“Sinners” entered the night with the record for the most Oscar nominations for a single film, with 16.
It leaves with four awards, won by Ryan Coogler for original screenplay, Michael B. Jordan for lead actor, Autumn Durald Arkapaw for cinematography and Ludwig Göransson for score. Arkapaw became the first woman to ever win in her category.
It seemed every time the film’s title came up during the broadcast there would be cheers and a swell of emotion from the audience. The live performance of the nominated song “I Lied to You” re-created the fantastical moment from the film in which generations of musicians collide, weaving together past, present and future.
Since its release in April of last year, the film has been a cultural touchstone and point of extended conversation on its way to some $370 million in worldwide box office. Among this year’s best picture nominees, only “F1” earned more, with $631 million. When Oscars host Conan O’Brien mentioned the name of the film in his opening monologue, it generated a huge ovation from the room.
Directed and written by Coogler, the film tells the story of twin brothers, Smoke and Stack, both played by Jordan. On the opening night of their juke joint in 1930s Mississippi, they are beset by a small band of vampires, intent on turning everyone inside into bloodsuckers.
In accepting his lead actor award, Jordan thanked Warner Bros. executives Mike De Luca and Pam Abdy “for believing in this dream, this vision of Ryan Coogler and betting on the culture and betting on original ideas and original artistry.” (Including its Oscars for “One Battle After Another” and “Weapons,” Warners Bros. ended the night with an 11-Oscar tally, tying the record for most wins by a single studio.)
Across what seemed an extremely long awards season — a run that was even longer for “Sinners” due to its spring release date — the film had many ups and downs. But its momentum seemed to be peaking at just the right time, as seen with the crucial wins for Jordan and the cast at the Actor Awards on March 1.
Regardless of how one feels about its final tally at the Academy Awards, the movie has already firmly established its continued relevance. As The Times’ Greg Braxton recently wrote, “‘Sinners’ is now being increasingly hailed in Hollywood as a groundbreaking symbol of Black artistic excellence, as well as a timely pushback to the divisive political climate that has reached fever-pitch proportions.”
MICHAEL B. Jordan has been dreaming of landing Oscars glory since he was 15-years-old, but there were fears his career was over before it began.
In-demand Jordan heads to the Academy Awards on Sunday in line to land the coveted Best Actor award for supernatural horror movie Sinners, which has been nominated for a record-breaking 16 gongs.
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Michael B. Jordan (far right) was just 15 when he starred in the first season of HBO’s The Wire alongside JD Williams (second from left)Credit: AlamyJordan is hoping to land an Oscar for best actor for his dual role in SinnersCredit: Shutterstock Editorial
But in an exclusive interview with The U.S. Sun, childhood pal JD Williams — who starred alongside a teenage Jordan in HBO’s iconic cop drama The Wire — says his bloody exit in the show had the young actor doubting his future.
Williams played local dealer and gang member Bodie, taking Jordan’s unassuming, drug-running character of Wallace under his wing.
Yet when the bosses, led by Hollywood star Idris Elba as the notorious Stringer Bell, suspected Jordan was speaking to cops, Williams was told to execute him.
With the actors only given their scripts days before a shoot, the Creed star had no idea his breakout role was soon to be over.
It was a heartbreaking end to the first season, and left a young Jordan worried about his career ending abruptly.
“None of us knew where the story was going,” Williams told The U.S. Sun. “You only get your scripts week to week. When he saw that he was getting killed off, he literally thought he wasn’t going to work again.
“I told him, ‘Look, everybody loves you already. When this happens, people are going to look up Wallace’s real name. When they find out it’s Michael B. Jordan, they’re going to look for you in everything.’”
Williams, 48, and Jordan, 39, grew up in Newark, New Jersey, and both attended Arts High School.
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While many of the actors in The Wire were cleverly drawn from the gritty streets of Baltimore, trained actors such as Elba, the late Michael K. Williams, who played hustler Omar, as well as Jordan and his pal Williams, helped elevate the five-series masterpiece to the next level.
Jordan came into the show off the back of the 2001 sports drama Hardball, starring Keanu Reeves.
He was very much learning his trade when he met Williams and his fellow co-stars for the first time.
Yet going up against the A-listers Timothee Chalamet and Leonardo DiCaprio for an Oscar illustrates just how far Jordan has come since those early, nervy days.
“I had already heard about him because he had done Hardball, and I was proud of him for that,” Williams recalled. “Then to find out he was on the same series I was doing, I was like, ‘Wow — a kid from exactly where I’m from and we’re doing this together.’”
The two actors quickly formed a bond on set.
They hung out together, playing PlayStation and traveling to Las Vegas and Miami when not filming.
Their friendship has remained strong ever since.
“I would say he’s probably the most organic actor — star actor — out there,” Williams, a prominent and memorable character in The Wire who was eventually killed off himself after 34 episodes, said. “There’s minimal fakeness in him, minimal shade.”
If Jordan wins the best actor award, he will become the first character from writer David Simon’s critically acclaimed show to be crowned by the Academy.
“Someone from our class had to get it, if Michael K. Williams were still alive, I think he would have been in this position too, but I’m so proud it’s Mike,” said his old friend. “There’s no scandal with him. It’s deserved.”
Williams went on to star in prison drama Oz, is working on numerous independent projects, has also appeared in Starz drama BMF, and now relishes helping guide the next generation of actors.
Jordan, meanwhile, has steadily built one of the most successful careers of his generation, starring in films like Creed and portraying villain Killmonger in Marvel’s Black Panther.
Jordan was killed off at the end of the first season of The Wire and feared he may never work againCredit: AlamyJordan plays twin brothers in Sinners, which has been nominated for a record 16 awardsCredit: AP
Crucially, his longtime creative partnership with director Ryan Coogler, who was also behind Creed in 2015, has become one of the most influential collaborations in modern Hollywood.
No film has ever received more nominations than Sinners, in which Jordan masterfully plays a dual role as twin brothers Elijah and Elias.
The movie stormed this year’s Academy Awards with a record-breaking 16 nominations, surpassing the previous record of 14 shared by All About Eve, Titanic and La La Land.
Its dominance spans the biggest categories, including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Original Screenplay for Coogler — along with a Best Actor nomination for Jordan, his first at the Oscars.
The apocalyptic drama also earned acting nods for Delroy Lindo and Wunmi Mosaku, while racking up recognition across major craft categories including cinematography, editing, costume design and visual effects.
The record-setting 16th nomination came in the Academy’s brand-new Best Casting category, recognizing Francine Maisler’s work assembling the film’s ensemble.
Williams says he worked on a series of scripts and ideas with Jordan over the years, but admits the partnership with Coogler has helped his friend evolve as an actor and is why he now stands on the brink of greatness.
“Him and Ryan getting together is the perfect combination,” he said. “Having a director that is great to collaborate with is exactly what was needed.
“If you have a vision and you’re part of a class of actors coming up together, that’s what happens. They are the perfect combination.”
Jordan’s ability to deliver the performances his directors want is also key.
“If you give Mike direction, he gets it straight away,” Williams said. “He can go exactly where you need him to go and be what you need him to be in that moment.
“That’s the essence of acting — delivering the message to the audience.
“And he’s not just there to be handsome and pretty. Mike is writing, producing, directing. He understands the whole business.”
Biggest Oscar Nominees of 2026 Academy Awards
Everyone in Hollywood hopes to snag a nod on the industry’s biggest night but only few get that honor. Here are the nominees from the major categories of the 2026 Academy Awards:
Best Picture
Bugonia
F1
Frankenstein
Hamnet
Marty Supreme
One Battle After Another
The Secret Agent
Sentimental Value
Sinners
Train Dreams
Best Director
Chloé Zhao — Hamnet
Josh Safdie — Marty Supreme
Paul Thomas Anderson — One Battle After Another
Joachim Trier — Sentimental Value
Ryan Coogler — Sinners
Best Actor (Leading Role)
Timothée Chalamet — Marty Supreme
Leonardo DiCaprio — One Battle After Another
Ethan Hawke — Blue Moon
Michael B. Jordan — Sinners
Wagner Moura — The Secret Agent
Best Actress (Leading Role)
Jessie Buckley — Hamnet
Rose Byrne — If I Had Legs I’d Kick You
Renate Reinsve — Sentimental Value
Emma Stone — Bugonia
Kate Hudson — Song Sung Blue
Best Supporting Actor
Benicio Del Toro — One Battle After Another
Jacob Elordi — Frankenstein
Delroy Lindo — Sinners
Sean Penn — One Battle After Another
Stellan Skarsgård — Sentimental Value
Best Supporting Actress
Teyana Taylor — One Battle After Another
Wunmi Mosaku — Sinners
Amy Madigan — Weapons
Elle Fanning — Sentimental Value
Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas — Sentimental Value
Best Original Screenplay
Bugonia — Yorgos Lanthimos & Will Tracy
Marty Supreme — Josh Safdie & Ronald Bronstein
One Battle After Another — Paul Thomas Anderson
Sentimental Value — Joachim Trier & Eskil Vogt
Sinners — Ryan Coogler
Best Adapted Screenplay
Blue Moon — Richard Linklater & Glen Powell
Frankenstein — Guillermo del Toro
Hamnet — Chloé Zhao
The Secret Agent — Kleber Mendonça Filho
Train Dreams — Clint Bentley & Greg Kwedar
Best Animated Feature
Arco
KPop Demon Hunters
The Magnificent Life of Marcel Pagnol
Zootopia 2
The Night Gardener
Best International Feature Film
The Secret Agent — Brazil
Sentimental Value — Norway
It Was Just an Accident — Iran
Universal Language — Canada
Sujo — Mexico
Best Documentary Feature
The Alabama Solution
Come See Me in the Good Light
Four Daughters
No Other Land
The Perfect Neighbor
More than two decades after their time on The Wire, Williams says watching Jordan’s continued rise is deeply personal.
