dead

Speaking at the final rally of his right-wing alliance ahead of Bosnia’s October 4 election, Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik delivered a predictably controversial statement.

“Bosnia-Herzegovina is dead. It is an impossible country, it makes no sense,” Dodik told supporters of the Alliance of Independent Social Democrats (SNSD) party in Banja Luka on Friday.

“It is now nothing more than an empty shell … for those who are trying to keep it alive, so they can prove themselves right about something,” said the former president of Republika Srpska, who is known for frequent separatist threats and for challenging the country’s constitution.

Dodik’s comments came as Bosnia remains deeply divided over its political future more than three decades since the 1995 Dayton peace agreement. It split the country into two semi-autonomous parts – the Serb-majority Republika Srpska entity and the Federation entity, where most Bosniaks and Croats live.

The agreement ended the 1992–95 Bosnian War and established a political framework for power-sharing among Muslim Bosniaks, Orthodox Serbs and Catholic Croats.

On Sunday, voters across the country cast ballots to elect the three members of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s multiethnic presidency, representatives to the national parliament and leaders of institutions in the country’s two entities.

Dodik himself is not on the ballot after being stripped of his post last year, following his conviction for refusing to carry out decisions issued by Christian Schmidt, the international peace envoy who oversees the implementation of the Dayton peace agreement.

‘No political relevance’

Elvis Fejzic, a professor at the Faculty of Political Science in Sarajevo, said attempts by figures such as Dodik to dismantle Bosnia and Herzegovina amount to “populist rhetoric”.

“Politicians and political parties that act unconstitutionally do not determine the fate of Bosnia and Herzegovina,” Fejzic told Al Jazeera, arguing that Bosnia and Herzegovina’s status as a UN member and internationally recognised state is secure.

“Bosnia and Herzegovina … will outlive all those who, through inflammatory statements, seek to obstruct its path towards integration and development,” he said. “Their statements have no political relevance whatsoever.”

Political analyst Tanja Topic said that while Dodik was not officially a candidate, he remained a central figure in the campaign and sought to present himself as a “senior official in international relations”.

Topic told Al Jazeera that the election result could produce several political scenarios in Bosnia and Herzegovina, from “cohabitation in Republika Srpska”, through the formation of a grand coalition, to a “blockage at the state level and the Council of Ministers continuing to operate in a caretaker capacity”.

Dodik’s rhetoric marks ‘long escalation’

Expert Adnan Cerimagic said Dodik’s rhetoric should be taken “seriously” and viewed as part of a “long escalation” rather than a reflection of the country’s current reality.

“For the past four years, his moves against the Dayton order and against Bosnia’s EU and NATO path have reached a new and dangerous level: in March 2025 the country came close to an armed standoff between Republika Srpska and state police,” Cerimagic, a senior analyst at the European Stability Initiative, told Al Jazeera.

“Casting Bosnia as a front-line in a supposed war between Christianity and Islam, and himself as a defender of Christian Europe, is aimed at the one people in Europe against whom a genocide has been committed since the Second World War and recognised as such by two international courts,” he added.

Cerimagic added that Dodik’s rhetoric may reflect uncertainty over the electoral prospects of his preferred candidate, as well as a belief that the European Union has less leverage over Bosnia than it once did.

Initial results are customarily released by the Central Election Commission late on election night and then refreshed every few hours.

In the days that follow, the commission progressively inputs votes from polling stations that remain outstanding, mobile voting teams, as well as ballots sent by mail and those cast at diplomatic and consular missions.

The final, official results must be published by November 20 at the latest.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has described violence against women as a “national shame” after the discovery of another woman’s body intensified public anger over the country’s persistent gender-based violence.

Eleven women’s bodies have been found in Ekurhuleni, a municipality east of Johannesburg, since July, prompting renewed fear and outrage after years of government promises to tackle violence against women.

Most of the victims were in their 20s or 30s. Some were found stripped and showing signs of sexual violence, according to authorities.

“There are women lying tonight in government mortuaries waiting to be identified, waiting for someone to claim them, waiting to be taken home and laid to rest,” Ramaphosa said in a televised address late on Tuesday.

“How can our hearts not be broken? How can we not be angry?”

He described violence against women as a source of “profound pain and national shame” and acknowledged growing anger among South African women.

Investigation Into the Killings

Ramaphosa said police had so far found no evidence that a serial killer was responsible for the 11 deaths. He stressed, however, that investigators were continuing to examine all possibilities.

Authorities have made arrests in connection with three of the killings, while investigations into the remaining deaths are continuing.

The president said none of the cases would be allowed to go cold, amid growing concerns over whether South Africa’s law enforcement agencies can adequately investigate violent crimes against women.

The latest deaths have revived criticism of the government’s efforts to tackle gender-based violence, despite repeated national campaigns and commitments aimed at reducing the problem.

South Africa’s Wider Crime Crisis

The killings are unfolding against a broader backdrop of severe violent crime in South Africa.

The country has one of the highest murder rates per capita in the world, while corruption, limited resources and weaknesses within the policing system have made it difficult to investigate and prosecute cases effectively.

Only about one in 10 murders is solved, highlighting the scale of the challenge facing investigators.

For communities in Ekurhuleni, the discovery of 11 women’s bodies has therefore become more than a series of individual criminal investigations. It has renewed questions about public safety, accountability and whether years of government commitments are translating into effective protection for women.

Ramaphosa’s remarks reflect the political pressure surrounding the issue as authorities face renewed demands to identify the victims, establish who was responsible for their deaths and prevent further violence.

With information from Reuters.

Dennis Haskins, an actor known best for playing Principal Richard Belding on the 1990s high school sitcom “Saved by the Bell,” died on Sunday night. He was 75.

