Losses by 6-0. 15-2. 10-1. How do you want to spin the Angels now, GM Perry Minasian? Are things still grand in Arteville?
Humiliations galore!
Jim Fredrick Manhattan Beach
Really? The Angels cannot hit, cannot pitch and certainly cannot field. Their hitting coach, pitching coach and manager Kurt Suzuki‘s terrible management are much higher on the list of what’s wrong with this miserable team this year. So sad.
Michael Reuben Anaheim Hills
The recent emergence of shirt-waving fans at Angel Stadium urging ownership to “sell the team” is an opportunity for reflection. With the long ago departure of the controversial former Clippers owner Donald Sterling, is Arte Moreno now truly the worst owner in sports? Sterling was truly detestable in his time, but at least he fielded a highly competitive and exciting Lob City squad led by legendary coach Doc Rivers. For the 2026 Angels, the dog days have already begun — before Memorial Day weekend.
Rob Fleishman Placentia
Going into Memorial Day weekend, the Dodgers are in first place and the Angels are in last place. Plus the Angels’ shirtless fans in the stands are screaming at owner Arte Moreno to “Sell The Team!” The more things change, the more they stay the same. Ho hum.
Nearly three months after the United States and Israel launched their large-scale bombing campaign against Iran and about six weeks since the April 8 ceasefire took effect, President Trump faces an inflection point. Does he return to war? Maintain the ceasefire and U.S. blockade on Iranian ports in the hope of cutting a deal on American terms? Or drop his maximalist negotiating stance?
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), an informal foreign policy advisor for the White House, continues to press for more aggressive U.S. military action. Trump’s political advisors would prefer that the war end as soon as possible to minimize political repercussions against the Republican Party in a midterm election year.
Trump seems conflicted. Despite weeks of U.S. bombardment and an ongoing naval blockade, Tehran is as protective of its nuclear program today as it was before the war began. “For Iran, the Clock is Ticking, and they better get moving, FAST, or there won’t be anything left of them,” Trump wrote on Truth Social over the weekend. A day later, Trump took to the social media platform again to announce he suspended planned U.S. attacks on Iran to give talks more time.
Unfortunately for Trump, he’s proved to be his own worst enemy on this subject. Iran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium and Tehran’s effective control of the Strait of Hormuz, the regime’s two biggest cards, are a byproduct of Trump’s own policy decisions.
The first is a clear indictment of Trump’s first-term order to withdraw the United States from the Obama-era Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, a highly technical accord that put Iran’s nuclear work in a box by restricting the number and quality of centrifuges it could use, capped the amount of enriched uranium it could produce and compelled Tehran to ship 97% of its stockpile out of the country. When the Trump administration scrapped that hard-won deal, Iran responded by enriching more nuclear material at a faster pace and accumulating the very stockpile the Trump administration is now seeking to neutralize.
The Strait of Hormuz, Iran’s second card, would not even be an issue today if the Trump administration had refrained from going to war in the first place. On Feb. 27, the day before the conflict began, more than 150 tankers and vessels traveled through the strait. The international waterway was open for business.
Not so today. On Thursday, a grand total of three crossings were registered in the waterway. This collapse of commerce is a consequence of Iran’s ability to harass civilian tankers so much that shipping companies no longer view the journey as worth the cost. As Adm. Brad Cooper, the top U.S. commander in the Middle East, testified to the Senate Armed Services Committee on Thursday: “The Iranian capability to stop commerce has been dramatically depleted through the strait, but their voice is very loud. And those threats are clearly heard by the merchant industry and insurance industry.”
By virtue of his own actions, Trump is now left with a series of policy options that range from least bad to terrible. None of them are ideal, and all of them carry some risk.
For starters, Trump could resume the war. Any renewed U.S. bombing campaign would probably expand the U.S. military’s original set of targets to include a portion of Iran’s energy infrastructure, which Trump has threatened repeatedly to hit. A U.S. invasion of Kharg Island, where 90% of Iran’s oil processing takes place, might also be up for discussion. The aim would be to destroy Iran’s remaining military capabilities and further squeeze its oil revenue until Tehran’s strategic calculus on the war shifts to Washington’s liking.
