begins

Nov. 5 (UPI) — The French government said it would begin action against online retailer Shein on Wednesday, just hours after the company opened its first brick-and-mortar store in Paris.

An outcry erupted last weekend after it was discovered that Shein was selling sex dolls that look like children, but on Tuesday, the company announced it was banning all sex dolls from the site.

On Wednesday, the government issued a statement saying: “On the instructions of the Prime Minister [Sébastien Lecornu], the government is initiating the procedure to suspend Shein for the time necessary for the platform to demonstrate to the public authorities that all of its content is finally in compliance with our laws and regulations.”

The store, which is the first Shein store in the world, also opened to chaos, as shoppers lined up to get in and protesters shouted at them, “Shame!”

Andreia Chavent, a worker at BHV Marais, said many employees were upset by the opening of Shein in Paris.

“We are directly concerned by how people work, what the conditions are like and how the clothes are made, even if it’s not in France,” Chavent, a member of the CFDT, France’s largest union, told The New York Times.

Shein has seen criticism over the way workers are treated in the Chinese factories that sell on the site.

The sex dolls controversy made things worse, Chavent added.

But not everyone is against the store.

“When I saw that Shein was coming to France, I said, ‘Yay!’ Because it still takes 20 weeks” for clothing from the site to arrive, Philippe Hamard, 27, told The Times.

He said that he doesn’t buy from Shein often because of “environmental issues and all that.” But said “I still buy from time to time for fun.”

On the sex doll controversy, he said, “I think there are a lot of controversies at the moment. But people will forget about it.”

Shein has plans to open seven stores in other cities in France.

Shein and AliExpress are also facing investigation in France over the dissemination of pornographic content to children, the prosecutor’s office told the BBC.

The Paris Office des Mineurs will handle the cases. The office oversees the protection of minors.

AliExpress said the adult listings violated its policies and were removed once the company learned of them.

“Sellers found to violate or trying to circumvent these requirements will be penalized in accordance with our rules,” AliExpress said in a statement, the BBC reported.

Residents say the powerful storm brought ‘raging’ flash floods that destroyed homes, overturned cars and blocked streets.

Residents of the central Philippines have slowly begun cleanup efforts after powerful Typhoon Kalmaegi swept through the region, killing at least 85 people and leaving dozens missing.

Scenes of widescale destruction emerged in the hard-hit province of Cebu on Wednesday as the storm receded, revealing ravaged homes, overturned vehicles and streets blocked with piles of debris.

Among the 85 deaths were six military personnel whose helicopter crashed in Agusan del Sur on the island of Mindanao during a humanitarian mission. The country’s disaster agency also reported 75 people missing, and 17 injured.

In Cebu City, Marlon Enriquez, 58, was trying to salvage what was left of his family’s belongings as he scraped off the thick mud coating his house.

“This was the first time that has happened to us,” he told the Reuters news agency. “I’ve been living here for almost 16 years, and it was the first time I’ve experienced flooding [like this].”

Another resident, 53-year-old Reynaldo Vergara, said his small shop in the city of Mandaue, also in Cebu province, had been lost when a nearby river overflowed.

“Around four or five in the morning, the water was so strong that you couldn’t even step outside,” he told the AFP news agency. “Nothing like this has ever happened. The water was raging.”

The storm hit as Cebu province was still recovering from a 6.9-magnitude earthquake last month that killed dozens of people and displaced thousands.

The area around Cebu City was deluged with 183mm (seven inches) of rain in the 24 hours before Kalmaegi’s landfall, well over its 131mm (five-inch) monthly average, according to weather specialist Charmagne Varilla.

The massive rainfall set off flash floods and caused a river and other waterways to swell. More than 200,000 people were evacuated across the wider Visayas region, which includes Cebu Island and parts of southern Luzon and northern Mindanao.

Before noon on Wednesday, Kalmaegi blew away from western Palawan province into the South China Sea with sustained winds of up to 130km per hour (81 miles per hour) and gusts of up to 180km/h (112mph), according to forecasters.

The storm is forecast to gain strength while over the South China Sea before making its way to Vietnam, where preparations are under way in advance of Kalmaegi’s expected landfall on Friday.

China has warned of a “catastrophic wave process” in the South China Sea and activated maritime disaster emergency response in its southernmost province of Hainan, state broadcaster CCTV said.

It has been two weeks since world leaders gathered in Sharm el-Sheikh and declared, once again, that the path to peace in the Middle East had been found. As with previous such declarations, the Palestinians, the people who must live that peace, were left out.

Today, Israel holds the fragile ceasefire hostage while the world is fixated on the search for the remaining bodies of its dead captives. There is no talk of the Palestinian right to search for and honour their own dead, to mourn publicly the loss.

The idea of reconstruction is dangled before the residents of Gaza. Those who call for it from abroad seem to envision just clearing rubble, pouring concrete, and rehabilitating infrastructure. There is no talk of rebuilding people – restoring their institutions, dignity, and sense of belonging.

But this is what Palestinians need. True reconstruction must focus on the people of Gaza and it must begin not with cement but with the restoration of classrooms and learning. It must begin with young people who have survived the unthinkable and still dare to dream. Without them – without Palestinian educators and students at the centre – no rebuilding effort can endure.

Reconstruction without exclusion

The plans for governance and reconstruction of Gaza currently circulating are excluding those Palestinians most affected by the genocide. Many aspects of these plans are designed to control rather than empower – to install new overseers instead of nurturing local leadership. They prioritise Israel’s security over Palestinian wellbeing and self-determination.

We have seen what such exclusion leads to in the Palestinian context: dependency, frustration and despair. As scholars who have worked for years alongside Palestinian academics and students, we have also seen the central role education plays in Palestinian society.

That is why we believe that reconstruction has to start with education, including higher education. And that process has to include and be led by the Palestinians themselves. Palestinian educators, academics and students have already demonstrated they have the strength to persevere and rebuild.

Gaza’s universities, for example, have been models of resilience. Even as their campuses were razed to the ground, professors and scholars continued to teach and research in makeshift shelters, tents, and public squares – sustaining international partnerships and giving purpose to the most vital part of society: young people.

In Gaza, universities are not only places of study; they are sanctuaries of thought, compassion, solidarity and continuity – the fragile infrastructure of imagination.

Without them, who will train the doctors, nurses, teachers, architects, lawyers, and engineers that Gaza needs? Who will provide safe spaces for dialogue, reflection, and decision-making – the foundations of any functioning society?

We know that there can be no viable future for Palestinians without strong educational and cultural institutions that rebuild confidence, restore dignity and sustain hope.

Solidarity, not paternalism

Over the past two years, something remarkable has happened. University campuses across the world – from the United States to South Africa, from Europe to Latin America – have become sites of moral awakening. Students and professors have stood together against the genocide in Gaza, demanding an end to the war and calling for justice and accountability. Their sit-ins, vigils and encampments have reminded us that universities are not only places of learning but crucibles of conscience.

This global uprising within education was not merely symbolic; it was a reassertion of what scholarship is about. When students risk disciplinary action to defend life and dignity, they remind us that knowledge divorced from humanity is meaningless.

The solidarity they have demonstrated must set the tone for how institutions of higher education approach engagement with and the rebuilding of Gaza’s universities.

The world’s universities must listen, collaborate and commit for the long term. They can build partnerships with Gaza’s institutions, share expertise, support research and help reconstruct the intellectual infrastructure of a society. Fellowships, joint projects, remote teaching and open digital resources are small steps that can make a vast difference.

Initiatives like those of Friends of Palestinian Universities (formally Fobzu), the University of Glasgow and HBKU’s summits, and the Qatar Foundation’s Education Above All already show what sustained cooperation can achieve. Now that spirit of solidarity must expand – grounded in respect and dignity and guided by Palestinian leaders.

