seed continued to threaten the Shelton serve and, aided by a double fault, broke for 5-4 before serving out the set.

Shelton wasted no time in mounting his comeback in the second, though, as he lasered a forehand down the line to break to love for a 2-0 lead.

Although Tiafoe broke back immediately, Shelton remained in the ascendancy and the pressure told as he broke to lead 5-3 before seeing out the set.

The third set included a number of scintillating rallies, Tiafoe coming out on top after 31 shots back and forth to stave off a break point – only for his opponent to hit a winner at the end of a 28-shot rally to break a couple of games later.

Shelton broke again at the end of a gruelling 15-minute game to take a two-sets-to-one lead.

The chance to regroup and take a breather between sets resulted in a refreshed Tiafoe mounting an early attack in the fourth, but he failed to convert two break points in the opening game, Shelton got his chance at 6-5 and brought up three match points.

Shelton netted on the first of them, but that was the last shot he played as a Tiafoe double fault gave a thrilling contest a rather tame end.

CORON, Philippines: The bodies of passengers killed in a ferry fire off the Philippines arrived at a port near the resort town of Coron, Palawan on Saturday morning, as the country’s coast guard warned the death toll of 35 would grow.

AFP watched tents being set up to accept 30 bodies brought from the M/V June Aster, which ran aground near the tourist hotspot after a fire erupted Wednesday evening and tore through the vessel “in seconds”.

Coast guard spokeswoman Noemie Cayabyab told a Saturday press conference the remains would be turned over to police forensic investigators for “proper disposition and identification” before allowing local authorities to inform family members.

“Currently, we are focused on the retrieval, and after that we will proceed with the investigation,” she said, confirming the bodies had been found in the ship’s economy accommodation area.

Police investigators were seen arriving at the port shortly after the press conference ended.

Asked how many bodies remained aboard the ship, she said authorities would provide an update later in the day.

Cayabyab told AFP on Friday evening that the first transfer had been capped at 30 bodies due to the capacity of the patrol vessel transporting them and that additional cadavers remained on the ferry.

Five others had been confirmed dead in the immediate wake of the fire.

Photos released by the coast guard showed rows of body bags being placed into a small ship alongside men in hazmat suits.

Thirty passengers and 13 crew have so far been rescued, while 54 people remain unaccounted for.

On Friday, Cayabyab had told a radio station the fire had begun in the cargo hold, then tore through the ship within seconds.

“From the time that they heard the loud explosion, the appearance of smoke, and then fire. It spread very quickly,” she said of survivors’ accounts.

“Everything happened in seconds,” she said, adding that those who made it off the ship had not even had time to put on life jackets.

‘Lost hope’

Myra Cabilan told AFP she had flown to Coron to find her missing brother, 40-year-old Rammel Gonzaga, who had taken the ferry from Manila on a business trip with his brother-in-law.

“His wife had just given birth a month ago. He was so happy he was given a daughter,” Cabilan said, fighting back tears.

“At dawn, I still believed he survived. But he’s still missing. I have lost hope.”

Hundreds of people desperate for news about the incident have taken to leaving comments on the Facebook page of a local mayor, searching for relatives, friends and even a dog.

The ferry’s manifest listed 134 crew and passengers, but two had not boarded, according to the coast guard. The ferry was also carrying goods, an electric vehicle, a pickup truck, and motorcycles.

The archipelago nation of 116 million has a long history of disasters involving the inter-island ferries that ply its seas.

Many rely on cheap and poorly regulated boats and ships for transport between the country’s more than 7,000 islands, despite regular accidents.

In January, a triple-decker ferry carrying more than 340 people sank off the southern Philippines, killing at least 52 people.

The M/V Trisha Kerstin 3 sank along nearly the same route where 31 people died in 2023 after a fire broke out aboard the Lady Mary Joy 3 ferry.

On Thursday, the company that owns the M/V June Aster, Atienza Interisland Ferries Inc, said it was fully cooperating with the investigation.

DUBLIN — President Trump is taking a break this weekend from the pressures of the Iran war and American voter anger over the conflict’s economic fallout by indulging in one of his favorite pastimes: golf.

After observing the somber 25th anniversary on Friday of the 9/11 attacks that killed more than 3,000 people in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania, Trump plans to fly to Ireland for a weekend at his eponymous golf resort in Doonbeg on the country’s Atlantic coast. Trump International Golf Links is hosting the Irish Open, which kicked off Thursday.

The president is an avid golfer who hits the links at clubs he owns in Florida, New Jersey and Virginia just about every weekend. Prime Minister Micheál Martin invited Trump to watch the Irish Open during a St. Patrick’s Day trip to Washington in March, and Ireland’s political leaders will most likely see the visit as a chance to maintain warm relations despite differences over trade and foreign policy.

Daniel Mulhall, a former Irish ambassador to the United States, said Irish and U.S. officials will see Trump’s trip “as a happy opportunity for him to have a little bit of R&R in a place that he really loves, which is his golf course in Doonbeg.”

“The relationship with America is on an even keel, which is great because not every country in the world can say that,” he said.

There will be a bit of politics, then golf

Trump plans to sit down on Saturday to talk about trade and international issues with Martin and will also have a brief meeting with President Catherine Connolly, a progressive campaigner who was elected Ireland’s ceremonial head of state last year. He’ll give remarks to business leaders at the U.S. ambassador’s residence, the White House said. Then he’ll travel to Doonbeg to attend the tournament, and possibly present the winner’s trophy on Sunday.

The U.S. and Ireland share ties of history — 30 million Americans claim Irish heritage, and more than 1 million Americans visit Ireland every year — and strong economic bonds. The Irish Treasury takes in billions in corporate tax from U.S. technology and drug companies operating in Ireland, and American firms employ more than 200,000 people in the country.

Ireland is a member of the European Union, a frequent target of Trump’s ire, but so far the country’s lucrative pharmaceutical sector has avoided steep levies.

The Middle East is a potential source of friction. Ireland has recognized a Palestinian state and banned goods from Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, both positions eschewed by the Trump administration.

Martin, who leads a center-right coalition government, struck up a cordial relationship with Trump during his St. Patrick’s Day visits, though Trump said in the Oval Office in March 2025 that “of course” Ireland was among countries taking advantage of the United States.

Not everyone in Ireland is welcoming Trump’s visit. More than 150 Irish lawyers signed a letter objecting to the visit, alleging that through support for conflicts in Gaza and Iran Trump is “executing and enabling war policies which are illegal, causing death and destruction on a massive scale.”

A collection of left-leaning opposition parties, anti-military groups, pro-Palestinian organizations, environmentalists and others plans to demonstrate in Dublin on Saturday.

Trump has forged a role as sports fan-in-chief

Trump’s attendance at the Irish Open continues his trend of appearing at prominent sporting events — and having a hand in organizing some of them in ways that benefit his family business. His clubs in Doral, Fla., and Bedminster, N.J., have each hosted professional golf tournaments this year.

In July, Trump marked the 250th anniversary of U.S. independence from Britain by staging a UFC fight night on the South Lawn of the White House and sanctioning the first IndyCar race ever held on the streets of Washington.

Since beginning a second term in office in January 2025, he’s attended the Super Bowl, the Daytona 500, the FIFA Club World Cup final and the U.S. Open men’s tennis final. He recently announced that he will be at the Presidents Cup golf tournament in late September near Chicago in the traditional role as honorary chairman of the matches.

Last summer, he visited his golf courses in Scotland, meeting then-Prime Minister Keir Starmer and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen during the trip.

The president’s visit has brought a huge security operation to the rural area 175 miles west of Dublin, complicated by the presence of some 20,000 golf fans attending the Open.

Local councilor Rita McInerney, who owns a shop in Doonbeg, said Trump’s purchase of the golf course in 2014 has been a mixed bag for the town.

She said Doonbeg has been “vilified” by some in Ireland because of its Trump connection, but that the resort is a major employer and a responsible member of the local business community.

The area draws many American tourists, some of whom come because “they love the golf more than they hate Trump,” she said.

“And then there’s a group of people that will come because they follow Trump or they like Trump or they support him in the U.S.,” she said. “And then there’s other people that will avoid the place because he owns it.”

Superville and Lawless write for the Associated Press.

CAIRO: An Iraqi military commander was dismissed early on Saturday ‌after ‌investigations confirmed the ‌latest drone attacks targeting Saudi Arabia originated from Iraq, according to ‌a statement ‌by Iraq’s ‌prime ‌minister’s office.

The commander led operations ‌in Maysan province in southern Iraq, according to the statement.

With ownership of the team still in limbo, the Lakers announced two front office additions Friday, hiring former Miami Heat executive Eric Amsler as assistant general manager, player personnel, while bolstering their sports performance staff with Keith D’Amelio as director of integrated performance systems.

