hold

Hezbollah warns it has its ‘finger on the trigger’ in case of Israeli violations of the temporary ceasefire.

Displaced Lebanese have begun cautiously returning to their homes in the south after Lebanon and Israel agreed to a 10-day truce, even as the Lebanese army calls on residents to delay their return and Hezbollah warns it has its “finger on the trigger” in case of Israeli violations.

Tens of thousands of people poured into areas of southern Lebanon on Friday morning hours after the truce went into effect, many heading back to homes and villages battered by more than a month of Israeli attacks.

“People just couldn’t wait,” reported Al Jazeera’s Zeina Khodr from Nabatieh, one of the hardest hit areas.

“Even if it’s 10 days, they want to return to their homes. Some of them are just coming to see what remains of their homes, what remains of their lives.

“They want to show that they don’t want to give up their lands,” added Khodr.

While the ceasefire largely appeared to hold, Lebanon’s army accused Israel of several early violations on Friday, including intermittent shelling of ‌southern Lebanese villages.

Lebanon’s National News Agency also reported that unexploded ordnance killed a boy in the town of Majdal Selem, while rescuers uncovered the bodies of at least a dozen people killed in earlier attacks in Tyre.

French President Emmanuel Macron warned that the ceasefire “may already be undermined by ongoing military operations” and called for “the safety of civilians on both sides of the border”.

Hezbollah said its fighters “will keep their finger on the trigger because they are wary of the enemy’s treachery”.

Israeli air strikes and a ground invasion of parts of southern Lebanon have killed more than 2,100 people and displaced some 1.2 million in the latest round of fighting, according to Lebanese authorities.

Hezbollah attacks, meanwhile, killed two Israeli civilians, while 13 Israeli soldiers were killed in Lebanon, according to Israel.

Israeli officials have said they intend to maintain control over Lebanese territory extending to the Litani River as a “buffer zone” against Hezbollah.

‘Unliveable’

As residents assessed the damage to their hometowns, some pledged to stay, while others – finding nothing to return to or fearing the fragile truce could collapse – said they would leave again.

“There’s destruction and it’s unliveable. Unliveable. We’re taking our things and leaving again,” said Fadel Badreddine, who returned to Nabatieh with his young son and wife. “May God grant us relief and end this whole thing permanently – not temporarily – so we can return to our homes and lands.”

Al Jazeera’s Khodr said “wherever you look you see damage, destruction” in Nabatieh. “So much has been lost in this conflict in the past 46 days.”

If the ceasefire holds, it could ease one of the main points of tension in US-Iran negotiations. Iran and mediator Pakistan had maintained that Lebanon should be covered in a separate US-Iran ceasefire framework, while Israel claimed it was not part of that deal and continued its attacks.

Ali Akbar Dareini, a researcher at Iran’s Center for Strategic Studies, said the Israel-Lebanon ceasefire had removed one obstacle to wider negotiations between the US and Iran because Tehran views the regional conflict as interconnected, describing this as a “unity of fronts”.

Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, whose country hosted last week’s ceasefire talks between the US and Iran, welcomed the Israel-Lebanon truce on Friday and expressed “hope that it will pave the way for sustainable peace”.

He also praised the mediation role of US President Donald Trump, who has invited Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Lebanese President Joseph Aoun to the White House for “meaningful talks”.

“Pakistan reaffirms its unwavering support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Lebanon, and will continue to support all efforts aimed at lasting peace in the region,” Sharif said on X.

Israel and Lebanon have held their first direct talks in more than 30 years, and on Thursday, US President Donald Trump announced that they had reached a 10-day ceasefire. But months of fighting have reshaped parts of southern Lebanon. As people begin to return, what will they find? And can diplomacy hold while the reality on the ground remains fragile?

In this episode: 

Justin Salhani (@JustinSalhani), Al Jazeera Journalist

Episode credits:

This episode was produced by Noor Wazwaz and Chloe K. Li with Spencer Cline, Tuleen Barakat, Catherine Nouhan, David Enders, and our host, Malika Bilal. It was edited by Tamara Khandaker and Sarí el-Khalili. 

Our sound designer is Alex Roldan. Rick Rush mixed this episode. Our video editors are Hisham Abu Salah and Mohannad al-Melhem. Alexandra Locke is The Take’s executive producer.

Connect with us:

@AJEPodcasts on X, Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube

Anyone planning on boarding a plane with hold luggage has been urged to make one change to their suitcases before they fly – as it will help keep belongings safe

Plane passengers need to make one crucial change to their hold luggage. If you’re jetting off and you’ve got bags destined for the plane’s cargo hold, you’ll know just how nerve-wracking it can be to be parted from your belongings. There’s always that nagging worry that your luggage could be lost or stolen before you reach the baggage carousel at your destination, leaving you stranded without clothes, toiletries and other essentials during your holiday.

To tackle this, most travellers will attach luggage tags to their bags. These hold small pieces of paper where you can jot down vital information, such as your email address and phone number, so that should your bag go missing or end up on the wrong flight, airport staff can reach out to you if and when it’s located.

However, one woman on social media has flagged that these tags might not be the most secure option when you’re separated from your bags, particularly as some people inscribe their full name and home address on them.

In a TikTok video, Sammy urged fellow passengers to do something different with their tags, claiming it would help safeguard their personal details from anyone who might attempt to sneak a peek at their information.

She said: “This is something I’ve never seen anyone talk about, and I had to figure it out on my own. This is not safe for you for a plethora of reasons. You have your full name on there, you have your phone number, you have all of your contact information.

“These will flip over. You’re going to have your luggage, and it’s going to flip over, and anyone who sees it can not only take a photo of it, but also anyone who sees your content online that shows your luggage can get all of your information.”

Sammy described the risk of having your details stolen from your luggage tag as “so dangerous” and “so not worth it”. In its place, she advised opting for a luggage tag featuring a full cover. These typically open like a book and fasten with a popper or Velcro, ensuring nobody can access your personal details without deliberately taking your luggage.

