injury

“God of War” has a new Kratos.

Dave Bautista will take over as the lead in the Amazon Prime live-action TV series based on the widely revered video game franchise of the same name.

“Sons of Anarchy” alum Ryan Hurst had initially landed the role of one of the most famous dads in video game history, but in June he suffered an injury on-set while performing a stunt.

Hurst was announced as Kratos in January, and in a social media post he said that he used to play as Kratos. “Now I get to be him,” he wrote. “Grateful to pick up the axe, and honored by the fans who made this story legendary.”

Hurst needed surgery after severely tearing his bicep, and the recovery time would push production into 2027, which reportedly conflicted with filming schedules. Earlier this year, Hurst completed filming on four episodes of the first season of the highly anticipated show, but those will be scrapped and reshot with Bautista stepping in, and production resuming in the fall.

“God of War,” based on PlayStation’s ancient-mythology themed video game, follows Kratos — a Spartan by birth who later becomes the Greek god of war — and his son, Atreus, as they set off on a journey to spread the ashes of their wife and mother, Faye. Along the way, Kratos tries to help mold his son into a better god, and Atreus teaches his dad how to be a better man.

Bautista, a WWE wrestling champ turned movie star of Greek and Filipino descent, will join a cast that includes Callum Vinson as Atreus, Mandy Patinkin as Odin, Ed Skrein as Baldur, Max Parker as Heimdall, Ólafur Darri Ólafsson as Thor, Teresa Palmer as Sif, Alastair Duncan as Mimir, Jeff Gulka as Sindri, Danny Woodburn as Brok, Sonya Walger as Freya, Island Austin as Thrud, Ben Chapple as Magni, Louis Cunningham as Modi, and Evelyn Miller as Gna.

Emmy-winning director Frederick E.O. Toye, known for “Shōgun,” “The Boys” and “Fallout,” is helming the first two episodes of the forthcoming series.

Iga Swiatek moved into the semifinals of the ATP-WTA Cincinnati Masters as Elena Rybakina was forced to retire with a heel injury less than half an hour into their clash on Thursday.

Rybakina’s withdrawal raised concerns over the fitness of the world number two Kazakh just 10 days before the start of the US Open.

Trailing 4-1 in the opening set of Thursday’s Cincinnati quarterfinal, Rybakina suddenly pulled up short at 40-all, heading to her bench and consulting with the trainer.

She went back out and played one more point before quitting.

“I was feeling anxious watching the whole situation,” said her opponent Swiatek. “I hope she will be fine. Health is always the priority.

“This is an important tournament, but the US Open is the US Open. I hope she is ready for that,” she said, referring to the major which begins in New York on August 30.

“It was a shame she was injured, we were having a good match.”

Had two-time Grand Slam winner Rybakina reached the Cincinnati final, she would have risen to number one in the world for the first time in her career, following incumbent Aryna Sabalenka’s shock exit to 20-year-old Sara Bejlek.

Defending Cincinnati champion Swiatek said she had “gained a lot of confidence in the last weeks,” which have also included her victory over Rybakina in the final of this month’s Toronto event.

“I feel great, ready to play my game … I’m happy to be playing the tennis that I am.”

Poland’s Swiatek now plays a semifinal against Jessica Pegula, who is reportedly carrying a hip niggle after defeating Amanda Anisimova 6-2, 4-6, 7-6 (7/4).

Sixth-seeded Anisimova converted all five of her break points against Pegula, breaking her three times in the second set, before the world number three rebounded to win.

Pegula is setting WTA records at age 32. She is the fourth player since 2009 to reach five or more Masters 1000 quarterfinals after turning 30, along with Li Na, Serena Williams and Svetlana Kuznetsova.

Pegula needed just 34 minutes to pocket the opening set.

But Anisimova struck back in the second, earning a double break for 4-0.

After Anisimova squared the match at one set each, Pegula regrouped with an opening break in the deciding set.

They would each be broken twice as they went to the tiebreaker, where Pegula sealed the win on her first match point.

Pegula’s win was her sixth without a loss to Anisimova.

“I know I have a good record against her, but literally every single match is like it was today,” she said.

‘Sweet’ victory

In the men’s draw, Flavio Cobolli advanced to the final four with a 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 defeat of Tommy Paul, gobbling down a handful of sweets for an unorthodox boost midway through the match.

The Roland Garros runner-up asked for the candy to be brought to the court and seemingly took energy from the pause before dispatching Paul, who had himself eliminated top seed Alexander Zverev 24 hours earlier.

“A sweet with chocolate makes me happy,” Cobolli said. “I’ve tried it in doubles so why not singles?”

Cobolli mounted the comeback after dropping the opening set.

With the match tied at a set apiece, Paul needed an extraordinary effort to hold serve for 4-3 in the final set, battling through five deuces and saving four break points.

But Cobolli ignored the showing and closed out the victory.

“It was a difficult day,” the winner said. “I’m proud of my effort, my game and my mental strength. It is all good practice for the US Open.

Cobelli will play for a place in the final when he faces Arthur Fils, who defeated Thiago Tirante 6-3, 6-2 in just 64 minutes — the shortest men’s match of the event.

Fils, the eighth Frenchman to reach Cincinnati semi-finals in the Open Era, said he was impressed by the weight of his opponent’s big game.

“He has an unbelievable serve; I was surprised by the speed of his ball,” he said.

“I tried to make him play a bit more. I stayed solid in my head and it worked pretty well for me.”

Defending champion Carlos Alcaraz is set to make his return at the US Open after missing four months with a wrist injury.

The 23-year-old triumphed at the Australian Open in January to become the youngest man to win all four Grand Slam titles.

However, the Spaniard has not played a competitive match since 14 April after injuring his right wrist at the Barcelona Open.

The news was confirmed by football influencer Fabrizio Romano in a joint post with Alcaraz on Instagram.

Seven-time major champion Alcaraz also wrote “here we go!” – Romano’s catchphrase – in a post on X, external with an emoji of the American flag and a plane.

As well as playing singles, Alcaraz could also enter the mixed doubles competition that takes place the week before the US Open, with three wildcards still to be handed out.

Alcaraz played in the revamped event last year alongside Britain’s Emma Raducanu, who is out of this year’s tournament with injury.

