exit

President Trump on Thursday continued projecting confidence in the U.S. war effort in Iran, suggesting online and during a high-level Cabinet meeting that Iran has been “obliterated,” that its leaders were “begging” for a deal, and that the U.S. is “roaming free” over Iran and “NEEDS NOTHING” from its European allies.

His description of the war as all but finished — he actually said “we’ve won” — stood in contrast to the facts on the ground, where Iran continued to launch attacks and threaten oil tanker traffic in the vital Strait of Hormuz, and the U.S. continued sending troops and warships to what is already the largest U.S. military buildup in the Middle East in decades.

Trump’s framing of the conflict also contrasted with that of Iranian officials, who have remained publicly defiant, downplayed negotiations and outwardly rejected several of Trump’s conditions for ending the war — as Trump himself acknowledged, accusing them of saying one thing in private and another in public.

“They better get serious soon, before it is too late,” the president wrote on social media, “because once that happens, there is NO TURNING BACK, and it won’t be pretty.”

“They are begging to make a deal, not me,” Trump reiterated later Thursday, while hosting his first Cabinet meeting since the war began. “Anybody that sees what is happening understands why they are begging to make a deal.”

Trump asserted that Iran’s military capabilities have been destroyed, and that the American mission is “ahead of schedule.” He said American forces were operating without opposition over Iran, and “there’s not a damn thing they can do about it” because they’ve been “beat to s—.”

Trump’s outward confidence, a defining feature of the war campaign that has been consistently echoed by Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and other administration loyalists, continued despite growing concerns this week in Congress — and not only from Democrats.

Several Republicans emerged from a classified war briefing Wednesday clearly frustrated with the administration for not providing a clearer picture of the path out of the now monthlong war, or clear answers on whether it planned to deploy ground troops.

“We want to know more about what’s going on,” said Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Ala.), chairman of the House Armed Services Committee. “We’re just not getting enough answers.”

“I can see why he might have said that,” said Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Democrats have hammered the president — contrasting the war and its massive budget with rising fuel costs for average Americans and lamenting the deaths of U.S. service members.

“Thirteen American lives lost and tens of billions of taxpayer dollars spent in just three weeks since Donald Trump plunged us into war without congressional authorization. There is still no plan, no clear justification, and no end in sight,” Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) said. “Americans called for lower prices, not endless wars.”

For weeks, Trump, Hegseth and other war leaders such as Gen. Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, have focused on U.S. wins in the conflict — tallying up Iran’s sunken ships and grounded planes, assassinated leaders and undermined missile capabilities.

In recent days, Trump has suggested that, because of those wins, Iran is buckling and its leaders reaching out for a deal. He has said the U.S. is pushing a 15-point plan that will forever block Iran from developing a nuclear weapon or threatening the U.S. or its allies. And he and others in his administration have accused the media of ignoring tremendous battlefield wins to harp on losses instead.

Israel, America’s major partner in the conflict, has projected similar confidence while showing no signs of slowing its attacks on Iran. On Thursday it announced it had killed several senior Iranian naval commanders, including Commodore Alireza Tangsiri, the head of Revolutionary Guard’s navy.

Israel’s Defense Minister Israel Katz said the deaths should send a “clear message” that Israel will continue to hunt down top Iranian military officials. Iran did not immediately acknowledge Tangsiri’s death.

The head of U.S. Central Command, Adm. Brad Cooper, praised Tangsiri’s killing, said U.S. strikes would continue, and called on Iranian fighters to “immediately abandon their post and return home to avoid further risk of unnecessary injury or death.”

Meanwhile, death, destruction and environmental and economic damage from the war spread far beyond Iran, where officials recently increased their estimated death toll to nearly 2,000.

Israel was fighting off a barrage of incoming missiles Thursday, with booms heard in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem and an impact reported in the central town of Kafr Qassem. Iraqi Defense Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Tahsin al Khafaj on Thursday said 23 people had been wounded in a Wednesday strike on a military clinic in western Iraq’s Anbar province.

