hopeful

SACRAMENTO — A new poll shows that former Orange County Rep. Katie Porter’s support in the 2026 governor’s race dropped after she tangled with a television reporter during a heated interview in October, an incident that rival candidates used to question her temperament.

Porter was the clear front-runner over the summer, but by late October she dropped behind Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco, a Republican, according to a poll released Friday by the UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies and co-sponsored by The Times.

Still, nearly half of the registered voters surveyed remain undecided, evidence that few Californians are paying attention to a race that remains wide open and was eclipsed in recent months by the costly and successful congressional redistricting battle that became a referendum on President Trump. Porter remains the most favored Democratic candidate, which is significant in a state that has not elected a Republican governor since 2006.

“She’s the leading Democrat among the various ones that are in there right now,” said Mark DiCamillo, director of the poll. “But it’s because nobody really on the Democratic side has really jumped out of the pack. It’s kind of a political vacuum at the moment.”

The governor’s race was frozen in stasis for most of the year, first as Californians waited for former Vice President Kamala Harris to decide whether she was going to jump into the race. It wasn’t until late July that Harris announced, no, she was not running. Then, weeks later, Californians became captivated by a special election to reconfigure the state’s congressional districts — which set off a furious, expensive and high-stakes political battle that could help decide which party controls the U.S. House of Representatives.

Now that the special election is over, gubernatorial candidates can “rev up the public to pay attention,” DiCamillo said.

“It’s the time for someone to break through,” he said.

But it won’t be U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla. The senator would have been the top Democrat in the race, but not a heavy favorite, if he decided to jump in, the poll found. Voters gave him the highest favorability rating among all current and potential contenders in the governor’s race. After months of speculation, however, Padilla on Tuesday announced he would forgo a run for governor.

The new poll found that Bianco was supported by 13% of voters in the state, followed by Porter at 11%. The Berkeley poll in August showed that Porter led all candidates with 17% support, with Bianco in second place at 10%.

A Bianco representative said his lead in the polls was evidence that his campaign was resonating with voters.

“It is abundantly clear that Californians are demanding a new path forward,” campaign manager Erica Melendrez said. “Sheriff Bianco represents a safe California, an affordable California, an educated California and a leader with integrity and character that ALL Californians can be proud of.”

DiCamillo said Porter’s 6% drop over those three months was significant, given that the California governor’s race is so tight, but cautioned that it’s still early in the 2026 campaign season and a lot of shifting will happen before the June gubernatorial primary.

Porter’s campaign declined to comment on the drop in support and noted instead that she still led the Democratic field.

“Poll after poll continues to show Katie as the strongest Democrat in the race, driven by a growing coalition of grassroots supporters — not powerful special interests,” spokesperson Peter Opitz said. “Californians know her record of taking on Donald Trump and trust her to tackle our cost crisis, from skyrocketing rent and housing costs to rising healthcare premiums and unaffordable child care.”

Porter came under fire in October after an outburst during an interview with CBS reporter Julie Watts. When the Sacramento-based journalist asked Porter what she would say to Californians who voted for Trump, the UC Irvine law professor responded that she didn’t need their support.

After Watts asked follow-up questions, Porter accused the reporter of being “unnecessarily argumentative,” held up her hands and later said, “I don’t want this all on camera.”

The next day, a 2021 video emerged of Porter berating a staff member during a videoconference with a member of the Biden administration. “Get out of my f— shot!” Porter said to the young woman after she came into view in the background. Porter’s comments in the video were first reported by Politico.

Porter later acknowledged that she mishandled the television news interview, but explained that she felt the reporter’s questioning implied she should cater to Trump’s supporters. Porter also said she apologized to her staff member, saying her remarks were “inappropriate,” that she values her staff and could have handled that situation better.

Her Democratic gubernatorial rivals seized on the videos. Former state Controller Betty Yee called on Porter to drop out of the race, and businessman Stephen Cloobeck and former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa attacked her in ads about the uproar.

While difficult to assess, the negative news coverage and publicity surrounding those incidents appear to have taken a toll on Porter’s reputation. No other candidate experienced a similar shift in support.

According to the new poll, 26% of California voters had a favorable opinion of Porter, compared with 33% who saw her unfavorably — with the remainder having no opinion. That’s a major drop from when she was running for the U.S. Senate last year, when 45% of voters had a favorable opinion in February 2024 and 27% were sour on her.

Political scientist Eric Schickler, co-director of the Berkeley institute that conducted the poll, said Porter looks vulnerable, and that makes the governor’s race a more attractive contest for current candidates and those who may be considering joining it.

Aside from Porter and Bianco, the poll found that 8% of voters favored former U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, a Democrat; the same percentage backed conservative commentator Steve Hilton. Villaraigosa had support from 5% of voters, Yee 3%, and California Supt. of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond 1%. Cloobeck and former Democratic legislator Ian Calderon registered less than 1%.

Another potential candidate — billionaire developer Rick Caruso — was backed by 3% of voters, the poll found. Caruso said Monday night that he still was considering running for either governor or Los Angeles mayor and will decide in a few weeks.

Schickler said the results of Tuesday’s election may be a sign that moderate or business-friendly Democrats — including Caruso — may not fare so well in a state as Democratic as California. Voters across the nation delivered a sharp rebuke to Trump, electing Democrats in major races in New York City, New Jersey and Virginia and passing Proposition 50, the California ballot measure designed to help Democrats take control of the U.S. House of Representatives after the 2026 election.

“Somebody like Caruso, his narrative would probably look a lot stronger if Democrats still seemed on the defensive and in disarray,” Schickler said. “But after Prop. 50 passing, big Democratic wins in New Jersey and Virginia, I think the argument for a need to change what we’re doing dramatically, at least in a state like California, is less likely to resonate.”

The Berkeley IGS/Times poll surveyed 8,141 California registered voters online in English and Spanish from Oct. 20 to 27. The results are estimated to have a margin of error of 2 percentage points in either direction in the overall sample, and larger numbers for subgroups.

Oct. 29 (UPI) — A federal grand jury in Chicago indicted House of Representatives hopeful Kat Abughazaleh for conspiracy and interfering with Immigration and Customs Enforcement activities.

Abughazaleh, 26, is a progressive candidate who is one of more than a dozen seeking the Democratic Party’s nomination for the 2026 election to represent Illinois’ Ninth Congressional District that is located north of Chicago.

A federal grand jury in the U.S. District Court of Northern Illinois indicted her and five others on Thursday for impeding an ICE vehicle and agent outside the ICE facility in Broadview, Ill.

“No one is above the law and no one has the right to obstruct it,” Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said in a statement.

“Federal agents perform dangerous, essential work every single day to enforce out immigration laws and keep our communities safe.”

He said those who “resort to force or intimidation to interfere with that mission … attack not only the agents themselves but the rule of law they represent.”

Abughazaleh called her indictment a “political prosecution and a gross attempt to silence dissent” in a post on X.

“This case is a major push by the Trump administration to criminalize protest and punish anyone who speaks out against them.”

Among Abughazaleh’s indicted co-defendants include those involved local politics.

Catherine Sharp, 29, seeks a seat on the Cook County Board and is the chief of staff to Ald. Andre Vasquez, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.

Oak Park trustee Brian Straw, 38, and 45th Ward Democratic committee member Michael Rabbit, 62, also are indicted, along with protesters Andre Martin, 27, and Joselyn Walsh, 31.

A sealed court document filed on Thursday accuses Abughazaleh and co-defendants of conspiracy and interfering with the duties of an officer of the United States, which are punishable by up to six years in prison.

They allegedly surrounded an ICE vehicle driven by an agent and hindered its progress as the officer drove forward “at an extremely slow rate of speed” while trying not to injure any of the six defendants.

Prosecutors say Abughazaleh, “with her hands on the hood braced her body and hands against the vehicle while remaining directly in the path of the vehicle.”

The defendants also are accused of etching “Pig” on the side of the ICE vehicle and breaking its side mirrors and rear windshield wiper.

Abughazaleh, et al., have an arraignment hearing scheduled on Nov. 5.

Rep. Jan Schakowsky, a Democrat, currently represents Illinois’ Ninth Congressional District, which includes Evanston along the Lake Michigan shoreline to the east and stretches northwesterly to include Crystal Lake in its far northwestern corner.

Schakowsky is retiring from politics and vacating the seat after finishing her current term.

Past visits by top leaders to Yasukuni, which honours convicted war criminals, have angered Japan’s neighbours.

The new leader of Japan’s governing party, Sanae Takaichi, has decided not to visit a controversial World War II shrine in Tokyo, as uncertainty remains over whether she will be appointed prime minister ahead of a visit by United States President Donald Trump before the end of the month.

