Stevanato Group Non-GAAP EPS of €0.16, revenue of €326.1M
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Michael Olise gives France the lead, but double from Pio Esposito and one from Davide Frattesi secures win for Italy.
Published On 12 Nov 202612 Nov 2026
Francesco Pio Esposito struck twice to inflict a first defeat on Zinedine Zidane as France’s head coach, while Italy stormed back to win 3-1 at San Siro and top their Nations League group.
Michael Olise profited from a Gianluigi Donnarumma error to put the visitors in front after 10 minutes on Thursday, but Italy hit back through Esposito and Davide Frattesi either side of half-time.
Inter Milan striker Esposito’s second came from the penalty spot after his brother Sebastiano had earlier fired a spot kick wide, while France were twice denied by the woodwork in an entertaining encounter.
The result sent Italy top of Group A1 on 10 points, level with France but above them on head-to-head record, while Belgium are third on nine points after inflicting a fifth straight defeat on rock-bottom Turkiye.
France were without star attackers Kylian Mbappe and Ousmane Dembele through injury, but it did not show as they made an electric start in pouring rain in Milan.
Desire Doue hit the side netting and first-time captain Adrien Rabiot tested Donnarumma before Lucas Da Cunha’s rasping half-volley flew narrowly wide.
But the opener was gifted to France when Donnarumma passed the ball straight to Olise, who skipped past a defender before firing home his fifth goal in five Nations League games – a record only bettered by England captain Harry Kane’s seven.
The hosts struck back in the 26th minute with their first chance of the game when Nicolo Cambiaghi drove to the byline and cut back a cross, which Esposito converted with a deft touch.
The goal brought San Siro to life as the older Esposito sibling, Sebastiano, threatened a quickfire comeback two minutes later, forcing a sharp save from Mike Maignan.
Bradley Barcola came closest to a third goal before the break with a curling shot from the edge of the box that struck the foot of the far post.
The end-to-end nature of the game continued in the second half as Rayan Cherki’s rasping strike was tipped onto the post by Donnarumma before Italy charged up the other end and forced Maignan into a point-blank save from Cambiaghi.
Italy had a glorious chance to go in front when Cambiaghi was tripped by Malo Gusto to earn a penalty, but Sebastiano Esposito failed to join his brother on the scoresheet as he hammered his spot kick wide on the hour mark.
The Azzurri did not dwell on the disappointment for long, taking the lead just three minutes later when Frattesi drilled in a shot from a Federico Dimarco cross moments after the Inter Milan wing-back was brought off the bench.
Fellow substitute Antonio Vergara earned the home side another penalty when he was tripped by Dayot Upamecano, and this time Francesco Pio Esposito stepped up to drill a shot into the bottom corner.
The result continued a strong start to Roberto Mancini’s second spell as Italy coach as his side stretched their unbeaten run to four matches and notched their first home win over France since 1962.
Belgium host Italy and Turkiye travel to France in the final round of group games on Sunday.
Elsewhere, captain Harry Kane celebrated his record 126th cap for England with a match-winner from the penalty spot as England beat Croatia 2-1 at Wembley on Thursday to qualify for the Nations League last eight.
The 33-year-old followed a script that seemed destined to happen when he stepped up in the 64th minute to put England ahead in front of an 80,400-strong crowd after the hosts had conceded a sloppy equaliser five minutes earlier.
It was the Bayern Munich forward’s 92nd England goal, and there was never any doubt from the moment he placed the ball and sent it straight down the middle as goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic dived to his left.
Kane had started a night of celebration as the centre of attention, handed a commemorative token by former goalkeeper Peter Shilton, the previous record holder since 1989, when he surpassed Bobby Moore’s 108 caps.
LAS VEGAS — The Dodgers’ early offseason to-do list includes a meeting with top free agent Tarik Skubal, the two-time Cy Young winner who they acquired at the trade deadline this year.
Other than the Dodgers’ National League Championship Series exit, the three-month fling was as happy of a partnership as either side could have hoped.
Skubal jelled with the group immediately, becoming especially close friends with fellow lefty Blake Snell, who promised that he’d worked to recruit Skubal back this offseason. And after posting a 2.61 ERA in 10 starts, Skubal, the Dodgers’ Game 1 starter in both playoff series, limited postseason opponents to a total of three runs.
“I know that he enjoyed his time here, we loved having him, so I think that’s certainly helpful as far as these conversations go,” Dodgers general manager Brandon Gomes said Tuesday at General Managers meetings. “And outside of that, he’s earned the right to be in this position and figure out what’s best for him and his family.”
That position, while it guarantees him a highly lucrative contract, is complicated by the impending lockout. Skubal’s agent, Scott Boras, when asked during his media availability Wednesday whether he’d consider a shorter deal with a higher average annual value, said he wouldn’t discuss contract negotiations. But creativity around the structure of a deal could help counter teams’ anxieties over a possible salary cap in the next Collective Bargaining Agreement.
It’s clear already that CBA uncertainty won’t fully freeze the market in November. But executives and agents alike have expressed skepticism that the expected lockout will inspire the same kind of spending flurry that arose in 2021, the end of the last CBA cycle.
Boras, however, argued against the notion that salary cap talk could put a damper on the superstar market before Dec. 1, when the lockout is expected to go into effect.
“Much like 2021, there’s a clear intent on a group of players, and we have no reservations by any teams that they’re going to operate within their abilities and freedoms because they want they don’t want to lose to their competitors,” Boras told reporters. “They want the market to be what it is for them, and they’re utilizing their rights to compete. I think they’re very concerned about losing the opportunity to sign select, key players, and they’re pursuing it aggressively.”
The Dodgers are among the teams planning to meet with Skubal, a group that reportedly includes the Mets, Padres and others.
The Dodgers certainly have a track record of splashy offseason deals with eye-popping numbers. Look no further than last offseason, when they broke records with their signings of closer Edwin Díaz (three years, $69 million, highest AAV for a relief pitcher) and right fielder Kyle Tucker (four years, $240 million, highest present-day AAV).
Even the Dodgers’ trade-deadline acquisition of Skubal appeared to be superfluous at the time. Once two-way phenom Shohei Ohtani’s health forced him to give up on pitching for the rest of the season, however, Skubal’s addition maintained the Dodgers rotation’s status as one of the most talented in MLB history.
They were not, however, among the most aggressive teams before the last lockout. And their approach to Skubal’s free agency will hinge, in part, on how they evaluate their starting pitching needs.
That picture isn’t clear, either.
“We’ve talked about the different paths that you can go down, and what does that look like,” Gomes said. “Do you need it? I don’t know. Do you want it? Maybe. You may not know that you need it until it’s too late. So I think it’s balancing all of this, as different scenarios play out. … The floor right now is really high. We do have a good amount of depth in our pitching. So now it’s just taking into account, what makes sense for us based on different avenues of how things shake out.”
As the Dodgers project out the potential of their rotation, they can reasonably expect improvement from some of their younger pitchers. They were pleased with the step forward that right-hander Roki Sasaki took this year.
“Expect him to take another big step forward,” Gomes said, “and really become the front-line-type guy that he knows that he can be and we know he can be.”