Yet there are no guarantees that doubling down on military force will work. Trump’s entire strategy has relied on a baseline assumption: The more punitive the United States is, the more likely Tehran will be to cave. Yet that simply hasn’t occurred. If anything, Iran is more dug in now than it was in the opening days of the conflict. For the regime, capitulating to Trump is as dangerous as losing the war. Why would more bombing succeed where previous bombing failed?
The risks of additional U.S. military action are considerable as well. Before the ceasefire, Iran was launching ballistic missiles and attack drones across multiple gulf Arab states, hitting Qatar’s largest natural gas processing facility, Saudi Arabia’s east-west oil pipeline and Dubai’s luxurious high-rises. As the Iranians have stated, such attacks will not only resume if Trump orders a resumption of the war but will expand to new targets, including desalination facilities and nuclear power plants. Such strikes would raise global oil and gas prices to even more absurd levels, adding to the extra $40 billion the American people are already paying for fuel since the war began.
What about continuing the status quo? While this contingency would be less costly than another round of bombing or a U.S. ground invasion, it’s unclear whether it would help or hurt negotiations toward a settlement. There’s a possibility that extending the U.S. blockade of Iranian ports could merely reaffirm the regime’s earlier decision to preserve its own shutdown of the strait. Iran is now urging Washington to end its blockade before talks on the nuclear file can be held. And it’s a mystery whether Trump’s blockade is working anyway; the U.S. intelligence community assesses that Iran could withstand this pressure point for three to four more months, which may be too long for Trump to sustain given the oil disruptions that are bound to get worse.
Striking an agreement to end the war, return the strait to open traffic and restrict Iran’s nuclear program would be the most beneficial policy for the United States with the least amount of cost attached — not quite undoing the harm from Trump’s first-term decision to scrap the nuclear deal and his second-term decision to start a war. U.S. and Iranian negotiators are passing proposals back and forth as we speak. But as of now, Trump can’t stomach agreeing to a deal that covers some of Iran’s terms, including but not limited to a shorter suspension of enriched uranium and some kind of Iranian role in the management of the strait. Even if Trump did reassess his position, he would be forced to confront the hawks in his political coalition who would consider anything short of Iran’s total surrender a failure.
In short, Trump is in an unenviable position. He’s got nobody to blame but himself.
Daniel R. DePetris is a fellow at Defense Priorities and a syndicated foreign affairs columnist.
SACRAMENTO — The Democrats’ mantra this election year — especially among wannabe governors — is that the richest Californians should “pay their fair share.” But by any objective measurement, they already do.
I’m referring to state taxes, not federal. It’s a valid argument that the most prosperous Americans should kick in more to the federal government, particularly after President Trump and the Republican Congress lowered taxes for the wealthy, who already had a pretty good deal.
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The state Franchise Tax Board recently reported which income groups pony up the most taxes. The more money you earn, the steeper your income tax burden. Of course, that’s the way it should be. But California pushes its progressive tax system to the extreme.
We’ve got by far the highest state income tax rate in the nation at 13.3%.
In 2024, the latest year for which there’s complete data, the top 1% of California taxpayers accounted for 40% of the total state income tax revenue, the FTB reported. But they earned just 24% of the taxable income. To be in the top 1%, your annual earnings had to be at least $973,000.
The top 0.1% kicked in 21% of the tax, while earning 12% of the income. To be in that megarich class, you needed annual earnings of at least $4.7 million.
By contrast, middle-class families with incomes between $73,000 and $139,000 paid 9% of the state’s income tax take.
This doesn’t mean we should weep for the rich and demand more from the struggling lower middle class.
But the problem with Sacramento living off the wealthiest taxpayers is that they’re unreliable. Their fortunes flourish in boom times and fall when the economy busts. When the stock market sneezes, California state government catches pneumonia.
If the state treasury is overflowing, Democratic lawmakers tend to spend freely, expanding programs and creating new ones. Then when the cache inevitably shrinks in bad times, the policymakers’ usual response is to essentially turn their eyes.
Rather than sharply whack spending and raise taxes, they gimmick up the budget with borrowing, deferred spending and crossed fingers. And they dig the hole deeper.
For decades, under Democratic and Republican governors, we’ve sorely needed to update our archaic tax system to make it less volatile and more dependable.
