father

Lionel Messi missed Inter Miami’s Leagues Cup defeat by Monterrey on Saturday night after the death of his father, as his team-mates led tributes before and during the match.

Jorge Messi died on Saturday at the age of 68 following a long illness.

Jorge, who had also been the Argentina forward’s agent since he was 14, passed away in a hospital in his hometown of Rosario, Argentina.

Miami paid tribute to Messi’s father with a minute’s silence before kick-off, while players wore black armbands and Jorge’s name was displayed on the big screens at Nu Stadium.

The club added a black ribbon to their social media profile pictures, and in a statement said: “Our hearts are with our captain, Leo, and the entire Messi family.”

Messi’s Argentina team-mate Rodrigo de Paul celebrated scoring the opening goal of the 2-1 defeat by taking off his shirt to reveal Messi’s.

Fans held up handmade signs offering their support to Messi and paying tribute to his father.

Miami striker Luis Suarez, who missed the match through suspension, wrote on Instagram that Jorge will continue to watch over his son “with pride, as he always did”.

Messi’s former club Barcelona observed a moment of silence before their 1-0 friendly win against Nottingham Forest in Udine, Italy.

In 2000, Jorge accompanied his 13-year-old son to Catalonia and played a key role in persuading the club to sign him.

Barcelona thanked Jorge “for his commitment to our club, for entrusting us with the beginnings and the most glorious years of his son Leo’s football career”.

Fans left flags and flowers outside Messi’s childhood home in Rosario, while Argentine giants Boca Juniors and River Plate both held periods of silence before their matches.

The Argentine Football Association said it “deeply mourns with sadness and sorrow the passing of Jorge Messi, father of our captain and emblem, Lionel Messi”.

It added: “From here, we stand in solidarity with the entire family during this difficult time and send the most heartfelt, warm and affectionate embrace.”

Paris St-Germain, for whom Messi played between 2021 and 2023 after leaving Barcelona, said: “The club sends its full support to Leo, his family and loved ones in this painful ordeal. May he rest in peace.”

Football superstar Lionel Messi returned to Rosario, Argentina with his family on Saturday, a day after his father and longtime agent Jorge Messi died aged 68. His cause of death hasn’t been disclosed, though he had suffered a prolonged illness. Jorge helped guide his son’s career from childhood.

MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay — Jorge Messi, the father of soccer star and Argentina captain Lionel Messi, died Saturday at a hospital in the central Argentina city of Rosario. He was 68.

The Rosario-based Club Atlético Newell’s Old Boys announced his death in a social media post that said he had undergone treatment in recent months for an unspecified illness. The post described him as “the pillar and the person who, with vision, rigor and affection, supported the career of the best player of all time, alongside his wife, Celia Cuccittini.”

The South American Football Confederation, CONMEBOL, in a statement also offered its condolences “with respect and affection for Lionel.”

Lionel Messi led Argentina to a runner-up finish in this year’s World Cup. In the team’s first match, against Algeria, he was visibly emotional after scoring the first of his three goals. He said later that he wept for “a reason unrelated to sports.”

Inter Miami star Lionel Messi hugs his father, Jorge Messi, while his mother, Celia Cuccittini, looks on after a playoff match against Nashville SC in November 2025.

(Leonardo Fernandez / Getty Images)

“I went through some difficult, complicated days,” he said. “I am grateful to the delegation, to all my teammates, because they were always by my side wishing me strength so that I would be OK.”

Media reports at the time outraged the Messi family, which days later released a statement confirming that “Jorge is experiencing a health issue,” without specifying the nature of his condition.

“A person’s health and the peace of mind of their loved ones should not be the subject of speculation or irresponsible media interest,” according to the statement, which also expressed “discomfort at the lack of sensitivity, respect and scruples with which some people have treated a strictly private and family matter.”

Jorge Messi was a chemical technician and worked as a steelworker. He played soccer as a midfielder and reached the youth ranks of Newell’s Old Boys but had to abandon the sport to complete his mandatory military service in Argentina.

Argentina’s Lionel Messi sits on the pitch after losing to Spain in the World Cup final in East Rutherford, N.J., on July 19.

(Ashley Landis / Associated Press)

He played a fundamental role in his third son’s career, serving as his agent and managing his business affairs. He was the one who traveled with a young Messi to Barcelona in the early 2000s for the trial that would open the doors to La Masia, the Catalan club’s youth academy. Lionel Messi made his professional debut in 2005 and went on to win eight Ballon d’Or awards. He led Argentina to the 2022 World Cup title.

“My dad was always by my side,” Lionel Messi said in a 2007 interview with Radio del Plata. “Sometimes I would lock myself in my room to cry when we arrived in Barcelona, or my dad would do the same without me seeing him, or thinking I didn’t see him. We pretended we were both OK, but we weren’t. My dad even asked me what I wanted to do when we were feeling down, if I wanted to stay or go back, and I wanted to stay, and he stayed with me.”

His father negotiated the contracts with Barça and later his transfers to Paris Saint-Germain and Inter Miami, while also managing the use of his famous son’s image rights and his numerous investments in real estate, hotels, and restaurants.

In 2016, father and son were convicted in the Spanish courts on tax evasion charges, but avoided prison because the sentence was less than two years.

Barreiro writes for the Associated Press.

The Inter Miami forward, 39, also became an eight-time Ballon d’Or winner and won the Champions League four times with Barcelona, plus 10 La Liga titles in 17 seasons in their first team.

Jorge supported his local team Newell’s Old Boys and Lionel joined the club when he was seven years old.

The family relocated to Spain in February 2001 after Lionel was signed by Barca aged just 13, and although Messi’s mother and three siblings soon moved back to Rosario, his father stayed with him in Barcelona.

“Jorge was the pillar and the person who supported with vision, rigor and affection the career of the greatest player of all time alongside his wife, Celia Cuccittini,” Newell’s Old Boys posted on X., external

“His constant companionship and behind-the-scenes leadership were essential in backing every step of Lionel, from his beginnings at Malvinas [youth academy] to the pinnacle of world football glory.

“Thank you for teaching him to love these colours.”

The club added that they “embrace with affection Celia, Lionel, Rodrigo, Matias and Maria Sol, and all their loved ones and close ones in this difficult moment”.

Barcelona thanked Jorge “for his commitment to our club, for entrusting us with the beginnings and the most glorious years of his son Leo’s football career”.

The Argentine Football Association said it “deeply mourns with sadness and sorrow the passing of Jorge Messi, father of our captain and emblem, Lionel Messi”.

It added: “From here, we stand in solidarity with the entire family during this difficult time and send the most heartfelt, warm and affectionate embrace.”

The Messi family responded after an Argentine television presenter falsely reported Jorge had died during Argentina’s opening game at this summer’s World Cup.

The presenter later resigned, while the family expressed their “deep discomfort with the lack of sensitivity, respect and discretion with which some people have treated what is strictly a private family matter”.

The late actor and director Rob Reiner was a devoted Dodgers fan.

Sunday would have meant a lot to him.

Jake and Romy Reiner threw out the ceremonial first pitches at Dodger Stadium before the team’s game against the Boston Red Sox, more than seven months after their parents, Rob and Michele Reiner, were found dead at their Brentwood home.

Jake Reiner, a 35-year-old actor and reporter, threw his pitch straight down the middle to Dodgers outfielder Alex Call behind the plate. Romy Reiner, a 28-year-old actor and writer, sent her pitch a little high and outside, but her catcher, Dodgers infielder Miguel Rojas, had no trouble handling it.

Afterward, the siblings shared a heartfelt hug next to the mound.

Jake Reiner, who co-hosts the Dodgers-based podcast “The Incline,” wrote about his and his father’s connection through the Boys in Blue in a Substack column posted in April.

