giants

New York Giants rookie running back Cam Skattebo had a long day Sunday, having suffered what appears to be a season-ending ankle injury and reportedly undergoing surgery that night.

Nonetheless, the player who has become one of the breakout stars of the 2025 appeared to be up early Monday.

Skattebo took to his Instagram Story to post a video showing clips of Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart, receiver Darius Slayton, defensive lineman Dexter Lawrence, defensive end Kayvon Thibodeaux and offensive lineman Jermaine Eluemunor all expressing concern for their injured teammate following New York’s 38-20 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles.

“My guys love tall boys,” Skattebo wrote in the caption, making an apparent reference to his relatively small (by NFL standards) 5-foot-11 stature.

Skattebo was injured midway through the second quarter after attempting to catch a pass over the middle. His right foot appeared to get caught under another player and was bent in an unnatural direction. Players from both teams huddled around Skattebo in concern as he was treated by medical staff.

Even the notoriously harsh Philadelphia fans gave their NFC East rival’s rising star a standing ovation as he was carted off the field with an air cast on his leg. Skattebo responded by waving in appreciation.

“I feel absolutely terrible for the young man,” Giants coach Brian Daboll said. “Looked bad. You feel for anybody that goes down and has a really bad injury. I know the players feel the same way about Skatt.”

Dart added: “That’s my boy, man. That sucks. It’s just the worst part of the game.”

The Giants said Sunday that Skattebo had suffered a dislocated ankle and would undergo surgery that night. ESPN reported Monday morning that the fourth-round draft pick out of Arizona State remained in the hospital after the previous night’s surgery and was “doing well given the circumstances of what was described as an emergency situation.”

Skattebo leads Giants this season with 410 rushing yards in 101 carries with five touchdowns. He also has 24 receptions for 207 yards with two touchdowns, including one on an 18-yard pass from Dart in the first quarter of Sunday’s game.

Skattebo’s injury leaves New York with second-year player Tyrone Tracy Jr. and seven-year veteran Devin Singletary at running back. On Sunday, Tracy had 10 carries for 39 yards and two receptions for 14 yards while Singletary rushed twice for no yards but had a 28-yard reception.

For the season, Tracy has 45 carries for 159 yards with one touchdown and 10 catches for 68 yards; Singletary has 28 carries for 84 yards and three receptions for 28 yards.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Washington has announced new sanctions against Russia’s two largest oil companies, Rosneft and Lukoil, in an effort to pressure Moscow to agree to a peace deal in Ukraine. This marks the first time the current Trump administration has imposed direct sanctions on Russia.

Speaking alongside Nato Secretary-General Mark Rutte in the Oval Office on Wednesday, US President Donald Trump said he hoped the sanctions would not need to be in place for long, but expressed growing frustration with stalled truce negotiations.

“Every time I speak to Vladimir [Putin], I have good conversations and then they don’t go anywhere. They just don’t go anywhere,” Trump said, shortly after a planned in-person meeting with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, in Budapest was cancelled.

Trump’s move is designed to cut off vital oil revenues, which help fund Russia’s ongoing war efforts. Earlier on Wednesday, Russia unleashed a new bombardment on Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, killing at least seven people, including children.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the new sanctions were necessary because of “Putin’s refusal to end this senseless war”. He said that Rosneft and Lukoil fund the Kremlin’s “war machine”.

How have Rosneft and Lukoil been sanctioned?

The new measures will freeze assets owned by Rosneft and Lukoil in the US, and bar US entities from engaging in business with them. Thirty subsidiaries owned by Rosneft and Lukoil have also been sanctioned.

Rosneft, which is controlled by the Kremlin, is Russia’s second-largest company in terms of revenue, behind natural gas giant Gazprom. Lukoil is Russia’s third-largest company and its biggest non-state enterprise.

Between them, the two groups export 3.1 million barrels of oil per day, or 70 percent of Russia’s overseas crude oil sales. Rosneft alone is responsible for nearly half of Russia’s oil production, which in all makes up 6 percent of global output.

In recent years, both companies have been hit by rolling European sanctions and reduced oil prices. In September, Rosneft reported a 68 percent year-on-year drop in net income for the first half of 2025. Lukoil posted an almost 27 percent fall in profits for 2024.

Meanwhile, last week, the United Kingdom unveiled sanctions on the two oil majors. Elsewhere, the European Union looks set to announce its 19th package of penalties on Moscow later today, including a ban on imports of Russian liquefied natural gas.

How much impact will these sanctions have?

In 2022, Russian oil groups (including Rosneft and Lukoil) were able to offset some of the effects of sanctions by pivoting exports from Europe to Asia, and also using a “shadow fleet” of hard-to-detect tankers with no ties to Western financial or insurance groups.

China and India quickly replaced the EU as Russia’s biggest oil consumers. Last year, China imported a record 109 million tonnes of Russian crude, representing almost 20 percent of its total energy imports. India imported 88 million tonnes of Russian oil in 2024.

In both cases, these are orders of magnitude higher than before 2022, when Western countries started to tighten their sanctions regime on Russia. At the end of 2021, China imported roughly 79.6 million tonnes of Russian crude. India imported just 0.42 million tonnes.

Trump has repeatedly urged Beijing and New Delhi to halt Russian energy purchases. In August, he levied an additional 25 percent trade tariff on India because of its continued purchase of discounted Russian oil. He has so far demurred from a similar move against China.

However, Trump’s new sanctions are likely to place pressure on foreign financial groups which do business with Rosneft and Lukoil, including the banking intermediaries which facilitate sales of Russian oil in China and India.

“Engaging in certain transactions involving the persons designated today may risk the imposition of secondary sanctions on participating foreign financial institutions,” the US Treasury Department’s press release on Wednesday’s sanctions says.

As a result, the new restrictions may force buyers to shift to alternative suppliers or pay higher prices. Though India and China may not be the direct targets of these latest restrictions, their oil supply chains and trading costs are likely to come under increased pressure.

“The big thing here is the secondary sanctions,” Felipe Pohlmann Gonzaga, a Switzerland-based commodity trader, told Al Jazeera. “Any bank that facilitates Russian oil sales and with exposure to the US financial system could be subject.”

