closer

THE UK’s busiest airport has moved one step closer to opening their third runway under the Government’s mega £29billion expansion plans.

The major new upgrade is set to be operational in the next 10 years.

The Transport secretary Heidi Alexander has launched a process to fast-track the new third runway at Heathrow.

Heidi introduced the promised review of the Airports National Policy Statement (ANPS) in parliament today in order to accelerate their plans.

She explained that since 2018, new environmental and climate obligations mean an updated ANPS is necessary to permit a decision to be taken on expansion planning applications.

The new 3,500 metre runway will be in the northwest of the airport, and will eventually welcome up to 276,000 new flights a year.

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This takes the annual flights from 480,000 to 756,000, with as many as 30 new flight routes a day.

The government’s ambition is to see flights take off from a new runway by 2035.

The government will seek formal advice from the Climate Change Committee on any relevant amendments proposed to the ANPS to ensure consistency with their net zero commitments.

The announcement came after Heidi approved the expansion of both Gatwick and Luton airports near London this year. 

Heidi said: “When we say this government is one that backs the builders, not blockers we mean it.

“Today is a critical building block which will advance plans for the delivery of a third runway at Heathrow, meaning people can start to experience the full benefits sooner.

“As our only hub airport, Heathrow is critical to the UK’s economy, connecting millions of people every year and exporting British businesses across the globe.

“Enabling Heathrow expansion will drive economic growth and create jobs across the country, delivering on our Plan for Change.”

The government explained that expansion at Heathrow must be financed entirely by the private sector and bring no cost to taxpayers.

It must also meet rigorous and effective cost controls to deliver the significant infrastructure project as quickly as possible.

Financing will come from promoters who submit formal expansion schemes and will include covering any related costs to improvements to transport to and from the airport.

Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves, said: “After decades of false starts, we are backing the builders to get Heathrow’s third runway built.

“Creating thousands of jobs, boosting growth across the UK, and making Britain the world’s best connected place to do business.

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“This government is getting Britain building to kickstart growth and deliver an economy that works for, and rewards, working people.”

Given the importance of Heathrow to trade and the economy, the government will also assess whether expansion at the airport should be designated as critical national priority infrastructure, meaning that it must meet enhanced security and resilience requirements.

For those dreaming of a Caribbean holiday but can’t bring themselves to pay the hefty price – there are some cheaper alternatives in Europe that are closer and a fraction of the price

While the Maldives may be a dream destination for many – there’s now cheaper destination alternative that are much closer, and considerably cheaper.

The bucket list Caribbean island comes at a pretty expensive cost as the average one-week trip can cost anywhere from £1,700 per person and can go up to £6,500 for a stay in a five-star all-inclusive hotel during the peak season.

However now Brits can enjoy a luxury Maldive-style stay a little closer to home with these European spots for a fraction of the price. Here’s some inspiration for those planning their summer getaways for next year.

READ MORE: Stunning private island off UK coast on the market for less than cost of small houseREAD MORE: Greek island that’s 24C in October but without the Santorini crowds

Albania

Nicknamed the ‘Maldives of Europe’ thanks to its unspoilt white sandy shores and crystal-clear waters that grace its spectacular Riviera, this spot is a popuklar choice. Travellers can indulge in luxury accommodation without emptying their bank accounts, with seafront flats available from just £20 per night.

Thanks to a flurry of TikTok videos flaunting its crystal-clear waters and pristine white sands, Albania has become a hot topic for holidaymakers seeking a slice of the Maldives experience.

Rhodes

Rhodes offers a bustling waterfront where cruise ships dock and vendors sell mouth-watering Greek delicacies. Despite its popularity, it manages to avoid being overrun by crowds, although it does get busy during peak summer season.

With flexible dates, you can find direct flights from Manchester and London this March and April for less than £40. There are numerous budget-friendly hotels in the city, such as the Manousos City Hotel, which currently has rooms available from £25 a night.

Croatia

For holidaymakers wanting a picturesque location without committing to a long-haul flight, Croatia might be the perfect solution. Toni Hrelja, founder of Villsy.com, shared a local’s guide to Croatia’s most beautiful beaches, including hidden gems where the “crystal-clear waters and stunning scenery rival the Maldives.” Among them is Sakarun beach on Dugi Otok island.

You can fly direct from a slew of major UK airports, including Bristol, Manchester, and London: if you’re flexible with dates – you can grab return fares for as little as £60 in April.

Malta

Just over three hours from the UK and with direct flights from 18 regional airports, Malta is the year-round Mediterranean destination that delivers. It’s great for Brits as English is the official language and temperatures regularly hit 27C in September.

With over 300 days of sunshine a year, some of the finest beaches to be found anywhere in Europe and a calendar packed with world-class festivals and events, it’s the kind of place that’ll keep you coming back over and over again.

Do you have a story to share? Email [email protected]

The Dodgers aren’t ready to call Roki Sasaki their closer, but who are they kidding?

Sasaki is their closer.

When the 23-year-old rookie from the Japanese countryside stepped onto the October stage on Wednesday night, he revealed himself to be more than the team’s best late-inning option.

He showed he was special.

He was Reggie-Bush-exploding-through-the-Fresno-State-defense special.

He was Allen-Iverson-crossing-up-Michael-Jordan special.

He was Yasiel-Puig-doubling-off-a-runner-for-the-final-out-in-his-debut special.

“Wow,” third baseman Max Muncy said. “Really, all you can say is wow.”

Watching Sasaki pitch the final inning of a two-game sweep of the Cincinnati Reds in their National League wild-card series, the patrons at Dodger Stadium at once recognized the novelty of his act. The same crowd that can’t distinguish home runs from fly balls was chanting his first name throughout the ballpark after just two pitches.

Sasaki threw seven fastballs in the perfect inning, and six of them were faster than 100 mph. The other was clocked at 99.8 mph.

With a forkball that looked as if it were dropping perpendicular to the ground, he struck out the first two batters he faced. Spencer Steer and Gavin Lux had no chance.

“That guy is gross,” reliever Tanner Scott said.

The 11-pitch performance by Sasaki was why the 8-4 victory in Game 2 felt so different from the 10-5 win in Game 1. In both games, the bullpen created messes in the eighth inning. Game 1 left the Dodgers questioning how they could defend their World Series title with such an unreliable group of relievers. Game 2 offered them a vision of how they could realize their ambition.

“That’s what we need right there,” Muncy said.

Sasaki was the last card in the deck for the Dodgers, who gave up on Scott before the playoffs even started. They experimented with some less experienced arms, but none of them performed well. Edgardo Henriquez and Jack Dreyer were part of a dispiriting three-run eighth inning against the Reds in Game 1. Converted starter Emmet Sheehan was part of another eighth-inning meltdown in Game 2, as he retired just one of the five batters he faced, and that was on a sacrifice fly that drove in a run. Sheehan was charged with two runs.

By the time Sasaki started warming up in the bottom of the eighth inning, he might as well have already inherited the closer role by default. The other candidates had pitched their way out of consideration.

Never mind that Sasaki had never pitched in relief in either the United States or Japan until he did so on a recent minor-league rehabilitation assignment. Sasaki pitched out of the bullpen twice in the major leagues in the final days of the regular season, and he was about as promising a bullpen possibility as they had.

So when Sasaki emerged from the bullpen against the Reds, fans in every section of Dodger Stadium stood to applaud. Sasaki represented their final hope.

Once on the mound, Sasaki delivered a performance that was as aesthetically pleasing as it was effective.

The high leg kick. The athletic delivery. The velocity and precision of his fastball.

Words couldn’t accurately describe what he did, so his teammates didn’t bother trying.

“You guys saw the same thing I did,” catcher Ben Rortvedt said.

Dodgers management was reluctant to say anything definitive about Sasaki’s role moving forward.

Was Sasaki the new closer?

“He’s going to get important outs for us,” president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman replied.

Asked the same question, manager Dave Roberts offered an equally ambiguous answer.

“I trust him,” Roberts said, “and he’s going to pitch in leverage.”