Haskins’ friend and longtime caretaker, Kimberly Snow, confirmed the actor’s death. A cause of death is unknown, but Haskins had quietly battled Parkinson’s and was candid about other health issues. According to Snow, the actor died around 11 p.m. in a Burbank assisted living facility.

Snow, a former manager of Burbank’s since-shuttered Dimples Karaoke, shared the news of the actor’s death on Instagram, writing that Haskins was a staple at the joint, so much so that many of the patrons thought he owned it.

“A lot of people thought he owned it, but he didn’t,” the tribute read. “He just loved the place and its people. He enjoyed singing for people, meeting them, and taking selfies with his fans. Dimples closed down about 11 years ago, and people still associate him with his beloved ‘second home.’ He was known to most as Mr. Belding from Saved by the Bell, but to us, he was much more than that.

“About eight years ago, he became ill,” the post continued. “He had been silent about his fight with Parkinson’s, among other health concerns, because he did not want the attention. He did not want to have to tell people. He would say, ‘What do I even say?’ So I respected his wishes and stayed quiet, and I helped him through his journey into the next chapter of his life.

“Late last night, that journey ended for him. He is now at peace and is probably entertaining the people in the sky. Just know that if you tried to reach out to him in the last few years, I did read your messages to him, and you were heard.”

Haskins played the earnest and beloved Mr. Belding across the “Saved by the Bell” franchise for 12 years, from 1988 to 2000. As recently as 2015, he reprised the role for a sketch on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon,” alongside Bayside High School alums Mark-Paul Gosselaar, Elizabeth Berkley, Mario Lopez and Tiffani Thiessen.

Haskins was born in Chattanooga, Tenn., on Nov. 18, 1950, to parents Dennis Button Haskins IV and Veneta Marilyn Yarbrough. One of three boys, he attended Notre Dame High School in Chattanooga and, later, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.

He ultimately made his way to Los Angeles where he broke into acting, with his first on-screen gig playing a workman in “Archie Bunker’s Place” in 1981. He acted regularly through the ’80s, landing parts in television shows “Magnum P.I.” and “The Dukes of Hazzard” before finding his way to the part that would make him America’s favorite principal.

He played Mr. Belding across seven different series, including, “Good Morning, Miss Bliss,” “Saved by the Bell,” “Saved by the Bell: The College Years,” “Saved by the Bell: The New Class,” “The Rerun Show,” “Robot Chicken,” and “Victorious.”

“It’s a tragic loss,” Jay Schachter, head of film and television for Stewart Talent in New York City, said in a statement to NBC.

“Everyone loved Mr. Belding and those of us who got to know Dennis, loved him even more,” Schachter said. “He was a great person, and he loved, I mean absolutely LOVED his fans.”

The man has been identified as 56-year-old Leighton Brown, an employee of the New York City Housing Authority.

According to local news, he was walking through east Brooklyn neighbourhood working an extra shift when the deadly incident occurred.

“We mourn deeply for the loss of Leighton Brown, a NYCHA employee who faithfully served Brooklyn residents and who was known for his warm personality,” the Office of the NYC Public Advocate wrote on social media.

The nor’easter has caused widespread power cuts. More than 160,000 households, nearly all in the north-eastern US, have lost electricity, according to tracker PowerOutage.

More than 2,400 flights were delayed and another 1,199 grounded on Saturday, according to FlightAware.

A full moon was projected to worsen coastal flooding. Streets and homes were inundated with floodwater in the coastal New Jersey communities of Surf City and Manasquan on Saturday.

Warning: This story contains distressing details

Police in the US state of Mississippi have said that they believe a black woman was already dead before her body was “staged” and placed hanging in a tree.

The disclosure was made in court by a detective on Friday, who also said they believed Tasia Fortune, a mother of four, had been killed in a dispute related to drugs.

The 29-year-old’s body was found hanging from a tree at an abandoned home in Jackson in August.

The discovery sparked widespread fears in the majority-black city, due to the state’s deep history of racial violence and lynchings. After weeks of speculation and demands for information, police made multiple arrests.

In a news release, police said that the medical examiner had determined that Fortune’s death was a homicide and that “the scene and the hanging were staged”.

Officials have not stated the exact cause of death or shared why they believe the hanging was staged.

Fortune’s mother told the BBC that she remembers the coroner telling her: “we’re not treating this as [an] actual hanging.” Her daughter, they told her, was dead before being placed in the tree.

Spivey also recalled police telling her the incident was “drug related”.

Speaking to reporters outside the Jackson Police Department on Friday, Spivey described how she knows her daughter fought for her life till the very end.

“I know she did. I know my daughter,” Spivey told reporters. Fortune leaves behind four young children, ages 7, 5, 4 and 1, she added.

Dressed in a shirt that reads “Justice for Tasia Fortune”, Spivey stressed that she does not want to see any innocent people going to jail.

“I just hope they have the right people,” she said.

Three people have so far been arrested in relation to the case, all of whom are black, including Jarques Ratliff, 51, who has pleaded not guilty. He remains in custody in without bond.

A second person, Earnest Lloyd Jr, 25, was arrested in the case this week.

A third, 45-year-old Eric Clark, turned himself in to authorities on Friday and was charged with murder. He is scheduled to appear in court on Monday.

The 29-year-old’s death is one of several cases in recent years that has prompted lawmakers to call on the justice department and the FBI to investigate all hanging deaths of black people in the country.

Representative Ayanna Pressley, Democrat of Massachusetts, cites at least 10 documented incidents in her September letter to Congress, external, which contained over 50 signatures from US lawmakers.

The most recent incident happened in Prince George’s County, a majority-black suburb near Washington DC, on Sunday. It has been ruled a suicide.