Alcaraz has been replaced as world number two by Alexander Zverev after being unable to defend his Cincinnati Open title.

Rival Jannik Sinner is well clear at the top of the world rankings, having won Wimbledon in July, while Zverev won the French Open and finished runner-up at SW19.

Sinner – as he did at Wimbledon – will go into the US Open with no match time on a hard court after withdrawing from Cincinnati with a knee injury.

The US Open singles event begins on Sunday, 30 August in New York.

England all-rounder Sam Curran has been ruled out of the remainder of the English season with a groin injury, ending his hopes of a potential Test comeback this summer.

Surrey’s Curran, 28, last played a Test in 2021 but had been considered for a recall for the series against Pakistan as England look to balance their side after the retirement of Ben Stokes.

Selector Marcus North suggested Curran could have been picked for the ongoing first Test had he not been managing his fitness through The Hundred and said he would come into contention for the third Test on 9 September.

Further assessment has revealed Curran requires surgery on the groin issue, however.

He will have an operation on Friday, ruling him out of the remainder of the season with Surrey and England’s white-ball matches against Sri Lanka in September.

In March, Curran pulled out of this year’s Indian Premier League with a groin issue.

The MI London captain missed one of his side’s Hundred matches and did not bowl his full allocation in four of their other seven group games.

Without Curran, Stokes or another seam-bowling all-rounder, England opted not to pick a frontline spinner for the first Test against Pakistan at Headingley.

They instead attempted to balance their side by picking Dan Lawrence to bat number six and fill the role of spin bowler with his part-time off-spin.

England all-rounder Will Jacks, who filled a similar role in the Ashes last winter, is also absent from Surrey’s squad for Thursday’s County Championship match against Nottinghamshire after having an operation to remove his appendix.

His availability for the T20 and ODI series with Sri Lanka will be assessed.

DENVER — The imaging Dodgers closer Edwin Díaz underwent in Los Angeles on Wednesday morning revealed a “best-case scenario,” manager Dave Roberts said before the series finale against the Rockies.

“There were no findings, so that was good,” Roberts said. “MRI was clean. It doesn’t change the fact that he had this sensation in his neck. But I think to keep working on it, give it some rest as far as throwing the baseball.”

Díaz officially went on the IL for “neck inflammation,” but early theories on the injury, before he went to a specialist on Wednesday, suggested the issue could be related to the area around the trapezius, according to a person with knowledge of the situation.

Roberts said Wednesday that the results suggested the injury was more muscular, rather than nerve related.

“I think he’d been feeling the tightness in his neck,” Roberts said. “But I think where it went to the other night, he hadn’t felt that sensation. So that’s what really checked him up.”

Roberts said he didn’t know exactly how long Díaz would be shut down from throwing, but he estimated that it probably would be only a couple of days.

The bullpen shuffle continued Wednesday, when the Dodgers activated right-hander Brock Stewart (right shoulder discomfort) from the 15-day IL. In a corresponding move, they designated right-hander Jonathan Hernández for assignment.

Bradley Beal is returning to the Clippers after missing most of last season because of a left hip injury.

The 33-year-old guard signed a new deal, the team said Thursday. No terms were announced. ESPN’s Shams Charania reported it’s two years for $13.2 million.

In his first season with the Clippers, Beal averaged 8.2 points, 1.7 assists and 20.2 minutes in six starts before sustaining the season-ending injury on Nov. 8.

The three-time All-Star has averaged 21.4 points, 4.3 assists and 4.0 rebounds during his 14-year NBA career, including stints with Washington and Phoenix.

Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman tracked Royals hitter Isaac Collins’ fly ball through foul territory to just outside the visiting dugout at Dodger Stadium.

He had a plan. With one out in the top of the eighth inning, Freeman was going to lean over the rail to make the catch.

He shuffled, shifted his weight, and the ground disappeared out from under him.

“Obviously there was no rail,” a sore but apparently not seriously injured Freeman said after the Dodgers’ 4-2 win against the Royals.

He pitched sideways, practically clearing the first set of steps and landing on the second flight. Freeman braced himself on his right side, which took the brunt of the impact. But thanks to the angle of the steps, he never hit his head, he said.

“Kneecaps are sore, shoulder is sore, hand is sore, wrist is sore,” Freeman said. “I mean, I fell. But I’m in good spirits. I’ve already cold tubbed. I’ve done everything I needed to do to put myself in a position to be able to hopefully play [Thursday].”

Manager Dave Roberts described Freeman’s status as “day to day” and noted that he’d already planned to give him a day off Friday, the second game of a four-game series against the Brewers. The Dodgers will monitor how Freeman is feeling Thursday morning.

“I think that we really dodged the bullet,” Roberts said. Freeman did not undergo any imaging on his various aches and pains, although he said head athletic trainer Thomas Albert asked if he felt like he needed any.

“I said, ‘Do you want to do a whole-body X-ray?’” Freeman recounted. “And he was like, ‘We can.’ But no, I’m OK.”

Freeman was sore immediately after the fall but finished that half inning in the field. He said after the adrenaline wore off, he motioned to the dugout that he might need a pinch-hitter in the bottom half of the eighth. He was due up first.

Utility player Tommy Edman took the at-bat for him, and Kiké Hernández replaced him at first in the top of the ninth.

It wasn’t the first time Freeman has taken a tumble chasing after a foul ball, but he estimated the last time was about a decade ago, with the Braves in Arizona before they extended the netting.

“Actually went down probably like 10 feet,” Freeman said. “I hit seats and everything. So not my first time.

“I didn’t catch that one either.”

Former France and Manchester United star Paul Pogba suffers latest injury setback, sparking rumours about his future with Monaco.

Paul Pogba’s future with Monaco could be in doubt after he suffered another injury setback.

The former Manchester United and Juventus midfielder suffered a new injury to his left thigh on Tuesday during the first day of Monaco’s training camp in England.

The 2018 French World Cup winner suffered the injury as the Ligue 1 club trained at the English national football centre at St George’s Park after beating Liverpool in a friendly on Sunday.

The 33-year-old midfielder was only returning to group training after a long spell of right-knee problems.

Pogba has played only one half of football for Monaco in this preseason.

