California Republican gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton dove deep into his housing platform and lobbed a few attacks at his Democratic opponent, Xavier Becerra, during a town hall with Los Angeles news outlets Tuesday.

Hilton also pointed to some disagreements with President Trump, providing daylight between himself and a president who remains deeply unpopular in California, during the event hosted and livestreamed by the Los Angeles Times and LAist.

Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom’s final term ends in early January, providing California voters the opportunity to select a new governor at a time of conflict between the state and the Trump administration over environmental policies, immigration, healthcare and other pressing issues.

Ballots already have started to arrive in California voters’ mailboxes ahead of the Nov. 3 election.

Here are the top takeaways from the discussion with Hilton:

Walking the tightrope on Trump

Republicans running for statewide office already have an uphill battle because of California’s heavily Democratic electorate. It’s an acute challenge this year, campaign experts say, because many Democratic voters are itching to help their party regain control of Congress and neutralize Trump’s agenda.

Trump endorsed Hilton in April, which helped the former Fox News host pull ahead of his GOP rival, Riverside Sheriff Chad Bianco, and secure the second-place spot in the primary election, behind Becerra.

On the campaign trail, Hilton has remained supportive of Trump and said Democratic policies, not the war in Iran, are to blame for high prices.

Pressed to name an instance where he disagrees with the president, Hilton named federal funding cuts for the University of California, threats to withdraw Customs and Border Protection agents from airports in states with sanctuary policies, and the federal government buying stakes in California-based companies.

The Republican said those differences are rooted in his strong support for states’ rights.

“The broader point I want to make, and you can track this back to the commentary and what I’ve written over the years, is I’m a strong believer in decentralizing power,” he said. “I think there’s far too much involvement of the federal government in our affairs in California, and I’m going to be a very strong advocate for bringing those powers back in all sorts of ways.”

Gas prices, taxes and housing permits

Hilton described California’s cost of living as “a nightmare” and a major contributor to residents and businesses moving out of the state.

He laid out an affordability plan, which he refers to as “Califordable,” that he would prioritize if elected governor. His plan includes:

• Ending income taxes for Californians who earn $150,000 or less.
• Slashing oil industry regulations and clean energy mandates for utility companies to achieve $3 gas and lower electric bills.
• Ushering in a new construction boom of single-family homes, including by developing 10 new cities around the state, and capping government fees on newly constructed houses.

He blames the state’s affordability woes on Democrats, who have controlled the state legislative seats and held every elected statewide office since 2009.

“It’s not just that it’s time for some change in California, it’s time for balance. It’s time to try something different after 16 years of doing it the same way,” he said.

Republican gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton said he does have some policy differences with President Trump during a town hall at the Los Angeles Times Building on Tuesday in El Segundo.

(Ronaldo Bolanos/Los Angeles Times)

Hilton said he would stop enforcing laws requiring communities to meet housing production goals and instead focus on building in undeveloped areas of the state that want new homes.

“We’ve got this attitude that the only place you can build is inside what’s currently developed, and that’s motivated by a desire to stop traffic and sprawl and all these things. But the consequence of that is that you end up finding [it] almost impossible to build anything” because of permitting battles and lawsuits, he said. “My plan is to open that up so that we build outwards, not just upwards, increasing the amount of space we use for housing.”

How he would pay for it all

Hilton said that Newsom and Democratic lawmakers have gotten accustomed to spending big and that he wants to return California’s state budget to its pre-pandemic size.

Earlier this year Newsom signed a budget just shy of $352 billion. His first budget as governor, in 2019, clocked in at nearly $215 billion.

The growth occurred during a time “when around 2 million people on net have moved out of the state,” Hilton said. “So we’re spending twice as much for a big reduction in population and worse results.”

He said he could offset the tax cuts by ending funding for high-speed rail, trimming state agencies by 5% and cracking down on Medicaid fraud. Together, he estimates those cuts would save about $25 billion annually. He has also promised to end state-funded healthcare for undocumented immigrants and to hollow out agencies that regulate the state’s air quality and coastlines.

Another round of attacks on Becerra

While he largely stayed focused on policy, Hilton criticized Becerra’s record as U.S. Health and Human Services secretary and dinged him for skipping the town hall.

“Looking forward to perhaps one day having another chance to sit down with my competitor in this race, Xavier Becerra. We’ve had one debate. He promised that there would be debates, plural. Not to be today. But hopefully we can have that conversation because Californians deserve a conversation about the future of our state,” he said during his opening remarks.

