dream

Grimsby Town vs Manchester United

First in a series of stories profiling top high school football players by position. Today, Brady Smigiel, Newbury Park quarterback.

Honored as the The Times’ player of the year in 2024. Passed for more than 3,200 yards. Completed 49 touchdown passes. Won a Southern Section Division 2 championship. Committed to Michigan for college. Rated a five-star quarterback by one recruiting service.

Has Brady Smigiel of Newbury Park High accomplished everything he wanted to do in high school going into his senior year?

“I can argue I’m getting even hungrier,” said the 6-foot-5, 210-pounder.

His former receiver Shane Rosenthal, who is now at UCLA, has known Smigiel since their tee-ball days. Rosenthal said his best friend is never satisfied.

“He knows there’s things to improve on,” Rosenthal said. “This is just the start of his career. He’s got college next and hopefully the NFL. This is not his final destination. He knows where he wants to get to.”

Smigiel intends to keep the pedal to the metal as he plays his final season under his father, head coach Joe Smigiel. He was the one who threw a container filled with Gatorade on his father’s head last season, drawing a nasty stare because dad had a cold and didn’t need to get wet.

All is forgiven and his father would gladly accept another drenching with a little warning this time. The challenge for son will be developing chemistry with his new group of receivers and continuing to progress reading defenses, something he did extraordinarily well in dropping his interceptions to three last season after 14 in 2023.

“There’s no replacing Shane, but there are some very good athletes that came in,” Smigiel said.

Despite his success the last three seasons, which include 11,222 yards passing and 147 touchdowns, Smigiel insists he has not lost his focus.

“There’s a new challenge every season and to know I’m going to college in less than a year makes me even hungrier,” he said. “I want to be able to get better every single day.”

In April, an example of his day was getting to school at 6:30 a.m. and getting home at 8 p.m. after workouts, classes and training. He has entrusted his training to a staff dedicated to giving him the tools to succeed.

“You just want to get stronger and faster,” he said. “I’m a tall build, so there’s a lot of mass to put weight on. I dropped some bad pounds and started working on my speed training to get more explosive.”

He has made a commitment to Michigan, believing the school is the best fit for his quarterback style, academics and development on and off the field. He’s pursuing his dream — the NFL. He remembers being inspired after watching the draft with former Newbury Park and NFL defensive back Darnay Holmes.

Newbury Park coach Joe Smigiel with sons Brady, left, and Beau.

(Nick Koza)

“My dream has been to be in the NFL my whole life,” he said. “Darnay was at our house and the draft was on and my mom was having a conversation with him. He was about my age right now and his dream was to play in the NFL and the fact it happened and can happen to people you know, it really opened my eyes and is 100% a dream of mine.”

During a nutrition break last spring, Smigiel was hanging out with Rosenthal and looked up the future schedules for Michigan and UCLA. The Bruins will be in Ann Arbor in 2026, with the Wolverines coming to the Rose Bowl in 2027. The best buddies are making plans.

“We’ll be doing a jersey exchange,” Rosenthal said. “I want to be on the same field again.”

Smigiel has matured throughout high school. He has grown constantly, whether in school, his physical dimensions, or his faith. His new offensive coordinator, former Utah quarterback Cam Rising, is helping him become even more prepared for the next level.

The Smigiel journey continues, and it’s going to be quite a ride to follow.

Wednesday: Valencia running back Brian Bonner.

Quarterbacks to watch

Bryson Beaver, Vista Murrieta, 6-3, 195, Sr.: Oregon commit passed for 3,214 yards, 33 touchdowns last season

Corin Berry, Charter Oak, 6-3, 185, Sr. Purdue commit passed for 3,034 yards, 33 touchdowns in 2024

Wyatt Brown, Sherman Oaks Notre Dame, 6-4, 190, Sr.: Santa Monica transfer is ready for Mission League

Luke Fahey, Mission Viejo, 6-0, 185, Sr.: Ohio State commit has great arm, good instincts and is big-time in the clutch

Ryan Hopkins, Mater Dei, 6-3, 190, Sr.: Wisconsin commit is one of the fastest QBs in the state

Jaden Jefferson, Cathedral, 5-9, 175, Jr.: Completed 68% of his passes with only four interceptions

Koa Malau’ulu, St. John Bosco, 6-2, 175, So.: Threw for 19 touchdowns as a freshman

Ryan Rakowski, Palos Verdes, 5-11, 170, Jr. : Passed for 2,809 yards, 24 touchdowns last season

Oscar Rios, Downey, 6-3, 180, Sr.: Arizona commit is terrific passer, runner and leader

Brady Smigiel, Newbury Park, 6-5, 210, Sr.: Michigan commit has passed for 147 TDs in three seasons

Craig Bloomer, 54, died in a horror freak crash while on holiday with his family in Greece – his heartbroken daughter paid tribute to the ‘much-loved’ dad

A “beloved” British grandad tragically died on holiday in Greece following a freak accident.

Craig Bloomer, 54, had travelled to the idyllic island of Corfu, for a family holiday with his two daughters, their partners and kids, but sadly died after a moped incident on July 26. The “much-loved” grandad, from Wolverhampton, on this holiday was the “happiest” he had been since his wife Jane, 53, died two years ago from cancer, according to Craig’s daughter.

The 54-year-old tragically died after he lost control of the moped he was riding and crashed near the village of Agios Mattheos. It comes just days after another British tourist was found dead in a Greece hotel swimming pool.

READ MORE: ‘Nicest ever’ mum left work ‘abruptly’ then was found dead in a hotel roomREAD MORE: Dad’s desperate phone call moments before explosion kills him and his daughters

Craig was rushed to hospital after the horror crash but was pronounced dead by doctors, according to BirminghamLive. His eldest daughter Rebecca, 32, said: “Our dad’s loss has left a massive hole in our lives.”

The grandad had also travelled with his youngest daughter Danni Perks, 27, but his tragic passing meant the family had to cut their holiday short, returning several days earlier than planned on Tuesday, on July 29.

Craig’s body was flown back to England on Wednesday, August 6, which has allowed the family to begin the ordeal of organising his funeral.

Since his passing, tributes have flooded in for Craig who ran The Cafe in the Low Hill area of Wolverhampton, alongside his two daughters.

Paying tribute to her dad, Rebecca said: “We lost our mum two years ago to cancer. Since then, he has been a bit down in the dumps.

“On holiday, it was the happiest I’d ever seen him, he had a new girlfriend. He was lovely and a proper family man. He liked motorbikes, old cars, going to the pub, snooker, drawing, he was really good at art.”

The heartbroken daughter added: “We own a cafe business which my dad started running after my mum died. The amount of tributes we’ve had off people for dad, saying how lovely he was and what a character he was.

“He was like marmite, you either loved him or hated him – and most people loved him.” Craig’s family has created a GoFundMe page to help with costs following his unexpected death – which has raised over £3,000 so far.

This comes after a mum was tragically killed by a stingray at sea in a horror “freak accident” while on holiday. Judy Kay Zagorski, 57, had been on a boat trip in the Florida Keys but the adventure ended in tragedy.

The mum was killed by a huge spotted eagle ray that jumped out of the water and struck her in the face.

SACRAMENTO — Seven months into President Trump’s second term, California has filed 37 lawsuits against his administration and spent about $5 million doing it.

Before you go off on a government-spending rant, let me drop this figure on you: For each dollar the state has spent in litigation with Trump, it has recouped $33,600 in funds that the federal government has tried to take away from the Golden State, according to Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta.

That, as he put it during a Monday news conference, is “bringing the receipts.”

These aren’t dollars Californians were wishing for or begging for from the federal government — these are funds that have already been legally allotted to the state but which the Trump administration is attempting to stop for reasons petty, ideological or both. They pay for teacher training, immunizations, tracking infectious diseases, keeping roads safe, disaster recovery and on and on. And they are predominantly your tax dollars, being withheld from your state.

“What we’re demanding is that we get the funding that’s already been legally approved and appropriated,” Bonta said.

But as much as it’s about paying for the basics that keep California going, it’s also about protecting an inclusive and equitable way of living that defines the ethos of our state. Don’t tread on us! Californians get to spend our money how we see fit.

“When you add it all up, you see the totality of what’s at stake: the California dream,” Bonta said. “The idea that every Californian, no matter how they look, where they live or how much money they have, can send their kid to school, go to the doctor when they’re sick and put food on the table and a roof over their heads.”

Or as Gov. Gavin Newsom put it, it’s litigation not for the sake of suing, but to “defend, to stand tall, to hold the line in terms of our values, the things we hold dear.”

It’s serious times, folks. Trump has made it clear that he doesn’t stand for LGBTQ+ rights, for immigrants’ rights, for women’s rights, for due process or even public schools. But so far, the courts have held, for the most part, to their responsibility to be a check on this unbalanced administration.

Of course, lawyers win cases, sometimes regardless of facts. I want to give a shout out to our state Department of Justice. Bonta may be the state’s top lawyer, but there is a whole army of legal folks behind these lawsuits.

The $5 million spent so far has been entirely in-house, Bonta said. This cash isn’t going to expensive outside counsel, but, as my colleague Kevin Rector points out, money that is funding the smart, talented attorneys and staff who work for taxpayers.