What happened to the future we were promised? The vision that grew out of the 1990s techno-utopianism, when the internet was still a place of freedom and experimentation. Where are the infinite possibilities the early years of the millennium afforded, when social media meant AOL Instant Messenger and GeoCities, when our cellphones were not yet smart, and when personal tech evoked whimsy and excitement rather than anxiety and dread?

On a recent night in L.A., that digital optimism still existed. Here, at a clothing store on La Brea Avenue in the Fairfax District, something that felt lost was rediscovered. People were huddling around to play 1999’s “Crazy Taxi” on a Sega Dreamcast, or 2005’s “Tekken 5” on a PlayStation 2. They were surfing a perfectly re-created Y2K-era internet, and navigating an early version of Apple’s Photo Booth to snap selfies with a first-generation iSight webcam.

Paizley Lee created Dead Internet Theory to bring guests back to an era when tech evoked excitement rather than dread.

(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)

Yes, almost everyone was staring at screens, but almost no one was looking at their phone. Instead, the room felt alive and buzzing with energy. Technology was creating human connection rather than isolation.

Welcome to Dead Internet Theory, an event hosted by game designer Paizley Lee that’s both a celebration of vintage tech and a place to build community. The name is a tongue-in-cheek reference to the theory that the internet today is mostly bots, AI slop and corporate algorithms, while the human element is quickly disappearing from the web.

Lee started the event earlier this year after seeing how her friends reveled in hacking old hardware but had nowhere to show off their reimagined contraptions. She said Dead Internet Theory is a space to highlight “artists who don’t see the light of day,” a cyberpunk show-and-tell of sorts. “There’s a world of knowledge that comes from that person that can share and collaborate with another artist, and that’s really the future that we were promised, right then and there,” Lee said. “It’s the ‘Hey, look at what I made, look at what I’m interested in, and let’s share that.’ ”

Benjamin Palmer shows his project called Pan and Scan.

(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)

One of those artists sharing his work was Dan Ruth. Atop a low credenza, he displayed a black, leather suitcase that housed inside of it an old laptop attached to an external zip drive. On the laptop’s screen was a menu of various banned books — the Unabomber’s manifesto and “The Anarchist Cookbook” among them. Ruth had recently bought the trademark rights to the digital storage systems iOmega, Zip and Jaz. “They were what we all used in the ‘90s to transfer larger files,” he explained of the era before online storage and transfer infrastructure like Google Drive.

With his setup at the event, participants could choose whatever banned book they wanted and write it to a physical Zip disk (about the size of a saltine cracker) to keep forever. If Ruth’s installation is a bit provocative, his message is less controversial. At a time when servers are being shut down, physical media is being digitized out of existence, and the subscription model is supplanting personal ownership, Ruth believes this is a way to have data autonomy.

Guests play retro video games.

(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)

Lee’s own contribution to the evening is the full rainbow of Apple’s iMac G3 computers — those bubbly, teardrop-shaped desktops that debuted in 1998 to the famous “iCandy” ads displaying their colorful shells, and TV commercials scored to the Rolling Stones’ “She’s Like a Rainbow.” Over several months and multiple trips, Lee drove across the country collecting the G3s in their core five colors. And it wasn’t easy. She recalled sleeping in her car in the parking lot of a Cracker Barrel for a few nights because she had spent all her money on acquiring the computers.

It was the people Lee met in the months of gathering the G3s, however, that made it worth it: a single dad who collected vintage iMacs to bond with his son, an elementary school teacher who held onto the old computers because the school was going to destroy them.

“I met these really witchy, cool, queer programmers from MIT in Medford, Massachusetts, who invited me back for MIT Swap Fest, where I found Indigo,” said Lee, referring to another G3 color not part of the core five. “I met a guy who used to work in broadcast, and his wife just died of cancer. His mom moved in, and she has been trying to support him in getting rid of old things and not holding on to them too much.” Human moments made possible almost by the accident of holding onto a computer longer than most.

Lee’s pursuit of old tech hardware has always been, at its root, a means to meeting new people, hearing their stories and creating a relationship with them. “I care about people a lot,” she said. “I think every single person that touches any of my projects knows that I really care about people feeling good.”

Paizley Lee spent months collecting the full rainbow of iMac G3s.

(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)

With a mouse, Jaimie Wan clicks into the past.

(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)

When Lee finally acquired all five original colors (blueberry, strawberry, lime, tangerine and grape), plus all the additional colors (ruby, indigo, snow, graphite, sage and three limited edition colors), she began booting up the G3s computers to make sure they still worked. In the process, she discovered the forgotten digital detritus left on their hard drives: old resumes, photo albums, Word documents.

“It’s somebody’s life,” she said. “It feels weird to do anything with it, but it also feels weird to alter it.” In the end, she kept the old files and built a replica of the early ‘00s internet to live beside them on the computers. At Dead Internet Theory events, participants are given free reign to the G3s and slowly find clues Lee has left on their desktops that lead into a mystery game she created.

Back at the event, people flocked to the bank of iMac G3 computers. They clicked around, laughing, their eyes lighted up. “It’s really a trip seeing the old MacBooks,” said Shannon Stack after navigating one of the relics. “I remember having those in my elementary school classroom. Now, these are archival pieces. It’s freaky!”

Lee herself hovered around the computer bank, watching people interact with them and discovering the random documents left behind or playing one of Apple’s preset games. She asked a couple who had been tinkering around for over half-an-hour if they wanted a hint to her mystery. “No!” they respond excitedly.

While Dead Internet Theory has only been held in Los Angeles, Lee’s dream is to take it on the road. “I’ve got kids in Seattle, in Nashville, in Dallas that are emailing me and going, please bring it here,” she explained. The only thing stopping her was money, but that changed recently. A few weeks after the event on La Brea, she was approached by a sponsor. Now she’s making a tour happen, first with a pop-up event in New York City on Wednesday.