On Monday, Hilton attacked Becerra for having “pulled out” of the debate, though the Democratic candidate never agreed to attend a debate proposed by The Times and LAist. Becerra’s spokesperson said the campaign declined the invitation because of a full campaign schedule.

In the weeks following the June primary election, Becerra made himself scarce on the campaign trail and attended few public events. In August, he told reporters there would be multiple debates. He and Hilton faced off last week in an hourlong debate on CNN but no other debates have been announced.

Offshore wind projects “grotesque,” Hilton says

At a time when the Trump administration has systematically dismantled climate and environmental policies, Hilton took care to cast himself as an environmentalist who is concerned about climate change.

He criticized many of the policies favored by Democrats, however, as a “very one-dimensional way of thinking” and offered a more business-friendly approach to addressing climate change:

• Planting 3 billion trees and restoring wetlands.
• Expanding the use of climate-friendly geothermal energy near places such as the Salton Sea and Sonoma and Modoc counties.
• Expanding oil production in California, which he said reduces the need to import foreign oil on tanker ships that spew carbon emissions.

“So that’s a way of reducing carbon emissions that doesn’t burden working people and small businesses with the highest energy costs in the country. We’ve got to get the balance right,” Hilton said.

Hilton aligns with Trump’s vehement opposition to offshore wind projects, a potential source of abundant renewable energy. This year, the Trump administration announced deals to pay wind project developers billions to abandon U.S. wind leases off the coasts of California, North Carolina, New York and New Jersey.

“I think offshore wind is an absolute abomination. I mean, you look at beautiful Morro Bay or Humboldt up in the northern part of our state,” Hilton said. “The industrialization of our coastline that offshore wind would create, I think, is just grotesque, and I’m dead against it.”

Working across the aisle

When asked how he would work with a Democratic majority in the state Legislature, Hilton said he has experience doing it — as an advisor to former United Kingdom Prime Minister David Cameron, he shared an office with a member of the opposite party.

“We worked together very well. Didn’t agree on everything,” he said. “That would be my attitude. I’m very open. I’m not tribal. I’m not particularly partisan. I’m a pragmatic, problem-solving kind of person, and I’m looking forward to working with the Legislature.”

He said he would press the Legislature to cut spending and “the endless number of bills that they pass every year. … But I want to work together to reduce costs for Californians.”

Hilton also found alignment with Democrats who ran in the gubernatorial primary, including former Orange County Rep. Katie Porter, San José Mayor Matt Mahan and former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.

“Katie Porter in the primary … actually endorsed my tax plan. Matt Mahan and I agree on a lot of things to help” cut costs and speed up housing constriction, he said. “Antonio Villaraigosa, we agreed on a lot of things to do with energy policy. So I think there are Democrats who we’ll be able to work with to get consensus on some of the things that we need to get done.”

SAN FRANCISCO — This was never going to be a game for the Lakers to remember. But with nearly half of the roster sidelined because of injuries or resting, Adou Thiero at least tried to inject some life into a sleepy preseason back-to-back.

Thiero’s towering one-handed dunk over two Golden State defenders provided a highlight in the Lakers’ otherwise forgettable 124-98 preseason loss to the Warriors at Chase Center on Tuesday. The Lakers leaned on their depth to get through their second short-handed preseason game in as many nights.

Guard Quentin Grimes, the only player who started in the second consecutive game for the Lakers, had 12 points and three assists. Forward Sandro Mamukelashvili started at center and had 15 points and a trio of three-pointers. Thiero, getting a rare starting moment, scored seven points and grabbed four rebounds while Bronny James had four points and five assists in a starting role.

Star guard Luka Doncic sat out after scoring 21 points in one half Monday against the Sacramento Kings. After setting the tone defensively against the Kings, forwards Ziaire Williams and Matisse Thybulle watched from the sideline Tuesday. The Lakers were also without center Walker Kessler (finger), guards Austin Reaves (ankle) and Collin Sexton (lower body) and two-way forward Arthur Kaluma (lower body), who all missed their second consecutive preseason game.

Thiero has been prepared for this type of opportunity. The second-year forward is trying to take advantage of his first true NBA preseason after knee injuries marred his rookie season. He played in his first summer league games, showing incremental progress during games in San Francisco and Las Vegas.