According to several sources close to the matter, the new injury shows Pogba is some way off the level of fitness required to begin the French league season.

There has been widespread speculation that Monaco have begun talks with Pogba’s representatives about buying the player out of the remainder of his contract, which is set to expire at the end of the new season.

After serving 18 months of a four-year ban for doping, Pogba played just six Ligue 1 matches for Monaco last season, totalling 115 minutes on the pitch.

Pogba started his career with United in the English Premier League before the manager at the time, Sir Alex Ferguson, released the midfielder on a free transfer in 2012 after a dispute with the player’s agent.

Juventus stepped in for the then 19-year-old, and he won four consecutive Serie A titles with them and reached the Champions League final before re-joining United in 2016 for a world record transfer fee at the time of $120.2m.

He returned to Juventus on another free transfer in 2022 before his release in 2024, during his ban. Monaco stepped in to hand the Seine-et-Marne-born player his first taste of senior football in his home country in 2025.

Pogba’s last appearance for France came in 2022, in a 5-0 victory over South Africa in an international friendly. It was the last of his 91 caps, during which he scored 11 goals for the team.

His World Cup-winning moment came with France when they defeated Croatia 4-2 in the final of the Russia 2018 tournament, with Pogba scoring his side’s third goal.

Dodgers catcher Dalton Rushing went through the second-opinion carousel — “opinions on opinions,” as he put it — after his elbow started bothering him on Aug. 2 while playing catch in the outfield before a game against the Red Sox.

“We then come to an agreement that surgery is not necessary,” Rushing said Tuesday. “So, we’re going to rehab the muscle on the inside of my forearm. And the details as to timeline, I don’t really have any for you. But at the same time, I can say it feels 10 times better than it did a week ago. And as soon as I can be throwing a baseball, I will be.”

Rushing said that Sunday was the first time he’d felt pain while throwing — “didn’t feel a pop or anything, but felt pretty serious as it kind of tightened up on me a little bit.”

Manager Dave Roberts said last week that Rushing’s MRI scan showed a slight ulnar collateral ligament tear. Rushing added Tuesday that something similar had appeared on previous scans, without symptoms.

“It’s something we’ve known about, but it hasn’t gotten worse over the years,” Rushing said. “And so it puts my arm in just a fine spot, and obviously, we just worry about the muscle.”

Strengthening the surrounding muscle and addressing the inflammation in the area should help stabilize and take pressure off the inside of his elbow.

On Monday, Rushing started swinging, which he said didn’t bother his elbow. His eventual throwing progression will give him and the Dodgers more information on his availability the rest of the year and any potential offseason interventions — “I don’t think [surgery] will be necessary,” Rushing reiterated when asked specifically about the offseason.

While Roberts said last week that he thought the chances of Rushing catching again were “very small,” Rushing was more optimistic.

“Yeah, if I can throw, I’m going to be able to catch,” he said. “So I’m not too worried about it. And two months at least of playing baseball, and that’s what I’m going to worry about at the moment. And when the season’s over with, and we have another World Series, then we can worry about what the next step is.”

Klein hopes to avoid surgery

Dodgers relief pitcher Will Klein.

(Kyusung Gong / AP)

Dodgers reliever Will Klein hopes to avoid surgery to remove the loose bodies in his right elbow.

“We’re going to rehab and let the inflammation calm down and get back to where it’s manageable this year and try to build back up and see where that puts us,” he said. “It’s feeling a lot better right now. So that’s encouraging.”

Klein has been on the injured list since the start of the month, with what the Dodgers called right elbow discomfort. The Athletic was the first to report a more specific diagnosis.

Klein said he’d known about the small pieces of bone in his elbow, which had previously been manageable. But they’d calcified and become larger, causing inflammation.

His exact timeline to return is in flux, but Klein is scheduled to start throwing weighted plyo balls this week.

“I’m going to do everything I can to get back and pitch again this year,” he said.

COPS are warning beachgoers not to dig holes “deeper than the knees” due to the risk of serious injury or even death.

Police have said that while the activity might be good fun, families should be wary of digging too deep and trapping people or pets in the sand.

In a statement on Monday, cops said: “Digging on the beach is part of the fun, but large, deep holes in soft sand can be incredibly dangerous.

“A hole can collapse without warning, trapping anyone inside under heavy sand in seconds.”

They added that even “fit and healthy adults” can get buried and struggle to escape, as they advised the public to “keep holes shallow”.

The update continued: “Deep holes also pose a serious trip hazard for children, beachgoers, and emergency services responding to incidents.

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“What takes minutes to dig can take seconds to turn tragic.”

Filling in holes before leaving is essential for ensuring the beach stays safe, they added.

It follows an incident at Skegness in Lincolnshire on Saturday, where a large hole ranging approximately three to four feet wide and 12 to 15 feet deep was discovered.

HM Coastguard Skegness said at the time: “Whoever dug this hole was incredibly lucky that it didn’t collapse in on them.

“Sand is surprisingly heavy and can give way without warning, especially in deep holes.”

It added: “A collapse can trap someone beneath the sand and may lead to serious injury or even death.

“Deep holes can also be a hazard to other beach users who may not see them.”

It is not the first time holidaymakers in Lincolnshire have caused mischief on the beach.

Last year, a team of three coastguards had to fill in a hole on Sandilands Beach that was over two metres deep.

Elsewhere in Cleethorpes, sunseekers at the popular seaside town were warned in April not to dig holes in the wet sand, due to the “avalanche effect”.

Coastguards deputy station manager Shaun Lee said the sand can keep “collapsing” and end up burying people.

“We don’t want to be the fun police – just be aware of what you are doing if you are digging holes,” he said.

Number one ranked player in men’s tennis will miss the tournament due to a knee issue, he says via organisers.

World number one Jannik Sinner has pulled out of the Cincinnati Open due to a right knee injury, the Italian has announced.

“After consulting with my doctors and my team, I have to announce that I need to withdraw from the Masters 1000 tournament in Cincinnati,” he said in a statement posted on the ATP website on Sunday.

“My right knee has been bothering me and even though we have been working hard with my medical team, I have to accept that I’m not ready to compete yet.”