“We loved the Dodgers more than anything,” Jake wrote. “We went to so many damn games. I’ll never go to Dodger Stadium again without feeling my dad’s presence and hearing his voice tell me why Shohei Ohtani should never bat in the leadoff spot.”

When Rob Reiner threw out a ceremonial first pitch before a Dodgers-Braves game in 2010, Jake was photographed helping him warm up.

Rob Reiner told People in 2023 that he became a diehard fan through his own father, Carl Reiner, and that he made it a point to pass the same love for the sport on to Jake. The family has had Dodgers season tickets for about 60 years, with Reiner telling People that he and Jake “would go to at least 25 or 40 games a year.”

“Every time we come to the ballpark, even today when we walked in, I said to Jake, ‘There’s nothing like being at the ballpark,’” Rob Reiner said. “I love coming here. We look out at the grass. The green, it’s so beautiful.”

Rob Reiner, 78, and his wife, Michele, 70, were found by Romy Reiner when she went to their home the afternoon of Dec. 14. Another son, Nick Reiner, 32, was arrested on suspicion of murdering his parents by stabbing in December. He has pleaded not guilty to two counts of first-degree murder.

Nick Reiner has struggled with addiction for years and had been living in a guesthouse on his parents’ property, according to a family friend. His mother was said to have become increasingly concerned about his mental health in the weeks leading up to her death.

“The Dodgers express our deep sorrow and share our condolences over the passing of longtime fan Rob Reiner and his wife, Michele,” the team posted Dec. 15 on X.

Justin Halpern had a best-selling nonfiction book, co-created “Harley Quinn,” is co-showrunner for “Abbott Elementary” and has recently published his first novel, “Get Lost.”

But today he wants to mostly talk baseball. He recalls rooting for the Mets as a child in San Diego because he was so enamored with Dwight Gooden’s “electric” fastball and his disappearing curve. He spills about the big game he blew as a tween when a simple throw to first went horribly awry, about the two no-hitters he threw at Point Loma High School, how his dreams of stardom went south while at San Diego State, about feeling bitter toward the game and then rediscovering his love for it.

This wasn’t just idle chatter. Baseball is integral to Halpern’s own character arc and to “Get Lost” both on the page and behind the scenes. Take that terrible error when Halpern was 12. Afterward, his father didn’t console him with platitudes. He told the boy to dismiss the “it’s just a game” pity from his coach and accept that for Justin it was a big deal and it made sense to feel awful, but that also meant he had something he felt passionate about.

That paternal talk helped less in the moment than down the road: Halpern’s struggling writing career exploded when he started tweeting his dad’s life advice and then, with his writing partner, Patrick Schumacker, turned those “S—My Dad Says” tweets into a best-selling book. (He’s acutely aware of how lucky he got but also says he and Schumacker were well prepared to capitalize on that opportunity.)

And that particular story, Halpern says, was “foundational” for “Get Lost.” The novel follows Lila Dixon, an acerbic, cynical baseball scout living a dreary and closed-off life in her 30s. When her mentally ill mother goes missing, yet again, Lila must return to the hometown she loathed to search for her, but this time she must also deal with her estranged father, John “Dix” Dixon. Dix was a baseball prodigy too cocky and flashy for his own good who now coasts through life on his long-ago heroics coupled with charm and an undeserved diet of luck.

Halpern’s father’s message resonated for this novel because Lila, who was neglected, abandoned and ultimately shuttled off to foster care as a kid, “has been wandering the planet without finding anything she gives a damn about. Now she needs to find something.”

Halpern quit baseball in college after an injury and the realization that he’d never make the majors. “Aside from talent, you have to be willing to do all these tiny little boring things every single day,” he says. “You have to be obsessive. I worked hard but I wasn’t willing to do that.”

The team’s assistant coach told Halpern it was the biggest mistake of his life and he’d “never make a penny writing” but writing was the one thing where he was willing to tackle the tiny little boring things needed to keep improving.

The adaptation of “S— My Dad Says” for television failed but he felt he improved with each successive show. He also didn’t give up when his first two attempts at novels were “terrible” with “nothing salvageable” in either attempt.

He learned to stop imitating his favorite writers. “I was trying to copy authors more skilled than I was and wasn’t taking the time to find my own voice.” And he strived to break the habits of writing for TV (although he’s quick to acknowledge that “Get Lost” remains dialogue heavy), including working alone. A perpetual collaborator who describes himself as “codependent,” going solo “was a huge challenge that almost shut down the novel a couple of times.”

He contemplated calling friends to run ideas by them when he got stuck but ultimately resisted. “If I didn’t figure out how to solve things myself I was never going to finish this novel anyway,” he says, adding with a laugh, “I’m definitely still codependent, but the novel forced me to venture into waters that I never would have gotten into on my own.”

The deepest of those waters came from learning he does not like exploring his emotions. “My wife probably learned this many years ago,” he says wryly. “Every time I need to sit in a feeling, I try to wiggle my way out of it and that’s probably really annoying for the people in my life. To make “Get Lost” work, he had to burrow into the “complex emotional stew” of Lila’s multiple traumas and make her journey feel earned. Each morning he’d take “epic walks” with his dog. “I’d just talk in the voice of the characters in my head, without it having anything to do with the plot.”

Creating Lila’s flippant father came easily, which is why Halpern refused to settle on Dix as the main character. He didn’t want to make Dix loathsome, but he also didn’t want to glamorize his behavior, thinking back to how he felt “The Wolf of Wall Street” made the sleazy finance bros seem too cool to many in the audience.

Writing a female protagonist, especially one who had so many reasons to be guarded, he didn’t want her to be too likable or to be sexualized or to have solutions come easily. “I didn’t want Lila to need to lower expectations of her father and just love the man for who he is but to realize the limitations of this man and not let that affect how she feels about herself.”

It’s easy to read “Get Lost” hearing Aubrey Plaza in Lila’s sardonic tone, and Halpern heard her voice, and others, while writing but kept reminding himself that he’d have no talented actress to add humanity to his dialogue.

“I knew there’d be no Aubrey Plaza here to save my ass,” he says, although he and Schumacker are now planning a movie adaptation. “I had to figure out how to create this complicated character myself,” Halpern tells me via video from the writers room in L.A. for “I Suck At Girls,” an upcoming Netflix series loosely based off another of his nonfiction books. Schumacker came in and dryly praised “Get Lost” by saying: “Justin knows words that I didn’t think he knew.”

Halpern is more self-aware than he lets on as becomes clear when analyzing his baseball journey — when he quit he admits he felt resentful. “I’d given so much time to the game and it owed me something, but hadn’t given me what I’d asked,” he reflects.

Several years later, he realized he needed to embrace the game for what it offered, not what he wanted. He started playing in adult leagues and became so invested that in his mid-30s, when a surgeon told him he’d torn his labrum, he said, “Is my career over?”

The surgeon asked, “Aren’t you a writer?”

Halpern recovered and, when he’s not joyfully coaching his kids’ Little League team, he’s still heading for the mound at age 45, thrilled with the challenges of outsmarting hitters and reveling in the social aspect of being on a team. “Even with a bunch of older people, there’s just something about sports that still really takes me to a higher place,” he says. “I’ve had a super blessed writing career, but the highest highs I’ve ever had are on a baseball field.”

Miller is a freelance writer in Brooklyn, N.Y., who frequently writes about movies.

Brock Whiston was already Paralympic champion, world champion and world record holder before these Commonwealth Games.

There were two things missing, however.

First, a Commonwealth gold medal. Second, it had been 17 years since her father Gel was poolside to watch her race.

“He doesn’t like swimming,” England’s Whiston, 29, told the BBC.

