focusing

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Washington will encourage Doha to continue to play a constructive role in Gaza during a press conference with Israel’s PM in Jerusalem on Monday. The comments come after last week’s Israeli attack on Qatar’s capital which targeted Hamas leaders.

UK’s Starmer says plan in place in event of ceasefire in Ukraine once Russia’s Putin agrees to ‘unconditional’ truce.

The United Kingdom and Germany have signed their first bilateral treaty since World War II, pledging to deepen cooperation on defence at a time of growing threats to Europe.

The Kensington Treaty, signed by UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Thursday, includes clauses on “mutual assistance” in case of attack and on “joint export campaigns” to drum up external orders for military hardware such as fighter jets that the countries produce together.

Speaking after the signing ceremony at London’s Victoria and Albert Museum, Merz was cited by the BBC as saying that defence is the thread running through the treaty, showing that Germany and the UK are “really on the way to a new chapter” following the UK’s withdrawal from the European Union in 2020.

“We see the scale of the challenges our continent faces today, and we intend to meet them head on,” Starmer said at the press conference.

It was unclear what practical impact the promise in the treaty to “assist one another, including by military means, in case of an armed attack on the other” would have, since both countries are NATO members and bound by the alliance’s mutual defence pact.

Merz’s visit to London followed a three-day state visit by French President Emmanuel Macron, during which France and the UK pledged to coordinate their nuclear deterrents, signalling tighter cooperation between Europe’s top three powers as doubts persist over US support for the continent amid Russia’s ongoing offensive in Ukraine.

While Germany does not have nuclear weapons, the treaty says the countries will “maintain a close dialogue on defence issues of mutual interest … including on nuclear issues”.

Merz and Starmer also discussed ways of boosting European support for Ukraine, following United States President Donald Trump’s announcement of a plan to bolster Kyiv’s stockpile by selling US weapons to NATO allies who would, in turn, send arms to Kyiv.

Starmer said that a plan was in place in the event of a ceasefire in Ukraine, saying the first step was to get Russian President Vladimir Putin “to the table for an unconditional ceasefire”, according to the BBC.

The so-called “coalition of the willing“, a group of countries led by France and the UK and including Germany, has been discussing the potential deployment of peacekeeping forces to Ukraine to police any future peace agreement with Russia.

The return to power of Trump, who has long been sceptical of US intervention on behalf of historic allies, has made Western European powers more focused on how to defend their own continent, particularly in light of Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine, and the belief that the US may no longer be the transatlantic partner it once was.

Beyond defence, the treaty also includes an agreement to jointly combat irregular migration, part of Starmer’s push to reduce the number of asylum seekers arriving in the UK to try to counter the rise of the hard-right Reform UK party.

Starmer said the treaty showed the two countries “mean business” when it comes to disrupting the arrival of refugees and migrants, and thanked Merz for a new law giving security forces powers to investigate storage facilities used by smugglers to conceal small boats making the crossings over the English Channel.

During Macron’s visit last week, the UK and France agreed on a “one in, one out” pilot scheme that would see the UK deporting people arriving on small boats to France in exchange for asylum seekers with a strong case, who have family connections to the country.

No one in the Chargers’ locker room felt as bad as Justin Herbert. At least that’s what the quarterback said after a career-high four interceptions in January cost the Chargers an opportunity for their first playoff win since 2018.

But the disappointment that rendered Herbert motionless on the sideline in Houston had faded in his memory, he said. Offseasons tend to have that rejuvenating effect.

“If I spend any more time worrying or focusing on a loss like that, I would be doing a disservice to my teammates,” Herbert said Wednesday on the second day of Chargers minicamp. “Obviously it didn’t go the way we wanted it to, like I said at the end of the year, but you gotta move on.”

Despite the crushing wild-card loss that prolonged the Chargers’ seven-year playoff win drought, Herbert maintained that his offseason has been business as usual.

Meeting with local reporters for the first time in five months, Herbert recited the typical offseason lines with a stone-faced expression. His new teammates are picking up the offense quickly. He wants to continue mastering the scheme in his second season under the coaching staff.

Herbert instead makes stronger statements on the practice field and in the weight room, where his determined nature has earned him a spot in coach Jim Harbaugh’s “Elite Nine” club of the team’s hardest workers.