The global academic community has a moral duty to stand with Gaza, but solidarity must not slide into paternalism. Reconstruction should not be a charitable gesture; it should be an act of justice.

The Palestinian higher education sector does not need a Western blueprint or a consultant’s template. It needs partnerships that listen and respond, that build capacity on Palestinian terms. It needs trusted relationships for the long term.

Research that saves lives

Reconstruction is never just technical; it is moral. A new political ecology must grow from within Gaza itself, shaped by experience rather than imported models. The slow, generational work of education is the only path that can lead out from the endless cycles of destruction.

The challenges ahead demand scientific, medical and legal ingenuity. For example, asbestos from destroyed buildings now contaminates Gaza’s air, threatening an epidemic of lung cancer. That danger alone requires urgent research collaboration and knowledge-sharing. It needs time to think and consider, conferences, meetings, exchanges of scholarships – the lifeblood of normal scholarly activity.

Then there is the chaos of property ownership and inheritance in a place that has been bulldozed by a genocidal army. Lawyers and social scientists will be needed to address this crisis and restore ownership, resolve disputes and document destruction for future justice.

There are also the myriad war crimes perpetrated against the Palestinian people. Forensic archaeologists, linguists, psychologists and journalists will help people process grief, preserve memory and articulate loss in their own words.

Every discipline has a role to play. Education ties them together, transforming knowledge into survival – and survival into hope.

Preserving memory

As Gaza tries to move on from the genocide, it must also have space to mourn and preserve memory, for peace without truth becomes amnesia. There can be no renewal without grief, no reconciliation without naming loss.

Every ruined home, every vanished family deserves to be documented, acknowledged and remembered as part of Gaza’s history, not erased in the name of expedience. Through this difficult process, new methodologies of care will inevitably come into being. The acts of remembering are a cornerstone of justice.

Education can help here, too – through literature, art, history, and faith – by giving form to sorrow and turning it into the soil from which resilience grows. Here, the fragile and devasted landscape of Gaza, the more-than-human-world can also be healed through education, and only then we will have on the land once again, “all that makes life worth living”, to use a verse from Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish.

Rebuilding Gaza will, of course, require cranes and engineers. But more than that, it will require teachers, students and scholars who know how to learn and how to practise skilfully. The work of peace begins not with cement mixers but with curiosity, compassion and courage.

Even amid the rubble, and the ashlaa’, the strewn body parts of the staff and students we have lost to the violence, Gaza’s universities remain alive. They are the keepers of its memory and the makers of its future – the proof that learning itself is an act of resistance, and that education is and must remain the first step towards sustainable peace.

The views expressed in this article are the authors’ own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera’s editorial stance.

WASHINGTON — The government took the first historic step toward painful enforcement of the Gramm-Rudman balanced budget law today, estimating that $11.7 billion must be cut by March 1 in almost everything from the Pentagon to the Postal Service.

The overall military budget will be reduced $5.8 billion, under the estimates from the Administration’s Office of Management and Budget and the Congressional Budget Office. The other half of the cuts will come from the rest of government, with the notable exception of Social Security and a number of programs for the poor.

The two budget agencies estimated that the deficit for fiscal 1986, which began last October, will be $220 billion if no cuts are made. That is higher than previous estimates and more than enough to trigger the cuts under the Gramm-Rudman balanced budget law.

That statute, passed in the waning days of Congress’ 1985 session, requires the deficit to be reduced in steps until it is eliminated in 1991. Under a special provision, the maximum that can be cut this fiscal year is $11.7 billion.

4.9% Cut in Military

The fiscal 1986 cuts call for a 4.3% reduction in most agencies and a 4.9% cut in the military.

Salaries of federal employees will not be cut, but the operating budgets of their agencies will fall under the knife. Budget Director James C. Miller III said there will probably not be any layoffs of federal workers, though there could be a hiring freeze.

The CBO and OMB figures showed a $62-million cut in Congress’ own budget, a $4-million slash at the office of the President, $665,000 from the CBO itself and $1.5 million from the OMB.

The across-the-board nature of the cuts means that even agencies that raise money, like the Internal Revenue Service, will be cut. The IRS will lose $140 million from its $3.2-billion budget.

In Agriculture, the required $1.3-billion cut will mean smaller payments to farmers and a reduction of the number of inspectors at meat-processing plants, officials said.

Cut in Student Aid

The OMB-CBO report estimates a $168-million cut in spending authority for the Employment and Training Administration of the Department of Labor, a $229.7-million cut in student aid and a $40.4- million cut in the federal vocational and adult education program.

Funds for the National Endowment for the Arts will be cut by $7.1 million and by $6 million for the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Spending authority for the Department of Housing and Urban Development will be cut $645 million under the Gramm-Rudman formula.

Mamdani, a Democratic Socialist, has energised liberal voters and has strongly condemned Israel’s war on Gaza.

Polling places have opened for the start of in-person voting for one of the year’s most closely watched elections in the United States, the New York City mayor’s race.

New Yorkers on Saturday began choosing between Democrat Zohran Mamdani, who has built up a sizeable lead in the polls, Republican Curtis Sliwa and former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat appearing on the ballot as an independent. The incumbent mayor, Eric Adams, is also on the ballot, but dropped out of the race last month and recently threw his support behind Cuomo.

Mamdani, a Democratic Socialist, has energised liberal voters, drawn to his proposals for universal, free child care, free buses, and a rent freeze for New Yorkers living in about 1 million rent-regulated apartments.

Cuomo has assailed Mamdani, who would be the city’s first Muslim mayor, over his criticism of Israel.

Mamdani, who has weathered anti-Muslim rhetoric during the contest, says Israel’s military actions in Gaza have amounted to genocide, a view shared by a UN inquiry, genocide experts and numerous rights groups.

In an emotional speech on Friday, Mamdani said the attacks against him are “racist, baseless”.

“To be Muslim in New York is to expect indignity, but indignity does not make us distinct. There are many New Yorkers who face it. It is the tolerance of that indignity that does,” said Mamdani, who in June beat Cuomo to achieve a landslide victory in the Democratic mayoral primary.

Cuomo has portrayed Mamdani’s policies as naive and financially irresponsible. He has appealed to voters to pick him because of his experience as the state’s governor, a position he gave up in 2021 after multiple women accused him of sexual harassment.

New York has allowed early voting since 2019, and it has become relatively popular. In June’s mayoral primary, about 35 percent of the ballots were cast early and in person, according to the city’s campaign finance board.

In neighbouring New Jersey, the governor’s race is also being closely followed. It features Republican state Assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli against Democratic US Representative Mikie Sherrill. New Jersey adopted early voting in 2021.

The off-year elections in the two states could be bellwethers for Democratic Party leaders as they try to decide what kinds of candidates might be best to lead their resistance to Republican President Donald Trump’s agenda.

The races have spotlighted affordability and cost of living issues as well as ongoing divisions within the Democratic Party, said Ashley Koning, director of the Eagleton Center for Public Interest Polling at Rutgers University in New Jersey.

“New York City pits the progressive wing against the establishment old guard in Mamdani versus Cuomo, while New Jersey is banking on moderate candidate Mikie Sherrill to appeal to its broad middle,” she said.

The New Jersey gubernatorial candidates, in their final debate earlier this month, sparred over the federal government shutdown, Sherrill’s military records, Trump’s policies and the high cost of living in the state.

The winner would succeed Democratic Governor Phil Murphy, who is term-limited.