Regardless of lefty Justin Wrobleski’s second-half regression, he earned his first All-Star nod with a dominant first half. Though right-hander Emmet Sheehan had an up-and-down season, the Dodgers continue to believe in his upside. And they expect Gavin Stone, who last pitched in the majors in 2024, to be part of the equation, after a long road back from shoulder surgery.
They still have the star power of Yoshinobu Yamamoto, a two-time All-Star and 2025 World Series MVP, Snell, a two-time Cy Young winner, and Tyler Glasnow.
Ohtani’s return to the mound, however, raises the most questions. The Dodgers expect him to return to two-way duties, that much is clear. But they have yet to lay out a plan for how to keep him healthy for the season while doing so.
“I think it’s just making sure that we are taking all of the information into account and trying to set up a system that allows him to pitch and be successful and be healthy towards the end,” Gomes said. “Because we know how dominant he can be on the mound.”
Major League Baseball writers and other content producers have voted to join the Writers Guild of America East.
The WGA said Wednesday that 127 employees of MLB Advanced Media — the content creators for the league’s official website and popular app — are now represented by the New York-based guild for collective bargaining. The American Arbitration Assn. administered an election after a majority of the group signed union cards.
The move marks the first time workers of a professional sports league have formed a WGA bargaining unit.
“The Guild is excited to welcome more workers from the sports industry into the labor movement,” Writers Guild of America East President Tom Fontana said in a statement. “This bargaining unit now has earned a seat at the table with Major League Baseball to negotiate a fair first union contract.”
In a statement, the league said it did not stand in the way of the organizing efforts.
“MLB worked cooperatively and in good faith to identify the appropriate bargaining unit and to respect the rights of the affected employees to decide whether to unionize,” the league said. “We look forward to working with the WGAE as their new representative.”
Neither side disclosed what workplace matters prompted the group to organize.
The unit produces content for the league’s digital offerings in English, Spanish and Japanese.
The effort comes as baseball executives are embroiled in tumultuous contract negotiations with its big league players. The collective bargaining agreement with the Major League Baseball Players Assn. expires Dec. 1, and team owners could lock out players after that deadline if no deal is reached.
The two sides have been tussling over a proposed salary cap, which the union opposes.
A protracted salary-cap standoff could jeopardize the 2027 season.
Times staff writer Bill Shaikin contributed to this report.
Earnings Call Insights: GEN Restaurant Group (GENK) Q3 2026
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Hesai Group reports mixed Q3 results; gives Q4 outlook
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The Elmet Group Co. Non-GAAP EPS of $0.35 beats by $0.21, revenue of $79.6M beats by $14.96M
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California voters have rejected the controversial billionaire tax.
Proposition 40 sought to impose a one-time 5% tax on California billionaires’ assets to try to offset federal healthcare funding cuts.
Despite the blue wave in the midterm elections, the novel tax on the ultra-wealthy had trailed from the first day of vote counting and was officially rejected on Monday.
Roughly 53% of Californians voted against the measure, while 47% supported it, the Associated Press said when it declared that the proposition had failed.
Although the billionaire tax was rejected in the vast majority of counties, the late tally showed major pockets of support in Los Angeles and San Francisco — home to the lion’s share of the state’s 200 billionaires. Orange County, however, voted no by a wide margin.
The political battle over the ballot measure and two competing proposals divided the state and was among the most expensive in California history. More than $400 million had been spent on the three intertwined ballot measures, with more than 90% spent opposing the billionaire tax, according to fundraising disclosures filed with the secretary of state’s office.
Billionaires, notably Google co-founder Sergey Brin, poured hundreds of millions of dollars into groups that funded ads to kill the billionaire tax. California Gov. Gavin Newsom, the California Teachers Assn. and Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California are among the powerful Democrats and other Democrat-aligned groups that expressed fears that billionaires would flee the state. Some, including Brin and fellow Google co-founder Larry Page, moved out of California because of the proposal.
An onslaught of advertisements against the billionaire tax argued it could impact all Californians, not just the ultra-wealthy. Teachers, firefighters and other middle-class Californians became the face of their campaigns, fueling growing opposition ahead of election day.
Opponents of Proposition 40 said Californians made the “right decision,” calling Proposition 40 a “reckless experiment” that would hurt the state’s economy. The group included the California Medical Assn., California Primary Care Assn. and the California School Boards Assn.
“Proposition 40 risked California’s economic competitiveness and fiscal stability, as well as the revenue we rely on to fund our top priorities — from education and healthcare to public safety and infrastructure,” the group said.
Leaders of the Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers West, which sponsored the proposition, vowed to put a billionaire tax proposal on the 2028 ballot if Sacramento leaders don’t find a way to better support the public health sector. Given California’s volatile budget, which is expected to be particularly problematic next year, it appears unlikely that state lawmakers will find a way to backfill an estimated $100 billion of federal healthcare funding cuts.
Supporters said the proposed tax on more than 200 California billionaires aimed to raise that amount, with 90% funding healthcare, and the remainder going to schools and food assistance.
“Billionaire-funded propaganda may have influenced the outcome of this election, but as hospitals reduce services, emergency rooms close and families lose access to care, the truth will become increasingly difficult to hide,” said Suzanne Jimenez, chief of staff for the SEIU-UHW. “Californians will see for themselves what was at stake.”
This will not be the end of the debate about taxing the rich. U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Fremont), who both backed Proposition 40, are pushing for the passage of a federal 5% tax on American billionaires.
Earlier this year, they introduced the “Make Billionaires Pay Their Fair Share Act.” Despite Democrats winning control of the House and Senate last week, the legislation will probably face constitutional challenges if it passes.
Sabalenka has had – by her high standards – a strange season.
For the first time since 2022 she has not won a Grand Slam singles title, having lost the Australian Open and US Open finals to Rybakina, and her last title came in Miami in March.
After winning just one of her three matches during the Asian swing, Sabalenka took a break before the season-ending finals.
She faced a tricky task against the crafty Muchova, who was the only player at the event to have a winning head-to-head against her.
The Czech also claimed the first break of the opening set – but, in a pattern that repeated throughout the match, Sabalenka broke straight back.
Muchova served for the first set but a string of errors forced her into a tie-break, and more mistakes gifted Sabalenka the opener.
A topsy-turvy second set featured five breaks of serve, with Sabalenka serving the match out on her second attempt.
Teenager Andreeva, who beat Sabalenka in the 2025 Indian Wells final, was ruthless against Svitolina.
The Russian reeled off seven games in a row against the wayward Svitolina, backed by her impressive backhand.
Andreeva saved all six break points she faced – four of which came in the final game – and hit nine winners to 12 unforced errors in a 77-minute victory.
Elsewhere, Britain’s Cameron Norrie beat Australian James Duckworth 7-5 6-0 to reach the Stockholm Open second round.
Norrie will face top seed Taylor Fritz next as he continues his preparations for this month’s Davis Cup Finals.
Fellow Briton Toby Samuel claimed a 6-3 6-2 win over Leo Borg – son of 11-time Grand Slam singles champion Bjorn – at the same event.
WASHINGTON — House Democratic leaders are placing an early emphasis on healthcare as they discuss their immediate priorities upon the swearing-in of the new Congress on Jan. 3.
Early votes in the House next year are expected to focus on boosting Medicaid and restoring an enhanced tax subsidy that is designed to lower the cost of Affordable Care Act health plans for millions of enrollees.