However, he added, “I don’t think this will be the driver in ending the war, as Russia will continue selling oil. There are always people out there willing to take the risk to beat sanctions.

“These latest restrictions will make Chinese and Indian players more reluctant to buy Russian oil – many won’t want to lose access to the American financial system. [But] it won’t stop it completely.”

According to Bloomberg, several senior refinery executives in India – who asked not to be named due to the sensitivity of the issue – said the restrictions would make it impossible for oil purchases to continue.

On Wednesday, Trump said that he would raise concerns about China’s continued purchases of Russian oil during his talk with President Xi Jinping at the 2025 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in South Korea next week.

Have oil prices been affected?

Oil prices rallied after Trump announced US sanctions. Brent – the international crude oil benchmark – rose nearly 4 percent to $65 a barrel on Thursday. The US Benchmark, West Texas Intermediate, jumped more than 5 percent to nearly $60 per barrel.

Pohlmann Gonzaga, however, predicted that the “market will correct from this 5 percent over-jump. You have to recall that sentiment in energy markets is still negative due to the gloomy [global] economic backdrop.”

Would the Dodgers have paid $4 million for Shohei Ohtani’s production on Friday night?

“Maybe I would have,” team owner Mark Walter said with a laugh.

Four million dollars is how much Ohtani has received from the Dodgers.

Not for the game. Not for the week. Not for the year.

For this year and last year.

Ohtani could be the greatest player in baseball history. Is he also the greatest free-agent acquisition of all-time?

“You bet,” Walter said.

Even before Ohtani blasted three homers and struck out 10 batters over six scoreless innings in a historic performance to secure his team’s place in the World Series, the Dodgers were a target of complaints over the perception they were buying championships. Their payroll this season is more than $416 million, according to Spotrac.

During the on-field celebration that followed the 5-1 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers in Game 4 of the National League Championship Series, manager Dave Roberts told the Dodger Stadium crowd, “I’ll tell you, before this season started, they said the Dodgers are ruining baseball. Let’s get four more wins and really ruin baseball!”

What detractors ignore is how the Dodgers aren’t the only team that spent big dollars this year to chase a title. As Ohtani’s contract demonstrates, it’s how they spend that separates them from the sport’s other wealthy franchises.

The New York Mets spent more than $340 million, the New York Yankees $319 million and the Philadelphia Phillies $308 million. None of them are still playing.

The Dodgers are still playing, and one of the reasons is because of how opportunistic they are.

When the Boston Red Sox were looking for a place to dump Mookie Betts before he became a free agent, the Dodgers traded for him and signed him to an extension. When the Atlanta Braves refused to extend a six-year offer to Freddie Freeman, the Dodgers stepped in and did.

Something else that helps: Players want to play for them.

Consider the case of the San Francisco Giants, who can’t talk star players into taking their money.

The Giants pursued Bryce Harper, who turned them down. They pursued Aaron Judge, who turned them down. They pursued Ohtani, who turned them down. They pursued Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who turned them down.

Notice a pattern?

Unable to recruit an impact hitter in free agency, the Giants turned their attention to the trade market and acquired a distressed asset in malcontent Rafael Devers. They still missed the postseason.

The Dodgers don’t have any such problems attracting talent. Classified as an international amateur because he was under the age of 25, Roki Sasaki was eligible to sign only a minor-league contract this winter. While the signing bonuses that could be offered varied from team to team, the differences were relatively small. Sasaki was urged by his agent to minimize financial considerations when picking a team.

Sasaki chose the Dodgers.

Players such as Blake Snell, Will Smith and Max Muncy signed what could be below-market deals to come to or stay with the Dodgers.

There is also the Ohtani factor.

Ohtani didn’t want the team that signed him to be financially hamstrung, which is why he insisted that it defer the majority of his 10-year, $700-million contract. The Dodgers are paying Ohtani just $2 million annually, with the remainder owed after he retires.

Without Ohtani agreeing to delayed payments, who knows if the Dodgers would have signed the other pitchers who comprise their dominant rotation, Yamamoto, Snell and Tyler Glasnow.

None of this is to say the Dodgers haven’t made any mistakes, the $102 million they committed to Trevor Bauer a decision they would certainly like to take back.

But the point is they spend.

“We put money into the team, as you know,” Walter said. “We’re trying to win.”

Nothing is stopping any other team from making the financial commitments necessary to compete with the Dodgers. Franchises don’t have to make annual profits to be lucrative, as their values have skyrocketed. Teams that were purchased for hundreds of millions of dollars are now worth billions.

Example: Arte Moreno bought the Angels in 2003 for $183.5 million. Forbes values them today at $2.75 billion. If or when Moreno sells the team, he will receive a huge return on his investment.

The calls for a salary cap are nothing more than justifications by cheap owners for their refusal to invest in the civic institutions under their control.

The Dodgers aren’t ruining baseball. They might not do everything right, but as far as their spending is concerned, they’re doing right by their fans.

Welcome to the show! Ferrari (RACE -3.08%) gave investors a sneak peek at its upcoming first full-electric model last week, with an unveiling laser light show that might rival Las Vegas’ Sphere. Despite the light show and base-thumping heavy music, the unveiling failed to electrify investors as the stock promptly plunged nearly 16% on Thursday — its largest one-day drop since its IPO in 2015.

But not everything is as it seems. Let’s cover the details and ramifications of its upcoming full-electric EV supercar, as well as what really sent the stock tumbling.

Image source: Ferarri.

Rock and a hard place

Ferrari finds itself in an interesting and challenging position, currently. On one hand, Ferrari due to its intangible assets, brand moat, pricing power, and loyal consumer base, could likely churn out a full-electric supercar that maintains its impressive ultra-luxury-like margins — unlike traditional automakers that are losing money on electric vehicles (EVs) hand over fist.

On the other hand, Ferrari’s competitors are pushing back their own full-electric supercars due to lack of demand. While Ferrari is preparing to unleash its Elettrica onto a road filled with uncertainty, its competitors are pulling back. Ferrari rival Lamborghini said it would delay the launch of its first full-electric model to 2029, instead of 2028, while Porsche cut back its plans for battery-electric vehicles (BEVs) due to soft sales of its full-electric Macan and Taycan. Stellantis subsidiary Maserati canceled plans for its BEV version of its MC20 sports car.