Donald Trump has departed for Malaysia, where he’s set to attend the ASEAN summit and hold trade talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Speaking before he left, the US President criticised Canada over its ‘crooked ad’ about tariffs, and said he’d be open to meeting North Korea’s Kim Jong Un.

The band is back together, even though they never really parted.

Departed? Sure. The crew that comprised “Inside the NBA” moved from TNT when the cable network lost its NBA broadcast rights to ESPN, NBC and Amazon after last season.

But the ensemble that somehow is greater than the sum of its star-studded parts continues — albeit now under the title “NBA Tip-Off.”

The familiar lineup of Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith, Shaquille O’Neal and Ernie Johnson reunited for a pregame show ahead of ESPN’s doubleheader Wednesday, with the Cleveland Cavaliers visiting the New York Knicks and San Antonio Spurs visiting the Dallas Mavericks.

And they poked fun at themselves and at the Worldwide Leader. Any fears that ESPN suits would tone down the rollicking, often hilarious dynamic the quartet brought to the last decade-plus of the 36-year “Inside the NBA” run were quickly doused.

O’Neal opened by admonishing Johnson for mentioning the NBA‘s opening games Tuesday night, which broadcast on NBC and the Peacock streaming service.

“You are supposed to say, this is TRON — the real opening night,” O’Neal said to laughs. “Don’t forget who we are, boys.”

Johnson gently pushed back, replying, “Don’t be that way!” to more laughs.

O’Neal said Smith was almost late for the show, and Smith said, “I haven’t been that nervous since Game 7 of the NBA Finals.”

Barkley, who had been the most vocal skeptic of leaving TNT for ESPN, seconded that sentiment, saying “I was nervous all day.” But before he could continue in a more serious vein, Johnson interrupted and clips were shown of Barkley expressing doubts about ESPN on the “Dan Patrick Show” and other outlets.

More laughs ensued, although Barkley did his best to toe the company line, saying, “I’m not gonna lie. Every person who ever touched a ball wanted to be on ESPN. They are the greatest sports network ever. And to be working with these guys is an honor and a privilege.”

Johnson echoed Barkley, saying, “It is a dream come true,” and asked Smith if he felt the same way. Smith sighed and replied, “I will answer yes, but do you all want a napkin for all that kissing up?”

The laughs continued when a clip of Barkley earlier expressing worry about the workload at ESPN was followed by a graphic that displayed his Thursday work “schedule,” which included appearances every hour of the day, including during broadcasts of World Axe Throwing League and the American Cornhole League.

Basketball analysis did eventually follow the jokes and jabs, with O’Neal making a somewhat-bold prediction regarding oft-injured former Lakers big man Anthony Davis, who now plays in Dallas: “If A.D. plays 65 games, the Dallas Mavericks will be in the Western Conference finals.”

“NBA Tip-Off” was set to air segments pregame, halftime and postgame during Wednesday’s doubleheader, and ESPN announced it will air 20 days during the regular season around games broadcast on ESPN and ABC.

Formats will be different on each network. Pregame shows on ESPN will begin an hour before tipoff and postgame shows will start right after the final horn. Pregame shows on ABC will begin 30 minutes before tipoff. with postgame shows airing only after Saturday prime-time games. The NBA Sunday Showcase series on ABC also will feature an “NBA Tip-Off” pregame show.

“We’re proud that ‘Inside the NBA’ — one of the most iconic and beloved shows in all of media — will play a leading role in our NBA coverage,” ESPN president of content Burke Magnus said in a statement two weeks ago. “Fans should expect the same great show they’re accustomed to watching as it becomes an essential part of the highest-profile events in the NBA, including the NBA Finals.”

There was talk a few months ago that TNT could produce a separate show with the same cast, since this season’s “NBA Tip-Off” will continue to be produced in TNT’s Atlanta studios. Barkley seemingly put the kibosh on that notion when he said a pilot TNT taped was “just stupid stuff.”

“Number one, we won’t have basketball highlights [on TNT],” Barkley said in June. “But also, we’re probably gonna be going up against an NBA game. And anybody who likes basketball ain’t gonna say, ‘Hey, you know what? Let me turn off an NBA game on Amazon, ESPN or NBC to go watch these four dudes sit around and talk about nothing.’”

Instead, the quartet will continue to talk hoops and trade zingers, but only on ESPN and ABC.

“Inside the NBA” 2025-26 regular season broadcast schedule

2025
Oct. 22: ESPN and ESPN2
Oct. 23: ESPN
Oct. 29: ESPN
Nov. 12: ESPN
Dec. 25: ESPN and ABC

2026
Jan. 24: ABC
Jan. 28: ESPN
Jan. 31: ABC
Feb. 7: ABC
Feb. 20: ESPN
Feb. 21: ABC
Feb. 22: ABC
Feb. 27: ESPN
Feb. 28: ABC
March 1: ABC
March 6: ESPN
March 7: ABC
March 8: ABC
March 14: ABC
April 12: ESPN

Last year, the NBA signed a new 11-year, $77-billion media rights deal that will make the league a lot richer and dramatically alter the tune-in habits of fans when the 2025-26 season tips off this week.

Warner Bros. Discovery’s cable network TNT will no longer carry the league’s games, but its iconic studio show “Inside the NBA” lives on at ESPN.

More games will air exclusively on streaming platforms than ever before as Amazon Prime Video and NBCUniversal’s Peacock have significant packages in the new deal.

Here’s what you need to know before the action begins.

“Roundball Rock” returns

NBC is back in the NBA business after 23 years, carrying up to 100 regular season games on the broadcast network and its Peacock streaming platform. The network will carry a prime time game Tuesdays starting this week and Sundays as of Feb. 1. NBCUniversal’s Telemundo will carry 12 of the Sunday night NBA games in Spanish. Peacock will exclusively stream up to three games nationally Mondays.

NBC is also the new home for the NBA’s All-Star weekend, set for February in Los Angeles.

John Tesh plays “Roundball Rock” in an NBC Sports promo for its NBA coverage.

(NBC Sports)

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said in an interview that the league’s move to NBC is more of a homecoming than a transition.

“A lot of the DNA is still in place,” Silver said. “Many of the producers we worked with 20-plus years ago are still with the organization. In some ways we’re able to pick up where we left off.”

The network is leaning into its heritage as the home of the league from 1990 to 2002, when Michael Jordan led the Chicago Bulls to six championships, galvanizing fan interest to new heights. Even John Tesh’s “Roundball Rock” — the infectious percussive theme song used during the era — is returning.

Jordan has been hired as a special contributor, but the network has played it close to the vest about how the NBA legend will be used.

“You will see him on opening night in some capacity,” NBC Sports President Rick Cordella told The Times.

Western Conference fans should appreciate NBC’s approach to its “Coast 2 Coast Tuesday” telecasts starting Oct. 28. In most weeks, NBC TV stations in the Western and Mountain time zones will get their own games in prime time at 8 p.m., rather than a 5 p.m. start time for an East Coast contest.

Cordella noted that having having separate prime time games in two regions will help boost ratings as more people will be available to watch in those hours. Fans across the country will be able to stream both games on Peacock no matter where they live.

A new home for ‘Inside the NBA’

ESPN retained its package of regular season games, playoffs and the NBA Finals. But the most anticipated element of its coverage this season will be the arrival of “Inside the NBA,” airing before and after selected games on ESPN and ABC.

When TNT lost the rights to the NBA, fans of the unfiltered gabfest with Ernie Johnson, Shaquille O’Neal, Charles Barkley and Kenny Smith were despondent over the possibility of its demise after 36 years. ESPN reached an agreement with TNT to continue producing the program in exchange for a package of college football games.

Shaquille O’Neal, Ernie Johnson, Kenny Smith and Charles Barkley on “Inside the NBA.”