As guarded as Friedman and Roberts were, they couldn’t conceal the truth. Something fundamentally changed for the Dodgers on Wednesday night: They found their ninth-inning pitcher.

Sasaki is their closer.

European leaders have met to discuss Russia and the Ukraine war after a surge in attacks by both sides in September.

More sanctions are under discussion – as are new defences against Russian drones.

So what’s next for peace efforts? Or are Russia and Europe moving closer to conflict?

Presenter:

Dareen Abughaida

Guests:

Mattia Nelles, CEO and cofounder of the German-Ukrainian Bureau, a think tank promoting stronger support for Ukraine

Eldar Mamedov, nonresident fellow at the Quincy Institute, former Latvian diplomat and former foreign policy adviser in the European Parliament

Alexey Muraviev, associate professor of national security and strategic studies at Curtin University in Perth, Australia

As the world’s pontificators and peacemakers gather over the coming months in their various forums—be those the UN General Assembly or the backrooms of Europe and the United States—to discuss the world’s worst conflict-driven humanitarian crisis, Sudan, they would do well to think hard about what they are really hoping to achieve. A quick peace, or an enduring settlement? 

To do that, they will need to peel away the almost cartoon-like representations that have come to dominate media imagery and international perceptions of what this conflict is about, and seek a better understanding of the historical tensions within the Sudanese state, and of the competing visions for how it should be governed—if it is not to be further divided.

A recent analysis by Daniel J Deng, published by the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, would be a useful place to start. Deng, an East Africa and South Sudan peace-building specialist, argues that the war is not merely a quest for military dominance but is, significantly, a “war of visions” over the future architecture of the Sudanese state.

Deng sees the Rapid Support forces, led by Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo (“Hemedti”), as a product of both the collapse of centralized governance and, potentially, as a catalyst for more inclusive, decentralized national reconstruction—the ‘New Sudan’. The Sudanese Armed Forces under General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, is cast as the contemporary custodian of Sudan’s long-standing centralist, military-Islamic order.

That vision of a ’New Sudan’ was the life’s work of John Garang, rebel leader and, briefly before his death in a helicopter crash in 2005, first vice president of Sudan and president of the South Sudan Autonomous Region. Garang articulated a Sudan centred on pluralism, federalism, and inclusive governance, in which he “imagined a pluralistic, democratic Sudan anchored in inclusive governance, ethnic equality, and political secularism,” transcending both northern and southern regional chauvinism.

This vision was central to the Comprehensive Peace Agreement signed between North and South in 2005, but with Garang’s death, the Islamist-dominated Bashir regime in Khartoum let it drift, leading to South Sudan’s secession in 2011. And, it can be argued, Hemedti, whether by conviction or design, is the inheritor of that vision. Certainly in his rhetoric, he appears to have adopted its central tenets and made them central to the vision that lies behind his political coalition, Tasis, and the ‘government of peace and unity’ it has set up in Nyala.

After Omar al-Bashir fell in 2019, the RSF sought to transform its image from a militia rooted in state repression to “a political actor speaking on behalf of Sudan’s neglected peripheries.” Hemedti’s own rhetoric is purposefully populist and ‘Africanist,’ explicitly distancing the RSF from the legacy of Khartoum’s “Islamist deep state”. He has called for “an end to discrimination, equal citizenship, and the rights of all Sudanese, regardless of region or ethnicity.” And in April 2023, as tensions between himself and General Burhan were about to boil over into war, he said: “We want a Sudan that belongs to all Sudanese, not just a select group… a Sudan where every citizen, from Darfur to Kassala, is treated with dignity and equality.”

According to Deng, Hemedti frames himself as “a man of the people, not one of the elites who live in glass towers.” He refers to his roots in Darfur and deep-rural Sudan, and his life as a camel driver—a far cry from Sudan’s tradition of urban, Nile-side Islamist elite dominance. Moreover, the alliances he has forged with the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N, particularly the al-Hilu faction) and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), suggest a leader who understands that Sudan’s future governance must of necessity be decentralised to reflect the aspirations of its diverse ethnicities. 

In contrast, Burhan and the SAF represent the “traditional centralist, military-Islamist dominated model of government”. After the 2021 coup which ousted civilian prime ministerAbdalla Hamdok, Burhan “sought to reintroduce Islamist figures into state structures, consolidating SAF’s traditional base and reactivating elements of the National Congress Party’s old guard.” In Deng’s view, this effort simply “reinforces a statist governance model misaligned with Sudan’s emerging decentralized realities” and represents a direct continuation of the old order, “domination by centre or clique”, instead of plural citizenship and regional equity.

And that’s pretty much where the Juba Peace Agreement of 2020 fell down: implementation was top-down and elite-centric: “The JPA institutionalized parallel sovereignties… Rather than demobilizing insurgents into a unified national force, the JPA institutionalized parallel sovereignties.” These were the same design flaws that led to the collapse, in South Sudan, of its own internal peace process in 2016. Both failures—that of South Sudan, and of Juba in Sudan and the subsequent coup, underline the perils of centralist bargains unmoored from grassroots legitimacy, writes Deng. “By replacing institutional pluralism with top-down military rule, the post-2019 transition drifted into warlord competition masked as governance.”

At no point does Deng attempt to downplay the RSF’s part in the conflict, but he makes clear that Sudan’s future depends on ‘moving beyond binary paradigms of unity versus secession’and reconstructing a governance model that is neither rigidly centralist nor hopelessly fragmented, but layered, decentralized, and rooted in local legitimacy—an outcome that, on the face of it, is more closely aligned with Hemedti’s public posture than Burhan’s. 

And here’s where the pontificators and peacemakers need to pay attention. There is no Nobel Prize-gaming quick fix. Peace in Sudan, and the viability of a future state, will depend on the old Islamist-centralist-elitist-militarist model giving way—through committed, sustained peace and institution building—to a new model of inclusion and distributed power, anchored in accountable, civilian-led, and grassroots-rooted governance. It’s either that or suffering Sudan goes back to Square One. 

Hi and welcome to another edition of Dodgers Dugout. My name is Houston Mitchell, reminding you to stock up on your favorite antacid before the postseason begins.

It was a lot closer than most expected, and it was quite a struggle, but the Dodgers have won the NL West. Some would have been disappointed if they didn’t win it by the All-Star break, but with three games left, the NL West is secure.

This is the 12th time in the last 13 years that the Dodgers have won the NL West. And, despite the travails of the season, that is a remarkable accomplishment. Of course, winning the division guarantees nothing except home-field advantage in the first round, but everyone should take a moment to enjoy it.

We still don’t know who the Dodgers will play starting Tuesday. The first round is three games, Tuesday-Thursday, all at Dodger Stadium. Of course, they will play the third game only if necessary.

Let’s take a look at the other times the Dodgers won the NL West (divisional play began in 1969):

1974: 102-60, lost in World Series to Oakland
1977: 98-64, lost in World Series to New York
1978: 95-67, lost in World Series to New York
1981: 63-47, won World Series over New York
1983: 91-71, lost in NLCS to Philadelphia
1985: 95-67, lost in NLCS to St. Louis
1988: 94-67, won World Series over Oakland
1995: 78-66, lost in NLDS to Cincinnati
2004: 93-69, lost in NLDS to St. Louis
2008: 84-78, lost in NLCS to Philadelphia
2009: 95-67, lost in NLCS to Philadelphia
2013: 92-70, lost in NLCS to St. Louis
2014: 94-68, lost in NLDS to St. Louis
2015: 92-70, lost in NLDS to New York
2016: 91-71, lost in NLCS to Chicago
2017: 104-58, lost in World Series to Houston*
2018: 92-71, lost in World Series to Boston
2019: 106-56, lost in NLDS to Washington
2020: 43-17, won World Series over Tampa Bay
2022: 111-51, lost in NLDS to San Diego
2023: 100-62, lost in NLDS to Arizona
2024: 98-64, won World Series over New York
2025: 90-69, ?