Boosting the team’s behind-the-scenes infrastructure was one of Mark Walter’s major initiatives when the Dodgers’ owner bought the Lakers in 2025. After the season, Lakers president and general manager Rob Pelinka said Walter and the ownership group were working to create two assistant GM positions and upgrade treatment, physical therapy and sports science facilities to mirror the success of the Dodgers.

But the status of such investments came into question when Walter unexpectedly sold his majority stake in the Lakers to Bob Iger and Joshua Kushner last month. The transaction that valued the Lakers at a record $12.5 billion still needs to be approved by the NBA board of governors, which next meets Sept. 14-15, according to ESPN, but approval for the Lakers ownership change will likely not be on the docket.

“Continuing to invest in and strengthen our basketball operations group is a top priority as we build for the long-term success of our team and players,” Pelinka said in a statement. “Eric and Keith bring a wealth of experience that will add valuable expertise across our organization.”

Amsler spent the previous 22 seasons with the Heat, most recently serving as vice president of player personnel and the general manager of G League affiliate Sioux Falls Skyforce. He oversaw the Heat’s scouting department and evaluation of draft, professional and G League prospects.

Amsler joins former New Orleans Pelicans executive Rohan Ramadas as assistant general managers hired this offseason. While Ramadas, who joined the team in May, will be involved in managing the salary cap, analytics and data for the Lakers, Amsler’s responsibilities will mirror the scouting and player development responsibilities he held in Miami.

D’Amelio most recently served as chief innovation officer for the New York Liberty, where he worked across basketball operations, health and performance, analytics and applied sciences. His previous NBA experience includes stints with the Toronto Raptors and Boston Celtics. He also worked with Stanford men’s basketball and Nike.

Betfred Super League

Wigan (24) 50

Tries: Smith, Marshall 2, O’Neill, Farrell, Daniel, Field, Eckersley, Keighran Goals: Keighran 7

Catalans (6) 12

Tries: Tison, Lis Goals: Aispuro-Bichet, Garcia

Wigan Warriors won a sixth League Leaders’ Shield as they ran in nine tries to beat Catalans Dragons and carry on their remarkable run of form heading into the Super League play-offs.

Matt Peet’s side, who were trophyless in 2025 off the back of their quadruple-winning 2024 campaign, have now won two pieces of silverware, having won the Challenge Cup in May, and are now two games away from the treble.

Harry Smith and Ugo Tison exchanged tries early on, but Liam Marshall, Brad O’Neill and Liam Farrell put Wigan in control at the break.

Austin Daniel and Jai Field continued Wigan’s scoring streak, while Zach Eckersley, Adam Keighran and Marshall’s second wrapped up a thumping 16th win in a row, with Alexis Lis scoring a fine consolation try for Les Dracs in the closing stages.

Despite Friday’s victory ensuring the shield was theirs, the really hard work was done in last week’s crucial win over title rivals Leeds Rhinos at Headingley, where they leapfrogged their rivals to go top.

Had Wigan have lost then, Leeds could have pulled off a dramatic final-day surge back to the top, winning the shield at their expense on points difference, but the Rhinos fell short and were beaten by Hull FC on Friday.

Wigan now have a bye week by virtue of a top two place and will be at home for their Super League play-off semi-final on Saturday, 12 September, live on the BBC.

For Catalans, it means a difficult campaign ends with a ninth-placed finish.

Les Dracs have now not made the end-of-season play-offs since their run to the Super League Grand Final in 2023 – where they were also beaten by Wigan.

More to follow.

Wigan: Field; Daniel, Keighran, Eckersley, Marshall; French, Smith; Havard, O’Neill, Thompson, Nsemba, Partington, Ellis.

Interchanges: Farrell, Walters, Mago, Kerr.

Catalans: Marc; Darrelatour, Martin, Cotric, Makinson; Aispuro-Bichet, Dodd; Allen, Tison, Navarrete, Garcia, Laguerre, Bousquet.

Interchanges: Maria, Wilson, Descalzi, Lis.

Referee: Marcus Griffiths.

ANCHORAGE, Alaska: Bobbing for days atop a capsized skiff in Alaska’s frigid Bering Sea, a 15-year-old boy held on until he was rescued by a fishing vessel this week, the US Coast Guard said.

The boy’s brother and a cousin died sometime after the small boat flipped, according to the rescuers.

Their bodies were found after the teen was hoisted to safety near St. Lawrence Island — a remote Alaskan island that’s closer to Russia than it is to the United States.

The captain of the fishing boat, “The Northwest Explorer,” said the boy had clung to the skiff for close to three days. “That’s one tough kid,” Adam White told KTUU-TV in Anchorage.

Coast Guard planes and helicopters began searching for the skiff Monday morning after family members reported the three missing the night before. Authorities did not release the names of the three.

The group left St. Lawrence Island on Friday and planned to return early Sunday, the Coast Guard said.

The Coast Guard said one of its air crews spotted the boy Monday morning and deployed a raft and supplies before contacting “The Northwest Explorer.”

Video of the rescue shows the boy in a bright yellow jacket kneeling atop the overturned skiff. The boat’s crew tosses the boy a line, tugging the skiff closer until they can pull him into a rescue basket.

The boy was experiencing symptoms of hypothermia when he got onto the boat, the Coast Guard said.

The fishing boat crew warmed him with blankets and hot packs, its captain said.

“Through the teeth chattering, he had mentioned that his brother was still under the skiff,” White said. “And then he said that, in the previous night, before our rescue, that his cousin had slipped away.”

The eighth edition of the Sunset Showdown lasted long after the sun went down — about fours hours and 10 minutes later — before host Palisades prevailed 56-50 over crosstown rival Brentwood in four overtimes. By the end, at 11:43 p.m., the coaches and fans were as exhausted as the players.

Robert Holohan passed for four touchdowns, LJ Stephens ran for three and Malachi Ross had a 38-yard touchdown reception and intercepted a pass in the end zone on fourth-and-goal to clinch the victory for Palisades after Brentwood moved to the Dolphins’ six-yard line. The game ended 17 minutes before midnight thanks in part to several long deliberations by the officiating crew.

Host Palisades (1-3) had a chance to win at the end of regulation but missed a 25-yard field goal with 30 seconds left and the teams headed to overtime with the score tied 31-31. Brentwood missed a chance to end it in the second overtime but had an extra point blocked. Each team scored quickly in the third overtime but the two-point conversion passes were incomplete (starting with the third overtime teams must go for two). Stephens’ five-yard scoring run gave the Dolphins a 56-50 lead but the two-point attempt failed.

Ben Mikail threw for four touchdowns — two to Kruz Jackson, who also scored on a 90-yard kickoff return — and JJ Lublin ran for two touchdowns for Brentwood (2-2). The series debuted in 2018 and is now tied at four wins apiece with five of the games being decided by a touchdown or less. Brentwood won in double overtime on the same field two years ago.

SAN FRANCISCO: Saudi Arabia is building an integrated model to attract leading artificial intelligence companies and help them expand globally, Communications and Information Technology Minister Abdullah Al-Swaha said in Silicon Valley on Friday.

Speaking at the fourth edition of the Frontier Leaders Forum 2026, held under the theme “AI Forward: A Global Frontier,” Al-Swaha said the Kingdom’s approach was centered on providing AI companies with three key resources: computing capacity, capital and access to customers.

He cited Grok as an example of this approach, highlighting Saudi Arabia’s partnership with US AI company xAI and Saudi AI company Humain to deploy Grok in the Kingdom and develop large-scale AI computing infrastructure.

Al-Swaha said the Kingdom aimed to build on that experience and attract more global AI companies, the Saudi Press Agency reported.

Saudi Arabia is working with the private sector to develop more than 14 gigawatts of computing capacity, he said, providing infrastructure for advanced AI companies while helping reduce operating costs and improve efficiency.

Humain is developing a range of AI infrastructure and platforms in the Kingdom, including AI cloud and high-performance computing services designed to support training, fine-tuning, inference and other AI workloads.

Al-Swaha also highlighted the Kingdom’s expanding use of generative AI, AI agents and augmented-reality applications across sectors including healthcare, government services, transportation and logistics.

He said Saudi Arabia would continue working with Silicon Valley around talent, technology and trust while providing the computing capacity, customers and capital needed to help the next generation of AI companies scale internationally.

Al-Swaha held a series of meetings during his visit with technology and investment executives to discuss expanding AI investment in the Kingdom, developing advanced models and applications and integrating them with infrastructure and computing capabilities being developed by Humain.

He met General Catalyst’s CEO Hemant Taneja to discuss expanding the investment firm’s AI and advanced-technology activities in Saudi Arabia, enabling its portfolio companies to develop and deploy applied AI solutions and using Humain’s computing capabilities to accelerate implementation in priority sectors.

Al-Swaha also met Arcee AI’s founder and CEO Mark McQuade to discuss expanding the use of the company’s Trinity open and enterprise models and deploying them across Humain’s infrastructure.