More than a few of them were around during Trump’s first term, when the state was involved in more than 120 lawsuits against his administration. Many of those suits were about process — the haphazard, rules-be-damned way Trump seeks to implement his policies.

Our California lawyers learned then that courts do in fact uphold law, and simply pointing out that rules have to be followed was often enough to stop Trump. While we now have a seasoned legal team that understands the weaknesses in what Trump is doing, the sort-of-funny part is that he’s still doing it. Few lessons learned, which is good for California.

So far, these lawsuits by California have ensured that about $168 billion that Trump would have cut off instead continued to flow to California. Bonta said that in the 19 cases that have made it in front of a judge so far, he’s succeeded in 17, including winning 13 court orders directly blocking Trump’s “illegal actions.”

He’s also secured wins outside of court, including when the U.S. Department of Education recently backed down after freezing school funding weeks before school is set to start. That funding, under threat of a lawsuit, has been restored.

Bonta said that while the state is fighting every lawsuit with rigor, two are personal to him and “remain sort of the most important in terms of what they represent.”

They happen to be the first two suits the state filed, shortly after Trump took office. The first was about birthright citizenship, and Trump’s bid to end it. It’s a case Bonta says is “very meaningful” to him.

Bonta was born in the Philippines and immigrated to the United States when he was 2 months old, living in a trailer in the Central Valley town of La Paz, the home of the United Farm Workers. His parents left their country to avoid martial law as the dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos gained power, and worked with civil rights leaders including Cesar Chavez once they settled here.

So it makes sense that an executive order that would leave about 24,500 babies born each year in California without U.S. citizenship hits hard with Bonta.

Bonta, along with attorneys general of several other states, filed that lawsuit the day after Trump took office, in response to an executive order he signed on Inauguration Day. So far, multiple courts have expressed deep skepticism of that order, and the idea that the Constitution and prior Supreme Court rulings should be ignored in favor of Trump’s position.

The second case that Bonta takes personally is a multistate pushback on Trump’s sweeping halt of federal funding. That case put at risk about $3 trillion nationwide, including that $168 billion in California, about a third of the state budget.

Coming up next is a challenge to the deployment of Marines and National Guard troops in Los Angeles. The Trump administration has been quietly removing those soldiers in recent days, perhaps in preparation for asking the court to drop that case, which seems like a loser for them. No troops, no case. We’ll see how it goes in a few days.

“The Marines and the National Guardspeople arrived to quiet streets in L.A.,” Bonta said. “The president has been incredibly, in my view, disrespectful to these patriots. He’s treated them as political pawns.”

The $5 million the state has spent so far on legal fights with Trump is part of $25 million the Legislature set aside earlier this year during a special session. Bonta said that even that will likely not be enough to keep the challenges flowing for the next three and a half years.

Newsom, for his part, is all in and promised that Bonta “will not be in need of resources to do his job.” (And yes, I know it raises his profile for a 2028 presidential run.)

As much as it seems ridiculous that we are setting aside this huge chunk of change for legal fees at a moment when we are facing a budget crisis, the cost of letting Trump run roughshod over our state is much higher. This is money well spent.

Because it’s not just our federal funding at stake, it’s the California dream.

In the men’s event, taking place in Toronto, Alexander Zverev battled back from a set down to beat defending champion Alexei Popyrin 6-7 (6-8) 6-4 6-3.

The 28-year-old German is into his 75th semi-final on the ATP Tour, becoming the only active men’s player to have reached that milestone alongside Novak Djokovic.

He will face Russian Karen Khachanov, who moved past Alex Michelsen of the United States 6-4 7-6 (7-3).

The Cincinnati Open confirmed Djokovic had withdrawn for “non-medical” reasons from the tournament, which begins on Thursday.

The 24-time Grand Slam champion, who is not competing in Toronto because of a groin injury, has not played since losing to Jannik Sinner in the semi-finals of Wimbledon.

The 38-year-old is unlikely to play before the US Open, which starts on 24 August.

When I was a freshman at Columbia University in 1999, the professor of my Literature Humanities course shared some personal information with my class, which was that she slept exactly three hours per night. I forget what prompted the disclosure, though I do recall it was made not to elicit pity but rather as a matter-of-fact explanation of the way things were: sleeping more than three hours a night simply did not allow her sufficient time to simultaneously maintain her professorship and tend to her baby.

This, of course, was before the era of smartphones took the phenomenon of rampant sleep deprivation to another level. But modern life has long been characterised by a lack of proper sleep – an activity that happens to be fundamental to life itself.

I personally cannot count the times I have awakened at one or two o’clock in the morning to work, unable to banish from my brain the capitalist guilt at engaging in necessary restorative rest rather than being, you know, “productive” 24 hours a day.

And yet mine is a privileged variety of semi-self-imposed sleep deprivation; I am not, for example, being denied adequate rest because I have to work three jobs to put food on the table for my family.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the national public health agency of the United States, approximately one-third of US adults and children under the age of 14 get insufficient sleep, putting them at increased risk for anxiety, depression, heart disease, and a host of other potentially life-threatening maladies. As per CDC calculations, a full 75 percent of US high schoolers do not sleep enough.

While the recommended amount of sleep for adults is at least seven hours per day, a 2024 Gallup poll reported that 20 percent of US adults were getting five hours or less – a trend attributable in part to rising stress levels among the population.

To be sure, it’s easy to feel stressed out when your government appears more interested in sending billions upon billions of dollars to Israel to assist in the ongoing genocide of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip than in, say, facilitating existence for Americans by offering healthcare, education, and housing options that don’t require folks to work themselves to death to afford.

Then again, pervasive stress and anxiety work just fine for those sectors of the for-profit medical establishment that make bank off of treating such afflictions.

Meanwhile, speaking of the Gaza Strip, residents of the occupied territory are well acquainted with acute sleep deprivation, which is currently a component of the Israeli military’s genocidal arsenal for wearing Palestinians down both physically and psychologically. Not that a good night’s sleep in Gaza was ever really within the realm of possibility – even prior to the launch of the all-out genocide in 2023 – given Israel’s decades-long terrorisation of the Strip via periodic bombardments, massacres, sonic booms, the ubiquitous deployment of buzzing drones, and other manoeuvres designed to inflict individual and collective trauma.

A study on trauma and sleep disruption in Gaza – conducted in November 2024 and published this year in the peer-reviewed journal BMC Psychology – notes that, in the present context of Israel’s round-the-clock assault, “the act of falling asleep is imbued with existential dread”. The study quotes one Gaza mother who had already lost three of her seven children to Israeli bombings: “Every time I close my eyes, I see my children in front of me, so I’m afraid to sleep.”

Of course, Israel’s penchant for killing entire families in their sleep no doubt exacerbates the fear associated with it. The study observes that children in Gaza have been “stripped of the simple peace that sleep should offer, forced to endure nightmares born from real-life horrors”, while overcrowded shelters have rendered the pursuit of shut-eye ever more elusive.

Furthermore, mass forced displacement in the Gaza Strip “has deprived families of their homes, severing the link between sleep and security”.

A recent article in the American Medical Association Journal of Ethics argues that sleep is a human right that is integral to human health – and that its deprivation is torture. It seems we can thus go ahead and add mass torture to the list of US-backed Israeli atrocities in Gaza.

Naturally, the US has engaged in plenty of do-it-yourself torture over the years, as well, including against detainees in Guantanamo Bay – where sleep deprivation was standard practice along with waterboarding, “rectal rehydration”, and other so-called “enhanced interrogation techniques”.

In her 2022 study of sleep deprivation as a form of torture, published by the Maryland Law Review, Deena N Sharuk cites the case of Mohammed Jawad, an Afghan teenager imprisoned in Guantanamo Bay in 2003 and subjected to what was “referred to as the Frequent Flyer Program”, whereby detainees were repeatedly moved between cells in order to disrupt their sleep.

According to Sharuk, Jawad was moved “every three hours for fourteen consecutive days, totaling 112 moves”. The young man subsequently attempted suicide.

Now, the ever-expanding array of immigration detention facilities in the US offers new opportunities to withhold sleep, as victims of the country’s war on refuge seekers are crammed into cages illuminated at all hours by fluorescent lights.

And while a well-rested world would surely be a more serene one, such a prospect remains the stuff of dreams.

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

THE last thing we want to do is cause a panic among Dream Team managers before a ball has been kicked.

But it’s our duty to highlight any discrepancies worthy of discussion as the Gameweek 1 deadline draws near and so we feel compelled to discuss Caoimhin Kelleher (£3m).

PLAY DREAM TEAM AHEAD OF THE 2025/26 SEASON! OVER £100,000 IN PRIZE MONEY

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As it stands, the Republic or Ireland international is set to start the 2025/26 season as the most popular goalkeeper in Dream Team.

MOST POPULAR GOALKEEPERS IN DREAM TEAM AHEAD OF GAMEWEEK 1 (% OWNERSHIP)

• 11.6%  Caoimhin Kelleher
• 9.7%  Robert Sanchez
• 9.2%  Matz Sels
• 9%  David Raya
• 8.7%  Alisson

Before we get cynical, let’s be clear that Kelleher is a very fine keeper.