Israeli soldiers grieve during the funeral of Staff Sgt. Ori Greenberg, 21, at the Mount Herzl military cemetery in Jerusalem on Thursday.

(Odd Andersen / AFP via Getty Images)

Thousands of additional U.S. troops are on their way to the region, while many of the tens of thousands already stationed there have been displaced into hotels and other temporary housing — diminishing their war-fighting capabilities — by Iranian attacks that have left the 13 regional military bases they normally live on “all but uninhabitable,” the New York Times reported.

Iran announced Thursday that it had launched drone and missile attacks on a U.S. military base in Kuwait and a separate air base used by American forces in Saudi Arabia.

Jasem Mohamed al-Budaiwi, the secretary-general of the Gulf Cooperation Council, accused Iran of charging fees for ships to safely transit the Strait of Hormuz, continuing the economic toll on global oil supplies. Environmental experts warned of massive pollution from burning oil and gas fields.

Russia, emboldened by the Iran war, which has drawn resources away from Ukraine and led the U.S. to ease sanctions on Russian oil, has launched a renewed spring offensive against Ukraine.

The distance between U.S. and Iranian messaging about the war and their negotiations to end it — which foreign officials have said are occurring through intermediaries — has contributed to the tensions and the reluctance of allies to get involved, with some citing similar frustrations as Republicans in Congress this week.

Many allies have largely stayed out of the conflict despite Trump vacillating between demanding their help and insisting it isn’t necessary.

In one of his posts to social media Thursday morning, Trump blasted allies in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, or NATO, for having “DONE ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO HELP” in the conflict, and said the U.S. would “never forget.”

During his Cabinet meeting, Trump said that when the “right deal” is made with Iran, the Strait of Hormuz will reopen — while insisting that Iran no longer has any “mine droppers” that would threaten merchant vessels passing through the key oil route.

Steve Witkoff, one of Trump’s top advisors leading the negotiations in the Middle East, said the Iranians were looking for an “offramp,” that Pakistan is serving as a mediator between Washington and Tehran, and that the U.S. has presented a 15-point plan that “forms the framework for a peace deal.”

“These are sensitive, diplomatic discussions and you have directed us to maintain confidentiality on the specific terms and not negotiate through the news media, as others do,” Witkoff said. “We will see where things lead and if we can convince Iran that this is the inflection point, with no good alternatives for them other than more death and destruction.”

Trump has also declined to say whom Washington is negotiating with in Iran, but described them as “very smart,” “not fools,” and “very lousy fighters, but great negotiators.”

He also said he knows they are “the right people” for the U.S. to be dealing with because they had given him a “present” — and proved they are in control — by allowing “eight big boats of oil” travel through the strait this week.

Asked if he intended to send U.S. troops into Iran to take its enriched uranium, he called it a “ridiculous question” that he wouldn’t answer.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said he is confident that more merchant vessels will soon be able to safely pass through the Strait of Hormuz. He also told the president that he believed the oil market is currently “well supplied” and that once the war ends, energy prices will drop.

Hegseth repeatedly slammed the media for falsely framing the war effort as floundering or unfocused, saying Iran’s “air defenses are gone,” its leaders hiding in “underground bunkers,” and its fighters losing morale.

He said Iranian officials in private are admitting “very heavy losses,” and that the U.S. and the world are benefiting from having Trump, whom he called the “ultimate deal maker,” working toward a peace deal.

In the meantime, he said, the U.S. military will “continue negotiating with bombs.”

Welsh actress Sian Reese-Williams, who played murder victim Gennie Walker on Emmerdale, has transformed her look for a new role in Channel 5’s Huw Edwards drama

Sian Reese-Williams became a household name on Emmerdale through her portrayal of Gennie Walker – but what has the actress been up to since?

The Welsh performer rose to prominence playing Gennie on the ITV soap, first appearing in 2008. Gennie arrived in the Dales as the adoptive daughter of Brenda Walker (Lesley Dunlop).

She quickly won over audiences and became a beloved character. Gennie featured in numerous major storylines – from multiple romantic disappointments to eventually finding happiness with Nikhil Sharma (Rik Makarem).