“He finds it too hot – doesn’t like the smell of chlorine.”

The last time Gel came to watch was when Whiston’s mother had cancer. She has since recovered.

Since then he has been a big “sideline supporter” from home – Whiston says he worked “so hard to get me to where I am today” – but has recently received a Parkinson’s diagnosis.

This time he was keen to make the trip.

“I just wanted to make him proud,” Whiston told TNT Sports.

“I just wanted to win this race for him. I didn’t care about the time.”

And win the race Whiston did – in a new Games record for the women’s 100m breaststroke SB8.

This month Whiston, who works in a primary school, spoke about wanting to keep her emotions in check, having missed out on gold in the same event at the Paris Paralympics after being overawed by the crowd.

“I didn’t spot him until I was doing my lap with my medal,” Whiston said.

“He gave me a kiss on the head and said ‘love you’. I think he was shellshocked.”

So will he be back? Whiston’s Games in Glasgow are finished but there are more meets to come.

“He said he’s done it now. He’s not coming back,” she said.

“He is very happy to support from home.

“Just to have him there that once was a special moment.”

SHE may be pushing 30 with a husband and three kids of her own, but Dani Dyer’s famous dad still foots her phone bill.

The former Love Island star, 29, posted a tribute to her actor dad Danny on his 49th birthday, cheekily making the revelation.

Next to a snap of Danny, she wrote: “Happy birthday to you. Thank you for everything you do.

“So lucky to have you and all the laughs we have together. Love you loads.

“Also thank you for still paying my phone bill!”

The Dyer family went out for a lavish meal to mark Danny’s birthday.

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In more snaps shared by Dani, Danny was treated to a swanky dinner, topped off with his favourite pudding with a candle on top.

The family sang to the Rivals star as he thanked them for their well-wishes.

Danny was joined by his wife Joanne and two of their three children, Dani and 19-year-old Sunnie.

Their youngest, Arty, wasn’t present, but Dani’s husband – footballer Jarrod Bowen – and Sunnie’s boyfriend – record label owner Will Wood – joined the celebrations.

Dani is about to embark on a stint on Strictly Come Dancing, which kicks off at the end of the summer.

It was revealed this week that another “nepo baby” will join her in the 2026 line-up, in the form of Ray Winstone’s actress daughter Jaime.

Ray and Danny both starred in 2006’s football drama All In The Game, suggesting the celebrity offspring have crossed paths in the past.

This comes after it was revealed Danny has further connections to Love Island, beyond his daughter Dani finding fame on the show.

A link has been unearthed between current contestant Lorenzo and Danny – as well as ties to EastEnders, Ne-Yo, and former show winner Ekin-Su.

Lorenzo’s dad Oz helps train MMA fighters at his thriving business Wolf Self Defence, but he worked as a close protection officer for celebrities prior to this.

Oz is also the head doorman at celebrity hotspot Sheesh, where many of the Love Island cast and British celebrities hang out.

Snaps from social media show Oz with Danny, as well as other stars.

“Top Chef” alum and popular Food Network host Eric Adjepong has been ordered to stay away from his 7-year-old daughter following an investigation into abuse claims.

According to the Washington Post, a Maryland judge found that “there is a preponderance” of evidence to believe Adjepong physically abused his daughter, leading to a protective order that bars the celebrity chef from contacting or being alone with his daughter until he completes parenting courses and reunification therapy with the child.

Adjepong’s former wife, Janell Davis-Mack, posted a screenshot of the case information on Instagram last week, writing that she and her daughter had been quiet long enough.

“My daughter has watched me rebuild our life focused on our safety after I divorced her father four years ago,” she wrote. “I’ve also taught her about body autonomy, consent, boundaries, and to tell the trusted adults around her when she feels unsafe.

“My daughter was just granted a protective order against her father because she was brave enough to speak up against who should have been one of the most trusted adults in her life.

“Unfortunately for him — I’ll never stop believing her, protecting her, or reminding her that her voice matters.”

Judge Maurice C. Frazier issued the protective order against Adjepong on July 10; it will remain in place until July 10, 2027. The James Beard-nominated chef is mandated not to contact, harass, abuse or threaten to abuse his daughter or former wife. While the order is in place, Adjepong can have supervised visits with his daughter.

In May, Davis-Mack filed a petition in Howard County, Maryland, seeking protection for her daughter from Adjepong, citing alleged child abuse. Per the Washington Post, Davis-Mack claimed that a nurse who examined their daughter filed a report with the D.C. Child and Family Services Agency, which launched an investigation by D.C. police.

A spokesman for D.C. police told the Washington Post that its Youth Investigations Branch was prompted to investigate claims of “sexual abuse” but that detectives found no probable cause that sexual abuse had taken place and referred the case back to Child and Family Services. On Wednesday, Adjepong posted what appeared to be a screenshot of email correspondence from the D.C. Child and Family Services Agency stating that, on April 29, they received a report of potential neglect or abuse, investigated the claims and found sexual abuse claims “unfounded.”

“I am aware of recent media inquiries concerning a protective order entered on July 10, 2026,” the chef wrote alongside the screenshot. “Because this matter involves my young daughter, whom I love deeply, I intend to protect her privacy and will not discuss the underlying allegations or other sensitive family matters publicly other than to say that these allegations arose in the context of a long running divorce and custody proceeding, which finally concluded on June 2, 2026.

“The Court’s protective order followed careful reviews by law enforcement and the District of Columbia Child and Family Services Agency (‘CFSA’). The District of Columbia Metropolitan Police Department closed its investigation without filing charges. CFSA concluded its investigation with an ‘unfounded’ disposition, which its report defines as not true.

“I have the utmost respect for the Circuit Court that issued the protective order and am strictly complying with every facet of the order, which is designed to ensure that my daughter is safe and treated respectfully, and to ensure her reunification with her father. The Judge eloquently described the nature of my relationship with her at the hearing. My foremost concern is my daughter’s well-being. It is my fervent hope that in the future my ex-wife and I can resolve these matters privately and through the proper legal channels, rather than in the press, if only for the well-being of our daughter.”

Winning streaks bring a life of their own to a clubhouse, each day presenting another opportunity to extend the joy and methodically build a feeling of invincibility.

Inevitably the streak ends and everyone sighs, reflects and returns to work. The Boston Red Sox lost the second game of a doubleheader Wednesday to end a win streak that tied an 80-year-old club record when it reached 15 in the opener.

Boston interim manager Chad Tracy stepped into the clubhouse to say a few words afterward but saw veteran players Willson Contreras and Sonny Gray speaking to the team and allowed them the moment.

“We just won 15 games in a row, and I think all of us knew it was going to end at some point,” Tracy said.

Call it the “Tracy Turnaround” redux.

Tracy had never managed, coached or played at the major league level before replacing Alex Cora on April 25, but he was well-versed in experiencing the glorious ride of a winning streak and its abrupt end. His father, Jim Tracy, managed the Dodgers, Pittsburgh Pirates and Colorado Rockies from 2001-2012.

Like his son, Jim Tracy was given an interim manager title when he replaced Clint Hurdle in May 2009 after Colorado’s poor start. It took only a few weeks before the Rockies won 11 games in a row, 17 of 18 and finished 74-42 to make the playoffs.

This year’s Red Sox can only hope their U-turn under Chad Tracy mirrors his dad’s. Boston was 32-46 before winning 20 of 23, including the 15-game win streak.

No surprise that father and son discussed the similarities. Chad was a double-A first baseman with the Texas Rangers in 2009 and closely followed his dad’s fortunes.

“I remember the [Rockies’] run,” Chad said. “You know, we talk very basically about just, he’s excited [about the Red Sox]. He’s a baseball fan. He’s watching constantly, and he’s fired up for it. So, like, we haven’t done a whole lot of comparing to that, but he’s just — he’s a Boston Red Sox fan.”