Their families remain close.
“I’m proud of my brother,” he said. “He’s been growing as an actor his entire life. But he’s deeper than that — he writes, he produces, he directs. He’s built himself into this system.
“I can’t explain how proud I am. Thinking back to us just sitting on my parents’ steps at my little sister’s birthday party — and now seeing where he is. The vision is unfolding exactly the way it was supposed to.”
But will he watch his old friend’s moment of destiny on Sunday night?
“When I don’t watch my team, they win. When I watch my team, it’s 50-50. And I don’t — I just don’t know, man,” he said with a huge smile.
“If it’s not this time, it’s going to be the next time. But of course I am behind my brother. I always will be.
“Chalamet is a great actor, but this is Mike’s year. If he wins, I’m going straight to his house. I don’t know if I’ll hug him or punch him in the stomach, but it’ll be a great feeling. He’s a great dude and I love him to death.
“We talked about this stuff while playing PlayStation years ago. Seeing it unfold meticulously — not as a fluke, but as a plan — is beautiful.”
JD Williams told The U.S. Sun about his time on The Wire with close friend Michael B. JordanCredit: GettyTimothee Chalamet is up against Jordan for best actor following his performance in Marty SupremeCredit: Reuters
The decorated gymnast and two-time Olympian recently competed in the latest season of “Dancing With the Stars,” finishing in third place alongside her partner Ezra Sosa. She’s an ambassador for brands including Nike and Hero Cosmetics. In August, she launched a mentorship program called SHERO Athlete Collective for young athletes.
And in the midst of all of that, she’s finishing up her senior year at UCLA.
In Sunday Funday, L.A. people give us a play-by-play of their ideal Sunday around town. Find ideas and inspiration on where to go, what to eat and how to enjoy life on the weekends.
“I’m happy, but I’m also sad,” the 24-year-old says about her final year as a Bruin, adding, “It’s pretty cool to know that my dream school has become my legacy.”
Chiles is also in the thick of a legal battle to reclaim the bronze medal she won, then was stripped of, at the 2024 Paris Olympics. In January, the Swiss Federal Supreme Court granted her an appeal to reexamine the matter. “I’m going to stand for what is right,” she says. “I am doing the things to make sure no other athlete has to go through what I had to go through.”
With the Olympics arriving in Los Angeles in 2028, the question of whether Chiles will participate is top of mind for many fans. Her response?
“Right now, it’s just me and my college career,” she says, flashing a bright smile. “I think right now just being able to be a part of UCLA for my last season and then seeing from there on, from April until the next year, we’ll see what happens.”
Chiles trains every day except Wednesdays and Saturdays, but on her perfect Sunday, she’d skip the gym to hang out with her dogs, take a trip to the mall and binge-watch her favorite shows.
9 a.m.: Gospel music to start the day
I feel like waking up at 9 a.m. is the perfect time because it gives you enough time in the day to do whatever, but also you didn’t wake up too early. The first thing I’d probably do aside from washing my face and brushing my teeth, is put on gospel music or listen to anything that can put my mind at ease. If I don’t have practice, then that’s typically what I’m doing, cleaning my house and starting to rejuvenate my body differently. I’d take my dogs out. I have an Aussie doodle, a teacup poodle and a maltipoo. Their names are Versace, Chanel and Dolce Gabbana. Very bougie dogs.
9:30 a.m.: Breakfast with a side of “Chicago Fire”
I’d cook for myself. I like typical scrambled eggs, bacon, avocado toast and sometimes a bagel. To get in some fruit, I’d drink some apple juice to make it feel like, “OK, this was a great, healthy breakfast.” Then I’d most likely sit on my couch and start binge-watching something. This is where lazy Jordan comes in. Like I got up, I did this, I ate, so now it’s time to relax. I’ve recently been watching all of the Chicago [shows] like “Chicago Fire,” “Chicago PD” and “Chicago Med.” I also recently started rewatching “Pretty Little Liars.”
12:30 p.m. Shop for athleisure and other goodies
This is typically when Jordan feels like she needs to go shopping. I’d put my dogs up and go to the mall. I deserve to go shop. I deserve to go splurge. I like going to the Topanga mall. I really, really like Jamba Juice and there’s one in the Topanga mall. I used to know the secret menu by heart before they started putting it on the actual menu. My go-to is the White Gummi smoothie.
I love streetwear, so if there’s sneaker stores around, I’d check that out. I sometimes end up in an Apple Store, don’t ask me how or why. It just always ends up like that. If I need to get athleisure wear, I always go to Nike. You can never have too many Nike Pros. If I need to get my eyebrows threaded or my nails done, I can do everything at the mall while I’m shopping.
4 p.m.: Time for homework
I’m heading back home so I can beat traffic and let my dogs out. I’d probably sit on my couch, scrolling on Pinterest, trying to figure out what I’m going to eat. Then I’d start doing my homework. Since I am still in college, I’d start whatever I need to do for that week. I try to stay as organized as best as I can because it is hard being a businesswoman and still being a college student. I’d probably do homework for about 2 ½ hours.
7 p.m.: Domino’s pizza and more binge-watching
I’d turn whatever show I’m watching back on, then I’d either cook or sometimes I’ll order in. It honestly depends on what Sunday it is. If it’s football Sunday, you know I have the wings and the typical Sunday vibes. But if it’s not, I might make tacos or Alfredo, or order off Uber Eats. I know this is probably crazy but I really, really, really, really love Domino’s. I am a pizza person. My Domino’s order is a small pepperoni, pineapple, olives and sausage slice … hand tossed, cheesed up, and then I will get a side of garlic knots and a side of buffalo wings with ranch.
If it’s not Domino’s, then I either will do Shake Shack or Wendy’s. I know it’s probably crazy and you’re like “Jordan, you’re an athlete,” but sometimes a girl just has to go in that direction. I like teriyaki food and hibachi places, so I’d either order from a place called Blazed N Glazed or Teriyaki Madness, or this place on campus called Hibachi Papi.
9 p.m. Video games before bed
I have an Xbox and a PlayStation, so sometimes I will go into my game room and just literally sit in my chair and play “Call of Duty” or “Halo.” Other than that, I have no night rituals. I will just make sure my dogs are fed. I always pray before I go to bed and my skincare is legit all Medicube, but I always make sure to do a face mask every other day before I go to bed.
10:30 p.m.: Prepare for an early practice
Since I probably have to wake up the next morning for an early practice, I feel like 10:30 p.m. is a good time to go to sleep. Unless I’m doing something with my friends and we don’t get back until like 11:30 p.m., but other than that, I’m in my bed or at least on my couch just relaxing.
Still, Reddick seems to be at the start of something special as the driver of a team co-owned by the NBA legend who led the Chicago Bulls to two NBA championship three-peats in the 1990s (1991-93 and 1996-98).
Less than a month into the season, Reddick has established his own three-peat of sorts, the likes of which has never been seen before in NASCAR.
After winning the Daytona 500 on Feb. 16 and at Echo Park Speedway in Atlanta last week, Reddick held off Shane van Gisbergen over the final 20 laps at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, on Sunday to become the first Cup Series driver to win the first three races of the season.
“It’s incredible. NASCAR’s always been super competitive but in this day and age where the field is so close, for us to be able to pull this off is true testament of teamwork, hard work in the offseason by everyone on this team, everyone at 23XI,” Reddick told KXAN-TV in Austin after the race.