(TNT Sports)

Starting with a doubleheader Tuesday, “Inside the NBA” will air for an hour before selected games on ESPN and a half-hour ahead of ABC telecasts.

Postgame editions will be open-ended on ESPN while ABC will run a half-hour and then continue on the ESPN app. The program will air on 20 dates during the regular season and throughout the NBA Playoffs, including the Eastern Conference Finals and the NBA Finals.

Tim Corrigan, senior vice president of sports production for ESPN, said in a recent news conference that nothing will change on the program outside of it being on a new network. Along with the hosts, the graphics, the music and the attitude will remain the same and will still be produced at TNT Sports’ studios in Atlanta with its longtime production team.

“We want them to do their show,” Corrigan said.

All of the games on ESPN and ABC are available on ESPN’s recently launched direct-to-consumer streaming service available to fans who don’t have a pay TV subscription.

NBA comes to Prime Video

Amazon is the new kid on the block, with 67 NBA games exclusively on the Prime Video streaming platform starting with a doubleheader Friday.

The streamer will carry every game in the knockout round of the Emirates NBA Cup, the postseason SoFi Play-In Tournament and first- and second-round playoff games. Prime will also carry two international NBA games this year and handle the conference finals in six of the next 11 seasons.

Prime Video will make on-screen advance stats part of its NBA coverage.

(Prime Video)

Prime developed a number of on-screen features for its “Thursday Night Football” coverage, and viewers can expect the same for the NBA, where fans can access pivotal moments in the game or get a rapid recap if they tune in late.

Fans who subscribe to NBA League Pass, a streaming platform that provides access to out-of-market games, can link the service to Prime Video to watch multiple games at once on the same screen.

Prime Video is also teaming with the online sportsbook app FanDuel, giving bettors the ability to track the progress of their wagers while watching a game. (FanDuel is not available to use in California.)

What happened

Chesapeake Asset Management LLC disclosed a new position in Ryder System (R -0.12%), according to a quarterly report filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on October 15, 2025 (SEC filing). The fund purchased 19,350 shares during the period, bringing the position’s value to approximately $3.08 million as of June 30, 2025. This trade represents an estimated 2.78% of the fund’s $110.74 million in U.S. equity holdings.

What else to know

This is a new position for the fund, representing 2.78% of 13F reportable assets under management following the trade.

Chesapeake’s top five fund holdings after the filing are:

• NASDAQ:MSFT: $11.41 million (10.0% of AUM) as of 2025-06-30
• NYSE:LLY: $6.94 million (6.2% of AUM) as of 2025-06-30
• NYSE:SPOT: $6.27 million (5.6% of AUM) as of 2025-06-30
• NASDAQ:AAPL: $5.99 million (5.4% of AUM) as of 2025-06-30
• NYSE:JPM: $5.52 million (5.0% of AUM) as of 2025-06-30

As of October 14, 2025, Ryder System shares were priced at $182.01, up 20.07% over the past year, outperforming the S&P 500 by 6.68 percentage points over the same period

Company Overview

Company Snapshot

Ryder System, Inc. is a leading provider of logistics and transportation solutions, operating globally with a diversified service portfolio. The company leverages its scale and expertise to deliver integrated fleet management and supply chain services to enterprise customers.

The company generates revenue through leasing and maintenance contracts, rental fees, logistics services, and the sale of used vehicles, offering integrated solutions to optimize clients’ transportation and supply chain operations.

IMAGE SOURCE: GETTY IMAGES.

Ryder System provides fleet management, supply chain solutions, and dedicated transportation services, including full-service leasing, commercial vehicle rental, and logistics management.

It serves businesses across industries with large-scale transportation and logistics needs, targeting corporate clients seeking efficiency, reliability, and scalability in fleet and supply chain management.

Foolish take

Chesapeake Asset Management starting a new position in transportation giant Ryder System is noteworthy. The investment isn’t small; Ryder stock sits just outside the financial management company’s top five holdings at the number six position.

Ryder had a rough 2023 with sales down 2% year over year, but it undertook changes to its business, bouncing back strong in 2024 with 7% year-over-year revenue growth to $12.6 billion. However, sales results in 2025 have been mixed. Through the first half of this year, revenue of $6.3 billion was flat compared to 2024.

But that’s not the whole story. Ryder expects its free cash flow (FCF) for the year to reach between $900 million and $1 billion. This sum far outpaces the $133 million in FCF produced last year, and will allow it to continue paying its robust dividend.

Moreover, the company adopted cost-saving initiatives that helped it increase diluted earnings per share (EPS) by 11% year over year to $3.15 in the second quarter. That’s the third consecutive quarter of double-digit EPS growth.

Ryder’s transformation from its difficult 2023 is delivering benefits to shareholders through higher EPS and FCF even though topline sales have not been impressive in 2025. These factors probably contributed to Chesapeake’s decision to begin investing in Ryder, which looks like a solid stock to buy for income investors.

Glossary

13F reportable assets: Assets that investment managers must disclose quarterly to the SEC if they exceed $100 million in U.S. equity holdings.
Assets under management (AUM): The total market value of investments managed on behalf of clients by a fund or firm.
Position: The amount of a particular security or investment held by an investor or fund.
Stake: The ownership interest or share an investor holds in a company or asset.
Top five holdings: The five largest investments in a fund’s portfolio, usually by market value.
Outperforming: Achieving a higher return than a specific benchmark or index over a given period.
Dividend yield: A financial ratio showing how much a company pays in dividends each year relative to its share price.
Fleet management: Services that oversee and coordinate commercial vehicles for businesses, including maintenance, leasing, and logistics.
Supply chain solutions: Services that help businesses manage the flow of goods, information, and resources from suppliers to customers.
Full-service leasing: A leasing arrangement where the provider handles maintenance, repairs, and other services for the leased asset.
Logistics management: The planning and coordination of moving goods and resources efficiently through a supply chain.
TTM: The 12-month period ending with the most recent quarterly report.

At its core, a civil suit is about money. Nobody pleads guilty. Nobody goes to prison. Somebody either pays somebody else or doesn’t.

That’s why roughly 95% of civil suits nationwide reach a settlement ahead of or during trial, legal experts say. Pretrial discovery is usually comprehensive and mediation can produce agreements. Trials are costly, and plaintiffs and defendants alike overwhelmingly prefer to eliminate the risk of an all-or-nothing jury verdict by agreeing on a compromise dollar figure.

That’s also why the case brought by the family of deceased Angels pitcher Tyler Skaggs against the Angels has surprised some legal experts. A recent one-day settlement conference between lawyers went nowhere, and both sides are focused on a trial, which begins Monday in Orange County Superior Court with opening statements and witness testimony.

Skaggs was found dead in his hotel room in Southlake, Texas, on July 1, 2019, before the Angels were scheduled to start a series against the Texas Rangers. The Tarrant County medical examiner conducted an autopsy and found that in addition to the opioids, Skaggs had a blood-alcohol level of 0.12. The autopsy determined he died from asphyxia after aspirating his own vomit, and that his death was accidental.

Former Angels communications director Eric Kay was sentenced to 22 years in federal prison Tuesday after being convicted of providing the counterfeit oxycodone pills laced with fentanyl that led to the Skaggs’ overdose.

Prosecutors alleged Kay sold opioids to Skaggs and at least five other professional baseball players from 2017 to 2019. Several players testified during the trial about obtaining illicit oxycodone pills from Kay.

The Skaggs family filed their lawsuit in June 2021, alleging the Angels knew, or should have known, that Kay was supplying drugs to Skaggs and other players. Testimony established that Kay was also a longtime user of oxycodone and that the Angels knew it.

