good

New NBA league in Europe moves a step closer as talks with International Basketball Federation continue.

The NBA’s talks with the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) and other entities about the process of adding a new league in Europe are continuing, the game’s commissioner in the United States said.

Adam Silver noted it may take at least a couple more years to turn the ideas into reality, pinpointing the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028 as a potential “launching pad” for another NBA competition.

He was speaking on Friday – an off day for the NBA Finals – at a league event to unveil a refurbished Boys & Girls Club in Oklahoma City and said it’s difficult to put a specific timeline on the Europe plans.

“I will say it’s measured in years, not months,” Silver said. “So, we’re at least a couple years away from launching.

“It would be an enormous undertaking. And while we want to move forward at a deliberate pace, we also want to make sure that we’re consulting with all the appropriate stakeholders, meaning the existing league, its teams, European players, media companies, marketing partners. There’s a lot of work to be done.”

Silver and FIBA Secretary-General Andreas Zagklis announced in March that the league and the game’s governing body are finally taking long-awaited steps to form a new league, with an initial target of 16 teams.

The idea had been talked about for years, even decades on some levels. Silver revealed that since the NBA and FIBA went public with their idea to move forward, talks have gotten more constructive.

Silver said the NBA has been talking directly with the EuroLeague and with some member clubs about a partnership. It’s his preference that the NBA work with the existing league on some level, though it’s still too early to say exactly what that means.

“Either way, we continue to feel there are an enormous number of underserved basketball fans in Europe and that there’s a strong opportunity to have another league styled after the NBA,” Silver said.

About one in every six current NBA players hails from Europe, including Denver’s Nikola Jokic (Serbia) and Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo (Greece) – who have combined for five of the last seven MVP awards – along with the Los Angeles Lakers’ Luka Doncic (Slovenia) and San Antonio’s Victor Wembanyama (France).

The NBA’s board of governors will talk more about next steps with the European plans in July, at their scheduled meeting in Las Vegas, Silver said. It’s possible that the European venture could be unveiled in some way – or possibly start – around the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, given how much attention will be on international basketball at that time.

“That might be a good launching pad for an announcement around a new competition,” Silver said.

Some of the cities that are expected to have interest in being part of the new venture include London, Manchester, Rome and Munich. There will be others, of course.

“We haven’t had direct conversations yet,” Silver said. “But there have been several organisations that have come forward and said they would be interested and potential owners in operating in those major markets in Europe.”

Hi, and welcome to another edition of Dodgers Dugout. My name is Houston Mitchell. Congratulations to my granddaughter, Riley, for graduating from the fifth grade this week and moving on to, gulp, middle school (or as they called it when I was a kid, junior high. That was back when we had to walk to school every day. Barefoot. In the snow. Uphill both ways. Fighting off dinosaurs. Kids today have it so easy).

Competition

We could talk about Max Muncy or Michael Conforto or Tanner Scott again, but let’s give them a break this edition and focus on something else.

The Dodgers are 38-25, on pace for 98 wins. But who have they built their record against? Let’s take a look.

vs. teams with a winning record (.500 or better)
Chicago Cubs, 3-4
Cleveland, 2-1
Detroit, 3-0
NY Mets, 3-4
NY Yankees, 2-1
Philadelphia, 1-2
Total, 14-12, .538

vs. teams with a losing record
Angels, 0-3
Arizona, 4-3
Athletics, 2-1
Atlanta, 5-1
Colorado, 3-0
Miami, 5-1
Pittsburgh, 2-1
Texas, 2-1
Washington, 1-2
Total, 24-13, .649

They have done well against both. They project out to 87 wins if they played a full schedule against winning teams, and 105 wins against teams with a losing record. About what you would expect from a team that could win the World Series. Last year, they went 51-41 (.554) against teams with a winning record, 47-23 (.671) against teams with a losing record. So, they aren’t doing as well as they did last year.

But here’s some good news for the Dodgers. If you look at their remaining schedule, the Dodgers have the second-easiest schedule the rest of the way among the 30 teams in baseball.

The easiest schedules the rest of the way. List number is the combined current winning percentage of the rest of the teams on their schedule:

1. Houston (no relation), .467
2. Dodgers, .484
3. San Francisco, .485
4. Arizona, .485
5. Cleveland, .488

Of course, two other NL West teams are also in the top five.

The teams with the most difficult schedule:

1. Chicago White Sox, .527
2. Cincinnati, .521
3. Colorado, .515
4. Miami, .514
5. Boston, .512

The Padres are in 14th place at .502.

Having the easiest schedule doesn’t guarantee anything of course, but it’s better than having the toughest schedule.

And here’s the weird things about this season: The Dodgers haven’t played the Padres or Giants yet. And the Padres and Giants have played each other only four times.

The NL West will come down to who can win the most games among the Dodgers-Padres, Dodgers-Giants and Padres-Giants. The Dodgers play the Padres 13 times (first game is Monday at San Diego) and they play the Giants 13 times. If the Dodgers can go 8-5 or better against both, then it gives them an enormous advantage in winning the division. A losing record puts them at a disadvantage.

The Dodgers last play the Padres on Aug. 24. They don’t play them at all in September! I’m sorry, that’s just bad scheduling on the part of MLB. They play the Giants for the final time on Sept. 21. They close the season against Seattle! Again, just bad scheduling. MLB needs to have enough vision to see how the division races are probably going to play out and the final six games of the season should have been against the Padres and Giants. It’s little things like this where MLB hurts itself. They don’t see the little things that are important to fans of any team. It’s like going to a great restaurant with the best food, but they forget to give you silverware and the plates are chipped. It makes the main product less appealing.

By the way, last season after 63 games, the Dodgers were….. 38-25, the same record they have this season. They had a seven-game lead in the West.

Tyler Glasnow update

Bad news for those awaiting the return of Tyler Glasnow. A week after throwing his first bullpen session since going on the injured list in April with shoulder inflammation, he has been feeling “general body discomfort,” Dave Roberts said.

“There was one ‘pen, and then [his] body didn’t respond,” Roberts said. “So we’re trying to figure out when we can ramp him back up.”

If you’re like me, when you hear the phrase “general body discomfort,” you immediately think of former Dodgers outfielder Mike Marshall, who might have missed more games with “general soreness” than any player in history.

Top 10 shortstops

We begin our “Top 10” series with shortstops. Who are the top 10 shortstops in Dodgers history? First, my picks, then who readers picked. Numberslisted are with the Dodgers only. Gold Gloves are also listed, but keep in mind Gold Gloves were first awarded in 1957. Click on the player name to be taken to his full stat page at baseball-reference.com.

1. Pee Wee Reese (1940-42, 1946-58, .269/.366/.377, 68.4 WAR, 99 OPS+, 10-time All Star)

Reese is the clear No. 1 shortstop in Dodgers history and a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame. He also finished ninth the last time we did reader voting for the greatest Dodgers of all time.

Harold Henry Reese was born on July 23, 1918, in Meade County, Ky. When he turned 21, he was 5 feet 6 and 160 pounds, but he was called “Pee Wee” long before that. Not because of his size, because of his other hobby other than baseball: marbles. He won a couple of pee wee marbles competitions in Kentucky, so people started calling him Pee Wee.

After graduating from high school, Reese, who played in only five baseball games in his senior year, didn’t seem headed for Major League fame. He took a job as a cable splicer for a telephone company. He often said that climbing all those poles made him much stronger physically and helped him reach the majors.

Reese led his semipro team to the Louisville city championship in 1937 and signed with the minor league Louisville Colonels. He did so well there that Boston Red Sox owner Tom Yawkey bought the Colonels in 1938 in order to secure the rights to Reese. One problem: the Red Sox were led by Joe Cronin, one of the best shortstops around. Cronin did not want to move from short to make room for Reese, so Yawkey decided midway through the 1939 season to sell Reese’s contract to the Brooklyn Dodgers for $35,000 and two players, Red Evans and Art Parks, neither of whom ever played for the Red Sox, so it was quite a good deal for the Dodgers.

Reese made it to the majors in 1940 and was a great fielder, but only an average hitter for three seasons before he spent three years in the Navy with the construction battalion. He returned to the Dodgers for the 1946 season and was a much better hitter, batting .284 with 87 walks.

In spring training of 1947, a few Dodgers signed a petition that threatened a players’ boycott if Jackie Robinson joined the team. When it came time for Reese to sign, he refused, later saying, “If he’s man enough to take my job, I’m not gonna like it, but, Black or white, he deserves it.”

Reese died on Aug. 14, 1999. He was 81.

At his funeral, Joe Black, one of the first Black pitchers in the majors and a former teammate of Reese, said: “Pee Wee helped make my boyhood dream come true to play in the majors, the World Series. When Pee Wee reached out to Jackie, all of us in the Negro League smiled and said it was the first time that a white guy had accepted us. When I finally got up to Brooklyn, I went to Pee Wee and said, ‘Black people love you. When you touched Jackie, you touched all of us.’ With Pee Wee, it was No. 1 on his uniform and No. 1 in our hearts.”

2. Maury Wills (1959-66, 1969-72, .281/.330/.331, 32.1 WAR, 87 OPS+, 1 MVP award, 2 Gold Gloves, 6-time All Star).

Wills made the stolen base popular again. In 1960, his first full season as the Dodgers’ shortstop, Wills led the league with 50 stolen bases, becoming the first National League player to steal 50 since Max Carey stole 51 in 1923. Wills stole more bases by himself than three NL teams did.

1961 was a bit of a down year as he stole only 35, which was still more than the entire Pittsburgh Pirates team (29).

1962 was his year though. Wills broke Ty Cobb‘s 47-year-old record by stealing 104 bases and was named NL most valuable player. He stole more bases than every other NL team.

In 1965, he stole 94 bases, more than every other team except the St. Louis Cardinals, who stole 100.

So you could say that Wills is the Babe Ruth of base stealing. He definitely should be in the Hall of Fame.

By the way, in the year Wills stole 104 bases, he was caught only 13 times. After the season, Wills said, “Do I think I’ll ever steal 104 bases again? No, I can’t believe I did it now. I don’t see how I can ever come close again. The physical beating I took is more than I want to endure.”

Wills died on Sept. 19, 2022, surrounded by family. He was 89.

A year before he died, Wills answered question from readers of this newsletter. You can read that here. Wills finished 11th in the “all-time greatest Dodgers” voting. You can read that here.

3. Bill Russell (1969-86, .263/.310/.338, 31.3 WAR, 83 OPS+, 3-time All Star)

Russell was an outfielder his first three seasons before moving to short to replace Wills. Russell was the shortstop on four Dodgers World Series teams, winning one (1981). He played more games than anyone in L.A. history and, though Russell was often criticized for his fielding, Tommy John said Russell was the best shortstop he ever played with.

Russell wasn’t flashy and seldom drew headlines. He was considered one of the best clutch hitters on the team, a reputation cemented during the 1978 postseason, when he hit .412 in the NLCS, including the walk-off hit in the pennant-clinching game against the Phillies (you can watch that here) and .423 in the World Series.

4. Corey Seager (2015-21, .297/.367/.504, 20.9 WAR, 131 OPS+, Rookie of the Year, 2-time All Star)

Russell beats out Seager because of his longevity with the Dodgers, but if you want to move Seager up to third, you could. He was selected in the first round of the 2012 draft and made the Dodgers in September 2015. He hit .337 in 27 games and was the starting shortstop in the postseason, winning the job from Jimmy Rollins. In 2016, he was named Rookie of the Year and finished third in MVP voting. He had another solid year in 2017, which was also the last time he made the All-Star team as a Dodger. He missed almost all of the 2018 season after having Tommy John surgery (yes, sometimes non-pitchers need it). He led the NL in doubles in 2019 with 44. 2020 was a great year, as he hit .307/.358/.585 in the COVID-shortened season, then was named MVP of the NLCS and World Series. He left the Dodgers as a free agent after 2021, rejecting the Dodgers’ eight-year, $250-million offer for a 10-year, $325-million offer from Texas.

5. Rafael Furcal (2006-11, .283/.351/.406, 15.7 WAR, 100 OPS+, 1-time All Star)

Furcal was signed as a free agent before the 2006 season and helped the Dodgers improve from 71-91 in 2005 to 88-74 and a postseason berth in 2006, finishing 14th in MVP voting. He was a significant upgrade offensively from César Izturis, who remained as his backup. He had a serious back injury that sidelined him for most of the 2008 season, but returned for the postseason. He may have regretted that after setting a dubious record: most errors in one inning in an NLCS game, in the fifth inning of Game 5. He had an off season in 2009, but hit .300 and made the All-Star team in 2010 before injuries limited him to 37 games in 2011. He left as a free agent after that season.

6. Bill Dahlen (1900-03, 1910-11, .266/.354/.357, 20.6 WAR, 123 OPS+)

The further back you go, the harder it is to judge players. But Dahlen belongs in the top 10 somewhere, and I’m placing him sixth.

William Frederick Dahlen was born in Nelliston, N.Y. on Jan. 5, 1870. He played for the National League’s Chicago Colts from 1891-98, where he became one of the best players of the fledgling league, but was also known for his temper. He was ejected from 10 games in 1898 and was arrested in the offseason for killing a mule that belonged to a farmer. That was enough for the Colts, who traded him to Baltimore, which also owned the team in Brooklyn. He was transferred from Baltimore to Brooklyn, as the ownership group wanted to congregate their best players on one team (one of the reasons you can’t own more than one team now).

What he did for the then-Brooklyn Superbas was make them consistent winners. They had a winning record each season he was with the team, the first time they had a winning record for four seasons in a row. He was a big RBI man, probably would have won four Gold Gloves and stole bases. But, he continued to get thrown out of games and broke curfew constantly. Team owner Charles Ebbets had enough and traded him to the New York Giants. “In the first place, Dahlen, while a great player, never was an observer of discipline. He looked upon rules from the standpoint that they were made only to be broken, and while this has in no way affected his playing ability, still the injury to the team in a disciplinary way has been great.” That was his pattern as a player. The team owners and managers recognized his greatness on the field, but didn’t care for him much off the field. He died in Brooklyn in 1950 and lies in an unmarked grave in Brooklyn’s Cemetery of the Evergreens. He fell one vote shy of making the Hall of Fame in a Veterans Committee vote in 2013, and hasn’t come close since. You can read more about Dahlen here.