Democrats are also promising swift action on legislation to stop the war with Iran and to reverse some of President Trump’s tariffs.
“We’re going to get out of the gate fast,” said New York Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, the Democratic leader who is in line to become the next House speaker.
The legislative flurry carries enormous stakes for Democrats as they seek to translate their sweeping victories in the midterms — their numbers will exceed 250 in the 435-member House — into achievements that deliver on their promises to lower the cost of living.
Passing those bills should not be a problem with such a large Democratic House majority. Getting them signed into law most certainly could be.
A 60-vote threshold in the Senate looms for the legislation, as does a potential presidential veto. Trump on election night posted a photo on his social media site of a red hat with a simple message on it: “Veto.”
Following those early votes, Jeffries said five working groups are developing plans to put forward bills that would lower costs in areas such as housing, energy, groceries and caregiving.
Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Torrance) said Democrats will at some point take up legislation dealing with artificial intelligence and data centers. He is part of a group of lawmakers working on a document that will lay out some of the priorities for Jeffries to consider.
“House Republicans last year made a conscious decision to let the AI industry run wild, and that was a bad decision politically and a bad decision on policy,” Lieu said. “Two things will change next term. We will hold public hearings on AI. We will pass legislation, reasonable guardrails on AI, and specifically data centers.”
Democrats are trying to reverse Medicaid changes that are expected to cut more than $900 billion from the program over a decade. The Republican-approved cuts helped offset some of the costs of Trump’s big tax and spending cut bill that was signed into law last year. The Medicaid changes in the bill imposed new administrative requirements and added conditions for eligibility, including work requirements.
Some of the most substantial changes have yet to take effect. Still, enrollment in Medicaid has dropped by about 5 million, or about 7%, since July 2025, when the bill was signed into law, according to KFF, a health policy research and news organization.
Reversing those cuts would probably require Trump and the Republicans to abandon the hard-fought changes they made to cut entitlement spending in their signature tax bill. It’s an unlikely proposition.
The effort to extend enhanced tax subsidies for certain enrollees in ACA plans has also been debated and voted on in the current Congress. The measure passed the House with some Republican support but stalled in the Senate.
There also have been numerous war powers votes regarding Iran — 14 in the Senate and six in the House.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) said going into the election that a Democratic majority in the next Congress would amount to “two years of paralysis.”
“I don’t think that’s good for anybody,” Thune said.
But Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York is insisting that his party will push its agenda with or without the Republican president’s help.
“If he vetoes it, it will show the divisions. As much as we didn’t want to shut down, when we shut down the government for a month over healthcare, people knew we were on their side,” Schumer said in an interview with the New York Times’ podcast “The Daily.”
Schumer said he believes Democrats can gain some Republican votes on restoring the enhanced subsidies for ACA plans. When asked if he was hearing from Republicans expressing a willingness to work with him on legislation, he replied: “They’re never so definitive but, yes, I am getting initial signs that way on certain issues, not on every issue.”
While the prospects for getting any of the early priority bills over the finish line are uncertain, the votes in Congress will help frame the choices voters will face during a presidential election in 2028.
Progressive groups call the agenda outlined by Jeffries a good early start, but they have much greater expectations for Democrats this Congress.
“It’s perfectly fine if the Senate and the House are unified and Donald Trump is standing in the way because that sets up another tidal wave election in 2028,” said Adam Green, co-founder of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, a Democratic-aligned group that backs progressive candidates and policies.
At the same time, he said Schumer cannot be content to let bills die in the Senate because of the 60-vote threshold.
“It will require the Democrats to get rid of the filibuster,” Green said. “There’s no doubt about it.”
He said there’s a disparity because Republicans’ top priorities — tax cuts and Supreme Court justices — can get through with simple majorities. But the Democratic Party’s top priorities require 60 votes to overcome a filibuster.
“The only question is will the American public trust Democrats enough to keep giving us more power or will this week’s gains whittle away because we do nothing? That’s why the filibuster is a threshold question,” Green said last week.
Schumer, in an interview with the Associated Press last week, would not say whether he would try to eliminate the filibuster.
“The focus has got to be on getting things done,” Schumer said. “That’s all I am saying.”
In a memo to fellow members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, Rep. Greg Casar (D-Texas) said Democrats also need to target what he called “powerful forces outside of government.” Examples he cited were corporations using Americans’ private data to adjust their pricing based on a consumer’s personal data and AI companies that he says are putting jobs and lives at risk.
“By focusing not just on the Trump administration but also on big corporations and billionaires, we will show the American people we are not just anti-Trump but also pro-worker and pro-consumer,” Casar said.
Freking writes for the Associated Press. AP writer Mary Clare Jalonick contributed to this report.
USS Theodore Roosevelt moored at Changi Naval Base in Singapore last night just before midnight Eastern Time, her final stop before continuing on to the Middle East. The Roosevelt Carrier Strike Group (CSG) will join the George H.W. Bush and George Washington CSGs, which are both now prepared, locked, and loaded should the commander in chief follow through on threats to renew military action against Iran after Tuesday’s midterm elections. Roosevelt and the three escorting warships will transit the Strait of Malacca next before heading west toward the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) area of responsibility (AOR), a journey that will likely take one to two weeks.
Meanwhile, the U.S. quietly launched strikes on Iran’s Qeshm Island on Monday, according to a report first published by The Wall Street Journal. The U.S. officials cited by The Journal said the strikes were reactive and for defensive purposes, but the paper notes they were the latest in a “series of limited strikes Washington has secretly carried out against the country in recent weeks.” However, it’s possible that CENTCOM began shaping operations to prepare the battlefield if the go order is given. The U.S. military did not announce the strikes publicly, a noteworthy deviation from past operations that were typically disclosed, but U.S. President Donald Trump told Fox on Tuesday it was “just a minor attack” on a recently built “anti-aircraft facility.”
Here’s TWZ’s weekly carrier tracker monitoring and visualizing America’s flattop fleet, including deployed CSGs and Amphibious Ready Groups (ARGs), using publicly available open-source information. Check out last week’s report here.
The Theodore Roosevelt CSG completed combined exercise Keen Sword 27, which involved four other allied navies, on October 29. After being topped off by fleet replenishment oiler USNS Tippecanoe the following day, Roosevelt and her three escorts – guided-missile cruiser USS Chosin and guided-missile destroyers USS Paul Hamilton and USS Decatur – entered the South China Sea via the Luzon Strait and steamed southwest toward Singapore. A U.S. official told Axios that the group will spend a few days in Singapore but “won’t reach CENTCOM’s area of responsibility before mid-November.”
According to MarineTraffic, Roosevelt switched on her Automatic Identification System (AIS) transponder about 100 nautical miles east of Malaysia at 11:25 Eastern Time on November 5, broadcasting a precise position publicly for the first time since departing Yokosuka on October 19. The flattop moored at Berth 3/4 at RSS Singapura–Changi Naval Base approximately 12 hours later, followed by the other three warships over the next few hours.
The next leg of Roosevelt’s transit to the CENTCOM AOR runs north through the narrow Strait of Malacca and west across the vast Indian Ocean. In August, USS George Washington completed the journey from the Strait to the Arabian Sea in just over one week. A few days in port and a roughly 10-day cruise support the reporting of a mid-to-late November arrival.