Thiero started the summer moving too quickly through games, crashing into the lane and flying recklessly toward the rim. He even missed time from a minor wrist injury suffered during a fall. But as the summer progressed, he settled into the pace of the game. During a Las Vegas Summer League game, Thiero flashed his potential with 20 points, four rebounds, four assists, three steals and two blocks with zero turnovers in 30 minutes.

“I feel like that just came with playing more, and just understanding what I was supposed to do, understanding my role,” Thiero said this week of his progress during the summer. “I feel like my role during summer league is very different compared to my role during the season. I was on-ball more. Even creating the offense in summer league. And I didn’t have much experience with that at the time, but as summer league kept going on, I got more comfortable with it and realizing when to speed up and everything.”

Thiero is fighting for minutes in a deep wing group led by Williams and Thybulle. The Lakers have stocked their team with versatile perimeter defenders to help complement their offensive-minded backcourt of Doncic and Reaves. Thiero, whom Reaves described as “a freak-of-nature” athlete, could add a unique quality to the rotation.

“Our ceiling rises if he’s able to [contribute defensively] and be an impactful offensive player with crashing, with cutting, with touching the paint, playing off two feet,” coach JJ Redick said before Monday’s preseason game. “I’ve seen a lot of growth there from him over the last six, seven weeks. That’s exciting.”

Big Brother newcomer Catrin was at the centre of an explosive argument in the latest episode of the ITV2 show

A Big Brother housemate has been forced to sleep away from her co-stars after tensions reached boiling point.

The ITV2 reality competition returned to screens tonight (October 6) and saw the contestants enduring yet another day in the House of Revelations. The new theme is all about exposing the housemates’ real opinions about one another, which means they were forced to nominate face-to-face.

In the end Pauline received five nominations from Lynx, Philip, Rhianna, Rochelle and Catrin. While Rob received six nominations from Frankie, Lynx, Omar, Philip, Rhianna and Yasmin. The duo will go head-to-head in this Friday’s live eviction.

The nominations naturally left tensions high in the house, but it was newcomer Catrin’s choice to put Pauline up for elimination that caused a huge housemate clash, which led to Big Brother asking Pauline to sleep in the Snug instead of the Bedroom.

It started when Catrin approached Pauline because she “felt bad” about the nomination but Pauline walked away from her. But the conversation returned before bed time when Catrin decided to point out that Pauline has been ignoring her ever since the nomination.

The 23-year-old said: “I’m not invisible”. This only sparked an argument between the pair as Pauline explained that she is upset about being placed for eviction for the third time, not necessarily about Catrin’s vote. It later spiralled out of control when Pauline, Harry and Rob were caught having a private chat in the bathroom.

Referencing her spat with Catrin, Pauline said: “Is this place empty? Is it just us? What the f*** was that? Like don’t start on me, you literally just got here.”

She went on to fume: “I don’t even owe you a hello at this point. ‘Pauline, give me attention. It’s about me.’ It’s not about you, babe, you just got here. Like, you ain’t gonna get your moment girl.

“Go look for it elsewhere, you ain’t gonna find it here. That was so ridiculous. Is it really that deep that you just came… tried to come for me? Like, you look stupid, seriously, like you were looking for a moment.”

But she didn’t realise that Catrin was also in the bathroom listening to the entire conversation. An emotional Catrin then came out of the toilet and said: “Sorry, I just wanna say I’m in the toilet the entire time and I can hear the conversation, so, I can hear everything.”

Pauline replied: “Cause you really tried to make that moment about you and I wouldn’t go for it… it’s not about you. This week is not about you.” Catrin was left in tears as she argued: “Nothing is about me and I’m not trying to say that.”

“Oh my gosh. I can’t. No seriously, I can’t. And now she’s in tears and ‘I’m the bad guy, I’m the villain’. Like what the f***,” Pauline fumed as the new housemate stormed off in tears.

Upset by the conversion she overheard between Pauline and Rob, Catrin joined the other housemates in the bedroom seeking their comfort. Another argument soon erupted as Rochelle decided to defend the teaching assistant, telling Pauline to “pick on someone your own size”.

Big Brother ultimately had no choice but to separate Pauline, Catrin and Rochelle for the night.

Big Brother continues tomorrow night at 9pm on ITV2 and ITVX

The United States stock market has hit an all-time high as excitement around artificial intelligence continues to fuel a buying frenzy on Wall Street.

The S&P 500, the benchmark stock index, closed 0.58 percent higher on Tuesday, topping the previous peak reached in mid-August.