Jim was rewarded by becoming the second interim manager in MLB history to win the Manager of the Year award. Chad could be in the running to be the third, especially if the Red Sox make the playoffs.

They already are only the sixth father-son combo to manage in the major leagues, following Bob and Aaron Boone, George and Dick Sisler, Bob and Joel Skinner, Buddy and David Bell, and Felipe Alou and Luis Rojas.

The achievement isn’t lost on Jim Tracy, who became so emotional upon learning his son was named interim Red Sox manager he pulled his car to the side of the road. He attended Chad’s first game, a victory over the Baltimore Orioles, on the top step of the dugout.

“One thing that jumped out at me,” Jim Tracy said, “was that when he was presented to the media, his body language in the dugout…. he was not overwhelmed or fazed with anything that was going on. He was ready to do whatever was asked of him.”

That Chad replaced Cora, who led the Red Sox to the 2018 World Series title in his first season, elicited mixed feelings. Cora played with the Dodgers from 1998-2004, including four seasons under Jim.

“It’s a wonderful day, but in some respects, it’s bittersweet,” Jim said the day of Chad’s managerial debut. “I’m proud of [Chad], but the Tracy family loves and respects Alex Cora.

“You have to go back with some special years I had in Los Angeles and Alex was very much a part of that. Bittersweet is the right word because Alex was so good to my son and took such good care of him. But it was reciprocated.”

Actor Kaylee Hottle, best known for her portrayal of a young deaf orphan who shares a special bond with the giant guardian ape in “Godzilla vs. Kong” and “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire,” has died. She was 18.

Hottle died Tuesday morning after the car she was a passenger in crashed into a culvert off the side of the road in Ijamsville, Md., the Frederick County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release. Her father, Joshua Hottle, confirmed her death in a video on Facebook.

“I am taking a flight that I never would like to take,” he wrote in the caption of the video post, in which he explained the situation in American Sign Language. He was on his way from Texas to claim her body, according to TMZ.

The Texas School for the Deaf also addressed the actor’s death on social media.

“It is with profound sadness that we share the heartbreaking news that one of our TSD seniors, Kaylee Hottle, tragically passed away yesterday in a car accident in Frederick, Maryland,” read the Instagram post. “Our hearts are with Kaylee’s family, friends, classmates and everyone who knew and loved her during this incredibly difficult time.”

Hottle’s breakout role was in the 2021 MonsterVerse crossover “Godzilla vs. Kong,” which marked her big-screen debut as the young orphan Jia. Jia is the last remaining survivor of the Iwi tribe on Skull Island who shares a connection with Kong, the island’s protector. Her adoptive parent, Dr. Ilene Andrews, is a linguistics expert and Kong researcher, played by Rebecca Hall. Hottle reprised the role in the 2024 follow-up, “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire.”

“After I watched the movie, I thought, ‘Wow, this is going to make such a big impact,’” Hottle said in a 2024 interview with New York’s WABC. “I was so excited. She’s a young deaf girl, just like many others out there. And this journey that she’s going on is just going to be so amazing.”

The actor, who was born in Atlanta, was from an all-deaf family, which included four generations of deaf relatives on her father’s side, according to IMDb.

Authorities said Hottle was one of two passengers in the 1995 Honda Accord that was involved in the crash. While the incident is still being investigated, the Sheriff’s Office said in its news release that “excessive speed is believed to be a contributing factor in the collision.”

Millie Bobby Brown, who also appeared in “Godzilla vs. Kong,” was among those who shared tributes to Hottle following the news of her death.

“I’m so devastated to hear this,” she wrote in her Instagram story, which included a black-and-white photo of Hottle as Jia. “You will be deeply missed Kaylee.”

“I am absolutely gutted about the passing of sweet Kaylee Hottle,” Oscar winner Marlee Matlin wrote on Instagram. “May her beauty and talent be a memory for eternity. … Such a privilege to have met Kaylee last year. Please be kind to one another. Take the time to listen to your child. Say 🤟🏼 each time you part. 🩵”

July 21 (UPI) — A father and son have been arraigned on charges for kidnapping two federal biologists at gunpoint in California.

Joseph Charles Henrichsen, 49, and his son Phoenix Henrichsen, 23, were in federal court in Sacramento, Calif., on Monday when they were charged with kidnapping a federal employee and aiding and abetting.

The charges stem from the Henrichsens allegedly confronting two female U.S. Forest Service staff biologists last week at Gumboot Lake Campground in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest in California. Joseph was armed with a rifle when he approached the biologists in a remote area of the forest. He zip-tied their hands behind their backs and ordered them to a trailer nearby where they were held.

When they arrived at the trailer, Phoenix joined them, court documents say.

At one point, Joseph took one of the biologists in the Forest Service Nissan that they were using before the kidnapping and drove her several miles away where he used her phone to call a federal forest ranger. He left a message for the ranger informing them that he had taken two hostages and was armed.

“I’ve taken two fed biologists hostage from the Forest Service,” Joseph said, the affidavit reads. “I’m driving in the ranger vehicle right now. Her hands are behind her [expletive] back, and I’ve got live rounds ready.”

Law enforcement officials responded after the message was received, beginning an hourslong standoff on Friday. The Henrichsens surrendered and were arrested that day after hostage negotiations.

The victims were released safely.

The affidavit accuses Phoenix of aiding and abetting for keeping “watch” of the trailer when his father was not around.

The Henrichsens face a maximum penalty of life in prison and a $250,000 fine if convicted. A preliminary examination is scheduled for Aug. 3.

Scott Bryce, the actor best known for originating the role of Craig Montgomery on the soap opera “As the World Turns,” has died. He was 68.

Bryce died Sunday evening “surrounded by his loving wife Jodi Stevens-Bryce and loving son Jackson Bryce,” his agent Ken Melamed told The Times by email on Tuesday. “He was beloved by all!”

The actor revealed last year that he had been diagnosed with Stage 3 esophageal and stomach cancer in 2024.

“This evening my father lost his long-fought battle with cancer. What began as stage three esophageal cancer eventually spread and became brain tumors that took his life away from him,” Bryce’s son, Jackson, wrote in a tribute posted Sunday to Instagram. He said his father approached his treatments with “pride and courage, and an unshakable belief that somehow, everything would work out.”

“May his strength and relentless belief forever live within me,” he added. “He fought the hardest and most honorable fight I have ever witnessed.”

Born Jan. 6, 1958, in New York, Bryce followed in the footsteps of his actor parents. His father, Ed, portrayed Bill Bauer on the daytime drama “Guiding Light” for years, while his mother, Dorothy, was known for her role on the hospital soap “The Doctors.”

Bryce made his television debut as Craig Montgomery on CBS’ long-running soap “As the World Turns” in 1982. He received two Daytime Emmy nominations for his portrayal of the charming but ruthless businessman, whom he portrayed off and on from 1982 to 2008. The character was known for his ambition and mysterious business dealings but also had a reputation for being unlucky in love. One early romantic interest was Betsy Stewart, who was portrayed by Meg Ryan from 1982 to 1984.

Finn Carter, who played Montgomery’s wife, Sierra Esteban, on the show, shared a tribute to Bryce on Instagram Monday.

“My sadness knows no bounds. My gratitude for Scott knows even fewer,” Carter wrote. “Scott was the best husband a woman could ask for. As an actor he was fearless, kind, generous and forever looking for ways to grow. And what a sense of humor!”

Over the course of his decades-long career, Bryce appeared on shows such as “The Facts of Life,” “The Golden Girls,” “Murphy Brown,” “L.A. Law,” “The Good Fight,” “Law & Order” and “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.”