Ferrari zigging while its competitors zag is a significant bet on the near-term future of not only EVs, but the direction of its supercar lineup. Ferrari plans to invest a significant 4.7 billion euros between 2026 and 2030 for electrification and the supercar maker expects BEVs to account for one-fifth of its sales by the end of this decade. Unbeknownst to many investors is that Ferrari is already somewhat electrified as roughly half of its vehicle shipments are hybrids.

“Luxury EVs are still a young and immature category,” says Brian Lum, an investment manager at Baillie Gifford, according to Barron’s. “It’s important to build that next generation of Ferraristi, and electrification should help them to do that.”

It’s also worth noting that while Ferrari’s brand has seemingly had impenetrable armor over the past decades, part of that is driven by the company continually innovating and producing state-of-the-art combustion engine supercars. If Ferrari’s first full EV doesn’t live up to performance heritage, or its niche consumers don’t buy into the idea of EVs, and it flops commercially, it could be the first chink in that brand armor perhaps ever.

What’s the problem?

The driving force behind Ferrari’s rare share price plunge wasn’t vehicle centric. In fact, so far the Elettrica is very Ferrari-like, and we’ll get more details and design clues over time. With 1,000 horsepower, it offers power output that rivals its combustion engine supercars, and the same goes for its top speed of more than 192 miles per hour. After a single charge, its range checks the necessary box of over 300 miles by an extra 29 miles, helping reduce consumer range anxiety.

The problem was that Ferrari also unveiled its financial projections for the rest of this decade, and they checked in lower than analysts expected. While Ferrari slightly raised its out look for 2025, now expecting a profit of 8.80 euros per share on revenue of 7.1 billion euros, its long-term guidance of 2030 adjusted earnings of 11.50 euros per share on revenue of 9 billion euros fell short of the 9.9 billion euros in revenue analysts expected, per FactSet.

While Ferrari’s full-EV (partial) unveiling was entirely overshadowed by slight long-term weakness, investors would be very wise to follow how the Elettrica’s launch goes in late 2026 — because a lot of the future hinges on its EV lineup striking a similar chord with its core enthusiasts as its combustion engine supercars have.

Ferrari remains an absolute top stock pick by nearly any measure, with margins the automotive industry dreams of, competitive advantages that aren’t easily replicable, and a brand image that stands in an arena by itself. Its near 16% drop was just a brief and small buying opportunity, and investors should be optimistic about its future despite analysts being slightly disappointed.

The largest US city is among more than 2,000 other municipalities pursuing similar lawsuits.

New York City has filed a lawsuit accusing Facebook, Google, Snapchat, TikTok and other online platforms of fuelling a mental health crisis among children by addicting them to social media.

The 327-page complaint filed on Wednesday in federal court in Manhattan seeks damages from Facebook and Instagram owner Meta Platforms, Google and YouTube owner Alphabet, Snapchat owner Snap and TikTok owner ByteDance. It accused the defendants of gross negligence and causing a public nuisance.

The city joined other governments, school districts and individuals pursuing about 2,050 similar lawsuits in nationwide litigation in the Oakland, California, federal court.

New York City is among the largest plaintiffs with a population of 8.48 million, including about 1.8 million under age 18. Its school and healthcare systems are also plaintiffs.

Google spokesperson Jose Castaneda said allegations concerning YouTube are “simply not true”, in part because it is a streaming service and not a social network where people catch up with friends.

The other defendants did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

A spokesperson for New York City’s law department said the city withdrew from litigation announced by Mayor Eric Adams in February 2024 and pending in California state courts so it could join the federal litigation.

According to Wednesday’s complaint, the defendants designed their platforms to “exploit the psychology and neurophysiology of youth” and drive compulsive use in pursuit of profit.

The complaint said 77.3 percent of New York City high school students admitted to spending three or more hours a day on “screen time” including TV, computers and smartphones, contributing to lost sleep and chronic school absences.

New York City’s health commissioner declared social media a public health hazard in January 2024, and the city, including its schools, has had to spend more taxpayer dollars to address the resulting youth mental health crisis, the complaint said.

The city also blamed social media for an increase in “subway surfing”, or riding atop or off the sides of moving trains. At least 16 subway surfers have died since 2023, including two girls aged 12 and 13 this month, police data show.

“Defendants should be held to account for the harms their conduct has inflicted,” the city said. “As it stands now, [the] plaintiffs are left to abate the nuisance and foot the bill.”

Google said it plans to lay off dozens of workers at its Sunnyvale offices, following job reductions at other large tech firms.

Google notified the California Employment Development Department on Monday that it will lay off 50 workers in Sunnyvale, according to a notice obtained by The Times.

Tech companies are cutting jobs in preparation for a possible recession, as well as anticipating efficiencies gained from artificial intelligence, said Rob Enderle, principal analyst at Oregon-based advisory services firm Enderle Group.

“We’re preparing for a bit of a downturn and companies often like to cut ahead of bad news like that so they can keep their financials solid,” he said.

In August, Salesforce said it cut 4,000 support roles due to AI helping automate tasks. Other tech businesses, including Intel, Microsoft and Meta have also reduced staff while investing more in AI this year.

CNBC reported on Wednesday that Google laid off more than 100 people in design-related roles in its cloud division.

In Google’s notice that it filed with the state, the jobs affected by the cuts included roles in user experience, software engineers and business program managers. The layoffs in the cloud division were first reported by Business Insider.

“AI is pretty good at coding right now and anything to do with design … as long as someone can describe what it is they want, that significantly increases the productivity of the folks you have in design,” Enderle said. “Unless you’re increasing the workload just as dramatically, you’re going to have too many people.”

Google, which is based in Mountain View, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Times staff writer Queenie Wong contributed to this report.

Summit Financial Wealth Advisors, LLC disclosed in a Monday filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that it sold 101,515 shares of food distribution giant Sysco(SYY -0.11%), cutting the vast majority of its stake in the firm.

What happened

According to a Monday SEC filing, Louisiana-based Summit Financial Wealth Advisors, LLC sold 101,515 shares of Sysco during the quarter ended June 30. The estimated transaction value was $7.4 million based on the average closing price for the quarter. The fund’s remaining Sysco holding totaled 4,295 shares, worth $325,266, meaning the firm cut about 95% of its stake.