Elements of the Makin Island ARG, which is also reportedly bound for the Middle East, were still in Yokosuka, Japan, as of publication. The three-ship amphibious group, packed with more than 2,200 Marines, will likely replace the Boxer ARG, which is approaching eight months deployed and due for relief. The fleet of amphibious warships is stretched thin, with only 31 in the fleet, but Navy and Marine leaders believe at least 40 are required.
USS George Washington, with Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 5 embarked, and USS George H.W. Bush, with CVW 7 aboard, are both operating in the Middle East. The composition of both CSGs is fluid as CENTCOM frequently rotates destroyers and cruisers assigned to strike groups with those on independent deployments. Imagery posted on DVIDS, the military’s content-sharing platform, shows Bush launching and recovering F/A-18E/F Super Hornets and EA-18G Growlers on November 4, and Washington conducting a fueling-at-sea evolution alongside fleet replenishment oiler USNS Oscar V. Peterson on November 3.
Washington left Yokosuka, where she is forward-deployed, 167 days ago on what was expected to be a routine three-month patrol in the Western Pacific. However, the flattop was redirected to the Middle East to relieve the battle-worn USS Abraham Lincoln, leaving the roughly 5,000 Sailors aboard unprepared for an unexpected, and potentially extended, combat deployment. Bush, whose crew knew what their mission was upon departure, has been deployed for 220 days. Neither carrier has broadcast AIS since arriving in theater.
An author on the WSJ article referenced above, Shelby Holliday, embarked on Washington in mid-October and provided a firsthand account of life aboard the carrier in a series of must-watch videos on YouTube and Instagram. Sailors spoke candidly about the deployment, and some hinted at what could come next.
Holliday’s interview with the “Gun Boss,” Cmdr. Brian Garcia, showcased AGM-84H/K SLAM-ER (Standoff Land Attack Missile-Expanded Response) air-launched cruise missiles and GBU-31(V)4/B JDAM (Joint Direct Attack Munition) bombs equipped with BLU-109 bunker-buster penetrators. “We’re getting more of these weapons right here, and a couple other items that they feel we’re going to need for whatever the mission set sets forward in the future,” Garcia said. When asked what the magazine room looks like before an escalation, he responded, “This is it right here. This is the preparation that we’re ready for; we don’t need to ramp up because we’re already prepared.”
Overall, three U.S. carriers are deployed, three are working up in various states of readiness, three are in maintenance, one is post-deployment preparing for an upcoming availability, another is being used primarily for training before deactivation, and the next to be commissioned will be delivered to the fleet in 2027. Two amphibious assault ships are deployed, one is forward-deployed, two are getting ready for upcoming deployments and currently in port, and four are in maintenance.
Note: Positions are general approximations. Non-deployed LHA/LHD amphibious warships are not shown on the graphic.
Contact the author: ian@twz.com or @ianellisjones
Seaport Entertainment Group Non-GAAP EPS of -$0.23 misses by $0.18, revenue of $32.7M misses by $3.19M
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FOLLOWING his dramatic eviction from the Big Brother house on Friday, Philip Regan was a no-show on spin-off The Group Chat.
The sister series, hosted by Kate Lawler and GK Barry, welcomes freshly-evicted housemates to dissect their time in the house.
But Philip was not featured on the latest instalment, having last been seen during the brutal double eviction on Friday, which descended into chaos as he furiously turned on the heckling crowd during his exit interview.
Fellow evictee Rhianna Collins appeared solo, as did house guest Tiffany Pollard; yet Philip was absent, with the hosts saying he “is needed at home with his family.”
On Friday night, the Liverpudlian housemate was met with a barrage of boos after being booted out of the ITV2 house ahead of Rhianna.
When Philip sat down with hosts AJ Odudu and Will Best for his exit chat, things got spicier, with audience members continuing to shout and jeer throughout the interview.
The evicted star was left fuming after discovering that fellow housemate Rochelle had nominated him, before hitting back at the audience, declaring: “It’s a game, we signed up for it and you know what, I bet every one of you wish you could have been in there. I lived it.”
As the crowd erupted into boos, Philip shouted “Hang on!” and attempted to quieten the hecklers.
The drama continued when he was questioned about his explosive bust-ups with Celebrity Big Brother legend Tiffany, snapping: “She came for me, she’s been paid to come for me.”
He added: “I’m proud, no matter what anyone thinks, it was hard work.”
Philip then turned his attention to fellow housemate Twinks, admitting he initially disliked her because he felt she expected everyone to approach her when she first entered the house.
Defending his attitude, he insisted “it’s our house”, prompting the audience to chant back: “It’s Big Brother’s house!”
Clearly irritated, Philip fired back “oh alright love, you’ve had your five minutes,” sparking yet more boos.
He then declared: “It is what it is, I can’t be arsed talking about it. It’s all about me.”
Viewers watching at home were stunned by the scenes, with one writing on X: “Philip crashing out is the best TV.”
Another posted: “This interview is chaotic.”
Another fan wrote “LMAOOOO everyone going for Phil”, while someone else declared: “Phil getting berated im OBSESSED!”
Another defended him, writing: “That crowd need to stfu!”
Published On 30 Oct 202630 Oct 2026
The United States has scrapped a traditional group photo of foreign ministers after European officials refused to be pictured alongside Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
The move exposes deep rifts at the heart of the Group of 20 (G20), whose foreign ministers are meeting in the southern city of Atlanta in the United States for talks overshadowed by the wars in Ukraine and Iran.
list of 3 itemsend of list
“There will be no family photo featuring our European partners together with Mr Lavrov,” German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said, according to the dpa news agency.
Lavrov, who remains under Western sanctions imposed after Russia’s 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine, arrived in Atlanta ahead of the talks, Russian state media reported. Moscow said on Thursday that he would use his speech to argue against international sanctions. Ukraine was not invited, the Abu Dhabi-based newspaper The National reported.
A diplomatic source told the AFP news agency that Russia’s presence at the G20 “in no way legitimises its actions”.
The European Union’s foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas pledged on Thursday to urge G20 partners to strengthen support for Ukraine and pursue accountability through a special tribunal and claims commission, after a Russian strike on a Ukrainian railway station killed at least 14 people earlier that day.
The meeting also comes weeks after US President Donald Trump issued sanctions waivers allowing Russia to export diesel to ease fuel prices before the November 3 midterm elections.
Opening the talks, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio urged members to cooperate on economic and geopolitical crises threatening global trade, energy and food supplies, and freedom of navigation, dpa reported. Iran blocked the Strait of Hormuz after US-Israeli strikes began in late February, and global energy prices have risen sharply since.
“Both maritime and food security drive economic security,” Rubio wrote on X.
No joint statement is expected. A diplomatic source told the AFP news agency that Washington will instead publish a chair’s summary it has drafted. The source added: “The G20 is no longer really a forum where foreign ministers can reach agreement on a statement.”
No government has said whether Rubio and Lavrov will hold a formal bilateral meeting.
China sent Executive Vice Foreign Minister Ma Zhaoxu in place of Foreign Minister Wang Yi, according to a delegation list released by the Department of State. South Africa, a founding G20 member, has been excluded by Washington, and the African Union is represented by Burundi’s Edouard Bizimana.