He also portrayed Mike McQueen, the father of a cheerleader (Leslie Bibb) on the millennial teen drama “Popular.” McQueen marries the mother of his daughter’s high school rival (Carly Pope) in the series, which ended on a cliffhanger in 2001 after its cancellation.

“When asked what he wanted people to remember about him, he said, ‘I was a one-take actor. Two takes, max,’” Jackson Bryce wrote in his tribute. “In working with Dick Wolf on NBC, directors would schedule him at the end of the day because they knew it wouldn’t take long.”

In addition to his onscreen work, Scott Bryce was a theater actor as well as a director and a producer, with credits including the 2010 television movie “Frederick Douglass, From Slavery to Freedom” and the satirical web series “Steamboat.”

“My dad also made sure I knew his greatest accomplishment that came at 50 years old, becoming a Dad,” son Jackson said in his tribute. “He is a part of everything I’ve done and everything I will do.”

The story of Dan Tana’s, in many ways, is the story of Los Angeles.

In 1980, Dan Tana’s burst into flames. At the time, the Tana family was vacationing on a remote Yugoslav island when a telegram arrived: “The restaurant burned down. Call me, Pearl,” recalls Katerina Tana, one of Dan Tana’s daughters.

Dan Tana flew back to Los Angeles, expecting charred remains. Instead, he found handwritten signs taped to the restaurant’s door: “Rebuild it. This is our home. Don’t change a thing,” recounts Katerina.

News of the fire reached musician Linda Ronstadt, who swore that Dan Tana’s served the best plate of spaghetti in the world. The rock star became the immigrant-run restaurant’s unlikely patron saint, calling on her relationship with then-Gov. Jerry Brown to help clear the way for its reopening. Just six weeks after the fire, Dan Tana’s welcomed customers again, even without a roof.

“They open up the restaurant with no roof on it. There’s no air conditioning unit. It was the hottest day,” says Katerina.

Oddly, the fire ushered in a new era for Dan Tana’s — a rebirth, even. Like Los Angeles, the restaurant endured by reinventing itself. “In a weird way, he rebuilt better than he ever could have, because if the restaurant hadn’t burned down, it might not have lasted this long,” Katerina says.

Stories like these fill the pages of “Everybody Came to Tana’s,” the late restaurateur’s memoir, which chronicles the outlandish journey that carried a young immigrant from communist then-Yugoslavia to the helm of one of Los Angeles’ most adored dining institutions. Dan Tana died last year at age 90, but his legacy lives on — inside the restaurant and now in his own words.

On a summer afternoon, his daughters, Gabrielle and Katerina, sit at the Sunset Marquis bar, recounting their father’s remarkable life — particularly his championing of soccer and his contributions to the sport. With the World Cup now unfolding across Los Angeles, the sisters say they can’t help but feel his presence. “One of his big wishes was to be here for this year’s World Cup. That’s why I know he’s here,” Gabrielle Tana says. “He was very instrumental in L.A. getting the World Cup. Our father was constantly helping connect people,” says Katerina.

In the final years of his life, Tana became determined to tell that story, working with writers in Serbia and eventually a ghostwriter, Todd Gold, who requested no credit; the resulting memoir feels wholly told in Tana’s voice. “Our father, for years, was talking about how he wanted to tell his story,” says Gabrielle. “He was always pinching himself about the life that he had — the stories, the adventures, and his luck.”

Tana had an unusual path to becoming the restaurant owner of the renowned Hollywood red-sauce hideout. Born in present-day Serbia, Tana’s early life was marked by political oppression under Communist rule. His father, a restaurateur, spent years as a political prisoner.

Gabrielle and Katerina Tana with their dad at Dan Tana’s, circa 2001.

(Suzette Van Bylevelt)

“When you live in a country where political powers are constantly in play, when you own a restaurant, you’re the person who’s hosting somebody who’s having a dangerous conversation,” explains Katerina. From an early age, Dan Tana’s mother made Dan promise not to end up in the restaurant business.

Instead, Dan Tana became a soccer star, touring Europe with Red Star Belgrade before eventually escaping to Belgium — a decision that would set him on the unbelievable path to Canada and then Los Angeles, where he would serve a stint managing a nightclub called Peppermint West and even launch a modest acting career with the help of Natalie Wood.

The chapters follow the restaurant’s improbable success, offering extraordinary anecdotes, such as how a Yugoslavian immigrant happened to open a red-booth, comfort-food Italian restaurant. The answer? Hiring Mussolini’s private chef. “It was one of two chef options that he was given by his partners: Dan Reeves and Clarence Dan Martin, who funded the soccer league. [Dan Reeves] also bought the restaurant,” says Katerina.

Beyond dispatches from his red-and-white-checkered tablecloth joint and name-dropping, Dan Tana’s memoir outlines his significant contributions to soccer. Throughout his life, he maintained deep ties to the international soccer community, supporting Red Star Belgrade long after he retired from the sport. “He became an evangelist for the game because he thought it was a game that this country would appreciate,” says Katerina. “Football was always the biggest love of his life.”

Craig Susser, left in black, has been greeting patrons at Dan Tana’s for decades.

(Stephen Osman / Los Angeles Times)

Last November, when England faced off with Serbia for the World Cup qualifying games, the stadium held a moment of silence for Dan Tana’s passing. “There were people within the game who really wanted to acknowledge his contribution to the game,” says Katerina.

“A good restaurant has a good bar, and a good bar has ghosts,” reads the introduction. For Dan Tana’s, as far as ghosts go, they comprise a who’s who of Hollywood royalty. Johnny Carson once called it his favorite restaurant. Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, Marilyn Monroe and other A-list stars were known to haunt the bar.

Even with its reputation as a watering hole for Hollywood’s biggest names, Dan Tana refused to pander to celebrities. “Everybody was treated the same. He never wanted the restaurant to be full of celebrities. He wanted to make sure that there were doctors, lawyers and teachers,” Gabrielle says. “He was almost a democratic socialist in that way.”

A revealing anecdote from the early pages of the book: Tana turned away Barbara Sinatra’s offer to buy out the restaurant for a night for Frank Sinatra’s birthday at $25,000. Tana refused. It wouldn’t be fair to his regulars. Frank Sinatra never set foot in the restaurant again.

Sonja Perencevic and Dan Tana attend the restaurant’s 50th anniversary party in Los Angeles in 2014.

(Alberto E. Rodriguez / Getty Images)

In many ways, Tana was one of Hollywood’s quiet power brokers, earning influence through humility and respect rather than status. In 1972, mysterious mafia members came into the restaurant to ask Tana to procure early-screening tickets for “The Godfather.” Naturally, Tana obliged. The mafia returned to report they loved the now-classic film.

The proximity to the Troubadour also made the restaurant a hangout for up-and-coming names in rock music. “He fed so many of those musicians. He wouldn’t charge them. These were kids that had nothing,” says Gabrielle. She recounts a night when musicians from the Troubadour celebrated the end of the Vietnam War at Dan Tana’s; the event went undocumented, lost to history.

Rock stars aside, the place is a writer’s joint too. Eve Babitz — who was a close friend of 93-year-old Deanne Mencher, who still makes the cheesecakes at Dan Tana’s — was known for socializing at the restaurant. “If you got hungry, you had to walk over to Dan Tana’s. Tana’s was delicious and evil — all that garlic,” Babitz once wrote in her semi-autobiographical novel, “L.A. Woman.” Screenwriters, journalists and famed L.A. writers Joan Didion and John Gregory Dunne were also known to frequent the restaurant.