The Nasdaq Composite, which is more heavily weighted towards tech stocks, also hit a record high, finishing up 0.45 percent.

Tech stocks were among the top performers, with each of the “Magnificent Seven” apart from Meta closing higher.

Amazon led the pack with a 1.95 percent gain, followed by Microsoft and Tesla, which rose 0.78 percent and 0.51 percent, respectively.

Apple and Alphabet both rose 0.22 percent, while Nvidia gained 0.14 percent.

Meta, which has risen more than 20 percent since the launch last month of its new AI assistant, Muse, fell 0.41 percent.

Other big movers in tech included Marvell Technology, which rose 5.81 percent, and Cisco, which gained 4.54 percent.

Technology, AI

Keith Lerner, chief investment officer and chief market strategist at Truist Advisory Services in Atlanta, Georgia, said the market rally should be seen as a “technology and AI surge”.

“Every bull market has a dominant theme, and technology and AI remain this market’s dominant theme,” Lerner told Al Jazeera.

“Technology and communication services were the only two S&P 500 sectors to rise last month, while the other nine declined.”

Wall Street has shrugged off a host of challenges facing the US economy amid hyperscalers’ multibillion-dollar investments in AI.

Despite the energy crunch caused by the US-Israeli war on Iran and a sell-off of US government bonds partly driven by ballooning government debt, the market is well on track to record its fourth consecutive year of double-digit returns.

The S&P 500 has risen 14 percent so far in 2026, while the Nasdaq Composite is up 18.78 percent.

Lerner at Truist Advisory said the market rally had the potential to continue through the end of 2026 given historical trends and expectations for strong corporate earnings.

“We do not expect a straight line higher for markets,” Lerner said.

“Still, the fourth quarter of midterm-election years has produced an average gain of 7 percent and has been positive 84 percent of the time since 1950.”

Lerner said that rising interest rates posed the biggest risk to the upward trend.

“Still, on balance, the weight of the evidence suggests this bull market still has more upside potential,” he said.

Asian stock markets fell on Wednesday, with key indexes in Japan, South Korea and Hong Kong slumping in morning trading.

The Nikkei 225 in Tokyo, Kospi in Seoul and Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong were down 0.79 percent, 1.36 percent and 0.71 percent, respectively, as of 02:30 GMT.

Oil prices, which have been elevated since the start of the war on Iran, rose on Wednesday as traders weighed the fallout of fighting between forces aligned with Yemen’s internationally recognised government and the Iran-aligned Houthis.

Brent crude futures for December delivery stood at $101.45 a barrel as of 02:30 GMT, up 0.87 percent.

Two years ago, Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) relaunched Jaguar into a blizzard of controversy. Its bizarre teaser ad was described as “woke” and its “Barbie pink” concept car was ridiculed.

Now, the first of its new models has appeared in public for the first time. The all-electric Type 01, unveiled in New York, represents a radical new direction for the classic brand.

The car itself is an imposing four-door “Grand Tourer”, with a long bonnet that deliberately harks back to Jaguar’s emblematic 1960s E-Type.

But it marks a gamble for JLR, which has invested billions reinventing Jaguar and is facing mixed reactions over the new car’s design and the brand’s all-electric strategy.

The new model’s electric motors are potent, producing about 1000 horsepower and allowing it to accelerate from 0-62mph in 3.2 seconds. JLR says it has a range, at “sustained highway speed”, of up to 320 miles.

The company describes it as the “most technically advanced, powerful and aerodynamic Jaguar ever engineered”.

However, it comes at a hefty price tag, with a minimum cost of £130,000 ($172,426). In the US, the Type 01 has a starting price of $130,500.

Under normal circumstances, the launch of a car like this might generate few headlines. But in this case the attention has been much greater, and for good reason.

The cause of death for Dennis Haskins, an actor best known for playing Principal Richard Belding across the “Saved by the Bell” franchises, has been revealed.

Haskins’ friend and longtime caretaker, Kimberly Snow, confirmed the actor’s Sept. 27 death and told The Times that Haskins had quietly battled Parkinson’s disease and was candid about other health issues. The actor died at Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center in Burbank.

The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health cited Parkinson’s disease as the actor’s immediate cause of death,
according to his death certificate obtained by TMZ. Irritable bowel syndrome, depression, hypertension and benign prostatic hyperplasia were also listed as health conditions Haskins battled.