The Angels responded by saying that a former federal prosecutor the team hired to conduct an independent investigation into the circumstances that led to Skaggs’ death determined no team executives were aware or informed of any employee providing opioids to any player.

“The lawsuits are entirely without merit and the allegations are baseless and irresponsible,” the Angels said in a statement shortly after the lawsuit was filed. “The Angels organization strongly disagrees with the claims made by the Skaggs family and we will vigorously defend these lawsuits in court.”

The team has not budged from that position even after years of discovery that included more than 50 depositions, a pretrial ruling by the judge that Kay’s conviction cannot be questioned during the civil trial and Judge H. Shaina Colover denying the Angels’ motion for summary judgment by saying, “There is evidence that … Angels baseball had knowledge that Kay was distributing drugs to players and failed to take measures to get him to stop.”

The settlement conference held between lawyers for the Angels and the plaintiffs — which include Skaggs’ widow Carli, mother Debra Hetman and father Darrell Skaggs — merely underscored that the two sides see the case very differently, according to people close to the negotiations not authorized to speak publicly about the case.

Settlement conferences are confidential and the California Evidence Code protects statements and conduct during conferences from being used to prove liability. However, legal experts said it is clear the two sides remain far apart in assessing the value of the case.

“They definitely could have been talking settlement all along,” said Edson K. McClellan, an Irvine lawyer who specializes in high-stakes civil and employment litigation. “I would be surprised if they haven’t engaged in some settlement negotiations.”

Damages sought by the Skaggs family include his projected future earnings and compensation for the pain and anguish the family suffered.

Lawyers for the Skaggs family originally said they were seeking $210 million, although that number has risen during four years of pretrial litigation. A claim by Angels lawyer Todd Theodora in a hearing this summer that the plaintiffs were asking for $1 billion was shot down last week by a person in the Skaggs camp who said “we are not asking anywhere remotely close to that. My god, the whole world would turn upside down.”

Skaggs had unquestionable earning potential. The left-handed former first-round draft pick was only 27 and an established member of the Angels starting rotation when he died. He was making $3.7 million in 2019 and likely would have made at least $5 million in his final year of arbitration before becoming a free agent after the 2020 season.

Although Skaggs posted average statistics — his earned-run average was over 4.00 in each of his seven seasons and his career won-loss record was 28-38 — free-agent contracts for starters under 30 range from three to six years for $15,000 to $25,000 a year. And he could have merited another contract in his mid-30s.

Assuming he remained healthy — Skaggs missed the 2015 season because of Tommy John surgery and had other injuries during his career — experts said a reasonable prediction of future earnings could exceed $100 million. However, his established history of drug use could dampen the projections.

“Speculative projections, making the assumption that he played another 10 years, push an award into nine figures, but honestly, looking at the level of drug abuse, jurors could have doubts,” said Lauren Johnson-Norris, an Orange County-based defense lawyer.

Pain, suffering and mental anguish damages could add to an award either by jury verdict or settlement. Legal experts expect Skaggs’ lawyers — who include nationally renowned Rusty Hardin and Shawn Holley — to point out that losing a husband or a son that your life centered around is worth an award.

Opening statements this week should illustrate why the two sides aren’t close to a settlement.

Skaggs’ lawyers will say the Angels are responsible for his death because they knew Kay was a habitual drug user that procured opioids for players, pointing to evidence that Angels team physician Craig Milhouse prescribed Kay with hydrocodone 15 times from 2009 to 2012.

Also likely to be mentioned will be Angels star Mike Trout who, according to the deposition of former Angels clubhouse attendant Kris Constanti, offered to pay for Kay’s drug rehabilitation in 2018.

The Angels will counter by telling the jury that prosecutors in Kay’s criminal trial concluded he was not acting as an employee when he gave Skaggs the fentanyl-laced oxycodone. Kay was charged and convicted, not the team.

Skaggs and Kay, the Angels will contend, were two men engaging in criminal misconduct on their own time and they concealed it from the team. The Angels lawyers will tell the jury that taking opioids prescribed by a physician during recovery from surgery is vastly different than Skaggs chopping up and snorting counterfeit pills that were not prescribed for him.

Witness testimony will begin after the opening statements, and current and former Angels executives Tim Mead, Tom Taylor and John Carpino are expected to be the first called.

And as the lawyers make their best arguments and witnesses provide testimony in a trial expected to take more than two months, both sides will be silently evaluating whether pursuing a settlement is in their best interest.

An agreement could be reached at any time, abruptly ending court proceedings.

“Sometimes what triggers a settlement is a court ruling or a witness performing well or poorly,” McClellan said. “As the trial unfolds and evidence is actually coming in, risk is brought into focus and makes plaintiffs and defendants evaluate their case in a more clear light.”

Oct. 10 (UPI) — Israeli forces in Gaza began pulling back to pre-agreed positions Friday in line with the terms of the cease-fire and hostage release agreement requiring a partial withdrawal within 24 hours of the Israeli cabinet signing off on the deal.

The Israel Defense Forces posted a video on X of troops preparing to pull out and military vehicles moving under the cover of darkness.

“Southern Command in the midst of adjusting operational positions in Gaza,” it said, but warned that troops were still deployed in the area and would counter any threats that emerged.

IDF Radio said the IDF projected that its forces would have withdrawn to the agreed positions by noon local time.

The BBC said troops had started to pull out from the north-western areas of Gaza City while local residents in other locations reported similar maneuvers.

However, Israeli armor remained in place in locations from which forces were due to withdraw under the first phase of the plan, including the coastal road and parts of Khan Yunis in the south where Israeli air strikes were reported overnight.

Artillery and gunfire were also heard near the Netzarim corridor in central Gaza.

The cease-fire was supposed to take effect immediately after being approved by the Israeli government in the early hours of Friday, local time.

The three-phase pullout mandates IDF troops permanently withdraw to a so-called “yellow line” in U.S. President Donald Trump‘s peace plan that will leave Israel in control of about 53% of the Palestinian enclave within 24 hours of Israeli government approval of the deal, which came just before 2 a.m.

For its part, Hamas is required to hand back 48 hostages, 20 of whom are believed to be living, by noon on Monday, while at the same time Israel will release 1,700 Palestinians held in its prisons.

Flows of humanitarian aid was also due to recommence with all restrictions lifted immediately.

U.S. officials said the Pentagon was redeploying a force of as many as 200 troops from other Middle East missions to Israel to lead a multinational force to monitor the truce.

They stressed their presence would be in a coordinating role only and that there would be no U.S. boots on the ground in Gaza.

The International Committee of the Red Cross said it stood by ready to assist in the hostage-prisoner swap, including reuniting families with the remains of their loved ones, as it had done in previous deals over the past two years since the Oct. 7 attacks.

The NGO said in a news release that its teams were prepared to deliver and safely distribute lifesaving aid to those who needed it most in Gaza.

The United Nations said it was standing ready to get to work implementing a 60-day plan 60-day comprehensive plan to deliver critical aid, including hundreds of thousands tons of food, medicine and other supplies.

“Our plan, detailed and tested, is in place. Our supplies, 170,000 metric tons, are in place. And our team, courageous and expert and determined, are in place,” U.N. Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Tom Fletcher told a news conference in New York.

“We will aim to increase the pipeline of supplies to hundreds of trucks every day. We will scale up the provision of food across Gaza to reach 2.1 million people who need food aid and around 500,000 people who need nutrition.

Famine must be reversed in areas where it has taken hold and prevented in others. So we will be distributing in-kind rations. We’ll be supporting bakeries, community kitchens. We’ll be supporting herders and fishers in restoring their livelihoods,” said Fletcher, who also serves as the Office of Humanitarian Affairs’ emergency relief coordinator.