7. Hanley Ramirez (2012-14, .299/.368/.506, 9.7 WAR, 144 OPS+)

Ramirez was the best pure hitter the Dodgers have had at short.

The Dodgers acquired Ramirez from Miami on July 25, 2012 for Nathan Eovaldi and Scott McGough. He tripled in his first at bat. He had double-digit homers each season with the team and in 2013 hit .345/.402/.638 with 20 homers in 86 games. Which points to his big drawback: injuries. He played in the World Baseball Classic before the 2013 season and tore a ligament in his thumb diving for a ball. He started playing for the Dodgers on April 29, and three days later strained a hamstring while running. He came off the IL on June 4, and, probably not coincidentally, the Dodgers went on a 46-10 run and ended up winning the division. He finished eighth in MVP voting despite playing in barely half the games.

Then came the pitch many Dodgers fans won’t forget. The Dodgers were one of the favorites to win the 2013 World Series, and defeated Atlanta in four games in the NLDS. In Game 1 of the NLCS, Ramirez was drilled in the ribs with a fastball thrown by….. future fan favorite Joe Kelly. Two ribs were broken. Ramirez wore a protective vest the rest of the series and went two for 15 as the Dodgers lost to the St. Louis Cardinals in six games. Did Kelly throw at Ramirez on purpose? In an interview for this newsletter, Kelly said “Hanley Ramirez probably should have gotten out of the way or turned inside a little more.”

More injuries hampered Ramirez in 2014 and he became more of a defensive liability at short. He left as a free agent, signing with Boston, which moved him to left field.

8. Ivy Olson (1915-24, .261/.295/.325. 4/5 WAR, 74 OPS+)

Why is Olson on the list? Brooklyn made the World Series its first two times with Olson at short, and he was a big reason why.

Ivan Massie Olson was born Oct. 14, 1885, in Kansas City, Mo. He went to the same school as Casey Stengel, who described Olson in Robert Creamer’s book “Stengel,” as a bully in school. His toughness was a big reason he made it to the majors, as he hit only .225 in the minors, but the game was much different then. Players slid into second with their spikes high (and sometimes even sharpened). You needed a middle infielder who could retaliate, and word quickly spread that if you slid in spikes high on Olson, he’d tag you hard, with the ball, right on your nose.

Or, as the New York Times wrote in a game recap (as recounted on SABR.org): Rabbit Maranville tried to knock the ball out of Olson’s glove in a play at third, but Olson resented this, and promptly began to bang Maranville on the shins with the ball. This was the signal for the real fun, Maranville’s punch for the head missing its mark but striking Ivan on the knee. Then Ivan’s return sweep whizzed past the Rabbit’s head. Umpire Cy Rigler, who had followed the play to third, then jumped after Olson, grabbing him about the neck and pulling him away, while half a dozen ball players made a circle around Maranville. Both men wanted to continue, but Rigler evidently figured out that the gate was too small and that the 800 fans had had enough for their money.”

He played for Cleveland, then the Reds, who released him in the 1915 season. He was picked up by the Dodgers and hit .077 in 18 games.

The Robins made the World Series for the first time in 1916, and manager Wilbert Robinson gave much of the credit to Olson, saying he brought much-needed toughness and togetherness to the team. They made the World Series again in 2020. He was the Kirk Gibson of his day. One hundred years from now, someone writing the Dodgers newsletter will look at Gibson’s numbers in 1988 and wonder how he won MVP. Occasionally, there are players who transcend their numbers. For the Brooklyn Robins, Ivy Olson was that player. You can read more about Olson here.

9. César Izturis (2002-06, .260/.296/.336, 3.7 WAR, 65 OPS+, 1 Gold Glove, 1-time All Star)

The best fielding Dodger shortstop, by far, since Maury Wills. Izturis was acquired along with pitcher Paul Quantrill from Toronto for Luke Prokopec and Chad Ricketts before the 2002 season. Izturis’ big problem was he couldn’t hit, drew almost no walks and had little power. But his glove made up for a lot of that. His best season was easily 2004, when he hit .288 with 32 doubles, 62 RBIs and 25 steals, He also won the Gold Glove award that year, the last Dodger shortstop to win a Gold Glove.

He got off to a hot start in 2005, hitting .348 through the end of May and remained hot enough to earn his only All-Star berth. But he injured his elbow and had season-ending Tommy John surgery. The Dodgers acquired Rafael Furcal in the offseason, and when Izturis returned in 2006, he was a backup. He was traded July 31, 2006 to the Chicago Cubs for Greg Maddux. He remained in the majors until 2013, almost entirely because he was such a great fielder.

If you saw Izturis play at Dodger Stadium, he seemed to make at least one play every game that was superhuman. Going deep into the hole and throwing a missile to first. A diving stop behind second. He was always positioned perfectly. He was a wonder to watch.

Izturis is currently the bench coach for the Tijuana Toros in the Mexican League. His son, Cesar Daniel Izturis, was in the Seattle organization for a while and currently plays for Durango in the Mexican League.

10. Don Zimmer (1954-59, 1963, .228/.286/.366, -0.1 WAR, 69 OPS+)

Really, once you get past Nos. 5 or 6 on this list, the rankings become interchangeable. There are a few guys I considered for the final spot, but settled on Zimmer, a member of the 1955 and 1959 World Series champion Dodgers.

Zimmer became much more famous as a manager and as the guy Pedro Martinez tossed to the ground during a Yankees-Red Sox on-field melee.

Zimmer was signed for $2,500 out of Cincinnati’s Western Hills High in 1949. He slowly moved up the minors before his career, and life, almost came to an end on July 7, 1953. Playing for triple-A St. Paul at Columbus, he was hit in the head by a fastball thrown by Jim Kirk. His skull was fractured and he laid unconscious in a hospital for 10 days. Three holes were drilled in his skull to reduce the pressure on his brain (those holes were later filled with titanium plugs). He recovered and returned home after spending a month in the hospital. He returned to St. Paul for the start of the 1954 season, as his path to the majors was blocked by Pee Wee Reese. He hit .291 with 17 homers at St. Paul and was called up to the Dodgers when Reese was injured in July. He played OK for a couple of weeks and, when Reese returned, was given the option of riding the bench in Brooklyn or returning to St. Paul. He chose Brooklyn, but rarely played the rest of the season.

Zimmer remained the backup to Reese during the 1955 season after having a great spring training. Manager Walter Alston wanted to find a way to keep Zimmer’s bat in the lineup, so he asked if he had any experience playing second base. Zimmer, who had never played second base before, said “Yes.” So Zimmer became the backup at short and second, playing enough to hit 15 homers with 50 RBIs in 88 games. He appeared in four of the seven World Series games as the Dodgers won the title for the first time.

In 1956, Zimmer was again Reese’s backup, with his season ending when he suffered a broken cheekbone when hit in the face with a pitch by Hal Jeffcoat.

It took until 1958, the year the Dodgers started playing in L.A., for Zimmer to win the starting shortstop job. Reese, who had aged out of the shortstop role, moved to third base. Zimmer had his best season, hitting .262 with 17 homers and 60 RBIs.

But it was just one season of glory, as he lost the job to a newcomer named Maury Wills in 1959. Zimmer hit .169 in the season and appeared in only one World Series game as the Dodgers beat the Chicago White Sox.

Zimmer was traded to the Chicago Cubs before the 1960 season for Johnny Goryl, Lee Handley and Ron Perranoski.

He eventually made his way to the Reds, who traded him on Jan. 24, 1963 to the Dodgers in order to make room for a promising rookie to make the team: Pete Rose. He spent a few weeks with the Dodgers before he was traded to the Washington Senators.

Zimmer died on June 4, 2014 in Dunedin, Fla. He was 83.

Honorable mention: Dave Anderson, Mariano Duncan, Leo Durocher, Lonny Frey, Alfredo Griffin, Miguel Rojas, Trea Turner, Glenn Wright.

Note: Players will be listed at the position where they played the most games.

The readers’ results

The results from the top 10 shortstops lists that you sent in. I assigned points based on where a person was ranked. First place got 12 points, second place nine, all the way down to one point for 10th place. There were 572 ballots.

1. Pee Wee Reese, 423 first-place votes, 5,982 points

2. Maury Wills, 115 first-place votes, 4,857 points

3. Bill Russell, 3,670 points

4. Corey Seager, 33 first-place votes, 3,579 points

5. Rafael Furcal, 1,901 points

6. Hanley Ramirez, 767 points

7. Trea Turner, 1 first-place vote, 713 points

8. César Izturis, 689 points

9. Bill Dahlen, 674 points

10. Alfredo Griffin, 571 points.

In all, 30 players received votes, not counting votes given to players who didn’t play short, such as Ron Fairly and Ron Cey.

Top 10 catchers

Up next: Catcher. Who are your top 10 Dodgers catcher of all time (including Brooklyn)? Email your list [email protected] and let me know. and l will compile the results to be revealed soon.

Up next

Friday: Dodgers (TBD) at St. Louis (Sonny Gray, 6-1, 3.65 ERA), 5:15 p.m., Sportsnet LA, AM 570, KTNQ 1020

Saturday: Dodgers (Yoshinobu Yamamoto, 6-4, 2.39 ERA) at St. Louis (Erick Fedde, 3-5, 3.82 ERA), 11:15 a.m., Sportsnet LA, AM 570, KTNQ 1020

Sunday: Dodgers (Dustin May, 3-4, 4.09 ERA) at St. Louis (TBD), 11:15 a.m., Sportsnet LA, AM 570, KTNQ 1020

*-left-hander

In case you missed it

Will Dodgers’ pitchers ever get healthy? How the team is tackling its biggest problem

Shohei Ohtani thought he was ‘in trouble’ before Dave Roberts gifted him a toy Porsche

Hernández: Can Clayton Kershaw contribute to Dodgers’ title chase? ‘I’m gonna bet on him’

Shigeo Nagashima, Japanese baseball legend with ties to the Dodgers, dies at 89

Dodgers star Freddie Freeman’s family appreciated kind gesture from slain Baldwin Park officer

‘It’s costing us.’ Tanner Scott’s brutal season continues in Dodgers’ loss to Mets

Dodgers reviewing stadium safety after hunk of concrete reportedly falls on Yankees fan

Dodgers injuries: Mookie Betts nears return, but Tyler Glasnow’s body ‘not responding’

And finally

A look back at the 1981 World Series champion Dodgers. Watch and listen here.

Until next time…

Have a comment or something you’d like to see in a future Dodgers newsletter? Email me at [email protected], and follow me on Twitter at @latimeshouston. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.

REFORM was plunged into a chaotic civil war last night after its chairman Zia Yusuf announced he’s quitting the party.

Mr Yusuf announced on social media that after 11 months in the job “I no longer believe working to get a Reform government elected is a good use of my time”.

3

3

Insiders said that the chairman had felt “shafted” into running the party’s DOGE efficiency unit, aimed at slashing waste in local authorities.

He also earlier on Thursday clashed with Reform’s newest MP, Sarah Pochin, over the idea of a burqa ban.

Mr Yusuf said: “Eleven months ago I became Chairman of Reform.

“I’ve worked full time as a volunteer to take the party from 14 to 30 per cent, quadrupled its membership and delivered historic electoral results.

“I no longer believe working to get a Reform government elected is a good use of my time, and hereby resign the office.”

Mr Yusuf was seen as a rising star in the party and close ally of Nigel Farage.

While not an MP, the entrepreneur fronted several of the parties press conferences.

He worked as chairman in a voluntary capacity.

Cracks in Mr Yusuf’s relationship with the wider Reform party started show months ago – but a major row over banning face coverings brought simmering tensions to boiling point.

Responding to Ms Pochin’s demand for a burqa ban, Mr Yusuf blasted: “Nothing to do with me.

“I do think it’s dumb for a party to ask the PM if they would do something party itself wouldn’t do.”

The comment contradicted strong statements in favour of a ban from Deputy Leader Richard Tice and whip Lee Anderson.

Reform is riding high in the polls but behind the scenes, it’s been no stranger to bloodletting.

Earlier this year, a brutal row saw MP Rupert Lowe suspended after Mr Yusuf reported him to police for alleged threats and bullying – claims later dropped by prosecutors.

Mr Lowe denied everything, accused party bosses of smearing him with “vexatious” claims, and said Mr Farage had stabbed him in the back for daring to push internal reforms.

Ben Habib, former deputy leader, backed him and blasted Mr Yusuf’s handling of the row, accusing Mr Farage of running Reform like a dictatorship.

The chairman’s resignation is just the latest bust-up in a long line of power struggles under Mr Farage’s watch, echoing the UKIP years when infighting over Islam, immigration and leadership led to splinter groups and walkouts.

This comes after Farage earlier this week blasted “net stupid zero” for obliterating the UK’s oil industry, ahead of a showdown Scottish by-election on tomorrow.

The Reform chief drew battle lines against the SNP as he warned Scotland is “literally de-industrialising before our eyes”.

In Aberdeen Mr Farage slammed the nats, led by First Minister John Swinney, for sacrificing an entire industry and thousands of jobs at the alter of green diktats.

He claimed neighbouring Norway is “laughing” as it watches ministers import Scandinavian fossil fuels while dismantling local industry.

Against the shouts of protesters, at a posh fish and chips restaurant the Reform leader said: “We can con ourselves as much as we like.

“There will be more coal burned this year than ever before in the history of human kind. The same applies to oil and gas.

“Even the most adren proponent of net zero has to accept the world will still be using oil and gas up until 2050 and beyond. 

“And yet we’ve decided to sacrifice this industry as a consensus around Net Zero has emerged.”

Mr Farage added that the fight to save oil and gas is “almost the next Brexit“.

He said: “Believe me, the scales are falling from the eyes of the public when it comes to Net Zero.