In fact, Gabrielle and Katerina attribute the restaurant’s early colossal success to a Los Angeles Times review. It was 1966, and the restaurant was struggling. Art Ryon, a columnist at The Times, happened to stop at the restaurant before a screening at the Writers Guild of America and ordered mushrooms. “The L.A. Times made the restaurant,” Katerina says. “The next day there’s a line around the block, and my father has no idea what happened.” Tana was informed that he received a rave five-star review in The Times. Success soon followed.

Chicken Parmesan from Dan Tana’s.

(Jakob Layman)

The next generation of Hollywood — including comedy stars like Adam Sandler, Ben Stiller and Chris Rock — has continued the tradition. “SNL” cast member James Austin Johnson expresses his fondness for the restaurant. He discovered the restaurant after hearing Ed Begley Jr. rhapsodize about it. “The first intrigue is finding out who Dan Tana is,” says Johnson. “It has a West Hollywood mystique, like Chateau Marmont — like when Hollywood, the place and the business were all the same.”

Johnson loves restaurants that feel preserved in time. “It’s the idea that you can build something right the first time and then preserve it, so that people can be a part of your good idea when it happens,” says Austin Johnson.

Gabrielle and Katerina credit the enduring appeal of Dan Tana’s to its persistent lack of pretentiousness. The atmosphere evokes a Sinatra-era simplicity. “I think celebrities felt safe. They weren’t photographed, and they would be left alone,” says Gabrielle. The restaurant has kept its dim pink lights, which Gabrielle notes, “made everybody look good.”

The food has also remained consistent, with large portions and comfort food. “It’s not fancy, but it’s the best chicken Parmesan,” says Gabrielle. Over the decades, Dan Tana was approached about expanding the restaurant and opening second locations. He always refused, the restaurant’s humility always mirroring the man behind it. The restaurant, which felt like an anomaly, could not be replicated. “He always said: if I knew what I did right, I would do it again,” says Katerina.

Dan Tana’s originality continues to capture the city’s attention, its legacy now preserved in a memoir and carried on by its new owners, Mihajlo and Sonja Perenčević, who were friends of Dan Tana. Within its pages, the reader becomes one of Dan Tana’s beloved ghosts. “In a town that’s always trying to be something that’s not, it’s not trying to be anything,” says Katerina. “Dan Tana’s is longevity in the midst of ephemera.”

Connors is a culture journalist in L.A. She covers books, food, entertainment and offbeat Los Angeles. She’s currently at work on a book of essays about tourism in all its forms.

They were Mexican immigrants, both named Lorenzo.

They came to this country without papers as teenagers. Lack of legal status didn’t stop them from building beautiful lives — a wife, a home, a loving dog. A blue-collar job that paid the bills, weekend carne asadas with friends and family, children who followed their father’s example of hard work.

The Lorenzos enjoyed the fruits of their labor in their adopted land, even as they battled to become American citizens while politicians demonized immigrants as invaders and worse.

Lorenzo Arellano arrived in the United States in 1968 and didn’t get his citizenship until nearly 30 years later. Back then, the path to naturalization was far easier.

Lorenzo Salgado Araujo arrived in the early 1990s, when those opportunities were becoming severely limited.

Lorenzo Arellano is my father, a happily retired truck driver living in Anaheim.

Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, 52, who ran his own construction crew, was on his way to a job with his brother and two other men when an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent shot him dead on July 7 in Houston.

When I see a photo of Salgado Araujo beaming in front of a cake with the number 52 on it at the well-kept home he built with his own hands, I’m reminded that we’ll be celebrating my father’s 75th birthday next month. When I see video of Salgado Araujo’s feet twitching on the ground with two ICE agents next to him as he bleeds out and moans for help, I weep.

Only geography, age and Donald Trump separated the Lorenzos. Even their children — he had three boys, while my father had two boys and two girls — are similar. The Salgado Araujos, like the Arellanos, are college-educated. The eldest son, Ronaldo, is a teacher like my sisters. He wears glasses like me and is now telling the story of his father to the nation, as I have for decades.

I write about my Papi as the puckish personification of immigrant America.

Ronaldo is eulogizing his dad way too soon.

“He wanted nothing else in life but to provide for his wife and see his sons become great people,” Ronaldo said proudly at a news conference the day after his father’s death — words I’ve always said about my Papi. “He did not deserve to be reduced to a headline of ‘Mexican man shot and killed by ICE’” — words I hope to never utter but can sadly see as a possibility given la migra’s unapologetic shoot-first approach and indiscriminate targeting of anyone brown.

Salgado Araujo’s killing came as part of the Trump administration’s newest deportation surge — the New York Times reported that the feds have arrested nearly 2,000 people a day since the end of June. The rate is higher than ICE’s campaign of terror last summer, yet it hasn’t drawn the same attention, fulfilling the promise of newish Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin that la migra would operate far more quietly and efficiently than under his reckless predecessor, Kristi Noem.

Those quiet times are over.

Ronaldo Salgado, son of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, dries his tears while talking at a news conference on July 8 in Houston. His father was shot and killed by ICE agents the day before.

(David J. Phillip / Associated Press)

Vigils are popping up across the country in Salgado Araujo’s name. Stories about his life and death have replaced those about Mexico’s World Cup run on my social media timelines. They are heartbreaking, infuriating and a baleful reminder for Mexican Americans that these last five weeks of soccer, as joyful as they were, didn’t change our precarious status in this country under President Trump.

“He deserved to live a quiet life as a husband, a father and a job creator for dozens of men who also wanted the American dream,” Ronaldo said at the news conference through tears as his younger brother, Lorenzo Jr., comforted him. That their father never will — that the Department of Homeland Security is now smearing his name by claiming he “weaponized” his van by trying to run over an agent, even though video evidence proves no such thing — is the latest indictment against the Trump administration’s cruelty toward the undocumented.

Salgado Araujo wasn’t even the target of ICE’s operation. His family said he had applied for a work permit and was on his way toward finally obtaining legal status.

We should heed Ronaldo’s words about his father. As people protest and seek justice, we should also hail the life of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo the way we one day will hail the life of Lorenzo Arellano — as Mexicans who made it, challenges be damned. And we should continue to fight for immigrants who remain in legal limbo, afraid for their lives more than ever.

I called my father to ask how he felt about a tocayo — someone with the same first name — losing his life to la migra.

“I put myself in his place and lament that ese [that] Lorenzo couldn’t get the citizenship that I could,” Papi said in Spanish.

He remembered how immigration agents “did it with respect” when they caught him living in this country illegally in the 1970s and 1980s.

“They asked you for your papers, and if you didn’t have them, they put handcuffs on you, you got deported and that was that. None of these beatings or shootings that are happening now under Trump,” he said. The worst it ever got was when he said he was going to Los Angeles, and an agent snapped that he was going to L.A. but now had to return to Mexico.

Papi asked me what justification ICE has offered for killing Salgado Araujo.

“I hope they put those people who killed him in prison for many years,” he said with disgust. “Will they?”

I replied that probably wasn’t going to happen. ICE has shot and killed 11 people during Trump’s second term, both citizens and noncitizens, and scores more have died in immigration detention. No agents have faced charges for any of these deaths. The agents involved in Salgado Araujo’s killing didn’t even have dashboard cameras or body cameras, a convenient oversight that a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson blamed on “multiple government shutdowns.”

“Pues, Dios sabe que todo se paga en la vida,” my dad responded. Well, God knows you reap what you sow.

Ronaldo Salgado and Lorenzo Jr., sons of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, hold a photograph of their father during a news conference July 8 in Houston.

(David J. Phillip / Associated Press)

Nothing can bring Lorenzo Salgado Araujo back to his loved ones. But I hope they find solace in his namesake, St. Lawrence. Tradition has it that Roman authorities roasted the Spanish deacon to death after Emperor Valerian demanded that he turn over the treasures of the Church. Instead, Lawrence presented the emperor with the city’s poor and maligned, insisting that he confront the oppression he had forced on them.