Takaichi, 64, seen as an arch-conservative from the right of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), has previously visited the Yasukuni Shrine, including as a government minister.

However, Takaichi opted on Friday to send an offering, and reports said she was likely to refrain from visiting in order not to antagonise the country’s neighbours whom Imperial Japan had occupied and committed atrocities against in the first half of the 20th century.

Past visits by top leaders to Yasukuni, which honours convicted war criminals, have angered China and South Korea. The last visit by a Japanese premier was in 2013 by the late Shinzo Abe, Takaichi’s mentor.

Takaichi’s decision not to visit the shrine came as Japan’s former Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama, best known for making a statement apologising for atrocities Japan committed in Asia over the course of World War II, died aged 101.

Murayama, in office from 1994 to 1996, issued the 1995 “Murayama statement” on the 50th anniversary of Japan’s unconditional surrender.

Murayama died on Friday at a hospital in his hometown, Oita, in southwestern Japan, according to a statement from Mizuho Fukushima, head of Japan’s Social Democratic Party (SDP).

Hiroyuki Takano, secretary-general of the SDP in Oita, told the AFP news agency he had been informed that Murayama died of old age.

Political wrangling

Takaichi became LDP leader on October 4, but her aim to become Japan’s first female prime minister was derailed after the LDP’s coalition partner of 26 years, the Komeito party, pulled the plug on their alliance last week.

The LDP is now in talks about forming a different alliance, boosting Takaichi’s chances of becoming premier in a parliamentary vote that local media reports said will likely happen on Tuesday.

The clock is ticking for Takaichi to become Japan’s fifth prime minister in as many years with Trump’s impending visit.

Details of Washington and Tokyo’s trade deal remain unresolved and Trump – who had warm relations with Abe in his first term – wants Japan to stop Russian energy imports and boost defence spending.

Komeito said that the LDP has failed to tighten rules on party funding following a damaging slush fund scandal involving dodgy payments of millions of dollars.

The LDP this week began talks on forming a new coalition with the Japan Innovation Party instead.

The two parties would be two seats short of a majority but the alliance would still likely ensure that Takaichi succeeds in becoming premier.

A spanner in the works could be if opposition parties agreed on a rival candidate but talks earlier this week appeared to make little headway.

More talks were due to take place on Friday.

French President Emmanuel Macron has said that there is “no doubt” the United States will support security efforts in Ukraine after 26 European countries pledged to send troops to the war-battered country after fighting ends.

Macron spoke after a meeting of the so-called coalition of the willing in Paris on Thursday that was followed by a video call to United States President Donald Trump aiming to get a clearer sense of Washington’s commitment to Ukrainian security, viewed as essential to any peacekeeping efforts.

The French president said that US support for the “reassurance force” would be finalised “in the coming days” and that Washington would collaborate with European countries in imposing new sanctions if Russia were to continue to refuse a deal to end the three-and-a-half-year war.

The summit in Paris included European leaders, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff in attendance, and was part of a push to show Europe’s ability to act independently after mixed signals from Washington since Trump entered office in January.

Reporting from Paris, Al Jazeera’s Natacha Butler said that Macron had indicated the call with Trump was “positive”, with further news to come on what the US might have to offer in terms of security guarantees.

“Until now, that has been very vague indeed,” she said, noting that Trump had previously said that US troops would not be sent to Ukraine.

Experts say that any European operation would hinge on the US providing intelligence support and airpower in countries outside Ukraine.

‘Concrete step’

The guarantees by the 26 countries in the coalition of the willing – largely European, with the inclusion of Canada, Australia and Japan – are expected to include ramped-up training for the Ukrainian army and deployment of troops by some European states.

“We have today 26 countries who have formally committed … to deploy as ‘reassurance force’ troops in Ukraine, or be present on the ground, in the sea, or in the air,” Macron said alongside Zelenskyy.

He specified that troops would not be deployed “on the front line” and would aim to “prevent any new major aggression”.

Zelensky hailed the move: “I think that today, for the first time in a long time, this is the first such serious concrete step,” he said.

During the summit, United Kingdom Prime Minister Keir Starmer said it was necessary “to go even further to apply pressure on Putin to secure a cessation of hostilities”, a Downing Street spokeswoman said.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz also urged more pressure, but remained cautious about the scope of involvement.

“Germany will decide on military involvement at the appropriate time once the framework conditions have been clarified,” a government spokesman said after the summit.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s office said her country would not send troops to Ukraine, but it could help monitor any potential peace deal.

Peace talks stall

Countries met to discuss Ukraine’s security amid growing concern that Russian President Vladimir Putin is currently showing no interest in a peace accord, with alarm intensifying after his high-profile visit to Beijing this week.

Al Jazeera’s Butler said that while Zelenskyy was “very pleased that things seemed to be moving forward”, he had said Putin had “no intention of coming to the table for any form of peace talks”.

Putin had earlier said he would be willing to meet Zelenskyy in Moscow, a call that many viewed as a call for capitulation.

Trump, who has not yet managed to broker talks between Zelenskyy and Putin, warned this week that the Russian leader would “see things happen” if he was unhappy with Moscow’s next steps.

Putin has said Moscow is willing to “resolve all our tasks militarily” in the absence of a peace deal acceptable to the Kremlin. He has also indicated he does not want to see European troops in post-war Ukraine,

“It’s not for them to decide,” NATO chief Mark Rutte shot back Thursday. “I think we really have to stop making Putin too powerful.”

Trump ‘dissatisfied’

Following the video call with Trump, Zelenskyy said the US president was “very dissatisfied” that European countries were still buying Russian oil, pointing the finger specifically at “Hungary and Slovakia”.

The European Union imposed a ban on most oil imports from Russia in 2022, but it made an exception for imports to Slovakia and Hungary to give the landlocked central European countries time to find alternative oil supplies.

Ukraine has targeted Russia’s Druzhba oil pipeline, which carries Russian oil to Slovakia and Hungary, throughout the conflict. Both nations have asked the European Commission to act against Ukraine’s attacks.

A White House official cited by news agency Reuters confirmed that Trump had “emphasised” that European countries must stop purchasing Russian oil, adding that Russia received 1.1 billion euros ($1.28bn) in fuel sales from the EU in one year.

“The president also emphasised that European leaders must place economic pressure on China for funding Russia’s war efforts,” the official said.

The European Commission has proposed legislation to phase out EU imports of Russian oil and gas by January 1, 2028.

The Trump administration has also imposed tariffs on India for buying Russian oil in efforts to pressure the Kremlin to end the war. But the US has been accused of double standards for sparing China – the largest buyer of Russian crude.

The U.S. Air Force is hoping to see a second pre-production B-21 Raider stealth bomber take to the skies before the end of the year. The service also says it has conducted four more flight tests of the AGM-181A Long-Range Standoff (LRSO) cruise missile, which will be a key nuclear weapon for the B-21, so far this year.

Air Force Lt. Gen. Andrew Gebara, Deputy Chief of Staff for Strategic Deterrence and Nuclear Integration, provided updates on the B-21 program and other topics today during a virtual talk hosted by the Air & Space Forces Association’s Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies.

“So this is an event-based process, based on the test team, the contractor, [and] the program office. I believe it [the first flight of the second B-21] will happen by the end of the year, but we’re not going to ever give them an artificial date that they have to make if it doesn’t bring the test program along to where they need to be,” Gebara said. “We’re going to proceed as we can, efficiently, effectively, and with a sense of urgency, but we’re also going to be event-based.

“That’s really been the secret sauce to the B-21 right now, is no undue pressures. Let them do what they’re doing, and they’ll get us the world’s best aircraft here,” Gebara added.

In July, Air Force Gen. Thomas Bussiere, head of Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC), had told Air & Space Forces Magazine that the second B-21 could take to the skies “shortly.” The service had previously told that outlet that its goal was for two B-21s to be flying in 2026.

The first of six pre-production B-21s made its maiden flight in November 2023. As of September 2024, the bomber was said to be flying around two sorties every week from Edwards Air Force Base in California in support of ongoing testing.

The B-21’s manufacturer, Northrop Grumman, has also delivered two non-flying airframes to help with the test campaign. As of January, Northrop Grumman had received two contracts for low-rate initial production of additional B-21s, as well.

“The B-21 [program] is producing, its results-oriented in flight tests, basically on time, [and] basically on budget,” Gen. Gebara added in his remarks today.

U.S. military officials and members of Congress have described the Raider as a model acquisition program for years now. The Air Force’s goal is to begin flying B-21s operationally before the end of the decade.