*-Houston (no relation) cheated

Most NL West titles

Dodgers, 23
San Francisco, 9
Cincinnati, 7
Arizona, 5
Atlanta, 5
San Diego, 5
Arizona, 3
Houston, 2

When I was a kid, it seemed to always come down to either the Dodgers or Cincinnati for the NL West title. I miss those days.

The Dodgers did a full clubhouse celebration after winning the title. I have done a full 180 on this. A few years ago I wrote they shouldn’t celebrate these things. But they should. Life is to be celebrated, and celebrating a division title is fine. For some of these guys, it is the first time, and it might be the only time, they won a division title. For someone like Clayton Kershaw, it’s the last time. Enjoy it. It doesn’t mean their focus is off the big prize.

Quotes about winning the division

Dave Roberts: “I do feel that in totality, we’re playing our best baseball of the season. The win-loss hasn’t reflected it, but I think that’s what’s most important. There’s just been a lot of good things and a lot of growth from a lot of players, which has been fun to see.”

Max Muncy: “This year was harder than ever, to get to this point. We went through a lot. We had a lot of injuries. We had a lot of ups and downs.”

Blake Snell (on guys coming together as a team): “That’s what’s going to make us stronger during October. It’s what we needed.”

Clayton Kershaw: “It’s been a weird year for everybody, but we’re here, we won again. Obviously, we’ve got a lot more to accomplish. But you’ve got to enjoy this moment. We are. It’s a great group of guys. And we’re going to have a ton of fun.”

The bullpen

Last time, we tackled the topic of “Is this the worst bullpen in L.A. Dodgers history?” and many of you wanted more stats to prove it is indeed the worst. So here come some more stats.

But first things first: Considering the amount of money sunk into this season’s bullpen, it seems like it’s the worst, no matter what the numbers say.

Most blown saves by an L.A. Dodgers bullpen

1. 29 (2024)
1. 29 (2019)
3. 27 (2025)
3. 27 (2021)
3. 27 (2018)
3. 27 (2001)
3. 27 (1998)
8. 26 (2009)
9. 23 (2000)

Amazing when you see last season’s bullpen, considered the team’s savior, shares the record for most blown saves.

The fewest is eight, for the 2003 team that finished 85-77.

Bullpen losses

1. 33 (2025)
1. 33 (2018)
3. 30 (2005)
4. 29 (1992)
4. 29 (1975)
6. 28 (2021)
6. 28 (2015)
6. 28 (1986)
9. 27 (1996)
9. 27 (1980)

Last season’s bullpen lost 24 games. The record for fewest in a full season is 12 in 1968.

Inherited runners who scored %

1. 43%, 64 of 149 (1994)
2. 41.6%, 72 of 173 (1979)
3. 41%, 110 of 268 (2010)
4. 40.6%, 58 of 143 (1974)
5. 40.3%, 60 of 149 (1966)
6. 39.4%, 56 of 142 (1971)
7. 39.2%, 74 of 189 (1966)
8. 39.1%, 93 of 238 (1959)
9. 38.3%, 110 of 287 (1958)
10. 38.2%, 76 of 199 (1998)

55. 26.2%, 60 of 229 (2025)

Looked at in the other order, the Dodgers this year are 14th-best in L.A. Dodgers history in this category. Seems wrong, but the numbers are the numbers. Maybe Dave Roberts should bring relievers in with runners on, not to start an inning.

Most blown saves by an L.A. Dodgers reliever

12
Mike Marshall, 1974

11
Scott Radinsky, 1998

10
Jim Brewer, 1969
Tanner Scott, 2025

9
Steve Howe, 1980
Steve Howe, 1982
Ken Howell, 1986
Phil Regan, 1967
Jeff Shaw, 2001
Todd Worrell, 1996
Todd Worrell, 1997

On Wednesday, the Dodgers got two new bullpen members: Roki Sasaki and Clayton Kershaw. Not sure where they came from. Must be a couple of late trades. But they each pitched a scoreless inning, giving us a preview of what the postseason bullpen could look like. Unlike his first stint with the Dodgers, Sasaki was attacking hitters, striking out two. Kershaw was Kershaw.

They both could be big upgrades in the postseason. It doesn’t mean the problem is solved by any means. But if Sasaki can pitch like he did Wednesday, then he could be the guy the Dodgers rely on in the postseason.

My new dream is Game 7 of the World Series, Kershaw gets the save.

For a good cause

Four years ago, this newsletter mentioned Makenna Martin, a then-college student who was holding an online bracket (much like the NCAA bracket) where people could fill out their choices for the best-looking Dodger. She added a charitable aspect to it, raising money for a charity for women who are the victim of domestic violence.

Martin, now a college graduate, has continued the bracket, and this year is using it to raise money for “Peace Over Violence,” another charity that helps victims of domestic abuse. You do not have to donate to take part in the bracket challenge. Whether you donate or not, it’s a lot of fun to do. There’s also a raffle to raise funds, with a lot of Dodgers prizes to win. A tip of the cap to Martin and to all young people who try to make the world just a little bit better.

Martin answered a few question via email:

Q: When did you come up with the hottest Dodger bracket and how has it grown over the years?

Martin: It mostly started as a joke with some of my friends on Twitter when I was a senior in high school (8 years ago now!) but it really blew up unexpectedly so I have done it every year since given that everyone has so much fun with it. Four years ago I had the idea to add the fundraiser aspect given the allegations against Trevor Bauer and later on Julio Urías, so we have been able to use our silly annual tradition to bring real change to our community.

Q. What charity is the bracket benefitting this year?

Martin: We are once again supporting Peace Over Violence this year, an organization focused on supporting survivors of domestic violence with the resources they need to heal and thrive.

Q. How much money have you raised for charity over the years?

Martin: We are up to over $33,000 total over the last four years!

Q. Cody Bellinger won your bracket a couple of times, and Chris Taylor has won. Now they are gone. Who’s the odds-on favorite this year?

Martin: I think you can never bet against Shohei [Ohtani], he’s just too good at everything!

Q. Last time we talked, you were in college. What are you up to now?

Martin: I graduated from UC Davis in 2023 and for the last two years I have worked on campus in nutrition research.

Q. Your prediction for the playoffs this year?

Martin: I predict that the bullpen is going to give us all a heart attack.

Q. Finally, for people who want to fill out a bracket and learn more, where should they go?

Martin: All of the information and links can be found on my Twitter (makenna_m19) which is most likely to be up to date, or on Bluesky ([email protected]).

Poll time

We asked, “If all goes as expected this week and the Dodgers win the West, which team would you prefer the Dodgers play in the first round, New York, Cincinnati or Arizona?”

The results, after 8,130 votes:

Cincinnati, 55.9%
New York, 30.1%
Arizona, 14%

Up next

Friday: Dodgers (Emmet Sheehan, 6-3, 2.86 ERA) at Seattle (George Kirby, 10-7, 4,24 ERA), 6:40 p.m., Sportsnet LA, AM 570, KTNQ 1020

Saturday: Dodgers (Tyler Glasnow, 4-3, 3.30 ERA) at Seattle (Logan Gilbert, 6-6, 3.43 ERA), 6:40 p.m., Sportsnet LA, AM 570, KTNQ 1020

Sunday: Dodgers (*Clayton Kershaw, 10-2, 3.52 ERA) at Seattle (Bryce Miller, 4-5, 5.53 ERA), 12:10 p.m., Sportsnet LA, AM 570, KTNQ 1020

*-left-handed

In case you missed it

Shaikin: Dodgers fans should take a moment to appreciate team’s success before anxiety returns

Can Roki Sasaki’s return provide Dodgers trustworthy relief? Early signs were promising

How Bill Russell stayed connected to baseball, and reconnected with the Dodgers

MLB will use robot umpires in 2026, ushering in a new era for calling balls and strikes

And finally

The Dodgers celebrate winning the NL West. Watch and listen here.

Until next time…

Have a comment or something you’d like to see in a future Dodgers newsletter? Email me at [email protected]. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.