About 200,000 families would also receive cash payouts to use to shop at public markets to cover their basic food needs.

Meanwhile, Israel was preparing to welcome Trump, who was expected to travel to Jerusalem on Sunday to address the Knesset. Hostage families also want him to come and speak in Dizengoff Square in Tel Aviv, which has been unofficially dubbed “Hostage Square.”

Speaking in the Oval office on Thursday, Trump said that he hoped to be in Israel for when the hostages were released “on Monday or Tuesday.

However, Israeli media were reporting that Trump’s visit will be short, with the president scheduled to fly out of Israel again late Sunday.

Activists on the Global Sumud Flotilla shared a video they said showed Israeli vessels approaching the fleet to intercept it before reaching Gaza. Such interceptions by Israeli forces in international waters are considered illegal.

WASHINGTON — Plunged into a government shutdown, the U.S. is confronting a fresh cycle of uncertainty after President Donald Trump and Congress failed to strike an agreement to keep government programs and services running by Wednesday’s deadline.

Roughly 750,000 federal workers are expected to be furloughed, some potentially fired by Trump’s Republican administration. Many offices will be shuttered, perhaps permanently, as Trump vows to “do things that are irreversible, that are bad” as retribution. His deportation agenda is expected to run full speed ahead, while education, environmental and other services sputter. The economic fallout is expected to ripple nationwide.

“We don’t want it to shut down,” Trump said at the White House before the midnight deadline.

But the president, who met privately with congressional leadership this week, appeared unable to negotiate any deal between Democrats and Republicans to prevent that outcome.

This is the third time Trump has presided over a federal funding lapse, the first since his return to the White House this year, in a remarkable record that underscores the polarizing divide over budget priorities and a political climate that rewards hard-line positions rather than more traditional compromises.

Plenty of blame being thrown around

The Democrats picked this fight, which was unusual for the party that prefers to keep government running, but their voters are eager to challenge the president’s second-term agenda. Democrats are demanding funding for health care subsidies that are expiring for millions of people under the Affordable Care Act, spiking the costs of insurance premiums nationwide.

Republicans have refused to negotiate for now and have encouraged Trump to steer clear of any talks. After the White House meeting, the president posted a cartoonish fake video mocking the Democratic leadership that was widely viewed as unserious and racist.

What neither side has devised is an easy offramp to prevent what could become a protracted closure. The ramifications are certain to spread beyond the political arena, upending the lives of Americans who rely on the government for benefit payments, work contracts and the various services being thrown into turmoil.

“What the government spends money on is a demonstration of our country’s priorities,” said Rachel Snyderman, a former White House budget official who is the managing director of economic policy at the Bipartisan Policy Center, a think tank in Washington.

Shutdowns, she said, “only inflict economic cost, fear and confusion across the country.”

Economic fallout expected to ripple nationwide

An economic jolt could be felt in a matter of days. The government is expected Friday to produce its monthly jobs report, which may or may not be delivered.

While the financial markets have generally “shrugged” during past shutdowns, according to a Goldman Sachs analysis, this one could be different partly because there are no signs of broader negotiations.

“There are also few good analogies to this week’s potential shutdown,” the analysis said.

Across the government, preparations have been underway. Trump’s Office of Management and Budget, headed by Russ Vought, directed agencies to execute plans for not just furloughs, as are typical during a federal funding lapse, but mass firings of federal workers. It’s part of the Trump administration’s mission, including its Department of Government Efficiency, to shrink the federal government.

What’s staying open and shutting down

The Medicare and Medicaid health care programs are expected to continue, though staffing shortages could mean delays for some services. The Pentagon would still function. And most employees will stay on the job at the Department of Homeland Security.

But Trump has warned that the administration could focus on programs that are important to Democrats, “cutting vast numbers of people out, cutting things that they like, cutting programs that they like.”

As agencies sort out which workers are essential, or not, Smithsonian museums are expected to stay open at least until Monday. A group of former national park superintendents urged the Trump administration to close the parks to visitors, arguing that poorly staffed parks in a shutdown are a danger to the public and put park resources at risk.

No easy exit as health care costs soar

Ahead of Wednesday’s start of the fiscal year, House Republicans had approved a temporary funding bill, over opposition from Democrats, to keep government running into mid-November while broader negotiations continue.

But that bill has failed repeatedly in the Senate, including late Tuesday. It takes a 60-vote threshold for approval, which requires cooperation between the two parties. A Democratic bill also failed. With a 53-47 GOP majority, Democrats are leveraging their votes to demand negotiation.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune has said Republicans are happy to discuss the health care issue with Democrats — but not as part of talks to keep the government open. More votes are expected Wednesday.

The standoff is a political test for Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer, who has drawn scorn from a restive base of left-flank voters pushing the party to hold firm in its demands for health care funding.

“Americans are hurting with higher costs,” Schumer said after the failed vote Tuesday.

House Speaker Mike Johnson sent lawmakers home nearly two weeks ago after having passed the GOP bill, blaming Democrats for the shutdown.

“They want to fight Trump,” Johnson said Tuesday on CNBC. “A lot of good people are going to be hurt because of this.”

Trump, during his meeting with the congressional leaders, expressed surprise at the scope of the rising costs of health care, but Democrats left with no path toward talks.

During Trump’s first term, the nation endured its longest-ever shutdown, 35 days, over his demands for funds Congress refused to provide to build his promised U.S.-Mexico border wall.

In 2013, the government shut down for 16 days during the Obama presidency over GOP demands to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. Other closures date back decades.

Mascaro, Jalonick and Groves write for the Associated Press. Associated Press writers Matt Brown, Joey Cappelletti, Will Weissert, Fatima Hussein and other AP reporters nationwide contributed to this report.

The latest break between the two foremost military and political leaders risks igniting civil war again for the embattled nation.

South Sudan has started holding a trial for First Vice President Riek Machar, who has been sacked by his decades-long rival, President Salva Kiir, and charged with murder, treason and crimes against humanity in relation to rebellion and an attack by a militia linked with ethnic tensions.

Machar and seven others who have been charged alongside him, including Petroleum Minister Puot Kang Chol, were seen sitting inside a barred cage in the court on Monday during a live broadcast on national television.

Machar has been held in house arrest at his residence in the capital, Juba, for months following investigations by the government of his allies.

The Trial of Dr. Riek Machar Teny https://t.co/3T7CVp2ZDR

— South Sudan Eagles Media (@ssemtv) September 22, 2025

Earlier this month, a decree read on state radio said Kiir suspended the first vice president due to charges stemming from his alleged involvement in attacks by the White Army against federal forces in March.

The White Army, a loose band of armed youths, attacked a military base in Nasir, northeastern South Sudan, and killed more than 250 soldiers on Machar’s orders, according to the government.

Edmund Yakani, executive director of South Sudan activist group Community Empowerment for Progress Organization, told local media that the trial must be transparent and fair to build up trust in the judicial system.

He urged both leaders and their parties to “adhere to the principle of resolving political misunderstanding through dialogue” rather than violence, which would benefit no one.

Machar’s party, Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army-in Opposition (SPLM/IO), has called the charges “fabricated” and said its members were arrested illegally. Machar’s lawyer on Monday said “an incompetent court” that lacks jurisdiction is judging him.

Fears of a return to ruinous civil war

After the vice president’s arrest, the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) called on all parties to exercise restraint and warned that they risked losing the “hard-won gains of the past seven years” and returning to a state of civil war.

South Sudan is the world’s youngest country and also one of its most impoverished.

In 2013, two years after the country gained independence from Sudan following decades of war, oil-producing South Sudan descended into a civil war.

