WASHINGTON — The Trump administration is removing Syria from a list of countries that are not allowed to purchase or import U.S. weaponry, a step that is part of a monthslong process of easing sanctions on the new government in Damascus and its leaders.
In a notice published Wednesday in the Federal Register, the State Department said it was amending its International Traffic in Arms Regulations, or ITAR, so that Syria no longer was among the nations subject to a policy of denial for licenses and other approvals needed for the sale of U.S. weapons and munitions.
The change effective Thursday means that arms sales requests from Syria will now be considered on a case-by-case basis.
President Donald Trump acted last year to ease economic sanctions on Syria that had been in place for decades during now-ousted President Bashar Assad’s rule. In August, Secretary of State Marco Rubio rescinded Syria’s designation as a state sponsor of terrorism, helping paving the way for the latest step in drawing closer to the current government.
The State Department has also announced plans to reopen the U.S. Embassy in Damascus. It has been closed for 14 years.
With Syria’s removal from the ITAR blacklist, only seven countries remain subject to the policy of denial for licenses for U.S. arms exports: Belarus, China, Cuba, Iran, Myanmar, North Korea and Venezuela.
Syria’s interim president, former rebel leader Ahmad al-Sharaa, overthrew the Assad government nearly two years ago and has embarked on a policy of change that has impressed the Trump administration. His moves have led to hopes of eventual stability in a country that was wracked by civil war and the Islamic State insurgency that engulfed northeast and western Iraq for years.
Wednesday’s withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq may mean that the Syrian government plays a greater role in preventing an IS resurgence.
Those Yankees had a Hall of Fame closer. In 1998, Mariano Rivera got the final four outs of the clincher. In 1999, he got the final four outs. In 2000, he got the final three outs.
These Dodgers? Their closer? Your guess is as good as theirs.
“I do not know,” said Andrew Friedman, the Dodgers’ president of baseball operations.
This might be a good time to know, no? The regular season is over. The postseason is upon us.
“I feel very confident that we’re going to be going into October with arguably the deepest and best pitching staff that we’ve had,” he said. “Exactly what their roles will be and how things will be ordered, I don’t know right now.”
Perhaps the Dodgers are overthinking this. They have done that before.
Tanner Scott converted 25 of 29 save opportunities this season, including saves Friday and Saturday.
But the strongest hitters on the Dodgers’ possible division series opponents are left-handed — Matt Olson, Drake Baldwin and Michael Harris II on the Atlanta Braves; Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber on the Philadelphia Phillies — and the Dodgers may not hesitate to use the left-handed Scott against those guys in the seventh or eighth inning.
In theory, these Dodgers have three candidates as closer: Scott, their marquee closer signing for 2025 and actual closer for most of 2026; Edwin Díaz, their marquee closer signing for 2026; and Roki Sasaki, their accidental closer last October.
Yet Friedman said he could envision scenarios where Evan Phillips could close, or even Brock Stewart, or perhaps Alex Vesia against a run of left-handed hitters. The Dodgers hope to activate Edgardo Henriquez for the playoffs. The starters could close, too, especially a well-rested Tyler Glasnow early in the first round.
“We’ve got a number of guys that we really trust,” Friedman said. “Depending on who we’re playing, how deep our starter goes, there are a lot of factors that would go into it. But, more than who will be that pitcher on the mound, is the fact that we have so many candidates we feel really good about.”
That the Dodgers have improvised an October relief corps, transformed a rookie starter into a postseason closer and run bullpen games in elimination games might lead you to conclude Friedman does not really believe in the concept of a designated closer. In a world where “high leverage” is the trendy jargon, maybe a closer is more of an anachronism than a necessity.
That the Dodgers invested $72 million in Scott and $69 million in Díaz in consecutive winters would lead you to conclude Friedman does indeed believe in the concept of a designated closer. In fact, he does.
“I think it’s extremely helpful,” he said.
The Dodgers do not hold splashy news conferences to introduce closer candidates. When the Dodgers introduced Díaz last December, Friedman proudly introduced the three-time All-Star as the closer.
“For us, we have a high bar,” Friedman said then. “To name someone the closer, you have to be one of the best. You have to be elite and dominant at what you do.”
Díaz’s season went awry, limited to 18⅔ innings after elbow surgery and then a neck injury. But in five September appearances since his activation from the injured list, he gave up no runs and one hit in five innings, striking out nine of the 17 batters he faced. (In the same span, Scott has given up no runs and two hits in five innings, striking out nine of the 19 batters he faced.)