When asked today about the expected size of the B-21 fleet, Gen. Gebara said that work is still ongoing to reach a firm number. The Air Force’s stated plan now is to acquire at least 100 Raiders, but that figure is widely expected to grow. Congress notably included $4.5 billion in funding to help accelerate B-21 production in a reconciliation funding bill, also known as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, signed into law in July. The Pentagon is asking for billions more to support the Raider program in its 2026 Fiscal Year budget request.

“I think the work you’ve seen from the Congress to get us those additional funding [sic] tells me a couple things that are very important. One is, it’s going to go a long ways to be able to help us facilitize and get to the point where we can build this thing at scale,” Gebara said. “I think the other piece to it, though, is it’s an absolute show of confidence by the Congress that we’re on the right track on this program. We’ve done a lot of work to hold changes to the minimum, to allow the program office and the contractor to get after it, and it’s paying dividends.”

The final B-21 fleet “numbers will absolutely be reliant on the work STRATCOM [U.S. Strategic Command] is doing, on what is sufficient,” Gebara added. “But it’s important to remember this is also the backbone of our conventional force. And so we aren’t building out B-21 numbers only for our [nuclear] triad. We’re also building it out for our long-range [conventional] strike capability. And so all that will that will go into it.”

Gebara’s latter points here are directly in line with comments from Air Force Maj. Gen. Jason Armagost at a separate Mitchell Institute virtual talk earlier this month. Armagost, who is commander of the Eighth Air Force, which oversees all of the Air Force’s current bomber fleets, spoke at length about the new operational possibilities that will come from having a substantial number of B-21s, particularly in light of the ‘silver bullet’ nature of the current B-2 force. The Air Force has just 19 B-2s, not all of which are ever available for taskings, conventional or nuclear, at any one time. This inherently imposes limitations, which the B-21 is not expected to be burdened with, despite being a smaller aircraft with less ordnance capacity per bomber, as you can read more about in detail here.

“Our bomber force right now is optimized for raids and small-scale, a few nights at a time [type operations],” Gen. Gebra said today, something that was highlighted by the Operation Midnight Hammer strikes on nuclear sites in Iran in June. “There’s no guarantee that’ll be the case in the future.”

All this being said, the B-21 will still have a critical nuclear deterrent role, including as a launch platform for the stealthy AGM-181 LRSO cruise missile. The LRSO is also set to be part of the future arsenal for the Air Force’s B-52 bombers, which are being deeply upgraded, overall, as you can learn more about here.

“Our LRSO missile, which will go on our bomber force, has had four successful flight tests in 2025 alone,” Gebera said during today’s talk. “Based on time, based on budget, it’s going very well.”

Flight testing of the LRSO has already been underway for years. However, other details about the highly classified missile, which Raytheon is been developing, remain limited. The Air Force released the first-ever public rendering of the missile, seen below, in June. You can find TWZ‘s previous analysis of that image, which may not necessarily reflect the current design, here.

The B-21 and LRSO are also both part of a larger Long-Range Strike (LRS) family of systems, much of which remains in the classified realm, as TWZ has explored in the past.

By all indications, the B-21 program continues to make steady progress, with a second Raider set to take to the skies sometime in the coming weeks or months.

Contact the author: [email protected]

TAMPA, Fla. — The Dodgers didn’t go shopping at the top of the market ahead of Thursday’s trade deadline.

But what they came away with — right-handed relievers Brock Stewart and Paul Gervase to bolster the bullpen, and versatile outfielder Alex Call to round out the lineup — are the kind of moves that “just raises the floor for our ballclub,” manager Dave Roberts said Friday.

“I feel we did get better,” Roberts said, before echoing the front office’s hope that the Dodgers’ biggest improvements over the final two months of the season come from the star-studded, but underperforming, core they already have in place.

“I think we’ve got a pretty dang good team. I think if you look at it from the offensive side, as far as our guys, they’ll be the first to tell you they’ve got to perform better and more consistently. That’s something that we’re all counting on … I love our club. I really do. Now it’s up to all of us to go out there and do our jobs.”

The job for the Dodgers’ two biggest acquisitions, Stewart and Call, will be clear from the get-go.

Stewart, a former Dodgers swingman from 2016 to 2019, has reinvented himself in the second half of his career. Unlike his first stint in Los Angeles, when he threw in the low 90s and was a fringe long reliever on the roster, Stewart is now a higher-leverage relief option, with a mid-to-upper 90s fastball and swing-and-miss sweeper he has used to dominate right-handed hitters this season.

“At the end [of his first Dodgers stint], he lost the velocity and was trying to figure out if he could hang on and who he was at that point,” Roberts recalled. “Obviously, he’s put in a ton of work to sort of find himself again. He’s had nothing but success. I’m excited to see this version of him. He certainly shouldn’t lack for confidence.”

Stewart won’t fix the Dodgers’ ninth-inning problems — with their closer role up in the air ever since struggling offseason signing Tanner Scott went on the injured list with an elbow injury — but could get some save situations “in the right situation,” Roberts said — for instance, if a run of right-handed hitters (who are batting just .104 with a .327. OPS against him this year) are up at the end of the game.

“I trust the guy, I trust the player, what he’s become,” Roberts said. “So for me, if the situation calls for it tonight and he’s in the ninth inning, I’ve got all the confidence.”

Gervase, a 6-foot-10 right-hander the Dodgers acquired from the Tampa Bay Rays in exchange for catcher Hunter Feduccia as part of a three-team trade on Wednesday night, was also on the active roster Friday. He comes with just five previous career MLB appearances, but a deceptive delivery aided by his long-limbed extension on the mound.

“I don’t know a whole lot about him,” Roberts said. “I know he’s got a big arm. He’s got some extension, some rise, but I haven’t seen him.”

The arrival of Stewart and Gervase did coincide with yet another loss in the bullpen. Veteran right-hander Kirby Yates, another offseason signing who has disappointed with a 4.31 ERA this season, was placed on the injured list because of lingering discomfort in his pelvic and lower-back area. He went back to Los Angeles to get further testing.

“In the last, call it, two weeks, he hasn’t felt great,” Roberts said. “Hasn’t been injured, in his words, which is why he kept pitching and competing. But we flew him home this morning to look at the doctor and kind of get some tests to see if there’s something that’s kind of been aggravating him. Something’s just not right, exactly. So we’re trying to suss that out.”

In the lineup, Roberts said Call — a 30-year-old right-handed-hitting journeyman who found a niche with the Washington Nationals the last few seasons as an on-base threat capable of grinding out tough at-bats — would mix in at all three outfield spots.

“[He is] a tough, feisty hitter,” Roberts said. “I certainly see him playing versus left. But I think he’s pretty much a neutral guy. Slugs a little more against left, but gets on base against right. I’m going to try to keep him in there a couple times a week.”

Call said he wasn’t shocked to learn he had been traded on Thursday, and was excited by the “chance to compete in the playoffs and win a World Series” with a first-place Dodgers team.

“For me, I am going to grind out at-bats, put the ball in play, take my walks, make it tough on the pitcher,” said Call, who has hit .297 with the Nationals in 102 games over the last two seasons. “Just really make the [pitchers] work so that hopefully they’re tired when the top of the order comes back around or whatever.”

Roki Sasaki facing hitters

Internally, the Dodgers are hoping rookie Japanese pitcher Roki Sasaki can also serve as a de facto late-season addition after missing the last several months with a shoulder injury.

And this week, the right-hander took a key step in his recovery process.

Sasaki faced hitters for the first time since getting hurt in a simulated inning this past week in Arizona, Roberts said, and is scheduled to throw two more simulated innings on Saturday.

The team has been targeting a late-August return for Sasaki, who had a 4.72 ERA in eight starts this season before going on the IL.

SAN DIEGO — As the Chargers’ team bus rolled down the freeway past Poway and toward San Diego, Tony Jefferson couldn’t help but smile.

This feels like home.

Eight years after the Chargers left San Diego, the organization is reintroducing itself to the city with two days of training camp this week. Fans who couldn’t secure tickets to practice at the University of San Diego on Tuesday still clamored for a glimpse from the top of a nearby hill. Jefferson, a San Diego native who grew up rooting for the Chargers, has been happy to see the support grow after the franchise’s contentious departure.

“With any sports team that leaves the city, [fans] feel empty when it comes to that spot,” said Jefferson, who signed with the Chargers last year. “But I think we’re gradually filling that void back.”

Coach Jim Harbaugh’s numerous ties to San Diego and instantaneous winning appeared to smooth out a potential reunion with the city. When team executives approached him about returning to San Diego for training camp, the coach eagerly agreed. He suggested the University of San Diego campus, where he got his head coaching start in 2004 for the Toreros.

More than two decades later, this week’s practices are a homecoming for Harbaugh, but it’s not an olive branch for the Chargers organization, he insisted.