“They realise we are putting upon ourselves a massive cost, let alone the opportunity cost of what we’re missing…

“When we closed down refineries.. and steelworks… all we’re doing is exporting the emissions of CO2 with the goods then being shipped back to us.

“The public are waking up to this.”

It comes ahead of a Hoylrood by-election in Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse on Thursday, described by Reform Deputy Leader Richard Tice as an “absolute cat fight” with the SNP and Labour.

Mr Farage acknowledged it would be an “earthquake” level shock if Reform’s candidate wins the seat.

But activists have reported being surprised at levels of support on the doorstep.

Mr Farage insisted the Reform “can replicate success in Scotland”.

3

More to follow… For the latest news on this story keep checking back at The Sun Online

Thesun.co.uk is your go-to destination for the best celebrity news, real-life stories, jaw-dropping pictures and must-see video.

Like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/thesun and follow us from our main Twitter account at @TheSun.

Matera in southern Italy, is known as a “Second Bethlehem” and is home to a World Heritage Site. It’s one of the most authentic Italian places to visit

An often-overlooked city, hailed as a “Second Bethlehem” and boasting a World Heritage Site, offers a tranquil exploration free from the hustle of crowds. Nestled in the heart of southern Italy’s Basilicata region, this city’s unique layout unveils a treasure trove of hidden gems.

It has earned acclaim as one of the most genuine Italian destinations to experience. Matera stands as possibly one of the world’s oldest continuously inhabited settlements, with a history of habitation stretching back to the Paleolithic era, around the 10th millennium BC. Remarkably, pottery vessels unearthed from the Early Neolithic period have been discovered within local caves.

READ MORE: Luxury hotel offering Elemis spa treatment with a free £101 beauty gift

Matera is adorned with ancient cave dwellings, stunning churches, piazzas, and meandering alleyways lined with cobblestones. Atop its central high ground – the acropolis – rests the majestic city cathedral and various administrative edifices, collectively known as Civita.

Descending from there, residential areas cascade down cliffs and tunnel into the rock faces, forming the iconic Sassi di Matera.

The Sassi district was honoured with World Heritage Site status in December 1993, which has significantly boosted tourism and spurred the restoration of the area. In recognition of its cultural significance, it was named the European Capital of Culture for 2019.

Perched at an elevation of 380 metres, the city’s 12 layers are interlinked by an intricate network of pathways, staircases, and courtyards.

Thought to be amongst the earliest human settlements in present-day Italy, the cave dwellings of Matera encapsulate a unique architectural concept known as “architecture in negative”. Here, instead of erecting structures, ancient settlers carved into rock to shape their homes.

Inhabited continuously until the 20th century, these houses were eventually vacated when deemed unsuitable for living; with the government moving the last residents to new homes from 1952 through the 1970s.

To witness life as it once was, a trip to the preserved Casalnuovo House Cave offers a window to the past.

The city also boasts an impressive array of Christian heritage buildings, including numerous rupestrian churches hewn directly from the local calcarenite stone.

The Crypt of the Original Sin is particularly noteworthy, presenting ancient Biblical frescoes and earning its moniker as “the Sistine Chapel of rock churches” due to its magnificence.

Matera’s bustling outdoor markets are a trove of homemade products. Next to Piazza V Veneto, one can find the daily fruit and vegetable market, and local eateries offer regional specialities like the signature bread crafted from Basilicata durum wheat – a key ingredient in the famous cialledda salad, served hot or cold.

Today, Matera stands as one of southern Italy’s burgeoning regions for business expansion, reports the Express.

Murgia Materana Park, situated just beyond the cliffside town, is renowned for its gorges, caves, rock churches and natural beauty. Established in 1990, it’s believed to showcase the ancient bond between humans and nature in southern Italy.

Spanning 7,000 hectares – or 27 square miles – the park houses 1,200 botanical species along with porcupines, wild boar, wild cats, lanner falcons, Egyptian vultures and the Lesser Kestrel, which is the emblem of the park.

The park also boasts over 150 rock churches, including San Leonardo, San Giacomo and Cappuccino Vecchio. Most were constructed during the early Middle Ages, at the crossroads of Greek Byzantine culture and the Latin world.

Besides serving as places of worship, they were also utilised as dwellings and animal shelters when necessary.

A SAVINGS-savvy homeowner shared impressive before-and-after snaps of her kitchen after nabbing a Temu bargain.

Tracy Davies rid herself of her unsightly tiles with a handy £12 fix.

3

3

Using peel-and-stick tiles from the bargain website, she completely transformed the space.

“From painted tiles which I absolutely hated to stick on times from Temu,” she wrote on the DIY On a Budget Official Facebook page.

“A massive improvement,” she added.

Tracy’s bog-standard white square tiles have been covered with large, marble-style tile stickers, which give the kitchen a modern feel.

Fellow home hackers were shocked by the difference the simple solution made.

“Would love to do this, looks lovely,” one wrote.

“These look great, I’m going to look into getting these,” another said.

“I also used the stick on tiles to cover up ugly tiles in my kitchen,” a third wrote.

The good news is that the stickers are easy to apply, and no grout is needed.

If you want to give your kitchen or bathroom some TLC, Temu offers a huge variety of stick on tiles in different colours and styles.

Amazon, Dunelm and B&Q also sell packs of tile stickers.

The tiles on Amazon range from £8 to £20, while at Dunelm prices start from £18.

It’s not just stick-on tiles that have home fixers jumping for joy – there are even self-adhesive wood panels to add a little extra style to any room.

Betty, a content creator from the UK who is currently renovating her home, used dado rails to panel her hallway – and it left many open-mouthed.

But while many were stunned and thought the DIY project was incredibly “impressive”, others thought it made Betty’s home look “dated”. 

Alongside her short social media clip, the brunette, who often shares beginner-friendly DIY tips and tricks online, beamed: “This is your sign to panel your hallway.”

She then added: “If you’re going to make one update to your hallway for maximum impact then let it be this! 

“This has to be the panelling project that I’m most proud of (mainly because I finally tackled those angles).”

Betty claimed that “preparation is key” when it comes to panelling, as she pre-marked each location to ensure it looked neat once complete. 

She later revealed that she got the dado rails as part of a traditional stair panelling kit from Roomix. 

As well as adding panelling to her hallway, which Betty coated in Dulux Egyptian Cotton paint, she also painted the top of her walls in the shade White Mist from Dulux. 

3

EastEnders fans are over the moon as spoilers reveal a ‘return’ for one missing Walford resident next week

Spoilers for next week’s EastEnders tease plenty of drama to come including a return for one ‘missing’ resident. There’s trouble in paradise for a number of couples next week, as Kat and Alfie face wedding day drama. But will the day go ahead?

The BBC soap have also confirmed a rocky patch for George and Elaine as Elaine learns where her husband really was on Christmas night. The final couple confirmed to be having trouble are Patrick and Yolande Trueman (Angela Wynter). Although fans are gutted the two are having marriage troubles, they’re also overjoyed that Patrick will be making his return.

Patrick Trueman (Rudolph Walker) has been notably absent from the soap lately, although his partner Yolande has been seen in a number of storylines. She’s been a big support to Nigel Bates who has been suffering from dementia.

However, next week, the soap has confirmed Patrick will be back onscreen, but it’s not good news for him or Yolande, as she confides in Denise about their struggles. It all starts off next week with Patrick refusing to give Yolande a massage – but things quickly escalate when she raises her concerns with Denise.

She opens up about the state of her relationship with Patrick, as she fears things will never be the same between them – but will they be able to get on track?

Taking to X, formerly known as Twitter upon seeing the spoilers, one fan wrote: “Patrick and Yolande are back next week I prayed for their return!”

Patrick and Yolande tied the knot in 2004, however, things came crashing down five years later when they got divorced. The pair rekindled once again in 2023 after Yolande returned to Walford from Birmingham.

The couple recently won a British Soap Award for Best On-Screen Partnership. The soap scooped up eight awards on the night, including Best British Soap, Best Single Episode and Scene of the Year for Angie Watts’ surprise return.

On the night, fans claimed there was an apparent mixed reaction to Rudolph and Angela’s win. However, fellow star Colin Salmon has now had his say on the incident.

Colin, who plays the role of George Knight in the long-running soap, voiced his opinion on X/ Twitter. Trying to explain exactly what had happened, he said: “Just want to clarify; No one was booing Rudi and Angela at the@SoapAwards we were singing RUUUDI , RUUUDI , RUUUDI. “

He added the interaction had “obviously confused some people”. “Appreciate some were concerned, as we should be, but it’s all good,” he added before signing off: “‘#NoDrama#WeLovePatrickandYolande @bbceastenders.”

EastEnders airs Mondays to Thursdays at 7:30pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.

* Follow Mirror Celebs and TV on TikTok , Snapchat , Instagram ,Twitter ,Facebook ,YouTube and Threads .

From Tim Willert: UCLA‘s run at the Women’s College World Series ended Sunday, two innings after Bruins slugger Megan Grant extended it.

Laura Mealer‘s bases-loaded, walk-off single to right field in the bottom of the ninth propelled Tennessee to a 5-4 win and a semifinal meeting with Texas at 9 a.m. PDT Monday.

The Volunteers (47-16) did what UCLA couldn’t in the ninth: deliver with the bases loaded. The Bruins got singles from Savannah Pola and Jordan Woolery followed by an intentional walk to Grant. But Alexis Ramirez grounded out to first to end the inning.

Taylor Pannell hit a deep fly to left field to lead off Tennessee’s half of the ninth, a ball that caromed off Rylee Slimp’s glove and hit the white padding on the top of the wall but didn’t leave the field. The play was reviewed and ruled a double.

Mealer, who knocked in two runs in the first inning to give the Volunteers an early 2-0 lead, delivered again, this time on a 2-2 pitch from Taylor Tinsley, who came on in relief of UCLA starter Kaitlyn Terry.

“Just a great battle to the end,” UCLA coach Kelly Inouye-Perez said. “I could not be more proud. Period. Just the ability for us to be able to fight, the ability for us to come back, the epic [rally], just down to the last pitch … there’s something about what UCLA softball can do, with your backs against the wall and just rising to the occasion creates some amazing memories.”

Continue reading here

NBA PLAYOFFS RESULTS

All Times Pacific

Conference finals

Western Conference

No. 1 Oklahoma City vs. No. 6 Minnesota
at Oklahoma City 114, Minnesota 88 (box score)
at Oklahoma City 118, Minnesota 103 (box score)
at Minnesota 143, Oklahoma City 101 (box score)
Oklahoma City 128, at Minnesota 126 (box score)
at Oklahoma City 124, Minnesota 94 (box score)

Eastern Conference

No. 3 New York vs. No. 4 Indiana
Indiana 138, at New York 135 (OT) (box score)
Indiana 114, at New York 109 (box score)
New York 106, at Indiana 100 (box score)
at Indiana 130, New York 121 (box score)
at New York 111, Indiana 94 (box score)
at Indiana 125, New York 108 (box score)

NBA FINALS

West No. 1 Oklahoma City vs. Indiana

Thursday at Oklahoma City, 5:30 p.m., ABC
Sunday, June 8 at Oklahoma City, 5 p.m., ABC
Wed., June 11 at Indiana, 5:30 p.m., ABC
Friday, June 13 at Indiana, 5:30 p.m., ABC
Monday, June 16 at Oklahoma City, 5:30 p.m., ABC*
Thursday, June 19 at Indiana, 5:30 p.m., ABC*
Sunday, June 22 at Oklahoma City, 5 p.m., ABC*

*if necessary

DODGERS

From Jack Harris: Dave Roberts downplayed the easy narrative on Sunday afternoon.

“No,” he said when asked if his Dodgers had the New York Yankees’ proverbial number, having followed up their defeat of the Bronx Bombers in last year’s World Series with two impressive wins to start this weekend’s rematch at Dodger Stadium.

“I think we’ve had their number the last two nights,” Roberts said, “but today’s a different day.”

Was it ever.

Twenty-four hours after a total annihilation of the Yankees in a 16-run rout on Saturday, the Dodgers suffered the kind of setback that has so often plagued them this season, squandering the chance to build further momentum in a 7-3 loss that prevented a series sweep.

Continue reading here

Going bananas: Why Savannah Bananas tickets cost more than a Dodgers-Yankees rematch

Hernández: How Japan media track down Ohtani’s home-run balls

Dodgers box score

MLB scores

MLB standings

ANGELS

José Ramírez homered during a three-run fourth inning, Gavin Williams gave up only one hit in 6⅔ innings and the Cleveland Guardians defeated the Angels 4-2 on Sunday.

Ramírez extended Cleveland’s lead to 2-0 when he connected on a slider from Angels starter Jack Kochanowicz (3-7) and put it into the stands in right-center for his team-leading 11th homer to lead off the fourth.

Nolan Jones added a two-run single with the bases loaded for the other runs in the inning as the Guardians took two of three games in the weekend series.

Continue reading here

Angels box score

MLB scores

MLB standings

UCLA BASEBALL

From Benjamin Royer: UCLA baseball is one step closer to earning a trip to Omaha.

The Bruins continued to roll in every facet of the game in the Los Angeles Regional final, scoring early and trusting their bullpen to defeat UC Irvine 8-5 on Sunday night. The Bruins advance to the super regionals of the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2019 and will host the Texas San Antonio at Jackie Robinson Stadium this week.

UTSA defeated Texas 7-4 in the Austin Regional final, taking down the national second-seed Longhorns to advance to its first-ever super regional.

If UCLA beats UTSA, it’ll advance to the College World Series in Omaha for the first time since 2013.

Continue reading here

USC BASEBALL

From Shotgun Spratling: USC baseball wanted to be aggressive knowing it was entering a hostile environment, playing in front of a sold-out crowd of 4,347 at Goss Stadium.

The Trojans tried to set the tone early.

Instead, it backfired, costing them early opportunities, early momentum and ultimately Sunday night’s matchup in a 14-1 loss to Oregon State in the Corvallis Regional final.

USC has a chance for redemption Monday as Oregon State’s win forces a winner-take-all regional final at 3 p.m. PDT (ESPNU).