“I know it motivates me every day to get up out of bed, like I gotta rise up to his level,” Harbaugh said. “He’s doing anything and everything he can possibly do. Now it’s up to the rest of us.”

During the offseason, the Chargers focused on adding weapons around Herbert to elevate a sputtering offense that ranked 20th in the NFL in yards per game.

Even without pads, the athleticism and instincts of running back Najee Harris and rookie Omarion Hampton have impressed Herbert. Rookie tight end Oronde Gadsden is showing his receiving capabilities as Syracuse’s all-time leader for receptions and receiving yards by a tight end when he had the most catches of any player during team drills Wednesday. Gadsden, a converted wide receiver, will team with free-agent acquisition Tyler Conklin, who has had at least 50 catches in each of the last four seasons, to boost the tight end position.

The biggest offseason move was the addition of a familiar name. Mike Williams, after one year away from the franchise that drafted him in 2017, returned on a one-year contract to reunite with Herbert. The 6-foot-4 receiver, who has been working primarily with trainers during minicamp practices, “changes the way you play football when he’s on your team,” Herbert said.

“50-50 balls are not quite 50-50 as we’ve seen with Mike,” the quarterback added.

The receivers could use the boost. Ladd McConkey was the group’s only consistent force last year. The former second-round pick dominated against Houston with an NFL rookie playoff-record 197 yards receiving, nine catches and one touchdown. The rest of his teammates combined for five receptions and 45 yards. Still without a playoff win in two appearances entering his sixth NFL season, Herbert completed a career-low 43.7% of his passes and was sacked four times.

Chargers rookie running back Omarion Hampton warms up with teammates during a workout last week.

(Carlin Stiehl / Los Angeles Times)

Getting Williams and rookie receivers Tre’ Harris and KeAndre Lambert-Smith, who were selected in the second and fifth rounds, respectively, on the field could open up a more aggressive deep passing game, offensive coordinator Greg Roman said.

The stacked room also could put more pressure on Quentin Johnston to live up to the billing of a former first-round pick. The receiver entering his third year is “owning the system now,” said Roman, who predicted another major step for Johnston this season.

The former Texas Christian star shook off a disappointing rookie season with 711 yards receiving and eight touchdowns on 55 catches last year. He torched the Las Vegas Raiders in a playoff seed-clinching Week 18 win for 13 receptions and 186 yards receiving. Even Johnston estimated that it was the best game he’d ever had at any level of football.

Yet he followed with a major disappointment in the biggest moment with no catches on five targets in the wild-card loss. Johnston went without a catch in two games last season, both coming in marquee matchups. He was also shut out against the Baltimore Ravens in a “Monday Night Football” showcase in which he also dropped a crucial third-down pass. To pile on, fellow receiver Zay Flowers, who the Ravens picked one spot behind Johnston in the 2022 draft, led Baltimore with 62 yards receiving on five catches.

Learning a second offense in as many years in the NFL, Johnston had to play “a game of catchup last season,” Roman said. But with consistent practices in organized team activities and minicamp, the coach said Johnston is “starting to come out of the other end of the tunnel.”

“Justin, he’s throwing to him a lot,” Roman said, “and Q’s answering the call.”

It doesn’t seem that long ago that Christen Press was helping the national team to consecutive World Cup titles. She was unstoppable then, a key cog in the greatest women’s soccer team in history.

Yet she played her 155th and final match for the U.S. in the Tokyo Olympics.

It doesn’t seem that long ago that Press, just 18 days removed from those Olympics, became the first player signed by expansion club Angel City. She was bringing the NWSL to her hometown and was being rewarded with what was then the richest contract in league history.

Yet she’s started just 10 games since then, losing most of the last three seasons to a stubborn anterior cruciate ligament injury that took four surgeries to repair.

Press eventually will be inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame, but she isn’t ready for that trip just yet. If her body isn’t always willing, her mind and her heart are still keen on the sport, so Press makes her most valuable contributions now in the quiet of the locker room.

At 36, she has completed the transition from wunderkind to elder stateswoman. And on a Angel City team with 13 players under the age of 25, her presence is being felt.