“It’s super special to be on this kind of a run. We’re just gonna try to keep it going as long as we can. We’re kind of just in the right headspace throughout the week, and it’s been really sweet to just grab these wins like we have.”
23XI Racing co-owner Michael Jordan watches the final laps by Tyler Reddick on Sunday in Austin, Texas.
(Stephen Spillman / Associated Press)
Jordan, who co-owns 23XI Racing with Denny Hamlin, was with Reddick’s pit crew at the end of the race. As Reddick climbed out of the car, Jordan gave him a high five and exclaimed, “Three, baby, three!”
Reddick posted video of that exchange with Jordan on X and wrote, “3 PEAT BABY.”
Also on X, Reddick posted a photo of Jordan holding up three fingers after the Bulls’ first three-peat in 1993 next to a photo of himself making the same gesture while holding his trophy from Sunday’s race.
“Tyler came in with most pressure,” Jordan told Fox Sports. “He had a chance to win three in a row. That’s the hardest one to win, you know. And he kept to his strategy. … Tyler did a good job. He beat good competition.”
In December, an anti-trust lawsuit against NASCAR filed by 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports was settled nine days into the trial, with NASCAR agreeing to grant all of its teams the permanent charters they had been seeking.
Started in 2020, 23XI Racing has three full-time cars — driven by Reddick, Bubba Wallace and Riley Herbst — as well as a part-time car driven by Corey Heim. Entering next week’s race in Phoenix, Reddick leads the NASCAR Cup standings by 70 points, followed by Wallace in second place.
Jordan credited Hamlin, who still drives for Joe Gibbs Racing, as the “mastermind” who put together a team that is seeing such great success early this season.
The “Sinners” star won the Actor Award for lead actor for portraying the film’s twin ex-mob enforcers turned juke joint owners, Smoke and Stack.
“I wasn’t expecting this at all,” Jordan said as he accepted his award Sunday evening. “I’m so honored and privileged to be nominated in categories with people and actors and humans that I love.”
“I love their work and what you contribute to to our craft, and this ride has been unbelievable,” he said. “So thank you for welcoming me in and making me feel seen.”
Jordan went on to reminisce about his time as an entry-level SAG-AFTRA member, aspiring toward truly belonging to “this club that I wanted to be in so bad.”
“Those guys that were talking on stage with the awards and nice suits, talking, being in fancy places like that,” the actor said. “That’s what I always wanted and that kid from Newark, New Jersey’s standing here right now.”
The “Creed” alum went on to thank his mother for driving him to his earliest auditions and director Ryan Coogler for “giving me the opportunity to show what I can do and to be fearless and to create a safe space for us to find the truth.”
Finally, Jordan extended gratitude to his fellow actors and his fans, “who’ve seen me grow up in front of the camera and in these rooms.”
Jordan’s triumph over his fellow nominees, particularly “Marty Supreme” star Timothée Chalamet, is a positive sign as the actor looks toward the Academy Awards later this month.
“Sinners” received a record 16 nominations, many of which are sure to turn into wins at the March 15 ceremony.
Explosions are being heard in Iran, Israel and across several Middle Eastern states after the United States and Israel began attacking Iran on Saturday.
Tehran has responded by launching waves of missiles and drones at Israel and towards several military bases in the Middle East where US forces operate.
Iran had previously warned that if it were attacked, it would respond by targeting US military facilities across the region, which it considers legitimate targets.
Which countries have been attacked?
Israel’s air force says it dropped more than 1,200 munitions across 24 of Iran’s 31 provinces over the past day in its joint attack with the US.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) says it has launched attacks on 27 bases in the Middle East where US troops are deployed as well as Israeli military facilities in Tel Aviv and other parts of Israel.
So far, Iran has launched strikes across eight countries in the region: Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
Most of these attacks have been intercepted.
(Al Jazeera)
US military presence in the Middle East
The US has operated military bases in the Middle East for decades.
According to the Council on Foreign Relations, the US operates a broad network of military sites, both permanent and temporary, across at least 19 locations in the region.
Of these, eight are permanent bases in Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
As of mid-2025, there are about 40,000 to 50,000 US soldiers in the Middle East stationed in both large, permanent bases and smaller forward sites.
The countries with the most US soldiers are Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, the UAE and Saudi Arabia. These installations serve as critical hubs for US air and naval operations, regional logistics, intelligence gathering and force projection.
(Al Jazeera)
How many people have been killed or injured?
Below are the confirmed casualties across the 10 countries that have been subject to attacks as of Sunday at 13:40 GMT.
Due to the rapidly evolving situation, all figures may change as more information becomes available.
Iran – killed: 201, injured: 747
As of Sunday morning, the Iranian Red Crescent Society and official state-linked media have reported preliminary casualty figures of 201 people killed and at least 747 injured as rescue operations continue.
Since then, explosions continue to be heard across Iran with Israel saying it has carried out a large aerial attack on the “heart of the capital”.
The deadliest single incident occurred in the city of Minab in southeastern Iran, where a strike on an elementary girls school reportedly killed at least 148 people and injured 95. The attack occurred on Saturday, and the death toll has been climbing since.
Israel – killed: 9, injured: 121
On Sunday afternoon, an Iranian ballistic missile strike on central Israel’s Beit Shemesh killed eight people and injured about 20. Rescue workers are still combing through the rubble.
Late on Saturday, one woman in the Tel Aviv area was confirmed killed after being struck by falling shrapnel.
At least 121 others have been reported injured, at least one seriously.
At least 40 buildings in Tel Aviv were damaged in Iranian strikes on Saturday, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported, citing the city government.
An explosion occurs in Tel Aviv on February 28, 2026, after Iran launched missiles into Israel [Gideon Markowicz/Reuters]
Bahrain – killed: 0, injured: 4
Iranian missiles targeted the headquarters of the US Navy’s 5th Fleet in Bahrain’s Juffair area.
Bahrain’s Ministry of Interior also confirmed that the country’s international airport was targeted with a drone, “resulting in material damage without loss of life”.
On Saturday night, several residential buildings in the capital, Manama, were struck by Iranian drones.
Government hospitals said four people were receiving treatment for shrapnel-related injuries.
A building was damaged in the Seef commercial district of Manama, Bahrain, on March 1, 2026, in an Iranian drone attack [Hamad Mohammed/Reuters]
Iraq – killed: 2, injured: 5
The US and Israel also targeted the Jurf al-Sakher base, also known as Jurf al-Nasr, in southern Iraq, which houses the Popular Mobilisation Forces, made up of mostly Shia fighters, and the Iran-supported Iraqi paramilitary group Kataib Hezbollah.
Iraqi state media and sources within Kataib Hezbollah confirmed that two fighters were killed in the strikes and five were wounded.
In northern Iraq‘s semiautonomous Kurdish region, where the US is reported to still have troops, several powerful explosions were reported near the US consulate and international airport in Erbil.
Air defences intercepted the drone attacks on Saturday, according to reports.
A plume of smoke rises near Erbil International Airport in Erbil, Iraq, on March 1, 2026 [Shvan Harki/AFP]
Jordan – killed: 0, injured: 0
The Jordanian armed forces reported intercepting 49 drones and ballistic missiles that entered Jordanian airspace. While their fragments caused localised property damage, there have been no deaths or injuries within the kingdom.
Kuwait – killed: 1, injured: 32
Kuwait’s Ministry of Defence says Ali al-Salem Air Base came under attack by a number of ballistic missiles, all of which were intercepted by Kuwaiti air defence systems.
A drone targeted Kuwait International Airport on Saturday, resulting in minor injuries to a number of employees and limited damage to the passenger building.
On Sunday, Kuwait’s Ministry of Health said one person had been killed and 32 wounded.
Kuwait City in the aftermath of strikes by Israel and the US on Iran [Stephanie McGehee /Reuters]
Oman – killed: 0, injured: 5
On Sunday morning, the Oman News Agency, quoting a security source, said two drones had targeted the Duqm port, injuring one foreign worker.
Later, Oman’s Maritime Security Centre said a Palau-flagged oil tanker was attacked about 5 nautical miles (9km) off Oman’s Musandam governorate, injuring four people.
Qatar – killed: 0, injured: 16
As of Sunday morning, the Qatari Ministry of Interior confirmed that the number of injured was at 16 people. Most injuries were reported to be from falling shrapnel and debris with one person seriously hurt.
The Qatari Ministry of Defence confirmed that two ballistic missiles struck the Al Udeid military base, where US forces are stationed, while a drone targeted an early warning radar installation.
Qatari air defence systems, in coordination with regional partners, successfully intercepted about 65 missiles and 12 drones over Qatari airspace, it said.