The devastating conflict, which scarred the country and left some 400,000 people killed, pitted Kiir and his allies from the ethnic Dinka group against Machar, who is from the Nuer, the second-largest ethnic group in South Sudan.

More than four million people, or about one-third of the population, were displaced from their homes before a 2018 peace deal saw the pair form a “national unity” government.

But they never fully saw eye-to-eye, leaving the country in a state of limbo.

Both leaders held on to their armed factions that were never fully integrated and unified despite agreements, while reforms were delayed, and presidential elections were repeatedly postponed.

Armed clashes have erupted in several parts of the country over the past months, with both sides accusing each other of breaking ceasefire agreements.

Authorities in South Sudan are, in the meantime, plundering billions of dollars in public funds as the impoverished country also deals with a deepening food crisis, according to the UN.

“The country has been captured by a predatory elite that has institutionalised the systematic looting of the nation’s wealth for private gain,” the UN Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan said last week.

Sept. 22 (UPI) — On this date in history:

In 1776, the British hanged American Revolutionary War hero and patriot Nathan Hale. His famous last words were, “I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country.”

In 1862, President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, freeing some 3 million slaves.

In 1888, National Geographic began publishing.

In 1927, Jack Dempsey muffed a chance to regain the heavyweight championship when he knocked down Gene Tunney but failed to go to a neutral corner promptly, thereby delaying the referee’s count and giving the champ time to get up.

In 1961, President John F. Kennedy signed a law giving the Peace Corps permanent status. He hailed it as a way for Americans to work for world peace and understanding.

In 1975, U.S. President Gerald Ford escaped a second assassination attempt in 17 days, this one by self-proclaimed revolutionary Sara Jane Moore, who tried to shoot him as he walked from a San Francisco hotel. Her shot, deflected by ex-Marine Oliver Sipple, a bystander who grabbed her arm, slightly wounded a man in the crowd. Moore served 32 years of a life prison sentence. She was released in 2007 at the age of 77. Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme, convicted in a Sept. 5, 1975, assassination attempt in Sacramento, was paroled in 2009, at age 60, after 34 years in prison.

File Photo courtesy Gerald R. Ford Library

In 1980, long-standing border disputes and political turmoil in Iran prompted Iraqi President Saddam Hussein to launch an invasion of Iran’s oil-producing province of Khuzestan, touching off an eight-year war.

In 1985, more than 50 rock and country stars, headed by Willie Nelson, Neil Young and John Mellencamp, staged the 14-hour Farm Aid concert for 78,000 rain-soaked spectators in Champaign, Ill., raising $10 million for debt-ridden U.S. farmers.

File Photo by Armand Engelbrecht/UPI

In 1994, Friends, starring Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry and David Schwimmer, premiered on NBC. The comedy series ran for 10 season, each of which was ranked in the Top 10 of the final TV season ratings.

In 2008, officials at China’s health ministry said nearly 53,000 children, most of them younger than 2 years old, had been sickened by milk powder tainted with an industrial chemical. At least four children died. Ten Asian and African nations, including Japan, temporarily banned Chinese dairy products.

In 2010, a Miami appeals court affirmed the adoption of two foster children by a gay couple, ruling Florida’s ban on same-sex adoption was unconstitutional.

In 2017, the U.S. Marine Corps announced that for the first time in its 250-year history, a woman will be joining its ranks as an infantry officer.

In 2019, Billy Porter became the first openly gay man to win an Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama in a Series for Pose.

In 2020, the United States reported a milestone 200,000 deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic.

File Photo by Ken Cedeno/UPI

While some flag football teams have been playing for weeks, one of the City Section’s expected top teams, Birmingham, finally debuts on Wednesday at Arleta.

Coach Jim Rose has only two seniors on his team and has been working to get his players familiar with new rules, from punting to the defense getting to be only one yard away from the line of scrimmage before hiking the ball.

Bella Gonzalez, a second baseman on the softball team, will handle quarterbacking duties early while waiting for the No. 1 quarterback to recover from a knee injury.

Rose is particularly excited about freshman Ellie St. Hubert, a safety and receiver. “She is really good,” Rose said.

Banning is the defending City Open Division champion. Birmingham won the first title in 2023.

“We always think we’re going to be one of the top teams,” Rose said. “Athletically we’re better than last season.”

This is a daily look at the positive happenings in high school sports. To submit any news, please email [email protected].

Germany begin their World Cup qualifying group with defeat by Slovakia, the third straight loss for four-time winners.

Four-time world champions Germany suffered their first away loss in a World Cup qualifier after their shock 2-0 defeat by hosts Slovakia in their opening qualifier for the 2026 tournament.

The Germans, who have set a goal of winning the 2026 World Cup, had never before lost a World Cup qualifier on the road, and they have now lost their last three consecutive matches, following defeats by Portugal and France in the Nations League in June.

“We did not show any emotionality in our game today. In terms of emotions, the opponents were miles ahead of us,” Germany coach Julian Nagelsmann said after Thursday’s defeat. “We want to go to the World Cup, but today we were miles away from that.

“I want to see that emotionality. We picked the best players in Germany, but maybe we have to put less importance on quality and more on players who will give it all out there.”

The Germans have not made an impact in major international tournaments since last winning the World Cup in 2014.

Nagelsmann’s team were on the back foot with the Slovaks missing a golden chance in the opening seconds with Lubomir Satka. Germany goalkeeper Oliver Baumann then denied Leo Sauer in their one-on-one with a superb save in the 21st minute, in early warnings that the visitors did not heed.

Slovakia’s offensive play paid off in the 42nd when Germany’s Florian Wirtz lost possession and the hosts launched a quick break with David Hanchko completing it with a fine finish.

Germany, toothless in the first half, looked more aggressive after the break, and Leon Goretzka came close. However, Slovakia struck against the run of play, with David Strelec sending defender Antonio Rudiger the wrong way before curling a shot past Baumann in the 55th.

“The first five minutes of the second half were a bit brighter, but the rest was pretty grim,” Nagelsmann said.

“I trust my team, but they have to understand that simply being a better player than the opponent is not enough if you don’t show willingness and desire. You won’t get results with the handbrake on.”

The Germans, who were eliminated in the first round of the previous two World Cups, were unable to mount a serious comeback, lacking any ideas and punch up front.

Slovakia travel to Luxembourg for their next Group A match on Sunday, while Germany host Northern Ireland.

Los Angeles County Museum of Art’s new Peter Zumthor-designed David Geffen Galleries are alive with sound and activity. Voices echo through the vast, concrete space and a cacophony of drills and electric lifts beep, buzz and blare. A unique colored glaze is being applied to gallery walls, and paintings and photos are being installed throughout.

That gritty whir? It’s the Hilti TE 4-22 cordless rotary hammer drill. “A very fine product,” says senior art preparator Michael Price with a sly smile. He’s been drilling holes in the concrete walls with the large red contraption, which comes with a small attached vacuum that sucks up concrete dust as it penetrates the wall. The work is simple and done in a matter of seconds.

Senior art preparator Michael Price drills into concrete walls to hang art in LACMA’s new David Geffen Galleries. He jokingly calls the Hilti TE 4-22 cordless rotary hammer drill “a very fine product.”

(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)

Some of the first holes were drilled a little more than a week ago for the installation of a photo sculpture LACMA commissioned for its entrance by Los Angeles-born artist Todd Gray, titled “Octavia Butler’s Gaze.” Last Wednesday, Gray, along with LACMA director and Chief Executive Michael Govan and curator Britt Salvesen, watched the final panel of the 27-foot-long assemblage being hoisted onto the wall and put in place using wooden cleats that fit together much like a jigsaw puzzle.