Syria’s al-Sharaa voices hope for deal, warns of regional risks due to Israeli attempts to fragment country.

Israel is close to striking a “de-escalation” agreement with Syria, after the latter’s President signalled that his country was “scared” of the former’s relentless attacks since the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad’s rule last year.

United States Special Envoy for Syria Tom Barrack said on Tuesday that the agreement would see Israel stopping its attacks on its neighbour, while Syria will agree to not move any machinery or heavy equipment near the Israeli border.

Barrack said that both sides were negotiating “in good faith” on the agreement, which had been slated for completion this week, but had been slowed down by the Rosh Hashana holiday – the Jewish New Year – this week. The agreement would serve as first step towards an eventual security deal, he said.

Speaking shortly before Barrack, Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, whose forces toppled longtime autocrat ruler al-Assad back in December, voiced hope for a security deal, pointing out that his country had not created problems with Israel.

“We are scared of Israel, not the other way around,” he told an event of the Middle East Institute in New York.

“There are multiple risks with Israel stalling on the negotiations and insisting on violating our airspace and incursions into our territory,” he said.

“Jordan is under pressure, and any talk of partitioning Syria will hurt Iraq, will hurt Turkiye. That will take us all back to square one,” he added.

Al-Sharaa will be the first Syria leader to address the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on Wednesday in six decades.

Risks of fragmentation

Israel and Syria have been Middle East adversaries for decades, the enmity between the pair heightening during the 1967 Arab-Israeli war and Israel’s occupation of the Syrian Golan Heights.

Since Assad’s ouster, Israel has hobbled Syria’s attempts to get back on a stable footing, trashing a 1974 ceasefire agreement between the two states, striking Syrian military assets and sending troops to within 20 km (12 miles) of Damascus.

Al-Sharaa said last week that Israel had carried out more than 1,000 strikes on Syria and conducted more than 400 ground incursions.

Israel has alternately claimed that its strikes on Syria are aimed at preventing terrorism or protecting the country’s Druze minority, notably in the southern area of Suwayda where sectarian violence erupted in June. But Israel has brazenly bombed central Damascus as well.

Critics charge that Israel is seeking to fragment the country in a bid to keep it weak and exert its own dominance over the region.

Speaking on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly on Monday, al-Sharaa renewed his call to the US to formally lift sanctions imposed on his country to enable it to rebuild and held talks this week with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Israel has been lobbying US lawmakers and policymakers at the State Department for months to keep sanctions in place.

In a historical twist of fate for the ages, al-Sharaa sat down for interview this week, whilst in New York for the UNGA, with former US General David Petraeus, who once arrested the then rebel righter and led American forces during the invasion of Iraq, later becoming the director of the CIA.

A handful of seats are all that keep Republicans in control of the House, giving President Trump untrammeled sway over, well, pretty much everything, from the economy to the jokes on late-night TV to the design of the Cracker Barrel logo.

It’s a number that’s both tantalizing and fraught, depending on your political perspective.

For Democrats, that eyelash-thin margin means they’re thisclose to regaining power and a political toehold in next year’s midterm election. All they need is a gain of three House seats. For Trump and fellow Republicans, it means their hegemony over Washington and life as we know it dangles by a perilously thin thread.

That tension explains the redistricting wars now blazing throughout our great land.

It started in Texas, where Trump pressured Republicans to redraw congressional lines in hopes of handing the GOP as many as five additional seats. That led California Democrats to ask voters, in a Nov. 4 special election, to approve an eye-for-an-eye gerrymander that could yield their party five new lawmakers.

Several other states have waded into the fight, assuming control of the House might be decided next year by just a few seats, one way or the other.

Which could happen.

Or not.

Anyone claiming to know for sure is either lying, trying to frighten you into giving money, or both.

“History is on Democrats’ side, but it’s too early to know what the national political environment is going to be like,” said Nathan Gonzales, one of the country’s top political handicappers and publisher of the nonpartisan campaign guide Inside Elections. “We don’t know the overall mood of the electorate, how satisfied voters [will be] with Republicans in power in Washington or how open to change they’ll be a year from now.”

A look back offers some clues, though it should be said no two election cycles are alike and the past is only illuminating insofar as it casts light on certain patterns.

(Take that as a caveat, weasel words or whatever you care to call it.)

In the last half century, there have been 13 midterm elections. The out party — that is, the one that doesn’t hold the presidency — has won 13 or more House seats in eight of those elections. Going back even further, since World War II the out party has gained an average of more than two dozen House seats.

In Trump’s last midterm election, in 2018, Democrats won 40 House seats — including seven in California — to seize control. (That was 17 more than they needed.) A Democratic gain of that magnitude seems unlikely next year, barring a complete and utter GOP collapse. That’s because there are fewer Republicans sitting in districts that Democrats carried in the most recent presidential election, which left them highly vulnerable.

In 2018, 25 Republicans represented districts won by Hillary Clinton. In 2026, there are just three Republicans in districts Kamala Harris carried. (Thirteen Democrats represent districts that Trump won.)

Let’s pause before diving into more numbers.

OK. Ready?

There are 435 House seats on the ballot next year. Most are a lock for one party or the other.

Based on the current congressional map, Inside Elections rates 64 House seats nationwide as being at least somewhat competitive, with a dozen considered toss-ups. The Cook Political Report, another gold-plated handicapper, rates 72 seats competitive or having the potential to be so, with 18 toss-ups.

Both agree that two of those coin-flip races are in California, where Democrats Adam Gray and Derek Tran are fighting to hang onto seats they narrowly won in, respectively, the Central Valley and Orange County. (The Democratic gerrymander seeks to shore up those incumbents.)

You really can’t assess the 2026 odds without knowing how the redistricting fight comes out.

Republicans could pick up as many as 16 seats through partisan map-making, Inside Elections forecasts, a number that would be reduced if California voters approve Proposition 50. Erin Covey, who analyzes House races for the Cook Report, puts GOP gains as high as 13, again depending on the November outcome in California.

Obviously, that would boost the GOP’s chances of hanging onto the House, which is precisely why Trump pushed for the extraordinary mid-decade redistricting.

But there are many other factors at play.

One huge element is Trump’s approval rating. Simply put, the less popular a president, the more his party tends to suffer at the polls.

Right now Trump’s approval rating is a dismal 43%, according to the Cook Report’s PollTracker. That could change, but it’s a danger sign for Republicans. Over the past three decades, every time the president’s net job approval was negative a year from the midterm election, his party lost House seats.

Another thing Democats have going for them is the passion of their voters, who’ve been flocking to the polls in off-year and special elections. The Downballot, which tracks races nationwide, finds Democratic candidates have far surpassed Kamala Harris’ 2024 performance, a potential harbinger of strong turnout in 2026.

Those advantages are somewhat offset by a GOP edge in two other measures. Republicans have significantly outraised Democrats and have limited the number of House members retiring. Generally speaking, it’s tougher for a party to defend a seat when it comes open.

In short, for all the partisan passions, the redistricting wars aren’t likely to decide control of the House.

“Opinions of the economy and Trump’s handling of it, the popularity (or lack thereof) of Republicans’ signature legislation” — the tax-cutting, Medicaid-slashing bill passed in July — as well as “partisan enthusiasm to vote are going to be more determinative to the 2026 outcome than redistricting alone,” Amy Walter, the Cook Report’s editor-in-chief, wrote in a recent analysis.

In other words, control of the House will most likely rest in the hands of voters, not scheming politicians.

Which is exactly where it belongs.

NICK WOLTEMADE has become Newcastle’s new record signing – as Alexander Isak’s dream move to Liverpool edges closer.

The Magpies have forked out £69m to Stuttgart for the giant 6ft 6in German international, 23, to end their summer-long pursuit of a new frontman.

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Now they will ramp up efforts to bring in either Wolves star Jorgen Strand Larsen or Brentford’s wantaway Yoane Wissa before Monday’s deadline day as on-strike Isak sweats on his future.