The Qatar Civil Aviation Authority suspended all air navigation indefinitely. Qatar Airways grounded all flights and advised passengers that updates will be provided on Monday by 9am (06:00 GMT).
All schools have moved to remote learning, and public gatherings for Ramadan have been suspended until further notice to ensure public safety.
Saudi Arabia – killed: 0, injured: 0
The Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed that Iranian attacks targeted both the capital, Riyadh, and Eastern Province, home to major oil infrastructure and the King Abdulaziz Air Base.
The kingdom has officially reported no casualties as of Sunday afternoon.
United Arab Emirates – killed: 3, injured: 58
As of Sunday afternoon, at least three people in the UAE were confirmed killed and 58 others wounded.
A Pakistani national was killed and seven people were injured when debris from intercepted missiles and drones fell on a residential area near Zayed International Airport in Abu Dhabi.
The Ministry of Defence confirmed that another individual, identified as an Asian national, was killed by falling shrapnel in a residential district of the capital.
Additionally, four airport staff at Dubai International Airport sustained injuries, and four people were injured at Palm Jumeirah after a fire in a building caused by falling debris.
As of Sunday afternoon, The UAE’s Defence Ministry says it detected 165 ballistic missiles, destroying 152, and intercepted two cruise missiles.
Led by another standout performance from Jordan Chiles, the No. 5 UCLA women’s gymnastics team clinched the Big Ten regular-season championship for the second consecutive year Friday night by winning its Big Four meet at Pauley Pavilion.
Chiles, who had the top all-around score of 39.625, helped UCLA defeat No. 18 Iowa, No. 19 Ohio State and No. 25 Maryland with an overall score of 196.950. Her 9.950 on the vault in the final rotation sealed the win.
“The thing I’m taking away from today is that they really are fighters,” UCLA coach Janelle McDonald said. “They really didn’t give up [at] any moment, and they really were just resilient through it all.”
Alipio was impressed by how well Matthews performed on short notice.
“She is one to always kind of just put her head down and work, and I’m really proud of her to see her step up today,” Alipio said.
On the balance beam, Katelyn Rosen started with a 9.750 and Barros posted a 9.850. Flexing UCLA’s depth, Mika Webster-Longin received a 9.825 in her top routine. Chiles had a 9.825. In an almost-perfect routine, Alipio posted a 9.950. The mark helped UCLA extend its lead.
It wasn’t all good news for the Bruins on the first rotation — Rosen sustained a foot injury and was held out for the remainder of the meet.
“I’m hoping it’s not no big deal, but we’ll get her checked out and just want to take the precaution and pull her out of those lineups,” McDonald said.
UCLA’s Jordan Chiles competes on the balance beam Friday during a Big Ten quad meet at Pauley Pavilion.
(Etienne Laurent / For The Times)
Matthews started the floor exercise in Rosen’s place, opening with a 9.675. Alipio followed with a 9.825, and Sumanasekera and Ashlee Sullivan posted scores of 9.875 and 9.900, respectively. Needing a big performance to keep their lead, Chiles did not disappoint, scoring a 9.950.
Matthews demonstrated the level of depth UCLA has leaned on throughout the season.
“I definitely can say that is a huge leadership role as a freshman,” Chiles said. “Being able to step in at a time like that … we trusted the fact that she was gonna go out there and do her job.”
UCLA’s Katelyn Rosen competes on balance beam during the Bruins’ quad meet win at Pauley Pavilion on Friday.
(Etienne Laurent / For The Times)
Going into the last rotation, UCLA led Ohio State by just .150. The Bruins needed a strong performance on vault to claim the conference title.
Sumanasekera set the tone with a 9.850. Madisyn Anyimi followed with a 9.775. After replacing Rosen, Webster-Longin earned a 9.800 in her season debut on vault, and Sullivan posted a 9.850 before Chiles clinched the win.
But the Bruins want more.
“This is a regular season, we still have Big Ten championship, we have regionals and we have NCAA,” Chiles said.
The quad-meet experience was a learning curve, Alipio said. UCLA had to perform at a high level through the final routine to secure victory.
UCLA gymnast Ashlee Sullivan performs her floor routine during the Bruins’ quad meet win Friday at Pauley Pavilion.
(Etienne Laurent / For The Times)
McDonald said adjusting to tough competition levels up UCLA. The Bruins hope the experience will pay dividends for the young team in the postseason.
“We just kept reminding them to just take a breath, stay present and just really trust their training and their preparation that they’ve had leading into today,” McDonald said.
After donning hats and shirts that commemorated their championship, the Bruins celebrated on the floor with cheers and pictures. But come next week, the work begins again.
“We fought, for sure, until the end,” Alipio said. “But we also know we’re going into the gym on Monday, and we’re putting our heads down and working because this wasn’t our best, but we have more to show everybody.”
Recent comments by United States and Israeli officials supporting the concept of a “Greater Israel” have raised alarm bells across the region and shed light on a vision once only rarely publicly spoken about.
An interview aired last week by the American right-wing podcaster Tucker Carlson with US ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee started the current furore. Carlson, an influential figure who has been vocally critical of Israel over the past year, repeatedly asked Huckabee whether he supported Israel controlling all the land between the Nile River in Egypt and the Euphrates River in Iraq.
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Huckabee, a Christian Zionist, would not disavow the belief that the Bible promised that land to Israel – even though it now encompasses all or part of Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia and Syria.
“It would be fine if they took it all,” Huckabee said, leading to anger from those countries and others in the region, many of which are close US allies.
Then, speaking on Monday, Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid said that he would support “anything that will allow the Jews a large, broad, strong land and a safe haven for us”.
“Zionism is based on the Bible. Our mandate over the land of Israel is biblical, [and] the biblical borders of the land of Israel are clear … Therefore, the borders are the borders of the Bible,” the apparently secular Israeli politician said.
So what is Greater Israel exactly? And is it really an ultimate goal for some Israeli politicians?
Defining Greater Israel
The most expansionist claim for a Greater Israel is based on a biblical verse (Genesis 15:18-21), which narrates God making a covenant with Abraham that promises his descendants the land between the Nile and the Euphrates.
That would include the Jewish people, with the tribes of Israel believed to be descended through Abraham’s son, Isaac. But it would also include the children of another of Abraham’s sons, Ishmael (Ismail), regarded as the forefather of the Arabs.
Other definitions based on different biblical verses are narrower in their territorial scope and specify that the land of Israel would be promised to the tribes of Israel descended from Isaac.
How has Israel worked to achieve expansion?
The current state of Israel emerged from the British Mandate for Palestine in 1948. The mandate, created by the League of Nations in the wake of World War I and the occupation of Palestine by the British, geographically limited Israel upon its creation.
The 1948 war that followed the end of the mandate led to Israel taking control of all of Mandatory Palestine, with the exception of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
But Israel soon expanded by force – in 1967 it defeated Arab forces and took control of the West Bank and Gaza, as well as Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula, and Syria’s occupied Golan Heights. Israel continues to occupy all of those regions, with the exception of the Sinai, which it returned to Egypt in 1982.
Since then, Israel has ignored international law and continued occupying Palestinian and Syrian land, and has shown little respect for its neighbours’ sovereignty, occupying more land in Syria, as well as in Lebanon.
How popular is the idea of Greater Israel?
This needs to be broken down into two separate concepts – the expansion of Israel into the territory that immediately borders it, and the most extreme definition of Greater Israel: between the Nile and the Euphrates.
In terms of expansion into its immediate surroundings, Israeli Jews by and large support the annexation of East Jerusalem, which is occupied Palestinian territory, and the Golan Heights.
The Israeli government continues to move towards the de facto annexation of the occupied West Bank. Israeli politicians vary in how open they are in their support for the formal annexation of the West Bank, but most mainstream Israeli politicians are supportive of the illegal Israeli settlements in the territory.
An expansion of Israeli settlements into Gaza is not as popular, but is supported by far-right Israeli parties.
A Greater Israel, including parts of Jordan, or the most irredentist definition between the Euphrates and the Nile, is more controversial. Pre-1948, many Zionists sought not just Palestine but also Jordan for their future state – one of the most important Zionist armed groups at the time, the Irgun, even included the map of both Palestine and Jordan in its emblem.
But after the foundation of Israel this took a back seat, and open calls for a vastly expanded Israel were largely restricted to the fringes. But those fringes – far-right figures like Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir – are now in government, reflecting a wider radicalisation within Israeli society itself.
That means the Israeli ‘mainstream’, politicians such as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and centrists like Lapid, are either more open in their support for some form of Greater Israel beyond the West Bank, or less willing to publicly oppose it.