The tournament begins on Thursday, the same day as the end of the Masters event in Montreal, which Sinner also missed.

The five-time Grand Slam winner had been on a six-tournament winning streak at 1000 level heading into the North American hard-court swing, before skipping the event in Canada.

The 24-year-old said then that the decision was taken to “prioritise my health”.

Sinner’s subsequent withdrawal from Cincinnati follows that of world number two Carlos Alcaraz as the Spaniard continues to battle a wrist injury.

The Cincinnati Open and Montreal Masters are the two principal warm-up events ahead of the final Grand Slam of the season, the US Open, which starts in New York on 30 August.

The epic whining heard across MLB over the Tarik Skubal acquisition is evidence Andrew Friedman and Dodgers management are a masterclass in demonstrating creative leadership to cultivate a winning ballclub. If you doubt this, check Steve Cohen’s Mets: monster payroll, less than .500 record.

Any talk of changing the rules, salary cap or otherwise, to put reins on this kind of success would propagate underperformance and penalize this fascinating culture of constant improvement. No one’s breaking rules. Any team could be doing what the Dodgers are doing if they had the wherewithal.

Valerie Martinez-Bencomo
Claremont

Unlike the Saturday evening shocker that occurred when the Lakers acquired Luka Doncic, it was no Saturday night surprise to learn the Dodgers traded for Tarik Skubal.

What was a surprise was the relatively minor amount the Dodgers had to give up to acquire the reigning two-time AL Cy Young Award winner. It is highly doubtful that Zyhir Hope will turn into the next Yordan Álvarez, or that River Ryan or Brady Smith will develop into the next Pedro Martinez.

Irrespective of whether Skubal signs a contract extension, as long as he does not complain of a ‘dead arm’ or sustain another injury, this appears to be an excellent deal for the Dodgers.

Ken Feldman
Tarzana

The Dodgers’ acquisition of Tarik Skubal is just another example of the team’s willingness to cause a lockout and blow up the 2027 season.

I understand why. Destroying the 2027 baseball season will give the team’s starting rotation a full year to recover from its numerous injuries.

Ed Kaz
Oak Park

The excitement over the Dodgers getting Tarik Skubal should be tempered by a couple of factors.

Skubal could care less about a Dodgers three-peat. Sure, he wants to show he hasn’t lost anything because of injury. He will have several starts during the rest of the season to do that.

His main priority will then be to avoid any injury that might compromise his value in the marketplace. (Remember Max Scherzer?)

Some of the other top-notch Dodgers starters might also be unhappy if denied a chance to start a postseason game.

Richard Balsam
Mar Vista

Carlos Alcaraz has withdrawn from the Cincinnati Open as he continues to recover from a wrist injury.

The world number two has not played since he pulled out of the Barcelona Open in April, missing Wimbledon and the chance to defend his French Open title.

After winning the event in 2025, Spain’s Alcaraz was due to return at the Cincinnati Open as part of preparations for his defence of the US Open, which begins on 30 August.

Instead, the organisers of the Ohio event – which starts on 11 August – said that “an ongoing wrist injury” will prevent the 23-year-old from taking part.

“We know Carlos is doing everything he can to get back to playing tournaments as soon as possible,” said tournament director Bob Moran.

“We wish him the best with his recovery and look forward to welcoming him back to Cincinnati in the future.”

Ireland’s women must plan for the forthcoming World Cup without distinguished goalkeeper Ayeisha McFerran, who has been ruled out of the tournament through injury.

McFerran’s many achievements in the game included being named Goalkeeper of the Tournament at the 2018 World Cup, at which Ireland were silver medallists.

Head coach Gareth Grundie has announced a 20-player squad to travel to Wavre, Belgium.

In McFerran’s absence, Lizzy Murphy and Holly Micklem are named, offering them their first chance to potentially represent Ireland in goal on one of hockey’s biggest stages.

The side will be making their third successive appearance at at a World Cup, having beaten Japan in a shootout in the bronze medal match in Santiago to ensure qualification for the 2026 edition.

Ireland, who are ranked 12th in the world, have been drawn in Pool C of the competition, and will face Spain in their opening match on 16 August, before playing New Zealand two days later and Belgium on 20 August.

A top-two finish in the pool would allow Ireland to progress to Pool E for a shot at a place in the semi-finals, while a third or fourth place finish would send them to Pool H where they will begin their final classification matches.

Meanwhile, Ireland men’s coach Mark Tumilty has also announced a 20-strong squad as the side prepare to make their first appearance in the competition since 2018.

Tumilty has named an unchanged squad from that which secured qualification in Santiago in March courtesy of a comprehensive semi-final win over Wales, before coming from behind to beat France in the final.

Ireland’s men are 10th in the world rankings and have been drawn in Pool C of the competition, taking on Australia in their opener on Sunday, 16 August, before facing South Africa and Spain on 18 and 20 August respectively.

As with the women, a top-two place would put the team into Pool E for a semi-final chance, while they would enter Pool H for classification fixtures if they come third or fourth.

Ireland women’s squad: Elizabeth Murphy, Holly Micklem, Roisin Upton, Hannah McLoughlin, Caoimhe Perdue, Lena Neill, Sarah McAuley, Ellen Curran, Lisa Mulcahy, Sarah Hawkshaw, Charlotte Beggs, Michelle Carey, Christina Hamill, Mia Jennings, Katie Mullan, Sarah Torrans, Aisling Utri, Mikayla Power, Niamh Carey, Emily Kealy.

Ireland men’s squad: Jaime Carr, Luke Roleston, Kyle Marshall (capt), Peter McKibbin, Mark McNellis, Sam Hyland, Gregory Williams, Fergus Gibson, Lee Cole, Luke Witherow, Sean Murray, Johnny McKee, Peter Brown, Adam McAllister, Matthew Nelson, Benjamin Walker, Jeremy Duncan, Ali Empey, Louis Rowe, Jonny Lynch.

Actress Diane Morgan takes on the role of a social humanoid robot called Linda in the new BBC comedy.

This month, BBC viewers have been treated to a brand-new comedy series.

Ann Droid features the likes of Diane Morgan and Sue Johnston as they play robot Linda and lonely widow Sue.