Last season, he performed superbly for Liverpool while Alisson was sidelined with injury for a sustained period from mid-October until Christmas.

Most notably, he saved two penalties in the space of four days against Southampton and Real Madrid to grab the headlines.

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During this time, Kelleher was something of a Dream Team cheat code as he was a cheap starter for the best team in the country and gaffers who took advantage of this situation were rewarded with plentiful points.

In fact, his average of 5.3 points-per-game was among the highest in his position for 2024/25.

This summer, the 26-year-old has transferred from Liverpool to Brentford in a move that will make him No1 for the first time in his career.

Kelleher’s historical record and the promise of increased minutes are the reasons he’s a popular choice among Dream Team bosses, not to mention his affordable price.

However, at the risk of coming across all doom and gloom, there are some issues to be addressed.

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Firstly, a simple truth must be stated: Brentford are not Liverpool.

Clean sheets are the primary currency for keepers in Dream Team but it generally takes a team effort to repel the opposition.

You could have Lev Yashin, Gigi Buffon and Manuel Neuer all between the sticks at once but if they aren’t given suitable protection then it is inevitable they will concede goals.

Last season, Brentford conceded 57 league goals, 16 more than champions Liverpool.

But even that doesn’t tell the full story of the disparity between Kelleher’s old club and his new employers.

The Bees conceded a whopping 646 shots in total, only Southampton gave up more opportunities.

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The xG stats are kinder to the West London outfit, suggesting that six teams defended worse, but Dream Team managers should realise that clean sheets will be much harder for Kelleher to come by at the Gtech.

His predecessor, Mark Flekken, made more saves (159) than any other Dream Team goalkeeper last season, another indication of Brentford’s defensive vulnerabilities.

Of course, racking up lots of saves is another way to earn points – perhaps Kelleher’s best avenue going forward – but it’s difficult to make waves without clean sheets and let’s not forget that conceding goals can lead to minus points.

Another big concern is that Brentford might find life harder in the top flight this campaign.

They have lost Thomas Frank, Christian Norgaard and Bryan Mbeumo, with Yoane Wissa also linked to other clubs.

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Keith Andrews has been appointed head coach and has a huge task ahead of him.

Pre-season predictions are often foolish in hindsight but many pundits are envisaging a taxing season for the Bees.

We’re not saying that Kelleher is a horrible selection but, given all the factors, it seems unusual that he’s more popular than all his rivals.

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Every recreational golfer of my generation has at least two things in common: We grew up revering Tiger Woods, and we know “Happy Gilmore,” the 1996 Adam Sandler golf comedy, like the back of our hands. Which millennial, while lining up a putt on the green, hasn’t told himself at some point to just “tap it in — give it a little tappy, a tap tap taparoo”? Who among us, before hitting a challenging tee shot, hasn’t at some point first closed his eyes and attempted to escape to his very own “happy place”? And above all, which of us hasn’t spent hours upon hours at the local driving range trying to master the craft that is protagonist Happy Gilmore’s signature running golf swing?

For all of us picking up the game once described by sports journalist John Feinstein as “a good walk spoiled,” Sandler’s character was a never-ending font of laughs and inspiration. Like so many others of my generation, then, I was very excited to watch “Happy Gilmore 2,” just released on Netflix on July 25. The sequel, 29 years in the making, didn’t have a script as instantly quotable as the original, nor was it as memorable. (Which film sequel, besides “The Godfather Part II” or “The Empire Strikes Back,” ever has been?) But “Happy Gilmore 2” still surpassed expectations: It was at times a bit silly, but it was still rollicking fun, replete with nostalgic flashbacks and a bevy of pro golfer cameos.

But it’s also more than that. It would be a mistake to dismiss the two movies as purely frivolous fare — good just for a few laughs. Rather, Sandler, long known for leading a private, low-key lifestyle that eschews the Hollywood limelight, has a specific message for Happy’s myriad fans: Family always comes first.

In the original film, Happy, a hockey fanatic whose weak skating skills inhibited his pro hockey aspirations, reluctantly takes up golf for one reason: to earn enough money to save his beloved grandmother’s home from a bank foreclosure and return her there from a hostile nursing home. Throughout the film, Happy emphasizes this as his sole motivation for biting his lips and suffering through what he calls “golf sissy crap.” Happy doesn’t particularly care about the game of golf. He’s just doing it for Grandma.

In the sequel, Happy, now considerably older and a father of five, has retired from golf and developed a bad drinking habit. A single father, he is struggling to make ends meet and provide for his daughter Vienna. Early in the film, Vienna’s dance instructor recommends that Happy enroll her in an advanced four-year ballet school in Paris, which would cost $75,000 annually. Happy senses that Vienna’s dream to dance ballet is similar to his old dream of playing hockey. With the encouragement of John Daly (one of many real-life pro golfers cast as themselves), he dusts off his old golf clubs and gives it a go again. Spoiler alert, without giving away too many of the specifics: The film has a happy ending for Happy’s family.

Clearly, this is not just about golf and laughs.

Sandler, a onetime registered and politically active Republican, is conveying to his audience a traditional conservative message: A life well lived is not a solipsistic one that exalts the self, but an altruistic one that places the interests of others above all else. These “others” are usually those closest to us — family members, older and younger generations alike, to whom we have obligations. You might notice that in both films, Happy plays golf only for others — not for himself.

Happy, who once fought to save the house his grandfather built, now finds himself trying to do right by the next generation. It is these relationships — with those who came before us and those who come after us — that give our lives meaning and purpose. And in “Happy Gilmore 2,” Sandler drives home that message in the most personal way possible: He casts his real-life wife and his two daughters — one as the aspiring ballerina.

The foul-mouthed, trash-talking rebel of golf, Happy Gilmore, is onto something important. Perhaps more of Sandler’s Hollywood colleagues ought to listen. They might learn something.

Josh Hammer’s latest book is “Israel and Civilization: The Fate of the Jewish Nation and the Destiny of the West.” This article was produced in collaboration with Creators Syndicate. @josh_hammer

Gaza City, Gaza Strip – Hani Abu Rizq walks through Gaza City’s wrecked streets with two bricks tied against his stomach as the rope cuts into his clothes, which hang loose from the weight he has lost.

The 31-year-old searches desperately for food to feed his mother and seven siblings with the bricks pressed against his belly – an ancient technique he never imagined he would need.

“We’re starved,” he says, his voice hollow with exhaustion.

“Even starvation as a word falls short of what we’re all feeling,” he adds, his eyes following people walking past.

He adjusts the rope around his waist, a gesture that has become as routine as breathing.

“I went back to what people did in ancient times, tying stones around my belly to try to quiet my hunger. This isn’t just war. It’s an intentional famine.”

The fading of Gaza’s heartbeat

Before October 7, 2023, and the start of Israel’s war on Gaza, food was the heartbeat of daily life in Gaza.

The days in Gaza were built around communal meals – breakfasts of zaatar and glistening olive oil, lunches of layered maqlooba and musakhan that filled homes with warmth, and evenings spent around trays of rice, tender meat and seasonal salads sparkling with herbs from gardens.

Abu Rizq remembers those days with the ache of someone mourning the dead.

The unmarried man used to love dining and gathering with family and friends. He speaks of comfortable dining rooms where home-cooked feasts were displayed like art and evenings were filled with desserts and spiced drinks that lingered on tongues and in memory.

“Now, we buy sugar and salt by the gram,” he says, his hands gesturing towards empty market stalls that once overflowed with produce.

“A tomato or cucumber is a luxury – a dream. Gaza has become more expensive than world capitals, and we have nothing.”

Over nearly 22 months of the war, the amount of food in Gaza has been drastically reduced. The besieged enclave has been under the complete mercy of Israel, which has curtailed access to everything from flour to cooking gas.

But since March 2, the humanitarian and essential items allowed in have plummeted to a frightening low. Israel completely blocked all food from March to May and has since permitted only minimal aid deliveries, prompting widespread international condemnation.

Watching children suffer

According to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, at least 159 Palestinians – 90 of whom are children and infants – have died of malnutrition and dehydration during the war as of Thursday.

The World Food Programme warns of a “full-blown famine” spreading across the enclave while UNICEF reports that one in three children under five in northern Gaza suffers acute malnutrition.

Fidaa Hassan, a former nurse and mother of three from Jabalia refugee camp, knows the signs of malnutrition.

“I studied them,” she tells Al Jazeera from her displaced family’s shelter in western Gaza. “Now I see them in my own kids.”

Her youngest child, two-year-old Hassan, wakes up every morning crying for food, asking for bread that doesn’t exist.

“We celebrated each of my children’s birthdays with nice parties [before the war] – except for … Hassan. He turned two several months ago, and I couldn’t even give him a proper meal,” she says.

Her 10-year-old, Firas, she adds, shows visible signs of severe malnutrition that she recognises with painful clarity.

Before the war, her home buzzed with life around mealtimes. “We used to eat three or four times a day,” she recalls.

“Lunch was a time to gather. Winter evenings were filled with the aroma of lentil soup. We spent spring afternoons preparing stuffed vine leaves with such care.

“Now we … sleep hungry.”

“There’s no flour, no bread, nothing to fill our stomachs,” she says, holding Hassan as his small body trembles.