Snow, a former manager of Burbank’s since-shuttered Dimples Karaoke, shared the news of the actor’s death on Instagram, writing that Haskins was a staple at the joint, so much so that many of the patrons thought he owned it.

“A lot of people thought he owned it, but he didn’t,” the tribute read. “He just loved the place and its people. He enjoyed singing for people, meeting them, and taking selfies with his fans. Dimples closed down about 11 years ago, and people still associate him with his beloved ‘second home.’ He was known to most as Mr. Belding from Saved by the Bell, but to us, he was much more than that.

“About eight years ago, he became ill,” the post continued. “He had been silent about his fight with Parkinson’s, among other health concerns, because he did not want the attention. He did not want to have to tell people. He would say, ‘What do I even say?’ So I respected his wishes and stayed quiet, and I helped him through his journey into the next chapter of his life.

“Late last night, that journey ended for him.”

The actor played Mr. Belding across seven different series, including “Good Morning, Miss Bliss,” “Saved by the Bell,” “Saved by the Bell: The College Years,” “Saved by the Bell: The New Class,” “The Rerun Show,” “Robot Chicken” and “Victorious.”

Citing lingering concerns about the potential misuse of police license plate readers, the Los Angeles City Council voted Tuesday to delay an agreement that would enable the deployment of hundreds of the controversial devices until officials are satisfied that the technology will be wielded responsibly.

By a 10-4 vote, the council opted to overrule approval of the 10-year, $235-million contract between the Los Angeles Police Department and Axon Enterprise, halting a deal that had previously been signed off on by the Board of Police Commissioners.

Axon is seeking to outfit hundreds of LAPD patrol squads with plate scanners, which track the movements of vehicles around the city. Under the agreement, the company would also replace thousands of body-worn cameras, supply new Tasers, provide cloud video storage, and roll out a program that uses artificial intelligence to assist officers in writing police reports.

In addition, Axon is seeking to launch a pilot program that would attach plate scanners to streetlights around Los Angeles, offering the LAPD a souped-up version of its current systems by using AI to identify vehicles, license plates, pedestrians and objects that appear on streets and sidewalks.

The council’s decision — which was preceded by several fiery comments from members of the public who oppose the use of license plate readers — sends the contract back to the Police Commission for reconsideration.

A commission spokesperson said that the board’s members weren’t immediately available for comment.

Several council members voiced unease about proceeding without a better sense of the LAPD’s internal policy on license plate reader use. Delaying the contract, Councilmember Hugo Soto-Martínez said, would give the public and city leaders more time to review the safeguards and policies written into the LAPD’s proposed memorandum of understanding with Axon.

Councilmember Traci Park, a staunch supporter of plate reader technology, said there is an urgent need to get the devices “up and running.”

Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez shot back that it would be irresponsible to deploy the technology, citing news reports about officers misusing plate readers to stalk romantic partners and track women seeking reproductive health services.

Earlier this year, the LAPD allowed its agreement with one of Axon’s chief competitors, Flock Safety, to lapse over concerns that the Trump administration is using the data it collects to locate immigrants targeted for deportation. Police officials say they no longer have access to the company’s cameras, many of which are owned by homeowners associations and other private groups.

LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell and other department leaders have pushed to expand the use of license plate readers, saying they are a valuable tool for solving crimes, enabling investigators to more easily locate stolen vehicles and fugitives.

Hernandez noted that other police technologies, such as a robot dog used in situations involving barricaded suspects, had quietly moved from a pilot to a full-fledged program without input from the council.

Council President Marqueece Harris-Dawson said he still had privacy concerns about license plate readers, while noting that their deployment along the Figueroa corridor had assisted in the rescue of dozens of juvenile sex trafficking victims.

“Now having said that, if I’m honest I don’t know what else the cameras are doing,” he said.

Councilmember Monica Rodriguez said that as the license plate reader technology is adopted by other, non-police agencies such as sanitation and street services, the city needs a universal policy governing its use.

The matter will next be heard by the public safety committee — likely at its Oct. 20 meeting — before being taken up by the full council later that week.

In a presentation to the Police Commission last month, the LAPD’s technology czar, Dean Gialamas, said that the department understood the privacy and civil liberty concerns raised about companies such as Flock. This summer, the department announced it was pausing its relationship with the Atlanta-based firm, but police officials have said they are still hopeful to negotiate a new deal with the company that would include more data-sharing safeguards.

Much like the initial debate over the use of forensic DNA testing, Gialamas said, the answer wasn’t to abandon the technology but to create safeguards to “ensure responsible and trusted use.”