The Atlanta talks are the last ministerial meeting of the US G20 presidency before leaders meet in Miami on December 14 and 15.
The L.A. City Council took modest steps Tuesday to help the homegrown film industry as it struggles to keep production in California.
The City Council passed two film-friendly measures, one that creates free permits for so-called micro-shoot productions and another that limits parking fees on city-owned lots, yards and civic properties and staging areas to $1 a day, regardless of the size of the project.
The city currently charges $450 a day for base camp parking at city-owned parks and $100 to $300 a day for crew parking, according to FilmLA.
“Both efforts advanced today aim to support independent shoots and attract aspiring storytellers to our city,” Councilmember Adrin Nazarian, who introduced the initiatives, said in a statement. “As we work to protect established productions, we must also uphold Los Angeles’ reputation as a hub for the next generation of filmmakers. People need to believe that this is still the town to turn their filmmaking dreams into reality.”
Micro-shoot permits refer to sets with up to 10 filmmakers on site that have a minimal community impact. Under this new ordinance, student filmmakers, documentary crews and ultra-low-budget projects will be able to obtain free permits. City departments soon will report back to the Council on how they plan to implement this.
The idea behind the $1 permits is to turn more areas of L.A. into homes for all kinds of productions.
Nazarian is chairman of the Council’s recently formed Ad Hoc Committee on Film, Entertainment and the Creative Industry, aimed at making filming in L.A. more accessible.
The steps come as film and TV production in the area continues on a downward trend. FilmLA, the nonprofit group that handles film permits for the region, recently reported that shoot days between July and September were down 4.8% from the same period last year and nearly 29% below the five-year average.
“The stark reality is that California is on the brink of losing its position as the nation’s premier destination for production spending,” Nazarian said during a City Council meeting this month. “While we retain the Hollywood name, the data makes it urgently clear, crisis-level clear, that Los Angeles is fast losing its footing as the center of film and television production.”
The UCLA women’s basketball team isn’t concerned about being hunted as the reigning national champions, coach Cori Close said. That’s up to somebody else.
“Having a target on your back means that you’re worried about what someone else is going to do,” she added. “That’s an outcome-based [way of] thinking, and we have to be obsessed with our process, obsessed with our standards.”
As the Bruins prepare to open the season at Pauley Pavilion against Lehigh on Monday, they are focused on getting better every day and following the championship-level process the program established. It’s not their job to worry about what others think about them, forward Sienna Betts said.
“I don’t really care what the media has to say or whatever,” Betts said. “It really is just a matter of what is in these four walls and what we know we’re putting into practice every day.”
UCLA forward Sienna Betts shoots under pressure from Texas’ Breya Cunningham at H-E-B Center in Cedar Park, Texas, on Sunday.
(Scott Wachter / Getty Images)
While the Bruins are maintaining the same championship standards as last year, the group tasked with meeting them looks considerably different than last season.
UCLA will begin the 2026-27 season with five players returning from the championship team, Betts being one of them. None of the returning players were starters, with the top six performers getting selected in the 2026 WNBA draft. The rest of this season’s Bruins consists of seven newcomers, including two freshmen and five transfers.
“We’re not trying to repeat an outcome, we’re repeating a process,” Betts said. “We’re our own group and I don’t think it’s fair to put the weight of last year on this group.”
Close’s roster includes the No. 5 transfer portal class in the nation, according to ESPN. The group includes Donovyn Hunter, who transferred from TCU and described the process of transferring as uncomfortable. She also said adjusting to a new system is difficult.
“We’re going to mess up, we’re going to make mistakes, we’re not going to get it on the first try, but knowing that there’s a coach that’s behind you, that knows you’re going to get to that level has been the most important thing for all of those transfers and the freshmen,” Hunter said.
Three of the five transfers are international players learning English, including Elina Aarnisalo, who returned to Westwood after spending a season at North Carolina.
UCLA guard Donovyn Hunter drives to the basket in front of Texas’ Breya Cunningham in Cedar Park, Texas, on Sunday.
(Scott Wachter / Getty Images)
“We spent a lot of time together … so that’s helped us on court and obviously practicing every day,” Aarnisalo said. “… Even though there might be a language barrier, sometimes we’re just spending time together and learning [from] each other so that relationship part comes pretty naturally for all of us.”
Regardless of the language barriers, Betts said building the team’s chemistry is a good start and a work in progress as they enter the start of the season.
“I think our connection on the court, it’s really showing and we’re still just learning how to play with each other. … It takes time,” she said. “The team last year, they were playing with each other for four years and over.”
Even with the added pressure that comes with last year’s championship run, Aarnisalo isn’t worried about the expectations. She’s enjoying the kind of media attention the Bruins are getting.
She’s happy the returning players were able to lift the trophy last year and says the exposure that goes with it is an opportunity to show off the newly reloaded UCLA team.
“We’re making our own process out of this,” she said. “Obviously, the standards are the same, like it’s championship standards, but it’s completely new people, new personalities. [We’re] just trying to create our own storyline for this year.”
Breeze coach Noelle Quinn directs players during an Unrivaled game against the Laces on Feb. 27 in Medley, Fla.
(Leonardo Fernandez / Getty Images)
After spending 12 years as a professional player and six years coaching in the WNBA, Noelle Quinn has returned to Westwood. She is a two-time WNBA champion, winning a title as a player and a coach.
“I have not been able to find anyone else that has won a conference championship in college, a WNBA championship as a player and as a coach,” Close said. “You don’t think when she talks, they listen?”
The fourth overall pick in the 2007 WNBA draft has had an influence among the UCLA coaches, with Close noting associate head coach Tony Newnan told Quinn during a staff meeting that she was making him a better coach.
On the court, Quinn’s defensive expertise is creating an environment that has helped Bonnie Deas get excited about playing defense.
“I love defense and she brings so much energy to our defensive side of the game,” Deas said. “She’s so switched on with our scout and film, she makes defense really, really exciting.”
Betts describes her defensive presence as calming.
“I love the way she just talks and the way she talks about defense and just the game,” she said. “She brings such warmth to this gym.”
The deportation was the first of its kind since a mass border crossing into the territory from Morocco in July.
Published On 27 Oct 202627 Oct 2026
Spain has deported more than a dozen migrants from its North African enclave of Ceuta, prompting criticism from Amnesty International, which said Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s left-wing government was endangering their human rights.
It was the first deportation of its kind since a mass border crossing into the territory from Morocco in July.
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The Spanish Interior Ministry said on Tuesday that it had deported the migrants from Ceuta after their asylum applications were rejected, and that Morocco had agreed to receive them.
Nongovernmental organisations (NGOs) told the Reuters news agency that 16 people from African, Middle Eastern and Asian countries had been deported.
About 80,000 people entered from Morocco over a 48-hour period in late July. At least 100 people died during the mass crossing into the autonomous city, which covers just 18.5 square kilometres (7.2sq miles) and has a population of about 80,000.
The crisis has evolved into a major political challenge for Sanchez, who is seeking re-election in snap polls scheduled for November 29.
Tens of thousands of protesters have gathered across Spain in recent months to denounce the government’s handling of the situation. Meanwhile, right-wing parties have used the crisis to attack Sanchez.
