advisor

Kurdish leader appointed to the role days after the dissolution of the force he commanded.

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa has appointed Mazloum Abdi, leader of the now-dissolved Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), as a presidential advisor.

Al-Sharaa issued Decree No 164, appointing Abdi as “as an advisor to the Presidency of the Republic” on Thursday, the Syrian state news agency Sana reported.

The move comes three days after Abdi announced the dissolution of the SDF and the completion of its integration with the Syrian military.

Abdi is the most senior of several Kurdish figures appointed to state posts. Another commander was made assistant defence minister for the eastern region earlier this year.

The advisory role is a lesser position than one offered in January, when al-Sharaa proposed making Abdi deputy defence minister and nominating him as governor of Hasakah province, in order to restore state control over the SDF-controlled provincial capital.

Al-Sharaa and Abdi first agreed to fold the SDF into the central government in March 2025. That deal made little progress before its year-end deadline, spurring state forces to battle into the northeast in January, taking the cities of Raqqa and Deir Az Zor from the SDF.

A ceasefire that ended the fighting placed Raqqa, Deir Az Zor and Hasakah under central government control and committed the SDF to join the defence and interior ministries under a 14-point plan.

One Kurdish-led force has yet to be absorbed. The YPJ, the SDF’s women’s units, asked to join the defence ministry but were told the army’s structure has no units for women.

Alongside the military track, al-Sharaa issued a decree in January recognising Kurdish as a national language and restoring citizenship to Syria Kurds, the first formal recognition of Kurdish rights since Syria’s independence in 1946.

The SDF was the largest force still outside the army, and its dissolution leaves Damascus with formal authority over almost all Syrian territory. Reunifying the country has been al-Sharaa’s central promise since former Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad was overthrown in December 2024.

Andrei Fedorov, an adviser to the Kremlin, says there might be a “semi-military” response against UK drone factories by “unknown sources” over the sharing military blueprints with Russia.

His comments on BBC Newsnight come as UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham says he plans to travel to the US next month with European leaders to lobby US President Trump on Ukraine’s defence needs.

In an interview with Bloomberg, Burnham said, “I’m looking forward to going to New York in September,” when the UN General Assembly will meet.

He said that while the details were not “fully confirmed”, it is “likely” he will go. The trip would be his first to the US since becoming prime minister in July.

“Leaving today, I’m quite clear what I need to do in the next few weeks,” he said following his official visit to Ukraine on Monday, during which he promised to continue pressuring Russia.

The UK has also agreed to hand over blueprints for British-made components for the Scalp missile, a French version of the UK’s Storm Shadow cruise missile. The blueprints will allow Ukraine to produce the long-range weapon domestically.

Fedorov, who is Russia’s former deputy foreign minister, said Putin was facing “serious” pressure “to undertake certain measures against UK”. Asked on BBC Newsnight where the pressure was coming from, Fedorov responded, “public opinion polls, it’s coming from journalists, from mass media”.

Asked what a “semi-military” response might look like, Fedorov said “it could take the form of something might happen with enterprises, with factories which are producing drones for Ukraine.”

“They could be attacked not by Russia, but by from unknown sources,” he said.

The comments are in line with those made by Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Monday, when he criticised the UK’s decision to share the missile blueprints. Peskov said it prevented “even the slightest progress” towards achieving peace.

He told reporters on Monday that the Russian military was already gathering data to locate any missile production sites to destroy them.

“Britain is involved in this war on the side of the Kyiv regime. Britain methodically and regularly adds fuel to the fire,” he added.

In response, Burnham said: “Who started the fire? That’s the question, isn’t it?”

Burnham’s visit to Ukraine was his first official international visit. He met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv and chaired his first meeting of the “coalition of the willing”, set up by the UK and France under his predecessor Sir Keir Starmer.

Burnham has been reaffirming the UK’s support for Ukraine in the wake of escalating Russian strikes in recent weeks – including one last week on a shopping centre that killed at least 16 people.

Ukraine has been relying on American supplies of the Patriot interceptor missiles, which are used to combat Russia’s ballistic missiles, but stockpiles are running low due to the war in Iran, leaving Ukraine vulnerable to Russian attacks.

Zelensky has said he is hoping to secure 300 patriot missiles ahead of winter, when Russia is likely to increase its attacks on energy infrastructure, as it has done in past years.

In the interview with Bloomberg, Burnham said that he felt “really confident” that the issue was “fixable”. But he pointed out that it wasn’t only the US who could supply Ukraine with Patriots.