You can also accomplish the same outcome by removing the piece of paper from your tag and flipping it around so your details aren’t visible from the outside. You could then write something along the lines of “information overleaf” or “please turn over” on the blank side facing outwards, so airport staff know exactly where to look should they need to get in touch with you.

Those commenting on the post put forward further alternative solutions, such as listing a dummy email address that you can monitor should you ever lose your luggage, but don’t use for anything else.

One person said: “I have a fake name with my spam email that I’ll check if I ever lose my bag.”

Another added: “I write my name and flight number on the front, then put ‘see reverse for personal details’ with my address.”

A third wrote: “Thank you!! I’ve been saying the same thing for years, and people think I’m nuts. Same with names on kids or pets clothing!”

Should you opt to include only your email address without your name, ensure the email itself doesn’t contain your name within the address.

Using a false name, as one commenter proposed, is not recommended, as should your bag go missing, you won’t be able to verify it’s yours if your ID fails to match the name on the luggage tag. That said, you can choose to display only your surname or initials on the card to safeguard as much of your personal details as possible.

After the first direct talks in decades, Israel and Lebanon have agreed to begin ongoing negotiations for the ‘security of both countries’. Al Jazeera’s Mike Hanna explains why US Secretary of State Marco Rubio sees this ‘milestone’ meeting as just the ‘start of the process’.

A bill laying out plans to return the Indian Ocean archipelago, home to the US-UK Diego Garcia base, has been paused.

The United Kingdom is setting aside a bill to return the Chagos Islands to Mauritius amid a lack of support from United States President Donald Trump.

“We have always said we would only proceed with the deal if it has US support,” a UK government spokesperson said in a statement, according to the Reuters and AFP news agencies on Saturday.

This followed reports in the UK media that said a bill laying out plans to cede sovereignty of the 60-plus Indian Ocean islands had been dropped from the next parliamentary agenda.

Last May, the UK and Mauritius jointly announced a deal that would return full sovereignty of Chagos to Mauritius, which is some 2,000 kilometres (1,200 miles) away from the archipelago.

Britain would then pay to lease Diego Garcia – the largest island and a strategic location in the middle of the Indian Ocean between Asia and Africa, which is home to the military base – on a 99-year lease to preserve US operations there.

But Trump opposed the move, calling it an “act of great stupidity” in January.

“Diego Garcia is a key strategic military asset for both the UK and the US. Ensuring its long-term operational security is and will continue to be our priority – it is the entire reason for the deal,” the UK government spokesperson added in his statement.

“We are continuing to engage with the US and Mauritius.”

The statement added that the UK “continue[s] to believe ⁠the agreement is the best way to protect ⁠the long-term future of the base”.

‘Big mistake’

After Trump’s initial opposition, he appeared to momentarily back down in February after speaking with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, saying Starmer had made the “best deal he could make”.

But he then attacked the prime minister again on Truth Social weeks later.

“He is making a big mistake,” Trump wrote, adding that ceding the Chagos Islands would be “a blight on our Great Ally”.

Over the last six weeks, relations between Trump and Starmer have been further strained by the US-Israel war on Iran.

The UK is now leading a coalition of more than 30 countries to protect vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, without US participation in the initial talks.

Britain has controlled the Chagos since 1814, including after Mauritius gained independence in the 1960s. The Diego Garcia base has played a key role in US military operations in Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan.

Chagossians – thousands of whom were forcibly evicted to make way for the base – have brought compensation claims to British courts, culminating in a 2019 International Court of Justice recommendation that the archipelago be returned to Mauritius.

Thousands of Muslims performed Friday prayers at Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem after it reopened to worshippers following a 40-day closure by the Israeli army that barred access to Islam’s third-holiest site after the war on Iran began.

House Democrats will hold a pair of “shadow hearings” in California next week on the upcoming midterm elections — part of a broader party effort to defend state voting systems against mounting critiques and threats of intervention from the Trump administration.

Such hearings, similar to those recently held in Los Angeles on President Trump’s immigration raids, provide Democrats an opportunity to highlight issues their majority Republican counterparts won’t schedule for more formal hearings in Washington.

The hearings — scheduled for Los Angeles on Tuesday and San Francisco on Thursday — will feature testimony from voting and elections experts, and will be led by Rep. Joseph Morelle of New York, ranking Democrat on the House Administration Committee with oversight of elections, and Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco), the former House speaker.

Morelle, in a statement to The Times, said, “Democracy’s defenses are under attack” and must be defended.

“We will not let President Trump and House Republicans’ efforts to take over our elections prevail. We’re going to use every tool in our toolbox and that includes working with pro-democracy allies in communities across the country,” he said. “I look forward to hearing about the work being done in California to protect democracy as we fight on the ground and in Congress.”

Pelosi, in her own statement to The Times, said protecting democracy “demands vigilance, transparency, and action,” and the shadow hearings “will bring together voices on the front lines of election security, voting rights, and accountability to ensure that every American’s vote is protected and every institution earns the public’s trust.”

“At a time of rampant threats to our democratic system, we must strengthen and defend the integrity of our elections to reaffirm that our government is of, by, and for the people,” she said.

Rep. Pete Aguilar (D-Redlands), chair of the Democratic Caucus, and other Democrats from California are also expected to attend. Republican members of Congress are not expected to be there.

The hearings will be the first in a while to be led — at least in part — by Pelosi, 86, who gave up her position in party leadership and does not currently hold any committee assignments. She announced in November that she will not seek reelection.

Trump has alleged for years, without evidence, that U.S. elections are undermined and swayed by widespread voter fraud, and that such fraud cost him the 2020 election that he lost to Joe Biden. He and his personal attorneys have repeatedly argued as much in court, but always lost — in part because they could never produce any evidence to back their claims.

Since retaking the White House last year, Trump has continued pushing his baseless claims, and pushed his administration to attack voting systems — particularly in blue states where he has been unpopular.