He held talks with Engramme’s co-founder and CEO Gabriel Kreiman on AI memory and continuous-learning applications designed to allow organizations to build models that learn from their own data, knowledge and operating environments.

Infrastructure was another focus of the meetings. Al-Swaha met Supermicro’s founder and CEO Charles Liang to discuss AI factory solutions, including integrated systems, liquid cooling and high-density architectures aimed at improving energy efficiency and supporting large-scale AI data centers.

He also met Upscale AI’s CEO Barun Kar to discuss high-performance AI networking and improving connectivity between computing accelerators, memory and storage to maximize the use of computing resources.

A further meeting with Velaura AI’s co-founder and CEO Rajiv Khemani focused on integrating energy-efficient computing technologies into Humain’s infrastructure and supporting the expansion of AI applications and autonomous systems.

WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump vowed Friday that the United States would never forget the September 11, 2001 attacks and suggested the country was continuing the “war on terror” 25 years later by fighting Iran.

Speaking at the Pentagon after skipping the main 9/11 commemorations in New York, Republican Trump also hit out at domestic “fanatics” in an apparent swipe at Democrats.

“Today we renew the sacred oath that we first swore in their names a quarter of a century ago. We will never, ever forget. That’s why we fight today,” Trump said in a speech.

“We don’t have a choice. There can only be victory. We fight hard. We fight to win,” added the president, who was accompanied by First Lady Melania Trump.

One of the jets hijacked on 9/11 hit the Pentagon in Washington, killing 184 people who were remembered by a single bell tolling as their names were read out.

But presidents have previously marked major anniversaries by attending several sites including New York, where the majority of the 2,977 victims were killed in the attacks on the World Trade Center.

Trump went on to link the fight against Al-Qaeda launched by his Republican predecessor George W. Bush to the US-Israeli war on Iran which is now in its seventh month.

“Today we salute every member of the United States military who served in the ‘War on Terror.’ It is a war on sick, horrible terror,” Trump said.

“And we salute the service members working right now to ensure the world’s number one sponsor of terror, the Islamic Republic of Iran, will never ever have a nuclear weapon.”

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth also lashed out at Iran in his remarks to the Pentagon ceremony.

“Over the past six months, we have laid waste to the world’s most prolific state sponsor of terrorism. Our warriors have fought an Islamic theocracy that has wished us death for nearly half a century,” Hegseth said.

The Iran war has slid into a stalemate with Iran largely maintaining its grip on the Strait of Hormuz, and keeping oil prices high, despite sporadic exchanges of fire with the United States.

Trump also turned to the domestic front, a day after a Republican convention for the US midterm elections in which Trump and Vice President JD Vance accused Democrats of sympathizing with the 9/11 attackers.

“A generation after 9/11, we also know that the final response to those atrocities and the ultimate victory over the perpetrators will not be found on a foreign battlefield,” Trump said.

Telling the story of a firefighter killed in the attacks whose son went on to become a US Navy veteran, Trump said it showed that “we can be a nation whose heroes are not fanatics for an abstract cause.”

In his speech to the Republican convention on Wednesday, Trump had used the same term: “With your vote in this election, you can tell these far-left lunatics and fanatics that America is not for sale to them or to anybody else.”

Republicans at the convention repeatedly trained their fire on left-wing Democratic senate hopeful Abdul El-Sayed over his previous social media posts about 9/11.

ABIDJAN: A senior official in Ivorian former president Laurent Gbagbo’s opposition party has been remanded in custody on charges including terrorism over electoral unrest in 2025, a prosecutor said Friday.

Violence left 11 people dead during the October 2025 election, won by President Alassane Ouattara, who has led the country since 2011.

Several dozen opposition party activists, including senior figures, were arrested or jailed over the unrest. Some have since been released.

A court opened a judicial investigation against Justin Kone Katinan, vice president of the PPA-CI party and a former minister under Gbagbo’s 2000-2011 presidency, prosecutor Oumar Braman Kone said in a statement on Friday.

He said it remanded Katinan in custody on several charges, including terrorist acts and conspiracy against the state.

Katinan’s lawyer, Roselyne Serikpa, told AFP: “These proceedings are irregular and unlawful. They are in complete violation of the penal code.”

The PPA-CI on Thursday denounced what it called a “judicial trap” targeting Katinan.

He was initially summoned by police on Wednesday over defamation accusations by the ruling party after he accused it of being behind the growth of illegal gold mining.

Hi, and welcome to another edition of Dodgers Dugout. My name is Houston Mitchell. I hope you all had a nice Labor Day and took the time to celebrate all the pregnant women around you. Wait, I am being told now that that is not what Labor Day is for. That explains all the strange looks at my local hospital’s maternity ward.

Teoscar is back

On Aug. 23, Teoscar Hernández went 0 for 4 in a victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates, striking out twice. That lowered his season numbers to .244/.305/.390, which, to go along with his poor defense, made him a below average player, with a WAR below zero.

The Dodgers were off the following day, and Dave Roberts gave Hernández the Aug. 25 game off for a mental reset. Which seems to have worked. Since Aug. 26, Hernández is hitting .440/.525/.660, going 22 for 50 with three doubles, one triple, two homers, 14 RBIs, seven runs, two steals and eight walks. His WAR has gone up to 0.7 and he is as responsible as anyone for the Dodgers’ seven-game winning streak.

And, strangely, his defense doesn’t seem quite as bad when he is hitting that well.

When asked about this resurgence by SportsNet LA’s Kirsten Watson after Tuesday’s win, Hernández did what he usually does, deflect the spotlight away from himself, saying:

“I feel really good at the plate. Now, it’s just being consistent with it, see good pitches and make contact. We’re going in a good direction, taking the right approach and it shows. I think everybody is doing what everybody expected us to do at the right time. Everybody is having good at-bats. The pitchers are throwing really good games. Everything is clicking right now for us.”

Hernández told reporters after the game that his injuries the last two seasons made him adjust his swing and he’s finally feeling close to 100%.

“Last year, I used [my regular swing] before I had the [adductor] injury. That’s the way I was hitting. Then when I came back, I was doing the same thing, but I was feeling it in my [injured] leg, so that’s why I stopped.”

“This year when I got my hamstring issue, I had to get rid of [the swing] because it was putting so much pressure on the hamstring. Little, little things that people barely notice or realize can change the swing and the results in games.”

And let’s point something else out. Despite the subpar season, who was the first Dodger to leap out of the dugout to celebrate a teammate’s success? Hernández. He didn’t sit around and brood and feel sorry for himself. He was there for his teammates. There are some things that aren’t measurable by OPS+, WAR or any other stats, and in some of those areas, Hernández is a superstar.

In 2024, there were two things that helped the Dodgers find a gear they never had been able to reach before: Shohei Ohtani and Hernández. They both rose to every occasion, where in the past it seemed the Dodgers would shrink in the big moments. Ohtani and Hernández had big hit after big hit during the season and postseason. The same last season, even with Hernández having a down year. This year, however, Hernández had been mainly a nonfactor. Until Aug. 26. The Dodgers can only hope it continues, because if it does, their chances to win the World Series get a lot better.

Ohtani heads to the IL

The Dodgers announced after Wednesday night’s game that they put Ohtani, who is dealing with soreness in seemingly every part of his body (left knee, right biceps, neck and left hip), on the injured list. Two-way players have to go on the 15-day IL, so he will be out until the final week of the season.

“Talking to Shohei, the doctors, the training staff, it’s the right thing to do,” Roberts told reporters after Wednesday’s game. “We tried to kick the can as much as we could. It’s more of let’s take the 15 days and get him reset, get him feeling better, and then build him back up to get the best of him for the postseason.”

With the Dodgers’ penchant to obfuscate when it comes to injuries, the fear here is he is hurt worse than they are saying. We won’t know for sure until he comes off the IL and starts playing again.

To replace Ohtani on the roster? In a bit of a surprise, the Dodgers are turning to their top prospect, Josue De Paula, who never has played above double A. The Dodgers never had promoted a player from double A to the majors since Andrew Friedman took over the front office before the 2015 season.

De Paula, 21, has spent the season with double-A Tulsa, hitting .303/.401/.547 in 588 plate appearances, with 37 doubles, 27 home runs, 104 RBIs and 31 stolen bases. That’s extra impressive considering he is about three years younger than the average double-A player.

He will start at DH tonight, so the Dodgers are throwing him right into the fire.

De Paula has walked 81 times and struck out 87 times this season, so he has a decent eye at the plate. He is considered a subpar fielder though, with one scout telling me during a game De Paula played with Rancho Cucamonga two seasons ago, “As an outfielder, he makes for a hell of a DH.”

The intriguing thing is — and I know I’m putting the cart about a mile ahead of the horse — that if De Paula plays well, he could be added to the postseason roster. Unlike the old days, you don’t have to be on the 40-man roster by Sept. 1 to be considered for the postseason, you just have to be with the organization by that date. The Dodgers would need to petition MLB to allow De Paula to be on the postseason roster, but that type of petition generally is approved.