A reform that makes lots of sense is to extend the sales tax to services primarily used by businesses. They could deduct the cost on their federal tax returns. And California state and local governments would steadily collect several billion dollars annually. Some income and sales tax rates could even be lowered.
California also has the nation’s highest state sales tax rate at 7.25%. Combining state and local sales tax rates, we have the seventh-highest at 8.99%.
Taxing deductible business services makes sense to many politicians — but only privately. They’re too weak-kneed to seriously consider it in public. There’d be winners and losers and high political risks.
“We need to stabilize our tax system in California with a more steady source of revenue,” he told me. “But I’m not a fan of the sales tax to begin with. It lands on working families.”
He was not interested in exploring a possible tax on services that didn’t hit working families.
Becerra, a former California attorney general and U.S. health secretary, added: “Before we start exploring new taxes, we should explore existing budget spending. We have to scrub the budget.”
In revising his new budget proposal last week, Newsom proposed $5.1 billion in modest tax hikes on businesses — even as unanticipated revenue was surging. He asked the Legislature for a limit on corporate tax credits and a tax on digital software.
He also proposed to trim $3.7 billion from Medi-Cal healthcare for the poor.
Newsom proposed spending $349.9 billion in the next fiscal year and asserted that budgets would be balanced for 18 months. But after that, he and practically everyone else in Sacramento foresee deficit spending without extensive fiscal restructuring.
But you don’t hear a peep about that from leading Democratic candidates running to replace Newsom. Most are talking about imposing significantly higher business taxes to pay for new or expanded programs.
Billionaire hedge fund founder Tom Steyer wants to close “the corporate tax loophole.” What he’s talking about is gutting Proposition 13’s property tax breaks for commercial holdings. He’d make it easier to reassess when partners sell their portions of a property — a commonly called “split roll” that would treat commercial property differently than residential.
That was tried in 2020 and rejected by voters.
Steyer also supports the billionaire tax that’s expected to be on the November ballot. It would impose a one-time 5% tax on the net worth of California’s 200-plus billionaires.
To their credit, no other gubernatorial candidate supports this misguided proposal. Practically all the $100-billion windfall would flow solely into healthcare while causing fed-up super wealthy to flee the state.
Former Orange County Rep. Katie Porter would raise taxes on the most profitable corporations to pay for free child care and college tuition. They’re both good causes but of questionable fiscal feasibility right now.
Rather than pushing rich investors and job creators out of state, we should be encouraging them to stick it out in California and continue to pay their fair share.
James Corden has revealed he dislikes one of Gavin & Stacey’s iconic episodesCredit: GettyThe writer and show star admitted that the series’ second episode was ‘very bad’Credit: PA
Despite being much-loved by fans, James has revealed that he was not a fan of the show’s second ever episode – despite it being the one where the titular characters get engaged.
Describing the episode as a “very, very, very bad half hour” whilst talking at theBBC Comedy Festival, James explained that he felt they were “backed into a corner” by the episode ending with Gavin proposing to Stacey.
The episode sees Gavin – played by Mathew Horne – travel to Wales to make up with Joanna Page’s character Stacey following a dispute, and ends with him proposing.
Despite noting some “saving graces” in the writing, he added: “It’s an awful episode”.
James and Ruth have signed a multi-million pound deal with AppleTV+ for a follow-up series.
They will star in the ten-part comedy drama alongside an all-British cast.
Set in the UK, filming begins next year with the hotly-anticipated show due in 2027.
The deal, believed to worth up to £8million, was agreed amid interest from BBC, Netflix and Amazon Prime.
A show insider said: “In what has unquestionably been a pretty miserable year for Brits, there is finally something to cheer — a new James and Ruth co-production.
“As you might expect, it is uplifting, gentle and very funny.
“They wanted to bring something full of heart and warmth back to screens; water cooler moments for all the family.”
Bad Bunny’s halftime show at this year’s Super Bowl was largely embraced as a milestone for Latin music and Puerto Rican culture on America’s most prominent pop-cultural stage.
The Federal Communications Commission has released a massive trove of viewer complaints against the musician, the show’s broadcast partner NBC, and the NFL.
Many of them expressed outrage at the supposed bawdiness of Bad Bunny’s Spanish-language lyrics and dancing on a broadcast watched by children.