“We haven’t had a bite of bread in over two weeks. A kilo of flour costs 150 shekels [$40], and we can’t afford that.”

Hassan was six months old when the bombing began. Now, at two years old, he bears little resemblance to a healthy child his age.

The United Nations has repeatedly warned that Israel’s siege and restrictions on humanitarian aid are creating man-made famine conditions.

According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, only a fraction of the 600 truckloads of food and supplies required in Gaza daily, under normal circumstances, are coming through. The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification system has placed northern Gaza in Phase 5: catastrophe/famine.

Amid a lack of security, the trickle of humanitarian aid allowed to enter Gaza is subject to gangs and looting, preventing people in need from accessing scarce supplies.

Furthermore, hundreds of desperate aid seekers have been shot dead by Israeli soldiers while trying to get humanitarian aid provided by the United States- and Israeli-backed GHF since May.

Abundance as a distant memory

Hala Mohammed, 32, cradles three-year-old Qusai in a relative’s overcrowded shelter in Remal, a neighbourhood of Gaza City, as she describes how she has to watch him cry in hunger every morning, his little voice breaking.

“There’s no flour, no sugar, no milk,” she says, her arms wrapped protectively around the child, who has known only war for most of his life.

“We bake lentils like dough and cook plain pasta just to fill our stomachs. But hunger is stronger.”

This is devastating for someone who grew up in Gaza’s rich culture of hospitality and generosity and had a comfortable life in the Tuffah neighbourhood.

Before displacement forced her and her husband to flee west with Qusai, every milestone called for nice meals – New Year’s feasts, Mother’s Day gatherings, birthday parties for her husband, her mother-in-law and Qusai.

“Many of our memories were created around shared meals. Now meals [have become the] memory,” she says.

“My son asks for food and I just hold him,” she continues, her voice cracking. “The famine spreads like cancer – slowly, silently and mercilessly. Children are wasting away before our eyes. And we can do nothing.”

This piece was published in collaboration with Egab.

Two cooks talk about loss and recovery. Plus, our summer cook-along with “Chef That!” Also, advice on cooking for dogs and eating with dogs, taquito comfort and fan-service restaurants (or what Day 1 was like at the Tesla Diner). I’m Laurie Ochoa, general manager of L.A. Times Food, with this week’s Tasting Notes.

Kitchen dreams

Michelle Huneven in her Altadena kitchen before it was destroyed along with the rest of her home in the Eaton fire.

(Shelby Moore/For The Times)

The most beautiful kitchen I ever cooked in was far from perfect. It was built into one of six Pasadena apartments that in the 1920s had been carved out of a Victorian mansion designed by Frederick Roehrig, the architect behind Old Town Pasadena’s Hotel Green and its surviving annex, Castle Green.

The dining room and kitchen had once been a grand parlor room with a fireplace at one end and most of the original wood details still on the walls and ceiling. The kitchen’s counter curved with the arc of several windows set into the bend of one wall, with soft sunlight filtering in through the greenery planted outside.

But the stove, relocated and updated since the days Jonathan Gold and I occupied that apartment, was a finicky old thing. And the counter, so attractively placed, was too low for serious cooking. Our backs would often ache if there were too many vegetables to chop or dishes to wash.

It was a dreamy kitchen, but it wasn’t a dream kitchen. And yet, we made some of our happiest meals there.

There are cooks I know who have had dream kitchens, spaces that were designed just for them and functioned according to their specific cooking needs.

Ruth Reichl, author and former restaurant critic and editor, says she designed her U-shaped kitchen to fit her body and the open floor plan of the home she and her husband, Michael Singer, share in New York’s Columbia County. With expansive views of the upper Hudson Valley, it’s inviting but also intimate in its footprint; no more than two or three steps are required to reach most of her appliances and tools. During parties, Reichl is easily able to roll out pie dough while catching up with early-arriving guests and there is lots of counter space around the U for setting out platters of food that always tempt some hungry person before it’s officially time to eat.

Closer to home, I was lucky enough to be invited many times to the Altadena home of Michelle Huneven, novelist and food writer (often for this paper), and Jim Potter, an attorney specializing in environmental law and an accomplished bread baker. From big, crowded Seders at Passover to weekday soup meals, always with something wonderfully sweet at the end, I watched their modest cooking space expand and evolve into a beautiful, functional and comfortable modern space with a dining table at the center of the room that allowed guests to watch the interplay of two excellent cooks at work.

“I had a little 1,000-square-foot house, and when Jim and I married, that was fine for a while,” Huneven said recently in the Times Test Kitchen. “Then he began to bake bread. And very shortly, everything in my little kitchen was covered with bread glue. I was like, ‘We need a bigger kitchen.’ Before we knew it, we’d designed a great big freestanding kitchen. I’m short, so in the place of overhead cabinets, we had windows out to our garden. He had his breadmaking area; I had my cooking area. We each had a sink. He had his own oven. And he had his own dishwasher. Praise the Lord.”

Cookbook author Molly Baz‘s dream kitchen in Altadena was one I never saw in person but I interacted with it virtually through her “Hit the Kitch” video series and Instagram feed.

“My home kitchen was also my place of work,” Baz said, sitting alongside Huneven in the Times Test Kitchen. “My husband, [Ben Willett], designed the space as the heart of the home. It was an expansive space that was a hanging-out living room, lounge, bar, kitchen, all in this one large room. We designed the kitchen very intentionally to be the anchor of like everything I do, the place where I would shoot my cookbooks and all of my content, where I would develop all of my recipes. So we decided to do it all butter-colored, and it was just this beautiful monochromatic, creamy butter-yellow-colored dream.”

Food personality Molly Baz in her butter-yellow Altadena kitchen before her house was destroyed by the Eaton fire.

(PEDEN + MUNK)

As you’ve undoubtedly surmised by now, both Huneven and Baz lost their Altadena homes — and their dream kitchens — in the Eaton fire.

“We evacuated to a friend’s house about 4:30 in the morning with another couple who lived much closer to Eaton Canyon,” Huneven said. “When they learned that their house had burned, I found that so shocking that I just sat there with my hands over my mouth for about, I don’t know, 15 minutes. I just couldn’t absorb it. Then, at about 8 o’clock, Jim decided to drive up to our house. He later told me he’d known even before he drove up because he controlled the sprinklers and the solar panels from his phone, and nothing was responding. When he called me to say it was gone, he sent a picture of the house on the corner still burning with flames coming out of the windows, not a fire truck in sight. I was preconditioned for the loss, because I’d already reacted to one home burning down. I didn’t cry until 48 hours later.”

Baz’s story is similar. “I evacuated earlier, at 7:30 p.m., because some friends and neighbors had seen the fire, and it was creeping closer and closer,” she said. “We never got a notice, but we decided, let’s get out of here. Throughout the night, we were refreshing our phones, watching the map get populated with new homes that had burned. But the whole night, I was under the impression that my house had somehow by the grace of God gotten skipped because of this map. In the morning, my husband wanted to go to the house just to triple check and so, he got in the car and drove nervously up there. I got a call about 30 minutes later and he was just in tears. He was like, ‘There’s nothing left.’ ”

Huneven, whose newest, highly praised novel, “Bug Hollow,” is anchored in Altadena, her longtime home, and Baz, who came to Altadena from Brooklyn in 2020 and started the mayo/sando sauce brand Ayoh! last year, are both terrific cooks with very different styles. When Baz came into the Times Test Kitchen to record a video demonstration of the highly craveable pistachio halva chocolate chunk cookie recipe she created for her second cook book “More Is More,” I thought Huneven and Baz might want to meet each other. During their conversation about their experiences of loss and recovery, recorded by video producer Mark E. Potts, they immediately found things in common.

Molly Baz and Michelle Huneven in conversation at the Los Angeles Times Test Kitchen.

(Catherine Dzilenski / For The Times)

“One of the things that I wanted in the kitchen was a sofa,” Huneven said, “so we had this beautiful, long window seat with big welted cushions. Every morning we would wake up and drink our tea and coffee there with the dog and look out into the garden and get ready for the day.”

“We also had a sitting area where we would start the day,” Baz said. “We had a built-in couch that my husband designed, the first coffee table he ever made, and a chaise longue, which didn’t really have a use until I had my son 10 months ago. It became the perfect place to nurse. I would have my coffee and nurse him on the chaise longue every morning. It was just kind of a perfect place.”

After the fire, neither Huneven nor Baz felt much like cooking.

“I rebelled,” Huneven said. “I didn’t cook for two months. Or, rather, I cooked like two dinners, and it was the same dinner where I stuck a bunch of cherry tomatoes on a sheet pan, boiled some pasta and that was it, with maybe some burrata. I don’t even remember how we ate. I mean, I say I wasn’t traumatized, but it really was a blur.”

“I didn’t cook for a while either,” Baz said. “I got back into the kitchen to finish a recipe I was working on the day of the fire. It was a savory egg quiche, but treated like a burnt Basque cheesecake, cooked at a really high heat, a crustless quiche. I thought about taking it with me when we evacuated, but I expected I’d be back the next day. One of the the last things I said before I left was, ‘Damn, I just wish the quiche was a little more burnt.’ Because I had this vision of a really burnished exterior. And so later the quiche got burnt. Once I pulled myself together enough to think about food, that’s the next thing I made. It was really comforting and cathartic. I made everyone leave the kitchen and was like, ‘I’m cooking. I need to be alone.’ So it was a bit of a therapy session for myself. And yeah, the quiche was delicious.”