What else to know

The transaction reduced the Sysco position to 0.1% of fund AUM, down from 1.6% in the prior quarter.

Top holdings after the filing:

• SCHD: $53.05 million (9.5% of AUM)
• VUG: $49.21 million (8.8% of AUM)
• VYMI: $36.55 million (6.6% of AUM)
• NOBL: $24.6 million (4.4% of AUM)
• SPBO: $23.2 million (4.2% of AUM)

As of Monday, Sysco shares were priced at $81.72, up about 5% year over year but underperforming the S&P 500 by more than 10 percentage points during the same period.

Company Overview

Company Snapshot

Sysco distributes a broad range of food products—including frozen foods, fresh meats and seafood, dairy, canned and dry goods, beverages, and non-food supplies—to the foodservice industry.

The company generates revenue primarily through large-scale distribution operations, leveraging its logistics network to supply restaurants, healthcare, education, hospitality, and other institutional clients.

Sysco’s primary customers include restaurants, hospitals, nursing homes, schools, hotels, and other foodservice providers across North America and select international markets.

Sysco is a leading global food distribution company with a significant presence in North America and international markets.

Foolish take

Summit Financial’s decision to unload nearly all of its Sysco shares is notable, but it doesn’t necessarily mean the firm has lost confidence in the food distributor. Large managers regularly rebalance portfolios to free up cash or reallocate into higher-conviction ideas. In this case, Sysco had been a modest position for Summit—reflecting less than 2% of reportable assets—and now barely registers at just 0.1%.

For investors, the bigger question is how Sysco stacks up in today’s market. Shares have risen just over 5% in the past year, a steady climb but well short of the S&P 500’s double-digit gains. The lag highlights Sysco’s profile: It’s a defensive stock with dependable cash flows and a long history of paying dividends, not a high-growth story. Its dividend yield is about 2.6%, compared to an average of about 1.25% for the broader S&P 500.

Nevertheless, recent headlines—including a $388 million deal with the U.S. Navy and continued investments in distribution facilities—underscore Sysco’s ability to secure stable revenue streams. Still, the stock’s performance will ultimately depend on restaurant traffic and consumer confidence, both of which are highly sensitive to broader economic trends.

Glossary

13F assets: Securities and assets that institutional investment managers must report quarterly to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) if above a certain threshold.
AUM (Assets Under Management): The total market value of investments managed by a fund or financial institution on behalf of clients.
Dividend Yield: A financial ratio showing how much a company pays in dividends each year relative to its share price.
Distribution operations: The logistical processes involved in delivering products from suppliers to customers, often on a large scale.
Institutional clients: Organizations such as pension funds, endowments, or corporations that invest large sums of money.
Logistics network: The system of transportation, warehousing, and coordination used to move goods efficiently from suppliers to customers.
Reportable: Refers to holdings or transactions that must be disclosed to regulators, such as the SEC, due to their size or nature.
TTM: The 12-month period ending with the most recent quarterly report.
Underperforming: Delivering a lower return compared to a benchmark or index over a specific period.

The winless New York Giants used a first-round pick on Mississippi quarterback Jaxson Dart, and Sunday they’ll get a first regular-season glimpse at that investment.

It’s a rough way to start for the rookie, who will face a swarming defense and an undefeated opponent.

The 22-year-old Dart replaces the struggling Russell Wilson and takes over an offense that has scored fewer than 10 points in two of three games. Dart looked good in the preseason with three touchdowns and no interceptions but has played just six snaps in real games and has yet to attempt a pass.

The Chargers (3-0) are rolling, having won three consecutive AFC West games with outstanding play from Justin Herbert and six-time Pro Bowl receiver Keenan Allen, who has caught a touchdown pass in all three of those games. Receiver Quentin Johnston, once plagued by drops, has emerged as a sure-handed deep threat.

Not since 2002 have the Chargers gotten off to a 4-0 start.

How the Chargers can win: Pile the game on the inexperienced shoulders of Dart. Put him in third-and-long situations and force him to throw (but watch for an early deep shot). The Giants struggle to stop the run, so cut loose Omarion Hampton and let Herbert scramble for a couple first downs. Take the crowd out of the game ASAP.

How the Giants can win: Herbert got beat up by Denver last week (five sacks), so something is going on with pass protection, especially if guard Mekhi Becton isn’t in there. The Giants (0-3) need their front four to create a rush so they can drop seven defenders. Don’t let Herbert beat them with his legs. Keep Dart in third-and-manageable.

Half-full duffle bags littered the floor of the Dodger clubhouse Sunday morning while a neat line of suitcases stood just outside the locker room door.

Sunday’s 3-1 matinee loss to the San Francisco Giants, a game which featured another late-inning bullpen meltdown, was the last chance to see the Dodgers at home during the regular season and 46,601 brought tickets to celebrate the occasion, pushing the team’s attendance over 4 million for the first time.

But the vibe wasn’t so much “good-bye” and it was “we’ll be right back,” since the team and its fans are expected to return to Dodger Stadium to open the National League playoffs next week. Even the retiring Clayton Kershaw made that point when he briefly addressed the crowd before the game.

“Remember, we’ve got another month left,” he said. “So we’ll see you at the end of October.”

That may be a bit ambitious. But barring disaster — never count out the Dodgers’ bullpen — the team is guaranteed at least two more games at home this season. The Dodgers will hit the road Monday for their final six games of the regular season with a magic number of three, meaning any combination of Dodger wins or Padre losses totaling four will give the team its 12^th West Division title in 13 years — and the Dodger Stadium playoff dates that go with it.

“Our head right now, to be honest, is on winning this division and going forward,” manager Dave Roberts said. “I just want to win the division and get to the postseason.”

They missed a chance to move a big step closer Sunday when they wasted another brilliant performance from right-hander Emmet Sheehan, who held the Giants to a hit over seven innings, retiring 15 in a row at one point.

Sheehan, who didn’t allow a runner after hitting Andrew Knizner to open the third, matched a career-high with 10 strikeouts. But for the third time in four appearances that wasn’t good enough to get the win after reliever Blake Treinen gave up three eighth-inning runs to turn a 1-0 lead into a 3-1 deficit.