The Dodgers will have to make room on the 40-man roster for De Paula, either by removing a player or putting someone, such as Dalton Rushing, on the 60-day IL.

Injuries R Us

The Dodgers have another injury concern as the season winds down: Freddie Freeman.

Freeman is bothered by a troublesome knee. He sat out Wednesday’s game.

“The right knee has been bothering him, and so just on the heels of an off day [Thursday], we felt it was best to just give him [the day off] and then see how he is on Friday,” Roberts said.

There are 16 games left in the season, and the Dodgers are without Ohtani, Freeman, Rushing and Andy Pages. That’s not ideal. It seems unlikely Rushing will be back, and you really need two of the other three back for the postseason.

The postseason race

The Dodgers’ magic number to clinch the NL West is six. Here are the postseason seedings as of Thursday’s games. The three division winners get the top three seeds, followed by the three teams with the best records. The top two division winners get a first-round bye.

Division leaders
1. Milwaukee, 91-56
2. Dodgers, 89-57
3. Atlanta, 86-61

Wild cards
1. Philadelphia, 82-65
2. Chicago, 81-66
3. San Diego, 78-68
4. Arizona, 78-69
5. Pittsburgh, 74-73

Remember, there are no extra games to break ties anymore. It all comes down to tiebreakers. Atlanta and Milwaukee both have the tiebreaker over the Dodgers. For the wild card, the Cubs have the advantage over the Phillies, having won six of seven games against each other. The Diamondbacks and Padres have split 10 games, but their final three games this season are against each other, so that very well could determine the final wild-card spot.

The Dodgers won it all last season without a first-round bye, but with all the injuries, it would be nice to get that bye this season. They have only three games remaining against a team with a winning record, so they really have no one to blame but themselves if they don’t get it.

These names seem familiar

How notable players who were with the Dodgers the last couple of seasons are doing with their new teams (through Wednesday). Click on the player’s name to be taken to their full stats page:

Anthony Banda, Twins: 2-0, 4.46 ERA, 2 saves, 34.1 IP, 31 hits, 15 walks, 33 K’s, 95 ERA+, out for the season

Cody Bellinger, Yankees: .264/.343/.418, 502 PA’s, 23 doubles, 3 triples, 13 homers, 63 RBIs, 111 OPS+

Walker Buehler, Padres: 8-6, 4.61 ERA, 138.2 IP, 135 hits, 53 walks, 121 K’s, 88 ERA+

Mike Busch, Cubs: .235/.345/.388, 647 PA’s, 26 doubles, 2 triples, 18 homers, 72 RBIs, 102 OPS+

Michael Conforto, Cubs: .242/.342/.489, 266 PA’s, 14 doubles, 14 homers, 40 RBIs, 126 OPS+

Justin Dean, Cubs: .375/.500/.625, 10 PA’s, 1 triple, 3 RBIs, 209 OPS+, in the minors

Caleb Ferguson, Cardinals: 1-0, 5.18 ERA, 1 save, 33 IP, 37 hits, 19 walks, 31 K’s, 81 ERA+

Jack Flaherty, Tigers: 3-8, 4.59 ERA, 86.1 IP, 80 hits, 42 walks, 102 K’s, 93 ERA+, on the IL

Kenley Jansen, Tigers: 4-6, 3.63 ERA, 18 saves, 39.2 IP, 24 hits, 22 walks, 44 K’s, 118 ERA+

Craig Kimbrel, Royals: 1-4, 4.43 ERA, 1 save, 44.2 IP, 39 hits, 20 walks, 40 K’s, 96 ERA+

Gavin Lux, Rays: on the IL

Dustin May, Brewers: 6-9, 4.69 ERA, 132.1 IP, 130 hits, 45 walks, 127 K’s, 84 ERA+

Zach McKinstry, Tigers: .211/.291/.311, 395 PA’s, 15 doubles, 4 triples, 4 homers, 26 RBIs, 69 OPS+

James Outman, Tigers: .172/.235/.318, 157 PA’s, 4 doubles, 2 triples, 5 homers, 17 RBIs, 54 OPS+, in the minors

Joc Pederson, Rangers: .234/.329/.481, 421 PA’s, 11 doubles, 2 triples, 25 homers, 50 RBIs, 133 OPS+

Luke Raley, Mariners: .225/.284/.439, 287 PA’s, 9 doubles, 1 triple, 15 homers, 39 RBIs, 105 OPS+, on the IL

Corey Seager, Rangers: .230/.325/.435, 366 PA’s, 14 doubles, 17 homers, 40 RBIs, 120 OPS+

Justin Turner, Tijuana (Mexican League): .295/.395/.469, 263 PA’s, 21 doubles, 6 homers, 28 RBIs

Trea Turner, Phillies: .243/.295/.391, 628 PA’s, 27 doubles, 1 triple, 19 homers, 56 RBIs, 82 OPS+

Miguel Vargas, White Sox: .249/.359/.479, 630 PA’s, 30 doubles, 1 triple, 30 homers, 79 RBIs, 133 OPS+

Kirby Yates, Pirates: 2-5, 3.40 ERA, 3 saves, 39.2 IP, 31 hits, 17 walks, 47 K’s, 125 ERA+, on the IL

Up next

Friday: Dodgers (TBD) at Miami (Ryan Gusto, 1-4, 4.23 ERA), 4:10 p.m., SportsNet LA, AM 570, KTNQ 1020

Saturday: Dodgers (TBD) at Miami (Tyler Phillips, 5-6, 3.51 ERA), 1:10 p.m., SportsNet LA, AM 570, KTNQ 1020

Sunday: Dodgers (TBD) at Miami (Eury Pérez, 7-11, 3.94 ERA), 10:40 a.m., SportsNet LA, AM 570, KTNQ 1020

All times Pacific

*-left-handed

In case you missed it

‘He’s not supernatural.’ Shohei Ohtani’s injury management raises tough questions

What Shohei Ohtani’s latest injury scare reveals about Dodgers’ late-season plans

Will Smith and Dalton Rushing among Dodgers activated as rosters expand for September

Plaschke: No two ways about it — Shohei Ohtani should not pitch again this season

Shohei Ohtani still ‘not 100%’ and will not pitch Sunday against the Tigers

And finally

Vin Scully calls Hank Aaron’s 715th home run. Watch and listen here.

Until next time …

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

Italy, who play their home Six Nations fixtures at Rome’s 70,000-seater Stadio Olimpico, also distanced themselves from the possibility of taking a game across the Atlantic.

“The United States has all the potential to be a major market for the growth of our sport: in this respect, Italy was ahead of its time by playing a test match against Ireland in Chicago back in 2018,” said a spokesman for the Italian Rugby Federation (FIR).

“An event like the one between South Africa and the All Blacks – one of the greatest rivalries on the international calendar – can serve as an exciting preview of the upcoming Men’s and Women’s Rugby World Cups in 2031 and 2033.

“At present, however, there are no discussions between FIR and other stakeholders on the possibility of a Six Nations test taking place in the US.”

In an interview with the Daily Telegraph, external and The Times, external, Gilpin said: “This isn’t a live discussion of an Italy v Ireland game, but why we use that as an example is because you’ve got two fantastic fanbases in the US of Irish and Italian fans.

“If you could take a Six Nations game to the right place, to a Boston or to a New York, where there’s a lot of those fanbases, you can definitely drive the economics.

“Now, you’re going to have Irish fans and Italian fans in those respective home countries saying: ‘Hang on a minute, you know, we want to see our country play?’

“The counter-argument to that [is] it’s still Irish and Italian fans getting the chance to watch their team, so they’re just not the ones who live in Ireland and Italy on this occasion. But that’s a balancing piece we’ve got to work through.”

Ireland have previously enjoyed two well-attended games in the US against New Zealand.

They memorably beat the All Blacks for the first time when the teams met in front of a capacity 60,000-strong crowd at Chicago’s Soldier Field in 2016, with a 2025 rematch which they lost also proving a similar commercial success.

Rams lose to 49ers

From Gary Klein: Maybe, if the Rams still reach their intended destination at season’s end, they’ll look back at their very long trip to Australia — and purposely short stay — and be grateful.

A humbling punch in the face. A wake-up call. A rallying point that spurs them to even greater heights.

Until then, there is only one way to look at it:

The Rams embarrassed themselves, for a new part of the NFL world to see, in a humiliating 27-7 defeat by the San Francisco 49ers.

The Rams arrived here as the star-studded favorite to win Super Bowl LXI at SoFi Stadium. They left star-crossed, stunned and searching for answers on their long flight back to Los Angeles.

The Rams sleep-walked through nearly all of the opener before a sold-out crowd of 100,021 at Melbourne Cricket Ground, in the first NFL game in Australia.

Coach Sean McVay’s strategy of arriving the day before the game backfired and resulted in a dull performance by a team featuring some of the NFL’s biggest stars.

