Al-Hilal in talks with Harry Kane and Ollie Watkins, Newcastle explore move for Manchester City‘s Nico Gonzalez, Sunderland move for Dayann Methalie in danger of collapsing.
Representatives for England captain Harry Kane, 33, have held talks with Saudi Pro League side Al-Hilal, with the Bayern Munich striker open to a move in the future. (Talksport, external)
MeanwhileAston Villa and England striker Ollie Watkins, 29, has agreed personal terms with Al-Hilal, though the Saudi side are yet to submit a transfer offer to Villa. (Teamtalk), external
Sunderland‘s £25.7m move for Toulouse and France Under-21 defender Dayann Methalie, 20, is in danger of collapsing after concerns were raised over his medical. (Daily Mail), external
Coventry have had an offer worth £8.5m for England midfielder Ruben Loftus-Cheek, 30, rejected by AC Milan. (Tuttosport – in Italian), external
Real Sociedad have made an approach for West Ham and Mexico midfielder Edson Alvarez, 28, with Ajax having cooled their interest. (Sky Sports), external
Ipswich have had a second offer rejected for Bayer Leverkusen and Argentina midfielder Exequiel Palacios, 27. (Florian Plettenberg), external
Tottenhamare considering a move for Paris St-Germain and Ukraine defender Illia Zabarnyi, 23, after selling Cristian Romero to Atletico Madrid. (Teamtalk), external
Liverpool and England midfielder Curtis Jones, 25, remains a top target for Inter Milan, who believe a bid of 35m euros (£29m) will be successful. (CaughtOffside, external)
Wolves have entered the race for Brightonwinger Amario Cozier-Duberry, 21, with the England under-20 international remaining a target for Rangers and former loan club Bolton. (The Argus, external)
Malaga are pursuing English winger Ryan Kent, 29, who has been a free agent since leaving Seattle Sounders in January. (Fichajes – in Spanish, external)
SACRAMENTO — Two state lawmakers from Los Angeles want tougher penalties for disasters caused by industrial companies after a massive fire in Boyle Heights left neighbors struggling with smoky air and the smell of rotting meat.
Assemblymember Mark González and state Sen. María Elena Durazo, both Democrats, are seeking a new law that would require any new cold storage facility to create a contingency fund for emergencies.
The fund would be used to help neighbors mitigate the fallout from a disaster.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, who is running for reelection, will appear with González and Durazo at an event Wednesday to discuss the proposed laws.
Lineage’s 500,000-square-foot food warehouse in Boyle Heights caught fire on June 17. The company blames a power company, which was working on the warehouse’s roof, for the blaze.
The company, Altus Power, has denied responsibility, stating that the cause is undetermined. The company accused Lineage of finger-pointing instead of focusing on community relief.
Noxious smoke and an influx of rats and flies attracted to rotting meat stored at the facility have tormented neighbors. The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health has cited Lineage for unsanitary and nuisance conditions related to rodent and pest control violations.
Lineage recently applied for building permits to replace the site, which Bass called “a slap in the face” to Boyle Heights families.
A press release ahead of Wednesday’s news conference said the proposal by lawmakers “will ensure that Lineage can’t rebuild without being accountable to the community.”
González and Durazo plan to insert proposed legislation related to the Lineage fire into existing bills, a process known as “gut and amend.”
The politicians also want to allow for stiffer fines against companies following a disaster.
Their proposed legislation also would ensure that anyone who sues over the fire doesn’t have to pay state taxes on any settlement, and that local jurisdictions are responsible for pest extermination efforts.
Greg Lehmkuhl, president and chief executive of Lineage, said in a quarterly earnings call last week that the company has committed $3.3 million to the community in the aftermath of the fire.
“Safety remains our top priority, and I’m incredibly proud of our team and how they’re handling this very challenging situation,” Lehmkuhl said on the call.
Spanish painter Nieves González arrives in Los Angeles for her first U.S. solo exhibition having already experienced a taste of fame.
The 29-year-old caught the attention of the art and fashion worlds last year after being discovered on Instagram and commissioned to paint the cover of Lily Allen’s album “West End Girl.” Depicting the singer as a Baroque aristocrat clad in contemporary designer fashion, the portrait helped propel González onto an international stage.
Collectors have taken notice. The 13 paintings in “A Friendship Story,” opening Saturday at Richard Heller Gallery in Santa Monica, have already sold out, according to the gallery, with prices ranging from $4,000 to $20,000.
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Elle magazine dubbed González “Fashion’s Favorite New Artist,” while exhibitions in Rome, Paris, Belfast and Bilbao, Spain, expanded her reputation across Europe.
González developed her classic yet defiantly modern approach while studying at the University of Seville, where Spanish masters such as Diego Velázquez and Francisco de Zurbarán painted in the naturalist Baroque tradition. Drawing liberally from fashion, art history and everyday life, she often dresses the subjects of her portraits in puffer jackets — garments she wears herself during the cold winters of Granada, Spain, where she lives. The material, she said, recalls the sculptural rendering of fabric in paintings by Zurbarán and Velázquez: the folds, the volumes, the high shine.