“It is all about the great fans we have,” Harbaugh said in June. “We want to go to our fans. We want to go to our Chargers supporters and they’re everywhere.”

Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh instructs players during training camp in San Diego on Tuesday.

(Gregory Bull / Associated Press)

Although the Chargers returned this week, they didn’t throw the doors open to all fans. Both of their practices were limited in attendance. Tuesday’s practice was open to only active-duty military and veterans. Wednesday’s is reserved for season ticket holders.

Players signed autographs for almost an hour after practice Tuesday. Quarterback Justin Herbert looped back twice in front of a swath of fans that ran three bus-lengths long. Safety Derwin James Jr., who never played in San Diego after getting drafted in 2018, was in awe of all the No. 3 jerseys he saw in the crowd.

“It made my heart warm just having so much support,” James said. “I can’t wait to give them something to cheer for.”

Harbaugh’s history as a player has helped the Chargers tap back into their roots while celebrating their most iconic players. The coach who played two seasons for the Chargers called former teammate Rodney Harrison to inform the safety that he would be inducted into the Chargers’ Hall of Fame in October. Legendary tight end Antonio Gates will enter the Pro Football Hall of Fame in less than two weeks. Five years after playing the final season of his 17-year career with the Indianapolis Colts, quarterback Philip Rivers reversed course to put a more fitting punctuation mark on his career by announcing Monday that he would officially retire as a Charger.

Doubling down on the nostalgia, the Chargers unveiled throwback alternative navy jerseys that were a hit among players and fans. Seeing the navy uniform with gold-lined white lightning bolts “struck me at the core,” Jefferson said. It was just like the first NFL jersey he owned: a Junior Seau jersey he received for Christmas.

The Chargers were at the center of almost all of Jefferson’s core NFL memories growing up. He sat in the nosebleeds with his girlfriend at his first NFL game between the Chargers and Raiders. He played his last high school football game for Chula Vista Eastlake High in Qualcomm Stadium.

Chargers running back Omarion Hampton runs through a drill during training camp in San Diego on Tuesday.

(Gregory Bull / Associated Press)

But the stadium grew outdated, prompting the Chargers to relocate. Now when Jefferson drives south on Interstate 15, he still hates looking to his right because he misses the familiar venue.

“This type of stuff just happens,” Jefferson said. “It happened to the Raiders. They’re our rival and they’re pretty big in what they represent organization-wise and they moved, too. It’s just the business.”

The Padres are the only remaining major pro sports team in San Diego and the city pride runs deep. When the Chargers celebrated the Dodgers’ World Series title last year, die-hard Padres fan Jefferson recoiled at the sight of a floor-to-ceiling congratulatory message in the Chargers practice facility.

But with no pro football in the city, Jefferson, who still lives in San Diego, tries to remind fans that this team is still the Chargers.

“Us just being two hours away, SoFi is a perfect venue for fans, I don’t see why we shouldn’t have the San Diego fans,” Jefferson said. “I think coming here is just opening up the arms again and letting them know.”

Etc.

Rashawn Slater missed a third consecutive day of practice and is “working through something,” Harbaugh said. The coach characterized the undisclosed injury as minor, tip-toeing around suggestions that Slater is trying to wait out negotiations for a contract extension. … The Chargers signed running back Nyheim Hines to bolster a position that is still waiting for Najee Harris’ return. Harris remains on the non-football injury list after suffering an eye injury from a fireworks accident, but has been attending team meetings. While signing Hines, the Chargers waived offensive lineman Savion Washington with a failed physical designation. Washington was on the physically unable to perform list.

July 7 (UPI) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Donald Trump expressed optimism about a peace deal against Hamas during their dinner meeting at the White House on Monday.

And regarding another hotspot in the Middle East, Trump said he is hopeful of a nuclear deal with Iran, nine days after the United States bombed three uranium enrichment sites

It was Netanyahu’s third visit to the White House since Trump became president again on Jan. 20.

The two leaders met for dinner, which was partly closed to the media, who asked some questions before they left. Specifics regarding Hamas and Iran were not given.

Steve Witkoff, who is Trump’s special envoy in the Middle East, told reporters at the dinner that “we have an opportunity to finally get a peace deal” involving Israel and Hamas. Witkoff also is handling negotiations between the United States and Iran on a nuclear deal.

Trump said the two leaders have “had a tremendous success together, and I think it will only go on to be even greater success in the future.”

They sat across from one another in the White House with their aides.

Seated with Trump were Marco Rubio, the secretary of state and national security adviser, as well as Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Mike Huckabee, the U.S. ambassador to Israel.

Rubio met with Rubio at Blaire House before the dinner.

“We had a substantive and important conversation about strengthening the alliance between Israel and the United States, and about the challenges we share in the regional and international arena,” Nertanyahu, who is staying until Thursday in Washington, D.C., posted on X.

During the dinner he said: “I want to express the appreciation and admiration not only of all Israelis, but of the Jewish people and many, many admirers around the world, for your leadership, your leadership of the free world, your leadership of a just cause, and the pursuit of peace and security,” he said. “The president has an extraordinary team, and I think our teams, together, make, an extraordinary combination to meet challenges and seize opportunities.

“But the president has already realized great opportunities. He forged the Abraham Accords,” he said in describing normalize relations with between Israel and severalArab nations in 2020. “He’s forging peace as we speak, in one country and one region after the other.

The Israel leader gave Trump a copy of a letter he sent to the Nobel Prize committee nominating him for the peace prize.

“It’s well deserved, and you should get it,” Netanyahyu said.

“Wow,” Trump said. “Coming from you in particular, this is very meaningful.”

Situation in Gaza

Trump has proposed a 60-day truce that involves the release of 10 live Israeli hostages and 18 deceased ones as a way to work toward a peace agreement.

Netanyahu has been unwilling to sign a deal to end the war, which began Oct. 7, 2023, when the militants invaded Israel from Gaza. Netanyahu has vowed to eliminate Hamas.

And Hamas won’t release all of the remaining hostages unless Israel withdraws its forces and agrees to let Hamas control all of Gaza.

Netanyahu wants Arab countries to control Gaza and provide security with Palestinians unaffiliated with Hamas or the Palestinian Authority, Axios reported. Egypt, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia oppose this and want some role for the Palestinian Authority.

There are 2.2 million Palestinians on the Gaza Strip of 131 square miles. Trump has proposed moving them to other places, and in February with Netanyahu said his nation “would take over” and “own” Gaza with the residents going elsewhere.

At the White House on Monday night, Netanyahu said: “We’re working with the United States, very closely, about finding countries that will seek to realize what they have always said, that they want to give the Palestinians a better future, and I think we are getting close to finding several countries. Again, the freedom to choose, Palestinians should have it.”

Trump said: “We’ve had great cooperation from many surrounding Israel …something good will happen.”

Netany has been opposed to a separate state for Palestinians though Monday he said they should have the power to govern themselves.

There are 5.5 million Palestinians living on the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. They are considered occupied by Israel under international law, and a blockade prevents people and goods from freely entering or leaving the territory.

In2007, Hamas took control of the Gaza Strip, which is between Israel and Egypt on the Mediterranean Sea. Egypt controlled this area from 1948 until the Six Day War with Israel in 1968.

Israel and Hamas previously had two cease-fires since the war. The first one lasted four days in November 2023. The last one went from Jan. 19 to March 1, during which 25 Israeli living hostages and 1,737 Palestinian prisoners were released. Weeks later, Israel resumed airstrikes on Gaza and ended humanitarian aid, which later resumed in late May by U.S.-run Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.

While Netanyahu headed to the United States on Sunday, Israeli negotiators went to Qatar for indirect talks with Hamas about a possible accord.

Situation in Iran

Trump wants a nuclear deal with the nation after the United States used B-2 jets to send bombs deep into the ground at the nuclear sites. Israel first used airstrikes on Iran on June 13, targeting military and nuclear sites.

Trump said the nuclear locations were “obliterated” but the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog, Rafael Grossi, said the nation’s uranium enrichment program has only been set back months.

Many leaders worldwide are fearful that Iran is developing a nuclear bomb.

“When those sites were knocked out, that was essentially the end,” he told reporters at the dinner.

“I asked what’s the purpose of talking if it’s been knocked out and knocked out completely. But they requested a meeting and I’m going to go to a meeting and if we can put something down on paper, that’ll be fine.”

Witkoff said a deal could be worked out “very quickly. In the next week or so.”

Trump wants no uranium enrichment in Iran.

Netanyahu opposed the nuclear accord in 2015 that Trump withdrew from in 2018 during his first term in office.