How threatened do regional countries feel?
Regional states have said that the annexation of the West Bank would be a red line, but have been unable to reverse Israel’s occupation.
Hints at a wider expansion have led to an angry reaction from Arab countries. This goes further back than Huckabee’s recent comments. For example, Jordan condemned Smotrich – Israel’s finance minister – when he gave a speech in 2023 at a podium that displayed a map that showed Jordan as part of Israel.
And Huckabee’s support for Greater Israel was roundly condemned by more than a dozen states, including Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Turkiye.
For Arab and Muslim states, the anger at the comments partially emanates from the sense of a lack of respect towards the sovereignty of regional states by a US official. But it also highlights fears that the balance of power in the region is weighted towards an Israel that is increasingly willing to attack across the Middle East, and has little interest in peace.
Even if the takeover of the land between the Nile and the Euphrates is not feasible, a region where Israel is the primary hegemon will likely lead to more attacks, more wars, and, if Israel determines it necessary, more occupation of land.
The overseeing body of the annual BAFTA Awards says it is taking “full responsibility” for the racist slur an audience member with Tourette syndrome shouted while “Sinners” stars Michael B. Jordan and Delroy Lindo took the stage at Sunday’s ceremony.
“We take full responsibility for putting our guests in a very difficult situation and we apologise to all,” the British Academy of Film and Television Arts said in a statement published Monday morning following widespread public outcry. “We will learn from this, and keep inclusion at the core of all we do, maintaining our belief in film and storytelling as a critical conduit for compassion and empathy.”
Jordan and Lindo were presenters for the awards show, which aired after a two-hour delay on the BBC, and took the stage at London’s Royal Festival Hall to present the visual effects category. Their segment was quickly interrupted when someone in the audience off-screen shouted the N-word. The co-stars, who are both Black, paused before their presentation.
Later in the program, BAFTA Awards host Alan Cumming addressed the outburst, referencing the nominated film “I Swear,” about Scottish Tourette syndrome campaigner John Davidson. Davidson, an executive producer for the BAFTA-nominated film, was in the audience and left his seat midway through the ceremony.
“The tics you have heard tonight are involuntary — that means the person who has Tourette syndrome has no control over their language and we apologize if it has caused offense,” Cumming explained.
The Mayo Clinic defines Tourette syndrome as a disorder that “involves repetitive movements or unwanted sounds (tics) that can’t be easily controlled.” According to the Tourette Assn. of America, some people who live with Tourette syndrome can also experience coprolalia, “an involuntary outburst of obscene words or socially inappropriate and derogatory remarks” that do not necessarily reflect the person’s “thoughts, beliefs or opinions.”
BAFTA echoed this sentiment in its statement and said it had made efforts to ensure attendees “were aware of the tics,” informing audiences at the beginning of the show that Davidson was in the room and “they may hear strong language, involuntary noises or movements during the ceremony.
Concerning Davidson’s use of the racist slur, BAFTA said “we apologise unreservedly to [Jordan and Lindo], and to all those impacted.”
“We would like to thank Michael and Delroy for their incredible dignity and professionalism,” BAFTA said.
The organization also acknowledged Davidson who, after leaving the ceremony, watched the rest of the show from a screen. Actor Robert Aramayo, who portrays Davidson in “I Swear,” bested Hollywood favorites for the leading actor prize.
Though representatives for Jordan and Lindo did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday, the co-stars spoke to Vanity Fair about the controversy. Lindo said he and his co-star “did what we had to do” for the ceremony, but he added he wished “someone from BAFTA spoke to us afterward.”
Davidson, in a statement published by Deadline, said that while his tics and outbursts do not reflect his beliefs, he is always “deeply mortified if anyone considers my involuntary tics to be intentional or to carry any meaning.” He did not directly mention Jordan or Lindo.
BBC apologized for not editing out the slur before broadcasting the ceremony, according to the Associated Press. The network had managed to edit out other portions of the ceremony — including filmmaker Akinola Davies Jr. saying “Free Palestine” — but not the racist slur, “Good Morning America” reported. The Guardian reported that producers also failed to hear the inappropriate remark during the original taping.
BBC said Monday that it will edit out the slur.
The controversial BAFTA Awards moment spurred backlash and conversations about Tourette syndrome. On social media, “Sinners” production designer Hannah Beachler alleged similar outbursts occurred three times through the course of the evening, once “directed at myself” and another “at a Black woman.”
“But what made the situation worse was the throw away apology of ‘if you were offended at the end of the show,” she posted on X. “Of course we were offended…but our frequency, our spiritual vibration is tuned to a higher level than what happened.”
Also on X, journalist Jemele Hill, “Superman” actor Wendell Pierce and Black List founder Franklin Leonard called out the expectation for Jordan and Lindo to carry on as normal after facing the racist slur, and the lack of immediate accountability from BAFTA.
“It’s infuriating that the first reaction wasn’t complete and full throatted [sic] apologies to Delroy Lindo and Michael B. Jordan,” Pierce tweeted. “The insult to them takes priority. It doesn’t matter the reasoning for the racist slur.”
Jamie Foxx and “The Breakfast Club” host Charlamagne tha God also shared their takes on Davidson’s outbursts. Foxx alleged in a handful of Instagram comments that Davidson’s use of the racist slur was intentional. Charlamagne that God sought accountability from the teams behind Sunday’s awards ceremony and speculated that “somebody somewhere taught [Davidson] the language.”
“It’s just convenient he saved his most offensive outburst for Black people. OK?” he said. “I can be respectful of the condition but I don’t respect none of y’all that allowed him to be there with the condition.”
The radio host added: “Just because you have a disability does not mean we will tolerate the disrespect.”
Tourettes Action, an organization and research charity based in the United Kingdom, addressed the negative comments regarding Davidson’s outbursts and called for understanding and education about Tourette Syndrome.
“The price of being misunderstood is increased isolation, risk of anxiety and depression and death by suicide,” the organization said. “We hope that those commenting will take the time to watch the film, learn about Tourette’s, and understand the experiences behind moments like these. Education is key, and compassion makes a world of difference.”
Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, denounce US ambassador’s remarks suggesting Israel has right to much of the Middle East.
United States Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee has triggered an avalanche of criticism from Arab and Muslim countries after suggesting Israel has a right to expand its territory across a large swath of the Middle East.
Carlson asked Huckabee, a self-professed Christian Zionist and staunch supporter of Israel, to clarify his stance on the Biblical promise of the land spanning the area between the Euphrates River in Iraq and the Nile River in Egypt to the descendants of Abraham, and if the modern Israeli state had the right to claim that lineage.
“It would be fine if they took it all,” said Huckabee.
Such territory would encompass modern-day Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and parts of Saudi Arabia.
The US ambassador later appeared to walk back the claim, saying it was “somewhat of a hyperbolic statement”. He also said Israel was not looking to expand its territory and has a right to security in the land it currently holds.
‘Extremist rhetoric’
Huckabee’s comments sparked immediate backlash from neighbouring Egypt and Jordan, Saudi Arabia, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation and the League of Arab States, which in separate statements called them “extremist”, “provocative” and “not in line with Washington’s official position”.
Saudi Arabia’s foreign ministry described Huckabee’s comments as “extremist rhetoric” and “unacceptable”, and called for the US Department of State to provide clarification.
Egypt’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs called the remarks a “blatant violation” of international law, adding that “Israel has no sovereignty over the occupied Palestinian territory or other Arab lands.”
Jordan’s foreign ministry dismissed them as “absurd and provocative,” a violation of diplomatic norms and “an infringement on the sovereignty of states in the region”.
“Statements of this nature — extremist and lacking any sound basis — serve only to inflame sentiments and stir religious and national emotions”, the League of Arab States also said in a statement.
Huckabee, whom US President Donald Trump nominated as ambassador in 2024, has long opposed the idea of a two-state solution for Israel and the Palestinian people, and denied the existence of an illegal Israeli occupation of the West Bank. Back in 2008, Huckabee went so far as to question Palestinian identity altogether, saying, “There’s really no such thing as a Palestinian.”
But Israeli law does not clearly demarcate the country’s borders. Israel also occupies the Golan Heights in Syria, which it illegally annexed in 1981.
The US is the only country that recognises Israel’s claimed sovereignty over the Syrian territory, and only since 2019, during Trump’s first term as president.
After its 2024 war with Hezbollah, Israel also set up military outposts in five points inside Lebanon.
The duo of pitcher Jordan Ayala and shortstop Dylan Seward is going to do big things for Norco High baseball.