Nieves González often dresses her subjects in puffer jackets.
(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
“It works beautifully from a visual standpoint,” she said, speaking Spanish during an interview at Santa Monica’s Bergamot Station a few days before the exhibition opened. Wearing blue jeans and a pink button-down blouse, she echoed the pastel blues and pinks that appear throughout many of the works surrounding her.
“Fashion inspires me,” she said. “Just as 17th century artists drew inspiration from the fashion of their day — often creating paintings that served as catalogs of current styles — I do the same,” she said. “The goal is to not merely convey a specific message or ideology but to create a testament to a generation and the era in which we live.”
This fall, González’s painting “La Sfida” (2025) will appear in the Städel Museum’s exhibition “Mary Magdalene. Sin. Pray. Love” in Frankfurt, Germany, alongside works by Lady Gaga, Marlene Dumas and Auguste Rodin. The painting depicts Mary Magdalene with long, flowing hair, draped in a regal red garment and clutching a skull — a contemporary interpretation of one of Christianity’s most enduring figures.
“Nieves González is the youngest of these artists and, at the same time, probably the one who most closely follows in the tradition of the Old Masters,” curators Bastian Eclercy and Stefan Roller wrote in an email.
The Santa Monica exhibition marks an evolution from the paintings that established González’s reputation. Earlier works often centered on solitary women posed with the self-possession of royal portraits or religious icons. “A Friendship Story” focuses on relationships between pairs of women, exploring friendship, intimacy, support and shared experience.
For González, friendship is one of the most profound aspects of women’s lives and a subject she felt deserved greater attention in painting.
Victoria Rios, a curator who works with González, said the artist’s paintings “rewrite the narratives of the past, rewrite the history of martyrdom and place women at the center.”
“Nothing in her painting is arbitrary,” Rios said in an email. “Every formal decision is also an ethical one.”
“The horse elevates the art; symbolically, it carries connotations of elegance and nobility,” Nieves González said. “It seemed like a way to elevate the concept of friendship.”
(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
González frequently turns art historical conventions on their head. In “Salir a robar caballos: Go out to steal horses,” she replaces the archetypal portrait of a gallant man on horseback with two young women dressed in puffer and vinyl jackets, posed like contemporary Amazons atop rearing horses.
“The horse elevates the art; symbolically, it carries connotations of elegance and nobility,” González said. “It seemed like a way to elevate the concept of friendship. It also has an element of play, adventure and fun, since having fun is part of the bond too.”
The artist also sees her work through a feminist lens.
“We live in a patriarchal society, and so, unfortunately, I belong to the oppressed segment of that society, and my work relates to that,” she said. “It stems from a struggle, an understanding and a process of redefining concepts that we have historically established as normal, natural and habitual.”
“I am interested in portraying us as brave and powerful, sometimes even with an air of haughtiness,” she said.
Another painting, “Something’s crossed over me and I can’t go back” (2026), captures González’s fusion of historical and contemporary references. Two women dressed in green and pink fur cradle each other’s heads, reimagining medieval depictions of cephalophores — Christian martyrs who carry their severed heads while continuing to preach or pray.
The title comes from a pivotal line in the 1991 film “Thelma & Louise,” marking the turning point for Geena Davis’ character Thelma, fully committing to her ultimately fatal adventure with Susan Sarandon’s Louise.
Nieves González, “Holding You,” 2026 (oil on canvas).
(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
González builds each painting from what she calls a “Frankenstein” — a digital composite assembled from archival photographs, found images and reference material. The painting process then takes over. A mid-project visit to the Prado Museum in Madrid, for instance, might send her back to the digital sketch to pull in a compositional element from Velázquez before returning to the canvas. “The final result often ends up being completely different from what I initially envisioned,” she said.
Heller began representing González, whom he calls an “original voice,” last year after being introduced to her work by another painter.
Staging her first U.S. solo exhibition in Los Angeles rather than New York reflects what he sees as a more relaxed environment for an emerging artist, without the glare and expectations of the New York art world.
“L.A. feels a little less constrained,” Heller said. “It feels a little more free.”
González’s portrait of Allen is currently on view at London’s National Portrait Gallery, hanging in the same room as a self-portrait by David Hockney. She said while it “has been very significant in terms of media exposure,” exhibitions and professional opportunities were already in motion before the album cover brought wider attention.
“I’ve always said that what I want to do in life is make a living from painting,” she said.
Mission accomplished.
‘Nieves González: A Friendship Story’
Where: Richard Heller Gallery, 2525 Michigan Ave. #B-5A, Santa Monica
Lifelong Angels fan Johnny Gonzalez has reached his boiling point as the team sits at the bottom of the standings, but he’s not giving up. And he’s not alone.
The Angels completed a surprise sweep of the Rangers Sunday, but the team still is tied for the worst record in Major League Baseball with a 20-34. Their fans spent the holiday weekend pushing back against the idea that the franchise would never be more than a bargain option amid rising prices all around them.
Frustrated fans have gone shirtless during the Angels’ homestand and chanted for owner Arte Moreno to “sell the team.” And about 75 fans heeded Gonzalez’s call for a protest, gathering in front of the Angel Stadium State College Boulevard entrance on Saturday chanting “sell the team,” “we want playoffs” and “winning matters.” Drivers passing the spectacle honked their horns in support.