The event has become a place to gather and build community.

(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)

Recently, as Lee began driving across the country to set up, she stopped at a bed and breakfast near Red Lodge, Mont. When she learned the innkeeper had an old blueberry iMac G3 in her basement, she asked to take a look.

“I spent an hour getting her back on,” Lee said of rebooting the machine to give the innkeeper access. “And the face she made when it came back to life — literally priceless.”

The woman browsed through old photos of her daughters, their old school projects and other files forgotten over time. Afterward, the innkeeper gave Lee the computer, telling her it deserves a second life.

Duncan Sheik, who earned a Grammy nomination for his ubiquitous 1990s hit “Barely Breathing” and won a Tony Award for composing the music for “Spring Awakening,” died Thursday. He was 56.

“It is with profound sadness that we confirm the passing of Duncan Sheik,” a statement posted Friday on Sheik’s Instagram account read. “The world has a lost a singular talent, and deeply influential voice in music and theater…. Duncan’s artistry touched many and leaves an indelible mark on the cultural landscape.

“Duncan was a father, husband, son, brother, and friend. He will be remembered for his sensitivity, wit, inteligence, and depth of spirit he brought to those who knew and loved him.”

The statement added that “Duncan passed away last night surrounded by love.”

His mother, Suzanne Sheik, told the New York Times that her son died of organ failure. A statement posted to his Instagram account Thursday said that Sheik was “receiving medical care and remains in critical but stable condition.”

Sheik, a New Jersey native, went to Brown University, where he played in an early band with singer-songwriter Lisa Loeb. His 1996 self-titled debut LP was a hit on the strength of “Barely Breathing,” an exemplar of the upbeat coffeeshop rock that emerged in the wake of grunge on the pop charts. The single stayed on the Hot 100 for over a year, and the album went gold, earning earned him a Grammy nomination for male pop vocal performance.

Sheik’s followup, 1998’s “Humming,” featured rich orchestration, but he already had an eye on Broadway (his sister Kacie Sheik is a stage actor who has appeared in “Hair,” “American Idiot” and “Because of Winn-Dixie,” for which Duncan wrote the score).

He wrote his 2001 album “Phantom Moon” with poet and playwright Steven Sater, whom he’d again collaborate with on the score for the musical “Spring Awakening” — based on the play by German Expressionist Frank Wedekind, which won him a Tony Award — and “Alice by Heart.” His 2009 album “Whisper House” yielded a companion musical of the same name. He also composed the score for the 2004 film “A Home at the End of the World.”

While Sheik sought treatment for alcohol addiction after canceling a tour in 2011, his stage and studio career never slowed. Other major stage credits include hit productions of “American Psycho,” “Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice,” the thriller “Noir” and “The Secret Life of Bees,” along with Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night” and “The Taming of the Shrew.” His last album, “Claptrap,” came out in 2022.

Sway Dasafo, a pioneering British Ghanaian rapper known for his lyric storytelling and championing of British music, has died. He was 44.

The rapper and producer’s death was announced Thursday on social media by the Mobo Awards, which celebrates music of Black origin. Dasafo’s friend Kash Ahmad confirmed to the BBC that he died at his home in Ghana. No cause of death was provided, but the outlet reported that Dasafo had been diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma in 2010 before going into remission later that year.

“We’re deeply saddened to hear of the passing of Sway,” Mobo wrote on Instagram. “Sway will always hold a special place in MOBO history.”

In 2005, Dasafo became the first unsigned artist to win the Mobo award for hip-hop act before he released an official album. He won over other established artists including 50 Cent and the Game off the strength of his mixtapes, “This Is My Promo” volumes one and two.

“Mixtapes effectively provide a diary of my life,” Dasafo told the Guardian in 2005. “They feature skits and interviews of me on radio. When people follow your story, they feel closer to you — it’s like a soap opera. People want to know what’s going to happen next.”

“It was a huge moment,” Mobo’s Instagram statement said of Dasafo’s win. “Not just for Sway, but for UK Hip Hop. At a time when British rappers were still fighting to be recognised alongside their US counterparts, his win made a real statement about the talent, creativity and potential coming out of the UK. … [W]e will always be proud that he was part of the MOBO story and of the history we shared together.”

Born Derek Andrews Safo on Sept. 5, 1982, in Hornsey, north London, to Ghanaian parents, Dasafo grew up primarily in England where he developed a love for literature and music. He started rapping as a hobby when he was 10 and was making beats on his computer at 13.

The versatile rapper got his start in groups such as Phynix Crew and One before going solo and releasing his series of mixtapes. Among his early hits were “Up Your Speed” and “Little Derek,” from his debut alum, “This Is My Demo,” which he released from his own label, Dcypha Productions.

“I’m a positive person and this positivity comes out in my music,” Dasafo said in his 2005 Guardian interview. “I don’t go round holding guns to people’s heads, so I won’t rap about holding guns to people’s heads. Trouble attracts trouble. If you rap about trouble, it will come to you.”

From early in his rap career, he expressed his desire to become a producer so he could sign and nurture other talent. Dasafo has collaborated with artists including Riz Ahmed, Ed Sheeran, Lupe Fiasco and Chamillionaire.

BBC Radio 1Xtra broadcaster Remi Burgz called Dasafo a “UK Rap pioneer” and “one of north London’s finest” during her program, according to the BBC.

“He was mine and many others’ first experience of U.K. rap [and] hip-hop in mainstream media,” she said. “He was a literal example of paving the way and showing that U.K. rap can take up space in music.”

Dasafo is survived by his two sons, Jalil and Ammar-Joseph, and twin daughters, Queen-Inaya and Queen-Imara.