“I don’t believe that’s why we didn’t play well enough, I really don’t,” McVay said. “It’s easy in hindsight to be able to say that was a miss.”

Continue reading here

Rams summary

Rams poll

We asked, “Will the Rams win the Super Bowl and how many games will they win, counting the playoffs?”

After 1,172 responses:

Will the Rams win the Super Bowl?

Yes, 62.8%
No, 37.2%

How many games will the Rams win this season, including the playoffs?

18, 25%
17, 22.2%
16, 14.2%
15, 11.9%
14, 7.4%
20, 5.1%
9, 4.9%
19, 4%
12, 2.8%
Fewer than 10, 1.2%
10, 0.7%
11, 0.6%

Ohtani on IL raises questions

From Maddie Lee: When it comes to Shohei Ohtani‘s injury management, it’s tempting to dwell on the what-ifs.

What if the Dodgers forced him to give up pitching in July, when he needed a lubricant injection to alleviate irritation in his left knee?

It was clear by then that Ohtani was playing through multiple injuries. A right biceps problem popped up for the second time on July 3 — the last time he pitched in a game. The Dodgers said his knee inflammation was only aggravated by pitching and the biceps tightness was tied to hitting. And yet, they were confident that the MLB All-Star break would give Ohtani enough time to bounce back.

If the Dodgers had been more proactive, instead of starting and stopping Ohtani’s throwing program until his injuries forced a shutdown, would he be in the lineup Friday against the Miami Marlins instead of on the 15-day injured list?

Maybe.

Or maybe the injuries were significant enough that they would have affected him down the stretch regardless. Maybe seeing if he could return to the mound was worth the risk.

Maybe not.

Continue reading here

Shaikin: Why it’s past time for MLB players, owners to get a 2028 Olympics deal done

UCLA confident a big Iamaleava game is coming

From Connor Dullinger: UCLA senior wide receiver Mikey Matthews expects the Bruins’ aerial attack to be as electrifying and dominant as their ground game was in a season-opening win over California.

The passing offense lived up to Matthews’ expectations against Cal — but only for a half.

After quarterback Nico Iamaleava completed 12 of 18 passes for 179 yards in the first half, he completed just two more passes for five yards — the Bruins’ only yardage in the third quarter.

The rushing attack carried the Bruins to victory, breaking open a tied game with three fourth-quarter touchdown runs.

Continue reading here

Family values are key to Trent Mosley’s USC success

From Ryan Kartje: Since he was a boy, Trent Mosley was taught to live by the Five Ps: Proper preparation prevents poor performance.

The Five Ps weren’t so much a lesson in the Mosley household as “a lifestyle,” father Emmett Mosley explains. He can’t recall when or from whom he first heard the phrase, but ever since, the Five Ps have stuck with him. To the point that he and his wife, Cindy, made it a core tenet of their family. All four Mosley kids — their daughter, Jalyn, and three boys, Emmett Jr., Trent and Grant — were brought up on the principle that preparation was paramount.

So then, no one in the Mosley family was surprised to see Trent sprinting wide open in the second quarter last Friday night at the Coliseum, well on his way to another impressive performance in his second college game. Just like no one at USC is batting an eye at the freshman’s staggering start, which has him leading the nation with three touchdown catches and the Big Ten with 222 receiving yards.

To those who know Trent best, it’s like this sudden ascent to stardom simply was … inevitable. That’s the Five Ps at work, his father explains.

Continue reading here

This day in sports history

1886 — The Mayflower defends the America’s Cup by beating Britain’s Galatea in two straight heats.

1937 — Don Budge beats Gottfried von Cramm in five sets to win his first U.S. Open men’s singles title. Budge wins 6-1, 7-9, 6-1, 3-6, 6-1.

1964 — ABC television cancels Fight of the Week, ending 18 years of regularly scheduled prime-time boxing on U.S. broadcast network television.

1976 — In the third race at Latonia, jockey John Oldham and his wife, Suzanne Picou, become the first husband and wife riding team to compete in a parimutuel race. Oldham finishes second aboard Harvey’s Hope and Picou rides My Girl Carla to an 11th-place finish.

1977 — In the last U.S. Open match played at the West Side Tennis Club in Forest Hills, New York, Guillermo Vilas beats Jimmy Connors, 2-6, 6-3, 7-6, 6-0, for the men’s singles title

1982 — Chris Evert wins her sixth U.S. Open singles title, defeating Hana Mandlikova, 6-3, 6-1.

1982 — In a 23-16 loss to Illinois, Ralf Mojsiejunko of Michigan State kicks a 61-yard field goal in his first collegiate attempt.

1983 — Pittsburgh running back Franco Harris runs for 118 yards in Steelers 25-21 win at Green Bay to become only the third player in NFL history to rush for 11,000 yards.

1988 — Mats Wilander wins the longest men’s final in U.S. Open history, edging Ivan Lendl, 6-4, 4-6, 6-3, 5-7, 6-4.

1994 — Andre Agassi wins the U.S. Open with a three-set victory over Michael Stich and becomes the first unseeded player to beat five seeded players in a Grand Slam and the first unseeded champion since Fred Stolle in 1966. Andre wins 6-1, 7-6, 7-5.

1999 — U.S. Open Women’s Tennis: Serena Williams wins her first Grand Slam title; beats world No. 1 Martina Hingis 6-3, 7-6.

2001 — Sports comes to a standstill after terrorism in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania, with major league baseball postponing a full schedule of regular-season games for the first time since D-Day in 1944.

2010 — James Madison, a top team in the Football Championship Subdivision, beats No. 13 Virginia Tech 21-16. The last time Virginia Tech lost to a I-AA team was 1985, when Richmond beat the Hokies 24-14 at Lane Stadium.

2010 — The Penn State women’s volleyball team has its record winning streak ends at 109 matches with a 28-26, 25-12, 25-18 loss to Stanford in a tournament at Florida. Penn State’s streak is the second-longest in Division I team sports, behind the 137 straight wins by the Miami men’s tennis program from 1957-1964.

2011 — Carolina’s Cam Newton becomes the first rookie to throw for more than 400 yards in his NFL opener in a 28-21 loss to Arizona. Newton, the No. 1 draft pick playing on the same field where he led Auburn to the BCS championship in January, completes 24 of 37 passes for 422 yards and two touchdowns with one interception.

2015 — Roberta Vinci stuns Serena Williams to end her Grand Slam bid in one of the greatest upsets in tennis history. The 43rd-ranked Italian wins 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 in the U.S. Open semifinals.

Compiled by the Associated Press

This day in baseball history

1912 — Eddie Collins set a major league record with six stolen bases for the Philadelphia Athletics in a 9-7 win over the Detroit Tigers. Collins stole six more in a game on Sept. 22.

1918 — The Boston Red Sox beat the Chicago Cubs 2-1 behind the three-hit pitching of Carl Mays to win the World Series in six games. This was Boston’s third championship in a four-year stretch — 1915, 1916 and this season.

1936 — Hod Lisenbee of the Philadelphia A’s tied a major league record for hits allowed, giving up 26 in a 17-2 rout by the Chicago White Sox.

1949 — The New York Yankees sent 18 men to the plate in the third inning of the first game of a doubleheader against Washington. In the 50-minute half-inning the Senators walked a major-league record 11 batters as the Yankees went on to a 20-5 win. New York won the second game 2-1 in one hour and 22 minutes.

1959 — The Dodgers beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 5-4, putting an end to reliever Roy Face’s 22-game winning streak. It was his only loss of the season as he finished with an 18-1 record.

1974 — It took the St. Louis Cardinals 25 innings — seven hours, four minutes — to beat the New York Mets. There were a record 202 plate appearances. Felix Millan and John Milner had 12 appearances apiece.

1985 — Pete Rose of the Cincinnati Reds became the all-time hit leader with his 4,192nd hit to break Ty Cobb’s record. Rose lined a 2-1 pitch off San Diego pitcher Eric Show to left-center field for a single in the first inning. It was the 57th anniversary of Ty Cobb’s last game in the majors.

1987 — New York Mets third baseman Howard Johnson, with 34 homers, became the first National League infielder to reach 30 home runs and 30 stolen bases in the same season. His 30th stolen base came in the fourth inning of a 6-4, 10-inning loss to the St. Louis Cardinals.

1996 — San Diego’s Ken Caminiti broke his own major league record by homering from both sides of the plate in a game for the fourth time this season. In a 6-5 win over Pittsburgh, Caminiti homered left-handed in the fifth inning, hitting a two-run shot. Batting right-handed in the seventh, he hit a solo shot to break his record set last year.

2008 — Albert Pujols drove in his 100th run with a sixth-inning double in the Cardinals’ 3-2 loss to the Cubs, becoming only the third player in major league history to reach the milestone in his first eight seasons. Pujols also extended his major league-record streak of reaching 30 homers and 100 RBIs in his first eight seasons, two more than any player in history.