A little peek into their potential could be seen on Saturday against Great Oak. Ayala, a sophomore, gave up one hit in six innings striking out five and walking none. Seward, a junior committed to Tennessee, had three hits as the leadoff batter. Norco won 9-0. Jayden Serna had a three-run home run.
Bishop Alemany 9, El Camino Real 1: Brody Thompson and Daniel Aceves each had two hits for the 2-0 Warriors.
Loyola 9, West Ranch 5: Bobby Rapp, Mac Taw, Matthew Favela, Brandon Bendel each had two hits for Loyola.
Huntington Beach 3, Servite 0: Four pitchers combined for the shutout, striking out nine for Huntington Beach.
Garden Grove Pacifica 3, Corona Centennial 1: Pitchers Cade Tessier, Cash Matlock and Brody Jakel combined for eight strikeouts for Pacifica.
Oaks Christian 8, Buena 2: The Lions (3-0) two hits each from Ryan Sheffer and Jack Brinkman. Christian Ipsen had eight strikeouts in 5 2/3 innings.
Calabasas 2, Cleveland 1: Jayden Singer had no walks in five innings and Harrison Beck contributed three hits for 2-0 Calabasas.
Simi Valley 8, Granada Hills 2: Evan Rodriguez had two hits and two RBIs for the Pioneers.
El Dorado 6, Sierra Canyon 3: Julian Rodriguez struck out six in five innings for 2-0 El Dorado.
Long Beach Millikan 10, Murrieta Valley 0: Daunte Bell had 10 strikeouts in five innings.
Fullerton 11, La Palma Kennedy 1: Noah Wise recorded six strikeouts in three innings for Fullerton.
Quartz Hill 3, Camarillo 1: Parker White threw six scoreless innings and Cole Gregory had three RBIs for Quartz Hill.
Flower Mound (Texas) Marcus 6, Cypress 5: The Centurions dropped to 1-1.
Mira Costa 3, Crossroads 2: Emmett Maloney struck out four and gave up one hit in three scoreless innings of relief for Mira Costa. Ace Tarango had three hits.
Paraclete 10, Valencia 1: Mason Jacobo threw six innings to pick up the win for Paraclete.
Carson 11, Hawthorne 0: James Markel had two hits and two RBIs.
Foothill 8, Long Beach Wilson 7: Presley Gaborno had the game-winning sacrifice fly in the eighth inning for Foothill, which rallied from a 5-0 deficit. Evrett Rycroft had three hits and two RBIs. James Mirabile had three hits and four RBIs for Wilson.
Westlake 21, Oxnard Pacifica 2: Dylan Lee hit two home runs for the Warriors and finished with four hits and seven RBIs. Blake Miller had five RBIs.
Softball
Long Beach Millikan 7, Sherman Oaks Notre Dame 0: The Rams scored seven runs in the seventh inning. Two doubles and two RBIs from Abby Everrett were key. Riley McAndrew threw the shutout. Earlier, Notre Dame defeated Huntington Beach 13-1. Keira Luderer had four hits, including a home run.
Granada Hills 15, Irvine Valley 0: Zoe Justman contributed four hits and five RBIs for Granada Hills.
Kazakhstan and Kosovo have also pledged to participate, while Egypt and Jordan will provide training for police officers.
Indonesia, Morocco, Kazakhstan, Kosovo and Albania have pledged to send troops to Gaza, the commander of a newly created International Stabilization Force (ISF) has said during a meeting of United States President Donald Trump’s so-called Board of Peace.
US Army General Jasper Jeffers, who has been appointed as the head of a future Gaza stabilisation force by Trump’s board, said on Thursday that the Indonesian contingent to the mission has “accepted the position of deputy commander”.
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“With these first steps, we will help bring the security that Gaza needs,” Jeffers said during a meeting of the board in Washington, DC.
Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto, who was among several world leaders participating in the meeting, said his country would contribute up to 8,000 personnel to the planned force “to make this peace work” in the war-torn Palestinian territory, where Israel’s genocide has killed at least 72,000 people.
Kazakhstan’s President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said his country will also send an unspecified number of troops, including medical units, to Gaza, while Morocco’s Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita said that his country is ready to deploy police officers to Gaza.
Albania, whose prime minister recently made a two-day official visit to Israel, has also said it will contribute troops, while neighbouring countries Egypt and Jordan have said they will participate by training police officers.
Indonesia, which was one of the first countries to commit to sending troops, has sought to reassure potential critics that its participation is intended to ensure international law is upheld in Gaza, amid Israel’s genocidal onslaught.
‘Indonesian troops will not be involved in combat operations’
Indonesia’s foreign minister met with both United Nations chief Antonio Guterres and Palestinian ambassador to the UN Riyad Mansour in New York on Wednesday, in advance of President Subianto’s participation in the Board of Peace meeting.
“Indonesia’s mandate [on troop deployment] is humanitarian in nature with a focus on protecting civilians, humanitarian and health assistance, reconstruction as well as training and strengthening the capacity of the Palestinian Police,” Indonesia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a recent statement, according to the Jakarta Post newspaper.
“Indonesian troops will not be involved in combat operations or any action leading to direct confrontation with any armed group,” the ministry said, responding to questions raised over its future role in Gaza by Amnesty International.
The head of Amnesty International Indonesia, Usman Hamid, has voiced concerns that Indonesia risked violating international law through its participation in the Board of Peace and the planned stabilisation force for Gaza.
Hamid warned that Indonesia’s deployment of troops to Gaza “means putting Indonesia at risk of participating in a mechanism that will strengthen violations of International Humanitarian Law”.
“The Peace Council does not include members from the most disadvantaged Palestinians, but instead includes members from Israel, which has for nearly eight decades carried out an illegal occupation and apartheid against the Palestinian people, even committing genocide in Gaza,” Hamid wrote last week in an open letter to the speaker of the People’s Representative Council of the Republic of Indonesia.
Palestinians have also voiced concerns that Trump’s Board of Peace will only further entrench Israel’s illegal occupation of the Gaza Strip, as Israeli forces continue to carve out more “buffer zones” and restrict the entry of food and other aid, months into a so-called “ceasefire” with Hamas, during which almost 600 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks.
The Gaza stabilisation force differs from other peacekeeping forces deployed by multilateral organisations such as the UN or the African Union.
Indonesia, along with Italy, is one of the largest contributors of troops to UNIFIL, which has repeatedly come under fire from Israeli forces, despite a fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah.
MILAN — Jordan Stolz’s run for the speedskating triple crown came up short in the 1,500 meters Thursday, with the American settling for silver behind China’s Ning Zhongyan at the Milan-Cortina Games.
Ning set an Olympic record, blazing the oval at Milano Speed Skating Stadium in 1 minute and 41.98 seconds. Stolz, who won gold in the 500 and 1,000 meters to become the first U.S. man to win in both distances in the same Olympic Games since 1980, had the fastest finishing kick of the top eight skaters, but reached for the line 0.77 of a second behind Ning at 1:42.75.
Stolz was the top-ranked racer in the 1,500-meter distance and raced in the final pair. Watching the speedskating superstar, Ning clasped his hands in prayer during the final race. When the final time flashed across the screen, his coach held Ning’s hands in the air. He began to sob. The 26-year-old earned his first Olympic gold medal after earning bronze in the 1,000 and the team pursuit.
Hoping to win four gold medals in Milan, Stolz still has an opportunity to add a third in the mass start on Saturday.
The Israeli government has approved a plan to begin land registration in the occupied West Bank, meaning it will be able to seize land from Palestinians who cannot prove ownership.
For the first time since Israel’s occupation of the West Bank in 1967, it will register such land as property of the state – also known as settlement of land title – in Area C of the occupied West Bank.
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Area C is the part of the West Bank that remains under direct Israeli control. It covers about 60 percent of the West Bank.
According to Israeli media, Israeli Minister of Finance Bezalel Smotrich, who submitted the proposal to restart land registration with Minister of Justice Yariv Levin and Minister of Defence Israel Katz, said the move was a continuation of “the settlement revolution to control all our lands”.
The Palestinian Authority presidency said the decision amounts to “de facto annexation” of the West Bank. It is the formalisation of the ongoing process of building settlements in the West Bank in violation of international law over the past several decades.
Here’s what we know about how this could be implemented:
What does the land registration process mean?
During Jordanian control of the West Bank from 1949 to 1967, the administration primarily followed the British Mandate of land ownership, under which land was registered as state or private property.
But only about one-third of the land in the West Bank was formally registered under this process. Large numbers of Palestinians living in the region had no documentation or other means of proving they owned their own land. Many of them had also lost documents or they had been destroyed during the 1967 six-day Arab-Israeli war, which resulted in the Israeli occupation of the West Bank.