Tragically, in 2013, Gennie met her end when Cameron Murray (Dominic Power) killed her, whilst attempting to conceal the murder of Carl King (Tom Lister).

Following her departure from Emmerdale, Sian has maintained a strong television presence, with roles in productions including Netflix’s Requiem and Holby City. She also portrayed Sgt. Jane Cafferty in the BBC’s Line of Duty, reports the Daily Star.

Most recently this week, Sian featured in Channel 5’s drama Power: The Downfall of Huw Edwards. The hard-hitting one-off programme stars Martin Clunes as disgraced BBC newsreader Huw and documents the circumstances surrounding the presenter’s conviction for making indecent images of children.

Huw pleaded guilty in 2024 to three counts of making indecent images of children and was given six months imprisonment, suspended for two years, with a requirement to complete a sex offender programme.

The one-off programme centres on Huw’s alleged interaction with a 17 year old who has the fictional name ‘Ryan’. Alongside Martin, Power also features Jason Hughes and Chanel Cresswell in the cast. Sian portrays Carys, the mother of ‘Ryan’ (Osian Morgan).

Beyond her acting career, Sian is also an accomplished potter. She wrote on X in 2024: “Hello. I make pottery now. I’ll be selling these from next Friday so if you fancy a one-off piece of loveliness to brighten your January, head over to my insta.”

Last year, Sian appeared on the Celebrity Side Hustles podcast, hosted by her former Emmerdale cast mates Roxy Shahidi and Matthew Wolfenden.

Discussing her choice to pursue pottery, Sian revealed: “As I was finishing series three of Hidden [a Welsh television drama that aired from 2018 to 2021], I knew it was going to be a real loss in my life.”

She continued: “Because A.) as an actor to have something that is even remotely constant is such a luxury and you just want to hold on to it and B.) I was proud of the show and loved it, and I’d had quite a rough few years, like life, it had been hard.”

Upon discovering a six-week pottery course in Cardiff, Sian attended the classes and became “completely obsessed” with the craft. “I just wanted something to have in the diary, because I hadn’t cracked that downtime thing,” she explained.

Emmerdale airs Monday to Friday at 8:00pm on ITV1 and ITVX

Paapa Essiedu is set to appear in a ‘tender yet urgent love story’ starting on BBC One next week

The Capture favourite Paapa Essiedu is set to star opposite Siobhán Cullen, known for The Dry and Obituary, in a powerful new drama.

Babies, starting on BBC One next week, is the actor’s first role since his unexpected exit from The Capture. It comes after his character, Home Secretary Isaac Turner, was killed off just minutes into season 3, despite being a main figure on the show since 2022.

Written and directed by multi-award-winning Stefan Golaszewski (Mum, Marriage, Him & Her), Babies is a gripping, warm and urgent love story about a couple struggling through the experience of pregnancy loss.

A synopsis for the new series reads: “At the heart of the series are Lisa (Cullen) and Stephen (Essiedu), a couple in their 30s whose dream of becoming parents is tested as they endure multiple miscarriages. While confronting unimaginable grief, their bond shines through with humour, warmth, and unwavering commitment.

“Charlotte Riley (The Peripheral, Press) and Jack Bannon (Pennyworth, Pulse) also star as Amanda and Dave – a new couple navigating their own challenges and testing their compatibility. Their complex relationship, set against Lisa and Stephen’s ongoing pregnancy journey, begins to expose cracks in Stephen and Dave’s long-standing friendship.”

Describing the series, and what drew him to the scripts, Paapa said: “It’s a six-part drama about two couples who are navigating all the complications and nuances of their relationships and the process of trying for children. The characters are all in their mid to late 30s and at this new stage of life. I’ve always been a huge fan of Stefan’s work. I loved Him & Her, as well as Mum and Marriage.

“He writes with such compassion, detail, specificity, humanity and humour. Scripts with that level of complexity, depth and dimension rarely arrive in your inbox. I never thought twice about it.”