“That was the most disgusting inappropriate show. I had to make all of my children go into the next room!” wrote one traumatized Las Vegas viewer. “The none use [sic] of inappropriate language should stand no matter what language it’s in. This is the most disturbing thing I’ve witnessed on live TV in a long time.”
“NFL halftime show showed 2 men in act of intercourse while behind a pickup truck door,” wrote one aghast Ohioan. “The ratings for NFL [sic] made it safe for my children to watch but they witnessed this and became disturbed.”
Another viewer from Charlotte, NC who, to their credit, seemed familiar with Bad Bunny’s catalog, wrote that they “take issue with the vocal performances of ‘Safaera,’ which is a track widely known for explicit sexual references and graphic lyrical content, and ‘Yo Perreo Sola,’ which had choreography featuring overtly sexualized movements, including widespread twerking, grinding, pelvic thrusts and other sexually suggestive conduct.”
Those viewers were likely not sated by the FCC’s February review of the performance, which found that the songs’ lyrics had been appropriately altered for the broadcast.
Rep. Randy Fine (R-FL) had called for the FCC to investigate the broadcast.”What Americans witnessed during the Super Bowl halftime show with Bad Bunny was despicable and never should be allowed to be shown on television again,” Fine told the New York Post.
Many of the viewer complaints mirror President Trump’s post-show social media criticism, calling the performance “one of the worst EVER!”
“Nobody understands a word this guy is saying, and the dancing is disgusting, especially for young children that are watching from throughout the U.S.A., and all over the World,” the president wrote at the time.
Just before the Super Bowl, Bad Bunny had won the Grammy for album with “Debí Tirar Más Fotos,” and joined a wave of artists speaking out against violent ICE raids in speeches at the ceremony. The superstar demurred on performing in the continental U.S. for similar fears, instead performing a lengthy Puerto Rican residency.
BAD Bunny looked unrecognizable as an old man at the Met Gala on Monday night.
The 32-year-old star arrived at the event with gray hair, a gray beard and a walking stick – leaving fans completely baffled.
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Bad Bunny arrived at the Met Gala looking 50 years older than the age he isCredit: GettyHe rocked a full head of gray hair and a gray beard tooCredit: Getty
The Puerto Rican rapper, whose real name is Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, even hobbled up the steps as he posed for photos, leaning into his elderly alter-ego even more.
His skin looked aged, his hands looked older, and the way he walked and moved was that of an 80-year-old.
Fans were entirely divided by the singer’s look, with many flocking to social media to share their thoughts.
The gray hair was incredibly realistic, as was his aged skinCredit: GettyHe even leaned into his elderly alter-ego by hobbling aroundCredit: GettyFans were divided over his new lookCredit: ReutersThe singer usually sports dark brown hairCredit: PA
“Dad bunny,” joked another.
“Why is he an old man?” asked a third.
While a fourth joked: “More like Señor bad bunny lol.”
“Superbowl aged him 60 years lol,” said a fifth.
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“Turns out, Bad Bunny was Will Ferrell all along. Well played, Will,” joked a seventh.
But some fans were more complimentary.
“Aging is art,” said one person.
“For me, it was a critique showing that aging can also be beautiful,” added another.
While a third said: “He always brings it!”
And a fourth wrote: “He and Heidi Klum are so good at costumes and entertaining! Love them both!”
Heidi transformed herself into a literal sculpture and looked as though she was crafted entirely from marble.
The costume looked like a naked body draped in a fabric, but in sculpture form.
One took to X to say: “She looks a bit scary but this is gorgeous idc.”
“This isn’t Halloween honey,” slammed another.
“This looks more creepy than creative,” penned a third.
But there was much praise too, with one person writing: “Finally someone who understood the assignment Heidi didn’t just wear the theme she became the art. Living marble statue is insane commitment.”
I WORK in travel and look at holiday pricing data every single day – and there are a few patterns that I see constantly.
Small booking habits that feel completely normal, but quietly push prices up. We’re not talking about a few quid either. Get these wrong, and you can end up paying 20–30 per cent more for the same holiday.
Holiday Expert Rob Brooks sees countless holiday mistakes made – here’s how to avoid themCredit: Rob Brooks
Follow The Sun’s award-winning travel team on Instagram and Tiktok for top holiday tips and inspiration@thesuntravel.