2014 — Miami Marlins slugger Giancarlo Stanton sustained multiple facial fractures, dental damage and cuts that needed stitches after being hit in the face by a pitch. Stanton was hit under the left eye by a fastball from Milwaukee’s Mike Fiers in the fifth inning of a 4-2 loss.

2021 — Corbin Burnes and Josh Hader of the Milwaukee Brewers throw a combined no-hitter to beat the Cleveland Indians 3-0. It was the record ninth no-hitter of the season.

Compiled by the Associated Press

Until next time…

That concludes today’s newsletter. If you have any feedback, ideas for improvement or things you’d like to see, email me at houston.mitchell@latimes.com. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.

Premier League winger Sorba Thomas has been involved in a car crash close to Hull City’s training ground, the club has confirmed.

The 27-year-old walked away from the crash, which happened on Millhouse Woods Lane in Cottingham on Friday morning. His vehicle, a grey Land Rover Defender, was pictured on its roof, with broken windows.

Humberside Police said emergency services remain at the scene, as investigations take place and asked people to avoid the area.

In a statement, the club said it was “relieved” to hear its player, who joined the Tigers from Championship side Stoke earlier this month, was unharmed.

The club added: “The club is aware of images of Sorba’s car circulating on social media and can reassure supporters that he has sustained no injuries and emerged from his vehicle completely unscathed.”

A massive explosion tore through the strategic Ali Al-Taher ridge overlooking Nabatiyeh on Thursday night after the Israeli military detonated what it said was a Hezbollah underground complex extending for more than 2 kilometers beneath the heights.

Lebanon’s National News Agency said the blast was felt across Nabatiyeh and surrounding areas. Israel said it had destroyed command centers, weapons stores, living quarters, rockets, missiles, drones and other military infrastructure and had achieved “operational control” of the ridge both above and below ground.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz said the operation completed the consolidation of Israel’s self-declared security zone inside southern Lebanon.

For residents of Nabatiyeh below, the destruction gave dramatic new urgency to a political argument that has been building for weeks: Who can actually protect the south?

When Lebanese Army vehicles appeared in greater numbers on the streets of Nabatiyeh, residents welcomed the soldiers with flowers and handfuls of rice.

The army had not been absent from the southern Lebanese city, as a security source later stressed. But the enhanced deployment — and its unusual public reception — carried unmistakable political weight.

For decades, Nabatiyeh has been synonymous with the influence of Hezbollah and the Amal Movement. Yet the soldiers arrived a day after more than 400 people signed an appeal demanding that the Lebanese state assume responsibility for the city’s security, deploy the army in and around it, and restore decisions of war and peace exclusively to legitimate institutions.

Known as “Nabatiyeh 2,” as the second of such petitions, the appeal may not prove that Hezbollah’s southern heartland is turning decisively against the organization. Its significance lies somewhere subtler; it suggests that some southerners — long-cast as steadfast Hezbollah loyalists — are beginning to question not their hostility toward Israel, but whom they trust to protect them from it.

Bahjat Mirza, a signatory whose family has been rooted in Nabatiyeh for generations, rejected accusations the initiative was politically motivated.

“These appeals are coming from people of the land — people who are not politically inclined in any particular direction,” he told Arab News.

“This appeal is not politically motivated. It is simply a civil appeal by Lebanese citizens to their government to deploy the army and official security forces on the ground. In my opinion, they should have been there since 1948, since 1969, since 1975.”

Dr. Ali Hassan Wehbe, another supporter of the appeal, is a Lebanese dentist, political and social analyst and former parliamentary candidate who ran in the 2022 elections. His dental clinic in Nabatiyeh has been destroyed three times during successive conflicts — in the 2006 war, again in 2024 and most recently in 2026.

He said the campaign was fundamentally about preventing Nabatiyeh from suffering still greater destruction.

“The appeal is, first and foremost, about removing Israel’s pretext and saving Nabatiyeh,” Wehbe told Arab News, stressing that “Israel bears the primary responsibility for this destruction and this barbarity.”

But he rejected suggestions that calling for state security forces amounted to betrayal.

“Has bringing the Lebanese Army and the Lebanese state into Nabatiyeh suddenly become forbidden? Has this become an act of treason against the country?” he said.

“Which is preferable — for the Lebanese Army to enter, or, God forbid, for the Israeli army to enter? Of course, the Lebanese Army should enter. They are our sons.”

The appeal explicitly holds Israel responsible for occupation, killing and destruction. But it also demands accountability from those who controlled security decisions and promised that their weapons could protect southern Lebanon.

Without repeatedly naming Hezbollah, the target of that criticism is clear.

Its most politically charged declaration is that Nabatiyeh must not become “a barricade for any axis” — a challenge to the city’s place in a regional confrontation closely linked to Iran. The appeal also rejects what it describes as the “duality of decision-making” inside Lebanon.

This is not merely a request for more soldiers or better policing. It explicitly demands for the state to become the sole authority responsible for security, and for no armed party outside its institutions to determine when Lebanon goes to war.

“Hezbollah’s position on this is irrelevant,” Mirza said. “Anybody’s position is irrelevant — even if the president of the country disagreed with us. We are asking the Lebanese state to protect its citizens.”

Wehbe put it more starkly.

“We are not a bargaining chip and we are not a negotiating card,” he said. “Nabatiyeh is the artery of the south. It is the heart of Jabal Amel.”

For him, the conclusion is straightforward: “We have no alternative to the state.”

The struggle over Ali Al-Taher

The immediate trigger for the second appeal was the clear and devastating fate of Ali Al-Taher, the strategic heights described as the “gateway to Nabatiyeh.”

The petition argues that an opportunity existed to place the area under Lebanese Army control before Israel claimed operational control of it. For critics, the episode has produced a simple argument: Territory that was not handed to the Lebanese state ultimately fell under Israeli control.

That argument acquired added force on Thursday when Israel detonated the underground complex beneath the ridge, after weeks of bombardment and ground operations. The blast was powerful enough to register as a magnitude-4.1 seismic event about 13 kilometers west-southwest of Nabatiyeh.

The Israeli military said the network contained a central command complex belonging to Hezbollah’s Badr unit as well as weapons storage rooms and facilities that allowed fighters to remain underground for prolonged periods. Israel said its troops would remain in the area to prevent Hezbollah from rebuilding its presence there.

Political writer Sateh Noureddine, who comes from the southern town of Arabsalim, said the loss of the heights was not as recent as Israel’s announcement suggested.

“The Ali Al-Taher hills fell some time ago,” he told Arab News. “The information indicated that Hezbollah’s members had evacuated them weeks ago, not now.”

Noureddine said he did not believe a deal had been responsible for the area falling into Israeli hands. He did, however, question the timing of Israel’s announcement.

“What I find strange, and what raises more than one question, is why Israel announced the fall of Ali Al-Taher now,” he said.

“I believe this indicates that Israel will undertake a military operation more significant than Ali Al-Taher, through which Benjamin Netanyahu will seek to make electoral gains in the Oct. 27 election.”

The second appeal is markedly more urgent than the first. Mirza said it was issued after continued Israeli bombardment of Nabatiyeh and its surrounding villages created a growing fear that the city itself was gradually disappearing.

“It became very clear, with Israel’s dominance and the continued bombing of cultural and historical sites in Nabatiyeh and the surrounding villages, that we felt the city was gradually being destroyed,” he said.

For Wehbe, that fear is intensely personal.

“Since I was 10 years old, I have lived through displacement and wars,” he said. “We do not want to keep mourning our children. We do not want to keep living on memories. We want to live in the present and build the future.”

Residents are no longer debating only a theoretical future danger. They have watched destruction reach the approaches to the city and are contemplating what another escalation could mean for their homes, families and livelihoods.

For years, Hezbollah and Iran were associated among their supporters with power, protection and deterrence. Residents are now confronting destroyed villages, lost territory and the possibility of still greater devastation.

That does not necessarily amount to a complete political realignment. But it has shaken some of the assumptions on which Hezbollah’s relationship with its popular base was built.

The political debate was once largely about who represented the south. For some residents, the more urgent question is now whether there will be a south left to represent.

‘Nothing but words and threats’

Ali Al-Amin, editor-in-chief of Janoubia, a news website opposed to Hezbollah, said the party was becoming increasingly defiant as the pressure surrounding it intensified.

“Hezbollah has no options other than to continue attacking the authorities in general, while the circle of protest against the party is expanding in the south amid fears of further Israeli incursions and of the entire south falling under occupation,” he told Arab News.

“Even Hezbollah’s supporters have begun to voice their unease over what the wars in support of Gaza and Iran have produced. Voices are rising even from within Hezbollah’s own constituency because the equation on the ground has become exposed.

“All the evidence has shown that the party says one thing and does another. It has become clear that it possesses nothing but words and threats.”