Gialamas told commissioners that Axon had agreed to terms that would give the LAPD complete ownership of the data captured and bar the sharing of data with federal authorities. The proposed deal, he said, would also limit the use of plate readers to criminal investigations, missing persons cases and other “serious public safety matters.” Investigators, for instance, would not be able to conduct searches based solely on protests or other 1st Amendment-protected activities, he said.

Under the proposed contract, investigators would no longer be given “unfettered access” to license plate data and the retention period would be significantly cut down, he said. The department would also be permitted to conduct regular audits to flag officers who use the system frequently or conduct unusual searches.

A report issued last month by the LAPD inspector general’s office found numerous “limitations” in the department’s existing agreements with its three plate reader vendors — Flock, Axon and Motorola — including a lack of clear language about how long data are retained and how they are shared with third parties or other law enforcement agencies.

The inspector general recommended that the department update its current license plate reader contracts to address data security and privacy concerns, conduct regular audits and develop standardized rules for traffic stops based on plate reader hits.

Scared straight.

Faced with a reality check, the Dodgers got real. Confronted with the end, the Dodgers are just getting started.

Stepping warily into Atlanta’s Truist Park with their five-game division series tied at one game apiece and Braves’ ace Chris Sale waiting for them on the mound Tuesday, the Dodgers marched out three hours later on the verge of another champagne shower.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto was brilliant, showing everyone that they were focusing on the wrong ace.

The Dodger bats were reborn, showing everyone that they still know how to hit in October.

And, yes, the Dodgers finally have a closer, Edwin Díaz entering the ninth and allowing a leadoff double to Ozzie Albies before retiring the next three hitters for the biggest save of his brief Dodgers career.

In all, the Dodgers drowned out that horrible tomahawk chop with some mighty hacks of their own, winning 3-1 while finally displaying some of the desperation that had been missing.

“We’ve gotta treat every game like an elimination game and go out there and play with urgency,” said Freddie Freeman about the lesson learned.

Seemingly moments after staring the Dodgers down with a thrilling Game 2 victory, the Braves have essentially been consigned to their rearview mirror.

Historically, the team that wins Game 3 in a best-of-five series wins that series 72% of the time, but the Dodgers don’t need some fancy stats to tell them what they know.

The Braves can’t beat the Dodgers in two straight games, and they can’t do it with one of those games at Dodger Stadium if necessary, and they can’t do it with Tyler Mahle pitching in one game and the bullpen handling the other game.

The Dodgers have Tyler Glasnow on their mound in Wednesday’s Game 4 and Tarik Skubal waiting for a possible Game 5 and this thing feels over.

Dodgers pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto delivers during a 3-1 win over the Braves in Game 3 of the NLDS on Tuesday.

(Mike Stewart / Associated Press)

“I think I was most proud of we played tonight like an elimination game,” said manager Dave Roberts, later adding, “Tonight I think collectively it was probably one of our better performances.”

It started with the Dodgers’ offense against Sale, who shut them out in a 1-0 victory over Yamamoto just last month.

This time they were patient. This time they were smart. This time they worked him for 24 pitches in the first inning, 18 in the second, 20 in the third.

All of this set up the 37-year-old Sale for a fourth-inning beatdown with some familiar Dodger postseason magic.

With Andy Pages on first after a ground-ball single — he’s breaking out of his two-year postseason slump! — Kiké Hernández drove in a hanging changeup 406 feet over the left-field wall for a two-run homer, and where have you heard this before?

Highlights from the Dodgers’ 3-1 win over the Atlanta Braves in Game 3 of the NLDS.

Hernández is arguably the most consistently unlikely postseason hero in Dodger history. During the regular season he struggles. During the postseason he shines.

This was his 17th postseason home run, fourth in Dodger history, and remember the three home runs he hit that night in the 2017 National League Championship Series in Chicago?

He’s been doing that sort of thing ever since, and his Dodger teammates can only stare in amazement.

“I wish there was a recipe for that so we can all take it from him, he’s incredible, he shows up when you need him,” said Freeman, later adding,“He’s a Swiss Army knife and he’s ready to go at all times.”

This time Hernández was followed two batters later by another familiar October bat. It’s safe to say that Freeman has broken out of his slump, as he homered for the second time in two nights after hitting one in the previous 66 games. It was the first time Sale had given up more than two runs in an inning in three years.