Here are the three biggest mistakes – and exactly how to fix them.
Bad Habit No.1: Booking in the morning rush
This one surprises people the most.
Booking your holiday first thing – on your commute, before work, or when you sit down at your desk – feels productive.
But it’s actually one of the worst times you can choose.
According to the data, the most expensive time to book a holiday is between 9am and 10am.
In fact, booking in that window came in at around 30 per cent more expensive than the cheapest time of day, which is actually 2:47am.
And it makes sense when you think about it – because that’s a peak demand window when everyone is searching at once.
Flight prices react to this demand first, then package holiday prices follow.
So while you think you’re being organised… you’re actually booking at the busiest, and often most expensive, moment of the day.
In one example, I found a 5-night all-inclusive stay at the Catty Cats Garden Hotel in Turkey was priced at £133pp in the early hours – but just a few hours later, that had jumped to £165pp for the exact same holiday.
That’s a 24% increase (£64 more for two people) simply from booking later in the day.
A break to Antalya in Turkey increased overnightCredit: Getty
Bad Habit No.2: Waiting after finding a good deal
This is the classic “I’ll just check again later” mistake: you find a good price, but instead of booking it, you leave it.
You come back later. Maybe the next day. Maybe after asking a few people.
It feels like you’re being careful or thrifty, but the data shows the opposite.
Every search feeds demand into the system, demand pushes flight prices up, and flight prices push package prices up.
But the reality is: if you’ve found a good deal, it’s very likely other people have found it too.
So while you’re waiting, those seats and rooms are disappearing, filling up and pushing up the package cost pretty quickly.
In one real example, a luxury all-inclusive stay at the Titanic Deluxe Lara in Antalya,Turkey was priced at £558 per person.
But after waiting just 24 hours, that same holiday increased to £606 per person.
That’s an extra £48pp – or £192 more for a family of four – just for not booking when the price was lower.
Prices change, availability drops, and that deal you liked is gone forever.
Rob recommends putting flexible dates into the search bar to find cheaper dealsCredit: Alamy
Bad Habit No.3: Being too rigid with dates and nights
This is where people leave the biggest savings on the table.
I see it every day: most searches are locked into the same dates, same duration, no flexibility.
But pricing doesn’t work like that – it fluctuates constantly based on demand.
Flight and hotel combinations are constantly shifting, and the price you see is based on very specific availability – not a fixed “cost” for that trip.
That means sticking rigidly to one duration can actually stop you from seeing better-value options.
One holiday to beautiful Corfu was cheaper by changing the datesCredit: Getty
Sometimes, adding or removing just one night can completely change the price – because it opens up different flight combinations or cheaper room availability.
In one search I did for a Corfu holiday, a 7-night stay was coming in at £874 per person.
But by simply increasing the stay to 8 nights, the price dropped to £720 per person for the same package.
That’s a saving of £154pp – or £308 for two people – just by adding one extra night.
It goes against what most people expect, but it shows how pricing really works.
You’re not just paying for nights – you’re paying for the combination of flights and hotel availability behind them.
Yet most people never check – they search once, see one price, and assume that’s what the holiday costs.
Good Habit No.1: Use price alerts instead of repeatedly searching
One of the easiest ways to save money is to stop manually checking prices over and over again.
Every time you search, you’re adding to demand signals – and you’re far more likely to miss the moment a price drops.
Instead, set up price alerts or track a holiday and let the price come to you.
That way, you’re not feeding the surge – and you’re ready to act when the price is right.
I sometimes see short-term dips of up to £50 per person on the same holiday when demand softens briefly – but these windows can last hours, not days.
The people who catch them aren’t constantly searching – they’re notified. But how do you actually do it?
At On the Beach, if you save a holiday, you’re automatically tracking it, and they’ll email you to let you know when the price changes.
On Google Flights, you can search your route, then just toggle “Track prices” – then you’ll get email alerts whenever fares move up or down.
On Skyscanner, hit the heart or bell icon on a flight, and it’ll notify you when the price changes.
It takes about 10 seconds – and it means you’re not guessing when to book.
The cheapest time to book is 2:47am, although you don’t need to wait up lateCredit: Alamy
Good Habit No.2: The 33-day booking rule
There’s no perfect moment to book – but there is a bit of a sweet spot.