In September, Trump loyalists in the Justice Department sued California and other states for their voter rolls and other sensitive voter information, but were pushed back by the courts.

In January, the FBI raided and seized 2020 election records from an elections office in Fulton County, Ga., that was the subject of Trump’s allegations of voter fraud in 2020.

In February, Trump said Republicans should “take over the voting in at least 15 places,” alleging that voting irregularities in what he called “crooked states” are hurting his party. “The Republicans ought to nationalize the voting.”

This week, Trump issued an executive order purporting to give federal agencies control over ballot processing by the U.S. Postal Service.

Trump administration officials and allies have also raised concerns that they might send immigration agents to polling locations during the midterms, in part by refusing to rule out such a move in the wake of mass deployments of such agents into American cities to pursue Trump’s mass deportation agenda.

Trump has framed his efforts to end voting by mail — which he recently did himself — and increase voter identification requirements as “common sense” steps to combat fraud that most Americans agree with. A vast majority of California voters cast ballots by mail, including nearly 90% in last year’s special election on Proposition 50, the state’s mid-decade redistricting measure.

Democrats and many elections experts have rejected Trump’s election claims as baseless, defended state-run systems as safe and secure, and said his demands for stricter voter ID regulations would disenfranchise millions of U.S. citizen voters who lack the sort of documents he wants to mandate — including women who changed their name in marriage.

Voting experts say fraudulent votes, including by noncitizens, are rare, and that there is no evidence that fraud swings U.S. elections.

States including California have joined voting rights organizations in suing to block Trump’s various attempts to intervene in state-run elections, including his order last week and a previous one purporting to place new federal requirements on voter identification and proof of citizenship.

California officials and others have repeatedly noted that federal law gives states the right to administer elections as they see fit, and promised to fight any attempts by the president or his administration to infringe on state election powers.

Local elections officials in California have also been preparing for potential election day interruptions from the Trump administration.

Scheduled to participate in the hearings were experts from the UCLA Voting Rights Project, Loyola Law School, the League of Women Voters of California, Common Cause California, and the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, or MALDEF.

Kerr’s status at Chelsea was unquestionable before she suffered an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury while at her peak in January 2024.

It took her more than 18 months to recover and she is still returning to full fitness as Chelsea struggle to meet expectations this season.

Off the pitch, Kerr has endured difficulties too. She was found not guilty of causing racially aggravated harassment against a Metropolitan Police officer in 2025 – the result of a court case which played out in the public eye and caused controversy.

That led to calls in her home country to strip her of the Australia captaincy, while she stepped out of the limelight in England.

It has also been a period of change for Kerr as she got married to former West Ham midfielder Kristie Mewis and they have a son, who was born in May.

In her absence, Chelsea went unbeaten domestically and won the treble in manager Sonia Bompastor’s debut campaign, but it has not gone to plan this year.

Injuries – particularly in attacking positions – players departing the club and performances not being up to scratch mean Chelsea are set to miss out on the Women’s Super League title and are out of the Women’s Champions League.

Kerr has struggled to regain her place in the starting XI despite this, playing just 444 minutes in the WSL this season.

She has made 15 appearances in the league, but only started two games, while she netted three goals in three starts in Europe.

Bompastor has fewer options up front, with USA striker Catarina Macario joining San Diego Wave, and Aggie Beever-Jones and Mayra Ramirez out injured.

So has Kerr been overlooked?

“She’s featured in almost every league game this season but it’s only two that she has started. The number nine position has been difficult for Chelsea,” said former Scotland captain Rachel Corsie on BBC Radio 5 Live.

“Lauren James has played there to allow them to get Alyssa Thompson and Johanna Rytting Kaneryd in the team, who have been in good form. There’s lots of different factors.

“But they haven’t got an out-and-out number nine. Chelsea need a number nine. To let go of Sam Kerr, without having a replacement there, would be a big step.”

CHICAGO — Edward Cabrera pitched six shutout innings, Ian Happ hit a solo homer and the Chicago Cubs beat the Angels 7-2 on Monday night.

Cabrera gave up one hit and walked one in his Chicago debut, delighting the crowd of 36,702 on a picturesque night at Wrigley Field. The 6-foot-5 right-hander was acquired in a January trade with Miami.

Carson Kelly and Moisés Ballesteros each drove in two runs for the Cubs (2-2) in the opener of a three-game series.

Yoán Moncada hit a two-run homer for the Angels (2-3) in their third consecutive loss. Ryan Johnson (0-1) yielded six runs and seven hits over 3⅓ innings in his first career start.

Angels star Mike Trout went 0 for 4 with two strikeouts after collecting six hits and walking seven times over the first four games of the season.

Johnson struggled with his control in the first, walking the bases loaded. Pete Crow-Armstrong reached on an 11-pitch walk ahead of Nico Hoerner’s sacrifice fly. Kelly made it 3-0 with a two-out fly ball that landed just out of the reach of a lunging Trout in shallow right-center for a two-run single.

The Cubs added three more in the third. Happ extended his homer streak to three games, and Ballesteros grounded a two-run single into right field.

Cabrera (1-0) struck out five while throwing 80 pitches, 49 for strikes. Colin Rea worked three innings for his first save of the season, striking out Moncada with two runners on for the final out.

HOUSTON — Carlos Correa and Isaac Paredes each drove in two runs and sparked an eight-run sixth inning for the Houston Astros in an 11-9 victory over the Angels on Saturday night.

Trailing 6-4, the Astros tied it on a single by Correa and a throwing error by Angels catcher Logan O’Hoppe. Houston took a lead on a single from Christian Walker.

The Astros tagged Angels reliever Walbert Ureña (0-1) for six runs on four hits in one inning.

Houston blew it open off a two-run single by Yainer Diaz and a two-run double off the right field wall from Jake Meyers to make it 11-6. The eight runs is the most scored in the sixth inning by Houston since scoring 10 against the Dodgers on July 4.