“This is another thing that concrete makes possible,” says Salvesen, the head of the photography, and prints and drawings, departments, noting with satisfaction how flush the photographs sit against the wall. “The traditional sheetrock drywall used in many museums have been painted and repainted so many times, they’re not exactly pristine when it comes to leveling.”

Gray steps back and looks at the finished product, nodding with quiet pride. The L.A. native attended Hamilton High School and CalArts and felt deeply honored to have been tapped for a permanent commission. He was therefore among the first people to take a hard-hat tour of the building when it was under construction so he could familiarize himself with the space. The new building opens in April 2026.

“I was kind of overwhelmed,” Gray says. “I had never been in an architectural space like this so I was just really curious. But I must admit, I was much more concerned about this wall.”

The wall is big — a blank, concrete slate — and Gray’s piece will be the first work of art guests see when they walk up the broad staircase leading to the new galleries. In Butler’s portrait, which Gray took in the 1990s, the influential writer looks contemplatively off into the distance — whether near or far, one can’t be sure. Her expression is unreadable, at once thoughtful, curious, interested and detached.

A portrait of Octavia Butler, taken by Todd Gray in the 1990s, anchors the 27-foot-long photo sculpture commissioned by LACMA for the entrance of its new David Geffen Galleries.

(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)

Her face is in a gold, oval frame and the viewer’s eyes follow hers to other aspects of the piece — an assemblage of large and small photos taken by Gray in places around the world, including Versailles, Norway and Ghana. It includes an image of an idyllic-looking path through bright green foliage that leads to a slave castle in Cape Coast, Ghana. There is also a striking image of stars in the cosmos, a lovely fresco from a church in Rome, a picture of traditional sculpture housed at the AfricaMuseum in Belgium and a series of stoic Greek columns.

“A lot of my work is contesting art history, or talking about art history, or photography’s place in history, my history, various histories culturally,” said Gray, explaining why he likes that LACMA’s collection will not be exhibited chronologically, or by medium or region, but rather in a series of interwoven exhibits that connect vastly different art in dialogue. “So it was really a commission made in heaven.”

The new galleries, explained Govan, will focus on “migration and intersection, rather than American art over on one side of the museum and European art in a different wing.”

Gray’s photo sculpture, for example, will be adjacent to a gallery featuring African art and near another with Latin American art.

It will also be directly across from a floor-to-ceiling window. These giant windows are a key part of Zumthor’s design — and a flash point for controversy, with critics arguing that too much sunlight could harm fragile art.

Translucent curtains are being designed for some of the windows, but won’t be used throughout, and not in the entrance across from “Octavia’s Gaze.” For that reason, Gray said he employed a relatively new technique called UV direct printing that was developed for outdoor signage. The process involves intense ultraviolet lights that cure and harden the ink, ultimately searing it into the printing material. These prints won’t fade, Gray said.

Todd Gray, left, oversees the installation of his photo sculpture “Octavia Butler’s Gaze.” The piece used a new UV printing technology to ensure it won’t fade in the sunlight coming in through the floor-to-ceiling windows across from it.

(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)

Delicate and old art will not be put at risk by light, Govan said. The interior of Zumthor’s building is dotted with boxy, windowless galleries that Govan and Zumthor call “houses.” And like houses, the interior of galleries are being treated to color — not in the form of paint, however.

Zumthor conceived of three colors that he wanted used in the galleries, explained Diana Magaloni, senior deputy director for conservation, curatorial and exhibitions, who has been mixing the glazes and working with a team of four trained artists to apply them. The colors are a reddish black, a Renaissance ultramarine blue and a blackish burgundy that Zumthor hoped would conjure a cave-like dimness. Overall, Magaloni said, Zumthor wanted the color to look as if it were emerging from darkness.

There are 27 galleries and the colors will be divided by section: Nine on the south side are red, nine on the north side are black and the nine in the middle are blue.

The glazing technique was conceived by a friend of Zumthor’s who lives in Switzerland, and LACMA is currently the only organization to employ it, Magaloni said.

Pigments made of minerals including hematite and rocks like lapis lazuli are ground into nanoparticles and suspended in silica, resembling “melted glass,” as Magaloni describes. The glaze is then applied to the walls, a process that must be done at once in order to prevent any impression of brushstrokes, and also because the glaze hardens quickly. Once it’s dry, the team applies a second coat of glaze pigment infused with black carbon nanoparticles. The effect is dark and mottled — it looks as if the concrete has swallowed the color.

“The concrete has all this life in and of itself,” said Magaloni. “You can walk through the building and you can see that those surfaces are not really homogeneous. The material expresses itself with no artifice, and we wanted to preserve that.”

Painting the concrete would erase that life, she added.

A gallery blushing in a deep wine color, with the theme of “Leisure and Labor in the American Metropolis,” is almost ready. Work by George Bellows, James Van Der Zee, Mary Cassatt and Robert Henri adorn the walls, and there is a table ready to receive a Tiffany lamp. Govan points out that such paintings would not have been originally displayed on white walls but rather on walls of richly colored fabric.

“She’s asking you something,” Todd Gray said of his portrait of Octavia Butler.

(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)

Gray’s piece will also be in dialogue with this room, calling to it from another time and place — asking viewers to turn their gaze to history, slavery, transcendence, salvation, power and so much more.

At this moment in time, when arts institutions are grappling with the implications of the Trump administration’s claim that the Smithsonian Institution presents “divisive, race-centered ideology” and vow to monitor what other museums around the country are putting on display, Gray’s piece feels like a small bit of resistance.

“She’s asking you something,” Gray says of Butler.

The answer is yours to declare.

PM’s office says the weapons transfer to the Lebanese army marks the start of a wider disarmament campaign.

Lebanon has launched a plan to disarm Palestinian groups in its refugee camps, beginning with the handover of weapons from Burj al-Barajneh camp in Beirut.

The prime minister’s office announced on Thursday that the weapons transfer to the Lebanese army marks the start of a wider disarmament campaign. More handovers are expected in the coming weeks across Burj al-Barajneh and other camps nationwide.

A Fatah official told the Reuters news agency the arms handed over so far were only illegal weapons that had entered the camp within the previous day. Television footage showed military vehicles inside the camp, though Reuters could not verify what type of weapons were being surrendered.

The initiative follows Lebanon’s commitment under a US-backed truce between Israel and Hezbollah in November, which restricted weapons to six state security forces. Since the November 27, 2024, ceasefire agreement, Israel has continued attacking Lebanon, often on a weekly basis.

The government has tasked the army with producing a strategy by the end of the year to consolidate all arms under state authority.

According to the prime minister’s office, the decision to disarm Palestinian factions was reached in a May meeting between Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

Both leaders affirmed Lebanon’s sovereignty and insisted that only the state should hold arms. Lebanese and Palestinian officials later agreed on a timeline and mechanism for the handovers.

For decades, Palestinian groups have maintained control inside Lebanon’s 12 refugee camps, which largely operate outside state jurisdiction. The latest initiative is seen as the most serious effort in years to curb the presence of weapons inside the camps.

Palestinian resistance movements grew out of displacement and political exclusion after the creation of Israel in 1948, when some 750,000 Palestinians were forced from their homes.

Over the years, groups including Fatah, Hamas, and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) established a presence in Lebanon’s camps to continue armed struggle against Israel.

Palestinian refugees in Lebanon remain without key civil rights, such as access to certain jobs and property ownership. With limited opportunities, many have turned to armed factions for protection or representation.

The disarmament push also comes as Hezbollah faces what analysts describe as its greatest military challenge in decades, following Israeli strikes in 2024 that decimated much of its leadership.

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