That made the score 3-1 and considering Yamamoto was 33-0 with at least three runs of support in his career, this game felt over. And it was indeed over.

In notching a postseason-high 10 strikeouts over eight innings, Yamamoto showed why he — and not Skubal — is the ace of this staff.

Making his first start in 13 days, he gave up just one run on four hits in seven innings in a continuation of his postseason mastery. He now has an 8-0 career postseason record with a 2.14 ERA and that doesn’t begin to illustrate his impact.

“Wow, what a performance,” said Roberts. “He just has a way to just make pitches, calm his heartbeat.”

Yamamoto was held back for this game while Skubal started the opener, but he shouldn’t take a back seat to anyone anymore this postseason. He should pitch early, often, every day if possible, because he is darn near unhittable.

Unhittable in a different sense was struggling Shohei Ohtani, who was moved down from the top of the order to the fifth spot, and it didn’t do him any good.

He failed to get a hit in four plate appearances, reacting so badly to one of Sale’s changeups that he foolishly called for an ABS challenge that he lost.

Ohtani is still lost. But on a turning-point night in Atlanta, the Dodgers found themselves.

A MAJOR noughties popstar could hardly be recognised as she cut of figure in a body skimming PVC jumpsuit.

Posing at an American football game across the pond, the former chart topper looked a far cry from her former boho image.

The pop star was none other than Unwritten singer Natasha Bedingfield who is best known for her hits in the early 2000s.

Natasha turned heads in a skintight black latex jumpsuit with puff sleeves and sporty white stripes.

The American football-inspired outfit featured her surname and the number 33 emblazoned across the chest.

She completed the look with white platform ankle boots, wearing her blonde bob loose with a full fringe.

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Sharing the look on Instagram, Natasha captioned the post: “Well, the rest is STILL unwritten”, tagging stylist Lizzy Rosenberg and the Buffalo Bills’ official account.

Text across the video read: “Bills half time latex fit”.

Fans rushed to gush over the outfit, with one writing: “OKAY BODYYYYY BEDINGFIELD!”

Another declared: “This outfit is going to go down in history as a instant classic”.

A third joked: “Half time???? Thassa more full time”.

Natasha was dressed up for a half-time performance at the Buffalo Bills’ game against the New England Patriots on Sunday.

The pop starlet now lives in New York with her businessman husband Matt Robinson and their son Solomon Dylan.

The singer is still making music and performing, releasing her latest single Dot Dot Dot in August.

And her 2004 smash hit Unwritten continues to win over a new generation of fans, with Natasha revealing last month that it was approaching an insane two billion streams.

“I thought coming into this camp, Pocognoli would probably need a period of grace,” Halliday said on Sportsound. “I think that period of grace is now over.

“That was as poor a Scotland performance as I can remember for a while against an opposition you are expecting us to go and beat.”

Slovenia got in behind Scotland’s high defensive line repeatedly and former national team captain Willie Miller is unsure if Pocognoli will stick with his back three.

“This is Pocognoli’s preferred system and he’s had time to work with the system, it was just all over the place,” Miller said on Sportsound.

“Time and time again there were huge gaps appearing and Slovenia were taking advantage.

“Our situation is we’ve got a new manager in, he’s got a preferred system, what does he do? Does he just bin it? Are we back to a back four?

“His preferred system is a back three, but it was unbelievably poor.”

Members of the Republican Party have joined Democrats in questioning remarks made by United States President Donald Trump about the California cities of Los Angeles and San Diego.

Much of the backlash came on Tuesday, a day after Trump told a midterm rally in Nebraska that Americans should be willing to make sacrifices to gain victory in the US-Israeli war against Iran.

Those sacrifices, he implied, could include the destruction of American cities, in case of an Iranian attack.

“It’s a small price to pay for keeping the world safe, keeping our country safe,” Trump said, seemingly in reference to the knock-on effects of the war, including rising fuel and fertiliser prices.

“They can take out a city. Let them take out Los Angeles. Let them take out San Diego. This is a very small price to pay, and it’s going to be over with very soon.”

Trump has downplayed the impact of the war – now in its eighth month – despite polling that shows the conflict is widely unpopular in the US. He has also repeatedly promised the war would end soon, though no lasting ceasefire has been reached so far.

The fallout from his Nebraska remarks was swift. Gavin Newsom, an outspoken critic of Trump and the Democratic governor of California, said the president was “deranged”.