An Angels bullpen that had registered 7⅔ innings of scoreless baseball to start the season gave up eight runs between Ureña and Joey Lucchesi in the sixth inning alone.

Houston trailed 6-0 in the fifth, but a two-run double by Paredes chased Angels starter Reid Detmers.

Detmers, who was making his first regular-season start since Sept. 27, 2024, gave up three runs on six hits and struck out nine in 4⅔ innings.

Kai-Wei Teng (1-0) made his Astros debut in the fifth inning. Teng was acquired from the San Francisco Giants in January. He gave up no runs on one hit, struck out two and walked one in 2⅓ innings to register his first win.

Oswald Peraza and Jorge Soler homered in back-to-back innings to make it 3-0. Nolan Schanuel hit a three-run homer in the ninth to make it 11-9. The Angels have eight homers as a team, which tops the majors.

Cristian Javier gave up six runs on four hits, striking out one and walking four in 4⅔ innings.

INDIANAPOLIS — Even LeBron James couldn’t muster the energy. With a wide-open lane in the ending moments of the Lakers’ 137-130 win over the Indiana Pacers, James simply dumped off a pass to Jake LaRavia. The 24-year-old had hops to put the finishing touches on the Lakers’ successful six-game trip.

Tired and shorthanded, the Lakers punctuated their extended trip with a fifth win Wednesday. Luka Doncic effortlessly scored his league-leading 14th 40-point game of the season, 43 points and seven assists.

The NBA’s leading scorer appeared ready to settle for simply his 11th consecutive 30-point performance — which is tied for the longest streak of such games in the last 20 years — after the Lakers opened a 20-point lead entering the fourth quarter, but he returned to the game because Indiana, despite having the worst record in the NBA, was still pressuring with its starters. The Pacers (16-57) trailed by as many as 29 in the third quarter and trimmed the deficit to six with 27.9 seconds left.

“I think everybody was a little bit tired,” Doncic said. “It’s been a long trip, but we got the win in the end; that’s what matters.”

The wear and tear of an intense trip in which the first five games all came down to the final minutes didn’t faze Doncic. He nearly outscored the Pacers alone in the first quarter, putting up 21 while the Pacers trailed 45-28. He threw a lob to Maxi Kleber for a dunk in the third quarter then pumped both of his fists. Doncic nailed a step-back three from the top of the key, held his follow through and hopped backwards on one leg.

The Lakers (46-26) toyed with the struggling Pacers (16-56) for much of the night. Indiana’s Andrew Nesmith and Pascal Siakam fell over each other trying to contest a Euro-step layup by James, who then posed over them and pointed to the Pacers players. Nesmith and Siakam could only grimace at each other.

James finished with 23 points, nine rebounds and nine assists. Austin Reaves had 25 points and eight assists Jaxson Hayes dunked seven times as the center had his first double-double of the season with 21 points and 10 rebounds, both season highs.

While players typically would drag through the end of such a long trip, Hayes found home-cooked fuel. Hayes stayed with his parents in his hometown of Cincinnati on Monday night after the Lakers’ win in Detroit. He woke up to a full home-cooked breakfast from his mother, who stacked plates of pancakes, eggs and bacon in front of her son. He scoped out properties he’s hoping to buy in the summer and hung out with his dad all day. The family made the hour-and-a-half drive to Indianapolis and had dinner Tuesday night.

“Best way to end the trip for sure,” Hayes said with a blissful smile.

Lakers center Jaxson Hayes, who finished with 21 points and 10 rebounds, battles Pacers center Jay Huff for a rebound during the first half Wednesday.

(Michael Conroy / Associated Press)

Hayes brought the energy for the shorthanded Lakers, who were without Deandre Ayton (back soreness), Marcus Smart (right ankle contusion) and Rui Hachimura (right calf soreness). Smart and Hachimura remain day-to-day as they missed their second consecutive games while Ayton was ruled out immediately before the game. Even the reinforcements were shorthanded as rookie Adou Thiero missed the game because of left knee soreness.

Thiero, who has been back and forth between the NBA and the G League‘s South Bay Lakers, played 29 minutes in a G League game on Saturday and flew directly to Detroit for Monday’s game. He played two minutes against the Pistons, making his first appearance in a first half of a game since Dec. 7, but his knee didn’t feel good the following morning, Redick said. The team held the forward out for precautionary reasons, Redick said, as Thiero has struggled with injuries in both knees this season.

The Lakers relied on another part-time G League contributor to carry them through a sloppy fourth quarter. Bronny James had four points, two steals and one block in 13:22 off the bench. Lakers coach JJ Redick said the second-year guard’s pull-up free-throw line jumper with 3:55 to go “was big to kind of settle us.” It stopped a 6-0 run by the Pacers.

It was just the second game father and son have shared the court together this season. The elder James had the perfect shirt for the occasion. He walked out of the locker room wearing a gray T-shirt with a photo of him and his son on the front. Across James’ shoulders on the back read “The Chosen 1.” Across the bottom of the shirt, it read “The 1 who chose.”

“Felt like this was a game we really needed him,” Redick said of Bronny James. “It was a game that [we needed] his athleticism, his defense. … I think the biggest thing with him is he’s got a lot of confidence right now.”

The Lakers have won 13 of their last 15 games to vault to third place in the competitive Western Conference. They have six of their last nine regular-season games at home and, after this grueling stretch, they can’t get there soon enough.

“Do we have to do this?” Redick said quietly as he sat down for his postgame news conference.

He knew everyone in the room wanted to get home.

ROB Reiner’s friends held back tears at the Oscars as the ceremony honored the late director and his wife, Michele Singer Reiner, after their tragic deaths.

The couple died in December 2025 after being brutally attacked in their Los Angeles home, and their son, Nick Reiner, is the primary suspect in their murders.