Continue reading here

UC IRVINE BASEBALL

From Benjamin Royer: In the game early Sunday that advanced UC Irvine to the Sunday night game against UCLA….

Under threat of elimination, UC Irvine‘s bats emerged once again.

Bringing the power for a second straight game, the Anteaters connected for five home runs Sunday, eliminating Arizona State 11-6 in the Los Angeles Regional of the NCAA baseball tournament.

Needing to win four straight games to advance to the super regionals after losing to Arizona State on Friday, UC Irvine is halfway to its goal.

Alonso Reyes — who had just one home run in 2025 entering Sunday’s game — ripped a two-run home run off of Sun Devils starter Derek Schaefer in the fourth inning. Later in the inning, after Arizona State coach Willie Bloomquist went with Lucas Kelly out of the bullpen, Chase Call cleared the batter’s eye in dead center field for a two-run home run to give the Anteaters a 6-1 lead.

Continue reading here

SPARKS

From Anthony De Leon: Sunday’s matchup between the Sparks and Phoenix Mercury felt like déjà vu. When the Sparks faced Phoenix last month, the game ended with a failed Sparks comeback.

In a twist of fate, Sunday’s comeback belonged to Phoenix.

Unable to stay ahead after building an 18-point lead, the Sparks fell 85-80 to the Mercury at Crypto.com Arena for their third consecutive loss.

As with the first meeting, the third quarter proved to be the Sparks’ undoing. After scoring just seven points in the third quarter of their loss to Phoenix on May 21, the Sparks were outscored 24-9 in the third Sunday.

Continue reading here

Sparks box score

WNBA standings

USC-NOTRE DAME POLL

We asked readers of of our Sports Report and USC newsletters: Could a smoother path to the College Football Playoff be worth losing the USC-Notre Dame rivalry?

After 1,154 votes,

Yes, 17.6%
No, 82.4%

NHL PLAYOFFS SCHEDULE, RESULTS

All times Pacific

STANLEY CUP FINALS

P3 Edmonton vs. A3 Florida
Wednesday at Edmonton, 5 p.m., TNT
Friday, June 6 at Edmonton, 5 p.m., TNT
Monday, June 9 at Florida, 5 p.m., TNT
Thursday, June 12 at Florida, 5 p.m., TNT
Saturday, June 14 at Edmonton, 5 p.m., TNT*
Tuesday, June 17 at Florida, 5 p.m., TNT*
Friday, June 20 at Edmonton, 5 p.m., TNT*

* If necessary

THIS DAY IN SPORTS HISTORY

1896 — Hastings, ridden by H. Griffin, edges Handspring by a neck to capture the Belmont Stakes.

1908 — Royal Tourist, ridden by Eddie Dugan, posts a four-length victory over Live Wire in the Preakness Stakes.

1909 — Joe Madden, ridden by Eddie Dugan, wins the Belmont Stakes by eight lengths over Wise Mason.

1935 — French Championships Men’s Tennis: Englishman Fred Perry wins his only French title, beating Gottfried von Cramm of Germany 6-3, 3-6, 6-1, 6-3.

1947 — After a six-year layoff, 13-year-old Honey Cloud wins the second race at Aqueduct. His jockey, Clarence Minner, takes his first ride in 10 years.

1962 — French Championships Women’s Tennis: In an all-Australian final Margaret Smith beats doubles partner Lesley Turner 6-3, 3-6, 7-5.

1971 — European Cup Final, Wembley Stadium, London: Ajax beats Panathinaikos, 2-0; Dutch champions begin 3-year period of domination.

1985 — Nancy Lopez beats Alice Miller by eight strokes to win the LPGA championship.

1991 — Andrettis finish 1-2-3 in the Miller 200 at Wisconsin State Fair Park Speedway in Milwaukee. Mario Andretti finishes third, his son Michael wins the race and his nephew John finished second.

1996 — Annika Sorenstam closes with a 4-under 66 to win her second consecutive U.S. Women’s Open. Sorenstam’s 8-under 272 is the best ever in the Open.

2002 — Annika Sorenstam matches the LPGA record for margin of victory in a 54-hole event while winning the inaugural Kellogg-Keebler Classic. Sorenstam finishes at 21-under 195 to win by 11 strokes.

2005 — Jockey Russell Baze records his 9,000th career victory aboard Queen of the Hunt in the eighth race at Golden Gate Fields.

2007 — Daniel Gibson scores a career-high 31 points as Cleveland beats Detroit 98-82 to advance to the NBA Finals. The Cavaliers are the third team to come back from an 0-2 deficit in a conference finals, joining the 1971 Baltimore Bullets and 1993 Chicago Bulls.

2008 — Pittsburgh outlasts Detroit 4-3 in three overtimes of Game 5 of the Stanley Cup finals. Petr Sykora scores at 9:57 of the third overtime ending the fifth-longest finals game in NHL history.

2011 — Dirk Nowitzki makes the tie-breaking layup with 3.6 seconds left, and the Dallas Mavericks roar back from 15 points down in the fourth quarter to beat the Miami Heat 95-93 and tie the NBA finals at one game apiece. The Mavs outscore the Heat 22-5 down the stretch and pull off the biggest comeback win in an NBA finals since 1992.

2019 — US Open Women’s Golf, CC of Charleston: Lee Jeong-eun of South Korea wins her first major title; beats runners-up Lexi Thompson, Agel Yin and Ryu So-yeon by 2 strokes.

THIS DAY IN BASEBALL HISTORY

1928 — Les Bell of the Boston Braves hit three home runs and a triple at Braves Field, but the Cincinnati Reds came away with a 20-12 triumph.

1928 — The Philadelphia Phillies defeated the St. Louis Cardinals 2-1. All the runs came from three pinch-hit home runs.

1941 — Lou Gehrig died in New York at age 37.

1949 — The Philadelphia Phillies hit five homers in the eighth inning against the Cincinnati Reds. Andy Seminick hit two and Del Ennis, Willie Jones, and Schoolboy Rowe hit one apiece. Seminick had homered earlier in the game.

1959 — The Baltimore Orioles-Chicago White Sox game at Comiskey Park was delayed for nearly half an hour as a swarm of gnats overcame the field. Groundskeepers tried using bug sprays and torches, but the gnats wouldn’t budge. A postgame fireworks display was brought in from center field and a smoke bomb was attached to the framework. The gnats left and the Orioles defeated the White Sox, 3-2.

1990 — Randy Johnson pitched the first no-hitter in the Seattle Mariners’ history as he beat the Detroit Tigers 2-0. The 6-foot-10 left-hander, walked six and struck out eight while pitching the first no-hitter at the Kingdome, which opened for baseball in 1977.

1996 — Houston starter Darryl Kile tied the modern major league record by hitting four batters in a 2-0 loss at St. Louis, and the first to do it in the NL since Moe Drabowsky in 1957.

2000 — Tampa Bay’s Fred McGriff hit his 400th career home run, but the Devil Rays lost to the Mets 5-3.

2000 — Rick Aguilera of the Chicago Cubs became the 13th pitcher with 300 saves in a 2-0 win over Detroit. Aguilera reached the mark in 614 career appearances, third quickest.

2002 — Philadelphia pitcher Robert Person drove in seven runs with a grand slam and a three-run homer in an 18-3 win over Montreal. Person had just come off the disabled list and collected his first win of the season.

2005 — Kansas City completed a sweep of the New York Yankees with a 5-2 victory. The Royals, who have the worst record and second-lowest payroll in the major leagues, finished their first three-game sweep of the Yankees at home in 15 years.

2009 — Dan Uggla of the Marlins became the fastest second baseman to 100 homers in Florida’s 10-3 win over Milwaukee. Uggla’s two-run shot in the bottom of the second came in his 502nd game as a second baseman, beating Alfonso Soriano to 100 by 34 games.

2010 — Ken Griffey Jr. announces his retirement after 22 seasons in the major leagues. Hitting only .184 in part-time duty for the Mariners, he retires with 630 career home runs and six seasons of 40 or more homers. Most of his career was spent with Seattle and the Cincinnati Reds.

2010 — Armando Galarraga of the Detroit Tigers lost his bid for a perfect game with two outs in the ninth inning on a call that first base umpire Jim Joyce later admitted he blew. First baseman Miguel Cabrera cleanly fielded Jason Donald’s grounder to his right and made an accurate throw to Galarraga covering the bag. The ball was there in time, and all of Comerica Park was ready to celebrate the 3-0 win over Cleveland, until Joyce emphatically signaled safe.

2011 — Aubrey Huff hit three home runs and matched his career best with six RBIs and the San Francisco Giants posted a 12-7 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals. Huff hit two-run homers in the fourth and ninth and a solo shot in the seventh.

2015 — In a memorable major league debut, Rangers 3B Joey Gallo hits a two-run homer in his second at-bat on the way to collecting 3 hits and 4 RBIs in leading Texas to a 15-2 beating of the White Sox.

2017 — Clayton Kershaw of the Dodgers records his 2,000th career strikeout.

2018 — Jacob deGrom matches a career high set just two weeks earlier by racking up 13 strikeouts in 7 innings in a start against the Cubs.

Compiled by the Associated Press

Until next time…

That concludes today’s newsletter. If you have any feedback, ideas for improvement or things you’d like to see, email me at [email protected]. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.

On Wednesday evening, the world’s wealthiest man announced that his sojourn in the nation’s capital is almost over. “As my scheduled time as a Special Government Employee comes to an end, I would like to thank President @realDonaldTrump for the opportunity to reduce wasteful spending,” Elon Musk posted to X, the social media platform he owns.

While Musk was quick to add that the White House’s Department of Government Efficiency mission “will only strengthen over time as it becomes a way of life throughout the government,” his departure will represent the effective end of DOGE as we know it. As the Wall Street Journal reported, “much of DOGE’s work will shift to the White House Office of Management and Budget,” which is headed by Russell Vought.

The DOGE team claims it identified about $175 billion in total savings. Given the federal government spent $6.75 trillion in fiscal 2024 alone, that may seem like a mere drop in the bucket. And given that Musk himself once vowed to identify taxpayer savings in the trillions of dollars — albeit without much of a timeline attached to that pronouncement — it certainly is a bit disappointing.

But consider some of the specific outrageous spending outlays identified by Musk’s team as ripe for the cutting board, such as $382 million from alleged fraudulent unemployment benefits (as the Department of Labor had previously flagged) and astonishing extravagance on the foreign stage — for instance, $2 million to an organization in Guatemala advocating gender-affirming healthcare and $20 million to a “Sesame Street”-inspired early childhood initiative in Iraq.

Such ideologically driven spending is emblematic of what Vought, in a Newsweek op-ed written two years ago during the Biden-era presidential interregnum, described as the “the scourge of a woke and weaponized bureaucracy.” The brief DOGE experiment, which uncovered tens of thousands of combined government contract and grant terminations that would shock the conscience of most Americans with any inclination toward sound fiscal stewardship, is proof that such a “woke and weaponized bureaucracy” isn’t merely speculative — it really exists.

There is probably a lot more, furthermore, where that $175 billion in flagged waste came from. And Vought, who has worked with Musk since last year, is the right man to continue the mission once Musk fully returns to the private sector.

There are now at least two additional steps that must be taken — one pressing short-term item and one more difficult longer-term item.

The reconciliation budget in the so-called “Big Beautiful Bill” that passed the House last week, and which is now pending before the Senate, did not incorporate the DOGE cuts. It seems there is a procedural reason for this: The DOGE cuts are technically post hoc rescissions of presently appropriated money, and rescissions of current outlays are typically subject to their own process. An obscure figure known as the Senate parliamentarian controls the process by which the annual reconciliation budget bill — a favored tool because it permits a Senate majority to bypass the chamber’s legislative filibuster — can pass muster. And Capitol Hill Republicans apparently fear that including the DOGE rescissions would endanger President Trump’s desired bill.

But without Congress actually enacting the DOGE cuts into law, history will show this entire exercise to have been largely futile. Accordingly, Vought and the White House’s Office of Management and Budget must, following the reconciliation bill’s passage and enactment into law, transmit a fresh rescission package to Speaker Mike Johnson’s desk. It is extraordinarily important that the Trump administration and the Republican-led Congress demonstrate not merely that they can identify excessive spending but also that they are willing to cut it.

The longer-term problem is thornier.

While DOGE has served a useful function, and while Vought’s office can probably identify a good amount more in the way of “woke and weaponized bureaucracy” cost-cutting measures, it is a matter of basic mathematics that something more will be needed to begin to rein in America’s soaring annual deficits and our shocking national debt.

The Republican Party of Donald Trump has moved in a strongly populist direction on issues of political economy. On many fronts, such as antitrust and industrial policy efforts to reshore vital supply chains, such a shift is very much welcome.

But at some point, both Republicans and Democrats alike are going to have to find some way to come together and put our entitlement programs — above all, Medicare and Social Security — on a path to sustainability. The political optics of being perceived as “cutting” either of these programs are simply horrible, so any attempt at reform will not be easy. But it must be done anyway, as the recent Moody’s downgrade of the U.S. credit rating makes starkly clear. The longer we wait, the more credit downgrades and interest payment spikes we risk.

Basic game theory suggests that neither party will want to blink first. Recall the 2012-era political ads accusing then-GOP vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan of throwing grandmothers off cliffs. The politics are nasty, divisive and radioactive. But this must get done. So we’ll have to find some way to force everyone to do it together. And in the meantime, as a down payment, let’s just make sure DOGE’s crucial work was not done in vain.

Josh Hammer’s latest book is “Israel and Civilization: The Fate of the Jewish Nation and the Destiny of the West.” This article was produced in collaboration with Creators Syndicate. @josh_hammer

President Trump’s tariff strategy has been thrown into turmoil after a U.S. court issued a rare rebuke blocking many of the import taxes he has threatened and imposed on other countries.

In a ruling issued late Wednesday, a three-judge panel for the U.S. Court of International Trade declared that the Trump administration had wrongly invoked a 1977 law in imposing his “Liberation Day” tariffs on dozens of countries and they were therefore illegal. It also extended that ruling to previous tariffs levied on Canada, Mexico and China over the security of the U.S. border and trafficking in fentanyl.