“This is not only madness. This is dangerous,” Newsom said in a video on the social media platform X, in which he called for Congress to rein in Trump’s behaviour.

Newsom, a possible contender in the 2028 presidential race, has clashed repeatedly with Trump.

Last year, the two faced off over Trump’s decision to deploy federal troops to California, as part of an effort to support a crackdown on undocumented immigration in the Los Angeles area.

In December, a federal judge ruled that the deployment had been illegal and ordered its end. Newsom, who opposed the deployment, cited that conflict in his remarks about Trump’s Nebraska rally.

“The president of the United States – the same one who sent in the National Guard into Los Angeles, sent 700 active duty Marines to the second largest city in the United States of America – just invited Iran to take out Los Angeles and San Diego,” Newsom said.

He added that Trump’s remarks should convince those who “didn’t think the November election mattered” to vote in the upcoming midterms.

Some from Trump’s own party have also expressed shock at his remarks.

Jim Desmond, a Republican running in a competitive race for the House of Representatives near San Diego, was among those who distanced themselves from Trump’s statement.

“I vehemently disagree with President Trump’s comments. America must stand up to Iran and defend our interests, but the first responsibility of our Commander in Chief is to protect the American people and our homeland,” Desmond wrote on X.

“No American city is expendable, and no American family should ever be treated as collateral damage.”

US Representative Kevin Kiley, an independent who caucuses with Republicans and is running for re-election in northern California, also called Trump’s comments “unhelpful”.

But the White House has dismissed criticism of the remarks, calling it part of a “media freakout” that “is not rooted in reality”.

“He was clearly stating U.S. cities would have been threatened if a nuclear Iran hadn’t been stopped,” White House Director of Communications Steven Cheung wrote on social media.

“America is safer because of the President. Iran has no nuclear, no navy, no air force, and no money.”

California has the largest population and economy of any state in the US. Because of its population, it also has the most seats in the House of Representatives, at 52.

All 435 seats in the House of Representatives are up for grabs in November’s midterms, along with a third of the Senate. Also on the ballot are key state and local races.

With Republicans’ control of Congress on the line, the results of the midterms are expected to weigh heavily on the final two years of Trump’s second term.

SAVED by the Bell star Dennis Haskins’ cause of death has been revealed after the much-loved actor died aged 75.

His death certificate shows Dennis died on September 27 at Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center in Burbank, California.

The certificate, from the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, lists Parkinson’s disease at the immediate cause of death.

It also lists irritable bowel syndrome, depression, hypertension, and benign prostatic hyperplasia as other significant conditions.

It was not publicly known that Dennis had Parkinson’s before he died and his former wife Sarah Quinones told TMZ he had even cut off communication with close pals to hide his diagnosis.

In his final years Dennis lived in an assisted-living facility and stopped returning calls and texts from Sarah and other close friends because he didn’t want anyone to know he was suffering from the illness.

Dennis found widespread fame playing Principal Belding on the hit show Saved by the Bell, as well as numerous spin-offs.

Dennis, from Chattanooga, Tennessee, initially played the role of Principal Belding on the show Good Morning, Miss Bliss from 1988-1989.

The series then became Saved by the Bell, which aired on NBC until 1993, followed by Saved by the Bell: The New Class from 1993-2000.

Dennis earned the nickname “America’s Favourite Principal” for his performance.

His character’s exasperated ‘Hey, hey, hey, what is going on here?’ as he struggled to control his students became one of the show’s most iconic lines.

Dennis also reprised his role in the spin-off specials Saved by the Bell: The College Years in 1993 and Saved by the Bell: Wedding in Las Vegas in 1994.

He starred alongside Mario Lopez, Lark Voorhies, Tiffani Amber Thiessen, Elizabeth Berkley, Mark-Paul Gosselaar and the late Dustin Diamond, who died in 2021 after a brief battle with cancer.

Before launching his TV career, Haskins attended the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, where the school said he was deeply involved in campus life.

He worked as a music manager, agent and concert promoter, reportedly counting Tom Jones among his clients.

Dennis then made his network TV debut on the 1979 pilot episode of The Dukes of Hazzard.

Aside from his defining role as Mr Belding, Dennis racked up more than 100 acting credits over his decades-long career.

Dennis’ agent Jay Schachter told TMZ: “It’s a tragic loss. Everyone loved Mr. Belding and those of us who got to know Dennis, loved him even more.

“He was a great person, and he loved, I mean absolutely LOVED his fans.”