Woltemade, Eddie Howe’s fifth recruit this summer and who will wear the No27 shirt, said: “I’m really happy to be at this amazing club. From the first contact, I felt like the club really wanted me and had big plans for me.

“It’s a big step in my life to leave Germany but everybody has welcomed me so well and it already feels like family.

“I have a really good feeling from speaking to the head coach that this is the right place for me to find my best level.

“I know the stadium from watching games on television – it looks amazing and I know the atmosphere is crazy. I’m really excited to play and start scoring goals here.”

Newcastle boss Eddie Howe added: “We’re delighted to get Nick’s signing over the line so quickly. He fits the profile for exactly what we have been looking to add to our attacking options.

“He’s strong in a lot of areas – he has great technical ability and has proven himself to be a real threat in one of Europe’s top leagues – but he’s also still at an age where he has plenty of room to develop and grow here.

“Nick is a great character too and we’re really pleased to welcome him to the group.”

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TRANSFER NEWS LIVE – KEEP UP WITH ALL THE LATEST FROM A BUSY SUMMER WINDOW

Woltemade, who has penned a contract until 2031, is not believed to have been registered in time to face Leeds today but could make his debut against Wolves in a fortnight.

The two-time capped German international was top scorer at this summer’s U21 Euros with six goals but suffered defeat in the final to England – who had new team-mate Tino Livramento in their line-up.

He makes the big-money move to the North East after just one season with Stuttgart, having joined them from Werder Bremen on a free transfer just 12 months ago.

He scored 17 goals in all competitions last term, including a crucial goal in the DFB-Pokal final – which Stuttgart went on to win.

Woltemade could watch Toon in action at Elland Road today before linking up with the Germany squad for their upcoming World Cup qualifiers against Slovakia and Northern Ireland.

Meanwhile, we revealed Liverpool are expected to make a record bid for Isak in the coming days after club chiefs sanctioned a £130m bid for the 25-year-old.

Newcastle have already rejected one offer worth £110m and are refusing to sell unless they get a replacement 

Isak, who is refusing to play for Newcastle and training alone, reiterated his desire to leave this week to Toon’s Saudi chiefs.

Now he will be praying that Howe can get Wissa or Strand Larsen over the line to finally secure his departure.

AC Milan have agreed a £36m deal – including add-ons – to sign Chelsea forward Christopher Nkunku as the Blues close on a deal for Manchester United winger Alejandro Garnacho.

Nkunku, 27, is expected to accept a pay cut in order to join the Italian side on a five-year contract and has been given permission to travel for a medical.

The Blues have also included a sell-on clause as part of the deal, which will end Nkunku’s two-year stay at Stamford Bridge.

The move will have wider implications for Chelsea, with negotiations advancing to sign Garnacho.

The Argentina international, 21, has not played for United this season and is one of several players at the club who has been training away from the main group.

No fee has yet been agreed between the two clubs but BBC Sport has been told by sources that a deal is close.

For people who reach retirement without much savings, Social Security can be a true lifeline. And it’s people in that situation who tend to be very reliant on the program’s cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs).

Social Security benefits are eligible for a COLA each year. That doesn’t mean they’re guaranteed to get one, though.

Image source: Getty Images.

If there’s no rise in inflation from one year to the next, benefits don’t increase. Thankfully, though, the worst thing that happens is that they stay put. Social Security benefits can’t be adjusted downward, even if there’s a drop in inflation year over year.

At this point, many Social Security recipients are eager to know what raise they’ll be getting in 2026. And unfortunately, it’s too soon to have an official answer.

Social Security COLAs are based on third-quarter inflation data. This means that until data from September comes in, a COLA can’t be calculated. It’s for this reason that the Social Security Administration won’t be able to announce a COLA until Oct. 15.

However, based on inflation data so far, there are clues as to what year’s COLA might be. Whether you’re happy with the number, though, depends on how you look at things.

What we know about 2026’s Social Security COLA so far

In 2025, Social Security recipients saw their benefits increase by 2.5%. And many seniors were unhappy with that small a raise.

So far, next year’s COLA is potentially looking to be more promising. The Senior Citizens League, an advocacy group, is estimating that 2026’s raise will come in at 2.7%.

Of course, this number could wiggle upward or downward, depending on what inflation has in store for August and September. But either way, there’s a good chance seniors on Social Security will get a slightly larger raise in 2026 than they did this year.

Should you be happy with a 2.7% COLA?

That depends. On one hand, it’s higher than this year’s raise, and it’s not nothing. There have been many COLAs in the past that were much smaller (including a number of 0% COLA years).

On the other hand, 2.7% is hardly a large boost. If you’ve been struggling to keep up with your living expenses, you may find that a 2.7% Social Security COLA doesn’t do all that much for you.

But there’s another silver lining to a 2.7% COLA, or something in that vicinity. A moderate COLA is an indication that inflation isn’t rising at such a rapid pace.

There’s fear that in the coming months, tariffs will drive living costs up — not just for seniors, but Americans on a whole. If next year’s COLA ends up somewhere in the ballpark of 2.7%, it will be an indication of economic stability.

Think about your lifestyle carefully if you’re COLA-dependent

All told, you’ll have to wait until mid-October to see what the official word is on next year’s COLA. But if you’re worried it won’t be enough, it may be time to reassess your financial situation.

Think about the things you spend money on and the value they bring you. You may not be able to cut back on food or electricity, but you may be able to sell a nicer car and replace it with a cheaper one. Or you may be able to give up a car altogether if you live in a walkable neighborhood and no longer have a job to commute to on a daily basis.

Another thing worth considering is part-time work if you’re able to do it. Not only might that give you something to do with your time, but it could also improve your finances a lot more than a Social Security COLA — even a larger one.

As LeBron James enters his record-setting 23rd NBA season and superstar Luka Doncic returns for his first full season in L.A., the Lakers are tied with the NBA champion Oklahoma City Thunder, the Golden State Warriors and the New York Knicks for the most nationally televised games in the league.

The NBA announced the regular season schedule Thursday, and the Lakers’ slate highlights the league’s growing number of broadcast partners. The Lakers open the season at home against the Golden State Warriors on Oct. 21 on NBC, have ABC/ESPN’s 5 p.m. prime-time slot against the Houston Rockets on Christmas Day and will welcome a familiar face back to Crypto.com Arena on Nov. 28 on Prime.

Anthony Davis’ return to L.A. with the Dallas Mavericks at 7 p.m. on Nov. 28 will wrap up NBA Cup group play. The former Lakers star forward was injured during what was going to be his return to L.A. last season after he was sent to the Mavericks in a shocking trade.

Now in its third year, the NBA Cup will begin on Oct. 31 with the Lakers playing at Memphis in West Group B that also includes the New Orleans Pelicans, the Clippers and the Mavericks. The Lakers have their second group game at New Orleans on Nov. 14 before playing the Clippers on Nov. 25 in Inglewood, where the game is scheduled to begin at 8 p.m. PST on NBC, the latest starting time for any in-season tournament game.

The NBA released only 80 of 82 regular-season games for each team as the final two games in December will be announced based on NBA Cup standings. The knockout rounds for the tournament begin Dec. 9.

The Lakers’ annual Grammy trip will have a hometown interlude as the two-week-long road trip includes a game at the Clippers on Jan. 22 at 7 p.m. But the meeting in Inglewood doesn’t necessarily ease the travel load as it is the second of the eight-game trip, sandwiched between games at Denver (Jan. 20) and Dallas (Jan. 24).

After returning from the trip, the Lakers have an eight-game home stand, highlighted by a Feb. 22 game against the Boston Celtics, when the franchise will unveil a Pat Riley statue outside Crypto.com Arena, the team announced Thursday. The coach of the Showtime Lakers, who guided the team to four NBA championships, will be the 14th statue in the arena’s Star Plaza.

The Lakers begin training camp Sept. 29 before playing six preseason games, beginning in Palm Springs on Oct. 3 against the Suns. The slate also includes a game against the Mavericks in Las Vegas on Oct. 15.