Hollywood was shocked by the loss of Rob, 78, and Michele, 70, and it was expected that there would be a special tribute to them at the 98th Academy Awards held at the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood on Sunday.

Rob and Michele were honored Sunday in a speech by Billy Crystal, one of the stars of When Harry Met Sally.

Rob famously rewrote the ending of When Harry Met Sally after meeting his wife, Michele, while shooting the film.

“I first met Rob Reiner in 1975. When I was cast as his best friend in an episode of All in the Family,” Billy’s began in his tribute.

“Rob said, it was fun playing your best friend, why don’t we keep it going. And it was a thrill to see him evolve from a great comic actor to a master storyteller.

“His first film was This Is Spinal Tap. You could stop right there … The comedy was turned up to an 11.”

Billy went on to discuss Rob’s other iconic films, including Stand By Me.

“Audiences then lined up to see his funny, charming films, so he gave them misery!” Billy continued.

“My friend Rob’s movies will last for lifetimes. Because they were about what makes us laugh and cry and what we aspire to be, far better in his eyes, far kinder, far funnier, far more human.”

“And when Michele Singer entered his life, they were unstoppable. A gifted photographer, she not only produced films with Rob, but it was her energy that had them working tirelessly to fight social injustice in the country that they both loved.

“Rob and Michele Reiner became the driving force in the landmark decision for marriage equality across the United States. And their loss is immeasurable.”

He said Rob told him several times that “it meant everything to him that his work meant something to you.”

“And for us, who had the privilege of working with and knowing him and loving him, all we can say is, ‘Buddy, what fun we had storming the castle.”

Billy’s speech concluded with several actors joining him on stage, including Kathy Bates, Demi Moore and Mandy Patinkin.

More late stars honored at the Oscars

Diane Keaton was also honored at the Oscars’ In Memoriam tribute.

Rachel McAdams, who starred alongside the late actress in The Family Stone, took the stage to honor Diane.

“For over 50 years, luminous on screen and indelible in life, believe me when I say there isn’t an actress of my generation who is not inspired by and enthralled with her absolute singularity,” she said.

“She wore so many hats, literally and figuratively, actress, artist, author, activist, but no hat more important to her than being a mother to her two children.

“She meant so much to so many of us. I remember she used to sing this old Girl Scout song on set, which is just so her: ‘Make new friends, but keep the old. One is silver, and the other is gold. A circle is round, it has no end. That’s how long I’ll be your friend.’

“And so to our friend, Diane Keaton, celebrating a life in silver and gold, a legend with no end.”

Diane, a four-time Academy Award nominee, died in October 2025 of bacterial pneumonia.

Other stars were honored during the In memoriam segment, including Robert Duvall, known for his roles in The Godfather and Apocalypse Now, Robert Redford, known for All the President’s Men and The Sting and Catherine O’Hara, known for her role in Home Alone and Schitt’s Creek.

“She made us laugh until we cried,” Rachel said of Catherine at the Oscars.

The death of Rob Reiner

Corey Feldman, who portrayed Teddy Duchamp in Stand by Me, was reportedly not asked to participate in the tribute to Rob, despite being one of the main characters alongside Jerry and Wil.

A source recently told the Daily Mail that Corey was “devastated” by the apparent snub and “wanted nothing more than to honor Rob.”

In January, Rob was subtly recognized at the Golden Globes by host Nikki Glaser, who ended the show wearing a Spinal Tap cap, a reference to the filmmaker’s 1984 film, This Is Spinal Tap.

The comedian also closed the ceremony, saying, “This one went to 11. Thank you, guys, for an amazing night,” a reference to the movie’s famous moments between Rob and co-star Christopher Guest.

Rob and Michele allegedly had their throats slit while lying in bed, and Nick, who had been diagnosed with schizophrenia and was battling a drug addiction, has been charged with their murders.

The incident occurred hours after the trio attended Conan O’Brien’s holiday party, where Rob and Nick had an explosive fight about Nick’s behavior.

Last month, Conan O’Brien, host of the 98th Academy Awards, broke his silence about the tragedy during a sit-down with The New Yorker.

“I knew Rob and Michele, and then increasingly got closer and closer to them, and I was seeing them a lot,” the talk show host said.

“My wife and I were seeing them a lot, and they were so — they were just such lovely people.

Most Awarded Oscar Winners of All Time

Best Director:

John Ford — 4 wins

• The Informer (1935)
• The Grapes of Wrath (1940)
• How Green Was My Valley (1941)
• The Quiet Man (1952)

Frank Capra — 3 wins

• It Happened One Night (1934)
• Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936)
• You Can’t Take It with You (1938)

William Wyler — 3 wins

• Mrs. Miniver (1942)
• The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)
• Ben-Hur (1959)

Best Actor in a Leading Role:

Daniel Day‑Lewis — 3 wins (most in history)

• My Left Foot (1989)
• There Will Be Blood (2007)
• Lincoln (2012)

A slew of actors are tied in second place having won 2 Oscars, including: Marlon Brando, Tom Hanks, Dustin Hoffman, Sean Penn, Anthony Hopkins, and more.

Best Actress in a Leading Role:

Katharine Hepburn — 4 wins

• Morning Glory (1933)
• Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner (1967)
• The Lion in Winter (1968)
• On Golden Pond (1981)

Frances McDormand — 3 wins

• Fargo (1996)
• Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017)
• Nomadland (2020)

Meryl Streep — 3 wins (two lead, one supporting)

• Kramer vs. Kramer (1979) — Supporting Actress
• Sophie’s Choice (1982) — Lead Actress
• The Iron Lady (2011) — Lead Actress

Best Actor in a Supporting Role:

Walter Brennan — 3 wins

• Come and Get It (1936)
• Kentucky (1938)
• The Westerner (1940)

Many actors are tied for the second place honor with 2 nominations, including: Michael Caine, Denzel Washington, Gene Hackman, Jack Nicholson, Christoph Waltz, and Mahershala Ali.