When Israel took control of the West Bank, it discontinued the process of land registration.
Now, the government has decided to restart the land registration, a move that many Israeli human rights groups and political analysts have condemned.
Xavier Abu Eid, a political analyst based in the West Bank, described the Israeli government’s move as a “de facto annexation of Palestinian territory”.
“What they are doing is the implementation of annexation, packaging it as a mere bureaucratic process,” he told Al Jazeera.
He added that it reaffirms the idea that “there is a colonial power that sets two different sets of legislation depending on ethnic and religious identity, defined also as apartheid.”
Where will land registration be implemented?
In 1993 and 1995, the Oslo Accords were signed between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization. They laid out administrative control of the West Bank and Gaza and divided the occupied West Bank into three areas – Area A, Area B and Area C.
The new Palestinian Authority (PA) was granted full administrative control of 18 percent of the land – Area A – and joint control with Israel over 22 percent – Area B. Area C remained under complete Israeli military control. These areas were meant to be in place for five years, after which full administrative control would be handed to the PA. However, this transfer never took place.
The land registration that will now be restarted will apply to Area C, which is home to more than 300,000 Palestinian people.
(Al Jazeera)
According to the Israeli anti-settlement group Peace Now, in Area C, about 58 percent of the land remains unregistered. In a statement on Sunday, the group warned that the Israeli government’s land settlement process will now facilitate full Israeli control of this unregistered land.
How will land registration work?
Israeli authorities have provided few details about how the process will unfold, but essentially, it will likely involve transferring legal ownership of land to the Israeli state and issuing evictions to Palestinian communities, as has been happening in East Jerusalem in recent years, experts told Al Jazeera.
Michal Braier, an architect and the head of research at Bimkom, an Israeli human rights organisation that focuses on land and housing rights, said it is likely Israeli authorities will take the same approach in the West Bank as they have taken in East Jerusalem since 2018. In East Jerusalem, only 1 percent of settled land has been registered to Palestinians from 2018 to 2024, according to Bimkom.
Braier said Israel will begin by selecting the areas of land it wants to register. The government has set a goal of registering about 15 percent of the unregistered land within the next four years, she added.
“Now we can pretty clearly guess that this 15 percent will be lands where they assume that they can prove the state ownership easily or they can easily reject Palestinian ownership claims because a lot of these unregistered lands don’t have clear records and the records go a very, very long time back. So it will be very hard to prove Palestinian ownership,” she told Al Jazeera.
In theory, she said, Palestinians will be able to file land claims as part of the new process, but in practice, it is likely that they will be prevented from successfully doing so.
“Even if they do file claims, the legal bars they need to meet are very difficult to obtain. On top of this, there is the problem of Absentee Property Law, which moves land into the state’s hands and is yet unclear how exactly it will be practised in the occupied West Bank. So Palestinians are highly likely to lose their individual property rights,” she said.
The Absentee Property Law is an Israeli law enacted in 1950 that states that Israel has the right to seize property of “absentees” – people who were expelled, fled or who left the country after November 29, 1947, the day the United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution to end the British Mandate and recommend the creation of a Palestinian and a Jewish state. Israel was founded less than six months later.
Braier said land registration “will be used as another mechanism to grab land that they could not grab until now for different reasons and to build more settlements and push out Palestinians from Area C”.
According to a Times of Israel report, an Israeli government resolution linked to the land registration bill has allowed for an initial budget of $79m for the land registration process in Area C from 2026 to 2030. The report added that during this process, Israel, which already has civilian and military control of the area, will establish 35 ministerial positions and set up state agencies to begin the process of registering land.
What does this mean for Palestinian communities?
Peace Now described the Israeli government’s decision to restart land registration in the West Bank as “a mega land grab of Palestinian property”.
“Land registration will result in the transfer of ownership of the vast majority of Area C to the state, leaving Palestinians with no practical ability to realise their ownership rights,” the group said in a statement on Sunday.
Abu Eid said the land registration process the government intends to undertake amounts to a “full-fledged ethnic cleansing policy” and added that it is a moment that will be “remembered as a turning point in Israeli attempts at erasing the Palestinian cause”.
But he noted that the Israeli government’s decision has not arisen in a vacuum as Israel has “allowed for a wave of terror attacks by Israeli settlers and the expansion of colonial settlements all over the West Bank” for years.
“Palestinians in general are not just dispossessed of their land and natural resources but come under attacks that are dealt with utter impunity both by the Israeli regime and by the international community,” he said.
“In al-Auja, for example, near Jericho, from 100 Palestinian families that used to live in the place a few months ago, now there is not a single family left,” he added.
He said it is likely that Israel will expect thousands of displaced people from the West Bank to go to Jordan.
“You should not forget the incitement coming out from members of the Israeli government claiming that Jordan should be turned into Palestine while Palestine should be left for the Zionist project,” Abu Eid said.
(Al Jazeera)
How have Palestinian land rights been eroded before this?
The West Bank is home to about 3.3 million Palestinians. It is divided into 11 governorates with Hebron being the most populous at 842,000 residents. Jerusalem follows with 500,000, Nablus with 440,000, Ramallah and el-Bireh with 377,000 and Jenin with 360,000.
Since the Israeli occupation in 1967, the Palestinian people have been subject to land seizures and illegal settlement expansion.
Today, about 700,000 Israelis live in the West Bank and East Jerusalem in settlements and outposts that are Jewish-only communities built on Palestinian land. These range in size from a single dwelling to a collection of high rises. Last year, the Israeli government approved the construction of new settlements in the region, seeking to advance “de facto sovereignty” in the region.
In all, the number of settlements and outposts in the West Bank and East Jerusalem has risen by nearly 50 percent since 2022 – from 141 to 210 now.
Besides eroding Palestinian people’s land rights, Israel has also carried out frequent raids in the West Bank, where Palestinians are also subject to checkpoints, arbitrary arrests, home demolitions and settler attacks.
The Israeli human rights organisation B’Tselem estimated that settler attacks against Palestinians have forcibly displaced 44 communities across the West Bank in recent years. These attacks have also resulted in the deaths of Palestinian people. Since Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza began on October 7, 2023, settler attacks have also intensified.
At least 1,054 Palestinians were killed in the West Bank by Israeli soldiers and settlers from October 7, 2023, to February 5 of this year, according to the latest United Nations figures.
Braier said Sunday’s approval of Israel’s land registration in the West Bank will result in a rise in violence in the region.
“Area C is being cleared out by what is usually regarded as settler violence, but this violence is actually state violence, backed by state mechanisms, so this is all working together to expand Israeli control over Area C and expand settlement in Area C,” she said.
(Al Jazeera)
Is Israel’s land registration process legal?
In 2024, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that Israel’s “expropriation of land and properties, transfer of populations, and legislation aimed at the incorporation of the occupied section are totally invalid and cannot change that status”.
The ICJ has also ruled that Israel’s long-term occupation of Palestinian territory is illegal and must be terminated “as rapidly as possible”.
Braier said the Israeli government’s latest decision on land registration also contravenes international law.
“International law is clear: As an occupying power, Israel cannot exercise sovereign powers, including final determination of land ownership, in an occupied territory,” she told Al Jazeera.
“This position was reinforced by the International Court of Justice’s 2024 advisory opinion, which found that similar settlement of land title proceedings in East Jerusalem violate the laws of occupation,” she said.
“Furthermore, the decision to authorise Israeli civilian authorities to manage the land registration procedures likewise constitutes a clear indication of the annexation of the area,” she added.
What does this mean for Israel’s peace treaty with Jordan?
On October 26, 1994, Israel and Jordan signed the Wadi Araba Treaty, which formally ended the state of war between the two nations that had existed since the creation of Israel in 1948.
Under the agreement, Israel and Jordan established diplomatic ties, agreed to exchange territory and opened the way for cooperation in trade, tourism, transport links, water resources and environmental protection. Jordan also signed the agreement seeking to ensure a two-state solution between Israel and Palestine would be established.
But the public in Jordan, opposition groups and human rights groups have repeatedly called on the government to sever relations with Israel due to its continuing aggression in Palestine.
In 2014, many Jordanians took to the streets, calling on the government to scrap its peace treaty with Israel after clashes between Israeli police and Palestinians at Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem.
In 2024, a similar call was issued by Jordanian activists as Israel conducted its genocidal war in Gaza, which has killed more than 70,000 Palestinians.
On Sunday, Jordan, which shares a 482km (300-mile) border with Israel and the West Bank, condemned Israel’s decision to reinstate land registration in the West Bank. Jordan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs described Israel’s move as a “flagrant violation of international law”.