“For the first time in history, the United States and Israel have gone to war together jointly in offensive operations against the military capabilities of a primary common adversary,” John Hannah, senior Fellow at the Jewish Institute for National Security of America, told Fox News. “That’s a very big deal.”

The success of Zohran Mamdani in New York City’s Democratic primary for mayor is thrilling for Hari Kondabolu, a stand-up comedian who’s been friends with him for 15 years.

Mamdani stunned the political establishment when he declared victory in the primary on Tuesday, a ranked-choice election in which his strongest competition, former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, conceded defeat.

When he launched his campaign, the democratic socialist ranked near the bottom of the pack. Now, the 33-year-old state assemblyman has a chance to be New York City’s first Asian American and Muslim mayor.

Mamdani’s family came to the United States when he was 7, and he became a citizen in 2018. He was born to Indian parents in Kampala, Uganda.

For Kondabolu, this moment is not just exciting, but emotional.

“I think so many of us have had those experiences in New York of being brown and in a city that has always been really diverse and feels like ours. But after 9/11, like you start to question it like, is this our city too?” Kondabolu said. “And 25 years later … it’s surreal, like this is the same city but it’s not because we’ve elected this person.”

Mamdani’s campaign has piqued the interest of many Indian, Pakistani and other South Asian Americans, as well as Muslims — even those who may not agree with Mamdani on many issues. Some see his rise as a sign of hope in a city where racism and xenophobia erupted following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Riveted by the primary election

Many of New York City’s more than 300,000 South Asian residents have been inspired by Mamdani’s extraordinary trajectory.

“My mom was texting her friends to vote for him. I’ve never seen my mother do that before,” Kondabolu said. “So the idea that it’s gotten our whole family activated in this way — this is, like, personal.”

Snigdha Sur, founder and chief executive of the Juggernaut, an online publication reporting on South Asians, has been fascinated by the response from some people in India and the diaspora.

“So many global South Asians … they’re like, ‘Oh, this guy is my mayor and I don’t live in New York City,’” Sur said.

At the same time, some are also concerned or angered by Mamdani’s past remarks about Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, whom he called a “war criminal.”

In 2005, Washington revoked Modi’s visa to the U.S., citing concerns that, as chief minister of the state of Gujarat, he did not act to stop communal violence during 2002 anti-Muslim riots that left more than 1,000 people dead. An investigation approved by the Indian Supreme Court later absolved Modi. Rights groups have accused Modi’s government of widespread attacks and discrimination against India’s Muslims and other minorities.

In Michigan, Thasin Sardar has been following Mamdani’s ascent online. When he first heard him, the candidate struck him as “genuine” and he felt “an instant connection,” he said.

“As a Muslim American, this victory puts my trust back in the people,” said Sardar, who was born and raised in India. “I am happy that there are people who value the candidate and his policies more than his personal religious beliefs and didn’t vote him down because of the color of his skin, or the fact that he was an immigrant with an uncommon name.”

New York voter Zainab Shabbir said family members in California and elsewhere have also excitedly taken note.

“My family in California, they were very much like, ‘Oh, it’s so nice to see a South Asian Muslim candidate be a mayor of a major city,’” she said. A brother told her Mamdani’s rise is a great example for his kids, she said.

But the 34-year-old — who donated, voted and canvassed for Mamdani — said it was his vision for New York City that was the draw for her. She and her husband briefly chatted with Mamdani at a fundraiser and she found him to be “very friendly and genuine.”

She suspects that for some who aren’t very politically active, Mamdani’s political ascent could make a difference.

“There’s a lot of Muslim communities like my parents’ generation who are focused a lot more on the politics back home and less on the politics here in America,” said Shabbir. “Seeing people like Zohran Mamdani be in office, it’ll really change that perspective in a lot of people.”

Embracing Indian and Muslim roots

Supporters and pundits agree that Mamdani’s campaign has demonstrated social media savvy and authenticity. He visited multiple mosques. In videos, he speaks in Hindi or gives a touch of Bollywood. Other South Asian American politicians such as Democratic Bay Area congressman Ro Khanna praised that.

“I love that he didn’t run away from his heritage. I mean, he did video clips with Amitabh Bachchan and Hindi movies,” said Khanna, referencing the Indian actor. “He shows that one can embrace their roots and their heritage and yet succeed in American politics.”

But his triumph also reflects “the urgency of the economic message, the challenge that people are facing in terms of rent, in terms of the cost of living, and how speaking to that is so powerful,” Khanna said.

Tanzeela Rahman, a daughter of Muslim immigrants from Bangladesh, said she grew up “very low income” in New York.

“I felt seen by him in a way politicians have not seen me ever,” the 29-year-old financial systems analyst said. “I think very few people in government understand … how hard it is to survive in New York City.”

She found Mamdani to be “unabashedly Muslim” and also “a voice, who, literally, to me sounds like a New Yorker who’s stepping in and saying, ‘Hey, let’s reclaim our power,’” she said.

While Mamdani has been speaking to the working class, he had a somewhat privileged upbringing. His mother is filmmaker Mira Nair and his father, Mahmood Mamdani, is a professor at Columbia University.

He lived in Queens but attended the Bronx High School of Science. Even as a teen, he cared about social justice, recalled Kondabolu, his comedian friend.

His campaign messaging on issues such as affordable housing and free bus rides might not resonate with South Asian households in New York City who have income levels above the median. But his campaign and “great kind of sound bites” earned support from that demographic too, according to Sur.

“It was, I think, a surprise that he did so well among the wealthiest, including his own community,” Sur said.

Mamdani’s outspoken support for Palestinian causes and criticism of Israel and its military campaign in Gaza resonated with pro-Palestinian residents, including Muslims, but caused tension in the mayor’s race. Some of his positions and remarks on the charged issue have drawn recriminations from opponents and some Jewish groups, though he’s also been endorsed by some Jewish politicians and activists.

Racism and xenophobia

Mamdani’s success immediately elicited strong anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant rhetoric from some high-profile conservatives on social media, including pro-Trump media personality Charlie Kirk, who posted that “legal immigration can ruin your country.” In response, Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-Fla.), the youngest member of Congress, wrote on X: “For years they sold people the lie of ‘we have no problem if you come the right way!’”

Mamdani’s supporters aren’t concerned that racism and Islamophobia will distract from his campaign. Those feelings clearly weren’t “enough for him to lose” the primary, Kondabolu said.

“There’s a new generation that wants their voice heard, and that generation came out in full force, not just by voting, but by, like, getting all these other people to be emotionally invested in this candidate,” he said. “That’s extraordinary.”

Tang and Fam write for the Associated Press. AP writer Matt Brown in Washington contributed to this report.

Despite a heavy downpour and slippery roads, supporters of presidential candidate Tidjane Thiam poured into Abidjan’s streets in the thousands on Saturday to march on the offices of the Ivory Coast electoral commission.

Decked in the white and green colours of Thiam’s main opposition Democratic Party of Ivory Coast (PDCI), the demonstrators chanted his nickname – “Thithi president!” – in a show of support for a candidate now officially barred from the vote. Placards reading “There’s no Plan B!” flew high amid protest songs.

“We strongly denounce the arbitrary and unjustified removal of President Thiam, as well as other major opposition leaders,” PDCI’s executive secretary, Sylvestre Emmou, one of few people allowed through a large police barricade to submit a complaint to the commission, told his soaked compatriots. “This is unacceptable and dangerous for peace and democracy in our country,” he said.

The protests highlight rising tensions in West Africa’s second-biggest economy, ahead of the October general elections that many fear could lead to violence in a country with still-fresh memories of the 2011 election-related civil war.

At stake is Ivory Coast’s continued stability amid a regional security crisis, but a likely fourth-term bid by incumbent President Alassane Ouattara has concerned many voters and political rivals, alongside what critics say is the government’s targeted ban on opponents.

Ouattara’s strongest challenger, Thiam, was struck from a final list of candidates on June 4 after the electoral commission said he was ineligible to run because he’d automatically lost Ivorian citizenship when he took French citizenship in the 1980s.

Although Thiam gave up his French nationality to regain his Ivorian one in February, a court ruled in May that he was not technically Ivorian when he enrolled in the electoral register in 2022.

Thiam’s supporters accuse Ouattara, who has led since 2011, of clearing the way for a fourth term. The last elections in 2020 were boycotted by the opposition, which argued Ouattara had reached his term limits, handing him an easy victory. In the 2015 elections, Ouattara was a clear favourite.

Former President Laurent Gbagbo and his old right-hand man Charles Ble Goude have been struck off too for convictions related to the 2011 civil war. Ex-Prime Minister Guillaume Soro, who was convicted of fraud, was also removed.

Ouattara will suffer illegitimacy if he runs without those four, Sylvain N’Guessan, a politics professor at the University of Bondoukou, told Al Jazeera.