Molly Baz with a just-baked batch of her pistachio brown butter and halva chocolate chunk cookies at the Los Angeles Times Test Kitchen.

(Catherine Dzilenski / For The Times)

Both Baz and Huneven are now living in different rental homes in Echo Park while they figure out the logistics of rebuilding.

“So much of cooking is a graceful dance,” Baz said, “and I felt so ungraceful for the first three weeks that it made me not want to cook. I’ve gotten over that hump, and I think I’m regaining my muscle memory in this new space now. I feel like I can cook and not fumble around.”

“We moved into a completely empty house, nothing in the drawers. We had a couple of camping pans that had been in the trunk of our our truck. But one of the things that was so amazing is that we landed in a sea of generosity. I’m not wearing any clothes that I bought. They’re all gifts. And people furnished our kitchen with a house-warming party, but it was really a kitchen warming.

“The incredible kindness and generosity of people, that’s a gift I never anticipated,” Huneven continued. “It’s also really lessened the trauma. Because, you know, it’s stuff, and it can be replaced. Houses can be rebuilt. Somebody said to me, ‘This is the worst thing that’s ever happened to you.’ And I’m like, ‘No, it’s not.’ You know, the loss of people that I’ve loved, some bad breakups in my youth. Now those were bad. This was bad too, but it’s not the worst thing.”

“We lost all of the physical things,” Baz said, agreeing with Huneven. “But it highlights what you do have, which is your relationships and your community. And that becomes the most important thing in the world. My friends and my family, the people who are holding me together in all of this, are everything to me right now. All of the bulls— just washes away. You learn and understand like that living is actually about humanity and people. The rest can burn down, and you’re going to be OK.”

Summer cook-along

Andrew and Michelle Muñoz with beef ribs, beef rib tacos, and salsa outside the Los Angeles Times Test Kitchen.

(Catherine Dzilenski / For The Times)

Baz is just one of the cooks and chefs who have been to the Times Test Kitchen in recent weeks to meet our “Chef That!” challenge: Come up with a recipe that demonstrates chef skills and creativity but is still simple enough for an average home cook to make. Our “Chef That!” video series is ongoing, but this Sunday we’re publishing a special cook-along recipe section full of summer recipes from the chef series plus a few from cookbook authors in our “Book to Cook” video series. Among the recipes to look for, home-oven-cooked beef ribs with outdoor smoker flavor from Andrew and Michelle Muñoz of Moo’s Craft Barbecue, spicy cold mung bean noodles from 88 Club’s Mei Lin, Hailee Catalano‘s “mean, green” turkey sandwich, the egg salad sando that Father’s Office founder Sang Yoon serves at his Helm’s Bakery complex in Culver City and an incredible grapefruit cream pie from Quarter Sheets’ dessert guru Hannah Ziskin.

Dog days

Photographer Anne Fishbein’s bull terrier Ivy with dog food made from recipes by writers Carolynn Carreño and Michelle Huneven.

(Anne Fishbein / For The Times)

Los Angeles, says senior Food editor Danielle Dorsey, is ranked the nation’s most popular city to own a dog. It’s also a very good city for eating out with a dog. Dorsey put together a guide to the best dog-friendly patios to take your pup as part of our “Dog Days of Summer” collaboration with our features team. Regular contributor Carolynn Carreño explored the evolution toward human-grade dog food over the last 15 years and provides a recipe for Rufus hash, a raw dog food blend she used to make for her late dog, Rufus. It’s made with ground beef, turkey or chicken, organ meat, bone meal, steamed broccoli and steamed sweet potato. Novelist Michelle Huneven (see story above) also shares her recipe for the homemade hash she feeds her rescue dog, Tatty Jane. Like Carreño, she uses ground meat and broccoli (or spinach) but also includes peas, brown or white rice, fish oil or sardines, finely ground baked eggshells for bone health and, for the antioxidants, frozen-fresh cranberries.

The comfort of taquitos

Chef Wes Avila, left, with his father, Jose Luis Avila, in Pico Rivera in 2025.

(Wes Avila)

Chef Wes Avila‘s father, Jose Luis Avila, is a legal resident of the U.S. But he felt so fearful of being caught up in the ICE raids happening all over California that after more than 50 years in this country he recently moved to Mexico. Avila told Food reporter Stephanie Breijo that when he’s missing his father he makes a version of the Durango-style caldillo, or stew, that his father used to cook.

“It connects me to him,” said Avila, who leads the kitchens at MXO and Ka’teen. “I talk to him every other day. We have a very close relationship.”

And when he’s missing his mother, who died in 1995, he makes beef taquitos, which he thinks was her favorite dish — or at least, he says, “our favorite dish for her to make when my brother, my sister and I were kids.” He shared recipes for both dishes.

Also …

The lunch line at One Piece Cafe in Little Tokyo.

(Myung J. Chun/Los Angeles Times)

• In a time of too many restaurant closures, two very different but fan-driven new restaurants are drawing big crowds. Karla Marie Sanford talked with diners lined up in Little Tokyo for One Piece Cafe, based on the longtime anime and manga series. “‘One Piece’ has a pretty big community,” a fan told Sanford, “and especially with the Lakers and Dodgers collaborating with One Piece, L.A. is bringing anime into their culture as well.” And on Day 1 of the Tesla Diner, reporters Lauren Ng and Stephanie Breijo showed up at the fully electric 24-hour restaurant where they found a protester decrying Tesla CEO Elon Musk as a threat to democracy while Tesla aficionados lined up for smashburgers and more from the diner menu created by chef Eric Greenspan. Whether either restaurant will last beyond the curiosity phase remains to be seen.

  

  The Tesla Diner.

  (Lauren Ng / Los Angeles Times)

• In this week’s Quick Bites, Breijo has details about the return of Ohana Superette in Silver Lake, from Eric and Miriam Park, serving “thoughtful, traditional poke”; Lasita‘s new weekend cafe Kapé, “a daytime-only Filipino cafe that riffs on meryenda culture” from Nico de Leon and Chase and Steff Valencia; the newest location in Highland Park of Sogo Roll Bar; a new Manhattan Beach branch of the Bill Addison-praised sandwich shop Bread Head; and notes on Dine LA’s two weeks of “special items and limited-run prix-fixe menus” from nearly 450 restaurants across L.A. County.
• Lauren Harvey reports that the New York City Office of Chief Medical Examiner determined this week that popular Food Network host Anne Burrell died by suicide June 17. “Her previously recorded final season on ‘Worst Cooks,’ co-hosted with Gabe Bertaccini, is scheduled to premiere July 28.”
• Piper Heath reports on In-N-Out Burger owner and Chief Executive Lynsi Snyder’s decision “to establish a corporate office in Franklin, Tenn.,” a state where there are currently no In-N-Out locations but where she plans to move her family. She also plans to shift the chain’s California offices from Irvine to Baldwin Park.

• And Dee-Ann Durbin reports on Coca-Cola‘s decision to “add a cane-sugar version of its trademark cola to its U.S. lineup this fall, confirming a recent announcement by President Trump.” She notes that “Coke currently sells Mexican Coke, which is made with cane sugar, in the U.S.”

After captaining India to an Under-19 World Cup title in 2012 — with arguably the finest performance of his life — Unmukt Chand struggled to even watch his country play on TV.

After donning the royal blue and molten orange jersey as part of India A — the second rung of the national team ladder — Chand’s performance dipped and his name eventually disappeared from the game-day roster for his home state team in Delhi

After donning the royal blue and molten orange jersey as part of India’s A — or second-best — national team, Chand struggled and eventually fell off the game-day roster for his home state team in Delhi.

After years gunning for India’s main team, Chand found himself circling the fringes. His early stardom never quite translated into a stable senior career as opportunities dried up in a system overflowing with talent. By 2021, the dream was still alive, but the runway had faded and Chand decided to retire from all forms of Indian cricket.

“To let go of that feeling was something which took me time, and obviously I had to do my own catharsis. I had self-identity doubts,” Chand said.

Unmukt Chand revived his cricket career when he moved to the United States and eventually joined Major League Cricket’s L.A. Knight Riders.

(Andrew Hancock/For The Times)

With the courage to start over, he unloaded his bags on American soil, where the pitch was still being laid. What the U.S. lacked in tradition, it made up for in potential, Chand said — seeing a future in a place that wasn’t bound by his past.

“We’ve all grown up watching American sports and the way they do sports activities, and everything around it is something very exciting,” Chand said, “and something very different from a cricketing point of view.”

Chand and his wife, Simran Khosla, settled on relocating to Dallas. It was a leap made solely for cricket — one that left Khosla without work, stability or anything resembling certainty.

In 2019, American Cricket Enterprises, the strategic partner of USA Cricket, pledged a $1-billion investment to jumpstart a professional T20 league in the country. T20 is a condensed, fast-paced format of the game.