May we remember Lorenzo Salgado Araujo as a modern-day martyr, killed because our government refused to give him and so many others a chance at living in this country without fear.

May his name resonate through the ages as embodying the promise and tragedy of the American dream.

The Major League Baseball draft is filled with unfamiliar names. Even the most knowledgeable fans have difficulty knowing much about the mostly anonymous high school and college players taken by the 30 teams through 20 rounds.

Every year, however, a handful of names ring a bell. This year’s draft, held the last two days in Philadelphia ahead of Tuesday’s All-Star Game, was no exception.

Bonds. Thome. Pettitte. Sabathia.

The accomplishments of the fathers or uncles of those draftees loom large. Other high picks hope to eclipse the accomplishments of relatives who had brief MLB or long minor league careers: No. 1 overall pick Roch Cholowsky out of UCLA is a prime example.

And draft picks whose relatives have ties to the Dodgers or Angels draw interest: Salmon, Ebel, Gasparino, Willits and Bard qualify.

No player wants to be branded as a “nepo pick” — taken as a favor to a relative. But even those can turn out to be brilliant. The Dodgers took Mike Piazza in the 62nd round of the 1988 draft largely because his father, Vince Piazza, was a childhood friend of manager Tommy Lasorda. Piazza, of course, became a Hall of Fame catcher with the Dodgers and New York Mets.

A brisk walk through this year’s picks with intriguing bloodlines:

— Roch Cholowsky, SS, UCLA. First overall pick by the Chicago White Sox.
His father, Dan Cholowsky, was the 39th pick in 1991 by the St. Louis Cardinals and played eight minor league seasons. He’s now a scout for the Cincinnati Reds. To focus on baseball, Roch gave up a scholarship offer to play quarterback at Notre Dame. He is the Bruins’ first No. 1 pick since Gerrit Cole in 2011.

— Jacob Lombard, SS, Gulliver Prep (Fla.). No. 14 pick by the Miami Marlins
His father, George Lombard, played parts of six seasons with four MLB teams from 1998 to 2006 and is the Detroit Tigers’ bench coach. Jacob’s brother, George Lombard Jr., was the 26th pick in the 2023 draft. Jacob was one of 11 shortstops taken in the first 40 picks this year.

— Trey Ebel, SS, Corona High. No. 25 pick by the Milwaukee Brewers
Milwaukee made his brother, Brady, the No. 32 pick a year ago. Their father, Dino Ebel, has been the Dodgers’ third base coach since 2019 and spent the previous 13 years as a coach for the Angels. Strength and conditioning training with MW Athletix’s Keith Coury helped lift Trey into the first round.

Landon Thome, the 34th pick in the MLB draft, and his father, Hall of Famer Jim Thome.

(Nam Y. Huh/AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

— Landon Thome, 2B/3B, Nazareth Academy (Ill.). No. 34 pick by the White Sox.
His father, Jim Thome, ranks eighth on the career home run list with 612 and was a first-ballot Hall of Famer in 2018. Like his dad, Landon is a left-handed hitter with a sweet swing. He also has something his dad lacked: speed. Landon stole 54 bases this spring.

— Gavin Grahovac, 1B, Texas A&M. No. 81 pick by the Angels.
His cousin Garrett Mitchell was the No. 20 pick out of UCLA in 2020 and is in his fifth MLB season with the Brewers. His father, Mike Grahovac, was a fourth-round pick in 1989 but topped out in class A. Scouts project Gavin as having the potential to hit 30 homers a year.

— Peyton Bonds, OF, Rutgers. No. 90 pick by the San Francisco Giants.
His uncle, Barry Bonds, is a seven-time MVP who holds the MLB record with 762 home runs. His grandfather Bobby Bonds hit 332 homers during a 14-year career that ended in 1981. And his father, Bobby Bonds Jr., played 11 seasons in the minor leagues. Peyton is a 6-foot-5, 230-pound center fielder with speed and improving power.

— Rylan Lujo, OF, Georgia. No. 109 pick by the Angels.
His grandfather is Rennie Stennett, a versatile player whose nine seasons with the Pittsburgh Pirates were bracketed by World Series titles in his 1971 rookie season and 1979 finale. Lujo converted from the infield to center field at Georgia and has plus speed.

— Jaxon Willits, SS, Oklahoma. No. 141 pick by the Angels.
His brother Eli was the first pick in last year’s draft, going to the Washington Nationals. Their father, Reggie, played parts of six seasons with the Angels and is now a coach at Oklahoma. Jaxon, 21, is older than Eli, who was the youngest player to go No. 1 overall at 17 years 216 days. Both are switch-hitters.

— Will Gasparino, OF, UCLA and Harvard-Westlake High. No. 161 overall to the Phillies.
His father, Billy Gasparino, has been a Dodgers executive for 11 years. He is the vice president of baseball operations after being promoted in 2024 from vice president of amateur scouting. Will, a 6-6 right-handed power hitter, transferred from Texas to UCLA before the 2026 season.

— Luke Pettitte, RHP/DH, Dallas Baptist. No. 248 to the New York Yankees.
His father, Andy Pettitte, won five World Series pitching for the Yankees. While Andy remains on the Hall of Fame ballot the next two years, his son will be working through the minor leagues, perhaps as a two-way player. Luke had Tommy John surgery after two years pitching for Dallas Baptist, then batted .337 with 16 home runs as a designated hitter last spring.

— Jack Salmon, OF, Nevada Las Vegas and Corona del Mar High. No. 559 by the Angels.
His uncle Tim Salmon is an Angels legend, a key component of their 2002 World Series championship team who played his entire 14-year career in Anaheim. His father, Mike, had a short stint in the NFL with the San Francisco 49ers and played football at USC.

— Luke Bard, C, Houston Christian. No. 583 by the Dodgers.
His father, Josh Bard, spent 10 seasons in the majors with five teams and is the Dodgers’ bullpen coach. Luke batted .345 last season at Houston Christian.

— Carsten Sabathia III, 1B, Houston. No. 611 by the Brewers.
His father, CC Sabathia, was a first-ballot Hall of Famer last year who finished his 19-year career with 251 wins and 3,093 strikeouts. He spent one memorable half-season with the Brewers, going 11-2 with a 1.65 ERA to help them to the playoffs in 2008. Carsten played two years at Georgia Tech before transferring to Houston. He was the third-to-last pick in the draft.

From Gaza to India, this is how the world paid tribute to Qatar’s Father Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani.

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Don Iwerks, an Academy Award-winning special effects pioneer whose innovations transformed film and Disney theme parks, died peacefully Thursday at the age of 96, the Walt Disney Co. announced.

For Disney and his own studio, Iwerks Entertainment, Iwerks helped develop technologies and techniques like Circle-Vision, the 360-degree camera behind “America the Beautiful” and other early Disney attractions, and the 3-D effects used in attractions like Captain EO and the Star Tours ride.

“There was a ‘can-do’ attitude I learned from Walt and my father,” Iwerks said, according to a statement shared by the Disney Co. “Walt gave everyone a feeling that they were creating things that others had never thought of before, of being a part of history.”

Born July 24, 1929, Iwerks received his first camera at age 14 as a gift from his father, animator Ub Iwerks.

The elder Iwerks met fellow artist Walt Disney when both men were teenagers working at a Kansas City, Mo., art studio. They would go on to work together at the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio, where Iwerks designed and animated “Plane Crazy,” the first Mickey Mouse cartoon.

After a stint at his own animation studio, Ub returned to Disney as a special effects engineer, pioneering techniques like the 360-degree motion-picture camera.