According to the data, booking around 33 days before departure can unlock savings of up to 10%.
That’s because it sits between two high-demand groups: early planners who book far in advance and last-minute bookers chasing limited availability.
In this middle window, demand is lower, and prices often reflect that.
Which means on a £700 holiday, that 10% saving means paying around £630 instead – a £140 saving for a couple without changing anything else.
It’s not about waiting as long as possible. It’s about timing it right.
Switching airports to fly to Majorca can make it cheaperCredit: Alamy
Good Habit No.3: Switch airports, not just dates
Most people have a “default airport” – the one they always fly from without really thinking about it.
But sticking to the same airport can quietly cost you more than you realise.
Flights to the same destination can vary massively in price depending on where you depart from – even on the exact same day, for the exact same hotel.
And often, the cheaper option is only a short drive or train journey away.
In one search I did this week for a family holiday to Majorca, the same 5-night stay at the Sea Club Mediterranean Resort was priced at £260pp flying from Manchester.
But switching to Liverpool Airport for the exact same trip brought the price down to £235pp.
That’s a saving of £25 per person – or £100 for a family of four – just by changing the departure airport.
It’s a simple check most people skip, but it can make a real difference to the total cost.
A Holiday Expert’s bottom line:
These aren’t big sacrifices, and you’re not downgrading your hotel or cutting your trip short. You’re just booking smarter.
But these small tweaks of timing, confidence and flexibility can easily save you hundreds over time.
And once you see how the pricing actually works, you won’t book the same way again…
Rob recommends letting the pricing guide your dates, so you can browse for the cheapest dealCredit: Alamy
Barcelona have announced that Lamine Yamal’s domestic season in Spain is over, but that the international forward should be fit to represent his country at this summer’s World Cup.
The 18-year-old striker helped Spain to the Euro 2024 title, while also lifting La Liga with Barca last season.
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His club side are well on the way to defending that title, with a nine-point lead over Real Madrid, although they will have to do so now without their iconic starlet.
Al Jazeera Sport looks at how Yamal’s injury grabbed global headlines after their football game on Wednesday, and what the road to World Cup 2026 may now look like for the Catalan.
What happened to Lamine Yamal?
Barcelona were looking to re-establish their nine-point advantage over Real when they played Celta Vigo on Wednesday, April 22.
With the deadlock yet to be broken, Yamal won a penalty for his side – which he scored.
In the immediate aftermath of striking the ball, however, he crumpled to the ground in pain and was quickly substituted.
The strike would prove enough to score a 1-0 win for Barca, but it has come at some cost.
Yoel Lago of Celta Vigo fouls Lamine Yamal of Barcelona, leading to a penalty during the La Liga match [Alex Caparros/Getty Images]
What is Lamine Yamal’s injury?
Rumours swirled into Thursday morning that Yamal’s participation at this summer’s World Cup for Spain could be in doubt.
The early exit from Barca’s win suggested the injury would be serious enough to keep him out for at least a couple of weeks.
The Catalan club, however, confirmed in a statement on Thursday that the injury was to his hamstring and that he would no longer play any part in the club’s defence of their title with six games to play as a result.
How bad is Lamine Yamal’s injury?
“The tests carried out have confirmed that first-team player Lamine Yamal has a hamstring injury in his left leg (biceps femoris muscle),” read Barcelona’s statement, which was first posted on social media platform X.
Such injuries are grouped into three grades: minor, moderate or severe strain/tear.
The recovery periods range from one week to six months.
“The player will follow a conservative treatment plan. Lamine Yamal will miss the remainder of the season, and he is expected to be available for the World Cup,” Barcelona’s statement concluded.
Given the Spanish season runs for another four weeks, until May 24, it is likely that Yamal has at very least a moderate strain.
Such an injury ranges from a four-to-six-week recovery.
Barcelona’s Lamine Yamal reacts to the injury sustained when taking the penalty [Albert Gea/Reuters]
Will Lamine Yamal be fit for Spain’s World Cup opener?
What Barcelona’s statement on Thursday did not reveal was just how long the recovery period is expected to be, as the World Cup is set to begin on June 11, when Mexico face South Africa in the first match.