That vision materialized in 2023 with the debut of Major League Cricket, featuring six privately owned franchises each backed by global investors, including some of cricket’s most iconic brands. ESPNcricinfo reported that the league will expand to eight teams in 2027, with sights set on 10 by 2031.

The goal? Hook American to a flashier style of cricket that emphasizes quick scoring, frequent momentum swings and just enough chaos to attract fans who couldn’t tell a wicket from a walk-off.

“MLC is exciting — that’s why it is attracting so many players — top players from around the world,” Chand said. “The way they have done this competition is also very nice, the way teams are being made, the way the domestic and international representation is there.”

While MLC’s launch was delayed to 2022 due to COVID-19, ACE had already been courting Chand as the kind of marquee talent who could lend legitimacy and hype to the U.S.’s cricketing scene.

L.A. Knight Riders batsman Unmukt Chand collects the ball during a Major League Cricket match against the Mumbai Indians New York on July 3 at Central Broward Regional Park in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

(Icon Sportswire / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

He made his American debut in August 2021 with the Silicon Valley Strikers in Minor League Cricket, a developmental league aimed at growing the sport across the U.S.

“We were his biggest fans,” said Natwar Agarwal, owner of the Strikers. “We always heard about him, and it was like a dream come true — Unmukt Chand is here, and there’s a possibility that he can play for our team.”

You likely wouldn’t have guessed that he’d just crossed nearly 8,000 miles or buried a dream that shaped his boyhood. Chand paced the league in runs per game, piling up 612 runs during 16 innings as he piloted his team to the inaugural Minor League Cricket title.

“Players like him, … showed that a good quality of cricket can happen in the U.S.,” Agarwal said. “Still today, I get calls from players in India, Pakistan — they want to explore the opportunity where they can come here and play.”

Chand’s championship summer opened doors around the world — including Australia and Bangladesh — but none felt quite like home until 2023, when he signed with Major League Cricket’s Los Angeles Knight Riders, the American arm of one of cricket’s most storied franchises.

The organization, owned by Bollywood icon Shah Rukh Khan, brought a built-in international fan base and marketing muscle rarely seen in American cricket.

For Chand, it was the break he’d been denied back home: a team that backed him, and a league that let him prove he still belonged at the top.

“Playing for a franchise like Knight Riders is something very special, and being in L.A. makes it big,” Chand said. “L.A. holds a very special place — it’s been a sporting capital with obviously the Lakers, and us now being a part of the same sporting ecosystem.”

He joined the Knight Riders as a top-order batsman in a locker room stocked with international firepower and helmed by Dwayne Bravo, a West Indies legend in the T20 format.

Chand made good on it.

Unmukt Chand, of the L.A. Knight Riders, is working to earn a spot on the U.S. national cricket team.

(Andrew Hancock/For The Times)

“He’s been doing really well for us over the years — he was a really great addition to our Knight Riders team,” said Ali Khan, Chand’s teammate and a member of the U.S. national team. “Always helpful and engaged in the field, and off the field as well, he’s always there and helping the team.”

The Knight Riders languished at the bottom of the table in 2025, where they had the past two seasons. But Chand’s 33.6 run average this year offered a rare glint in an otherwise dull stretch.

He produced an unbeaten 86 runs off 58 balls to lift his team to one of its two victories this season, prompting Bravo to publicly endorse his star batsman for the U.S. national team.

“This guy deserves to be involved in USA cricket team! Cricket is bigger than politics, let’s do right for these players. Well done!” Bravo wrote on an Instagram story.

And yet, for Chand, a U.S. call-up remains elusive.

He was left out of the 2024 T20 World Cup roster and passed over for multiple tours abroad. While Chand’s domestic performances have been solid, selectors have said he has yet to shift the selection calculus in a system that might prioritize younger prospects.

“With the USA World Cup not happening for him, it was a little disappointing for us. Not little — very, because this is what we moved here for,” Khosla said. “But he was at it even when things were not working for him — focusing on the process, going back to the basics, working hard, practicing more.”

Though the lack of selection still stings, it’s not unfamiliar for Chand.

Adversity gave him a mindset he still leans on. The U.S. snubs haven’t shaken him — his focus, he says, remains to “perform wherever I can, make the best use of my opportunities and hopefully those things will happen sooner than later.”

Khosla, who met Chand during what she called his “most struggling phase,” said his drive never faded — even when things felt bleak.

What kept him going? His love for the game.

“Cricket is his religion,” Khosla said. “Cricket is something I would call his first wife. … If you take out his blood, his blood would be cricket.”

Chand, 32, speaks ambitiously about the future of American cricket — and his desire to be at the center of its development. The signs are there, he said: the growth of Major League Cricket, the influx of youth academies, the construction of stadiums and the promise of the sport being featured during the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.

He came to the U.S. chasing a reimagined version of a childhood dream. He didn’t need to rediscover the game — just needed a new place to keep feeding the fire. His journey is chronicled in a documentary that was recently selected for screening by the Dallas International Film Festival.

“U.S. is my new home, and I’m going to be here only,” Chand said. “Playing for USA, playing MLC, playing other franchises around the world is the way to go forward. And cricket has definitely been on the rise. … I look forward to the next few years in USA. It’s going to be exciting.”

During a three-year stay at Wolves, Jota made 131 appearances for the club, scoring 44 goals, including consecutive hat-tricks in the 2019-20 Europa League victories over Besiktas and Espanyol.

In September 2020, he joined Premier League champions Liverpool in a £41m deal, with Wolves boss Nuno saying Jota is leaving “knowing that it will never be forgotten, especially by our fans, all the memorable moments that Diogo provided”.

“We were gutted we were losing him because he was that good,” said Coady.

“But at the same time, you gave him a big hug and you went, you know what mate, you deserve it more than anyone. Go and enjoy yourself. Go and make a name for yourself at one of the biggest clubs because you can certainly do that. And he has done for that a number of years.”

Coady posted a moving tribute to his former team-mate on his social media account after hearing the news, which he said he did while he “cried my eyes out”.

In the post, he describes how he felt grateful hearing his kids say “dad, you played with Jota” when the Liverpool player came up on the television screens – a feeling he reiterated again.

“People look at football and think it’s all about rivalry. But watching him win the Premier League with Liverpool, it filled me with immense pride – to say I played with him and he has gone on to do incredible things,” said Coady.

“He took it by storm, like he took us by storm. Like he then took the Premier league by storm. Like he then took Europa League by storm with Wolves.

“He’s then gone and done it with one of the biggest clubs in the land. A remarkable footballer, but an even better team-mate, which is 10 times more important than being a remarkable footballer for me.”

LONDON — Before Wimbledon began, Coco Gauff reflected on the significance of her breakthrough performance at the place six years ago — a run to the fourth round at age 15 — and what aspirations she harbored as she prepared to return.

“Even when I see videos of me during that time, it just doesn’t feel like it’s me. It felt like a dream. I’ll always have special memories from that run and, I guess, it definitely fueled the belief that I can be on tour and live out my dream,” she told The Associated Press.

“It’s something that always holds a special place in my heart. Obviously, I would love to win this tournament just for it to be like a full-circle moment,” she continued. “I feel like it would be like the start of the dream, and — I don’t want to say ‘the finish,’ because I obviously have a lot of career left, but — a full-circle type of situation.”

A week after that conversation, the No. 2-ranked Gauff was out of the bracket at the All England Club in the first round with a 7-6 (3), 6-1 loss to unseeded Dayana Yastremska at No. 1 Court on Tuesday night. Gauff was undone by serving troubles, including nine double-faults, and more than two dozen unforced errors in all, not to mention Yastremska’s hard, flat groundstrokes.

It was an abrupt, and mistake-filled, exit for Gauff, who so recently earned her second Grand Slam title — at the French Open via a three-set victory over No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka in the final.

After Tuesday’s defeat, Gauff said, “I definitely was struggling in the locker room. I don’t like losing. The main thing I’m sure my team and everyone is going to tell me (is): ‘You did well at Roland-Garros. Don’t be so upset.’ Things like that.”

But as much as she’ll want to move on and focus on what’s to come, the 21-year-old American acknowledged as she dabbed away the tears welling in her eyes during her news conference that she felt “a little bit disappointed in how I showed up today.”

It’s instructive to remember — setting aside that captivating 2019 debut, which featured a victory over Venus Williams — that Wimbledon’s grass courts actually have produced Gauff’s least successful Grand Slam results.

Yastremska’s take? She said she considers Gauff “much better on clay court and hard court than on grass.”

This was the second time in the past three years that she was sent home in the opening round. She’s never been past the fourth round at the All England Club, whereas at every other major tournament, including the hard-court Australian Open, she’s at least reached the semifinals.

Her first Slam trophy arrived on the hard courts of the U.S. Open in 2023 when she was 19. She already was the 2022 runner-up on the red clay at the French Open before going one step better this time.

Sabalenka’s self-described “unprofessional” comments after last month’s title match in Paris became a real topic of conversation and, perhaps, a distraction. Gauff and Sabalenka sought to put it behind them — and tell fans they should, too — by filming TikTok videos together once they got to Wimbledon.

“I was a little bit overwhelmed with everything that came afterwards,” Gauff said, “so I didn’t feel like I had enough time to celebrate and also get back into it.”