Best Actress in a Supporting Role:

Dianne Wiest — 2 wins

• Hannah and Her Sisters (1986)
• Bullets Over Broadway (1994)

Shelley Winters — 2 wins

• The Diary of Anne Frank (1959)
• A Patch of Blue (1965)

Maggie Smith — 2 wins

• The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1969) — Lead Actress
• California Suite (1978) — Supporting Actress

“And to have that experience of saying goodnight to somebody and having them leave and then find out the next day that they’re gone. … I think I was in shock for quite a while afterward. I mean, there’s no other word for it. It’s just very — it’s so awful. It’s just so awful.”

Conan also admitted that it was still “hard for me to comprehend” what happened to his friends.

The U.S. Sun exclusively revealed that Nick could inherit his family’s $196million fortune even if he’s found guilty of his parents’ deaths.

This would be the case if Nick is found legally insane, which, by California law, would still entitle him to the inheritance.

Nick has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder and faces a maximum sentence of life in prison if convicted.

Bruno Fernandes reaches 100 assists in all competitions after setting up two goals in crucial 3-1 win over Villa.

Manchester United bolstered their bid to qualify for the Champions League with a vital 3-1 win against top-four rivals Aston Villa.

Michael Carrick’s side took the lead through Casemiro’s second-half opener at Old Trafford on Sunday before Ross Barkley hauled Villa level.

United finished strongly with Matheus Cunha and Benjamin Sesko scoring in the closing stages to seal Carrick’s seventh win in nine games since taking over as interim boss.

Sitting third in the Premier League, United are three points clear of fourth-placed Villa in the race to reach the Champions League via a top-four finish.

United co-owner Jim Ratcliffe this week praised Carrick’s “excellent” work but stopped short of committing to the former Old Trafford star on a long-term basis.

However, Carrick is making a strong case to earn the job on a permanent basis after stabilising United after Ruben Amorim’s sacking.

United’s latest victory came after an 11-day break since the first defeat of his reign at Newcastle, and Carrick celebrated with a jig of delight on the touchline after Sesko wrapped up the points.

Spluttering Villa have lost their last three league games and have just one win in seven top-flight matches, leaving them three points above fifth-placed Chelsea with eight games left in the battle for European places.

After a lethargic first half, United finally prised open the Villa defence in the 53rd minute.

Bryan Mbeumo’s stinging strike was palmed away by Emiliano Martinez, earning a corner that brought the opener.

Bruno Fernandes curled a corner to the near post, and Casemiro made a perfectly timed run to glance a header past Martinez.

With Casemiro likely to leave when his contract expires at the end of the season, United fans serenaded the Brazilian midfielder with chants of “one more year”.

United lost focus and surrendered the lead in the 64th minute.

In his first Premier League start for 14 months, Barkley slammed a superb strike past Senne Lammens from 11 metres (12 yards) after United failed to clear the danger.

But Cunha netted in the 71st minute to ensure Carrick’s men did not pay for their stumble.

Bursting onto Fernandes’s sublime pass into the Villa area, the Brazilian forward slotted a fine finish into the far corner.

It was Fernandes’s 16th Premier League assist this term, moving the United captain past David Beckham’s previous club record of 15 in 1999-2000.

He has 100 assists for United in all competitions since signing from Sporting Lisbon in 2020.

Sesko came off the bench to prove a point to Carrick after being dropped, and the Slovenian striker fired home with a deflected effort in the 81st minute.

Fernandes said he was delighted to provide two assists for his teammates to move past Beckham’s record.

“I’m more proud and pleased because I did it serving my teammates. Giving joy to others is also very good,” he said.

“When you play in the position I play, I’m very happy I can help them to score and be happy in that moment. It’s a huge achievement for me, but the main achievement would be in the top spot at the end of the season.”

Elsewhere, Nottingham Forest climbed out of the relegation zone after a 0-0 draw against Fulham at the City Ground.

Still waiting for their first win under Vitor Pereira, fourth-bottom Forest, who have had four managers this term, are above third-bottom West Ham on goal difference.

Ten-man Leeds held on for a 0-0 draw at Crystal Palace despite Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s missed penalty and a red card for Gabriel Gudmundsson.

Later on Sunday, troubled Tottenham head to Liverpool with only goal difference keeping them outside the relegation zone.

ABOUT THE BEST THING to be said about this year’s special election campaign is that it will soon be over. No one will really win, except for the political consultants who will walk away with pockets full of cash for raising and spending more than $200 million of other people’s money, and no one will really lose, at least not literally, because there are no candidates on the statewide ballot. The safest prediction is that, on the day after the election, California politics will be just as dysfunctional as today.

So why are we having this election? And why should anyone vote? The immediate answer to the first question is clear enough: Because Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger wanted it. The answer to the second question is that not voting would leave government to the special interests that finance these initiatives. The choices offered on the ballot require voter decisions, not a boycott.

All eight propositions on the ballot were put there by initiative petitions circulated by paid signature gatherers. The governor embraced four of them as elements of his reform of state government, including Proposition 76 to restrict state spending and Proposition 77 to take the job of drawing legislative and congressional districts away from the Legislature and give it to a panel of retired judges.

Schwarzenegger called a special election this year even though all the proposed reforms easily could have waited until the regular primary election in June. A majority of voters opposed this election, in part because of the estimated $50-million cost to the state and in part out of sheer exhaustion — six statewide elections, including primaries, in the last four years. No one is quite certain why Schwarzenegger insisted on this, although he claimed his reforms were too urgent to wait six months.

The irony is that, according to opinion polls, the more the governor campaigned for his measures, the less voters liked them. So if he called this election primarily to give his 2006 gubernatorial campaign a head start, he may be disappointed. One recent poll showed his approval rating at a meager 33%.

As for reforming state government, only Proposition 77 promises to bring about fundamental, beneficial change in how state government operates, ultimately resulting in a more moderate Legislature that is not deadlocked in partisan battle the way it is now. Propositions 74 and 75 offer some hope for modest improvements in education and Sacramento politics.