“He will be seen as a candidate who had to exclude all other serious candidates to impose himself. What relationship will such a president have with the other parties, with the voters?” he said.

A ‘new face’ in turbulent politics

Many Ivorians, particularly young voters, view businessman Thiam as a breath of fresh air and a departure from the divisive establishment politics that have seen power concentrated in the hands of a few.

At 62, he is two decades younger than Ouattara and is related to Felix Houphouet-Boigny, the first Ivorian prime minister. Thiam was the first Ivorian student to land a place at Paris’s prestigious Ecole Polytechnique in 1982, from where he was launched to top-flight firms like consulting giant McKinsey. In 1994, he returned home to take up a ministerial position that saw him launch several infrastructure projects. A military coup in 1999, however, cut short that career.

In 2015, he became the first African head of Swiss bank Credit Suisse but stepped down in 2019 after an espionage scandal: a colleague accused Thiam of spying on him, although a court later cleared him of wrongdoing. In 2022, Thiam returned to the Ivory Coast and the once-ruling PDCI party.

Thiam’s party promises a return to the economic development that flourished under Houphouet-Boigny, who is credited with the “Ivorian Miracle” or the rapid development that came after colonial rule.

Thiam has also promised to include everyone, regardless of ethnicity or religion.

“He presents as a new leader, a new face who could lead Cote d’Ivoire differently,” N’Guessan said, adding that young Ivorians were tired of faces like Ouattara’s and Gbagbo’s, who are associated with turbulent politics.

Critics say his international career means he’s out of touch locally, but Thiam claims he is nonetheless well-loved. In an interview with the BBC in April, he accused the government of specifically targeting him with a colonial-era law he said was rarely used. Thiam pointed to Ivorian-French footballers who hold dual nationalities and play for French clubs and the Ivorian national team.

“I don’t think anyone in Cote d’Ivoire believes that this is not a case of the government exploiting the legal system,” he said, referring to his removal based on nationality. “This government has been in power for 15 years. Does it deserve five more? For me, that’s what should be at the centre of the presidential campaign, not my passport,” Thiam said at the time.

Al Jazeera reached out to the Ivorian government for comment but did not hear back by the time of publication.

Away from identity politics

A day after Thiam’s supporters gathered in Abidjan, Ouattara’s ruling Rally of Houphouetists for Democracy and Peace (RHDP) members also rallied in Yopougon, the most populous suburb of Abidjan.

Banners reading “In Yopougon, our champion is ADO”, a reference to the president’s nickname, were stretched across a stage where senior party members extolled Ouattara. The gathering set the stage for the party’s grand congress on June 21-22, where Ouattara is expected to officially announce his candidacy.

“There is only one road – the road of President Alassane Ouattara,” former prime minister Patrick Achi declared to the gathered crowd.

Ouattara, 83, is rumoured to be half-Burkinabe. He was the target of inflammatory identity politics for years, with his rivals questioning his “Ivoirite” and enforcing laws that disqualified him from running. When he finally won elections in 2011, Gbagbo refused to hand over power, resulting in a civil war that killed some 3,000 people.

Ouattara has since amended the Ivorian constitution to allow presidential candidates with at least one Ivorian parent in a 2016 referendum. He has nurtured the country back from the brink into a flourishing economy, evident in the 7 percent average yearly growth recorded in the past decade.

Then in 2020, Outtara ran in and won elections. Critics and boycotting opposition said his third-term bid was unconstitutional while Outtara argued his mandate was reset by the new constitution. Violence was reported in some areas.

N’Guessan said Ivorians don’t have the appetite for the immense suffering of 2011, and warned that reviving identity politics by preventing Thiam from running once again is “dangerous”.

“We should learn the lessons to address the issue of nationality with a little more perspective,” he said. “The same words produce the same effects, the same evils.”

Colombian presidential hopeful Miguel Uribe is “fighting for his life” after being shot during a campaign rally in the capital, Bogota.

The assault took place on Saturday in a park as the country gears up for next year’s presidential election. Uribe, a 39-year-old senator, was shot twice – in the head and the chest, according to Colombia’s Attorney General’s Office.

The suspect is a 15-year-old who is in custody.

Here is what to know about the incident and Uribe’s current status:

What happened at the rally?

Senator Miguel Uribe Turbay, who is seeking to run in the 2026 presidential election, was shot from behind at a campaign rally about 5pm [22:00 GMT] at El Golfito Park in Bogota’s Fontibon district.

A video verified by The New York Times shows Uribe being shot in the middle of his speech. Images from the scene of the shooting showed Uribe slumped against the hood of a white car, smeared with blood, as a group of men tried to hold him and stop the bleeding.

According to local media reports, he was first stabilised at a nearby clinic before being airlifted to the Santa Fe Foundation hospital. The hospital confirmed he arrived about 8:30pm on Saturday [01:00 GMT Sunday].

A security guard managed to detain the suspected attacker, a minor who is believed to be 15 years old. National Police Director Carlos Fernando Triana said the suspect was injured and was receiving treatment.

Two others – a man and a woman – were also wounded. But no details were available regarding their identities.

What is Uribe’s health status now?

Uribe is stable but still in critical condition after emerging on Sunday from a “neurosurgical” and “peripheral vascular procedure”, according to the hospital.

He “overcame the first surgical procedure”, Bogota Mayor Carlos Fernando Galan told the media, adding that he had entered “the critical hours” of recovery.

“He fought the first battle and fought it well. He is fighting for his life,” Uribe’s wife was heard saying in an audio recording shared with the media.

Who is Miguel Uribe?

Uribe was elected as senator in 2022 under the conservative Democratic Centre party, founded by former President Alvaro Uribe, whom he is not related to.

The former president described the shooting as an attack against “a hope for the country”.

His maternal grandfather, Julio Cesar Turbay Ayala, served as president from 1978 to 1982. He is also the son of journalist Diana Turbay, who was kidnapped in 1990 by Pablo Escobar’s Medellin cartel. She died in a botched rescue operation by Colombian forces a few months later.

Uribe has held several public offices, including Bogota City Council member (2012–2015) and government secretary of Bogota (2016–2018). He also ran for the capital’s mayor in 2019 but lost that election.

Who attacked Uribe?

The Attorney General’s Office confirmed a 15-year-old boy was arrested at the scene with a “9mm Glock-type firearm”. Witnesses had also described seeing a young assailant open fire from behind Uribe before being subdued by bodyguards and civilians.

The suspect remains in custody with investigations under way to determine if there were any accomplices.

What was the motive behind the shooting?

No motive has been established, and authorities said there was no specific threat made against the politician before the incident.

But the country is home to several armed groups, powerful cartels and has a long history of political violence.

In the 1980s and 1990s, at least five presidential candidates were assassinated by drug cartels, paramilitaries or political opponents.

One such case was the assassination of Luis Carlos Galan in 1989. Galan was a leading presidential candidate known for his strong anticorruption stance and opposition to drug trafficking. He was widely expected to win the presidency the following year.

A 2016 agreement aimed to bring long-lasting peace to the country by disarming rebels from the left-wing Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia.

When is the next presidential election in Colombia?

Colombia’s next presidential election is scheduled for May, in which current leftist President Gustavo Petro is ineligible to run due to term limits. A run-off will be held if needed.

Uribe, who is a right-wing critic of Petro, announced his intention to run for president in March.

What are the reactions?

The attack drew strong reactions from both local and international leaders.

Petro pledged an investigation.

“What matters most today is that all Colombians focus with the energy of our hearts, with our will to live … on ensuring that Dr Miguel Uribe stays alive.”

In an earlier statement, Petro condemned the violence as “an attack not only against his person, but also against democracy, freedom of thought, and the legitimate exercise of politics in Colombia”.

“Respect life, that’s the red line. … My solidarity [is] with the Uribe family and the Turbay family. I don’t know how to ease their pain,” he posted on X.

Defence Minister Pedro Sanchez mobilised military and intelligence resources and announced a reward of 3 billion Colombian pesos ($730,000) for information about the shooting.

United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio issued a statement saying the US condemns the attack “in the strongest possible terms” and considers it a “direct threat to democracy”. He also called on Petro to “dial back the inflammatory rhetoric” and protect officials.

Leaders across Latin America also condemned the attack.

Chilean President Gabriel Boric said, “There is no room or justification for violence in a democracy,” while Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa denounced “all forms of violence and intolerance”. Both expressed solidarity with Uribe’s family.

British canoeist Kurts Adams Rozentals has been blocked from Olympic training due to his OnlyFans account.

Back in April, the 22-year-old athlete’s professional canoeing dreams were cut short when Paddle UK banned him from their World Class Programme, citing “allegations” related to his social media.