It’s not easy to manage the tricky transition from the Roland-Garros clay to the Wimbledon grass. There’s a reason it’s been a decade since a woman won both in the same season — and a reason that woman was Serena Williams.

By the end of the night, Gauff was eager to look ahead to the upcoming North American hard-court circuit, culminating with a trip to New York in late August.

“I mean, obviously I’m not going to dwell on this too long, because I want to do well at the U.S. Open. Maybe losing here (in the) first round isn’t the worst thing in the world,” she said, “because I have time to reset.”

Fendrich writes for the Associated Press.

A woman was looking forward to enjoying the views of Africa from 40,000ft on her dream holiday – but her experience was ruined by a family who let their kids climb all over her on a six-hour flight

A woman has slammed a set of parents who let their children ‘climb all over her’ on a plane so they could look out of the window. She explained how she spent years saving up enough money to enjoy the trip of a lifetime with her husband – and they decided to sit separately so they could each enjoy a window seat on the plane.

She made sure to plan every second of their trip down to the finest detail, but she forgot to factor in other people’s ‘entitlement’. Taking to Reddit, she recounted: “Flew first class, Polaris lounge access every leg. We booked separate rows, window seats, because, omg – Africa! Don’t want to miss a second of it.

“We had a 6.5 hour leg from Addis Ababa to Cape Town and are snuggled in (after a 14 hour leg from Washington) and a family of 4 board. The lie-flat pods are in a 2-2-2 layout.”

She shared how the mum instructed her young son to take the middle seat next to her, the young boy recoiled at the thought of sitting next to a stranger.

It appeared that his father also wasn’t keen on the arrangement, given that he sat himself down in the seat in front of her and instantly dozed off, leaving the mum to single-handedly look after the two youngsters.

She added: “The mum sits next to me and her toddler daughter and son in the middle, one row up.

“As soon as the plane is airborne (seatbelt signs still on, flight attendants still sitting) the daughter gets up and crawls into mum’s lap. And plays on mum’s iPad without headphones. Full volume.”

Each time she needed to use the loo, she found the young lad occupying her seat, gazing out of the window – and on every occasion, the mother suggested she let her son be and take the middle seat instead.

“I decline every time. After a couple of hours I finally lie flat to sleep (24+ hours awake) and wake up to horrible pain in my knees – the daughter used my legs as a bench to look out the window,” she continued.

“I understand that flying with kids is tough (mine are now adults) but I’m pleased to say nothing escalated- was too thrilled to be on my dream trip to let anything dampen my spirits.”

Responding to her post, most users concurred that she managed the situation far better than they would have, with one remarking: “The second my legs were touched I’d have probably started screaming.”

Another user chimed in: “I’m sorry I would have said something as soon as I woke up to a kid on me.”

A third user advised: “You need to more aggressively tell them to f*** off. Speak up for yourself.”

Along with two major champions, a former world number one and several Ryder Cup heroes, a popular YouTuber will be among the players looking to secure a spot at the 153rd Open in Tuesday’s final qualifying events.

Influencer Peter Finch, who has a huge social media following, will be one of the most intriguing storylines at Dundonald Links.

The 38-year-old is one of 288 players featuring in events in Scotland, Burnham & Berrow, Royal Cinque Ports and West Lancashire, aiming to earn one of the 20 spots still available for the final men’s major of the year at Royal Portrush from 17-20 July.

“I’m feeling a little bit nervous but also quite excited in some respects,” said Finch, who is known for his course vlogs, golfing challenges and match-ups with professionals on his social channels.

“Dundonald is a course I know well and I really love it in this part of the world. I’m playing with two European Tour pros, so you are going see something good,” he added.

Described as content creator, golfer and dream chaser on the official Open X account,, external the man from Lancashire is well aware that he is a rank outsider to advance ahead of players who have all won on the DP World Tour.

Finch has never played at that level and likely never will.

And the scale of his task is underlined by the fact that he tees off in the 36-hole event at 07:50 BST at the same time as Lee Westwood.

Now 52, Westwood deposed Tiger Woods at the top of the world rankings in 2010 and has half a dozen second- and third-placed finishes in golf’s four major championships.

The Englishman, who last played at the Open in 2022, was a shot away from a place in a play-off in 2009 and finished in a tie for fourth at Portrush in 2019.

LIV golfer, Adrian Meronk a four-time winner on the DWP Tour before his defection to the Saudi-backed series will also be a serious contender to claim one of the five places on offer at the links course in Ayrshire.

While Johannes Veerman and Angel Hidalgo, have also triumphed on main professional tour in Europe, while Welshman Jamie Donaldson appeared for the continent in the 2014 Ryder Cup.

Scotland’s Marc Warren, who has played the Open five times, most recently at Royal Liverpool in 2023 is in Finch’s group along with Jack Senior.

Casey Pickup, 26, quit her job as a sales manager after feeling ‘unfulfilled’ by life in Britain and booked a one-way flight

A woman fed up with the UK’s “gloomy weather” ditched it to travel the world full time and now lives her “dream” lifestyle in Asia – for ‘half the price’ of a “monotonous British life”. Casey Pickup, 26, gave up her position as a sales manager after feeling “unfulfilled” by life in Britain and took off with a one-way ticket to Thailand.

She has no intentions of coming back and cites being “fed up” with the rain, chilly climate and lifestyle at home as her catalyst for departure. In March 2023, she uploaded a video on TikTok detailing her itinerary to Thailand and Bali and called out for other solo adventurers to join her.

She formed a group chat with seven other young individuals eager to see the globe, and they collectively spent a thrilling six weeks touring Thailand. During these adventures, Casey met her now-partner, Taylor Barker, 26, a marketing professional, and together they’ve since globetrotted across 15 distinct nations.

Globetrotting Casey now earns in excess of £5,000 per month and attests that overseas living is “better” crediting the substantially lower cost of living in Asia compared to the UK.

She boasts a “dream lifestyle” that encompasses living in opulent apartments and villas, dining out each day and indulging in massages and beauty treatments thrice or more weekly – all for a mere £2,000 per month, a figure she said would be double or worse back in the UK.

Casey has sworn off returning to the UK and now bankrolls her globetrotting lifestyle by producing content for brands, who pay her to visit breathtaking spots across the globe.

Content creator Casey, from Chorley, Lancashire, said: “I’ve always loved to travel and whenever I’d come home to rainy England after a holiday, I always felt a bit depressed.

“The main reasons I left the UK is because every day feels the same, it’s dark and it’s gloomy. I used to hate going to work in the dark, and coming home in the dark.

“The lifestyle in the UK just wasn’t very fulfilling. Life in England felt a lot more routine and rushed – like I was always in a cycle of work, grey weather and waiting for the weekend.

“My lifestyle in Asia is so much more fulfilling. I’ve built a life that allows me to wake up by the beach, work on creative projects I care about and explore beautiful places. I feel a sense of freedom that I never felt in the UK.

“Travelling Asia is a no-brainer considering the difference in cost of living – and it’s beautiful. I finally made move to Asia in March 2023 and I’ve never looked back.

“There is no downside, it’s all just been amazing. I love the lifestyle and the sun, I’d never move back.”

Casey was stuck in a rut with her mum, Helen, an artist, back in Lancashire, juggling various “random, boring jobs” such as waitressing, bar work and sales, when she decided to pack up and head to Asia. Having had a taste of adventure working as a holiday rep for Thomas Cook, she yearned to “see the world”, but the puzzle was how to bankroll her wanderlust.

She began crafting promotional videos for big names like Santander and My Protein, quickly realising her income potential had soared to upwards of £5,000 monthly. In March 2023, Casey took off to Thailand with a bunch of mates she’d connected with online, ready to live her Asian travel fantasy.

While settling into Thai life, Casey bagged a two-storey, fully furnished apartment for just £560 a month, sharing the cost with her other half, Taylor. Their setup boasted an infinity pool and gym access.

“It’s so much more affordable to live in Asia,” Casey said. “You could stay in a really beautiful villa or hotel for £10 to £30 a night.

“Local food is roughly £1 or £2 per meal and Western food like pasta or pizza is £4 or £5. The sort of lifestyle that would cost £4,000 or £5,000 a month in Europe is only £2,000 in Asia. And if you’re on more of a budget, you could definitely get by on £1,200 a month.”

Casey has racked up visits to approximately 15 countries in the past two years, taking her adventures through Vietnam, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Morocco and Central America. She’s driven by the hope that her journey will motivate others to “follow their dreams” of travel and remote work.

As a result, she now regularly shares her tips and recommendations on social media for fellow aspiring digital nomads.

Casey said: “If you’re not happy in your job, go after your dreams. Moving back to the UK is never going to happen.

“If I have children in the future, I’d move to Australia to raise a family. I never thought it would be possible to travel the world full time, but here I am now.

“I am so grateful every day for staying consistent and going after what I really wanted in life. I’m the happiest I’ve ever been.”