But it’s not just the governor’s misguided intentions that make this election objectionable. It has carried abuse of the ballot initiative to an unprecedented extreme (at least until the next election). All the measures were written by a variety of special interests and put on the ballot because those interests were able to spend the necessary money. If they all pass, the state’s overburdened Constitution will be weighed down by even more details about what state government can or cannot do.

This would all be unbearably depressing were it not for one fact: The people of California do want change in Sacramento.

That’s why they kicked out Gray Davis and elected Schwarzenegger in the 2003 special election. And that’s why, even as they question the wisdom of this special election, they remain supportive of the initiative process. The perfect initiative has yet to be written. (Although the two-sentence proposition proposed by San Francisco State professor Jules Tygiel in these pages last Sunday comes pretty close: “There shall be no further initiatives. All previous initiatives may be modified by a majority vote of the Legislature.”) But initiatives do succeed in forcing debate, if often clumsy or distorted, on important issues.

What Californians do not want is political gridlock. They want strong leaders who can get results without resorting to the ballot, much as Schwarzenegger did in working with the Legislature in 2004. It’s alarming that now Schwarzenegger is promising to produce even more ballot measures next year regardless of Tuesday’s outcome.

For all its faults, Tuesday’s election presents voters with choices. These choices may be unsatisfying. But by staying home, voters would only further exclude themselves from the governing process. See you at the polls on Tuesday.

Despite United States President Donald Trump’s repeated declarations of victory in the US-Israeli war on Iran, Tehran’s retaliatory strikes on Israel and US military assets in the region have continued, upending global financial and energy markets.

“We’ve had two decades to study defeats of the US military to our immediate east and west. We’ve incorporated lessons accordingly,” Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi wrote in a post on X on March 1, the day after US and Israeli strikes on Tehran killed Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and other senior Iranian officials.

“Bombings in our capital have no impact on our ability to conduct war,” he wrote.

According to analysts, Iran has made use of “asymmetric” warfare tactics while striking the US and Israel. So, are Tehran’s war tactics working?

Here’s what we know:

What is ‘asymmetric’ warfare?

When the balance of capabilities is unequal in a conflict – as it is in relation to weapons in this one – the weaker party can turn to unconventional methods of warfare, John Phillips, a British safety, security and risk adviser and a former military chief instructor, told Al Jazeera.

This is known as “asymmetric” warfare.

This can include the use of guerrilla tactics, terrorism, cyberattacks, use of proxies and other indirect tools, Phillips said, in order “to offset conventional inferiority, avoid the enemy’s strengths, and exploit vulnerabilities in political will, logistics, and legal or ethical constraints”.

“Iran is conventionally weaker than the US and Israel, but relatively strong compared to many neighbours,” he said.

“What makes Iran distinctive is not that it uses these methods at all, but that they sit at the centre of its grand strategy rather than at its margins.”

Why is Iran using asymmetric warfare?

In the ongoing war between Iran and the US-Israel, Washington and Tel Aviv have been using expensive missiles and drones to attack Iran and to intercept missiles Iran has fired back. The Patriot and THAAD defence systems, for example, which launch interceptors to take out incoming drones and missiles, can cost millions of dollars for each missile they fire. This compares with the $20,000-$35,000 cost of each Iranian Shahed drone.

As a result, the US has reportedly spent $2bn a day in its war on Iran and there are fears it could run out of interceptor missiles altogether if the war goes on for more than a few weeks.

It is therefore in Iran’s interests to focus on holding out against strikes and protecting its own weapons supplies while it does so, military experts say.

However, Phillips explained that precision strikes and sabotage by Israel and the US have demonstrated that Iran is not able to fully shield its missile, drone and nuclear‑related assets, while sanctions and domestic pressures have limited its capacity to sustain a very high‑tempo confrontation.

“As a result, Iran’s asymmetric approach is best understood as an effective ‘survival and leverage’ mechanism that produces a chronic, costly ‘shadow war’, rather than a path to decisive regional hegemony or victory,” he said.

Iran began using asymmetric warfare techniques following the 1979 Iranian revolution, which overthrew Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.

“Instead of trying to match high‑end aircraft, precision munitions, or blue‑water fleets, [Iran] has built a ‘forward deterrence’ posture that operates in the grey zone between war and peace,” Phillips said.

“This is backed by large inventories of ballistic and cruise missiles, mass‑produced drones [often handed to proxies], cyber-operations, and a posture of underground, dispersed and hardened facilities that make preemption difficult and preserve some retaliatory capability.”

What asymmetric tactics has Iran been using?

Enemy depletion tactics

Since US-Israeli strikes on Iran began on February 28, Tehran has launched a wave of ballistic missiles targeting Israel and US military bases across the Gulf region.

Using a mix of short and medium-range ballistic missiles, as well as drone swarms through this defence system, Iran aims to deplete Israeli and US interceptor stockpiles.

Economic warfare

Iran has shut down the Strait of Hormuz through which about 20 percent of global oil and gas supplies are shipped. Linking the Gulf to the Gulf of Oman, the strait is the only waterway to the open ocean available to Gulf oil producers.

On Thursday, Iran attacked fuel tankers in Iraqi waters. Instability in and around the Strait of Hormuz drove Brent crude oil prices past $100 a barrel last week, with wild swings ongoing, prompting fears of a global energy crisis.

Iran has also targeted civilian infrastructure like airports and desalination plants which are crucial for water supply in the region, and it has launched drones targeting oil depots.

War on global finance

Meanwhile, on Wednesday this week, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) threatened to attack “economic centres and banks” with links to United States and Israeli entities in the Gulf region after what it claimed was an attack on an Iranian bank, with the war in its 12th day.

Since then, many banks like Citibank and HSBC in Qatar, have begun shutting, further threatening global financial stability.