Al-Amin said Hezbollah’s failure to confront Israeli forces at Ali Al-Taher was particularly damaging because of the importance the organization had previously attached to the area.

“Hezbollah did not resist the Israelis when they advanced toward Ali Al-Taher, even though it had described it as the ‘mother of all battles,’” he said.

He warned that Hezbollah’s response to its growing isolation could eventually transform the purpose of its weapons.

“The danger today is that Hezbollah’s defiance could change the function of its weapons, turning them from weapons intended to resist Israel into weapons used to confront the Lebanese state,” Al-Amin said.

“Hezbollah is trying to find pretexts for not handing over its weapons. But if we observe the trajectory, we find that the party’s argument is weakening and being depleted over time. This is what Israel has done through the escalation of its military operations.

“Today, the testing ground has shifted north of the Litani River, rather than remaining south of it.”

Wehbe, however, framed his challenge to Hezbollah differently. He stressed that many of those behind the appeal had themselves supported or participated in the resistance — Hezbollah’s preferred euphemism — in previous decades.

“My message to Hezbollah’s leadership is this: Deal with this opposition rationally and calmly, because this opposition was itself a stronghold of the resistance,” he said.

He also urged Hezbollah to rein in supporters who had accused the signatories of treason or incited against them.

“Are we no longer allowed to express our pain?” he asked. “Are we no longer allowed to say: Enough displacement?”

Dissent is not new — but its focus may be

Public opposition to Hezbollah and Amal inside Nabatiyeh is not unprecedented.

During Lebanon’s 2019 uprising, protesters in the predominantly Shiite city openly challenged both movements. Those demonstrations broke longstanding taboos and exposed anger over corruption, patronage, economic mismanagement and Lebanon’s sectarian political system.

Some of the people supporting the latest appeal may belong to that established opposition constituency. More than 400 signatures, while notable, cannot be treated as representative of hundreds of thousands of people across southern Lebanon. Nabatiyeh has not suddenly ceased to be a major center of Hezbollah and Amal support.

What may be changing is the nature of the criticism.

In 2019, much of the anger focused on governance and economic failure. “Nabatiyeh 2” strikes much closer to Hezbollah’s foundational claim to legitimacy: that its independent arsenal is necessary because it can defend the south more effectively than the Lebanese state.

The appeal asks whether that claim still holds after the scale of destruction inflicted on southern communities and the loss of territory Hezbollah’s weapons were supposed to protect.

Noureddine argued that the growth of public opposition was evidence that the party’s political structure was beginning to disintegrate.

“Hezbollah is on its way to disappearing — its leadership and political bureau alike,” he said. “It is living through its final phase. The party’s political body has begun to disintegrate, and nothing will remain except scattered cells that carry on its path and may disappear underground.”

“The number of people signing the Nabatiyeh appeal is doubling every day,” he added. “This is an indication of growing opposition to a party that is fading away.”

His assessment is among the most categorical offered by Hezbollah’s critics and remains fiercely disputed by its supporters. There is no evidence that the organization has lost its dominant position within its traditional constituency.

Nevertheless, the willingness to make such arguments openly is itself significant in a region where public criticism of Hezbollah’s security role has historically carried a high political and social cost.

Joelle Abboud, a member of the Lebanese Kataeb Party’s political bureau, said the demand for state sovereignty over southern villages had never belonged to one community or political faction.

“The voices that have recently risen to demand state sovereignty through the army in southern villages reflect what has always been a national demand across all sects,” she told Arab News.

“The emergence of Shiite voices making that demand today is evidence that Hezbollah’s weapons did not deter Israel, and that the war continued to an Iranian rhythm, with Lebanese youth used as fuel for an Iranian project.”

Abboud said the reception given to the army in Nabatiyeh showed that southerners wanted the state to assume the role long claimed by Hezbollah.

“The welcome received by the Lebanese Army in Nabatiyeh is evidence that southerners are eager to see the state become the alternative to militia weapons,” she said.

“Diplomacy is a difficult path, but it is effective in achieving stability. What is required today is the implementation of the Lebanese government’s decisions to confine weapons to the state.”

For now, “Nabatiyeh 2” — with signatories including doctors, engineers, lawyers, bankers, journalists, academics, writers, activists and MP Firas Hamdan — is not proof that southern Lebanon has turned against Hezbollah. It is evidence that a question once difficult to voice publicly is becoming harder to suppress.

After decades in which Hezbollah presented itself as the indispensable defender of the south, some people within its traditional environment are looking toward the Lebanese Army and asking whether only the state can protect them.

Whether this is simply the cry of a frightened city facing another battle, or the beginning of a deeper transformation in Hezbollah’s relationship with the society from which it draws much of its power, remains unanswered.

But after the explosion beneath Ali Al-Taher shook Nabatiyeh on Thursday night, that question is no longer abstract.

It is being asked aloud.

WEDNESDAY’S RESULTS

City Section

Belmont 66, Annenberg 3

Port of Los Angeles d. Los Angeles Jordan, forfeit

Stern 26, Smidt Tech 0

Southern Section

Aliso Niguel 26, Villa Park 6

Anaheim Canyon 9, Esperanza 6

Aquinas 26, Ontario Christian 21

Bellflower 26, Mayfair 0

Bonita 13, San Dimas 6

Burbank Burroughs 31, South Pasadena 6

Cajon 56, Alhambra 0

California Military Institute 28, Workman 0

Compton Early College 7, Dominguez 6

Desert Hot Springs 20, San Jacinto Valley Academy 0

El Modena 27, El Dorado 6

Elsinore 12, Palm Springs 0

Hacienda Heights Wilson 24, La Puente 0

JSerra 41, Santa Margarita 7

La Canada 24, Temple City 7

La Habra 18, Garden Grove Pacifica 6

Linfield Christian 28, Corona 21

Los Altos 42, St. Lucy’s 14

Millikan 26, Long Beach Wilson 7

Mountain View 25, Bassett 0

Newport Harbor 39, Fountain Valley 0

Palm Desert 24, Valley View 6

Paloma Valley 27, Liberty 0

Pomona 13, Keppel 0

Ramona Convent 36, El Monte Arroyo 6

Rancho Verde 41, Heritage 0

Rosary 12, Irvine 6

Sage Hill 25, Irvine University 18

South Hills 20, West Covina 8

St. Margaret’s 40, Newport Beach Pacifica Christian 12

Tesoro 56, San Juan Hills 27

Vista Murrieta 22, Temescal Canyon 6

Westlake 61, Calabasas 0

Yucaipa 25, Arrowhead Christian 14

Intersectional

Granada Hills Kennedy 19, Vasquez 7

Harvard-Westlake 23, Birmingham 0

Venice 25, St. Monica 0

THURSDAY’S RESULTS

City Section

Cleveland 20, Los Angeles Roosevelt 0

Contreras 6, San Fernando Arroyo 0

Jefferson 43, Santee 0

King/Drew 20, GALA 7

San Fernando Arroyo 19, Contreras 13

Southern Section

Agoura 28, Newbury Park 13

Antelope Valley 6, Lancaster 0

Canyon Country Canyon 37, Golden valley 16

Castaic 13, Saugus 0

Cerritos 20, Artesia 0

Channel Islands 24, Buena 12

Dos Pueblos 27, Ventura 6

Eastside 18, Knight 6

El Toro 19, Northwood 0

Hart 12, West Ranch 6

Highland 26, Palmdale 0

Hueneme 38, Fillmore 12

Lawndale 6, Compton Centennial 0

Lakewood St. Joseph 27, Gardena Serra 0

Mater Dei 26, Sierra Canyon 20

Miller 45, Fontana 0

Newport Beach Pacifica Christian 14, Ontario Christian 0

North Torrance 31, West Torrance 7

Oaks Christian 32, Thousand Oaks 12

Oxnard 13, San Marcos 12

Oxnard Pacifica 6, Santa Barbara 2

Palos Verdes 19, Mira Costa 7

Quartz Hill 2, Littlerock 0

Redondo Union 28, Torrance 0

Rio Mesa 41, Del Sol 6

San Clemente 50, Capistrano Valley 0

Santa Monica 56, Beverly Hills 0

South Torrance 19, El Segundo 13

Warren 38, La Serna 12

Woodbridge 51, Laguna Beach 8

Intersectional

Oceanside 31, Dana Hills 19

Ismail Kartal resigned as head coach of Fenerbahce just minutes after the Turkish side’s 1-1 draw with Roma in the Champions League.

Kartal made the surprise announcement in his post-match news conference, stating he plans to never return to the club he previously served as a player and assistant coach.

He came back to Fenerbahce for a fourth spell as manager in June 2026, with the club returning to the Champions League for the first time in 18 years.

Now he departs with the team sitting ninth in the Turkish Super Lig after two wins and two defeats, and after only one Champions League match.

“I have been here three months. From the beginning of the season until today, the training sessions and camps we held with the players, and the efforts of our president, have been very helpful. Those were wonderful days,” Kartal said.