The Trump administration immediately said it would appeal, putting the fate of the tariffs in the hands of an appellate court and potentially the Supreme Court. The ruling doesn’t affect Trump’s first-term levies on many imports from China or sectoral duties planned or already imposed on goods including steel, which are based on a different legal foundation that the Trump administration may now be forced to make more use of to pursue its tariff campaign.

It’s unclear just how fast Wednesday’s ruling will go into effect, with the court giving the government up to 10 days to carry out the necessary administrative moves to remove the tariffs. But if the decision holds, it would in a matter of days eliminate new 30% U.S. tariffs on imports from China, 25% tariffs on goods from Canada and Mexico and 10% duties on most other goods entering the U.S.

Those tariffs and the prospect of retaliatory ones have been seen as a significant drag on U.S. and global growth and eliminating them — even temporarily — would improve prospects for the world’s major economies.

There is uncertainty over whether the ruling represents a permanent setback to Trump’s push to reshape global trade or a mere impediment. Trump and his supporters have attacked judges as biased and his administration has been accused of failing to fully comply with other court orders, raising questions over whether it will do so this time.

A White House spokesperson dismissed the ruling as one made by “unelected judges” who should not have the power “to decide how to properly address a national emergency.” Trump has invoked national emergencies ranging from the U.S. trade deficit to overdose deaths to justify many of his tariffs.

“Foreign countries’ nonreciprocal treatment of the Unites States has fueled America’s historic and persistent trade deficits,” White House spokesman Kush Desai said in a statement. “These deficits have created a national emergency that has decimated American communities, left our workers behind, and weakened our defense industrial base — facts that the court did not dispute.”

If the ruling isn’t reversed or ignored, one of the consequences could be greater fiscal concerns at a time when bond markets are questioning the trajectory of the U.S.’s mounting debt load. The Trump administration has been citing increased tariff revenues as a way to offset tax cuts in his “one big, beautiful bill” now before Congress, which is estimated to cost $3.8 trillion over the next decade.

U.S. importers paid a record $16.5 billion in tariffs in April and Trump’s aides have said they expected that to rise in the coming months.

Major trading partners including China, the European Union, India, and Japan that are in negotiations with the Trump’s administration must now decide whether to press ahead in efforts to secure deals or slow walk talks on the bet they now have a stronger hand.

Deal doubts

Also thrown into doubt would be the outlines for a trade deal that Trump reached with the UK earlier in May. That potential pact calls for the imposition of a 10% U.S. tariff on all imports from the UK that would be null and void if Wednesday’s decision endures.

“I don’t know why any country would want to engage in negotiations to get out of tariffs that have now been declared illegal,” said Jennifer Hillman, a Georgetown Law School professor and former WTO judge and general counsel for the U.S. Trade Representative. “It’s a very definitive decision that the reciprocal worldwide tariffs are simply illegal.”

Hillman and other legal experts pointed out that Trump has other legal authorities he can draw on. But none would give him as broad powers as those he invoked under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, or IEEPA.

A provision of the 1974 trade act gives presidents the power to impose tariffs of up to 15% for up to 150 days, though only in the event a balance of payments crisis, which Trump may not want to declare given the current nervous state of bond markets, Hillman said.

Trump could also invoke other authorities to impose tariffs on individual sectors or countries, as he did in his first term. In recent months, he has already used national security powers to impose duties on imported steel, aluminum and cars and launched seven other investigations pertaining to things like pharmaceuticals, lumber and critical minerals.

“The Trump administration’s toolbox won’t be completely empty,” Dmitry Grozoubinski, director of ExplainTrade and author of the book “Why Politicians Lie About Trade” said in an interview on Bloomberg Television. But as for IEEPA, “if they comply with this ruling that takes that toy out of the toy box.”

More uncertainty

Wednesday’s ruling came in two parallel cases brought by a conservative group on behalf of a small business and U.S. states controlled by Democrats.

“This ruling reaffirms that the President must act within the bounds of the law, and it protects American businesses and consumers from the destabilizing effects of volatile, unilaterally imposed tariffs,” said Jeffrey Schwab, senior counsel for the conservative Liberty Justice Center, which brought one of the cases.

For many other businesses, it brought the prospect of yet another sharp turn in U.S. tariff policies and more short-term questions and headaches.

Southern California-based Freight Right Global Logistics has several shipments on the water now for clients all over the U.S., carrying goods largely from China. Those containers are filled with everything from toys to robots, and it’s very uncertain what the tariff burden will be for those shipments when they land, said Freight Right Chief Executive Robert Khachatryan.

Khachatryan fielded questions Wednesday evening from his clients on potential refunds, which tariffs will be removed, and what would be the effective dates.

“We are working hard to answer customers questions but the reality is that there is not enough information out there yet,” he said. “Tomorrow we’re going to be all over the place figuring out what this means in practice.”

Donnan, Larson and Curtis write for Bloomberg News.

Good Morning Britain viewers were left furious after a heated debate was broadcast on Thursday morning

Good Morning Britain viewers issued a complaint as an “excruciating” debate unfolded on the show on Thursday (May 29).

This morning’s broadcast saw presenters Ed Balls and Susanna Reid tackle the day’s top stories, both domestically and globally, on the popular ITV show.

At one point, they began debating the current doctors’ strike after health secretary Wes Streeting warned that resident doctors would “choke” the NHS by going back on strike.

In a BBC interview, the MP urged resident doctors to “work with the government” and warned strikes risked hampering the progress being made in the NHS.

Last week, it was announced that resident doctors, the new name for junior doctors, would be getting a 5.4% average pay rise this year – more than other doctors, nurses and teachers.

But they have said it’s not enough to make up for below-inflation pay awards since 2008.

GMB hosts Ed and Susanna invited Dr Ross Nieuwoudt from the resident doctors’ committee and Reem Ibrahim from the Institute of Economic Affairs onto the programme to delve into the contentious issue, reports Bristol Live.

“I absolutely believe in markets, but the NHS is not a market, it’s a socialised healthcare system. That is the fundamental point. If doctors want to be paid more, then let’s look at a social healthcare system,” Reem said.

“Let’s look at countries like Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark that have public and private partnerships where there is competition.”

She added: “What I would like to see is the National Health Service as a whole, the spending that we’re using at the moment, being used more efficiently.”

Ross was quick to counter, asserting: “I think that’s a foolish thing to do. A canary in a coal mine is there to alert people of danger, and that’s what the strikes are doing.”

The debate soon escalated as Ed and Susanna joined the conversation, with tempers flaring on all sides.

Viewers tuning into the fiery exchange soon expressed their frustation on X (formerly Twitter), criticising the segment’s confrontational tone.

One viewer questioned: “Why are they shouting??” while another commented: “Why is Ed Balls getting angry here? So unprofessional.”

Another exasperated viewer remarked: “This is excruciating,” and one more asked: “Can you explain please why Ed Balls’s questioning and response to the young lady was more aggressive than to the BMA representative. Seems to forget he’s now supposed to be balanced as an interviewer and his political bias as a labour minister put on the back burner.”

Good Morning Britain airs weekdays on ITV1 and ITVX at 6am

FRANKFURT, Germany — Top officials at the European Union’s executive commission say they’re pushing hard for a trade deal with the Trump administration to avoid a 50% tariff on imported goods. Trump had threatened to impose the tariffs on June 1, but has pushed back the deadline to July 9, repeating an oft-used tactic in his trade war.

European negotiators are contending with Trump’s ever-changing and unpredictable tariff threats, but “still, they have to come up with something to hopefully pacify him,” said Bruce Stokes, visiting senior fellow at the German Marshall Fund of the United States.

Stokes also sees more at play than just a disagreement over trade deficits. Trump’s threats “are rooted in frustration with the EU that has little to do with trade,’’ Stokes said. “He doesn’t like the EU. He doesn’t like Germany.”

What exactly does Trump want? What can Europe offer? Here are the key areas where the two sides are squaring off.

Buy our stuff

Over and over, Trump has bemoaned the fact that Europe sells more things to Americans than it buys from Americans. The difference, or the trade deficit in goods, last year was 157 billion euros ($178 billion). But Europe says that when it comes to services — particularly digital services like online advertising and cloud computing — the U.S. sells more than it buys and that lowers the overall trade deficit to 48 billion euros, which is only about 3% of total trade. The European Commission says that means trade is “balanced.”

One way to shift the trade in goods would be for Europe to buy more liquefied natural gas by ship from the U.S. To do so, the EU could cut off the remaining imports of Russian pipeline gas and LNG. The commission is preparing legislation to force an end to those purchases — last year, some 19% of imports — by the end of 2027.

That would push European private companies to look for other sources of gas such as the U.S. However the shift away from Russia is already in motion and that “has obviously not been enough to satisfy,” said Laurent Ruseckas, a natural gas markets expert at S&P Global Commodities Insights Research.

The commission doesn’t buy gas itself but can use “moral suasion” to convince companies to turn to U.S. suppliers in coming years but “this is no silver bullet and nothing that can yield immediate results,” said Simone Tagliapietra, an energy analyst at the Bruegel think tank in Brussels.

Europe could buy more from U.S. defense contractors as part of its effort to deter further aggression from Russia after the invasion of Ukraine, says Carsten Brzeski, global chief of macro at ING bank. If European countries did increase their overall defense spending — another of Trump’s demands — their voters are likely to insist that the purchases go to defense contractors in Europe, not America, said Stokes of the German Marshall Fund. One way around that political obstacle would be for U.S. defense companies to build factories in Europe, but “that would take time,’’ he said.

The EU could also reduce its 10% tax on foreign cars— one of Trump’s long-standing grievances against Europe. “The United States is not going to export that many cars to Europe anyway … The Germans would be most resistant, but I don’t think they’re terribly worried about competition from America,’’ said Edward Alden, senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. ”That would be a symbolic victory for the president.’’

A beef over beef

The U.S. has long complained about European regulations on food and agricultural products that keep out hormone-raised beef and chickens washed with chlorine. But experts aren’t expecting EU trade negotiators to offer any concessions at the bargaining table.

“The EU is unwilling to capitulate,” said Mary Lovely, senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics. “The EU has repeatedly said it will not change its sanitary rules, its rules on (genetically modified) crops, its rules on chlorinated chickens, things that have been longtime irritants for the U.S.’’

Backing down on those issues, she said, would mean that “the U.S. gets to set food safety (standards) for Europe.’’

Value-added tax

One of Trump’s pet peeves has been the value-added taxes used by European governments, a tax he says is a burden on U.S. companies.

Economists say this kind of tax, used by some 170 countries, is trade-neutral because it applies equally to imports and exports. A value-added tax, or VAT, is paid by the end purchaser at the cash register but differs from sales taxes in that it is calculated at each stage of the production process. In both cases, VAT and sales tax, imports and exports get the same treatment. The U.S. is an outlier in that it doesn’t use VAT.

There’s little chance countries will change their tax systems for Trump and the EU has ruled it out.

Negotiating strategy

Trump’s approach to negotiations has involved threats of astronomical tariffs – up to 145% in the case of China – before striking a deal for far lower levels. In any case, however, the White House has taken the stance that it won’t go below a 10% baseline. The threat of 50% for the EU is so high it means “an effective trade embargo,” said Brzeski, since it would impose costs that would make it unprofitable to import goods or mean charging consumers prices so high the goods would be uncompetitive.

Because the knottiest issues dividing the EU and U.S. — food safety standards, the VAT, regulation of tech companies — are so difficult “it is impossible to imagine them being resolved by the deadline,’’ Alden said. ”Possibly what you could have — and Trump has shown he is willing to do this — is a very small deal’’ like the one he announced May 8 with the United Kingdom.

Economists Oliver Rakau and Nicola Nobile of Oxford Economics wrote in a commentary Monday that if imposed, the 50% tariffs would reduce the collective economy of the 20 countries that use the euro currency by up to 1% next year and slash business investment by more than 6%.

The EU has offered the US a “zero for zero” outcome in which tariffs would be removed on both sides industrial goods including autos. Trump has dismissed that but EU officials have said it’s still on the table.

Lovely of the Peterson Institute sees the threats and bluster as Trump’s way of negotiating. “In the short run, I don’t think 50% is going to be our reality.’’

But she says Trump’s strategy adds to the uncertainty around U.S. policy that is paralyzing business. “It suggests that the U.S. is an unreliable trading partner, that it operates on whim and not on rule of law,’’ Lovely said. “Friend or foe, you’re not going to be treated well by this administration.’’

McHugh and Wiseman write for the Associated Press. Wiseman contributed to this report from Washington.

WHILE we all enjoy getting on with our neighbours, there’s nothing wrong with wanting some privacy.

And one woman has shared the easy and cheap buy to keep neighbours from looking into your garden.

2

2

Taking to social media, Steph Varnie decided to fence off her outdoor space.

Her wooden panelled fence had large spaces in between them, which she wanted to cover up.

So, she decided to head to B&M to solve the problem.

Steph bought the Split Bamboo Screening for just £18 from the budget retailer.

She wrote: “Let’s get some screening up,” with the hashtag privacy screen.

In the clip, she showed herself putting it up along her fence to create more privacy.

It was clearly an easy DIY task to do as Steph was able to do it alone with a staple gun to secure it in place.

The bamboo screen was 2 metres in length, which meant Steph still had a small gap that went uncovered.

“Shame I was just out… Need to think what to do with that little section at the end,” she said.

She went on to ask others how to cover the gap and many suggested buying another screen to cover it and make it thicker for more privacy.

The clip was posted to her TikTok account @steph_varnie with over 162k views and 300 likes.

One person wrote: “Ours lasted years, we put one lot up and then added another on top for extra privacy.”

Another commented: “We’ve done the same. 3 rolls deep to block out the neighbours, made a beautiful border now we have a private garden.”

“You did an amazing job,” penned a third.

Meanwhile a fourth said: “Double it up for more privacy.”

“Should have started from that end more privacy from neighbours,” claimed a fifth.

Fabulous will pay for your exclusive stories. Just email: [email protected] and pop EXCLUSIVE in the subject line.