Tone Capone, the Bay Area producer whose smash hit “I Got 5 On It” for Luniz defined his region’s hip-hop sound, has died. He was 59.

The producer’s death was first reported by KQED. Capone had most recently lived in Las Vegas. No cause of death was given.

Capone, born Anthony Douglas Gilmour in Berkeley, learned to DJ while attending Berkeley High School. He often performed at college and house parties with his close friend Nick Peace, who became an accomplished hip-hop producer as well. While Bay Area hip-hop was famously independent and insular, Capone produced singles for major-label groups like the R&B combo SWV and the Oakland group Capital Tax, rooted in his love of ‘70s soul and hard-edged funk.

His sound — soulful yet martial, with a distinct, emphatic downbeat — yielded some of the region’s most beloved and distinct hip-hop hits, including Mac Dre’s “Fire” and “Not My Job,” E-40’s “Ring It,” 3xKrazy’s “Keep It on the Real” and cuts by Celly Cel, Andre Nickatina and countless others.

He’ll be best known for Luniz’ 1995 hit “I Got 5 On It,” a slinky, spooky track riffing on the Club Nouveau song “Why You Treat Me So Bad,” which entered the canon of ageless west coast hip-hop. The song hit the Billboard top ten, and recently resurfaced in a slow, eerie remix for Jordan Peele’s 2019 horror film “Us.”

Capone’s slow-rolling sound also traveled well to Houston, he worked with Scarface, Devin the Dude and more. His productions on Scarface’s 1997’s “The Untouchable” helped it go platinum, with “Smile” sporting one of the last verses recorded by Tupac Shakur.

Brian Wolfe, a standout pitcher at Servite who played three seasons with the Toronto Blue Jays, has died at age 45, his wife shared Tuesday on Facebook.

“I’m am sorry to write this but after a really really difficult and torturous battle Brian Wolfe passed away early this morning,” Rachell Wolfe wrote.

No other details have been provided.

Wolfe was one of Orange County’s most dominant high school pitchers during the late 1990s. After going 8-0 with an ERA of 0.27 as a sophomore in 1997, he was the Friars’ ace the next two seasons.

Honored both years as a member of The Times’ All-Orange County team, Wolfe went 11-2 with a 1.37 ERA and a county-best 139 strikeouts as a junior and was 12-0 with a 1.30 ERA and nearly 100 strikeouts as a senior.

After committing to Cal State Fullerton in the fall of 1998, Wolfe opted to sign with the Minnesota Twins organization after being drafted in the sixth round (179th overall) the following summer. He spent the next several years working his way up through the minor leagues with the Twins, Milwaukee Brewers and Blue Jays before making his major league debut with Toronto as a relief pitcher in 2007.

Wolfe appeared in 72 games over three seasons with the Blue Jays, compiling a 5-5 record and a 3.81 ERA in 82.2 innings pitched. He became a free agent after the 2009 season and spent the next nine years playing in Japan with Nippon Professional Baseball, playing for the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters (including the 2013 season as teammates with Shohei Ohtani), Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks (winning the Japan League title in 2014 and 2015) and Saitama Seibu Lions.

Former MLB outfielder Brandon Barnes posted a tribute to Wolfe on Wednesday, calling his fellow Orange County native “one of my best friends and a mentor.”

Native authorities issue condolences after two adults and a child swept away by floodwaters in southwestern US state.

Indigenous authorities in the United States have said that three people have been killed in flooding in the southwestern state of New Mexico, where heavy rains left roadways blocked by water.

Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren said on Wednesday that police had responded to reports of people being swept away by floodwater at 12:30am (06:30 GMT) near the community of Newcomb in northwestern New Mexico.

Nygren said that two adults and a child were killed in the incident and offered condolences to the community, while advising residents to exercise caution in areas impacted by rainfall.

“There are no words that can ease the pain of losing a loved one so suddenly, and our hearts are especially heavy knowing that three lives were lost,” Nygren said. “To the family, relatives, and loved ones who are grieving today, we offer our deepest condolences. We pray that you are surrounded by strength, comfort, and the love of your family and community in the difficult days ahead.”

The National Weather Service (NWS) in Albuquerque, New Mexico, issued a special briefing on Tuesday warning of the possibility of widespread thunderstorms in the coming days. The service repeated those warnings on Wednesday, noting that moisture levels are expected to be at record levels for mid-September.

“A Flash Flood Watch is in effect for the western third of New Mexico and the South Central Mountains today,” NWS Albuquerque said in a social media post on Wednesday. “However, flash flooding could occur anywhere in central and northern New Mexico today.”

Heavy rainfall is predicted across parts of Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado and Utah through Thursday. Flash flood warnings were issued for parts of northwestern New Mexico, along with flash flood watches for large areas of central and northern Arizona.

The deaths on Wednesday come several weeks after three hikers were swept away and dozens were rescued after heavy rainfall caused flooding at the Grand Canyon, a popular destination for tourists and outdoor recreation in Arizona.

At least 51 people rescued as search operation continues off the island of Gavnos near Crete.

One person has died, 25 are missing and 51 people have been rescued after a boat carrying migrants sank off a Greek island near Crete, according to the country’s coastguard.

“Fifty-one were picked up by two boats that were in the area,” a coastguard spokesman said on Monday.

He said survivors had reported that 77 people were on board when the boat went down near the island of Gavdos.

Search and rescue efforts were ongoing, with four ships, boats, Frontex aircraft and a coastguard helicopter operating in the area, Greece’s public broadcaster ERT News reported.

The 51 rescued people were due to be brought to Crete, “where the prescribed procedures will be followed”, ERT reported.