Outlining the premise of the show, writer Stefan Golaszewski, said: “It’s a love story about a couple going through the process of trying to have their first baby. Although it is not autobiographical, I have some personal experience of these issues, and I thought it was a good idea to create a show that talks about a subject that feels quite taboo, but that so many people go through in a painful secrecy. “

Describing the characters at the centre of the show, Stefan said: “Stephen is a kind, gentle soul who has some complications with his notions of masculinity. He loves Lisa very much, and has had a well-oiled problem-free life up until this point. This is his first time experiencing tragedy.

“Lisa is a funny, clever, outgoing, confident person, who again, hasn’t really had to deal with much in her life. She’s had smooth sailing throughout her youth and is now experiencing the first emotional hurdle.

“Dave is a complicated soul. He’s gotten by so far in life by not letting anything deeper than banter in but depth is starting to happen around and to him. He’s finding it hard to navigate that with his old tricks.

“Amanda has suffered great loss in her life. Her fiancé died a few years ago, and she’s now with Dave. She’s starting to step out into the world again, and she’s trying to find a new future for herself.”

Lindsay Salt, Director of BBC Drama, said: “Babies has everything we love about Stefan Golaszewski’s work – a tender, authentic, emotional and human look at couples navigating a time in their lives that is rarely covered on television.

“It’s no surprise that this very special series has attracted such an outstanding cast, and it’s been an honour to see them bring Stefan’s scripts to life.”

All episodes of Babies are on BBC iPlayer from 6am on Monday, March 30, with the series airing on BBC One from 9pm that night.

Governing liberals edge ahead of opposition conservatives in a race too close to call, according to exit poll.

Slovenia’s governing Freedom Movement (GS) is on track to win a parliamentary election but will need to find more coalition partners to form a government, according to an exit poll.

GS was set to secure 29.9 percent of the votes, or 30 seats in the country’s 90-seat parliament, in a dip from its previous result of 41 seats, according to the poll, published by TV Slovenia and Pop TV on Sunday.

The opposition Slovenian Democratic Party, led by populist Janez Jansa, is expected to come second and secure 27 seats in parliament, according to the Mediana polling agency.

As he voted, incumbent Prime Minister Robert Golob, 59, called on citizens to cast their ballots.

“Democracy and Slovenia’s sovereignty cannot be taken for granted any more,” he told reporters.

Jansa welcomed the exit poll results and said he would wait for the final result.

“If someone wants a government like the one we’ve had so far, then they are probably satisfied with what these parallel results indicate,” Jansa said.

“Whoever wants change will likely have to wait for the final results, just as we will, and then we will analyse the situation. But we have done everything that was within our power,” he said.

The opposition party leader has served as prime minister three times, most recently from 2020 to 2022.

Ahead of the vote, the election had been marred by controversy after a report last week alleged that Jansa met with officials from the Israeli spy firm Black Cube in December.

Golob told journalists after the report: “The fact that … foreign services are interfering in the elections of a democratic member state of the European Union is something unheard of.”

WASHINGTON — President Trump took the United States to war without a vote of support from Congress, but lawmakers are increasingly questioning when, how and at what cost the war with Iran will come to an end.

Three weeks into the conflict, the toll is becoming apparent. At least 13 U.S. military personnel have died and more than 230 have been wounded. A $200-billion request from the Pentagon for war funds is pending from the White House. Allies are under attack, oil prices are skyrocketing, and thousands more U.S. troops are deploying to the Middle East with no endgame in sight.

“The real question is: What ultimately are we trying to accomplish?” Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) told the Associated Press.

“I generally support anything that takes out the mullahs,” he said. “But at the end of the day, there has to be a kind of strategic articulation of the strategy, what our objectives are.”

Trump said late Friday that he was considering “winding down” the military operations even as he outlined new objectives and goals and despite the continued buildup of forces in the region.

Congress stands still

The president’s decision to launch the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran is testing the resolve of Congress, which is controlled by his party. Republicans have largely stood by the commander in chief, but will soon be faced with more consequential wartime choices.

Under the War Powers Act, the president can conduct military operations for 60 days without approval from Congress. So far, Republicans have easily voted down several resolutions from Democrats designed to halt the war.