Good Morning Britain star Susanna Reid shared an update after a car ploughed into crowds celebrating Liverpool’s Premier League victory parade

Good Morning Britain star Susanna Reid delivered “horrific” breaking news on Tuesday (May 27).

At the top of the programme, Susanna reported that four children were among those injured at yesterday’s Liverpool FC parade.

A man, aged 53, has been taken into custody following an incident where a car struck several pedestrians in Liverpool city centre during the Premier League victory parade.

Eyewitness accounts and videos circulating on social media depict the vehicle ploughing through a crowd, causing people to flee the scene.

The police have stated that the incident is not being treated as terror-related and appears to be an isolated event, reports Bristol Live.

“Our breaking news this morning is that we now know that four children were among the dozens injured yesterday as a people carrier was driven into crowds celebrating Liverpool’s Premier League victory parade,” Susanna began.

“Firefighters had to lift up the vehicle to rescue a child, who was among four people trapped underneath it.”

Ed Balls chimed in: “The Prime Minister has paid tribute to the city’s unity, saying Liverpool stands together and the whole country stands with Liverpool.”

Chief correspondent Richard Gaisford was reporting live from Liverpool, while Nitya Rajan was stationed outside Alder Hey Children’s Hospital.

Before airing a pre-recorded segment, Richard issued a cautionary note to viewers. Following this, Nitya provided details about the injuries sustained in the incident.

“One child out of the four that were injured has sustained serious injuries,” she confirmed.

Back in the studio, Susanna Reid and Ed Balls discussed the heart-wrenching impact of the incident on the community.

“Devastating scenes there. Of course, everyone thought that they were celebrating something joyful,” Susanna said.

“This parade was miles long, and initially people would not have realised what happened in Water Street if they had already drifted off in other directions.

“Obviously, your heart goes out to everyone injured, those who saw what happened, people would have been really devastated witnessing that, but everyone else in the parade thinking it was one of the best days of their life, and all that’s come over that now is just awful.”

Ed added: “It’s so particularly upsetting for this to happen in Liverpool. They were denied a parade during the pandemic when they won the league. Liverpool has faced such terrible football hardship over the years.

“For this to happen again and on the day when they’re celebrating such a dramatically brilliant win in the Premier League is really unfair. It’s terrible.”

Good Morning Britain airs weekdays on ITV1 and ITVX at 6am

WASHINGTON — President Trump said Sunday that the U.S. will delay implementation of a 50% tariff on goods from the European Union until July 9 to buy time for negotiations with the bloc.

That agreement came after a call Sunday with Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, who had told Trump that she “wants to get down to serious negotiations,” according to the U.S. president.

“I told anybody that would listen, they have to do that,” Trump told reporters Sunday in Morristown, N.J., as he prepared to return to Washington. Von der Leyen, Trump said, vowed to “rapidly get together and see if we can work something out.”

In a social media post Friday, Trump had threatened to impose the 50% tariff on EU goods, asserting that the 27-member bloc had been “very difficult to deal with” on trade and that negotiations were “going nowhere.” Those tariffs would have kicked in starting June 1.

But the call with Von der Leyen appeared to smooth over tensions, at least for now.

“I agreed to the extension — July 9, 2025 — It was my privilege to do so,” Trump said on social media shortly after he spoke with reporters Sunday evening.

Von der Leyen said the EU and the U.S. “share the world’s most consequential and close trade relationship.”

“Europe is ready to advance talks swiftly and decisively,” she said. “To reach a good deal, we would need the time until July 9.”

Kim writes for the Associated Press.

He had the ability to communicate with God, the angels and one of the most powerful spirits in the voodoo religion.

This is what Won-G Bruny had been texting Lil Mosey for years. Bruny, a music manager who himself had started out as a hip-hop artist, believed he had a special connection with the spiritual realm that would help guide the up-and-coming Mosey’s rap career. In 2021, Bruny took the musician, then 19, to his native Haiti where, deep in the woods, he blessed the young man with what he described as his family power. After Mosey was accused of rape, Bruny urged him to partake in a Haitian rum-bath ritual; when Mosey was acquitted in March 2023, Bruny told him the voodoo gods had taken a hand in the verdict.

Won-G Bruny, left, and Lil Mosey attend the 66th Grammy Awards at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, California.

(Johnny Nunez / Getty Images for the Recording Academy)

Bruny soon began urging Mosey to get out of his contract with Interscope Records, the company that signed him in 2017, after the then-16-year old’s debut single went viral. During Mosey’s five-year relationship with Interscope, Bruny believed the would-be star was not compensated fairly by the label.

“I want to express my disappointment on how … Interscope … have treated Mosey. I think it’s disgusting and despicable. You play with my clients career and have caused him mental trama [sic] …,” Bruny wrote in an August 2023 email to two executive vice presidents at Interscope that was viewed by The Times. “Believe me, you’ve never dealt with anyone like me in real life from the spiritual haiti [sic] I am indigenous and have techniques that the eye cannot see. If 48 hours go by and we do not have a release this is going public in a very bad way for you and Interscope. And I will arrive to your office soon as the worst [N-word] you every [sic] met.”

The message was signed: “Worst Nightmare.”

Interscope’s media representatives and the label executives Bruny emailed did not respond to multiple requests for comment for this story.

Angela Thatcher, Mosey’s mother, never had a good feeling about Bruny. After accompanying her son on the trip to Haiti, the early-childhood educator had advised him to be wary of Bruny: “If he’s trying to finesse you,” she said she told him, “please do not fall for it. I think he talks a lot bigger than he actually is.”

Big was how Bruny lived. On social media, he portrayed himself as a wealthy jetsetter, driving around Beverly Hills in a buffed Rolls-Royce one day, partying with soccer player Cristiano Ronaldo on a private yacht in the United Arab Emirates the next. He favored the trappings of the hip-hop culture he’d aspired to since he was a boy: heavy diamond chains, Rolex watches, tailored blazers that showcased his considerable biceps. His shiny veneers and taut skin make it difficult to ascertain his age — public records list various birth dates, putting him somewhere in the range of 46 to 53.

By the time he met Mosey, Bruny had spent decades honing his skills as a promoter. When he embarked on his career as a rapper in his 20s, he got Paris Hilton and Carmen Electra to appear in his music videos and turned up on “The Real Housewives of Orange County” to help one of its stars record her first song. He teamed with former L.A. County Sheriff Lee Baca on a ballot initiative, promoting himself as a law enforcement-friendly rapper. For a time, he managed rappers Sean Kingston and Tyga. These were among the associations he boasted of in the promotional materials he shared with potential investors, collaborators and those Interscope executives to spotlight his accomplishments.

Won-G and Paris Hilton

(Getty Images / Jeff Kravitz via FilmMagic)

Mosey’s mother didn’t buy it. Though she had no evidence that Bruny was defrauding Mosey, Thatcher believed the manager was a negative influence. In 2023, she started doing more than just regularly checking the Instagram page where Bruny had 487,000 followers. When Google searches turned up references to lawsuits and scam alert websites, she hired a private investigator. The findings revealed numerous civil suits against Bruny alleging breach of contract, as well as a bankruptcy filing.

Thatcher shared the report with her son. But Mosey, just a few weeks out of his Interscope contract, continued working with Bruny, cutting ties with his old representatives and, according to Thatcher, distancing himself from her.

In October 2024, Thatcher died unexpectedly, of “a severe infection,” according to her obituary. She was 55.

“I just want my son away from [Bruny],” Thatcher said in an interview with The Times last summer. “I think he’s being controlled and manipulated by this guy who has convinced him that everyone in his life is against him, including his own family.”

A Times investigation found that, over the past two decades, Bruny has utilized a perception of affluence, supposed personal ties to celebrity and references to Haitian voodoo to convince more than two dozen people to give him thousands of dollars in investments or loans — money that they never saw again, according to lawsuits and bankruptcy filings. In the last 20 years, Bruny, or companies associated with him, have been sued at least 19 times in Los Angeles County Superior Court; in nine of those cases, he was ordered to pay judgments amounting to more than $2.1 million, none of which was ever paid.

During that period, he filed for bankruptcy three times in California, most recently in 2019, when between his personal and business Chapter 7 records he was discharged of roughly $9.9 million in debt liabilities.

Lawsuits and bankruptcy filings show a striking range of individuals who say they lost money through investments in Bruny’s music career and fashion line, including a septuagenarian Old Hollywood starlet, a cancer patient, a former girlfriend, an Australian fashion designer, an airline pilot and a UCLA professor who served on committees for Presidents Biden and Obama. Because the U.S. Bankruptcy Court found he had no legal obligation to pay his debts, none of them were ever repaid by Bruny.

Bruny did not respond to multiple requests for comment or a detailed list of questions sent to him by The Times via email and social media. His lawyer, Kenneth Sterling, said in a statement: “We find no merit to the allegations or implications currently circulating regarding Mr. Bruny. While, like many others, Mr. Bruny acknowledges he has grown from mistakes made in the distant past, these are nearly or more than a decade old and wholly irrelevant to his current work or character. It is worth noting that this current media inquiry appears to have been instigated by a former manager and relative of one of Mr. Bruny’s clients — individuals who, based on credible information, mismanaged and acted in their own financial interests at the expense of the artist.

“To be clear: Mr. Bruny has never been arrested, charged, or the subject of any criminal investigation. He has no criminal record. Any civil matters from years past have long been resolved and are, in every sense, ancient history. We live in a society that believes in growth, redemption, and new chapters — Mr. Bruny embodies all three.”

Mosey declined to be interviewed for this story, saying via text message that he had “nothing but great things to say about Won.” When asked specifically if he believed a former manager and relative mismanaged and acted in their own financial interests at his expense, Mosey did not respond.

Lil Mosey, now 23, was born Lathan Moses Stanley Echols; his father, Thatcher said, wasn’t very involved in his upbringing. He was 15 when his music started to take off online — he and his two brothers created a makeshift studio in a closet of their Washington state home, where Mosey made music that he then uploaded onto SoundCloud. In late 2017, his song “Pull Up” garnered attention on a rap blog. Music manager Josh Marshall reached out and flew the then-16-year-old and his mother to New York City. After discussions with about half a dozen companies, Mosey, represented by Marshall, signed with Interscope in March 2018. His debut album, “Northsbest,” was released that same year.

By 10th grade, Mosey had dropped out of high school and gone on tour with Juice WRLD and YBN Cordae. He told Billboard at the time that he was surprised by his sudden popularity. Asked how his mother was reacting to his newfound fame, Mosey told the magazine: “She always told me like, ‘Why do you want to do this? Why don’t you wait? You can always do this later. You could just be a normal kid.’ … But you can’t do it later. The time is now.”

Mosey’s sophomore album, “Certified Hitmaker,” took him to the next level. Featuring Chris Brown and Gunna, the 2019 release yielded the rapper’s first hit single: “Blueberry Faygo.” After the song went viral on TikTok, Mosey inked a $4-million deal with Universal Music Publishing Group in May 2020; to date, “Blueberry Faygo” has amassed 1.4 billion streams on Spotify.

His ascent to stardom came to an abrupt halt in April 2021, when the state of Washington charged Mosey with second-degree rape. An affidavit filed in Lewis County Superior Court alleged that, in January 2020, Mosey had sex at a house party with a young woman who was too intoxicated to consent.

Interscope did not terminate Mosey’s contract but put its work with the rapper on pause until a verdict was reached.

Tyga, left, and Won-G in 2019.

(Johnny Nunez / Getty Images)

According to Thatcher, it was during the two-year trial that Mosey’s relationship with Bruny deepened. He had met Bruny through Sean Kingston, then best known for the 2007 hit “Beautiful Girls.”

According to press clippings he posted on social media, Won-G Bruny was born in Port-Au Prince, Haiti, and immigrated to the U.S. when he was 13. Bruny’s father, MacNeal Bruny, has said he was a high-ranking member of the Haitian army during the authoritarian regime of Francois “Papa Doc” Duvalier. After MacNeal noticed an advertisement for a company that would press compact discs for cheap, Bruny embarked on a music career, releasing his first independent rap album in 1995.

In 2001, he teamed up with an unlikely partner — Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue, the son of the president of Equatorial Guinea, who was attempting to become a rap mogul. Mangue released Bruny’s third album on his newly launched TNO Entertainment.

But that album was unsuccessful, and TNO never released any music of note. When Bruny filed for bankruptcy for the first time, in 2002, he owed TNO $75,000 relating to a recording contract.

Bruny forged ahead. In 2004, he landed his first record deal with a major label: Sanctuary Urban, an imprint headed by Beyoncé’s dad, Mathew Knowles. That year, Bruny also teamed up with L.A. County Sheriff Lee Baca to support a ballot initiative that proposed raising taxes to fund broader law enforcement. To help gather signatures for the initiative, Bruny said he planned to drive around the city with his “Haiti Boys Street Team” in 28 Ford Excursions with 27-inch wheels plastered with decals of him and Baca.

“Pictures belie personality,” Baca told the Los Angeles Daily News, which described Bruny as a “rapper with a $250,000 Elvis watch and penchant for fur coats and Rolls-Royces.” “He’s a faith-based hip-hop star. No vulgarity. No anti-public safety … There’s nothing in his work that’s bad boy.”

But Bruny had had at least one previous run-in with the law. In 1998, a judge in Pomona granted Bruny’s ex-girlfriend a one-year domestic violence restraining order. In court documents, the woman claimed that she and Bruny had been dating for two years and “during that time he demonstrated extreme physical violence by kicking, slapping, grabbing, bruising, spitting on my face and cutting my face.”

A year after his philanthropic efforts with the sheriff, Bruny began facing a string of lawsuits. There were four in 2005 alone, all alleging breach of contract. One case revolved around Bruny’s first role in a movie, an independent film called “Hack!” During production, the plaintiff — director Mike Wittlin — claimed that Bruny missed a day of shooting, leading the actor and the filmmaker to get into a heated verbal dispute. Following the argument, Bruny refused to return to set, according to the lawsuit. In his complaint, Wittlin said he then received an email from Bruny’s father, MacNeal, drafted “on behalf” of his son, which read: “I’m from a Royal family, little do you know. … I’m a self-made man and a self-made millionaire.”