After arriving in Crete, undocumented migrants generally face immediate arrest and temporary confinement before being transferred to closed detention camps on the Greek mainland. Under Greek law, individuals are subject to extended administrative detention, severe penalties and fast-track deportation.

Strong winds blowing through the area have been hampering the search operation, ERT said.

Crete and Gavdos, about 320km (200 miles) from the Libyan coast, have become the main point of entry for asylum seekers in Greece.

In late August, Greece’s ANA news agency published figures from the Ministry of Migration and Asylum that indicated that migrant arrivals in the country fell from about 61,000 in the year to August 2025 to 42,000 in the following 12 months – a decline of about 31 percent.

Greece’s conservative government in July suspended all asylum claims for migrants arriving by sea from North Africa for three months, a move it argued helped deter crossings.

The ban passed in parliament amid a surge in asylum seekers reaching Crete and after talks with Libya’s Benghazi-based government to stem the flow were cancelled in July.

The government remains at odds with regional authorities in Crete over a plan to build a permanent transit facility on the island. It is preparing draft legislation that would mandate imprisonment for people whose asylum claims are denied and require ankle monitors during a 30-day compliance period before deportation.

Authorities in Europe have tightened their immigration rules over recent years as far-right, anti-immigrant political parties have won increasing support throughout the continent.

Greece has been in discussions with Germany and several other European Union countries on setting up “return hubs” outside the bloc for processing migrants’ claims.

STOCKHOLM: Sweden’s national election results showed a dead heat ​on Sunday, with a partial count by the election authority indicating a one-seat majority for the opposition center-left bloc that could halt the Nordic nation’s drift away from its liberal heritage.

The bloc, headed by the Social Democrats’ party leader Magdalena Andersson, was expected to win 175 seats in the 349-seat parliament, the Riksdag, based on votes from 4,853 of Sweden’s 6,312 election districts, the election authority said.

The right-wing governing bloc of Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson was seen winning 174 seats, with ballot-counting continuing.

The election, while unlikely to change the course of Sweden’s pro-Western and pro-Ukraine stance, will decide whether Kristersson’s push toward a hard-right clampdown on migration continues.

Given the closeness of the race, ‌the winner may ‌not be known for several days, after all overseas ballots have been ​counted.

In ‌a ⁠pre-election pledge, ​Kristersson ⁠broke a longstanding taboo and said he would bring into government the Sweden Democrats, a far-right party with roots in the Nazi fringe, as he aims to create a majority-right coalition.

Many voters on the right say a win would amount to an endorsement of policies that have helped to curb gang violence and cut immigration dramatically.

But some Swedes have expressed wariness, saying Kristersson’s invitation to the far right was a step too far.

“I think it will be a long night,” said Maria Malmer Stenergard, minister for foreign affairs and a member of Kristersson’s Moderate Party. “Maybe we won’t even ⁠have the results until Wednesday when the votes that have been cast abroad arrive.”

Kristersson, who ‌has trailed in opinion polls throughout his four years in office, ‌had been catching up in the final weeks of campaigning, with Andersson ​and her Social Democrats losing ground.

Critics say the Kristersson ‌government’s immigration policies, whose incentives and penalties press migrants either to conform more closely to Swedish cultural norms ‌or leave the country, are undermining civil liberties.

Electoral success for the Sweden Democrats would be welcomed by Europe’s ascendant far-right parties, which were bolstered by the anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany’s win in a German state election last week.

The far right hopes for gains in upcoming elections across Europe, with the National Rally’s bid for the French presidency next year potentially its biggest prize.

‘DOESN’T ‌LOOK LIKE SWEDEN’

While voting on Saturday in Rinkeby, near Stockholm, the Sweden Democrats’ longstanding leader Jimmie Akesson said the suburb, home to one of the country’s biggest ⁠Swedish-Somali populations, “doesn’t look like Sweden.”

Sweden ⁠was long one of Europe’s most welcoming countries for immigrants until Kristersson came to power four years ago. His government abolished permanent residency for refugees, tightened welfare rules and stepped up expulsions of those without a right to stay.

The Sweden Democrats acknowledge that their party was founded in part by neo-Nazis and white supremacists in the 1980s, but say they have eliminated such extremists from their ranks and have apologized for their past.

Cheers broke out at the Sweden Democrats’ election party after an updated projection from Swedish broadcaster SVT showed a much narrower gap than an initial exit poll, which had put the center-left opposition ahead with 51 percent of the vote.

“You cannot imagine how nervous I am right now. It feels like my life’s work is hanging in the balance,” said Ludvig Aspling, a member of parliament and immigration spokesperson for the Sweden Democrats. “It is going to be super tight. ​We still have a chance,” he said.

One person has been confirmed dead and more than 30 remain missing after the MV Matui ferry sank off the coast of Vanuatu, according to a statement from the office of Prime Minister Jotham Napat. The incident occurred on Sunday, with dozens of crew and passengers on board, the statement said.

Search and rescue operations are ongoing in Vanuatu, a Pacific Island nation located approximately 1,750 km (1,090 miles) east of Australia. The Prime Minister’s office stated on Facebook that 15 individuals have been accounted for alive. The ferry sank in adverse weather conditions on Friday between the islands of Ambae and Santo, according to New Zealand public broadcaster RNZ. The search has shifted from open waters to the south-east coast, where currents may have carried survivors, RNZ reported.

Investigation into causes

The statement from the Prime Minister’s office indicated that strong winds and marine warnings may not have been heeded, and that potential negligence, including overloading of the vessel, is being investigated. Authorities have announced that a formal investigation will be conducted to determine the causes of the incident.

“To the survivors, we pray for your strength and recovery. To the families of those missing and those we have lost, please know that the nation stands with you in this time of grief,” the statement from the Prime Minister’s office said.