But the administration will need to show a more comprehensive strategy ahead or risk blowback from Congress, lawmakers said, especially as they are being asked to approve billions in new spending.

Trump’s casual comment that the war will end “when I … feel it in my bones” has drawn alarm.

“When he feels it in his bones? That’s crazy,” said Virginia Sen. Mark R. Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee.

House speaker says mission is ‘all but done’

The president’s party appears unlikely to directly challenge him, even as the conflict drags on. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) has said the military operation will be over quickly.

“I do think the original mission is virtually accomplished now,” Johnson told the AP and others at the Capitol this week.

“We were trying to take out the ballistic missiles, and their means of production, and neuter the navy, and those objectives have been met,” he said.

Johnson acknowledged that Iran’s ability to threaten ships in the Strait of Hormuz is “dragging it out a little bit,” especially as U.S. allies have largely rebuffed the president’s request for help.

“As soon as we bring some calm to the situation, I think it’s all but done,” Johnson said.

But the administration’s stated goals — of ending Iran’s ability to obtain a nuclear weapon and degrading its ballistic missile supplies, among others — have perplexed lawmakers as shifting and elusive.

″Regime change? Not likely. Get rid of the enriched uranium? Not without boots on the ground,” Warner said.

“If I’m advising the president, I would have said: Before you take on a war of choice, make the case clear to the American people what our goals are,” he said.

The power of the purse

The Pentagon has told the White House that it is seeking an additional $200 billion for the war effort, an extraordinary amount that is unlikely to win support. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York called the amount “preposterous.”

The Defense Department’s approved appropriations from Congress this year are more than $800 billion, and Trump’s tax breaks bill gave the Pentagon an additional $150 billion over the next several years for various upgrades and projects.

Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) said the country has other priorities.

“How about not taking away funding for Medicaid, which will impact millions of people? How about making sure SNAP is funded?” she said, referring to the healthcare and food assistance programs that were cut as part of last year’s Republican tax reductions.

“These are things that we should be doing for the American people,” she said.

Many lawmakers have recalled the decision by President George W. Bush in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks to come to Congress to seek an authorization for the use of military force — a vote to support his proposed military actions in Afghanistan and later Iraq.

Tillis said Trump has latitude under the War Powers Act to conduct the military campaign, but that will soon shift.

“When you get into the 45-day mark, you’ve got to start articulating one of two things — an authorization for the use of military force to sustain it beyond that or a very clear path on exit,” he said.

“Those are really the options the administration needs to be thinking about.”

Mascaro writes for the Associated Press.

EXCLUSIVE: Beyond Paradise returns on March 27 with major cast changes as one beloved character has left Shipton Abbott

Beyond Paradise’s leading man, Kris Marshall, has revealed details about a co-star’s departure from the BBC drama. The Death in Paradise spin-off returns on March 27, with Humphrey and his colleagues tackling fresh mysteries in Shipton Abbott. Yet one familiar face will be conspicuously absent from the fourth series.

Detective Humphrey Goodman confronts a devastating choice in the forthcoming episodes after learning he must dismiss a member of staff from the station. The DI also encounters a new superior following news that his former boss, CS Charlie Woods (played by Jade Harrison), had transferred to a different division.

Discussing his co-star’s departure and the necessity of releasing a team member, Kris told Reach PLC exclusively: “I mean, there always has to be some kind of challenge for Humphrey in terms of, because, like I said, you know, otherwise he just wanders around.

“I mean, it’s that paradox, isn’t it, about TV detectives, they’re sort of fish out of water, they don’t really like rules, and yet they exist in one of the most sort of institutional, authoritarian hierarchies, the police force.

“He hates any kind of authority, he hates rules, he hates being told what he has to do, and so it’s thrust upon him, and it literally comes knocking on his door as it does. You know, he really detests that, really dislikes it, and he doesn’t like the pressure.”

When discussing his new superior and recent arrival, portrayed by Vincent Franklin, the Humphrey Goodman star continued, “And it’s held by the fact that, in terms of the storyline, you know, Vincent Franklin, who is just an absolute genius actor playing his sort of nemesis in this,” reports the Express.