The UK sports lottery-funded programme aims to help athletes train for major sporting events, such as the Olympics.

While Paddle UK has refrained from sharing additional details about the allegations and subsequent investigation, the governing body told BBC Sport that Rozentals’ ban “is not disciplinary action” but a “neutral act designed to protect all parties… safeguard other athletes, staff and volunteers.”

In a separate interview with the aforementioned news outlet, the young athlete theorised that the group’s decision stemmed from him having an OnlyFans account, which he created to help raise funds for his Olympic dreams.

“I have been posting videos (on Instagram) that are consciously made to be edgy in order to drive conversions to my “spicy content page” (on OnlyFans),” he explained.

Since starting his OnlyFans in January, Rozentals has earned over £100,000.

For context, athletes participating in Paddle UK’s programme are given a £16,000 annual grant, an amount the young talent says is not enough to train full-time.

“When you have to cover rent, travel, food… and most athletes who train full-time are all living in London. They’re very fortunate to have parent backing – I wasn’t,” he explained to the BBC.

“I never had the ability to move to London because of financial struggles so I was doing the travel from the East Midlands, where I live, to London, back-and-forth, back-and-forth.”

Towards the end of his interview, Rozentals revealed whether he would stop posting on OnlyFans if it meant keeping his spot in the programme.

“This is the hardest decision that I ever faced in my life. I came to the realisation about why I started doing this last winter after years of struggle, years of living on the edge, my mum working 90 hours a week, having bailiffs at the door,” he said.

“It’s a tough decision, but unless something changes in the way athletes are paid, I don’t see a way of working with Paddle UK.”

Rozentals recent interview comes a month after he initially opened up about the situation in a heartwrenching post on Instagram.

“I might lose my sports career with this post. But I couldn’t stay silent. For the last 15+ years, my life has revolved around one thing: canoe slalom. The sport I live and breathe. And it wasn’t just me. My family sacrificed everything so I could keep chasing the ultimate dream at racing at the Olympics,” he wrote.

“After my mum sacrificed everything… working 100+ hours a week, putting her needs to one side, I wanted to have a better life, not just for her but also for me. I was sick of worrying how to pay rent; I was sick of being on the verge of homelessness. I did whatever it took to never be in that position. Was it unconventional? Sure. I’m not perfect.

“But to ban me from racing? To ban me from speaking to my teammates like I’m some criminal? That’s fu**ing insane. I’m blessed to have a platform now. But this isn’t just about me anymore. I’m speaking up for every person who’s been pushed aside for not fitting into someone’s box. I’m speaking for everyone punished for not sucking up to the system.

As of writing, Paddle UK’s investigation into the aforementioned allegations is ongoing and being conducted by the independent investigation service Sport Integrity.

For anybody confused about whether Gov. Gavin Newsom planned to come to Los Angeles’ rescue Wednesday when he announced his May revision to the state budget, a clue could be found on the front page of his spending plan.

In an AI-generated image, the budget cover page featured the Golden Gate Bridge and the San Francisco skyline, along with office workers who appear to be chatting it up in a forest glade next to an electric vehicle charging station. Not a hint of Los Angeles was anywhere to be seen.

Deeper in the budget proposal, no salvation was found for L.A. And at a news conference Wednesday, Newsom said flatly that he did not plan to provide cash to help dig the city out of its budget hole. The city is facing a $1-billion shortfall due to inflated personnel costs, higher than ever liability lawsuit payouts and below-expected revenues.

“The state’s not in a position to write a check,” Newsom said. “When you’re requesting things that have nothing to do with disaster recovery, that’s a nonstarter … I don’t need to highlight examples of requests from the city and county that were not related to disaster recovery and this state is not in a position, never have been, even in other times, to address those requests, particularly at this time.”

The governor’s rejection of Mayor Karen Bass’ pleas for state aid came as he discussed the state’s own economic woes. The state is confronting a $12-billion budget deficit in part due to a “Trump Slump,” Newsom said. The governor had to make cuts to his own signature program offering healthcare to immigrants without proper documentation.

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass delivers her State of the City address at L.A. City Hall on April 21.

(Carlin Stiehl/Los Angeles Times)

The governor made sure to remind reporters Wednesday that the state had been more than willing to help with fire recovery efforts, but said that was the limit of its generosity. Newsom said that of the $2.5 billion offered to Los Angeles after the fires, more than $1 billion remained unused. That funding helped with emergency response and initial recovery from the January wildfires.

Despite Newsom’s edict, Bass didn’t appear ready to throw in the towel. She said she and the governor were “in sync” and in regular contact about the situation. State money to help with the budget crisis would be fire-recovery-related, Bass insisted.

“We had to spend a great deal of money of our general fund related to the wildfires. If we are able to get that reimbursed that relieves some of the pressure from the general fund,” Bass said in an interview with The Times. “We submitted a document to him where we are asking him if the state would be willing to give us the money up front that FEMA will reimburse — so we are requesting 100% fire-related.”

Bass visited Sacramento in March and April. She and L.A. legislators first requested $1.893 billion in state aid to help with the budget crisis and disaster recovery. The mayor has since pared down the request, but the amount she is now requesting is not public.

In the initial request, they asked for $638 million for “protecting city services under budgetary strain.” That request is likely dead. But the $301-million request for “a loan to support disaster recovery expenses pending FEMA reimbursement” still stands.

Bass said she most recently met with the governor two weeks ago, and he informed the mayor that the state’s financial situation was not looking good.

The revision is just a starting point for final budgetary negotiations between the governor and the Legislature, and the state budget won’t be completed until at least mid-June, weeks after the deadline for the City Council to approve its own budget.

“We have 36 members of the L.A. delegation fighting for the city and we’ll just have to wait and see what happens in June,” said Assemblymember Tina McKinnor, who chairs the Los Angeles County Legislative Delegation.

McKinnor said she is confident that the state budget will have money not just for fire recovery, but also to help the city manage its broader financial woes.

“We will not fail L.A.,” McKinnor said.

With the state lifeline in serious doubt, the cuts the city will have to make to balance its budget took another step toward reality.

While Bass is still hopeful for state aid, the council seemed less hopeful.

“We expected and planned for this outcome, but that doesn’t make it any less frustrating. The governor’s decision to withhold support from California’s largest city after we experienced the most devastating natural disaster in the state’s history is a serious mistake, with consequences for both our long-term recovery and the strength of the state’s economy,” said Katy Yaroslavsky, who chairs the council’s budget committee.

“This will not be a ‘no-layoff’ budget,” Yaroslavsky said on May 8 at a budget hearing.

Bass stressed that she is still trying to avoid any layoffs. The city plans to avert further layoffs by transferring employees to the proprietary departments, like the harbor, the airport and perhaps the Department of Water & Power.

“We’re all working very, very hard with the same goal in mind and that is having a balanced, responsible budget that avoids laying off city workers,” she said Thursday.

State of play

— MOURNING ONE OF CITY HALL’S OWN: Former chief of staff to Councilmember Kevin de León and longtime L.A. politico Jennifer Barraza Mendoza died Tuesday at 37 following a long battle with cancer. Barraza Mendoza began her career organizing with SEIU Local 99, helped lead De León’s Senate campaign and also served as a principal at Hilltop Public Solutions, among other roles. “In a political world of shapeshifters, she stood out as fiercely loyal and guided by principle,” De León said in a statement. “She never sought the spotlight — but when tested, she rose with unmatched strength to protect her team, her community, and what she knew was right.”

— MINIMUM WAGE WAR: The City Council voted Wednesday for a sweeping package of minimum wage increases for hotel workers and employees of companies at Los Angeles International Airport. One hotel executive said the proposal, which would take the wage to $30 in July 2028, would kill his company’s plan for a new 395-room hotel tower in Universal City. Other hotel companies predicted they would scale back or shutter their restaurant operations. The hotel workers’ union countered by saying business groups have made similar warnings in the past, only to be proved wrong.

— SECOND TIME’S A CHARM: Surprise! On Friday, the City Council had to schedule a do-over vote on its tourism wage proposal. That vote, called as part of a special noon meeting, came two days after City Atty. Hydee Feldstein Soto’s office warned that Wednesday’s vote had the potential to violate the city’s public meeting law.

Los Angeles Councilwoman Eunisses Hernandez in December in Los Angeles.

(Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times)

— READY TO RELAUNCH: Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez plans to host her campaign kickoff event for her reelection bid Saturday in Highland Park, where she was born and raised. She already has a few competitors in the race, including Raul Claros, who used to serve on the Affordable Housing Commission, and Sylvia Robledo, a former council aide.