Giants’ starter Trevor McDonald, who was making his first big-league start, was nearly as good before tiring in the seventh. Max Muncy opened the inning with a walk — the only one McDonald allowed — and moved to second on a two-strike single to right by Andy Pages. Michael Conforto then looped the first pitch he saw into shallow left field to score Muncy and end McDonald’s day after 89 pitches.

The Dodgers could get no more with pinch-hitter Tommy Edman lining into a double play to end the inning and that proved costly when Treinen (1-7) came out of the bullpen to give up three consecutive hits, the last a run-scoring double from pinch-hitter Patrick Bailey.

Three batters later Willy Adames drew a bases-loaded walk to give the Giants the lead, an advantage they extended to 3-1 on Matt Chapman’s soft grounder to short.

The Dodgers went quietly after that, with a pair of Giant relievers holding them to just a hit over the two innings.

That spoiled the day for a sun-splashed crowd that made history by pushing the Dodgers’ home attendance to a franchise-record 4,012,470. The Dodgers, who averaged 49,537 fans a game in 2025, have led the majors in attendance the last 12 years — excluding 2020, when the pandemic forced teams to play behind closed doors. But the most they had drawn in a season previously was 3,974,309 in 2019.

The Dodgers are the fifth team to top 4 million in a season, joining the Blue Jays, Rockies, Mets and Yankees, but the first to do so since 2008, when both New York teams did it. Colorado holds the major league record having sold 4,483,350 tickets during it inaugural season in 1993, when it played at an 80,000-seat football stadium.

“Like every season it’s been up and down, an emotional year. And for these fans to show up every day, it’s incredible,” Roberts said. “There’s a reason why I feel that we have the best fans in sports, and the numbers speak to it.”

The Dodgers rewarded that loyalty, with their 52 wins at home this season leading the majors. What they weren’t able to do was clinch the division title in front of their fans.

But if they can do that on the road this week, they’ll be right back home for at least two more games at Dodger Stadium in the playoffs.

Notes

Right-handers Blake Stewart and Roki Sasaki both pitched scoreless innings in relief for Triple A Oklahoma City in their final rehab appearances before the postseason roster is set. Stewart struck out one and gave up a hit, throwing nine of his 15 pitches for strikes. Sasaki did not allow a runner, striking out one of the three batters he faced and getting strikes on five of his eight pitches.

SAN FRANCISCO — The Dodgers have gotten back to the basics this week, preaching the importance of the little things in daily hitters’ meetings, in-game dugout conversations and even simulated drills in early batting practice sessions.

After a 2 ½ month slump over the second half of the season, they were searching for a more dependable style of offense. Like simplifying their approach at the plate. Shortening up swings and using the big part of the field with two strikes. Capitalizing on situational opportunities with runners on base. And making sure that, amid a resurgence from their rotation, they were finding ways to more consistently manufacture runs.

This weekend in San Francisco, they finally enjoyed the fruits of those labors, blowing out the Giants 10-2 on Sunday to win a three-game series and remain 2 ½ games up in the National League West standings.

“Quality of at-bat, winning pitches, using the whole field, not punching [out] — I think all those things, you know it’s in there,” manager Dave Roberts said, after the Dodgers racked up 18 hits, worked six walks and scored in six of their nine trips to the plate.

“We’ve seen it. Maybe not with the consistency we would’ve liked. But when you’re facing really good arms, to see us do what we did… it’s certainly encouraging.”

Indeed, coming off a 13-run outburst Saturday night, the Dodgers picked up right where they left off at Oracle Park on Sunday afternoon, slowly sucking the life out of a recently resurgent Giants team trying to sneak into the playoffs.

Teoscar Hernández continued a recent surge with a team-high four hits, making him 11 for his last 24. Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman and Michael Conforto each had three knocks, with Conforto’s day getting his batting average back to .200. As a team, the Dodgers combined for a whopping 16 singles while forcing 207 pitches from the Giants’ staff of arms. And most amazing, they did it with Shohei Ohtani reaching base only once, and that didn’t even happen until his sixth at-bat in the top of the ninth.

“It’s quality at-bats, quality outs, moving guys over, getting sac flies, bringing defenses in if you move them over,” Freeman said. “It creates more traffic, more things that are able to happen on the baseball field. Just think the quality of at-bats have been really good over the last week.”

The onslaught started in the second inning, when two walks and a Freeman single loaded the bases, setting up Kiké Hernández for a sacrifice fly. It continued in the third, when a pair of productive outs (plus a bobbled ground ball from San Francisco third baseman Matt Chapman) turned singles from Betts and Teoscar Hernández into another hard-earned run.

Then, in the fifth, it all culminated in a four-run rally, one that knocked Giants starter Robbie Ray out of the game, and turned a low-scoring affair into a series rubber-match rout.

Freeman lined a double to right field, after Betts walked and Teoscar Hernández again singled. Conforto came off the bench for a two-run, pinch-hit, bases-loaded single that he managed to slap past a drawn-in infield. A run-scoring balk from reliever Joel Peguero added to the deluge, which included a pair of walks from Tommy Edman and Ben Rortvedt.

In the sixth, what was already a 6-1 lead was stretched a little further, with Miguel Rojas’ two-run single — with the bases loaded once more — putting the Dodgers’ sixth win in seven on ice. The Dodgers nonetheless added more runs in both the eighth and ninth, giving them their first back-to-back double-digit run totals since all the way back at the end of April.

The Dodgers’ Tyler Glasnow pitched into the seventh inning on Sunday to pick up his second win in as many starts.

(Godofredo A. Vásquez / Associated Press)

“It’s definitely the kind of baseball we want to be playing down the stretch and for the rest of the season,” Conforto said. “I think we’re doing a lot of the little things right. That’s kind of been the theme as we finish up here.”

It all represented a new look from the Dodgers’ star-studded offense, with only one of their 23 runs the last two days requiring a ball to go over the fence.

For much of the year, the team has been overly reliant on home runs, scoring via the long ball at the fifth-highest percentage in the majors (45%) at the end of play Friday. During their second-half slide, that dynamic had prevented them from working around injuries and mechanical flaws from much of the lineup, or finding alternative ways to build big innings and hang crooked numbers.