“There are other players who could help in the mix who we have influence with,” he said. “It’s probably going to be a solution that involves a lot of layers and a lot of negotiation.”

In July this year, three weeks after offering Ukraine the right to produce Patriots itself, Trump backtracked, saying, “We have not agreed to that. We’re talking about it. But it’s a hard thing to give away, that kind of technology.”

“These weapons are incredible. We have to be very careful about letting somebody build them,” Trump told a cabinet meeting.

In a joint statement after the meeting in Ukraine, Burnham and co-chairs French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said the group would aim to strength Kyiv’s air defences “as a matter or urgent priority”.

They also condemned Moscow’s “systemic and escalating strikes against Ukraine’s cities, critical infrastructure and civilians” and pledged to “constrain Russia’s war chest through sanctions and actions against the “shadow fleet”.

In a statement ahead of the visit, Burnham said: “On Ukraine’s 35th anniversary of independence, the Ukrainian people should be in no doubt: the UK is behind you today and for as long as it takes.

“I am proud of the contribution our country has made to Ukraine and I want the Ukrainian people to hear it directly from me that our support will not waver. After all, Ukraine’s security is our security.”

He said the friendship Ukraine shared with the UK would “long outlast Russia’s illegal war”, adding: “Russia should be in no doubt of our resolve. We will not back down until there is a just and lasting peace.”

His NFL playing career is over, but Derek Carr is far from done with football.

UCLA announced this week that it has hired Carr as a special advisor to football coach Bob Chesney, and that the four-time Pro Bowl quarterback will assist with the Bruins’ offensive staff in game-planning strategy.

“Coach Chesney is a leader of men,” said Carr, who was at Dodger Stadium on Monday evening and was on the field before the game. “So many guys get hired just based on scheme. This is a guy who stands up in front of the room and leads.”

It might seem a bit random, Carr joining UCLA’s staff. He played at Fresno State, then with the Raiders in Oakland and Las Vegas before finishing his NFL career in New Orleans. But there’s a connection.

Darrick Yray, UCLA football’s general manager, formerly was an offensive assistant and assistant director of football operations at Fresno State. He and Carr got to know each other there.

After attending his first team meeting at UCLA, Carr texted Yray and said, “You’ve got a real one” in Chesney.

“You can feel his presence,” Carr said of Chesney, hired in December after his rise to coaching prominence at Holy Cross then James Madison. “You can feel the team respond to him. … It wasn’t so much what he said, it was how he said it. He was so demanding of the team, yet so encouraging.

“He can demand, demand, demand, but also love them at the same time, to the point where they’re like, `OK, Coach, whatever you want.’”

Carr played 11 NFL seasons, finishing with 41,245 yards passing and 257 touchdowns. He remains the Raiders’ all-time leader in passing yards, passing touchdowns and completions. He retired in May 2025.

Coaching was always in his plans. His brother, Darren, is head football coach at Bakersfield Christian High, and Derek helped coach the quarterbacks there last season. Their brother, David, the quarterback picked No. 1 overall by the expansion Houston Texans in 2002, is Bakersfield Christian’s offensive coordinator.

“I have so much knowledge and things built up that I just want to give to these kids,” Derek Carr said of his interest in coaching in high school and college. “Just like my brother did for me.

“When I got to high school, I was ahead. When I got to college, I was ahead. When I got to the NFL, I was ahead. Because my brother poured into my life. That’s what I feel I want to do for the next generation, too.”

The smooth and soothing voice that generations of Lakers fans grew so accustomed to when Lawrence Tanter was the longtime public address announcer has put down his microphone.

Tanter, known as the “Voice of the Lakers,” has retired from his game-day role, the team announced Tuesday, and he will become a special advisor for Lakers game presentation.

Tanter, 76, sat in his courtside seat as the public address announcer for 43 years at Lakers games, starting in 1982 when they played at the Forum and lasting until late March, when the team announced he would miss a game to attend to his health. Those with knowledge of the situation who are not authorized to speak publicly on the matter said he had a stroke.

“Lawrence Tanter has been an integral part of the Lakers gameday experience for more than four decades, setting the tone for countless memorable moments with his professionalism, energy and signature booming voice,” said Jeanie Buss, the Lakers’ governor. “Since the 1980s, LT has narrated every chapter of Lakers basketball, connecting generations of fans, players, coaches and staff while becoming a trusted and unforgettable part of the Lakers’ experience. I am incredibly grateful for everything he has given to this franchise.”

From the days of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Magic Johnson, to the Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal era and the current LeBron James and Luka Doncic days, Tanter was the voice that resonated.