“As of this evening, I congratulate my players and resign from my position.

“I made this decision to pave the way for my club. We made this decision together as a team.

“From now on, to help Fenerbahce, my players and future coaches, I have resigned from my position, with the intention of never returning.”

Club president Aziz Yildirim has not accepted 65-year-old Kartal’s resignation.

Yildirim said in a statement released on Fenerbahce’s website, external: “Ismail Kartal is still in charge. The club should support our coach. Until I leave, Ismail Kartal is the head coach of Fenerbahce.”

Qiddiya City has announced the signing of memoranda of understanding (MoUs) with five major travel and tourism service providers: Al Faris International Travel and Tourism, Travel Destinations Solutions, Al Matar Commercial Services Company, AlMosafer Travel and Tourism Company, and Fursan Travel and Tourism Company.

The agreements form part of a strategic direction aimed at expanding Qiddiya City’s network of partnerships in the travel and tourism sector, strengthening its readiness to welcome visitors, and developing more integrated pathways for accessing its diverse destinations and experiences from within the Kingdom and abroad, SPA reported.

The MoUs aim to establish shared frameworks for cooperation with a select group of travel and tourism service providers, contributing to the development of more integrated and flexible solutions for the visitor journey; from planning and booking, through travel and arrival arrangements, to enjoying Qiddiya City’s experiences more smoothly and efficiently.

Through these partnerships, Qiddiya City will leverage the specialized expertise, booking infrastructure, and commercial networks of these travel companies. The joint focus will be on delivering integrated and flexible solutions across every stage of the visitor journey, from initial planning and booking to travel arrangements and arrival.

These MoUs reinforce Qiddiya City’s ongoing commitment to build quality partnerships with key players in the tourism and travel ecosystem, and form part of its future plans to develop integrated tourism solutions that enhance the readiness of its destinations to welcome visitors from within the Kingdom and abroad.

These partnerships also contribute to expanding the scope of cooperation with sector partners and providing more flexible and efficient options for the visitor journey, supporting the company’s objectives in establishing Qiddiya as a global destination that brings together entertainment, sport, and culture, offering inspiring experiences built on the concept of “Power of Play.”

This article was first published on Asharq Al-Awsat.

MELBOURNE — The Rams arrived here as the star-studded favorite to win Super Bowl LXI at SoFi Stadium.

They left star-crossed, stunned and searching for answers on their long flight back to Los Angeles.

The Rams sleep-walked through much of the season opener against the rival San Francisco 49ers, who sent them to a 27-7 defeat before a sold-out crowd of 100,021 on Friday at Melbourne Cricket Ground, in the first NFL game in Australia.

Coach Sean McVay’s strategy of arriving the day before the game backfired and resulted in a dull performance by a team that features some of the biggest stars in the NFL.

Quarterback Matthew Stafford, the reigning NFL most valuable player, completed only 15 of 25 passes for 155 yards with an interception. With the game out of reach, McVay pulled Stafford late in the fourth quarter and had backup Stetson Bennett lead the Rams’ final possession.

All-Pro receiver Puka Nacua, the NFL leader in catches last season, caught five passes for 74 yards and never broke loose. Davante Adams, who led the NFL in touchdown catches last season, caught only three passes as Raheem Morris, the Rams’ former defensive coordinator, outschemed McVay and his staff.

The additions of All-Pro cornerback Trent McDuffie, record-setting edge rusher Myles Garrett and cornerback Jaylen Watson were supposed to supercharge the Rams’ defense.

Rams defensive end Myles Garrett sits on the bench late in the fourth quarter during a 27-7 loss to the 49ers on Friday.

(Doug Benc / Associated Press)

But 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy passed for three touchdowns, and the Rams recorded no sacks.

It made the decision by 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan to have his team spend a week in Melbourne to acclimate the correct one.

Shanahan, McVay’s friend/mentor/nemesis, had bristled at the fact that the 49ers were chosen as the Rams’ opponent because it took away the ability of 49ers fans to descend onto SoFi Stadium.

Shanahan also wasn’t happy that the Rams’ next game is Sept. 21 on “Monday Night Football,” while the 49ers are playing on Sept. 20. Add in the fact that the 49ers also must play in Mexico in November, and there was plenty of motivation beyond the game itself.

The Rams trailed, 10-7, at halftime after managing a five-yard touchdown run by Kyren Williams and not much else.

Rams wide receiver Davante Adams attempts to catch a pass in the fourth quarter against the 49ers.

(Robert Cianflone / Getty Images)

The 49ers wasted no time extending their advantage, taking the opening possession of the second half and moving down the field on Christian McCaffrey runs and a Purdy pass to Demarcus Robinson, whose 39-yard touchdown in the second quarter had given them the lead. Purdy capped the drive by lofting a two-yard touchdown pass to Mike Evans for a 17-7 edge.

And the Rams’ offense finally woke up.

Stafford connected with tight end Davis Allen, Nacua and Adams and tight end Colby Parkinson as the Rams moved to the 49ers’ two-yard line. However, after a one-yard catch by Nacua, the 49ers stuffed Stafford’s sneak attempt.

The 49ers capitalized, marching 99 yards in 11 plays, with Purdy capping the drive on a 15-yard touchdown pass to Deebo Samuel for a 24-7 lead.

The Rams could not mount a comeback.

Tight end Tyler Higbee fumbled after catching a pass with 11:08 left, and the 49ers added a field goal to extend the lead to 20 points.

UCLA senior wide receiver Mikey Matthews expects the Bruins’ aerial attack to be as electrifying and dominant as their ground game was in a season-opening win over California.

The passing offense lived up to Matthews’ expectations against Cal — but only for a half.

After quarterback Nico Iamaleava completed 12 of 18 passes for 179 yards in the first half, he completed just two more passes for five yards — the Bruins’ only yardage in the third quarter.

The rushing attack carried the Bruins to victory, breaking open a tied game with three fourth-quarter touchdown runs.

UCLA receiver Mikey Matthews (7) celebrates after quarterback Nico Iamaleava (9) ran for a touchdown against Cal at California Memorial Stadium on Saturday.

(Godofredo A. Vasquez/For The Times)

While UCLA called a run-heavy script in the second half, throwing it just four times compared to 18 rushing attempts, the passing game clearly stalled.

Offensive coordinator Dean Kennedy said the offense had to improve after last weekend’s 45-24 victory, noting that two penalties in the third quarter — including on third and one — derailed drives and that the self-inflicted wounds were a teaching moment.

“You have to make sure that every drive, you’re treating it independently. There was a lull in the third quarter, but when you look at it, I was happy with how they responded,” Kennedy said as the team prepared for Saturday’s home opener against San Diego State. “Obviously, you’re not happy with the production of the third quarter, but you’re happy with how they responded in the fourth. There was always belief on the sideline. We had three really bad drives and that’s just as much on me as it is on anyone else.”

Iamaleava played a vital role in keeping the offense on track. And despite largely not contributing through the air in the second half, he looked more comfortable and confident than he ever had in his college career. Matthews called that poise Iamaleava’s greatest improvement since the duo arrived in Westwood last year.

Kennedy said the senior signal-caller was walking up and down the sideline, talking to teammates and stressing a “next drive” mentality.

And Iamaleava’s short-term memory focus echoed his coordinator’s in-game philosophy.

“We will make corrections on bad plays on Sunday, there will be things where we have to make in-game adjustments, but when you are talking about a missed assignment, there’s nothing you can do about it,” Kennedy said. “The only thing you can do about that is worry about ‘how do I get better, how do I learn from my mistake,’ and you have to do it in the moment. You are in a 60,000-seat stadium and it’s not the easiest thing to do, but having other people understand, ‘Let’s move on,’ that’s where he did a really good job.”

Leading up to the opener, Kennedy said he was “beyond confident” in Iamaleava as a leader, player and face of the program, and added that Iamaleava’s willingness to run hard and take hits instills conviction in the team and makes him an easy person to rally around.

“He’s had the opportunity to play young in his career. He’s been in the spotlight for so long,” UCLA assistant quarterbacks coach Jon Boyer said. “He’s dealt with victories. He’s dealt with adversity, and now he does feel valued, and I don’t want him to feel like he’s in it all alone ever.

“He’ll be tested this year where moments of doubt come in, and that’s our job to provide that vision of hope and come up with a plan to get him out of whatever he’s facing.”

Matthews, who led the receivers with four catches for 88 yards, is confident his quarterback will put the ball in the hands of many UCLA receivers he can trust.

“We’re deep in the receiver room. Landon Ellis, Semaj Morgan, Brian Rowe, Aidan Mizell, Shane Rosenthal. I can literally just go down,” Matthews said. “I feel like everyone is bound to have a breakout season, breakout game, whatever it is. Everyone’s going to eat in that room. That’s just how much we trust everyone throwing the ball down the field and everything like that.”