When Linda’s son Michael (Paul Ready) gets her an AI eldercare robot to help her, it’s clear she’s less than thrilled with the decision.

Although she initially wanted to return her new robot companion, Linda quickly changed her mind, and what follows is a hilarious, unlikely and unconventional relationship.

Appearing on The One Show, actress Diane Morgan spoke to Alex Jones and Vernon Kay about the lengths she went to accurately play the robot.

Diane commented: “It’s really hard! I got an ulcer, did I tell you I got an ulcer? Yeah, I didn’t blink.

“I made the stupid decision to not blink. What an idiot. I was wearing these really thick blue contact lenses.”

Vernon cut in to share her confusion as she highlighted that Diane already has blue eyes.

The BBC star replied: “I know! I got an ulcer, so I stopped wearing them. I said, ‘Oh, how are we going to film the rest of it?’

“They just said, ‘We’ll do it in post’. I was like, ‘Well, what’s the point of me wearing them?!’”

As her co-star shared that he thought it was worth it, Vernon added: “You suffered for your art.”

Since the series was released earlier this month, BBC viewers have had nothing but praise for the show, with many admitting to binge-watching it in one sitting.

One person online commented: “Love ANN DROID.” Another wrote: “This show was amazing!! Sad, happy, funny and emotional.”

Someone else commented: “Absolutely loved it and Diane is just fabulous.” While a fourth wrote: “Binge watched on iplayer… so so good!!!!”

Another added: “Excellent series – funny, poignant and current – congratulations.”

Ann Droid is available to watch on BBC iPlayer.

Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman all but confirmed Wednesday that the team would be in contact with the Tigers to gauge their asking price for reigning AL Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal.

“There just aren’t that many star-level players in the game,” Friedman said Wednesday afternoon when asked how aggressive the Dodgers would be in pursuing big-name players. “Any time one is available, we’re always going to participate in those conversations. We’ve shown to be very aggressive in the past. … We’ve traded a lot of really talented young players.

“But we’re able to be in those conversations because of the incredible work by our scouts and our front office and our player development group that has our farm system in such a strong spot to be able to talk to any team basically about any player.”

All that was expected. Checking in is simply due diligence.

Friedman avoided showing his hand when asked the odds of the Dodgers acquiring a player like that at the deadline.

“I don’t know,” he said. “I’m not in the handicapping business.”

Part of the calculation, with the Tigers on a skid that could push them to sell at the deadline, will be the health of the Dodgers’ pitching staff, which is steadily improving. So, instead of trying to fill specific holes, the Dodgers have the luxury of reading the market and being “a little bit more selective and opportunistic.”

Before the Dodgers’ game against the Mariners on Wednesday, they activated closer Edwin Díaz and designated left-hander Charlie Barnes for assignment. Right-handed starter Tyler Glasnow (back spasms) threw two innings of live batting practice, and right-handed reliever Blake Treinen (right elbow inflammation) threw one simulated inning.

Over in Class-A Ontario, left-hander Blake Snell (arthroscopic elbow surgery) was set to make what could be his last rehab start before being reinstated from the IL, although Friedman said the team was still talking through the next steps.

Two-way star Shohei Ohtani’s timeline back to the mound is the biggest unknown, but Friedman insisted that his lingering knee injury didn’t change the Dodgers’ evaluation of its rotation heading into the deadline.

“I don’t think it puts it in an acute need at all,” Friedman said. “We’re confident he’s going to come back. Again, if there was something structural, then we would be much more concerned with that. But there’s not. And the fact that it does keep improving suggests that we’re on the right path and feel very confident that he will be back.

“And then that’s also where it gets to the depth that we have and the talented arms that have stepped up with some of our injuries, that we feel like deserved an opportunity to keep going. So it just doesn’t fall into acute. That being said, we’re always open-minded to different things.”

Friedman also offered some insight on Ohtani’s right biceps injury, which he first publicly acknowledged on July 3 and that he said Tuesday night was not 100%. Ohtani hasn’t pitched in a game since that July 3 start, when the biceps issue flared in his last at-bat.

“If it weren’t for the knee, he would be pitching right now, he would be making his regular turn [in the rotation],” Friedman said. “We kept the arm going. Does he feel 100% in his arm? No. But neither does any pitcher in late July. But this is around the knee and making sure that we can get it to a place where there’s just no compensation. So exactly when that is, I’m not sure. But I feel confident that relatively soon, he’s going to start getting out and start ramping up for catch play and bullpens and getting him back.”

Ohtani’s timeline, however, hasn’t progressed the way the Dodgers initially expected since receiving an Orthovisc injection to lubricate his knee at the beginning of the All-Star break. They’d hoped he’d return to the rotation in its first turn out of the break. Instead, he threw a bullpen in Philadelphia last week, and then his throwing program stalled.

It’s also unclear what version of Ohtani the Dodgers will get when he returns to the mound.

“There’s no question it got significantly better,” Ohtani said in Japanese of the effects of the injection. “But after talking with the doctors, I don’t think it’s realistic to expect the pain to be zero. That may end up being something that has to wait until the offseason. In the meantime, I’ll keep working through my rehab program and try to get it as close to zero [pain] as possible.”

While playing through the knee injury, and searching for a mechanical adjustment to take some pressure off it, Ohtani’s execution has wavered. He had a 4.38 ERA in his last four starts, compared to 0.74 in his first 10.

“I think it speaks to the knee and the delivery and just the challenge of repeating it over and over and over again,” Friedman said, “and more speaks to why we are doing this and making sure that we get it calmed down and in a good spot so he can repeat. Then I’ll bet on him to execute.”

A sickening injury to England’s Gabriel Langton overshadowed his team’s silver medal in the men’s team gymnastics final at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.

The 19-year-old, from the City of Birmingham Gymnastics Club, needed lengthy treatment on the mat after a horrible fall in the final rotation of the evening at The Arena.

Langton fell head first to the floor after missing his catch on the horizontal metal bar, three metres in the air, leading to a lengthy delay to the action as he was tended to by up to a dozen medical staff.

He was eventually led away on a trolley after being moved on to a stretcher with his head and neck braced and left to huge applause from the packed crowd who had spent much of the previous 10 minutes in hushed silence.