Hence, their recent re-emphasis on more dependable fundamentals — allowing them to paper-cut an opposing pitching staff to death in a way that is typically for success in October.

“When you can be able to do it, and know you can do it, as we’re leading up to that point [of the playoffs], it definitely is a big confidence booster,” Freeman said. “We don’t have to rely on the two-run, three-run home run all the time. I think that was just big. The last week, [this is] what we’ve been trying to do. And we’ve been able to actually do it in the games.”

The offense wasn’t the only positive sign Sunday.

On the mound, Tyler Glasnow was able to settle down after looking frustrated with his command early, when he walked four batters (and hit another) in his first three innings. At a point he has so often spiraled in his up-and-down Dodgers tenure, the right-hander instead found a rhythm by retiring 10 in a row, managing to pitch into the seventh in a 6 ⅔ inning, one-run outing.

“It’s encouraging,” said Glasnow, who has a 3.06 ERA on the season and a 2.66 mark since returning from a shoulder injury in July “Since I got back from the IL, it’s been easier to kind of put [those kind of struggles] out of my head and go compete. If my stuff sucks, it’s kind of whatever. Just compete, try to get in the zone, get some weak contact. It’s helpful.”

It led to the kind of performance the Dodgers are banking on from their rotation in the playoffs. This is still a team that, at its core, will have to be carried by its pitching.

The only way that strength will matter, however, is if the lineup can find some long-awaited consistency. This weekend, signs of it finally arrived. Everything the Dodgers had been preaching at last came to fruition.

“As we come down to the end [of the season, we’re] just kind of recognizing what it is that really puts us in the right spot to win games,” Conforto said. “It’s go time now, and we got to do all those things if we want to get to where we want to get to.”

SAN FRANCISCO — Teoscar Hernández pumped his fist. Ben Rortvedt let out a scream. Mookie Betts put some oomph on the end of the Dodgers’ arm-waving, hip-shaking, hit celebration.

After struggling for so long in high-leverage situations, the team’s offense finally had reason to celebrate.

For weeks now, the Dodgers have technically been in a tight division race.

The real battle, however, has often been with themselves.

At a time of the year typically dedicated to scoreboard watching and monitoring the standings, the team had instead been preoccupied by its own inconsistent play. Chief among their recent problems: Capitalizing on scoring opportunities.

In a 13-7 defeat of the San Francisco Giants on Saturday, they finally vanquished those demons.

After trailing by three runs early, and reaching rock bottom again after coming up empty with the bases loaded and no outs in the second inning, the Dodgers mounted the kind of rally that had so often been missing during their lackluster second half of the season, scoring six runs in the top of the fifth inning to key what felt like a statement win.

“A lot of guys put together really good at-bats,” third baseman Max Muncy said. “We found a way to keep the ball moving forward, keep moving to the next guy. It was really impressive.”

Early in Saturday’s game, the Dodgers (83-65) had honed a sound approach. They stressed Giants ace Logan Webb. They stayed alive in two-strike counts. They worked long at-bats and put runners on base.

The missing ingredient, as usual, had been the big hits needed to build a big inning. Then, in the top of the fifth, it all so suddenly — and refreshingly — flipped.

That’s what happened in the second, when Webb wiggled out of trouble by getting Miguel Rojas to hit an infield pop-up and Rortvedt to roll into a double-play, preserving the 4-1 lead the Giants had taken against Clayton Kershaw in a 36-pitch first inning.

“It’s real easy, if you don’t get any runs in that inning, to sit there and start pouting and start letting the emotion take over,” Muncy said. “It’s tough to dig out of that hole.”

This time, however, the Dodgers came back from the dead.

Shohei Ohtani hits a solo home run in the third inning Saturday against the Giants.

(Godofredo A. Vásquez / Associated Press)

The turnaround started in the third, when Shohei Ohtani bat-flipped a leadoff home run that traveled 454 feet (the longest of his 49 long balls this season) and Hernández belted an RBI double off the wall with two outs.

That momentum carried into the fifth, when the Dodgers’ recently unproductive offense suddenly — and refreshingly — flipped the bases-loaded script.

After a walk from Betts, a single from Freddie Freeman and a walk from Muncy chased Webb from the game, Hernández came to the plate against Giants reliever José Buttó.

Hernández quickly fell behind to newly inserted Giants reliever José Buttó, taking a first-pitch fastball before fanning on a slider out of the zone. But after laying off another slider in the dirt, Hernández got a mistake, with Buttó leaving a fastball up and over the plate. Hernández lined it to the gap, where center fielder Luis Matos struggled to get a bead. It dropped in under Matos’ diving attempt, rolling past him for a two-run double that gave the Dodgers a 5-4 lead.

“Getting closer to October, everybody is trying to do the little things, not trying to do too much and just getting on base for the next guy,” said Hernández, who was one of three Dodgers hitters to record three hits and lead the way with three RBIs.

“That was a big difference today. Everybody was into the game. It didn’t happen in the second inning, but we came back and started fighting again, every at-bat and scored some runs.”

Indeed, from that point on, the floodgates burst open. Michael Conforto lifted a sacrifice fly to right. Rortvedt lined another two-run double to left-center. Betts bounced a run-scoring single up the middle.

By the time the side was retired, 11 Dodgers had come to the plate. Eight had reached safely. Six had come around to score.

An exorcism, exhale and sigh of relief for the Dodgers’ long-scuffling offense.

“That was awesome,” said Kershaw, who exited after the third. “For them to grind out at-bats — especially after me putting them in a hole after the first inning — getting guys on base, not trying to do too much, taking what they’re giving you, walks, hits, all the things, it was really impressive.”

Dodgers starting pitcher Clayton Kershaw reacts after giving up an RBI single in the first inning Saturday.

(Godofredo A. Vásquez / Associated Press)

Over their 26-33 stretch since July 4, the Dodgers had lost so many games like this one, letting bad outings from starters or wasted opportunities early in games send them into spirals that lingered for days (and sometimes weeks) after.

But on this night, every moment of adversity was met with an answer.

After Kirby Yates gave back three runs in the bottom of the fifth, the Dodgers responded with another three-spot in the sixth punctuated by an RBI double from Rojas. When the bullpen needed someone to calm the waters, rookie left-hander Justin Wrobleski produced 2⅓ scoreless innings.