The leader of the far-right Vox Party, Santiago Abascal, has branded the prime minister a “traitor”.
Amnesty International has warned that the human rights of those deported from Ceuta on Tuesday could be at risk.
“Spain, despite its [progressive] speeches in Europe, is not ensuring that human rights guarantees are met for people who cross its borders in Ceuta and Melilla,” said Virginia Alvarez, an Amnesty International researcher.
“Morocco does not respect many human rights.”
However, Madrid disputes the rights group’s accusations. In a statement, the interior ministry told Reuters that the European Union considers Morocco to be a safe country, adding that deportations are carried out “with all the necessary safeguards”.
Most of those who entered Ceuta in late July left within days. However, about 8,000 migrants still remain. Some are sleeping on the streets, while others are being housed by Spain, charities and civil society groups.
Everyone had their reasons for joining the trip. Louisa from south London was putting her life back together after a split from her partner; first-timer Tim was strapping on ski boots following years of hesitation; and Lexi from Bristol had a classic case of the non-skiing boyfriend.
I was there because I needed a ski gang. None of my friends ski, and my brother was out of action with an injury. Not only that, I needed a good night’s sleep. I love my two-year-old son dearly, but I have somehow spawned an insomniac – still waking four times a night. Weary from bedtime battles, Holly, my partner, bluntly pointed out we could both benefit from “a temporary break from family life”. In other words: separate holidays.
Holly arranged a walking trip with friends; I opted for a week’s skiing in the French ski resort of Les Deux Alpes with Friendship Travel, a specialist operator in solo travel for more than 20 years. They find a chalet, fill it with solo skiers, provide travel, most meals and group ski lessons – that’s the basic service.
We were staying in a comfortable, largeish chalet just back from the resort’s mile-long drag. Entering a group holiday with strangers is a leap into the unknown. I was greeted by Sam and Mike, our (thankfully) low-key hosts, shown to my private room (you can save by bunking up with a same sex stranger), then introduced to my fellow holidaymakers. It turned out that there were 17 of us – nine women, eight men – and we were whisked into the lounge for a briefing and welcome drink. The atmosphere was upbeat and easy, and we gathered round one large table for an excellent three-course dinner.
Most Friendship Travel guests are aged between 35 and 65, and our group was at the top end of that range. There was Vivienne, a retired nurse from Cumbria who had just lost her partner, and Adriana, a “silver splitter” relishing retirement. For a few – myself included – it was the first such holiday, but many were inveterate solo travellers, with Ivyon, a former production operator from Bridgend, clocking up more than 90 trips.
The first morning, we set off to our ski lockers at the bottom of the slopes (tip: I booked my equipment hire in advance, saving €40). The group naturally fragmented, allowing small cliques to form – people relaxed as they started to identify potential après buddies.
I skied with Elaine, Clemmie, James and our guide, Luke, in the “level 4 advanced” group (we were asked to rate our ability beforehand). The backbone of Les Deux Alpes, the new Jandri 3S cable car, whisked us up to an altitude of 3,200 metres in 17 minutes – instead of the previous 40. Above broken clouds, we paused to admire the astonishing jagged peaks of the Écrins national park.
We blasted down a mixture of broad blue and red runs, plus some not overly challenging blacks. Although none of us had met before, we quickly settled into a rhythm, looking out for one another as the snow fell softly. There’s safety in numbers, especially on the off-piste sections. “I’d never have tried that alone,” said Clemmie.
Afternoons brought more skiing, followed by hands-in-the-air après at Skandal – reopened in 2025 following an extension – with a DJ on a packed terrace. Around sundown, the chalet WhatsApp group would start to ping. “Polar Bear Pub, anyone?” would be a typical message, often sent by Mícheál from Armagh, a dependable partner for a pint.
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Solo travel has undergone a perception shift in recent decades, according to Colum McLornan, who founded Friendship Travel in 1999. “Travelling alone was often seen as unconventional, and for many it carried a stigma. But travellers are increasingly seeking independence, flexibility and personal growth. What was once viewed with hesitation is now celebrated, and solo holidays have become one of the fastest-growing segments in the industry,” he said.
At times, group etiquette could be a minefield: nobody likes waiting for latecomers (me); is it rude to always sit in the same seat at breakfast? (probably); is it OK to peel away from the group and ski by oneself? (up to a point); will I look like a skinflint if I buy my own wine? (absolutely, but life’s too short for plonk).
Honourable mention to Steve, a jolly retired doctor from north London. I enjoyed his vivid stories of cruising the Yangtze River, and skiing with his father in Austria during the late 1950s. Despite our age gap, we struck up a bond that lasted all week. Naturally, not all guests are interesting and fun. One seemingly endless dinner conversation about printer cartridges had me dreaming of Netflix in my room.
Then, suddenly, I found myself hugging my ski gang goodbye, bound for the train. Would I go solo again? Yes. Our hosts were helpful without being intrusive, the skiing superb (especially the high-altitude stuff on Glacier de Mont-de-Lans) and I met people I will stay in touch with. Best of all, I finally got some sleep.
The trip was provided by Friendship Travel. A seven-night package with a private room in a shared chalet, daily breakfast and afternoon tea, dinner with wine on five evenings, and six days of group ski lessons in Les Deux Alpes, costs from £1,820pp. Return rail travel from London to Grenoble was provided by Eurostar
As Ohio Republican gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy came under fire for releasing an attack ad featuring his Democratic competitor’s estranged mother, a mysterious news site was running a Facebook ad boosting the controversial video.
The Buckeye Bulletin, which bills itself as an Ohio-based news platform committed to “reliable journalism” and “strong editorial standards,” popped up suddenly this spring and began pumping out a steady stream of pro-Ramaswamy content.
The publication’s articles have no bylines. There is no list of staff. The website does not feature digital advertisements, nor does it prompt readers to subscribe, but there is also no disclosure of who is funding it.
A closer look at the Buckeye Bulletin’s Meta advertising data shows that its Facebook and Instagram accounts are managed by the Lincoln Media Foundation, a nonprofit organization affiliated with the Orange County-based Lincoln Club — the oldest and largest conservative donor organization in California. IRS documents show that the club and foundation are associated organizations and share at least two key executives.
Meta’s advertising data shows that the Lincoln Media Foundation manages the Instagram and Facebook accounts for the Buckeye Bulletin.
(Meta)
The Buckeye Bulletin, Lincoln Club and Lincoln Media Foundation did not respond to requests for comment.
The Bulletin appears to be a partisan site posing as a local news outlet ahead of the midterm elections, a strategy political scientists refer to as “pink-slime” journalism.
This is not the first time a “pink-slime” outlet has been linked to the Lincoln Media Foundation. In 2024 Max Read, director of civic innovation for the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, identified seven such alleged outlets.
With the exception of one Los Angeles-focused site, those outlets all targeted critical states for the 2024 presidential election such as Georgia, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. Read reported that the media group had spent more than $63,000 on Facebook and Instagram ads, resulting in up to 18 million impressions during the last election cycle.
“[The sites were] very clearly designed to try to influence the information environment ahead of the presidential election,” Read told The Times. “They had all been started early in the year and used advertising on Meta platforms to juice their engagement numbers.”