2025-26 Lakers schedule

OCTOBER

21: Golden State, 7; 24: Minnesota, 7; 26: at Sacramento, 6; 27: Portland, 7:30; 29: at Minnesota, 6:30; 31: at Memphis, 6:30.

NOVEMBER

2: Miami. 6:30; 3: at Portland, 7; 5: San Antonio, 7; 8: at Atlanta, 5; 10: at Charlotte, 4; 12: at Oklahoma City, 6:30; 14: New at Orleans, 5; 15: at Milwaukee, 5; 18: Utah, 7:30; 23: at Utah, 5; 25: at Clippers, 8; 28: Dallas, 7; 30: New Orleans, 6:30.

DECEMBER

1: Phoenix, 7; 4: at Toronto, 4:30; 5: at Boston, 4; 7: at Philadelphia, 4:30; 18: at Utah, 6; 20: at Clippers, 7:30; 23: at Phoenix, 6; 25: Houston, 5; 28: Sacramento, 6:30; 30: Detroit, 7:30.

JANUARY

2: Memphis, 7:30, 4: Memphis, 6:30; 6: at New Orleans, 5; 7: at San Antonio, 4:30; 9: Milwaukee, 7:30; 12: at Sacramento, 7; 13: Atlanta, 7:30; 15: Charlotte, 7:30; 17: at Portland, 7; 18: Toronto, 6:30; 20: at Denver, 7; 22: at Clippers, 7; 24: at Dallas, 5:30; 26: at Chicago, 5; 28: at Cleveland, 4; 30: at Washington, 4.

FEBRUARY

1: at New York, 4; 3: at Brooklyn, 4:30; 5: Philadelphia, 7; 7: Golden State, 5:30; 9: Oklahoma City, 7; 10: San Antonio, 7:30; 12: Dallas, 7; 20: Clippers, 7; 22: Boston, 3:30; 24: Orlando, 7:30; 26: at Phoenix, 6; 28: at Golden State, 5:30.

MARCH

1: Sacramento, 6:30; 3: New Orleans, 7:30; 5: at Denver, 7; 6: Indiana, 7:30; 8: New York, 12:30; 10: Minnesota, 8; 12: Chicago, 7:30; 14: Denver, 5:30; 16: at Houston, 6; 18: at Houston, 6:30; 19: at Miami, 5; 21: at Orlando, 4; 23: at Detroit, 4; 25: at Indiana, 4; 27: Brooklyn, 7:30; 30: Washington, 7; 31: Cleveland, 7:30.

APRIL

2: at Oklahoma City, 4:30; 5: at Dallas, 4:30; 7: Oklahoma City, 7:30; 9: at Golden State, 7; 10: Phoenix, 7:30; 12: Utah, 5:30.

All times Pacific.

HANOI — Although the war was hardly mentioned by either side, its presence hovered on the edges of almost every topic as U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and Vietnam’s aging leadership met Friday to work toward closer economic and diplomatic relations.

There were the issues of Americans missing in action, and Vietnamese refugees and political prisoners. And there was the presence of Albright herself, on her first visit to Vietnam. Her black sedan with an American flag moving through the streets of what was once the enemy capital received no more notice than a commuter on the way to work.

“There are various things in life I never thought would happen,” she told American and Vietnamese workers at the U.S. Embassy, speaking of the implausibility of such a visit a generation ago. “This is one of them for sure.”

Albright brought with her a list of the steps Vietnam needs to take to achieve the closer economic ties that Hanoi wants with the United States. They include quickening the pace of economic reform, increasing cooperation on accounting for the 1,584 Americans still listed as missing since the war and bolstering respect for human rights.

To some observers, there was irony in the fact that the vanquished were attempting to set an agenda for the victors.

Vietnamese officials, State Department spokesmen said, were receptive to resolving the MIA issue but maintained that their record on human rights cannot be judged by U.S. standards.

“People in Vietnam are saying, ‘We’ve done everything the Americans have asked us to do in every area, and still they don’t give us the trade status we should enjoy as friends,’ ” Le Van Bang, Vietnam’s ambassador to the U.S., said in Washington last week.

Washington and Hanoi have been trying for months to work out a trade agreement that would lead to most-favored-nation status–which all but a few countries enjoy–for Vietnam. U.S. negotiators are seeking a reduction in trade barriers that now limit U.S. business and investment here in return for giving Vietnam more access to U.S. markets.

As a prerequisite for a new trading partnership, the United States wants Vietnam to speed up the processing of 16,000 cases involving Vietnamese who returned home from Asian refugee camps. Washington is considering the resettlement of some of them in the United States but cannot interview individuals until Vietnam has granted them exit permits. The Hanoi government has issued just 359 permits this year, though it had promised to process 1,500 refugees a month.

Albright also asked Prime Minister Vo Van Kiet to release three individuals among the estimated 60 political prisoners that Vietnam is said to be holding: Doan Viet Hoat, Nguyen Dan Que and the Buddhist leader Thich Quang Do.

In her discussions with Kiet and other officials, Albright said, she frequently raised the issues of religious, individual and press freedoms.

When her discussion with Kiet lasted longer than scheduled, she was asked at a news conference how much the war had figured into their talks.

“Interestingly enough,” she said, “there wasn’t a lot of discussion about the war. I very much got the sense . . . there was a great desire to look to the future rather than to the past.”

Significantly, Albright’s first stop in Hanoi was at the compound housing the task force trying to account for missing Americans.

Lt. Col. Jonathan Chase, the unit’s director, told the secretary he believes that Vietnam is making a “full faith” effort to resolve the issue. But he said the Americans need more access to documents and more cooperation in the field.

The recovery campaign costs the United States $10 million a year and is producing diminishing results as more and more service personnel are accounted for. The fate of all but 48 of the missing 1,584 Americans has been “determined,” Chase said, implying that they are believed to be dead.

In the past two years, 40 sets of remains have been identified. But none of the 95 “live sightings” of Americans since 1992 have produced positive results.

Albright’s trip, in pushing speeded-up economic and social reform, took on special significance because Vietnam’s Communist leadership–Kiet, 74; President Le Duc Anh, 76; and Communist Party General Secretary Do Muoi, 80–all intend to step down soon.

Some Western diplomats believe that Vietnam has appeared increasingly uncertain about how far and how fast it wants to move in liberalizing what 10 years ago was a rigid Communist structure. Thus, having a new generation of leadership would be considered particularly significant.

When 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate exploded in Beirut’s port on August 4, 2020, it ripped through the city, killing more than 218 people. Among them was three-year-old Alexandra Naggear.

Five years later, the investigation into who is at fault for the blast has been delayed, and at times derailed, by political interference.

“The most important thing for us is not for the decision, but for full justice to happen,” Tracy Naggear, Alexandra’s mother and a key activist advocating for the blast’s victims, told Al Jazeera by phone. “And we won’t accept a half-truth or half-justice.”

As the fifth anniversary of the tragedy approaches, there is some optimism that the judicial investigation is finally moving in the right direction after facing obstacles, mostly from well-connected politicians refusing to answer questions and the former public prosecutor blocking the investigation.

A decision from the lead prosecutor is expected soon, activists and legal sources familiar with the matter told Al Jazeera. And while the road to justice is still long, for the first time, there is a feeling that momentum is building.

Justice derailed

“You can feel a positive atmosphere [this time],” lawyer Tania Daou-Alam told Al Jazeera.

Daou-Alam now lives in the United States, but is in Lebanon for the annual commemoration of the blast, which includes protests and a memorial.

Her husband of 20 years, Jean-Frederic Alam, was killed by the blast, which was one of the largest non-nuclear explosions in modern history.

Daou-Alam is also one of nine victims suing the US-based company TGS in a Texas court for $250m, claiming it was involved in chartering the Rhosus, a Moldovan-flagged ship that carried the ammonium nitrate into Beirut’s port in 2013.

She told Al Jazeera that the case is more about  “demanding accountability and access to documents that would shed more light on the broader chain of responsibility” than it is about compensation.