Langton was seen to be conscious and moving his legs and arms before leaving the arena floor, while team officials later said he was moving and speaking to doctors.

In a statement, Team England said: “We are grateful to the medical teams who responded immediately to provide assistance.

“He has been taken to hospital and we will share more information when it is available.”

When competition resumed, his England team-mates were unable to overhaul their deficit to Canada who claimed their first gold medal in the event in 20 years, having finished second to England at the past two games.

Langton, a late call-up to Team England in the place of the injured six-time Olympic medallist Max Whitlock, was unable to join his teammates on the podium as England collected their silver medals.

Team-mate Luke Whitehouse, who was first on to the apparatus after the competition restarted and posted a relatively low score of 11.700, said: “When something like that happens, you’ve just got to forget about it and reset. I just had to focus on my routine one skill at a time.”

Whitehouse added: “From what we’ve heard, he’s doing OK. Gymnastics is such a dangerous sport and things like this remind us of that. It’s one of those things you have to put out of your mind.”

Felix Dolci, who helped Canada to gold and led qualifying for the all-around competition, said: “It’s terrible but it goes to show that gymnastics is a very, very difficult and complicated sport. It’s dangerous you know sometimes.

“All our thoughts go to Gabriel and the team. Pushing through this is definitely not easy, England stayed focussed, they stayed in the zone, a huge shout out to them because that’s not an easy one.

“For any gymnast that was on the field of play, seeing this not only is difficult, but something you never want to see. It goes to show how hard the sport is.”

Hamish Carter from Team Scotland – who narrowly missed out on a bronze medal to Australia in the final rotation – said: “I didn’t actually see what happened. I’m just so happy that he’s alright and, having experienced that, anything could have happened.

“We’ve walked away with no medal but I’m thinking of Gabe in this moment.”

Six days after winning his first race in nearly a year, the multiple Grade 1-stakes-winning colt Journalism has been retired.

Coolmore America and Journalism’s ownership group on Friday announced the 4-year-old son of Curlin sustained an injury at the start of Saturday’s San Diego Handicap at Del Mar. The nature of the injury was not revealed.

Journalism broke slowly in the race when he moved forward just before the gate opened, then hit the side of the stall. He spotted the field several lengths but rallied to capture the 1 1/16-mile race for his first victory in five starts since winning the Haskell Stakes last July at Monmouth Park.

In addition to the Haskell, Journalism earned Grade 1 wins in the Preakness Stakes and Santa Anita Derby and was second in the Kentucky Derby, Belmont Stakes and Pacific Classic. The San Diego was his third Grade 2 win, along with the Los Alamitos Futurity and San Felipe Stakes.

He retires with seven wins, three seconds and three thirds from 14 starts, with earnings of $4,770,755.

Michael McCarthy trained Journalism for an ownership group headed by Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, which paid $825,000 for him as a yearling. The colt already was scheduled to begin stallion duty next year at Coolmore’s Ashford Farm in Versailles, Ky.

“What Journalism did at Del Mar was the mark of a true champion,” McCarthy said in the news release. “To suffer an injury in the gate, give away that much ground, and still win purely on heart and class tells you everything you need to know about him. He owes us absolutely nothing. While it’s tough to see his racing career end this way, protecting him is our top priority, and he goes to stud at the top of his game.”

Centre back William Saliba won’t require surgery for injury sustained at World Cup, his club says.

Arsenal ‌defender William Saliba ⁠will be ⁠sidelined for an extended period after suffering a back injury while playing for France during ⁠the 2026 FIFA World Cup, the reigning Premier League champions say.

Saliba was hampered by the injury throughout the tournament in North America, limiting his training. He was substituted in the first half of France’s 2-0 semifinal defeat by Spain and missed the 6-4 third-place playoff loss to England.

“Subsequent specialist reviews on William’s return to London this week have confirmed that he has suffered a ⁠back injury which will ⁠require a period of rehabilitation,” Arsenal said in a statement on Wednesday.

“Extensive assessments have concluded that surgery is ⁠not recommended, but William should now commence a managed ⁠recovery programme.

“Everyone is fully ⁠focused on supporting William to ensure he is back to full fitness as soon as possible.”

Saliba made 50 appearances across all competitions for the North London club last season as the Gunners ended a 22-year wait to win the Premier League title and also reached the Champions League final.

Arsenal ‌are to begin the defence of their Premier League crown at home against promoted Coventry ‌City ‌on August 21.

NEW YORK — Lost amid the headlines about Tarik Skubal, the Dodgers face this unexpected reality as the trade deadline looms: They would like to add a starting pitcher, but they need to add a catcher.

Will Smith has not played in six weeks. In a “best case” scenario, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said Friday, Smith would miss another month.

That left Roberts to make a jolting admission, when I asked him if the team really can count on Smith returning this season.

“We don’t know,” Roberts said, “but we certainly are counting on it.”

Would it be nice for the Dodgers to get their three-time All-Star catcher back in time for October? Of course.

Should the Dodgers count on it? Of course not.

The Dodgers won’t know where Smith stands by the Aug. 3 trade deadline. That means now is the time to acquire a catching option they may or may not need later.

Dalton Rushing, the primary catcher in Smith’s absence, has a .799 OPS. Among the 24 major league catchers with at least 200 plate appearances entering play Friday, Rushing ranked fifth in OPS.

He is hitless in his last 13 at-bats. His batting average: .266 before Smith’s injury, .233 since then.

On defense, Rushing ranks next-to-last in defensive runs saved among major league catchers, ahead of only the Angels’ Logan O’Hoppe. On Friday, in the Dodgers’ 2-1 victory at Yankee Stadium, the Yankees scored their only run on Rushing’s passed ball.

In past Octobers, the Dodgers have prioritized defense at catcher. In the 2020 World Series, Austin Barnes caught ahead of Smith in four of the six games, including the final two.

In 2025, with Smith recovering from a hand injury, Ben Rortvedt started ahead of Rushing in the Dodgers’ first four postseason games. Rortvedt was a trade deadline acquisition last summer, picked up with pitcher Paul Gervase from the Tampa Bay Rays for catcher Hunter Feduccia.

Will Smith bats for the Dodgers against the San Francisco Giants on April 22.