When asked by The Times to take a look at the Buckeye Bulletin, Read said it appeared to be “pretty much copy and paste the same tactic that they used in 2024, even down to the aesthetics of the Facebook page and Instagram account.”
“It seems like they realized this worked at some level in 2024 and is worth doing again this year,” he said.
Earlier this year, CalMatters identified another outlet tied to the Lincoln Media Foundation called the California Courier, which had been circulating Facebook advertisements criticizing Gov. Gavin Newsom and the statewide redistricting ballot measure Proposition 50.
Since the Buckeye Bulletin’s Facebook and Instagram pages launched in March, the outlet has shared posts touting endorsements of Ramaswamy — a biotech billionaire and former presidential candidate — as well as his platform for addressing Ohio’s healthcare crisis and his stance on religious freedom in schools.
Simultaneously, the outlet’s social media posts have highlighted the refusal of his opponent — Amy Acton, Ohio’s former public health director — to debate, comments on how she “shut down” the state’s economy during the COVID-19 pandemic and a video with a watermark from right-wing political activist Laura Loomer.
This week, the outlet turned attention to Ramaswamy’s controversial campaign ad featuring Acton’s estranged mother, Donna Arthur. In the ad, Arthur calls her daughter a liar and urges voters not to support her.
However, the ad did not acknowledge that Arthur lost custody of her children after their stepfather, Arthur’s husband, was indicted for raping Acton when she was a child — an omission that drew fierce condemnation from Democrats and some Republicans, including Ohio’s Republican Gov. Mike DeWine. Others, including President Trump and Vice President JD Vance, an Ohioan, have defended the ad.
Arthur and her husband fled to Pennsylvania after his 1978 indictment where he died in 2004 without having been brought back to Ohio to face the charge.
Peppered in between political content on the Bulletin’s social media feeds is a smattering of reels related to non-political news, often featuring videos lifted directly from local TV stations. These other posts are used to create a “veneer of genuine local journalism,” Read said.
The language on the Bulletin’s About Us page displays markers of artificial intelligence such as generic mission statements, polished but repetitive phrasing and vague claims about journalistic standards with no details about the publication’s staff.
Of the last 30 posts shared on the Bulletin’s Facebook as of 5 p.m. Friday, 21 were about state or national politics and 10 were about the gubernatorial race. Engagement on the posts dealing with Ramaswamy and Acton is consistently strong for a page with around 5,600 followers.
For example, a Wednesday post on Ohio State Medical Assn.’s PAC endorsing Ramaswamy received more than 770 likes, 260 comments and 150 shares. Another video posted Wednesday with the label “Amy Acton refuses to debate, says mother is lying about her” received more than 4,800 likes, 1,500 comments and 500 shares.
Meanwhile, a non-political Wednesday post on a chemical explosion in Toledo received two likes, no comments and no shares.
The unassuming social media scroller or person who clicked onto the website would have no clue of the Buckeye Bulletin’s apparent connection to a group of wealthy Southern California Republications.
The Lincoln Media Foundation was started by leaders of the historic Lincoln Club, which was founded in 1962 and once counted John Wayne and former President Richard Nixon as members.
Today, the club describes itself as being home to “the most prominent business and thought leaders” in California and says it offers members the opportunity to meet world leaders and “experience their hobbies come to life through a combination of extravagance and leisure.”
The foundation notes that it uses a digital approach to reach communities left out of the national conversation, but its website does not disclose providing funding to any news outlets.
IRS records show that the nonprofit’s financial activities kicked up dramatically in 2024, the latest year for which data are available. The Lincoln Media Foundation reported $3.88 million in revenue in 2024, compared with $738,000 in 2023, $453,000 in 2022 and $415,000 in 2021.
The Buckeye Bulletin’s Facebook and Instagram accounts have spent just over $10,000 boosting posts this year, according to Meta’s ad library.
That’s barely a drop in the bucket in Ohio, where hotly contested races for governor and U.S. Senate have drawn hundreds of millions in spending. But presenting a slanted political view under the guise of local news tends to offer more bang for your buck than traditional advertisements, said Georgia Kernell, an associate professor in the departments of communications and political science at UCLA.
“Voters are so sick of ads; they’re getting tons of clear paid advertisements on the radio, on the television and on their social media feeds now,” she said. “Anything that can kind of look different is going to be more likely to keep their attention.”
Presenting as a traditional news source also increases the likelihood of viewers believing that the information presented is well-researched, she said.
Nik Usher, associate professor of communications at the University of San Diego, said it’s unclear how much influence pink-slime journalism is having on voting behavior, but political strategists are willing to try any new approach to possibly make a difference in tight races.
“This is one strategic effort to throw more spaghetti at the wall, hoping it’ll stick,” Usher said.
Creators of these partisan sites further stand to benefit from the fact that artificial intelligence tools are constantly scraping content from news websites without paywalls.
Researchers at NewsGuard recently found that leading AI chat bots are citing pink-slime websites nearly half the time when users ask questions about candidates and issues in the midterm elections.
Democrats and Republicans have increasingly leveraged pink-slime journalism to influence voters in the past few election cycles.
In 2020, the New York Times identified a network of 1,300 news sites that paid freelance writers to produce biased content for Republican groups and corporate public relations firms. In 2024, the left-leaning Star Spangled Media group used a site called the Morning Mirror to promote down-ballot Democratic candidates, according to research from Columbia Journalism School’s Tow Center for Digital Journalism.
More recently, the evolution of AI has increased the ease with which these websites can be populated with content, eliminating the need to pay writers and automating the production of social media posts.
Usher described pink-slime websites as “explosive bombs for public trust” that take advantage of the gap created by the loss of independent local papers and further diminish expectations for news to be fairly reported.
“Once these sorts of sites are pointed out to the public it further undermines distrust in political institutions, political parties, the news media,” Usher said, “especially when AI is associated with this kind of stuff.”
JACKSON, Miss. — Portions of a Mississippi ban on diversity, equity and inclusion practices in public schools can go into effect after the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals vacated a lower court’s ruling that blocked sections of the law from being enforced.
The parts of the law in question prevent public schools from requiring diversity training and maintaining DEI-related programs, courses and offices. It also bans public schools from discussing a list of “divisive concepts” related to race, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, ethnicity and national origin. Public schools that violate the law could lose state funding.
The ban passed in April 2025 and is being challenged by a group of educators, students, parents and activists who say the law violates their 1st and 14th Amendment rights.
The plaintiffs have several weeks to file a petition for rehearing with the 5th Circuit. The law would take effect seven days after the petition deadline passes or if a petition is denied, according to McKenna Raney, an attorney representing the plaintiffs.
The 5th Circuit also ordered that the case be reassigned to a different district court judge after U.S. District Judge Henry Wingate issued a “botch job” temporary restraining order that contained artificial intelligence hallucinations, according to the Thursday ruling. The TRO predates Wingate’s August 2025 preliminary injunction, which the 5th Circuit overturned.
Additionally, the ruling provides clarity on the scope of the law, which opponents have criticized as overly vague.
The law does not apply to scholarly activities, student activities and groups or creative engagements, according to the 5th Circuit. The court also said concerns raised by the plaintiffs that the law would ban discussions of civil rights, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., the Ku Klux Klan, the 14th Amendment, Juneteenth and “Of Mice and Men” are incorrect.