The population of Beirut is used to facing crises without government help. Numerous bombings and assassinations have occurred, with the state rarely, if ever, holding anyone accountable.

Frustration and a sense of abandonment by the state, the political system, and the individuals who benefit from it already boiled over into an uprising in October 2019, less than a year before the blast.

In the immediate aftermath of the explosion, residents cleaned up the city themselves. Politicians who came for photo opportunities were chased out by angry citizens, and mutual aid filled the gap left by the state.

The end of Lebanon’s 15-year civil war in 1990 set the tone for the impunity that has plagued the country ever since. Experts and historians say militia leaders traded their fatigues for suits, pardoned each other, awarded themselves ministries and began rerouting the country’s resources to their personal coffers.

Preliminary investigations found that the explosion was caused by ammonium nitrate stored at Beirut port in improper conditions for six years.

They also found that many top officials, including then-President Michel Aoun, had been informed of the ammonium nitrate’s presence, but chose not to act.

Judge Fadi Sawan was chosen to lead the full investigation in August 2020, but found himself sidelined after calling some notable politicians for questioning. Two ministers he charged with negligence asked that the case be transferred to another judge.

A court decision, seen by Reuters, claimed that because Sawan’s house had been damaged in the blast, he would not be impartial.

Replacing him in February 2021 was Judge Tarek Bitar. Like Sawan, Judge Bitar called major political figures in for questioning and later issued arrest warrants for them. Among them are Ali Hassan Khalil and Ghazi Zeiter, close allies of Lebanon’s Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri, who still refuse to respond to Judge Bitar’s requests and claim they have parliamentary immunity.

Despite much popular support, many of Judge Bitar’s efforts were impeded, with Lebanon’s Internal Security Forces at times refusing to execute warrants and the former Court of Cassation public prosecutor, Ghassan Oueidat, ordering his investigation halted.

A new era

In early 2025, Lebanon elected a new president, Joseph Aoun, and a new prime minister, Nawaf Salam.

In their inaugural addresses, both spoke about the importance of finding justice for the victims of the port explosion.

“The current justice minister seems determined to go all the way, and he has promised that the judge will no longer face any hurdles and that the ministry will provide all help required,” Karim Emile Bitar, a Lebanese political analyst with no relation to the judge investigating the port explosion, told Al Jazeera.

Human Rights Watch reported in January 2025 that Judge Bitar had resumed his investigation, “after two years of being stymied by Lebanese authorities”.

On July 29, Salam issued a memorandum declaring August 4 a day of national mourning. On July 17, Aoun met with the families of victims killed in the explosion.

“My commitment is clear: We must uncover the whole truth and hold accountable those who caused this catastrophe,” Aoun said.

Oueidat, the former public prosecutor, was replaced by Judge Jamal Hajjar in an acting capacity in 2024, before being confirmed as his successor in April 2025.

In March 2025, Hajjar reversed Oueidat’s decisions and allowed Judge Bitar to continue his investigation.

Legal experts and activists have been pleased by the progress.

“Actual individuals implicated in the case are showing up to interrogations,” Ramzi Kaiss, Lebanon researcher at Human Rights Watch, told Al Jazeera. Among them are Tony Saliba, the former director-general of State Security, Abbas Ibrahim, former director-general of the General Directorate of General Security, and Hassan Diab, prime minister at the time of the explosion.

But this is still not enough for those wanting justice to be served after five years of battles, activists and experts note.

“We are asking for laws that are able to protect and support the judiciary and the appointments of vacant judge [posts], so these things will show the government is on our side this time,” Daou-Alam said.

Even with the new government pushing for accountability, some are still trying to disrupt the process.

Hassan Khalil and Zeiter still refuse to appear before Judge Bitar, and a fight has emerged over the country’s judicial independence.

“We can only get justice if the judiciary acts independently so that they can go after individuals and so the security services can act independently without political interference,” Kaiss said.

Time for accountability

The last few years have been a turbulent period of myriad crises for Lebanon.

A banking collapse robbed many people of their savings and left the country in a historic economic crisis. Amid that and the COVID-19 pandemic came the blast, and international organisations and experts hold the Lebanese political establishment responsible.

“The time has come to send a signal to Lebanese public opinion that some of those responsible, even if they are in high positions, will be held accountable,” political analyst Bitar said.

“Accountability would be the first step for the Lebanese in Lebanon and the diaspora to regain trust,” he said, “and without trust, Lebanon will not be able to recover.”

Still, Bitar maintained, progress on the port blast dossier doesn’t mean every answer will come to the forefront.

“This crime was so huge that, like many similar crimes in other countries, sometimes it takes years and decades, and we never find out what really happened,” he said.

Blast victim Tracy Naggear noted that “[our] fight… is mainly for our daughter, for Alexandra, of course”.

“But we are [also] doing it for all the victims and for our country,” she said. ‘[It’s] for every single person that has been touched by the 4th of August, from a simple scratch to a broken window.”

United States President Donald Trump has ordered two nuclear submarines to travel closer to Russia, in his latest tit-for-tat with Russian leader Dmitry Medvedev.

On Friday, Trump posted on his platform Truth Social that the submarine movements came in response to the “highly provocative statements” Medvedev, a former Russian president, made this week.

A day earlier, Medvedev had warned that Trump should be mindful of “how dangerous the fabled ‘Dead Hand’ can be”, a reference to Russia’s Cold War-era nuclear weapons system.

“I have ordered two Nuclear Submarines to be positioned in the appropriate regions, just in case these foolish and inflammatory statements are more than just that,” Trump wrote.

“Words are very important, and can often lead to unintended consequences, I hope this will not be one of those instances.”

In recent weeks, Trump has been enmeshed in an escalating war of words with Medvedev, who currently serves as the deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council under current President Vladimir Putin.

Medvedev and Putin have a close relationship: When Medvedev served as president from 2008 to 2012, Putin was his prime minister. Afterwards, when Putin returned to the presidency, Medvedev served as his prime minister from 2012 to 2020.

But as Trump voices increasing frustration with Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine, he has increasingly singled out Medvedev, a noted war hawk, as a target for his anger. Both men have hinted at their countries’ nuclear capabilities, and their public exchanges have grown increasingly tense.

A war of words

In a social media post earlier this week, Trump pivoted from a discussion of trade between India and Russia to an attack on Medvedev for his sabre-rattling remarks.

“I don’t care what India does with Russia. They can take their dead economies down together, for all I care,” Trump wrote.

“Russia and the USA do almost no business together. Let’s keep it that way, and tell Medvedev, the failed former President of Russia, who thinks he’s still President, to watch his words. He’s entering very dangerous territory!”

Medvedev, meanwhile, has appeared to relish how his words provoke the US president.

“If some words from the former president of Russia trigger such a nervous reaction from the high-and-mighty president of the United States, then Russia is doing everything right and will continue to proceed along its own path,” Medvedev responded in a post on Telegram.

Medvedev then proceeded to reference the zombie apocalypse series The Walking Dead, in an apparent nod to the devastation Russia has the power to cause.

“And as for the ‘dead economy’ of India and Russia and ‘entering dangerous territory’ — well, let Trump remember his favourite films about the ‘Walking Dead’.”

This week is not the first time Trump and Medvedev have taken their beef online. In late June, the two men likewise sparred and flexed their nuclear arsenals.

“Did I hear Former President Medvedev, from Russia, casually throwing around the ‘N word’ (Nuclear!), and saying that he and other Countries would supply Nuclear Warheads to Iran?” Trump wrote on June 23.

He then pointed to the recent US attack on Iran as an example of how the country might respond to other threats.

“If anyone thinks our ‘hardware’ was great over the weekend, far and away the strongest and best equipment we have, 20 years advanced over the pack, is our Nuclear Submarines,” Trump wrote. “They are the most powerful and lethal weapons ever built.”

He also took a jab at Medvedev’s position under Putin, suggesting that Medvedev’s threats were irresponsible.