(Ezra Shaw / Getty Images)

Rortvedt, currently playing in triple-A for the New York Mets, fits the profile of what the Dodgers need now: a defense-first catcher with major league readiness. With Smith injured, the Dodgers first tried and then cut minor league journeyman Chuckie Robinson at backup catcher. Their current backup, Eliezer Alfonso, made his major league debut in his ninth professional season; he is hitless in nine at-bats.

Could the Dodgers pursue an established catcher, say Ryan Jeffers of the Minnesota Twins or Francisco Alvarez or Luis Torrens of the New York Mets? Possible, but probably not necessary.

Rushing could be their guy. Smith could be back.

Smith has started and re-started baseball activities, only to find out that the inflamed disk in his neck flares up.

“He hasn’t been able to get over the hump,” Roberts said.

The Dodgers are trying another round of complete rest before asking him to try hitting or throwing again.

“We felt that, if he’s inactive, it gives it a good chance to get all the inflammation out, the soreness out, the pain, increase flexibility, all of it,” Roberts said. “Then he has a fighting chance to work his way back. Trying to do everything — even at a lesser dosage — just wasn’t feasible.”

Trying to trade for Skubal might not be feasible, at least so long as his Detroit Tigers remain in the American League wild-card race. The Tigers won seven of their final 10 games in the first half, and they face teams with losing records in 13 of their 16 second-half games ahead of the trade deadline, starting with the Angels this weekend in Anaheim.

The Dodgers do not need a depth starter. However, they might do well to find someone they would feel comfortable starting the third or fourth game of a playoff series, lest they count on Blake Snell (elbow) and Tyler Glasnow (back) and Shohei Ohtani (knee) all returning to the mound healthy and effective.

Important, yes. As important as another catcher, no.

For a team that will spend almost half a billion dollars on its player payroll and luxury tax this season, its most important trade deadline pickup could be a catcher making maybe $1 million.

A devastating double earthquake hit Venezuela on June 24, leaving a trail of destruction and thousands dead. Dozens of buildings collapsed in coastal La Guaira State, the worst affected in the South American country.

The natural disaster followed two unnatural catastrophes: a decade-plus of US-led economic sanctions, and the January 3 US bombing attack and kidnapping of President Nicolás Maduro.

But rather than sympathize with the beleaguered country, the Western media establishment seized the opportunity to continue demonizing the Bolivarian Revolution—while whitewashing Washington’s economic terrorism and its present efforts to tighten its semi-colonial stranglehold on the country (FAIR.org, 2/27/26).

An assault on public housing

The ground had barely stopped shaking when corporate media oligopolies took aim at one of the most visible pillars of Hugo Chávez’s legacy: Venezuela’s Great Housing Mission (GMVV).

A Washington Post headline (6/27/26) declared: “These Homes Rose out of Venezuela’s Socialist Revolution. Now They’re Rubble.”

An architect was quoted claiming that the damaged apartments had been “constructed hastily” to “meet a political deadline.” Though the Post claimed Chávez launched the housing program to secure votes for the 2012 election, the only beneficiary the paper could find received her home in 2014.

AFP (6/29/26) singled out damage to a GMVV complex—“once touted as part of former strongman leader Hugo Chavez’s flagship housing program”—arguing that it “symbolize[d] the country’s dire situation.” Dozens of buildings geared toward tourism, including hotels and high-rises built for short-term rentals, in this neighborhood of Catia La Mar, were also flattened by the devastating tremors, but AFP made no effort to provide that context.

The New York Times (7/5/26) likewise attempted to besmirch what is one of the most ambitious public housing projects worldwide by repeating the unfounded claim that homes were assigned as a “reward for loyalty to Mr. Chávez.” However, the paper of record at least admitted that “Misión Vivienda buildings are far from the only apartments to have fallen.”

The Wall Street Journal (6/28/26) could not hide its elitism in describing how Chávez “rushed to provide apartments to the poor” in a town “beloved by the rich,” with a golf course and a “marina for yachts.” It went further by promoting a social media hoax that styrofoam found in damaged buildings meant that the housing mission used absurdly unsuitable materials in its construction. In reality, expanded polystyrene (EPS) foam is widely used to lighten the load on structures and for thermal insulation, a key factor in such a hot climate.

Venezuelan officials have called for a review of the collapsed structures and building codes, though they have claimed that the public housing buildings fared better than their privately constructed neighbors.

There is little evidence to suggest that GMVV buildings suffered a worse fate than their private sector counterparts. According to the open-source tool Terremoto Venezuela, only 11 out of 258 buildings reported as collapsed (“daño total”) belong to the housing mission.

The definitive figures will need to be put in perspective to see whether affected buildings and non-complicity with existing codes were prevalent in the GMVV developments or the recent tourist-driven real estate boom in La Guaira. But the media establishment immediately jumped to its politically motivated verdict before any thorough investigation had been conducted.

Whitewashing sanctions

While multiple outlets stressed that it is necessary to scrutinize whether authorities enforced the appropriate regulations in what is known to be vulnerable terrain (France 24, 6/29/26; Reuters, 6/29/26), no evaluation of the Venezuelan state’s record is accurate if it ignores the wide-reaching sanctions regime imposed by Washington.

Yet many Western journalists completely overlooked sanctions in their coverage of the earthquakes and the Venezuelan state’s capacity to respond to a natural catastrophe.

Corporate outlets like the Financial Times (6/28/26) wasted no time in proclaiming that the “legacy of ‘Chavismo’ hinder[ed] Venezuela’s earthquake response,” while AP (7/3/26) decreed that the government’s response was “slow” and the BBC (6/29/26) claimed survivors were “left to fend for themselves.”

None saw fit to even mention that Venezuela has been under economic coercive measures for years. NBC (6/25/26) avoided the kneejerk verdicts and offered lots of testimony on the natural disaster, but when concluding that “Venezuela already faced economic challenges and poverty,” chose not to name sanctions as a key economic challenge and poverty factor.

In other reports, the whitewashing of sanctions was more subtle. The Guardian (7/3/26) attributed the government’s “sluggish response” to “years of corruption, economic mismanagement and investment in political repression and domestic security rather than emergency services and healthcare.” As almost an afterthought, it added that sanctions “have further enfeebled the Venezuelan state.” The Washington Post‘s anti-public housing article (6/27/26) called Venezuela’s economic collapse “the result of mismanagement by the socialist government exacerbated by US-imposed economic sanctions.”