While Jordan’s peace treaty with Israel still holds, Abu Eid said Sunday’s decision by the Israeli cabinet is a serious and sensitive matter for Jordan, particularly if thousands of people are forcibly displaced from the West Bank.
Furthermore, he said, Israel has been acting against the principles of the Jordan-Israel peace agreement for years.
“If peace agreements are aimed at creating the conditions to enhance cooperation and establish a two-state solution, Israel goes against all of such principles, seeking the expansionist ‘Greater Israel’ agenda,” he said.
“Jordan takes such matters seriously and will certainly seek to have collective action with other regional and international allies,” he added.
Welcome to your daily review and preview of this year’s Milan-Cortina Olympics. My name is John Cherwa and I’m your tour director for the Games as the U.S. finds a new star in speed skater Jason Stoltz. The U.S. got the trifecta on Saturday with a gold, silver and bronze.
Going into the Games, the U.S. had its usual cadre of star power that was supposed to propel the country to the top of the medal standings. But then reality set in. Ilia Malinin had a good lead heading into the free skate in men’s figure skating. Then, he had a ghastly performance, falling twice, and slipping to eighth. Chloe Kim, two-time Olympic champion in the women’s halfpipe, struggled for repeated clean runs and finished second. Then, dreamers believed Lindsey Vonn, skating with a torn ACL, could navigate the women’s downhill to the medal podium. She crashed high in the course.
Enter the latest star for the United States. Speed skater Jordan Stolz, who picked up his second gold of the Games by winning the men’s 500 meters to go with his gold in the 1,000 meters. Both were set in Olympic record time. The 21-year-old from Wisconsin still has at least two events to go, hoping to up his personal and the U.S. medal count. He’s set to compete in the men’s 1,500 (Thursday), and the men’s mass start (Saturday).
The only other medals the U.S. won on Saturday were in the freestyle skiing women’s dual moguls. An Aussie was the winner, but Jaelin Kauf got the silver and Liz Lemley (not to be confused with 30 Rock’s Liz Lemon) won the B final for the bronze. This was the first appearance of dual moguls in the Olympics.
Catching up on the men’s hockey stage, the Kings suffered a severe blow when forward Kevin Fiala sustained a season-ending injury playing for Switzerland on Friday. Fiala had a tough collision with Canada’s Tom Wilson with only a couple of minutes to play in the game. He was stretchered off with a lower leg injury. He had surgery in Italy on Saturday morning and was said to be done for both Olympic and NHL competition the rest of this season.
The Kings are on the cusp of making the playoffs and this, no doubt, will make their road to the postseason that much more difficult. Fiala had 18 goals and 40 points so far this season in 56 games.
NBC should ask Today show personalities Craig Melvin, Al Roker and Dylan Dryer to turn in their journalistic credentials after an embarrassing, saccharine interview with IOC President Kirsty Coventry on the Third Hour of “Today” on Friday. There should have been a warning that watching the interview could cause an immediate increase in blood sugar. The trio, doing the interview from New York, covered such difficult topics of how much fun everyone is having in Italy, how the Olympic spirit is pervasive and, of course, how cuddly the mascots are.
But in no way did they address what would have been the first question any legit journalist would ask, Coventry’s barring of Ukranian skeleton racer Vladyslav Heraskevych for wanting to honor his fallen Ukranian athletes with stickers on his racing helmet was never mentioned. We’ll give you that Roker and Dryer are meteorologists, but there is no excuse for Melvin’s lack of journalistic chops.
Elsewhere on Saturday
— Good day for U.S. curlers as the women (2-1 record) beat Japan 7-4, while the men (2-2) beat Germany 8-6. (Valentine’s Day moment at restaurant. My wife: “Are you the only one here straining to see the curling score on TV?” Answer: “Yes.”)
— The U.S. men’s team (2-0) rallied from a 2-1 deficit to beat Denmark 6-3. Germany is next.
— Brazil topped three Swiss skiers, who finished second through fourth, to win the men’s giant slalom. River Radamus of the U.S. was 17th.
— Norway, on its way to its 10th gold medal, won the women’s 4×7.5 km cross country relay, upsetting Sweden. The U.S. managed a fifth-place finish.
— Austria upset Germany, which finished second and third, in the women’s skeleton. Kelly Curtis of the U.S. was 12th.
—- Slovenia picked up its first gold of the Games in the men’s ski jumping, large hill. Tate Frantz of the U.S. was 19th.
— Norway — who else? — won the women’s 7.5 km sprint in the biathlon. France got silver and bronze. Deedra Irwin was the top U.S. competitor in 47th.
Best Thing to Watch on TV today
We went off the board yesterday and picked the men’s 500 in speed skating as our best bet. Turned out a wise choice. Today, let’s make another swerve and look to the mixed team snowboard cross, in which the U.S. is the defending gold champion. You’ve got returnee Nick Baumgartner, 44, with new partner Faye Thelen. He won gold in Beijing with Lindsey Jacobellis, who is taking a break this year. The qualification starts at 4:45 a.m. PST, with the finals at 5:35 a.m. PST. After a day off, the figure skating gets back on the ice with the pairs short program. The U.S. team of Ellie Kim and Danny O’Shea is going 14th of 19th pairs with a 10:15 a.m. PST start for competition. The U.S. men’s hockey team (2-0) plays Germany at 12:10 p.m. PST.
Favorite photo of the day
The Netherlands’ speedskater Jenning de Boo clutches his head after losing to American Jordan Stolz in the 500 final in Milan on Saturday.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
Times photographer Robert Gauthier is at the Winter Olympics. Each day Times newsletter editor Houston Mitchell will select a favorite photo from the many he has taken.
Sunday’s Olympic TV and streaming schedule
Sunday’s live TV and streaming broadcasts for the Milan-Cortina Olympics unless noted (subject to change). All events stream live on Peacock or NBCOlympics.com with a streaming or cable login. All times Pacific. 🏅 — medal event for live broadcasts.
MULTIPLE SPORTS 8 p.m. — “Primetime in Milan” (delay): Skiing, figure skating, bobsled, speedskating and more. | NBC
ALPINE SKIING 1 a.m. — Women’s giant slalom, Run 1 | USA 4:30 a.m. — 🏅Women’s giant slalom, Run 2 | NBC
CURLING Men (round robin) 12:05 a.m. — U.S. vs. Sweden | Peacock 12:05 a.m. — Germany vs. Britain | Peacock 12:05 a.m. — Norway vs. Italy | Peacock Women (round robin) 5:05 a.m. — U.S. vs. China | Peacock 5:05 a.m. — Denmark vs. Italy | Peacock 5:05 a.m. — Britain vs. Sweden | Peacock 5:05 a.m. — Japan vs. South Korea | Peacock 5:30 a.m. — U.S. vs. China (in progress) | CNBC Men (round robin) 8 a.m. — U.S. vs. Sweden (delay) | CNBC 10:05 a.m. — U.S. vs. Norway | Peacock 10:05 a.m. — China vs. Canada | Peacock 10:05 a.m. — Britain vs. Switzerland | Peacock 10:05 a.m. — Italy vs. Czechia | Peacock
FIGURE SKATING 8:20 a.m. — Pairs, short program, warmup | Peacock 10:30 a.m. — Pairs, short program | USA Noon — Pairs, short program | NBC
FREESTYLE SKIING 1:40 a.m. — 🏅Men’s dual moguls, final | USA 9:30 a.m. — Men’s dual moguls, final (re-air) | NBC 10:40 a.m. — Men’s big air, qualifying | NBC
HOCKEY Men (group play) 3 a.m. — Switzerland vs. Czechia | CNBC 7:40 a.m. — Canada vs. France | USA 10 a.m. — Denmark vs. Latvia | CNBC 12:10 p.m. — U.S. vs. Germany | USA
SKELETON 9 a.m. — 🏅Mixed team event | Peacock 10:15 a.m. — Mixed team event (delay) | NBC
SKI JUMPING 8:30 a.m. — 🏅Women’s large hill, finals | Peacock
SNOWBOARDING 4:45 a.m. — 🏅Mixed team snowboard cross, finals | USA 5:30 a.m. — Mixed team snowboard cross, finals | NBC
SPEEDSKATING 7 a.m. — Men’s team pursuit, qualifying | NBC 8 a.m. — 🏅Women’s 500 meters | NBC
In case you missed it …
Check out the following Milan-Cortina Olympics dispatches from the L.A. Times team on the ground in Italy:
That concludes today’s Sports Report Olympic Edition newsletter. If you have any feedback, ideas for improvement or things you’d like to see, email newsletter editor Houston Mitchell at houston.mitchell@latimes.com. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here and select the Sports Report.