Dodgers reliever Edwin Díaz high-fives teammates in the dugout after pitching against the San Diego Padres on Sept. 22.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
“What we’ve seen out of Díaz recently has been really encouraging,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “What that ultimately means, we don’t know yet.
“Of course, if you have a reliever who is really hot in October, that can be extremely valuable. It doesn’t mean you use him exclusively in the ninth. But, by and large, that’s how you would use him.”
Roberts saluted Díaz for working hard to get back to an uncertain assignment.
“I’m really proud of Edwin, given the deal he signed, to work it out, to go to the minors, to come back and pitch in whatever role we ask of him, that shows a lot of character,” Roberts said.
“He could have mailed this year in. That’s something that has not gone unnoticed. And we’ll see how October plays out.”
The Dodgers could be forgiven for believing it will all work out in the end. Their final pitcher in each of the World Series clinchers under Friedman, all starters: Julio Urías in 2020, Walker Buehler in 2024, Yoshinobu Yamamoto in 2025.
The pitchers to record a postseason save in those championship seasons: Kenley Jansen, Joe Kelly, Brusdar Graterol, Blake Treinen and Urias in 2020; Alex Vesia, Treinen and Buehler in 2024; Glasnow, Sasaki and Treinen in 2025.
The organizational flexibility can lead to some uncomfortable discussions within the clubhouse, as Roberts and coaches keep the relievers updated on the latest plan for how they might be used.
“It is tricky,” Roberts said. “These are constant conversations. They are ever-evolving. They are ongoing.”
If all goes right for the Dodgers, those conversations will be ongoing for another month.
SACRAMENTO — Donovan Walton hit a three-run homer and rookie Henry Bolte had his first four-hit game to help the Athletics beat the Angels 7-3 on Wednesday night.
The Angels (60-98) are trying to avoid the first 100-loss season in franchise history.
Lawrence Butler had an RBI single and Walton hit his ninth home run, a two-out shot off rookie Walbert Ureña (9-11) for a 4-0 lead in the first inning.
Bolte went four for five, scored two runs and had an RBI double in the second that put the Athletics (63-95) up 5-0.
Mike Trout and Vaughn Grissom hit back-to-back homers off Jeffrey Springs in the fourth to make it 5-2. It was the 22nd homer this season for Trout the 426th of his career, all with the Angels.
Grissom followed his 13th homer with an RBI single in the fifth to cut it to 5-3 and chase Springs.
Alika Williams and Bolte had singles off José Fermin in the sixth and both scored on a double by Shea Langeliers for the final margin.
Springs gave up three runs on five hits in 4 1/3 innings. The left-hander was 3-0 after his first four starts, but went 1-14 over his final 25. Geoff Hartlieb (2-1) got five outs for the win and Elvis Alvarado struck out two in the ninth to close it out.
Ureña yielded five runs and seven hits in four innings. The right-hander had given five runs in his previous three starts covering 21 innings.
Athletics catcher Brian Serven fouled a bunt off his left eye in the sixth and had to leave the game.
After a bitter standoff, Paramount Skydance and California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta have made progress in settlement talks that could push Hollywood’s massive merger over the finish line, people familiar with the matter said Friday.
The two sides have quietly been negotiating a truce to end the antitrust lawsuit brought by Bonta and 11 other Democratic state attorneys general — a legal volley that has threatened to derail Paramount’s $111-billion takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery.
It’s not clear how close to a resolution the two sides are, but talks in recent days have been constructive, one of the knowledgeable sources said.
Paramount Chief Executive David Ellison is highly motivated to end the court battle with Bonta before Oct. 1, when his company will be obligated to make a higher payout — an extra $7 million a day — to Warner Bros. Discovery shareholders on top of the $81 billion the company has already agreed to pay.
For weeks, Ellison and his team have been ratcheting up political heat on Bonta to abandon his lawsuit, including threatening to pull Paramount out of Hollywood — a scenario that has rattled state and local lawmakers who desperately want to bring film jobs back to Los Angeles, not lose thousands more.
Paramount declined to comment.
A spokesperson for Bonta’s office said in a statement: “Potential settlement talks are confidential. We cannot confirm or deny whether settlement talks are occurring or their alleged substance.”
Both sides have incentives to settle. Ellison, who has leaned on his family’s connections to President Trump and Washington Republicans, would like to avoid taking on more debt for the already highly leveraged deal. And he is eager to close the transaction and take the reins at Warner Bros. before the midterm elections.
Bonta has been on a winning streak with favorable rulings against the Trump administration and social media giant Meta, and he doesn’t want to overplay his hand or risk having his coalition of state attorneys fall apart.