“It just adds to that sort of, and he does it with such beautiful greasiness. It’s sort of wonderful. It sort of adds to the pressure for Humphrey, and so it’s a real stress for Humphrey moving forward because he is a kind of, like, bury your head in the sand kind of guy, when it comes to things like that.

“Solving puzzles or crimes or, you know, he’s like a dog with a bone. But, you know, when it comes to sort of real life, he’s like, well, surely if I put my head over here, that will just go away.”

Sally Bretton, who portrays Martha Lloyd, Kris’s on-screen spouse, also revealed details about Martha and Humphrey’s relationship and where the series resumes. The actress explained that residing on a boat was never part of Martha and Humphrey’s original vision.

She revealed, “Martha starts reflecting on, ‘Was this a bit of an unexpected twist anyway? Going to live on the boat as it wasn’t really the plan originally’.

“And maybe now that they’re married and they want to focus a lot on settling a little bit more, and maybe it’s time to start having a look at a house, and I think they want to focus on each other and have all of the fun and everything that they always have done, but they’ve been knocked off center a lot.”

Beyond Paradise is set to return on 27 March at 8pm on BBC One.

MS NOW is making sweeping changes to its daytime programming, moving hosts Stephanie Ruhle and Alicia Menendez to new time slots.

The changes include the departure of Ana Cabrera, who told viewers about her plans Wednesday. Carbera joined MS NOW — formerly MSNBC — from CNN in 2023. Chris Jansing, the current 11 a.m. Eastern host, will become chief political correspondent.

Stephanie Ruhle is the new anchor for MSNBC’s “The 11th Hour.”

(MSNBC)

The moves announced by MS NOW President Rebecca Kutler are aimed at improving daytime ratings on the network, which changed its name from MSNBC after being spun off from Comcast into a new company called Versant.

MS NOW has seen improved ratings in prime time with opinion programming since the network was re-branded in November. The politically progressive-leaning network will have hosts with a point-of-view in the daytime hours as well once the programming changes take effect in June.

In a memo to staff obtained by The Times, Kutler said the daytime programming will “still be rooted in hard news.”

Ana Cabrera speaks at The Common Good Forum & American Spirit Awards 2018 at The Common Good Forum on May 21, 2018 in New York City.

(Sylvain Gaboury / Patrick McMullan via Getty Images)

Ruhle will move from her 11 p.m. Eastern program “The 11th Hour” to a daytime shift from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. Eastern. Her program will focus on money and politics.

Menendez will host two hours in the afternoon starting at noon Eastern.

The schedule changes will take effect in June.

Alicia Menendez, Michael Steele and Symone Sanders Townsend of MSNBC’s “The Weekend.”

(MSNBC/Virginia Sherwood/MSNBC)

Once Ruhle’s new program debuts, “Morning Joe” will return to a three-hour format. The program co-hosted by Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski expanded to four hours in 2022. Although the expansion improved ratings, the hosts have asked to scale back so they can pursue other projects at the network.

Menendez has been part of the trio on “The Weeknight,” with Michael Steele and Simone Sanders-Townsend. Luke Russert will take her seat on the program as he returns to an on-air role. Russert had been part of the daytime MSNBC show “The Cycle,” and recently served as creative director for MS NOW’s live event series.

Ruhle will be replaced on “The 11th Hour” by Ali Velshi, who recently served as a weekend anchor. Jacob Soboroff, the network’s national correspondent, will take over Velshi’s anchor duties from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Eastern.

Kutler said there will be no job reductions related to the schedule changes, saying she expects to have “more people working at MS NOW by the end of 2026 than we do today.”

MS NOW is the second most-watched cable news network behind Fox News while leading CNN.

This particular run of seven games will define City’s season on all four fronts – losing twice against Real means their trophy prospects have been reduced to three.

That could be down to two on Sunday with a huge clash against the Gunners, who are hungry to rid their tags of ‘nearly men’ by ending a trophy drought which stretches back to 2020.