The left-wing councilmember has already won the endorsements of Council President Marqueece Harris-Dawson and from colleagues Heather Hutt, Ysabel Jurado, Hugo Soto-Martinez and Nithya Raman. Controller Kenneth Mejia also endorsed her.

— PHOTO BOMB: Recently pictured with Eunisses Hernandez: Political consultant Rick Jacobs — the former senior aide to then-Mayor Eric Garcetti who was accused of sexual harassment. Jacobs now works as a consultant for the politically powerful Southwest Regional Council of Carpenters. Per a post on Jacobs’ LinkedIn, Hernandez posed for a photo this week with Jacobs and several union members while presenting the group with a city certificate of recognition.

Jacobs has denied the harassment allegations, but the scandal bedeviled Garcetti in his final years in office and nearly derailed his ambassadorship to India. Jacobs has remained in the political mix — some may remember his controversial appearance at Bass’ exclusive 2022 post-inauguration Getty House afterparty. Also worth noting: The Carpenters are major players in local elections, and their PAC spent nearly $150,000 supporting Hernandez’s then-opponent Gil Cedillo in the 2022 election.

“Councilmember Hernandez was proud to stand with the carpenters who built the little library at North East New Beginnings, the first-of-its-kind interim housing site she opened in 2024. She was there to honor their craftsmanship and community contribution — nothing more. She did not choose who else appeared in the photo,” said Naomi Villagomez Roochnik, a spokesperson for Hernandez.

— PARK GETS AN OPPONENT: Public Counsel attorney Faizah Malik is challenging Councilmember Traci Park from the left, the tenants rights lawyer announced Thursday. Malik is styling her campaign in the mold of prior progressive incumbent ousters, she said, though she has yet to garner any of their endorsements. But she did get an Instagram signal boost from former CD 11 Councilmember Mike Bonin, who characterized her as “A Westside leader who will fight for YOU and your family.” Meanwhile, centrist group Thrive LA had a fundraiser for Park this week, and declared her its first endorsement of the 2026 cycle.

— FIREFIGHT: Active and retired firefighters blasted the council’s recommendation to nix 42 “Emergency Incident Technicians,” who help develop firefighting strategy and account for firefighters during blazes. In a letter to the council, the firefighters said the 1998 death of firefighter Joseph Dupee was linked to removal of EITs during a previous budget crisis.

“Please do not repeat the same mistake that was made in 1998 when EITs were removed and said removal was found to be a contributing factor in the death of LAFD Captain Joseph Dupee,” the firefighters wrote.

— EMPLOYMENT LAW AND ORDER: Some LAPD officers are hitting the jackpot on what are known as “LAPD lottery” cases. The city has paid out nearly $70 million over the last three years to officers who have sued the department after alleging they were the victims of sexual harassment, racial discrimination or retaliation against whistleblowers.

The massive payouts are not helping the city’s coffers. One of the leading causes of the current fiscal crisis is the ballooning liability payments that the city makes in settlements and jury verdicts.

— WATER OLYMPICS: L.A. County’s plan to run a water taxi between Long Beach and San Pedro during the Olympics paddled forward this week. Supervisor Janice Hahn introduced a motion, with co-author Mayor Bass, to launch a feasibility study assessing ridership demand, cost and possible routes.

“[The water taxi] would give residents, workers and tourists an affordable alternative to driving and parking at these Games venues,” Hahn said.

— ROBO-PERMIT: City and county residents submitting plans to rebuild their burned down properties could have their first interaction with an AI bot who would inspect their plans before a human. Wildfire recovery foundations purchased the AI permitting software, developed by Australian tech firm Archistar, and donated it to the city and county. The tech was largely paid for by Steadfast L.A., Rick Caruso’s nonprofit.

— TRUMP’S VETS MOVE: President Trump signed an executive order calling on the Department of Veterans Affairs to house up to 6,000 homeless veterans on its West Los Angeles campus, but even promoters of the idea are skeptical of the commander in chief’s follow-through.

“If this had come from any other president, I’d pop the Champagne,” said Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Sherman Oaks), whose district includes the West Los Angeles campus. Trump, he said, follows up on “like one out of 10 things that he announces. You just never know which one. You never know to what extent.”

— ADDRESSING THE ELEPHANTS IN THE ROOM: A Los Angeles County Superior Court judge denied a motion for a temporary restraining order Thursday that sought to stop the L.A. Zoo from transferring elephants Tina and Billy to the Tulsa Zoo. The judge said the decision was out of the court’s purview. The zoo said Thursday that the “difficult decision” to relocate the pachyderms was made with the “care and well being” of the animals at top of mind.

“Activist agendas and protests are rightfully not a consideration in decisions that impact animal care,” the statement said.

— CHARTER SQUABBLE: Bass made her four appointments to the Charter Reform Commission this week. She selected Raymond Meza, Melinda Murray, Christina Sanchez and Robert Lewis to serve as commissioners. She also named Justin Ramirez as the executive director of the commission. Bass’s appointments came on the heels of reform advocate Rob Quan sending out mailers about the mayor’s delay in making appointments, which left the commission unable to get to work.

“Karen Bass wasted eight months. That was when her appointments were due. Eight months ago,” Quan said in an interview.

— WORKDAY TROUBLE: The Department of Water and Power is slated to adopt a new human resources software, Workday, in mid-June. But Gus Corona, business manager of IBEW Local 18, warned of “serious concerns” and the potential for “widespread problems and administrative chaos.” In a letter this week to DWP CEO Janisse Quiñones, which The Times obtained, Corona said there was a “consistent lack of clarity” about the new system, especially around union dues and benefit deductions, retroactive pay and cost of living adjustments. “The level of uncertainty so close to a planned launch date is deeply troubling,” Corona wrote.

Quick Hits

• Where is Inside Safe? The mayor’s signature homelessness program went to Councilmember Curren Price’s district: 37th Street and Flower Street, according to the mayor’s office.
• On the docket for next week: The full City Council is scheduled to take up the proposed city budget for 2025-26 — and the mayor’s proposal for city employee layoffs — on Thursday.

Stay in touch

That’s it for this week! Send your questions, comments and gossip to [email protected]. Did a friend forward you this email? Sign up here to get it in your inbox every Saturday morning.

Katie Price has reflected on having competed in Making Your Mind Up to represent the UK at the Eurovision Song Contest in 2005, with her runner-up to Javine Hylton at the time

Former Eurovision Song Contest hopeful Katie Price has reflected on competing to represent the UK amid the 20th anniversary of her performance. The reality TV star was runner-up in the Making Your Mind Up selection contest.

Katie, now 46, was among the five finalists on the BBC show in 2005, which was used to decide who would represent the UK at Eurovision in Ukraine that year. She ended up placing second behind Javine Hylton, who went on to perform her song Touch My Fire in the international competition.

Podcast host Katie, who was pregnant with her son Junior Andre at the time, competed in Making Your Mind Up with the song Not Just Anybody. Her performance is said to have earned her a combined score of 101 points, which wasn’t enough to beat Javine, who had instead amassed 116 points.

She’s reflected on the experience ahead of watching the final of this year’s Eurovision in Switzerland on Saturday. She spoke about the contest on the latest episode of her podcast, the Katie Price Show, which was released today.

Katie told her sister Sophie Price: “For years and years, I always remember us always watching Eurovision and then I was up to do it.” She added that she will livestream herself watching the final with her partner JJ Slater and some pals.

Katie added: “I can’t wait for the Eurovision. I haven’t got any memories of Eurovision apart from when I was gonna represent the UK [in 2005] and they weren’t good memories.”

Sophie then asked her: “What was your song?” Singing part of the song that she had competed with, Katie replied: “I’m not just anybody …” Her sister reacted: “Oh god, that song!”

Katie continued by saying that although she “can sing,” she “couldn’t” sing Not Just Anybody back then or now. She said: “The thing is I couldn’t even sing the song then and I couldn’t sing it now, yet I can sing. But I still can’t sing that song.

“I hated it! The whole b***s*** about ‘oh you’re gonna get a Sony album but you have to do this song’ and then they found out I was pregnant and then I lost by one per cent.”

Katie went on to share that she “regrets” taking part in Making Your Mind Up two decades ago. She said on the newly-released episode: “It’s just all political stuff, as usual – but anyway, that’s always a regret of mine doing that.”

The I’m A Celebrity winner added in the discussion about the contest: “If there’s any regret of any job, it was me doing Eurovision in the pink rubber catsuit being seven months pregnant. Trying to hide the fact that I was pregnant.”

The Eurovision Song Contest 2025 final will air on BBC One and BBC iPlayer from 8pm on Saturday night. The Katie Price Show is available on podcast platforms.

Like this story? For more of the latest showbiz news and gossip, follow Mirror Celebs on TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Threads.