When he was deposed in 2006, Bruny arrived wearing what Wittlin’s attorney described as a “large diamond ring” that Bruny said was owned by his father. “I just told you I don’t own anything,” Bruny said, according to the transcript. “I’m not a millionaire, I’m bankrupt.”

The court ultimately dismissed the case on the condition that Bruny pay $25,000 to the plaintiffs; according to a 2008 court judgment, he breached that settlement and was subsequently ordered to pay $108,236.25 in damages and fees. Wittlin told The Times he never received any of the money.

A clean-cut, God-fearing rapper. That was how Bruny represented himself to a pair of friends in their 70s.

Gita Hall, then 71, and Terry Moore, then 75, met for lunch nearly every day at Caffe Roma in 2004. They’d reminisce about the golden era of Hollywood: Hall, a onetime Miss Stockholm, had been photographed by Richard Avedon as a Revlon model and appeared in films like 1958’s “The Gun Runners”; Moore earned an Oscar nomination for her turn in 1952’s “Come Back, Little Sheba,” had a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and dated Howard Hughes.

Grant Cramer, Moore’s son and a film producer, had an office a block away from his mother’s favorite restaurant in Beverly Hills. One day, she wandered in unannounced with Hall and about 10 Haitian men he’d never met.

“They all sat down and said, ‘We are hereby announcing that we are becoming hip-hop moguls,’” said Cramer. “‘We’re going to raise all this money and become his producers.’”

He was stunned. He was fairly certain the women had never heard a hip-hop song before. After Bruny and his entourage left the office, Cramer tried desperately to talk them out of their new plan.

“But they were dead set on it,” said Cramer. “I said, ‘You’re going to lose your money. You don’t know who these guys are.’ And they said, ‘Oh, yes, we do. They’re Christian.’ Bruny had shown them this video he made with Paris Hilton, told them it was the new hottest thing, that he needed money to release a new album and they were gonna make 10 times their money.’”

(Through her publicist, Hilton did not respond to a request for comment.)

Hall had just moved back to Los Angeles after decades in Manhattan following the death of her husband. She wasn’t wealthy but had enough money to sustain her lifestyle, said one of her daughters, Tracie May Wagner.

Wagner joined Hall and Bruny for dinner at Mr. Chow one evening in an attempt to suss out her mother’s unlikely new friend.

“He rolls in, in his Rolls-Royce, handshake handshake, I know everybody on the planet,” remembered Wagner, a former entertainment publicist who now lives in Vietnam. “On first impression, he was very kind and sweet and doting. He would open the door for you. He would pull out my mother’s chair. He’d have this look in his eye of adoration, like, ‘I’m such a fan of yours. I know you were such a movie star.’ He would just keep playing into her reliving her golden years in her heyday.”

Hall ultimately loaned Bruny $93,000 under a contract that promised she’d be repaid in six months. But the day she and Moore transferred their money to Bruny, “Won-G and the money disappeared,” Cramer said.

“No album, no nothing,” said Cramer, who did not know the sum Moore invested. “Money’s gone.”

Hall sued Bruny, making similar allegations. In 2007, a judge ordered the rapper to pay her $107,319.45 — a sum her attorney said the family was unlikely to ever collect.

“When it was time to seize assets, he had none,” said Hall’s daughter, Wagner. “The mansion in Beverly Hills, all the cars, the jewelry — it was all registered under someone else’s name.”

That same year, Bruny appeared on two episodes of the Orange County installment of Bravo’s “Real Housewives” franchise. In Season 2, cast member Jo De La Rosa decided she wanted to be a singer. She invited Bruny and another producer to her home to discuss the possibility of collaborating.

“Won-G is a rap artist, producer, super-talented, amazing person,” De La Rosa said in a voice-over as Bruny exited a white Rolls-Royce in her driveway. “He’s worked with some big names in the music industry.”

De La Rosa recorded a song with Bruny but soon abandoned her musical pursuits. Bruny also shifted in another direction, attempting to expand his brand from music to fashion.

Taking a page from wealthy rappers like Jay-Z, 50 Cent and Sean “Diddy” Combs, he created an extensive pitch deck for investors, explaining how he’d use his music career to leverage “ancillary revenue possibilities” with a clothing line called Sovage. His business documents said he had signed Philippe Naouri, one of the designers behind Antik Denim, to create his jeans. (Naouri did not respond to multiple requests for comment.)

Bruny’s deck also included collages of him with dozens of celebrities — Kanye West, Bill Maher, Fergie — as well as images of him taken by paparazzi. His pitch said his forthcoming album would feature “exciting collaborations” with artists like Snoop Dogg, Alicia Keys and Timbaland, none of which ever came to fruition.

In 2001, Garry Heath, a technology executive, loaned Bruny $170,000. When he reached out to Bruny for repayment, Heath said the rapper warned him to stop “harassing” him because his father was “connected in Haiti. My family could really do damage to you if you don’t watch out.” One day, Heath said, Bruny’s father and brother turned up at his home in Orange County trying “to bury some voodoo thing in my yard that was gonna ‘protect me’ from losing my money or something … they wanted me to pay them, or else it was going to turn into a curse.”

In 2016, Heath finally decided to take Bruny to court. After a process server was unable to track him down to deliver legal documents for nearly two years, Heath said, a judge ultimately decided that posting the lawsuit on Bruny’s active Facebook page constituted service.

Bruny evaded service and court proceedings so many times that at least seven plaintiffs, including Heath, received default judgments in their favor in advance of any trials.

When she was fighting to recoup her late mother’s money, Wagner often relied on her connections with colleagues in the publicity industry to find out what events Bruny might attend. Then she’d show up to confront him. But after a few years without any movement in court, she backed off. “I knew it was never going to amount to anything, and I started having fear,” she said.

In December 2019, Bruny filed for personal bankruptcy and non-individual bankruptcy on behalf of his company, Real Sovage, claiming $9.9 million in debt liabilities. In his bankruptcy documents, Bruny said his personal assets amounted to just $10,700, about half of which consisted of “real & costume jewelry.”

“Debtor is currently living with friends until he is back up on his feet,” said the paperwork. “He hopes to be able to move into his own home within the next 6 months.”

On Instagram, Bruny had been depicting a very different image. Earlier that year, he posted a photo featuring himself, the rapper Tyga (his first major management client) and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. “I’m so happy to be your friend and to study and learn your method to success,” the caption of the February 2019 photo read. (A source close to Bezos said the billionaire doesn’t know Bruny and has never interacted with him beyond posing for the photograph.)

In October, Bruny’s dad shared an image on Facebook of a Mercedes-Benz G-Wagon — which retails for over $100,000 — describing it as “A VERY EXPENSIVE & PRECIOUS GIFT FROM WON-G AND HIS PARTNER TO SHOW ME THEIR APPRECIATION”.

Angered by the lifestyle he saw online, Heath — whom Bruny had yet to pay a $229,984 judgment — unsuccessfully attempted to get his money back in court.

“He had the audacity to come to court in a T-shirt and flip-flops, looking like he was in poverty just a few days after posting pictures of himself driving a Rolls-Royce car and wearing a Rolex watch,” said Heath, who presented images from Bruny’s Instagram page to the court. “He said the car was borrowed from a friend and the gold chains and watch were fakes.”

After a bankruptcy is filed, creditors can meet a trustee to ask questions about the finances of the debtor. In California, creditors then have 60 days to file a complaint like Heath did, objecting to the discharging of a specific debt. It is unclear if any of the 25 other creditors listed in Bruny’s personal filing took this step — but legal experts say such paperwork often falls through the cracks.

“Bankruptcy is premised on all the creditors receiving notice of the bankruptcy case and either taking action or not. But people don’t read their mail,” said Evan Borges, the attorney who represented “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” star Erika Girardi in the bankruptcy proceedings against her estranged husband, disbarred lawyer Tom Girardi. “It’s a hard-and-fast deadline to file a complaint, and if people miss it, they’re screwed.”

Without such complaints, it falls on the trustee appointed by the Justice Department to monitor Chapter 7 cases for potential fraud. “But they drop the ball all the time,” said Borges. “They’re there as watchdogs to safeguard the integrity of the system, and they’re supposed to refer people who have abused the bankruptcy system to the United States attorney for criminal prosecution. But they’re extremely overworked and can barely keep up.”

Even as he filed bankruptcy, Bruny was entering a business relationship with Tyga, a Grammy-nominated artist whose hit “Rack City” was then quadruple platinum. In his subsequent press materials, Bruny took credit for orchestrating “a huge comeback” for Tyga, whose music had become less popular than his relationship with Kylie Jenner.

But Bruny and Tyga parted acrimoniously. In April 2022, Bruny sued Tyga, alleging breach of contract and promissory fraud, saying he was owed $800,000 for his work on behalf of the rapper. A few months later, Bruny’s lawyer requested the case be dismissed. (Tyga did not respond to a request for comment sent to his publicist.)

By then, Bruny had moved on with Kingston, another partnership that would crash and burn.

“He promised us the world. He promised my son, ‘If you sign the papers, I have a $3-million deal,’” Janice Turner, Kingston’s mother, said in an interview.

During the year Kingston and Bruny worked together, Turner said, Bruny received 20% of everything Kingston made off his prior hits, but they were not satisfied with the partnership. Turner said she kicked Bruny out of the house he was sharing with her and Kingston and fired him. “I told him, ‘You’re a failed artist trying to live through other people,’” she said. “He was upset with me. He said that’s why God doesn’t like me.”

(In March, in a case unrelated to Bruny, a Florida jury found Turner and Kingston guilty of wire fraud for failing to pay for more than $1 million in luxury goods. Turner and Kingston await sentencing in July.)

As Bruny’s relationship with Kingston soured, he was strengthening his bond with Lil Mosey.

They began sharing a Redondo Beach rental — “I have a mansion in Beverly Hills, but it’s cooler here for the summer,” Bruny claimed, according to Mosey’s mom Thatcher. By the fall, Bruny had floated his first business proposition to Mosey: investing $50,000 in a four-unit apartment building being built by a company called Harmony Real Estate Developments.

“See when Justin [Bieber] gave Scooter [Braun] his trust they went to billions,” Bruny texted Mosey in February 2023, when he sent through more details about the project. “This is how I want to be for you as being seen together as business partners will take us to a whole new level.”

But Mosey’s team advised him against pursuing the opportunity. His funds were dwindling as he continued to fight the rape charge. As a jury prepared to deliver its verdict, Bruny urged Mosey to partake in a rum-bath ritual, according to two sources close to the situation. In the voodoo religion, rum baths are used “for good luck or to take off something bad,” said Elizabeth McAlister, a Wesleyan University professor whose research centers on Afro-Carribbean religions like Haitian voodoo.

On March 2, 2023, Mosey was acquitted.

“It’s been tough, mentally,” the rapper admitted to Billboard in an interview a month later. “It sucks to have something like that be attached to my name, knowing I didn’t do it, and the whole world can see that. … I feel like my last two years kind of been a sickness.”

While facing bills from the trial and the interruption of his music career, Mosey’s bank account had dwindled from millions down to a couple hundred thousand dollars — and he owed more than that in legal bills, according to a former business associate who requested anonymity because he still works in the music industry. Mosey’s team worked out a payment plan with Mosey’s attorney and jumped into action, setting up a nationwide college tour to bring in immediate revenue.

But Mosey wasn’t interested in doing the shows.

“Suddenly this tour that had been put in place wasn’t enough money, and he kept saying he deserved more,” his mother said.

Then Mosey began requesting his financial documents from his accounting team — materials he had never before asked to view. The team obliged. Gathering nearly 70,000 pages of bank statements, royalty metrics and tax returns, members of Mosey’s team, his mother and Marshall, met in L.A.

At the Glendale rental where Mosey was staying, Thatcher said, the team presented a new business strategy, suggesting new profit avenues like a beverage company or a lifestyle brand. But Mosey felt like he was being ambushed, his mother said.

Before she left, Thatcher made a final plea: “Please promise me you won’t sign a contract with Won-G,” she said. “Think about it. Talk to other people. You don’t have to sign a contract with him yet.”

Thatcher did not manage her son’s career, though she was a signer on his bank account when he was a minor. In recent years, he sent her around $4,000 a month to cover her rent in Washington, according to Mosey’s former business associate. Sometimes, Thatcher said, she would offer Mosey financial advice — “I think you’re spending too much. I know it feels like a lot of money right now, but this is not gonna last you forever” — but he disregarded it. She was also wary of becoming “that mom that took money from my son,” so she kept her job in the education sector.

Before her death, she’d started work on a trilogy of children’s books with an L.A.-based husband-and-wife writing team, Maya Sloan and Thomas Warming. The couple became some of the only people she confided to about Mosey.

“I felt terrible for Angela, because I saw her desperation and anguish when she’d come to L.A. in the hopes of just having a brief moment with her son,” said Warming. “She would keep motel rooms and wait for him to call or sit in cars outside his house to try to talk to him. That’s how difficult it had become.”

Sloan began helping Thatcher research Bruny and connected her with a private investigator. When the PI report confirmed Thatcher’s fears, she pressed Mosey for an in-person meeting. According to Thatcher, Mosey went home and read through the background documents. A half an hour later, he called, saying “I don’t know what to do. I’m really confused.’”

“I said, ‘Well, I know you’ve signed a contract with him. But if you really want, there’s always a way out. And I’m here for you,’” Thatcher said.

That night, he left the home he shared with Bruny and stayed in a hotel. Still uneasy, he flew back to Seattle to visit his family in Washington. But by the end of the trip, any concerns he’d had about Bruny had seemingly vanished. He returned to L.A., and they continued working together.

Mosey had given his mother something that would provide her with insight into his relationship with Bruny: His old phone, which was still logged into Mosey’s account. She had access to his text messages.

She began scrolling through her son’s interactions with Bruny. In August 2023, she saw herself mentioned: Mosey was urging him to stop mentioning voodoo in conversation with his mother.