“On Monday [after Carabao Cup final] hopefully we will wake up and it is a sunny day,” said Guardiola. “It is not crucial, it is a football game, we are going to try to win with a good performance.

“We will challenge against the best team in England so far, the best team in Europe because look at their results in the group phase, they were first and have lost three or four games all season. We will challenge them and we have to see how we are competing against them.”

City were held to a surprise 1-1 draw at relegation strugglers West Ham, which has left them nine points off the pace in the Premier League with eight games to go – and a monumental effort is required to overturn that particular deficit.

And the FA Cup is no formality either, with City hosting rivals Liverpool in the quarter-final on Saturday 4 April after the international break, with league games immediately after against Chelsea and Arsenal.

Guardiola said: “After one or two weeks, we play against them in the Premier League and it is a good mirror to see what we have to do to achieve [like] them. I am old enough to see that one football game is not the big happiness or a loss is the end of the world, it’s just a game.

“In the end, the results have not been good except Newcastle but I have the feeling we are an extraordinary team with many, many, many good things that I love.

“We are still not complete, we are not aware in certain moments and departments, we have to be more clinical but my feeling is it is a question of time.”

Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani expressed regret Monday for his “shortcomings” following Japan’s early exit from the World Baseball Classic.

It is unclear what those shortcomings might have been. Over four games during this year’s tournament, Ohtani led Japan with a .462 batting average, three home runs and seven RBI in 13 at-bats.

Those stats are even better than the ones he posted as the MVP of the last WBC. Over seven games in 2023, Ohtani hit .435 with one home run and eight home runs in 23 at-bats to lead Japan to its third WBC championship.

Overall, however, Japan finished with a .284 batting average, down from a .299 average three years ago. Ohtani did account for his team’s final out of the 2026 tournament — an infield popup to seal an 8-5 quarterfinal loss to Venezuela on Saturday — and took to Instagram two days later.

“Thank you to all the fans for your support. Your cheers pushed us forward every day,” Ohtani wrote in Japanese. “We didn’t achieve the results we hoped for, and I deeply regret my own shortcomings.”

The two-way superstar did not pitch in this year’s WBC, after famously striking out then-Angels teammate Mike Trout of the United States for the final out of the 2023 championship game and going 2-0 with one save and a 1.86 ERA in that tournament.

Ohtani had his second Tommy John surgery in September 2023 and did not pitch again until last June with the Dodgers. Manager Dave Roberts revealed in January that Ohtani had decided not to pitch in the WBC.

USC’s decision to dismiss top scorer and three-point shooter Chad Baker-Mazara on the doorstep of the postseason left many wondering Sunday why coach Eric Musselman would willingly sabotage his team’s already-tenuous hopes of making the NCAA tournament.

To Gilbert Arenas, the former NBA star and podcast host whose son, Alijah, is a freshman guard with the Trojans, the move was particularly baffling. So he took to social media Sunday, wearing Baker-Mazara’s No. 4 USC jersey, to share his frustration.

“Right before the tournament? This is what we’re doing?” Arenas said in the video. “Our best player? Mr. I-Get-Buckets? Every night, he brings it every night. Guaranteed 18, 20 every night.”

“When you the best player on the team, whatever you say, you right,” he continued.

LOS ANGELES, CA – DECEMBER 17, 2025: USC Trojans guard Chad Baker-Mazara (4) shoot a foul shot against the UTSA Roadrunners at Galen Center on December 17, 2025 in Los Angeles, California.(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

(Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)

But the move to part ways with Baker-Mazara was not based on an isolated incident, a person familiar with the decision but not authorized to discuss it publicly told The Times, but rather a culmination of a season’s worth of issues that boiled over after the second half of Saturday’s loss to Nebraska.

The Trojans were trailing by three points three minutes into the second half when Baker-Mazara took off in transition after Huskers forward Pryce Sandfort, who was driving for a layup. Baker-Mazara closed the gap and swatted the ball. Then he fell hard on the hardwood.

Baker-Mazara had missed three games last month with a Grade I knee sprain and sat out practices throughout the season with other nagging minor injuries. But after a few seconds lying still on the court, he walked on his own down the Galen Center tunnel toward the USC locker room.