“They’re not doing much for us fans,” said Gonzalez, who organized the protest using the Instagram account @AngelsBoycott. “It seems like every other team is just doing a lot more than us, despite us having a huge following [and] having some of the best players to ever play the game. I mean, it’s just like a lack of commitment, to say the least, and that’s why we’re here today.”
Angels fans wave signs and urge owner Arte Moreno to sell the team to an ownership group willing to invest more in winning during a pregame protest Saturday at Angel Stadium.
(Joaquin Ruiz / For The Times)
It has been three months since Angels owner Arte Moreno told the Orange County Register that, according to Angels survey results, winning was not a top-five priority for fans and that data showed they valued affordability, safety and a “good experience” first.
Outrage over the remarks has grown as the Angels remain anchored at the bottom of the standings.
With a megaphone in his hand, Gonzalez pointed to the Ducks’ recent Stanley Cup playoff run as proof that Anaheim enjoys winning. He also noted how the nearby Dodgers and even the Padres demonstrate how Southern California teams can play for the postseason.
The Angels have missed the MLB playoffs for 11 consecutive seasons — including six with stars Shohei Ohtani and Mike Trout on the roster — and have reached the postseason six times since Moreno purchased the team in 2003 after the franchise’s sole World Series title win in 2002.
Team officials did not respond to The Times’ request for comment on the fans’ protest, but manager Kurt Suzuki addressed the “sell the team” chants that are so loud they can be heard during Angels television broadcasts.
“I know it’s a thing, the no shirts and waving,” Suzuki said. “But yeah, we see it. We recognize it. They have the right to their opinion, and … they cheer for the guys, they roll-call them. I think it’s pretty neat for them to have that kind of support.”
A fan wears a bag over his head that says “Sell the Team Arte!!!” during a game against the Rangers on Friday at Angel Stadium.
(Mark J. Terrill / Ap Photo/mark J. Terrill)
Suzuki added that the Angels remain focused on winning and haven’t paid the chants too much attention.
The Angels entered Sunday’s game ranked No. 9 in MLB attendance with 34,555 announced fans per night, according to ESPN. There are swaths of empty seats during every home game, suggesting some season ticket holders are choosing to stay home.
There is an expanding contingent of fans in the upper deck adjacent to the right-field foul pole who have chanted “sell the team” while waving T-shirts, joining in on a trendy “tarps off” fan movement across MLB sparked by Cardinals fans in St. Louis.
Angels fans who haven’t joined the protests are pleased to see the calls for change.
“I think it’s good that there’s fans that are passionate enough to actually speak out, to want to see a better team and really want to get us back into the playoffs,” Darren Shimasaki, an Angels fan from Yorba Linda, said Friday.
Debbie and Reed Olive, meanwhile, said they usually attend games for the promotions.
“You’re not going to come away with the wins,” Debbie said. “So, we got to get something for our ticket price.”
Even the fan experience unrelated to winning that Moreno touted has taken a hit.
Angels officials said they quickly resolved a rodent infestation Orange County health inspectors flagged at an outdoor food stand in View Level Section 432. Videos of stadium workers capturing a possum in one fan section and spraying gnats on the field during the last few weeks haven’t helped the team’s image.
Reed said the rodent infestation “was a bad look” and that the Angels need a new stadium in addition to a new owner.
Catcher Logan O’Hoppe, who has spent his five-year career with the Angels, said he understands the fans’ frustration.
“We don’t like not doing well, either,” O’Hoppe said. “It’s not OK to us. It doesn’t matter how much we’re getting paid or that we get treated great throughout the league and things like that. We hate it, too. I think people definitely don’t realize that. I think I can speak for a lot of guys in here that we dedicate our lives to this. … We’re not happy with how it’s going, but we’re doing everything we can to fix it.”
O’Hoppe is a New York Rangers fan and gets frustrated when his team struggles, but he said he reminds himself that “we’re all humans.”
The Rangers’ Josh Jung is tagged out at home by Angels catcher Logan O’Hoppe on Friday at Angel Stadium.
(Mark J. Terrill / Ap Photo/mark J. Terrill)
Angels left fielder Wade Meckler, who made his debut on Friday night, is an Orange County native who grew up cheering for the team.
“I mean, I get it,” Meckler said. “It’s a hungry fan base. The fan base is hungry for a winning team. So I understand, you know, being frustrated. They just really want a winning team.”
Meckler has been following the Angels since age 5 and remembers feeling dejected after attending the Angels’ 4-1 home loss to the Royals in Game 2 of the 2014 American League Division Series.
“It’s a super loyal fan base,” Meckler said. “I feel like they show up with energy every day.”
The Angels are on track to miss the postseason for a 12th consecutive season, prompting restless fans to call for new owners who will invest in building a team capable of reaching the playoffs.
“Arte don’t know what he’s talking about,” said Austin Kleschka, an Angels fan who joined Gonzalez at the front of Saturday’s protest. “Winning is a priority. We want that.”