“He was absolutely my inspiration because he was technically minded. He made my childhood and formative years one of the greatest times of my life,” Don Iwerks told The Times in 1998.

The Iwerks family moved to the San Fernando Valley in 1936, where Don graduated from Van Nuys High School in 1947.

He served as a photographer in Germany during the Korean War and joined his father at Disney following his 1952 discharge from the U.S. Army. An allergic reaction to chemicals used to develop film led to his transfer to the company’s Studio Machine Shop, where he spent the next 34 years.

Don spent three months in the Bahamas manning underwater cameras for the 1954 Disney film “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.” He then worked as the camera technician on “A Tour of the West,” an original Tomorrowland attraction at the soon-to-be opened Disneyland. The immersive 360-degree film was shot on the Circarama camera system his father invented.

Together, Don and Ub developed technologies like the “endless loop” system that enabled a single film print to run for up to 10,000 performances with minimal intervention and refinements to the photography processes used in “Mary Poppins” (his favorite of the Disney films) and other movies.

His own hands were used as the model for those of the Abraham Lincoln Audio-Animatronics figure in “Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln,” which opened at Disneyland in 1965. The “Iwerks Hands” now appear on similar figures at Disney parks around the world, according to his family.

In 1986, he co-founded Iwerks Entertainment, which soon became a major player in the film and theme park industries. The company specialized in large-format films and created the 3-D projection system used in the Terminator rides at Universal Studios parks in Hollywood and Florida.

His innovations were honored with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ honorary Gordon E. Sawyer Award and an Academy Scientific and Technical Award, among other prizes.

“It’s very obvious that computers are playing a big role in motion pictures today. The digital technology in film is able to put elements of scenes together on a film and have them look lifelike. It’s hard to know where that will go,” Iwerks said in a 1998 interview.

“My view is that technology should support a good story and add to it. Technology for technology’s sake?” he said with a shrug. “You still need good films.”

Iwerks is survived by his wife of 54 years, Betty; his sons, Larry and John; John’s wife, Chris; his daughter Leslie, and great-nephew,Mike, both of whom have also worked for Disney, according to an obituary shared by his family. His daughter Tamara preceded him in death.

“Like his father, he was a humble genius, a consummate problem solver, and delighted in sharing knowledge, encouraging others, and approaching every challenge with confidence and grace,” his family said in the statement from Conejo Mountain Funeral Home in Ventura.

Both Don and Ub Iwerks are commemorated in a storefront window on Main Street U.S.A. in Disney World’s Magic Kingdom. Located above the Main Street Bakery, the window is a lasting tribute to a family who made some of the park’s magic possible.

“Iwerks-Iwerks Stereoscopic Cameras,” the lettering reads. “No Two Exactly Alike.”

Funeral prayers have been held for the Father Emir, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, at Qatar’s national mosque, attended by dignitaries, members of the ruling family and citizens, ahead of his burial at Lusail Cemetery.

Thousands gathered in Doha to bid farewell to Qatar’s Father Emir, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, whose 18 years as emir reshaped Qatar into a global diplomatic, economic and media power. Al Jazeera’s Mohammad Saleh reports.

Qatar’s Father Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani has died at the age of 74. During his 18 years in power, he transformed Qatar into a global energy, diplomatic and media powerhouse, overseeing the expansion of its LNG industry, the founding of Al Jazeera, and the country’s rise on the world stage.
He stepped down voluntarily in 2013, handing power to his son, Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani. Mohammed Jamjoom looks back at his life and legacy.

The builder got up every morning long before dawn, left home to pick up his construction crew and then headed out to work on yet another house somewhere across the sprawl of Houston.

Fourteen hours later, Lorenzo Salgado Araujo would return to the wife he’d met as a teenager in Mexico and the modest house he’d built for his family on the city’s east side.

It’s what he’d done for decades, according to Ronaldo Salgado, his oldest son. He said his father built hundreds of houses over 35 years, creating a life for his family and watching as his three sons headed off to college.

On Tuesday, a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer fatally shot Salgado Araujo, 52, after he was pursued by federal agents driving unmarked vehicles while he was taking his crew to their latest job site. The shooting has outraged Houston leaders and renewed public scrutiny over ICE and Trump’s immigration crackdown.

Four Democratic members of Congress who represent the Houston area said at a vigil Saturday that they would push for an independent investigation into the shooting.

“We are never going to forget that his blood is on Donald Trump’s hands,” Rep. Christian Menefee said. “We are not at war. Lorenzo Salgado Araujo was not a casualty. He was a human being who was murdered by our government.”

ICE was looking for someone else

Federal agents were looking for someone else when they tried to stop Salgado Araujo’s white van, Garcia said, citing a briefing she received from ICE’s acting director. The Department of Homeland Security has said an ICE officer fired at the van in self-defense after Salgado Araujo, whom officials described as an “illegal alien,” rammed an ICE vehicle. They have provided no evidence.

After some previous shootings by federal immigration agents, Homeland Security authorities have given accounts that were contradicted by video evidence. No video showing the moment of the shooting this time has emerged, and the agents at the scene were not wearing body cameras.

The three men that Salgado Araujo was driving said he was shot through a passenger window and that the ICE officer who fired was not in front of the van or even in danger, a lawyer who has spoken with them said Friday.

His family has also disputed the account from ICE. They said lawyers, who were helping him apply for a work permit, had explained how he should behave if immigration agents stopped him. Salgado Araujo was close to obtaining legal status when he was killed, they said.

“He knew what to do,” Ronaldo Salgado told reporters this week. “He knew not to sign anything. He knew that the first phone call he should make should be either to myself or to my mom. So that way we can get the process started of getting him out.”

He believes his father may have been scared that he was being followed by unmarked vehicles, worried someone was planning to steal his van or his tools.

The shooting in the largely Latino neighborhood is at least the eighth death connected to the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement campaign.

A kind, present husband and father

Salgado Araujo entered the U.S. more than 30 years ago, settling in Houston with his wife where they raised their three children.

Education was a constant focus in the house, said Ronaldo Salgado, who is now a teacher. One of his brothers is an engineer. The other is in college studying engineering.

Several childhood friends of Salgado recalled that his father was kind and soft-spoken, always inquiring after a long workday about his wife’s day and how his sons’ friends were doing.

“We didn’t really see him until the end of the day when he came home to have dinner, but that just shows how much of a hard worker he was,” said neighbor Jessica Alanis Magdaleno. “Everything they have now is thanks to the dedication to that.”

Josué Flores, a friend of Ronaldo Salgado since their freshman year of high school, said he first saw Lorenzo Salgado Araujo at his son’s football game.

“I think it speaks volumes of the kind of person that he was,” Flores said, recalling how Salgado Araujo showed up for his son even after an arduous day of work.

Salgado Araujo’s wife, a relative said, is “inconsolable.”

“She is very upset … angry, sad, disoriented,” Jose Torres Ramon, a nephew who lives in Mexico, told the Associated Press in a Facebook message.

Ronald Salgado, his oldest son, said at the Saturday vigil that he hoped he was making his father proud.

“I’ll keep fighting for him,” he said.

His brother Lorenzo Salgado Jr. said the shooting of his father was “a hard moment to be an American.”

“Even though my government, my federal government took away my father, we the people will bring justice,” he said. “We the people are America.”

After coming home in the evening, Salgado Araujo liked to listen to music on the porch and pet the family dog. His family has described him as a simple man of routine.

“He did not deserve to die,” Ronaldo Salgado said. “He dedicated his life in the United States to giving his family the American dream.”

Sullivan writes for the Associated Press. AP reporters Jack Brook in New Orleans, Valerie Gonzalez in McAllen, Texas, and Scott Bauer in Madison, Wis., contributed to this report.