“I guess that’s why Putin’s ‘THE BOSS’,” Trump quipped.

Frustrations over Ukraine war

The high-stakes back-and-forth comes as Trump becomes increasingly frustrated with the lack of progress towards peace in Ukraine.

Since February 2022, a slow-grinding war has unfolded in the country, as Ukraine attempts to repel a full-scale invasion from Russia.

Trump entered his second term as president pledging to be a global “peacemaker and unifier”, and his administration has openly advocated for the Republican leader to receive the Nobel Peace Prize.

But his efforts to resolve the dispute between Ukraine and Russia have stalled.

Early in his second term, Trump himself faced criticism for appearing to undermine Ukraine’s cause, accusing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of being a “dictator” and appearing to offer Russia concessions, including annexed Ukrainian territory.

By contrast, Trump initially took a warm approach to Putin, telling Zelenskyy in a fiery Oval Office meeting, “Putin went through a hell of a lot with me.”

But in recent months, that relationship appears to have cooled, with Trump threatening Russia with sanctions as the war grinds on. On July 28, he announced that Russia would have “10 or 12 days” to stop its offensive, or else the economic penalties would take effect.

Then, on Thursday, as Russia shelled the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, Trump slammed its continued military action.

“Russia — I think it’s disgusting what they’re doing. I think it’s disgusting,” he said.

But Medvedev has previously described Trump’s deadlines as “theatrical” and said that “Russia didn’t care” about the threats. He also warned that Trump’s aggressive foreign policy stance may backfire with his “America First” base.

“Trump’s playing the ultimatum game with Russia,” Medvedev wrote on the social media platform X earlier this week.

“He should remember 2 things: 1. Russia isn’t Israel or even Iran. 2. Each new ultimatum is a threat and a step towards war. Not between Russia and Ukraine, but with his own country.”

A funny thing blocked the path to another Andrew Friedman midsummer triumph.

An Andrew Friedman midsummer failure.

The Dodgers and their renowned baseball boss came to bat at baseball’s trade deadline Thursday poised to knock another fat midseason pitch out of the park en route to a second consecutive World Series championship.

They never took the bat off their shoulder.

Strike out, staring.

The Dodgers needed a proven closer. Six teams picked up proven closers. The Dodgers weren’t one of them.

Mason Miller went to the San Diego Padres, Camilo Doval to the New York Yankees, Griffin Jax to the Tampa Bay Rays, Ryan Helsley to the New York Mets, Jhoan Duran to the Philadelphia Phillies and David Bednar to the New York Yankees.

Some other reliever went to the Dodgers. I think his name was Brock Stewart or something.

How does this make sense? Are they watching what we’re watching?

So you’re telling me they must forge ahead through the rest of the season hoping that Tanner Scott gets healthy or Kirby Yates gets consistent or Blake Treinen gets younger or, heck, maybe the Boston Red Sox cut Walker Buehler and he comes back for one more ninth inning! That’s crazy, but this entire situation is crazy, a $400-million roster with nobody to pitch the last out.

The Dodger also entered Thursday needing a defensive-minded outfielder. Four teams found one. The Dodgers did not.

Harrison Bader went to the Phillies, Mike Yastrzemski and Randal Grichuk to the Kansas City Royals, Austin Slater to the Yankees and Cedric Mullins to the Mets.

The Dodgers picked up an outfielder named Alex…is it Call?

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So now Dodger fans are haunted with the fear that Michael Conforto will lose a fly ball down the left-field line on Halloween with the season on the line.

This is all so weird. This is all so, well, arrogant.

Granted, the Dodgers have baseball’s best team on paper, but they’ve had its best team for several years and that hasn’t stopped Friedman from dominating the last week in July.

One could argue that Friedman actually won last year’s championship by brilliantly acquiring Jack Flaherty and Tommy Edman and Michael Kopech at the deadline.

This has always been Friedman’s strength, humbly adding talent to a group already possessing riches of talent.

Remember, this is the time of year he also once traded for Rich Hill, Yu Darvish, Manny Machado, Max Scherzer, Trea Turner and Evan Phillips, all of whom led them deep into the playoffs.

The only two years during which Friedman has fumbled the deadline? He failed to acquire pitching in 2022 and they were beaten by the Padres. He brought in only Lance Lynn in 2023 and they were swept by the Arizona Diamondbacks.

This suddenly feels like one of those years.

“We felt like this is an incredibly talented group that, as we get healthy and these guys hit their stride, we feel like we’re in a great position for another deep run into October,” general manager Brandon Gomes said on a conference call with reporters.

In other words, they think they’re good enough that they don’t need to trade any top prospects for win-now talent.

But are they? And even if they are, why take a chance?

Mookie Betts reacts after striking out against the Milwaukee Brewers on July 20.

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

If there’s anything the first 109 games of this season has taught us is that the Dodgers’ greatness, like all greatness in a sport that hasn’t had consecutive champions in a quarter of a decade, can be fleeting.

The window suddenly seems to be slowly closing on the Hall of Fame careers of Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman. Shohei Ohtani has been so physically stressed that he’s leaving games with cramps.

Teoscar Hernández doesn’t look like last year’s revelation. Max Muncy can’t stay on the field. And Edman is batting aches that may last all season.

The rotation is also shaky, with fragile Tyler Glasnow and aging Clayton Kershaw and underwhelming Roki Sasaki and injured Blake Snell and, really, just one sure-fire starter is Yoshinobu Yamamoto.

“Obviously there was a lot of action today throughout the game, and a lot of teams improved, but we feel really good about this group,” Gomes said. “Coming into the year, felt like this was as talented of a roster as we’ve ever had. We’re in a position where we’re in first place, and I don’t even think we’ve played our best baseball yet. So as we continue to get some of our starters back, and then adding these pieces, and our guys just kind of playing up to their potential, we feel like it’s still a really, really strong team, and we don’t feel any differently about our aspirations than we did at the beginning of the year.”

Through their stunning inaction Thursday, the Dodger clearly made the statement that they’re good enough to a championship without any more help.

All those teams that greatly improved don’t agree.

The baseball world is sensing a Dodger vulnerability, as if there’s blue blood in the water.

Given a chance to dissuade everyone of that notion the Dodgers sighed, shrugged and passed.

A strikeout of a day, a turning point of a season?

US officials are ‘optimistic’ that an agreement could be imminent.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has said that negotiations between the European Union and the United States over a long-running trade dispute are making progress.

Speaking in Berlin on Wednesday ahead of a dinner with French President Emmanuel Macron, Merz said, “We have been hearing in the last few minutes that there could possibly be decisions,” referring to ongoing talks aimed at avoiding steep tariffs on European goods.

The United States has threatened to impose a 30 percent tariff on EU exports if no agreement is reached by August 1.

But hopes for a breakthrough rose this week after reports that both sides are close to a deal that would set a 15 percent tariff rate on EU goods – a compromise similar to a recent agreement between the US and Japan.

Macron said that European leaders and the European Commission had been in “constant contact” to coordinate their response to the US pressure.

He added: “We want the lowest possible tariffs, but also to be respected as the partners that we are.”

US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent echoed the optimism, telling Bloomberg Television that the talks were “going better than they had been”, and that progress was being made.

Further discussions between EU Commissioner for Trade Maros Sefcovic and US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick also took place on Wednesday, while officials from the European Commission briefed EU member states following the latest round of discussions.

Diplomats say the recent deal between Washington and Tokyo has increased pressure on Brussels to accept a compromise, even if reluctantly.

“The Japan agreement made clear the terms of the shakedown,” an EU diplomat told the Financial Times. “Most member states are holding their noses and could take this deal.”

If finalised, the EU-US deal could include some exemptions, such as for aircraft, medical devices and alcoholic beverages, according to the newspaper.

However, the European Commission, which leads trade policy for the EU, has already prepared a plan to hit back with more than $100bn in tariffs if talks collapse.

It comes as EU exporters have already been facing a 10 percent tariff on goods sent to the US since April, on top of pre-existing levies.