Top technology companies such as Google, Microsoft, Palantir, IBM, Nvidia and Oracle, as well as the listed offices and infrastructure for cloud-based services, are also located in several Israeli cities and in some Gulf countries, which Iran has also threatened to attack.

Use of proxies

Iran has aimed to keep the much more powerful US military and its allies off balance through proxies in Iraq, Lebanon and Yemen. Hezbollah in Lebanon, for example, has fired missiles and drones into northern Israel since March 2 as part of Iran’s retaliatory strikes.

“At the core of this [asymmetric] approach is a network of proxies and partners – Hezbollah in Lebanon, Shia militias in Iraq, groups in Syria, Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad in Gaza and the Houthis in Yemen – which receive weapons, training, funding and ideological guidance from Iran,” Phillips said.

These actors allow Tehran to threaten Israeli and US forces, as well as regional shipping lanes, on multiple fronts, “often with a degree of deniability and at a fraction of the cost of deploying its own regular forces”, Phillips noted.

‘Mosaic’ defence system

Iran has organised its defensive structure into multiple regional and semi-independent layers instead of concentrating power in a single command chain that could be paralysed by a decapitation strike. This concept is most closely associated with the formation of the parallel military force, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), particularly under former commander Mohammad Ali Jafari, who led the force from 2007 to 2019.

The doctrine has two central aims: to make Iran’s command system difficult to dismantle by force, and to make the battlefield itself harder to resolve quickly by turning Iran into a layered arena of regular defence, irregular warfare, local mobilisation and long-term attrition.

What damage have these tactics done to the US and Israel?

Iran’s asymmetrical playbook has made the war more expensive for the US. It has been forced to spend money on replacing stockpiles of expensive missiles like Tomahawks and defensive systems such as Patriot and THAAD interceptors.

According to the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), the first 100 hours alone of Operation Epic Fury – the codename for the US-Israeli assault on Iran – cost the US approximately $3.7bn, mostly unbudgeted. Israel, already reeling from the economic strain of its prolonged wars in Gaza and Lebanon, faces mounting domestic pressure as daily sirens force millions into bunkers.

While the Pentagon has not yet announced an official estimate for the cost of the war, late last week, two congressional sources told US broadcaster MS NOW that the war is costing the United States an estimated $1bn a day.

A day later, Politico reported that US Republicans on Capitol Hill privately fear the Pentagon is spending close to $2bn a day on the war.

Meanwhile, officials from President Donald Trump’s administration estimated during a congressional briefing this week that the first six days of the war on Iran had cost the US at least $11.3bn, a source familiar with the matter told the Reuters news agency.

Reporting from Washington, DC, following the publication of the CSIS analysis last week, Al Jazeera’s Rosiland Jordan said the Pentagon had put together a $50bn supplemental budget request in order to replace Tomahawk and Patriot missiles and THAAD interceptors already used in the first week of the war, along with other equipment that had been damaged or worn out so far.

Are Iran’s tactics working?

To a certain extent, they are.

According to a report by The Soufan Center, the “pattern of Iranian counterattacks suggests a layered operational approach designed to generate pressure on Gulf states, create regional disruption on land, sea, and air, while simultaneously attempting to exhaust US and allied defensive resources”.

“Tehran appears to be fighting a war of endurance: prolong the conflict, expand the economic battlefield, make the costs increasingly prohibitive, ration advanced capabilities, and impose steady human and financial costs on its adversaries. All with the hope that political tolerance erodes faster in Jerusalem and Washington than in Tehran,” the report noted.

This may be working. Questions about the cost of the war are already causing a political headache for the Trump administration in Washington.

Congress’s House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries told reporters at a Capitol Hill news conference last week that President Donald Trump is “plunging America into another endless conflict in the Middle East” and “spending billions of dollars to bomb Iran”.

“But they can’t find a dime to make it more affordable for the American people to go see a doctor when they need one,” he said. “Can’t find a dime to make it easier for Americans who are working hard to purchase their first home. And they can’t find a dime to lower the grocery bills of the American people.”

Trump won the presidency in 2024 largely on the back of a promise to handle the rising cost of living and he faces mid-term elections this year. It is likely that the cost of the war will not play well with voters, analysts say.

In Israel, opposition politician Yair Golan has also criticised his government’s economic management of the war.

In a post on X on Sunday, he wrote: “The war with Iran has been planned for months. The fact that the Israeli government has not prepared an orderly economic plan to support citizens during the war period is a disgrace.

“The serving and working public should not be the one footing the bill for the war out of its own pocket while billions of shekels go to the evading and non-working sector,” he said, adding that the opposition will soon replace the government.

Ali Vaez, director of the Iran Project at the International Crisis Group, told Al Jazeera that at a fraction of the cost – and despite a significant technological gap – Iran has demonstrated an ability to hold the global economy at risk, to pressure Washington into “blinking first”.

“A steady stream of inexpensive drones and limited missile strikes can disrupt the thriving economies of Israel and the Gulf, sending shockwaves through energy markets and ultimately translating into higher prices at American gas stations,” he said.

Phillips, the British safety, security and risk adviser, said the strategy has worked in important but limited ways.

“It has helped the Islamic republic survive intense sanctions, clandestine campaigns and periodic strikes while maintaining a credible ability to hit US bases, Israeli territory and Gulf infrastructure, which in turn raises the political and military cost of any attempt at regime-change war,” he said.

“Iran’s reach – stretching from Lebanon and Syria to Iraq and Yemen – allows it to shape crises, quickly raise the stakes of local conflicts, and force adversaries to devote substantial resources to missile defence, counter‑UAV systems, naval protection and regional coalition management,” he noted.

“However, there are clear constraints and growing problems. Key proxies such as Hezbollah and various militias have suffered leadership and infrastructure losses; the network has become more fragmented and sometimes less controllable, increasing the risk of unwanted escalation even as its coherence as an instrument of policy erodes,” he added.