“you gotta stop saying your the reason i beat the case bro cuz even if ogu is the reason i beat it anybody that does not know what voodoo is will not believe you and it makes you look bad for trying to take credit,” Mosey said in a text message. “not saying that you and ogu did not help i’m just saying it makes you look bad cuz most people will not believe you.”

But in the days that followed, Bruny mentioned Ogu, a warrior god, numerous times as the battle with Interscope ramped up.

“papa ogu never loses or fails. … I have won battles taken Artist out of many situations that are legal contractual,” Bruny texted his client. “You have to be a killer, I’m like trump. … You have 24 hours to give me a answer or I will drop a bomb on you.”

After Bruny sent his Aug. 22 email to Interscope executives demanding Mosey be let out of his contract, text messages revealed he continued to press other members of the rapper’s team. Two days later, he messaged Marshall, Mosey’s prior manager, demanding him to aid in the situation with the record label.

“I now have everybody’s home address and will pop up to their home at 1 AM in the morning and start waking them up by knocking on your door,” Bruny wrote to Marshall in a text reviewed by The Times. “We are very smart it is not a threat. It is not a violent act in America. You’re allowed to walk up to anybody you want and have a discussion with them.” (Marshall did not respond to interview requests for this story.)

In the end, Interscope agreed to let Mosey out of his contract with the stipulation that the company would continue to collect around 2% of his future earnings, according to the former business associate.

“my Power is ordained by God, No one will understand the angels that walk with me,” Bruny texted Mosey after the deal was executed. “My father & Ogu walk with us, interscope are fools … What interscope feared happened., you finding me was the blow. God, Ogu destroyed all of them, including that lying bitch in court.”

Thatcher was so worried about her son that she consulted Rick Ross, a cult intervention specialist whom she and Sloan had seen pop up in a few true crime documentaries. While she considered hiring Ross, she continued to strategize with Sloan. Last August, they approached the FBI about Bruny, then met with the director of the Bureau of Fraud & Corruption Prosecutions in the Los Angeles district attorney’s office.

A source close to the D.A.’s office confirmed a meeting with Thatcher and Sloan took place but said no investigation into Bruny was pending. Laura Eimiller, the FBI’s media coordinator, said the bureau does not confirm or deny information provided to the organization unless it results in a court charge.

Two months later, Thatcher died.

Sloan, who spoke to her the night before her death, said she was slurring her words because her “tongue wasn’t working right.” Thatcher told her friend that a doctor told her she’d be OK and that she just needed to take the antibiotics she’d been prescribed.

“Her spirit was broken,” Sloan said. “She was afraid that her son was … going to lose everything he’d worked so hard for. That he wasn’t going to ever be able to do a real album again.”

In February 2024, Mosey officially went independent, signing a global distribution partnership with Cinq Music. “As a manager, it is rare to have a young artist that is truly gifted in creating hit records and is equally an amazing human being,” Bruny said in the press release announcing the news. Since then, Lil Mosey has released an EP and a few singles but none have brought him close to the commercial success of “Blueberry Faygo.” This summer, he has 10 North American concert dates lined up at venues that can hold between 450 and 1,500 people; tickets start at $31.

In one of Mosey’s recent Instagram posts, he starts out standing in front of a Rolls-Royce on that palm-tree-lined street in Beverly Hills that all influencers flock to. The April photo shoot continues: He’s flipping the bird. He’s holding a huge bag from Louis Vuitton.

But scroll down just three posts, and the tone shifts. He’s on the ground, seated next to a pay phone. “miss u mom this one’s for u,” say the words below the picture. It’s from November 2024 — just weeks after his mother’s passing — an announcement for his new single, “Call.” He wrote the song for Thatcher, its lyrics lamenting how he’d “give everything” to hear her voice again. Between his rap verses, there’s an interlude where he samples voicemail messages he’s saved from her.

“Hey, it’s me, your mom,” she says gently, barely audible. “Just checking in, hope everything’s good. Stay safe, be strong, love you. You know I’m here for you, always. Reach out anytime. ”

Times librarian Cary Schneider contributed to this report.

Good Morning Britain sparked reaction online from ITV viewers after showbiz editor Richard Arnold shared ‘special’ baby news live on air about Peppa Pig’s mother

Good Morning Britain fans were left scratching their heads after Richard Arnold dropped some ‘special’ baby news on the show.

On Monday’s (May 20) episode of ITV’s popular morning programme, presenters Richard Madeley and Susanna Reid were joined by the showbiz guru, who hinted at having ‘special oinking news’ to share.

Richard announced: “I have some baby news for you, what a beautiful day it is today. Now, as you know, I’ve interviewed Hollywood stars, music icons, sporting legends but the nation has been gripped by my biggest ever exclusive chat with Mummy Pig, when she announced, if you remember, her pregnancy back in February.”

He added: “Over 60 million of you on TikTok have been following Mummy Pig and the rest of the pig family while they get ready to welcome their new addition. This was the interview where it all started.”

Revealing the big news, he said: “Since then, Mummy, Daddy and Baby Pig painted Battersea Power Station pink as they revealed the gender of their baby. Peppa and George will be welcoming a little sister and now, it brings me great joy to announce that she’s here!”, reports Bristol Live.

Susanna quickly chimed in with her congratulations, saying: “Aww, congratulations.”

Richard gushed: “It’s a beautiful thing, like I said, Daddy Pig has just shared these pictures with me of Peppa’s brand new baby sister Evie named after Mummy Pig’s Aunt Evie, she was born at 5:34am this morning, thankfully, just in time to watch her first ever Good Morning Britain.

“She’s certainly receiving the royal treatment so far with the town crier announcing her birth and a special plaque, how very royal, all the birthing details unveiled. Beautiful pictures here too, as you can see of the happy family.”

He continued: “Understandably, Mummy Pig is resting but Daddy Pig has let me know he will be free to catch up next week for his first ever TV interview and another glimpse of the new baby. You can find out when Peppa meets the baby this autumn.”

Susanna queried: “Do you know the weight?” To which Richard responded: “I don’t know the weight, I thought it might be a little bit invasive to ask at this stage.”

Susanna retorted: “People always ask the weight.” Richard quipped: “I was nearly ten pounds, you can imagine, it was all head because I’ve always had a smurf like body.”

Wrapping up the segment, Richard announced: “Great news and we will catch up with Daddy Pig next week.”

Confused viewers at home took to social media to express their surprise at the announcement. One viewer tweeted on X, formerly known as Twitter: “Animated pigs ? OMG! This programme gets worse Seek professional help @GMB #GMB.”

One perplexed viewer remarked: “What the f**k is going on? Feel like I’m on drugs #GMB.”

Another posted: “Am I having a fever dream? A whole segment about a cartoon pig? Is this what we’ve become? ! ! #Gmb.”

Good Morning Britain airs weekdays from 6am on ITV and ITVX

ITV’s Good Morning Britain has been on the air since 2014 and has boosted the profiles of the likes of Susanna Reid and Piers Morgan – but the long-running series could be getting a major overhaul

There are fears of a “mutiny” at ITV over plans to revamp breakfast news show Good Morning Britain. The topical news show has been on the air since 2014 and features Susanna Reid, Richard Madeley and Kate Garraway as regular hosts.

However, things are tipped to change at the Television Centre in London, where the ITV show is filmed—and there will be a major “shake-up” over the way the show is filmed. It has been suggested that the overall aesthetic of the show could be changed to be more hard-hitting and in line with ITV’s news reports, which are produced by ITN.

It has been suggested that a new studio could be constructed to house the morning show, sparking alarm among staff that this could affect roles behind the scenes. Changes are said to be in consideration in the hope that the ITV show can overtake BBC Breakfast, which regularly pulls in over one million viewers each morning, compared to around 700,000 for GMB.

The suggestion of changes comes months after former ITV News boss Andrew Dagnell was appointed director of news and current affairs at ITV. While Unions reportedly expressed “concern” in a memo to staff.

READ MORE: Nutritionist says special coffee ‘elevates energy’ and ‘manages stress’ without crash

The Daily Mail reported the rumours of changes with a source telling the outlet: “Obviously any talk of major change starts panic – lots of the staff were immediately worried about the security of their jobs.

“This is about streamlining ITV’s news output across the whole day, and having separate teams doubling up just doesn’t make sense. So it may well be that some correspondents end up appearing across the whole day’s schedule, rather than being specifically attached to GMB or ITV News.

“There could be a new set and a new feel, and a more continuous feel to ITV’s news bulletins throughout the whole day as a result. But people are very much likely to lose their jobs, so there is a lot of upset, anger and in some cases, mutiny.”

The Mirror has contacted ITV for comment.

One of Good Morning Britain’s biggest stars was Piers Morgan who served as an anchor on the show from 2015 until 2021 and was known for his outspoken opinions. His inclusion on the show helped GMB reach some of its biggest ratings in it’s 11 years history.

However, he sensationally walked away from the show four years ago after hitting out at the Duke and Duchess of Sussex after they gave an interview with Oprah Winfrey. Piers sparked a backlash when he criticised Meghan Markle after she opened up about past mental health struggles during her interview.

Quitting the show, he later wrote on X: “On Monday, I said I didn’t believe Meghan Markle in her Oprah interview. I’ve had time to reflect on this opinion, and I still don’t. Freedom of speech is a hill I’m happy to die on.”

Piers has struggled to find steady work since leaving the ITV show, however, as he joined News UK’s TalkTV channel – only for the network to be wound down. He now broadcasts a show on YouTube.

Piers has enjoyed viral success, however – particularly with an interview with Scottish lawyer Fiona Harvey, who is suing Netflix as she claims she was defamed by their hit show Baby Reindeer.

Follow Mirror Celebs on TikTok , Snapchat , Instagram , Twitter , Facebook , YouTube and Threads.

ANOTHER WHSmith store will shut its doors for the final time this weekend as the retailer continues its slow retreat from Britain’s high streets.

Shoppers in Stockton, County Durham, will say goodbye to their local branch on Saturday, May 17, as it becomes the latest casualty in the chain’s ongoing wave of closures.

1

The move follows a string of recent shutdowns across the country, with WHSmith axing high street locations after being snapped up by Hobbycraft owner Modella Capital earlier this year in a £76million deal.

The dramatic shake-up means the WHSmith name will vanish from town centres altogether, although its stores in airports, train stations and hospitals will stay open.

Locals in Stockton have been left gutted, with many now forced to travel to travel hubs or shop online for books, stationery, and gifts.

The high street giant has a number of stores in recent months – and more are set to follow.

Branches in Halstead and Woolwich shut on April 12, while Halesowen and Diss followed on April 19.

Just a week later, stores in Newport and Haverhill also pulled down the shutters.

And there’s no sign of the cuts slowing.

Two more sites are due to close by the end of July:

• West Mall, Frenchgate Centre, Doncaster – May 31
• Bedford, Bedfordshire – July 5

Many of the shutting stores are currently holding closing-down sales, with shoppers able to grab big bargains before they go.

Already gone

At least ten WHSmith branches have already vanished from high streets this year, including:

• Bournemouth (Old Christchurch Road), Dorset
• Luton, Bedfordshire
• March, Cambridgeshire
• Basingstoke, Hampshire
• Long Eaton
• Newtown, Powys
• Winton (Bournemouth), Dorset
• Rhyl, Denbighshire
• Bolton, Greater Manchester
• Accrington, Lancashire

The retailer, which first opened in 1792, has faced growing pressure from rising costs, online rivals and changing shopper habits.

The end of WHSmith on the high street

The closures mark the beginning of the end of a 233-year stint on the high street for WHSmith.

Earlier this year, it put its entire high street estate up for sale as it focuses instead on its more profitable travel arm.

As previously mentioned, its remaining 480 high street stores were snapped up by Modella Capital last month, and the move saved the jobs of roughly 5,000 employees.

However, the famous WHSmith name is set to be lost to the high street as the shops will be gradually rebranded to TGJones.

The brand opened its first shop in 1792 in Little Grosvenor Street, London, later becoming the UK’s main newspaper distributor.

High street struggles

WHSmith’s departure from the high street comes just a few years after rival Wilko collapsed, with the brand partially rescued by The Range.

Retailers that had once seemed resilient now appear to be buckling under recent pressures.

They have had to deal with rising inflation and costs, a move to online shopping, and customers having less money to spend amid the cost of living crisis.

SACRAMENTO — Gov. Gavin Newsom’s Office said Tuesday that President Trump’s tariff policies will reduce state revenues in California by $16 billion through next year.

Despite personal income tax and corporate tax receipts in the state coming in $6.8 billion above projections through April, the Newsom administration is predicting that overall revenues will be lower than they could have been from January 2025 through June 2026 because of the economic impact of Trump’s tariffs.

The governor released the new information, which his team dubbed the “Trump Slump,” on the eve of the presentation of his revised 2025-26 state budget plan, seeking to blame the president for California’s expected revenue shortfall. His office has not released any additional figures about the state budget.

Newsom is expected on Wednesday to project a deficit for California in the year ahead with Medi-Cal costs exceeding expectations, including his signature policy to provide free healthcare coverage to low-income undocumented immigrants. The new shortfall comes in addition to $27.3 billion in financial remedies, including $16.1 billion in cuts and a $7.1 billion withdrawal from the state’s rainy day fund, that lawmakers and the governor already agreed to make in 2025-26.

The deficit marks the third year in a row that Newsom and lawmakers have been forced to reduce spending after dedicating more money to programs than the state has available to spend. Poor projections, the ballooning cost of Democratic policy promises and a reluctance to make long-term sweeping cuts have added to the deficit at a time when the governor regularly touts California’s place as the fourth largest economy in the world.

Trump implemented a series of tariffs on all imported goods, higher taxes on products from goods from Mexico, Canada and China, and specific levies on products and materials such as autos and aluminum, in April. The president has backed down from some of his tariffs, but Newsom alleges that the policies and economic uncertainty will lead to higher unemployment, inflation, lower GDP projections and less capital gains revenue for California.

California filed a lawsuit last month arguing that Trump lacks the authority to impose tariffs on his own. On Tuesday, the state said it will seek a preliminary injunction to freeze the tariffs in federal court.