Even on a day that Will Smith was placed on the injured list (finally being shelved after battling a bone bruise on his hand for the last 10 days) and Muncy left the game after taking a pitch to the head (he passed postgame concussion protocols, and will have a scheduled day off Sunday), the Dodgers didn’t wilt.

Instead, their lineup finally produced as expected, going seven for 15 with runners in scoring position, producing 11 of their 23 combined hits and walks with two strikes, and fueling a win that keeps the team 2½ games up in the National League West standings — all while helping ease concerns about their recently inconsistent offense.

“I just don’t see why we can’t do that, as far as approach, on a nightly basis,” manager Dave Roberts said. “With two strikes, you got to give something up. And I think for me tonight, I saw us give up the pull side. And then you’re starting to get hits to the big part of the field, hits the other way to the other gap, winning pitches. We did that all night long. Good stuff.”

There are 10 companies with a market cap over $1 trillion right now, and all of these except one are involved in artificial intelligence (AI). This technology will drive a substantial amount of economic growth in the 21st century, providing investors the chance to earn substantial gains from the right stocks.

Some companies that are well positioned to play a key role in shaping the economy with AI are still valued at less than $1 trillion. Although their share prices could be volatile in the near term, the following two companies could be worth a lot more down the road they are today.

Image source: Getty Images.

1. Palantir Technologies

More than 800 companies have chosen Palantir Technologies (PLTR 4.14%) to transform their business operations with AI. Businesses can upload data on Palantir’s platforms, and it basically shows them how to be more efficient, grow their revenue, and become more profitable. It is working magic for businesses and the U.S. military, which trusts Palantir to keep top-secret information secure about the U.S. and its allies. Despite its already high market cap of $400 billion, Palantir’s unique value proposition and stellar profitability has all the makings of a $1 trillion business.

Palantir is not just slapping a large language model on a company’s data to make it easy to search information. It pulls together data from different sources within a company, which creates a framework for understanding how the company operates. Palantir is essentially building a digital copy of a company’s operations that can detect problems and solve those problems instantly.

Palantir’s financials suggest there is no replacement for the value it provides. It reported accelerating revenue growth over the last year. In the second quarter, revenue grew 48% year over year, compared to 27% in the year-ago quarter.

Moreover, its net income margin was stellar at 33% in Q2, with an adjusted free cash flow margin of 57%. It’s not common for a small software company in the early stages of growth to be reporting margins like Microsoft.

These margins are being driven by high prices that Palantir charges customers. For example, it recently secured a $10 billion contract with the U.S. Army for the next decade. Organizations are willing to pay up for Palantir’s software because the savings realized are that big. Palantir is saving enterprises millions, even hundreds of millions in costs in some cases, providing an attractive return on investment that is driving the company’s growth.

Palantir stock is expensive, trading at high multiples of sales and earnings. But this is a unique software company with a huge opportunity ahead. CEO Alex Karp is aiming to grow revenue by 10x over time, which would bring annual revenue to more than $40 billion from this year’s analyst estimate of $4.1 billion. Based on its current margins, that could equate to $20 billion in annual free cash flow over the long term. Applying a high-growth multiple of 50 to that would put the stock’s market cap at $1 trillion.

2. Advanced Micro Devices

For AI to keep advancing and transform how people work and communicate, it needs more powerful chips. Nvidia has been the biggest winner so far, but investors shouldn’t overlook Advanced Micro Devices (AMD 1.91%). It is the second-leading supplier of graphics processing units (GPUs), and it could be well positioned to meet growing demand in edge computing and AI inferencing that could send the stock from its current $250 billion market cap to $1 trillion.

As AI proliferates across the economy, people will be able to use powerful AI applications and processing on their devices, which makes edge computing a large opportunity for AMD. The company offers a range of high-performance and energy-efficient chips that are aimed at running AI devices and PCs, positioning it to benefit from a booming market estimated to be worth $327 billion by 2033, according to Grand View Research.

Investors were disappointed by the company’s Q2 data center growth of 14% year over year, but management expects stronger demand once it launches its Instinct MI350 series of GPUs. As it continues to bring new solutions to the data center market, AMD’s data center business should accelerate.

AMD’s chips are clearly addressing needs in the AI market. It announced a partnership with Saudi Arabia’s Humain to build AI infrastructure using AMD’s GPUs and software. Meanwhile, Oracle is building a massive AI compute cluster using multiple AMD chips. AMD says it is also working with governments globally to build sovereign AI infrastructure.

Analysts expect AMD‘s earnings to grow at an annualized rate of 30% over the next several years. Against those prospects, the stock trades at a reasonable forward price-to-earnings multiple of 40. There is enough earnings growth here to potentially triple the stock in five years, putting it easily within striking distance of reaching $1 trillion within the next decade.

SPORTING’S stadium underwent an incredible transformation during the summer.. but they’re STILL working on it with the 2025-26 season underway.

The iconic Portuguese ground – which was only built in 2003 for a cost of £150million – was given a bit of a facelift during the offseason.

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And it left the arena looking utterly unrecognisable – particularly after the entire pitch was ripped up and left looking like a building site.

Following the end of the 2024-25 season – in which Cristiano Ronaldo‘s old club won the league in no small part down to Arsenal new-boy Viktor Gyokeres‘ goals – Sporting got to work on the makeover.

Most-notably, the pitch was ripped up and replaced by a hybrid surface.

And it passed the first test with flying colours, as Primeira Liga officials gave it a 10/10 for the club’s 6-0 win over Arouca in their first home game of the season.

But it wasn’t just re-laying the pitch – the entire playing surface was LOWERED to allow the club to add 2,000 more seats around the base of the stadium.

That boosted the capacity from 50,095 to 52,095.

And that new feature – not ready for the Arouca battering – WILL be ready for the massive derby game against Porto on August 30 with seats now being installed.

The dugout area has been completely renovated, too – with the bench now boasted a capacity of 28 players and coaches.

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On top of that, Sporting have opened a new “Emerald Lounge” for corporate ticket holders.

Club chiefs also splashed out £15m on repurchasing the adjacent Alvalaxia entertainment complex earlier this month.