Baker-Mazara emerged from the tunnel a couple minutes later with a noticeable limp. He took a seat in a courtside seat on the baseline, two chairs down from injured guard Rodney Rice.

The sight of Baker-Mazara sitting away from the rest of the team sparked questions after the game, but the seating arrangement wasn’t that unusual for Baker-Mazara, who’d sat there at various times this season. What was odd was how Baker-Mazara handled the rest of the half after he told the USC staff he wasn’t able to resume play.

As USC unraveled without him in the second half, Baker-Mazara was mostly detached from the action. At one point, he went behind the USC bench and chatted with fans in the first row.

The incident on its own could have been innocuous. But at the end of a season filled with similar such moments, patience had worn thin.

By the next morning, Baker-Mazara was no longer with the team.

USC did not disclose the reasons for his departure. But the staff was well aware when they brought in the sixth-year senior last spring that his long history in college hoops was littered with similarly volatile moments. USC was Baker-Mazara’s fifth school in six seasons.

“There will never be a dull moment,” Musselman said in May. “Might be that I’ve got a little more on my plate.”

Baker-Mazara spent his freshman season at Duquesne before transferring to San Diego State. He was named Mountain West as a sophomore, but was kicked off the team by coach Brian Dutcher after he skipped classes, failed tests, missed assignments and fell so far behind on his classes he couldn’t catch up.

Baker-Mazara told the San Diego Union Tribune last spring that it was “a growing-up moment” for him. He assured he’d “learned [his] lesson.”

USC forward Chad Baker-Mazara goes up to dunk under pressure from Indiana forward Sam Alexis at the Galen Center on Feb. 3.

(Jae C. Hong / Associated Press)

“Some people have to go through it in different ways,” Baker-Mazara told the Union Tribune. “I had to go through it that way. … My parents were both mad. That was weeks of earfuls: ‘Man, what are you doing?’ It was weeks. I had to get my ear chewed off a couple times.”

He ended up at Northwest Florida State, a junior college in Niceville, Fla., before signing with Auburn. At the time, according to the Union Tribune, Dutcher spoke with then-Auburn coach Bruce Pearl on the phone. He told him that Baker-Mazara’s issues weren’t on the court, but that he “just needs to get his life in better order, be more organized, be more on time, do all the little things.”

Pearl and Auburn proved to be a good fit; though, Baker-Mazara earned some ire there, too, after he was ejected in the second half of Auburn’s two-point tournament loss to rival Alabama for elbowing a Tide player in the back of the head. Pearl later defended him on social media.

Pearl, now a college basketball analyst, said Monday in light of Baker-Mazara’s dismissal that the guard was “an incredibly talented kid with a real gift,” but that his “emotions at times have gotten the better of him.”

“He helped us get to the Final Four, we won a league championship with him,” Pearl said during FS1’s Wake Up Barstool on Monday. “On a good day, he would’ve been about the 20th-best player taken in the NBA Draft last year.

“But we all know that Chad has bad days.”

Routinely this season, Baker-Mazara jolted the Trojans’ offense to life. When Rodney Rice went down with a season-ending shoulder injury in November, Baker-Mazara became even more vital to USC’s offense and responded to the call, averaging 26 points per game during the Trojans’ first seven without Rice. Even in his final game against Nebraska, Baker-Mazara scored 14 points in 16 first-half minutes. Against UCLA, he knocked down three consecutive three-pointers. The previous Saturday, he scored 14 straight.

But there were also stretches of the season during which Baker-Mazara’s status remained mysterious He sat out practices ahead of Big Ten play and dealt with what was deemed, at the time, to be a nagging neck injury, only to show up in the Trojans’ lineup against Michigan and Michigan State. He averaged just 20 minutes across both games.

By March, Baker-Mazara’s more volatile moments had started to outweigh his other contributions in the eyes of USC’s staff. Though, with time running out to save their season, how the Trojans plan to replace that production is a question everyone — not just Gilbert Arenas — is asking.