Rescue operations and official response

Matai Seremaiah, a representative of the Luganville area in Vanuatu’s Parliament, stated that rescue efforts began after a crew member of the MV Matui swam ashore and raised the alarm. “He alerted us that the ship has capsized, we went out for the search,” Seremaiah said in remarks broadcast by RNZ.

The Vanuatu police, the Vanuatu Maritime Safety Authority, and the ferry’s operator, Tui Shipping Agency, have not yet responded to requests for comment. The search and rescue operation continues as authorities work to locate the missing passengers and crew.

Rescuers continue searching for survivors as the government scales back operations in open waters.

At least one person has died and more than 30 remain missing after a ferry sank off the coast of Vanuatu, Prime Minister Jotham Napat’s office has said in a statement.

The MV Matui, an inter-island ferry, sank in bad weather on Friday while sailing between the islands of Ambae and Santo, in Vanuatu’s north, according to New Zealand’s public broadcaster RNZ.

Of the dozens of crew members and passengers on board, 15 have been accounted for alive, Napat’s office said in a statement posted on Facebook, with search and rescue operations continuing.

The Pacific nation’s government said search efforts “in open waters” were being scaled back “whilst efforts move toward a search along the south-east coast, where currents may have carried survivors”.

It said the sinking “appears to be the result of strong winds and marine warnings not being heeded, and possibly of negligence including overloading of the vessel”, adding that a full investigation would follow to establish the facts and prevent a repeat.

Vanuatu police, the country’s Maritime Safety Authority and the ferry’s operator, Tui Shipping Agency, did not immediately respond to requests for comment, the Reuters news agency reported.

GENEVA: A road accident involving a tourist coach in eastern Switzerland has left several people dead and others injured, police said on Thursday.

The accident happened between the communes of Susch and Zernez in the far-eastern canton of Graubunden.

“Several people died in the coach crash in Susch. Several others were also injured,” the cantonal police said on X, without giving details on the circumstances of the accident or the victims’ identities.

Footage broadcast by Swiss media showed many rescue workers rushing about around the coach, which has overturned onto its side below the road, and helicopters stationed nearby.

According to the Swiss press, the bus belonged to the Dutch Oad tour operator, which offers trips across Europe.

Zernez is the entry point for visitors to the Swiss national park, a vast Alpine reserve stretching more than 100 square kilometers (40 square miles) across the mountainous Engadine valley.

MANILA: A fire broke out Wednesday evening aboard a vessel carrying over 100 passengers near a tourist hotspot in the Philippine province of Palawan, leaving at least five people dead, local media and the coast guard said.

“The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) immediately responded to a fire incident involving M/V June Aster at the vicinity waters approximately 1.2 nautical miles northeast of Barangay Marcilla,” in the Coron municipality, the service said late Wednesday on Facebook.

Video shared by the coast guard showed the vessel completely engulfed in flames.

Another post over two hours later said “five casualties were initially reported” and brought ashore, with accompanying photos showing several body bags.

The post said 42 people had been rescued, while GMA News reported the ship had been carrying 117 passengers and 17 crew, citing a coast guard official.

Tracking data from MarineTraffic showed the June Aster had departed from Manila.

British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband has said the United Kingdom will sanction illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, describing the move as “overdue” and necessary to “salvage” a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

He made the comments on Tuesday as 11 nations joined the UK in supporting or ⁠considering curbs on trade in goods with settlements that are a barrier to a future Palestinian state.

But analysts say the step is far from enough to drive momentum for Palestinian statehood, threatened by ever-expanding settlements in the West Bank and an increasingly hostile Israeli political environment.

Tahani Mustafa, a lecturer in international relations at King’s College London, told Al Jazeera the latest anti-settlement measures are “modest” and unlikely to have a significant impact on ambitions for Palestinian statehood.

“After three decades of breakneck settlement expansion, Palestinian territory is only being held together by its sinews,” said Mustafa. “If what remains is still territorially viable as a state, it is only barely so. Much more decisive action is needed to salvage the two-state solution and a durable lasting solution to the conflict.”

Settlements dividing Palestinian territory

More than 30 years after the Oslo Accords set out a negotiating process aimed at resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the creation of a Palestinian state alongside Israel has remained the foundation of international efforts to forge peace.

But since the Oslo process began in 1993, the number of Israeli settlers in the West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem, has ballooned from about 260,000 to more than 700,000, according to the Palestinian Bureau of Statistics, posing a glaring roadblock to the plan.

The challenge is not just the raw number of settlers, but their geographic spread. Today, many Israeli settlements are embedded deep inside West Bank areas that would be needed for a contiguous Palestinian state, including near major Palestinian urban centres such as Nablus, Salfit and Hebron.

Israel’s recent E1 settlement plan, which would build thousands of illegal housing units between the Israeli settlement of Maale Adumim and East Jerusalem, is a case in point. The plan would effectively split the West Bank in two and fully sever it from East Jerusalem, which Palestinians seek as their future capital.

Experts have long said Israel will need to dismantle some of its West Bank settlements, as it did in the Gaza Strip in 2005, to make room for a cohesive Palestinian state. But many Israeli settlements, especially those closer to Israel’s pre-war 1967 borders, would likely need to be addressed through land swaps.

“A complete withdrawal from some of the deeply embedded settlements is highly unlikely,” so land swaps would be the only way to create some form of Palestinian “territorial integrity”, Andreas Krieg, associate professor at King’s College London, told Al Jazeera.

However, such an arrangement – under which Israeli settlements close to the pre-1967 borders would become part of Israel and some “northern Arab-Israeli communities would be integrated into a Palestinian state” – would be “highly controversial” and face blowback from multiple communities, said Krieg.