The New York Times (7/4/26) wrote that “Venezuela’s fragile infrastructure—including rail, electricity and healthcare systems that have suffered from years of corruption and mismanagement.” In a later section it added, “Venezuela is reeling from years of economic turmoil and crippling US sanctions.”

Over the years, Western media have pulled all the stops to legitimize Washington’s hybrid war on Caracas and conceal the murderous impact of sanctions (FAIR.org, 6/4/21, 6/13/22). There is no shortage of documentation on how these coercive measures represented collective punishment (CEPR, 4/25/19). In an extensive 2021 report, UN rapporteur Alena Douhan thoroughly discussed the impact of sanctions on Venezuelan public services and infrastructure.

The current framing  of earthquake coverage aims to separate US sanctions as much as possible from their direct consequences. Rail, electricity and healthcare systems became much more “fragile” because sanctions blocked the Venezuelan government from servicing equipment and importing spare parts, not to mention brain drain resulting from mass migration of qualified personnel largely trained in public universities. Similarly, the “economic turmoil” is a result of US sanctions, not a parallel phenomenon.

Indeed, economist Francisco Rodríguez, senior research fellow at the Center for Economic and Policy Research, dismisses arguments that the bulk of Venezuela’s economic decline preceded sanctions (CEPR, 5/19/26). Instead, the rate of GDP contraction nearly quadrupled following the US imposition of unilateral coercive measures in 2017.

And the need to conjure elaborate intermediation schemes in order to circumvent sanctions opened more avenues for corruption. To present the latter as an issue that uniquely and disproportionately plagues a government facing an economic blockade is disingenuous, to say the least.

Ignoring the semi-colonial straitjacket

In their recent coverage, most corporate media sources were quick to decree that the Venezuelan government’s response was “slow” (Financial Times, 6/27/26; Guardian, 6/29/26), “inadequate” (Reuters, 7/5/26), “faltering” (AP, 7/1/26) or “completely ineffective” (PBS, 7/2/26).

It is understandable that ordinary people would not sing the government’s praises after losing a relative or while looking for one trapped under rubble. But journalists have a responsibility to add context. In this case, a significant mitigating circumstance is that the tremors heavily hit the local authorities, which run civil protection and other services.

Acting President Delcy Rodríguez stated that nearly all the directors from the La Guaira regional government were lost in the tragedy. Coupled with a collapse of communications, this added more hurdles for response efforts.

Another overlooked element is just how rare and deadly this double earthquake was. The New York Times was a notable exception, with a thorough piece (7/3/26) explaining how the disaster unfolded and why it caused so much destruction.

But the most relevant element to understand Venezuela’s present constraints is, once again, the role played by the US government. Just like with sanctions, corporate news outlets whitewashed Washington’s current semi-colonial impositions on the South American nation.

Since the January 3 attacks, the Trump administration has seized control of Venezuelan export revenues, particularly from oil sales (Venezuelanalysis, 2/20/26). Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated that the Venezuelan government would need to submit a “budget request” to access its own funds held by the US Treasury (Venezuelanalysis, 1/29/26). Neither US nor Venezuelan authorities have offered any transparent information on the amounts collected and disbursed, including Washington’s intermediation fees.

Trump is not known for precision in his statements, but he has not been shy in boasting that the cost of the January 3 military operation has been paid “many times over” from oil profits (New York Times, 6/29/26; Guardian, 6/28/26; Al Jazeera, 6/24/26). While there is no information to verify the claims, economist Francisco Rodríguez, analyzing Venezuelan Central Bank data, concluded that there is at least a significant delay in the US disbursement of Venezuelan funds back to the country (Banca y Negocios, 6/22/26). The suspicious lack of transparency has even drawn questions from traditional foreign policy paladins like the Council on Foreign Relations.

With few exceptions (Reuters, 7/1/26; AP, 7/3/26; New York Times, 7/6/26), this key, semi-colonial constraint on the Venezuelan state is completely overlooked. Even worse, some outlets mistakenly stated that the White House has “lifted” or  authorized “relaxation” of sanctions (PBS, 7/2/26; Financial Times, 6/27/26). Actually it has only issued licenses for select Western corporations, and with the condition that proceeds be deposited in the US Treasury account. Following the recent natural disaster, the Trump administration issued a four-month waiver allowing earthquake relief-related transactions, but left all restrictions and asset freezes in place (Venezuelanalysis, 6/26/26).

Another ominous development has been the US forces’ takeover of operations at the Simón Bolívar International Airport, the country’s main air hub, and the La Guaira port. Despite regular Southern Command press releases, and even photographic evidence, the media establishment has paid little attention to this serious (further) encroachment on Venezuelan sovereignty.

The outlook is bleak for Venezuela, with this tragedy likely to increase dependency and semi-colonial plundering. But there is room for hope. The limits of US power are being exposed all over the world, and resorting to more and more violence will not stem this inevitable decline. Peoples in the Global South, including in Venezuela, will eventually (re)take control of their destinies. But they know that the corporate press barons are no allies in this struggle.

Source: FAIR

Arsenal will assess William Saliba’s back injury when he reports back to the club after World Cup duty.

The France centre-back has been dogged by a back issue for several weeks and carried the problem into the World Cup.

The issue appeared to be exacerbated during France’s semi-final loss to Spain when She was forced off after just 30 minutes.

Surgery is among the options that will be considered by the Gunners when he returns to London, though an operation would probably require a long-term lay-off to recover.

The 25-year-old made 50 appearances in all competitions for Arsenal last season, as they ended a 22-year wait to win the Premier League and reached the Champions League final.

Earlier in the World Cup, Saliba said: “I’ve had some minor niggles for several months.

“I’ve been gritting my teeth because there was the Champions League and the Premier League.

“The World Cup comes round only once every four years, so you’ve got to grit your teeth.”

He missed France’s final group game against Norway before returning to Didier Deschamps’ side for the knockout stage.

France play England in the third-place play-off on Saturday (22:00 BST).