Spain’s first game is being played four days later, against Cape Verde. They then face Saudi Arabia on June 21, before completing the initial group phase with what could be a crunch game against Uruguay on June 27.
Whether Yamal is risked for the opening match on June 15, only seven-and-a-half weeks after he sustained the injury, remains to be seen.
The final game of the group stages is just over nine weeks from the now infamous penalty kick against Celta. That is more than week clear of the longest expected recovery time for a moderate strain.
Why is Lamine Yamal so important to Spain?
Yamal was an integral part of the Spain side that lifted the Euro 2024 title with their 2-1 win against England.
While he was only 16 years of age at the time, his speed and guile on the ball marked him as one of the hottest properties in global football.
His stock rose dramatically with a memorable curled effort from outside the box – now his trademark effort – against France in the semifinals.
Despite his young age, Yamal has already scored six goals in total for Spain in 25 international appearances.
Has Lamine Yamal given an update following his injury?
“This injury is keeping me off the pitch just when I wanted to be there the most, and it hurts more than I can put into words,” Yamal wrote on his social media accounts on Thursday.
“It hurts not to be able to fight alongside my teammates, not to be able to help when the team needs me … But I’ll be there, even if it’s from the sidelines, supporting, cheering and pushing them on just like one of the lads.
“This isn’t the end, it’s just a break. I’ll come back stronger, more determined than ever, and next season will be better.”
How well did Lamine Yamal do for Barcelona this season?
A year after the Euro 2024 triumph, Yamal lifted the La Liga title for the first time when he helped his native Barcelona pip Real Madrid in a closely fought affair that saw just four points separating the sides in the end.
Yamal scored 18 goals that season, including three in the last four games of the La Liga season.
His penalty against Celta was his 24th goal of this season for Barcelona, which ends for him with his side still having six further games to play.
Footage of an Israeli soldier attacking a Christian statue depicting the crucifixion of Jesus in southern Lebanon with a sledgehammer was difficult for Israel’s political establishment to ignore. The country has long tried to frame itself as a defender of Christians, and is allied with the powerful Christian Zionist movement in the United States.
But as Israel continues to lose support in the US and the West for its genocidal war in Gaza and attacks in Lebanon and Iran, support among Christians has also dipped – even before the video of the desecration of the Christian statue surfaced.
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Responding to the footage on Monday, a day after it first went viral, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pushed his regularly repeated line that Israel respects all religions, even as critics point out that his government regularly does the opposite.
But, with even some of Israel’s supporters voicing anger at the soldier’s actions, Israel announced on Tuesday that he had been jailed for 30 days, along with another soldier who had been filming him. Six other soldiers have been summoned for questioning.
The decision to pursue action against the two soldiers stands out because it is in marked contrast to Israeli military investigations conducted into violations by soldiers, which overwhelmingly find them not to have been at fault. In fact, no Israeli soldier has been charged with killing a Palestinian this decade, despite the thousands killed even outside of the Gaza war context, including the 2022 killing of Al Jazeera’s correspondent in the occupied West Bank, Shireen Abu Akleh, who was herself a Christian.
Yossi Mekelberg, a senior consulting fellow with Chatham House, noted that it was important for the Israeli government to ensure that its response to the attack on the statue of Jesus was visible, particularly in light of the important role Christian supporters of Israel – including the US ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee – play in the administration of US President Donald Trump.
Those supporters frequently justify their support for Israel by relying on Christian Zionist interpretations of the Bible, and emphasising a “Judeo-Christian” value system and shared cultural heritage.
But official Israeli action in this case makes inaction in other cases more glaring.
“This [attack on the statue of Jesus], and the attacks upon mosques by settlers and the killing of Palestinians are all war crimes,” Mekelberg said. “The problem is that we don’t know how widespread it is. We only know about this one because they filmed it.”
History of violence
Through much of the conflicts in Gaza and Lebanon, observers and analysts have pointed to the stark difference in Israeli government responses to attacks on Christian symbols and places of worship and what has been the large-scale destruction of Islamic sites.
In March, Netanyahu found himself having to explain the decision to block the passage of Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, from entering the Church of the Holy Sepulchre to mark Palm Sunday, one of the holiest days of the Christian calendar. Before the end of the same day, Netanyahu had posted to social media, explaining that there had been “no malicious intent whatsoever, only concern for his safety”.