He argued that Israelis would be certain to oppose any forced withdrawal from West Bank settlements, while some “Arab-Israelis may not want to live within a Palestinian state”.

Palestinian citizens of Israel make up approximately 21 percent of Israel’s overall population but are treated as second- or third-class citizens at the institutional level. According to rights groups, several dozen Israeli laws actively discriminate against Palestinian citizens across a number of issues, including education and housing.

Israeli ‘consensus’ against Palestinian state

Beyond the physical obstacle created by settlements is the Israeli political landscape, in which the idea of a Palestinian state has become toxic.

The government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appears to be among the most hardline in Israel’s history on the issue. Netanyahu has emphatically ruled out the prospect of a Palestinian state, while his far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who also oversees Israeli settlements in the West Bank, has celebrated blocking Palestinian statehood as a badge of honour.

The views of Netanyahu’s most influential domestic critics do not deviate much. His top rival in elections slated for October, former military chief Gadi Eisenkot, has promised not to allow the establishment of a Palestinian state. And Naftali Bennett, a Netanyahu rival from the far right, fervently opposes Palestinian statehood.

As for the Israeli public, a June poll by the Council for a Secure America found that only 22 percent of Jewish Israelis favour a two-state solution, while 63 percent oppose it.

“The consensus within Israel, socially and politically, does not allow for any party to make any steps towards a Palestinian state,” said Krieg.

Meanwhile, Israel’s closest ally, the United States, is unlikely to apply significant pressure over Israel’s settlement policy so long as President Donald Trump remains in office for the next two and a half years, he added.

Krieg said a “best-case scenario” is for Israel’s next elected government to reverse some of the country’s recent settlement advances.

John Strawson, professor at the University of East London, said that any new Israeli government is “unlikely to support a Palestinian state”, but that a more moderate Israeli government may at least “stop the ethnic cleansing and other moves which are aimed at making that impossible”.

“Removing Netanyahu is the first step towards a two-state solution,” said Strawson.

Two states are the ‘only alternative to violence’

If the two-state model is still alive at all, it is largely due to pressure from the international community.

More than 150 countries, including the majority of European Union nations, have recognised Palestinian statehood. And several Arab states with whom Israel seeks better ties have indicated Palestinian statehood is a precondition for normalisation with Israel.

Krieg said Tuesday’s move by the UK and the 11 other mostly European nations is an “overdue step in the right direction”, but also “shows the laziness and lack of creativity on the part of the international community to actually think outside the box in terms of a two-state solution”.

Anders Persson, a political scientist specialising in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, said that while the settlement sanctions are concerning to Israel, other previous anti-settlement measures, such as 2013 EU restrictions on funds for Israeli entities operating in occupied Palestinian territory, “changed little on the ground”.

He said the latest sanctions may be “too late” and “too limited … to save the two-state solution”.

Strawson said that while a two-state solution may “seem optimistic”, it is the only alternative to “permanent war and violence”.

KFAR RUMMAN, Lebanon: Hundreds of people in south Lebanon gathered on Tuesday to mourn two Hezbollah members and their family, among them a three-month-old infant, killed by an Israeli strike a day prior.

The two brothers’ coffins, draped in the Iran-backed group’s yellow flag, portraits of them in camouflage fatigues fixed to the front, led the procession through the village battered by repeated conflict over nearly three years.

Another 10 coffins were covered in Lebanese flags, indicating that the rest of the Farhat family killed when Monday’s strike levelled their home were civilians.

Israel has launched airstrikes and a ground invasion in south Lebanon during the Middle East war, which erupted with joint US-Israeli attacks on Iran and spread to Lebanon after Hezbollah targeted Israel in support of its backer.

The fighting in Lebanon had calmed since a US-Iran memorandum of understanding and a framework agreement between Israel and Lebanon were both agreed in June.

But Beirut still reports recurring Israeli strikes, which it says have killed more than 4,300 people in total since March, and Israeli forces continue to occupy what it calls a “security zone” in the south.

A separate strike on Kfar Rumman on Monday killed an 18-year-old rescuer with the Risala Association, linked to the Hezbollah-allied Amal movement, the organisation said, who was mourned alongside the Farhat family on Tuesday.

“We have 13 killed including grandfather and grandmother, husbands and wives, and their children including a three-months old infant,” deputy mayor Nureddine Nureddine told AFP from the funeral.

“Someone put an end to these crimes,” Nureddine said, adding that the strike that killed the Farhat family “occurred at night, while they were sleeping”.

“There was no military activity, nothing.”

An AFP correspondent saw people marching to the cemetery, waving Hezbollah flags as women dressed in black wept, holding pictures of the dead as an Israeli drone flew overhead.

“Death to America, death to Israel,” mourners yelled.

– ‘A shred of honour’ –

The Israeli military said on Monday that it had struck Hezbollah “infrastructure sites” across southern Lebanon after the launch of two explosive drones towards its troops, as well as “several terrorists” it said were transferring weapons.

“The claim that several uninvolved individuals were harmed as a result of the strikes is being reviewed,” it said, adding that the military “will continue to operate to remove threats while remaining committed to the ceasefire agreement”.

Since Friday, at least 28 people have been killed in Israeli attacks on southern Lebanon, according to Lebanon’s health ministry.

Standing next to a picture of his own son, a Hezbollah member killed by Israel, Ghaleb Baalbaki slammed the Lebanese government for continuing direct talks with Israel.

“If they have even a shred of honour, the first thing they should do would be to stop the negotiations,” he said.

The lull in violence that began in June had allowed hundreds of thousands of displaced people to return home.

“Kfar Rumman was coming back to life, there were more than 1,400 people” in the town before the latest escalation, Nureddine said,

“Now, they can be counted on your fingers.”