Casey’s top destinations

For sun-kissed beaches, head to the Philippines

Surf enthusiasts should catch the waves in Indonesia

Find the most courteous people in Thailand

Casey’s typical costs

Rent – £500 – £1,000 a month, split between two people

Bills – £0 – included in rent

Daily food budget stands at £10

Experiences – gratis for Casey courtesy of GetYourGuide collaborations, but typically cost between £10 – £60

Travel insurance is her only substantial outlay at £60

You can keep up with Casey’s global trotting on Instagram @howtotravelfulltime.

Emmy nominations voting ends tonight at 10 p.m. PT. Still need help with your ballot?

I’m Glenn Whipp, columnist for the Los Angeles Times and host of The Envelope newsletter. Still time to bite into a “Jaws” doughnut and peruse my picks for this year’s Emmy races. (An ordinary bagel will do.)

My personal picks in 15 Emmy categories

There are more than 100 Emmy categories, and if you scrolled through each and every one of them on the Television Academy’s website, you are probably one of those people who read the terms and conditions on a document before signing your name.

For me, simply filling out the following 15 categories — five each for comedy, drama and limited series — left me exhausted and in need of a sweet treat. And I already finished my “Jaws” doughnut. Maybe this cherries jubilee? Paul Giamatti would approve.

Without further ado, here are my picks and a brief line of reasoning for each. And if it’s predictions you’re after, you can find our full BuzzMeter panel’s choices here.

Bridget Everett in “Somebody Somewhere.”

(Sandy Morris / HBO)

COMEDY SERIES
“Abbott Elementary”
“The Bear”
“Hacks”
“A Man on the Inside”
“Only Murders in the Building”
“The Rehearsal”
“Somebody Somewhere”
“The Studio”

Yes, “The Rehearsal” is a comedy.

COMEDY ACTRESS
Quinta Brunson, “Abbott Elementary”
Ayo Edebiri, “The Bear”
Bridget Everett, “Somebody Somewhere”
Natasha Lyonne, “Poker Face”
Jean Smart, “Hacks”

Last call on nominating Everett (and her magical series), which has won a Peabody.

COMEDY ACTOR
Ted Danson, “A Man on the Inside”
Steve Martin, “Only Murders in the Building”
Seth Rogen, “The Studio”
Martin Short, “Only Murders in the Building”
Jeremy Allen White, “The Bear”

Best Netflix comedy: “A Man on the Inside,” anchored by Danson, still a master of light laughs.

COMEDY SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Liza Colón-Zayas, “The Bear”
Hannah Einbinder, “Hacks”
Kathryn Hahn, “The Studio”
Linda Lavin, “Mid-Century Modern”
Jane Lynch, “Only Murders in the Building”
Catherine O’Hara, “The Studio”
Sheryl Lee Ralph, “Abbott Elementary”

Colón-Zayas won last year, probably for the episode that she submitted this year. It’s weird when shows drop their new seasons in June.

COMEDY SUPPORTING ACTOR
Ike Barinholtz, “The Studio”
Colman Domingo, “The Four Seasons”
Paul Downs, “Hacks”
Harrison Ford, “Shrinking”
Ebon Moss-Bachrach, “The Bear”
Tyler James Williams, “Abbott Elementary”
Bowen Yang, “Saturday Night Live”

Thank you, Sal Saperstein!

Tramell Tillman in “Severance.”

(Apple TV+)

DRAMA SERIES
“Andor”
“The Last of Us”
“Paradise”
“The Pitt”
“Severance”
“Slow Horses”
“The White Lotus”
“Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light”

Voting for “Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light” checks a couple of boxes.

DRAMA ACTRESS
Kathy Bates, “Matlock”
Britt Lower, “Severance”
Elisabeth Moss, “The Handmaid’s Tale”
Kaitlin Olson, “High Potential”
Bella Ramsey, “The Last of Us”

Moss won this Emmy eight years ago. With the show ending, she has earned a parting gift.

DRAMA ACTOR
Sterling K. Brown, “Paradise”
Gary Oldman, “Slow Horses”
Pedro Pascal, “The Last of Us”
Adam Scott, “Severance”
Noah Wyle, “The Pitt”

“Why don’t you say whatever speech you’ve got rehearsed and get this over with.” Godspeed, old friend. Also: Joel’s parting words should flash onscreen any time an Emmy winner goes long at the podium.

DRAMA SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Carrie Coon, “The White Lotus”
Taylor Dearden, “The Pitt”
Fiona Dourif, “The Pitt”
Tracy Ifeachor, “The Pitt”
Katherine LaNasa, “The Pitt”
Julianne Nicholson, “Paradise”
Parker Posey, “The White Lotus”

Women of “The Pitt” > Women of “The White Lotus”

DRAMA SUPPORTING ACTOR
Patrick Ball, “The Pitt”
Gerran Howell, “The Pitt”
Jason Isaacs, “The White Lotus”
Damian Lewis, “Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light”
Jack Lowden, “Slow Horses”
Tramell Tillman, “Severance”
John Turturro, “Severance”

I don’t know. Tillman might deserve the Emmy for this alone.

Christine Tremarco and Stephen Graham in “Adolescence.”

(Netflix )

LIMITED SERIES
“Adolescence”
“Dope Thief”
“Dying for Sex”
“The Penguin”
“Say Nothing”

“Adolescence” should win everything.

LIMITED SERIES/MOVIE ACTRESS
Kaitlyn Dever, “Apple Cider Vinegar”
Cristin Milioti, “The Penguin”
Lola Petticrew, “Say Nothing”
Michelle Williams, “Dying for Sex”
Renée Zellweger, “Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy”

OK, maybe not everything, as “Adolescence” doesn’t have a submission here. Zellweger probably won’t win because comic acting rarely does, even though it most definitely should.

LIMITED SERIES/MOVIE ACTOR
Colin Farrell, “The Penguin”
Stephen Graham, “Adolescence”
Brian Tyree Henry, “Dope Thief”
Kevin Kline, “Disclaimer”
Cooper Koch, “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story”

Farrell has already won so many awards for “The Penguin,” it feels like either A) he must have won the Emmy too or B) he hasn’t, and good God, let somebody else have a prize. (Like Graham.)

LIMITED SERIES/MOVIE SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Erin Doherty, “Adolescence”
Ruth Negga, “Presumed Innocent”
Deirde O’Connell, “The Penguin”
Imogen Faith Reid, “Good American Family”
Jenny Slate, “Dying for Sex”
Christine Tremarco, “Adolescence”

Doherty will likely win for the series’ third episode, the taut two-hander with Owen Cooper. But the fourth episode is just as good — maybe even better — featuring a heart-rending turn from Tremarco as the mom trying to hold it together.

LIMITED SERIES/MOVIE SUPPORTING ACTOR
Javier Bardem, “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story”
Owen Cooper, “Adolescence”
Rob Delaney, “Dying for Sex”
Rhenzy Feliz, “The Penguin”
Hugh Grant, “Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy”
Ashley Walters, “Adolescence”

Cooper will soon become the fifth teen actor to win a Primetime Emmy.

Rebekah Del Rio, the singer-songwriter known for bringing her talents to the David Lynch classic “Mulholland Drive,” has died.

The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner confirmed Del Rio died in her home but did not disclose a primary cause of death, which is currently listed online as deferred. She was 57.

In Lynch’s 2001 thriller, Del Rio was the siren of the Club Silencio and introduced as “La Llorona de Los Angeles.” In front of a red velvet curtain with smudged mascara and a crystal teardrop on her cheek, Del Rio delivered a moving a cappella performance of “Llorando,” a Spanish-language take of Roy Orbison’s “Crying.” Her voice echoes through the venue, bringing tears to the characters portrayed by stars Naomi Watts and Laura Harring. Del Rio’s appearance suddenly ends when she collapses and is carried off stage.

Del Rio was one of a handful of musical acts who collaborated with Lynch. The visionary director died in January. He also also worked with “Twin Peaks” composer Angelo Badalamenti, and singers Julee Cruise and Chrystabell. The last, who starred alongside Lynch in “Twin Peaks: The Return,” paid tribute to Del Rio on social media.

“The beauty and astonishing power of your voice could actually take my breath away. May your spirit know the deepest peace, may your heart rest,” Chrystabell captioned a still of Del Rio’s “Mulholland Drive” cameo. “Thank you for the kindness and care you showed me, it is written on my heart.”

In addition to “Mulholland Drive,” Del Rio appeared in Lynch’s “Twin Peaks: The Return” as a musical guest and performed her dreamy rock ballad “No Stars.” Her screen credits also include films “This Teacher,” “2307: Winter’s Dream,” “Southland Tales” and “Rabbits,” according to IMDb.

Prior to working with Lynch, Del Rio gained popularity in the Netherlands during the mid-1990s for the title track of her debut album “Nobody’s Angel.” She briefly moved to Nashville to take her music career to the next level — she was signed to Giant Records — but a car accident got in the way of those ambitions.

“Some man crashed into me and basically stole my opportunity, and I saw my own dream die,” she recalled to the Guardian in a 2022 interview.

She continued to pursue music, counting Il Divo, producer Heather Holley and composer Danny Elfman among her collaborators. Her discography includes her 2011 album “Love Hurts Love Heals,” a cover of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” and her 2021 single “Adios.” Weeks before her death, Del Rio performed at a charity event for the Philosophical Research Society.

Del Rio is preceded in death by her son Phillip, who died of cancer in 2009.