Last July, Netanyahu again found himself apologising for a strike on a third church in Gaza following pressure from the Trump administration, when three of the hundreds of people sheltering there were killed and several others injured, including the parish priest who regularly spoke to the late Pope Francis.
In a statement issued through his office, the Israeli prime minister claimed he deeply regretted the strike on the church, which he said was an accident.
“Every innocent life lost is a tragedy. We share the grief of the families and the faithful,” he said, without referencing the almost 60,000 men, women and Palestinian children his forces had killed by that point in the war.
Throughout the war, Israel’s defenders have emphasised the concept of Judeo-Christian values in an effort to justify Israel’s attacks and its repeated breaking of international law. But evidence of a shared civilisational bond is thrown into question by attacks on Christian symbolism, such as in Lebanon, and by Israel’s long-standing treatment of Palestinian Christians, who face the same dispossession and occupation as their Muslim neighbours.
“I think a lot of Israel’s defenders in the West like to portray it as being ‘us’, just over there, as if ‘over there’ is some form of dark jungle,” said HA Hellyer, a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress and senior associate fellow at the Royal United Service Institute.
“So, they can make excuses for Israelis killing Arabs in their thousands,” Hellyer said. “They can even make excuses for them killing Christians. But when you see Israeli soldiers destroying Christian symbols, it becomes much harder to defend those actions and to stem the growing trend of US supporters, both Democrat and Republican, moving away from Israel.”
What’s next for Israel’s relationship with Christians?
While the Israeli government has been keen to preserve evidence of the Judeo-Christian bond, complaints of harassment by Christian groups within Israel are growing, particularly with the increase in strength of the Israeli far right, including in government.
In 2025, the interreligious Rossing Center for Education and Dialogue recorded 155 incidents targeting Christians in Israel, a marked increase from the previous year. While physical assaults were the most common, comprising 39 percent of incidents, there were also accounts of spitting, hitting, and pepper-spraying.
Christian holidays, specifically those around the time of Easter, have become particular sources of tension, the report noted, with priests and nuns wearing visible Christian clothing in West Jerusalem and occupied East Jerusalem facing the risk of harassment every time they enter public spaces.
“We’ve entered a period of what [Australian genocide studies scholar] Dirk Moses called ‘permanent security’, where anything different, anything that might be a threat, or could even be a threat in the future, has to be destroyed,“ prominent Israeli sociologist Yehouda Shenhav-Shahrabani told Al Jazeera.
That difference is inherent to the Christian faith.
“It’s not about left or right,” Shenhav-Shahrabani explained. “It even goes to language. In everyday Hebrew, people refer to Jesus as Yeshu, which is a curse word, rather than Yeshua, which is correct.”
“That’s commonplace. That’s how it’s used in everyday media,” he continued. “If that’s where you begin, it doesn’t matter if it’s stupidity or ignorance, it all leads to the same place.”
Defender Callum Doyle has been a key member of the Wrexham team bidding for the Championship play-offs.
The 22-year-old has played in 36 games in all competitions this season, including 26 successive matches.
His performances have been recognised with a spot in the Championship team of the season, one he describes as a “massive honour”.
But Doyle acknowledges that life at the Stok Cae Ras did not get off to the best of starts.
Back in October the 22-year-old former Manchester City youngster was featuring in only his eighth game for his new club following a late summer move.
In the second half at home to Oxford – a game Wrexham won 1-0 – he was shown a straight red card during the second half of the match.
“It’s one of those moments that it’s a bad moment,” Doyle said.
“But, in the grand scheme of things it’s not so bad of how I’ve changed my attitude towards training.
“And it’s been good for me since that point.”
The sending off proved to be a blessing and a turning point for Doyle’s season.
Doyle’s enforced absence was an opportunity that manager Phil Parkinson and his coaching team used to work with the Manchester-born defender.
“He came in and missed a lot of pre-season, so it took us a while to get him up to speed,” said Parkinson.
“When he got sent off, it was a chance for us to pull him away and do work with him and almost give him a mini pre-season and get him to where he needed to be.
“But I think everybody can see what a class player Callum is.
“He’s got a lot of experience for someone so young and the aim is for him now to finish his season strongly.”