“It is heartening to know that at the very least these specific iterations of classroom discussions that have been happening for years in Mississippi are exempted and they can continue unimpeded,” said Raney, an LGBTQ Justice Project staff attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union of Mississippi. However, Raney said the types of discussions allowed under the law are still “murky.”
Bates writes for the Associated Press.
A Michigan man and former studio engineer is facing the music for his theft of rapper Eminem’s unreleased works.
Joseph Strange, a 48-year-old Michigan resident, pleaded guilty to criminal copyright infringement and will be sentenced to prison in January, the Department of Justice announced Thursday. He faces up to five years in prison. Federal prosecutors accused Strange in March 2025 of stealing and selling unreleased work by Eminem (legal name Marshall Mathers III).
An attorney for Strange did not immediately respond Friday to The Times’ request for comment, but told Variety in a statement that his client is a “good” man and his “children have suffered greatly in all of this.” The attorney said the case is “far more complicated and nuanced matter” beyond the theft.
“Nevertheless, my client has taken accountability for what he has done, has tremendous remorse for what has happened to his family,” the attorney reportedly added, “and has great faith, as do I, in the judges of our district to see this case for what it is.”
A spokesperson for 15-time Grammy winner, maker of hits “The Monster” and “Lose Yourself,” did not comment.
Strange was charged in 2025 with copyright infringement and interstate transportation of stolen goods, federal prosecutors announced. Investigators said at the time that more than 25 songs had been played or distributed online without permission from Eminem or the group that owns his music, Capitol Labels Group. Investigators discovered the music on password-protected hard drives stored in a safe at Eminem’s studio in Ferndale, Mich., an FBI affidavit said. At the time, an attorney for Strange denied the “untested allegations.”
The charges against Strange arose after studio employees alerted the FBI of the theft in January 2025, alleging the unfinished releases were shared to a number of online platforms. Files from a hard drive in a safe were transferred to an external hard drive in October 2019 and January 2020, around the time when Strange was working at the studio.
A Canadian resident informed investigators that he purchased 25 unreleased Eminem songs from Strange for about $50,000 in Bitcoin and that he raised the funds through the support of a group of Eminem fans. He also claimed Strange also put some of Eminem’s handwritten lyrics up for sale.
The affidavit says a federal search of Strange’s home in January 2025 led to the discovery of numerous lyric sheets and notes handwritten by Eminem, a VHS tape of an unreleased video and hard drives with about 12,000 audio files.
“Joseph Strange abused a position of trust to unlawfully copy and sell unreleased music belonging to Eminem, profiting from works that were not yet authorized for public distribution,” said A. Tysen Duva, assistant attorney general for the Department of Justice Criminal Division. “His conduct undermined both legal and artistic rights.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
It was a potential nightmare scenario. Starting left tackle, Elijah Paige, had been scratched in pregame warm-ups at Penn State. And in his place stepped a true freshman in his first start at USC, forced to find his way in a White Out, surrounded by a hostile crowd of 114,000 strong.
But when Vlad Dyakonov learned he was stepping in, a couple of hours ahead of kickoff, his coaches were surprised by how little it seemed to faze him.
“Some of us [coaches] were like, ‘Does he realize what he’s getting himself into?’” coach Lincoln Riley said, with a grin. “He didn’t flinch, man.”
You could say the same, generally, about USC’s entire front through the first half of this season. After years of shallow depth, unfortunate injuries, and transfer misfires at the position, USC’s offensive line has been the stabilizing force propelling its high-powered attack to a 6-1 record.
USC running back King Miller carries the ball as the offensive line blocks during a win at Penn State on Oct. 10.
(Isaiah Vazquez / Getty Images)
That’s a testament primarily to offensive line coach Zach Hanson, who, in his fifth season, has now fully rebuilt the room in his image.
“He’s a very steady guy,” Riley said of Hanson. “He’s not a guy who fluctuates a lot day to day, so our players kind of feed off of that. There’s a steadiness to our group.”
USC is also entering the brutal back half of its schedule with that group as healthy as it has been all season. As the Trojans take to the road Saturday looking to build momentum off the big win over Penn State and subsequent bye week, they’ll have all five starters available along the offensive line against Wisconsin. Paige is set to return, as is left guard Hayden Treter, who missed the last two games.
It comes at an ideal time, considering the pass rusher they’ll have to contend with Saturday. The Badgers have just eight sacks as a defense this season, but boast one of the best pass rushers in the Big Ten, senior Sebastian Cheeks. Cheeks leads the conference with 28 quarterback pressures.
Few teams, though, have been better than USC through seven games at protecting the quarterback. The Trojans’ starting offensive line has only given up one more combined pressure (29) than Cheeks has accumulated himself this season, while only allowing seven sacks in seven games.
“We’re a unit,” center Tobias Raymond said. “So everyone is feeding off each other.”
USC offensive lineman Elijah Paige blocks during a game against Oregon at the Coliseum on Sept. 26.
(Ben Liebenberg / Getty Images)
With Cheeks and a handful of other fearsome pass rushers approaching on USC’s upcoming Big Ten slate, right tackle Justin Tauanuu said the Trojans used the bye week to get back to the basics up front.
“Going against great players like that, you have to go back to fundamentals,” Tauanuu said. “Fundamentals will triumph over everything else.”
USC hasn’t looked like a line in need of much instruction this season. Jayden Maiava has faced pressure on just over 20% over his dropbacks, which ranks 10th among all quarterbacks nationally. It’s also a considerably lower rate of pressure than any USC quarterback has faced in recent years. The previous low, under Riley, was 30.5% with Miller Moss at quarterback in 2024.
Part of that success is Maiava’s penchant for getting rid of the ball quickly. But his protection has certainly been a critical aspect of his success this season. Because when pressure has managed to reach him, the USC senior has been much less effective as a passer. According to Pro Football Focus, Maiava has a completion rate of just 39% under pressure versus 79% when he has a clean pocket.
Blitzes also haven’t bothered USC’s passing attack much, either. Another product of the line’s impressive performance to date. Maiava has essentially had the same amount of time to throw when blitzed (2.7 seconds) versus when not blitzed (2.78 seconds).
Creating room in the run game has been a different story. USC has been considerably less effective on the ground this season than in recent years — a fact that Riley said was front of mind during the bye. The Trojans rank ninth in the Big Ten in rush yards per attempt (4.33) and 10th in rush plays of 20-plus yards (5).
“We definitely can run the ball better,” Riley said. “We’re gonna need to run the ball better. Good is not good enough for us.”
As a whole, though, it’s hard to imagine USC being in a better place up front this season. Especially considering where the position stood at the start of Riley’s tenure. The coach tried, at first, to build the room through the transfer portal and saw mixed results. After that, injuries ravaged an otherwise thin room.
But now the depth Hanson has built over the past few years is paying off. USC has already weathered injuries, including a season-ending injury to last year’s starting center, Kilian O’Connor. Meanwhile, several highly touted linemen are still currently buried on the depth chart, among them five-star freshman Keenyi Pepe, whose progression Riley said has been impressive.
“If you just kind of look at the makeup of it, we don’t have transfers,” Riley said. “We have a lot of guys who were kind of homegrown in this program. We have a good healthy young group. Zach has obviously had a big role in putting that whole group together.”