Their plan is to re-home their club museum – which features their most important trophies, including replicas of individual Ballon d’Or gongs won by former players, Ronaldo and Luis Figo.

For now, the exhibition has been moved inside the stadium and is open to the public until the permanent residence is completed.

There is more work to be done inside the stadium, still – with the big screens currently being installed.

For now, supporters have a tiny scoreboard displayed on advertising hoardings on the side of the pitch.

But in time, the plan is to install multiple big screens.

Their plan moving forward is to cash-in on their corporate lounges – renting them out on non-matchdays for private events.

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In April 2025, the Human Rights Court in Kenya issued an unprecedented ruling that it has the jurisdiction to hear a case about harmful content on one of Meta’s platforms. The lawsuit was filed in 2022 by Abraham Meareg, the son of an Ethiopian academic who was murdered after he was doxxed and threatened on Facebook, Fisseha Tekle, an Ethiopian human rights activist, who was also doxxed and threatened on Facebook, and Katiba Institute, a Kenyan non-profit that defends constitutionalism. They maintain that Facebook’s algorithm design and its content moderation decisions made in Kenya resulted in harm done to two of the claimants, fuelled the conflict in Ethiopia and led to widespread human rights violations within and outside Kenya.

The content in question falls outside the protected categories of speech under Article 33 of the Constitution of Kenya and includes propaganda for war, incitement to violence, hate speech and advocacy of hatred that constitutes ethnic incitement, vilification of others, incitement to cause harm and discrimination.

Key to the Kenyan case is the question whether Meta, a US-based corporation, can financially benefit from unconstitutional content and whether there is a positive duty on the corporation to take down unconstitutional content that also violates its Community Standards.

In affirming the Kenyan court’s jurisdiction in the case, the judge was emphatic that the Constitution of Kenya allows a Kenyan court to adjudicate over Meta’s acts or omissions regarding content posted on the Facebook platform that may impact the observance of human rights within and outside Kenya.

The Kenyan decision signals a paradigm shift towards platform liability where judges determine liability by solely asking the question: Do platform decisions observe and uphold human rights?

The ultimate goal of the Bill of Rights, a common feature in African constitutions, is to uphold and protect the inherent dignity of all people. Kenya’s Bill of Rights, for example, has as its sole mission to preserve the dignity of individuals and communities and to promote social justice and the realisation of the potential of all human beings. The supremacy of the Constitution also guarantees that, should there be safe harbour provisions in the laws of that country, they would not be a sufficient liability shield for platforms if their business decisions do not ultimately uphold human rights.

That a case on algorithm amplification has passed the jurisdiction hearing stage in Kenya is a testament that human rights law and constitutionality offer an opportunity for those who have suffered harm as a result of social media content to seek redress.

Up to this point, the idea that a social media platform can be held accountable for content on its platform has been dissuaded by the blanket immunity offered under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act in the US, and to a lesser extent, the principle of non-liability in the European Union, with the necessary exceptions detailed in various laws.

For example, Section 230 was one of the reasons a district judge in California cited in her ruling to dismiss a case filed by Myanmar refugees in a similar claim that Meta had failed to curb hate speech that fuelled the Rohingya genocide.

The aspiration for platform accountability was further dampened by the US Supreme Court decision in Twitter v Taamneh, in which it ruled against plaintiffs who sought to establish that social media platforms carry responsibility for content posted on them.

The immunity offered to platforms has come at a high cost, especially for victims of harm in places where platforms do not have physical offices.

This is why a decision like the one by the Kenyan courts is a welcome development; it restores hope that victims of platform harm have an alternative route to recourse, one that refocuses human rights into the core of the discussion on platform accountability.

The justification for safe harbour provisions like Section 230 has always been to protect “nascent” technologies from being smothered by the multiplicity of suits. However, by now, the dominant social media platforms are neither nascent nor in need of protection. They have both the monetary and technical wherewithal to prioritise people over profits, but choose not to.

As the Kenyan cases cascade through the judicial process, there is cautious optimism that constitutional and human rights law that has taken root in African countries can offer a necessary reprieve for platform arrogance.

Mercy Mutemi represents Fisseha Tekle in the case outlined in the article. 

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

Chip giants Nvidia and AMD have agreed to pay the US government 15% of their semiconductor sales in China, the BBC has been told by a source close to the matter.

The agreement is part of a deal to secure export licences to the world’s second biggest economy.

“We follow rules the US government sets for our participation in worldwide markets. While we haven’t shipped H20 to China for months, we hope export control rules will let America compete in China and worldwide,” Nvidia told the BBC.

AMD did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In a statement to the BBC, Nvidia also said: “America cannot repeat 5G and lose telecommunication leadership. America’s [artificial intelligence] tech stack can be the world’s standard if we race.”

Under the agreement, Nvidia will pay 15% of its revenues from H20 chip sales in China to the US government, while AMD will give the same percentage from its MI308 chip revenues, which was first reported by the Financial Times.

Washington has previously banned the sale of Nvidia’s H20 chips to Beijing over security concerns, although the firm recently announced that this would be reversed.

The H20 chip was developed specifically for the Chinese market after US export restrictions were imposed by the Biden administration in 2023. Its sale was effectively banned by the Trump administration in April this year.

Nvidia’s chief executive Jensen Huang has spent months lobbying both sides for a resumption of sales of the chips in China. He reportedly met US President Donald Trump last week.

The resumption of chip sales to China comes as trade tensions between Beijing and Washington have been easing.

Beijing has relaxed controls on rare earth exports, while the US has lifted restrictions on chip design software firms operating in China.

In May, the world’s two biggest economies agreed to a 90-day truce in their tariffs war.

Since then, top trade officials from both sides have met on a number of occasions, although an agreement to extend the tariffs pause has not yet been confirmed ahead of a 12 August deadline.

As part of his tariffs policy, Trump has put pressure on major companies to make more investments in the US.

Last week, Apple said it would invest another $100bn (£74.4bn) in the country, adding to a previous pledge to spend $500bn in the US over the next four years.

In June, memory chip maker Micron Technology said its planned US investments will total $200bn. That includes construction of a new manufacturing facility in Idaho.

Nvidia itself has announced plans to build AI servers in the US worth up to $500bn, pledging to build the first AI supercomputers that are entirely American-made.