“It’s a different role. I wasn’t that type of person,” said Press, who admits she has grown into the job.

“When I was 20 I didn’t have a relationship with a senior player like they have with me. I’m enjoying the presence that I have with these young players.”

Press has paid special attention to Alyssa Thompson, the 20-year-old Angel City player whose early career may be most reminiscent of her own, taking the locker next to Thompson in the team’s spacious dressing room.

Both are Southern California natives who played soccer and ran track in high school, led their teams to CIF titles and won national player of the year awards. Both committed to play for Stanford — Press went, Thompson didn’t.

Angel City forward Alyssa Thompson controls the ball during a match against Seattle in October.

(Lindsey Wasson / Associated Press)

But Thompson’s career is just starting while Press is winding hers down. So the most valuable thing she can offer now is advice.

“The thing that I’m good at is scoring goals. It is an art and I love it,” Press said. “I’m now kind of showing Alyssa how I trained to become a goal scorer. How you can think about goal-scoring in a very nuanced and methodical way.

“I’m learning as I teach her. I’m seeing the ways that she approaches it differently. It’s just kind of a spirit of collaboration I see as a win-win for everybody.”

Thompson agrees, saying she appreciates the chance to learn from a master.

“She’s definitely my mentor,” Thompson said. “She’s entering a new era of her career and she still wants to continue to play and stuff like that. But when she’s not playing, she’s able to [offer] her guidance and support.”

Goalkeeper Angelina Anderson, the team’s vice captain and, at 24, a key member of Angel City’s youth movement, isn’t sure Press fully appreciates the impact she’s having. The extra work Press puts in with Thompson, for example, has also made Anderson better.

“After training she’ll pull me aside and say ‘Hey, Ang, can you stay? I’m going to play a few balls through for Alyssa.’ That alone, dealing with such an elite finisher, is making me better obviously,” said Anderson, who was recently called up to the national team for the first time.

“She’s probably had to change a lot; just her mindset and mentality going through her injury and being older. I think she’s embraced her role and she seems like she’s in a really healthy spot.”

Listen to Press for a moment and the depth of her wisdom, experience and intelligence is obvious. But that doesn’t exactly make her rare in the Angel City locker room. Ali Riley, Press’ former Stanford teammate, and Scottish international Claire Emslie also have played on multiple continents and in multiple international championships and have become mentors to the team’s younger players.

“I enjoy that,” Emslie said. “I definitely find myself saying things to the younger players that I remember getting told and I think it’s important to pass on that information and have those relationships.

“I want to help them as much as I can because they’re going to go on and have even better and more successful careers. If I can help them along the way, it’s rewarding.”

That approach seems to be working. Angel City (4-4-2) is in playoff position through 10 games despite starting six players younger than 25.

“It’s important to have experienced players like Christen around. Especially when you’ve got so many players that are so young and exciting and dynamic,” interim manager Sam Laity said.

How long Press continues to do that in person is uncertain. The one-year contract extension she signed in January ends when the season does and she has a budding business empire to manage, one that includes a wildly entertaining podcast and a social entrepreneurship company founded with former USWNT teammates Megan Rapinoe, Meghan Klingenberg and Tobin Heath.

But if her playing days are indeed numbered, she’s enjoying those she has left. And that may be the most important lesson Professor Press passes on to her young students.

“There’s only one thing I haven’t done in soccer and that’s enjoy it,” she said. “All of my peers retired and I’m still here. I’m still given this gift of being able to appreciate it, play with gratitude, be a role model. And when I think about Angel City and my legacy, I think about ‘wow, what an opportunity to show the next generation that this can — and should be — fun and rewarding and it’s a gift that we get to chase greatness.

“The truth is the other things that I’m doing, from a career standpoint, are more lucrative than playing for Angel City this season. [But] there’s no better job in the world. We get so wrapped up in winning and greatness and titles and trophies that sometimes we don’t just get to be there. Like, I run around for my job. And I’m grateful that I have the opportunity to do so.”

⚽ You have read the latest installment of On Soccer with Kevin Baxter. The weekly column takes you behind the scenes and shines a spotlight on unique stories. Listen to Baxter on this week’s episode of the “Corner of the Galaxy” podcast.