Man

In late October, two non-Equity touring musicals opened on the same night at two of L.A.’s largest theaters: “Tommy” at the Hollywood Pantages and “The Music Man” at Center Theatre Group’s Ahmanson. The shows — which operate outside of the Actors’ Equity Assn., the union that represents more than 51,000 professional stage actors and managers nationwide — reignited a contentious debate about whether a major regional nonprofit like CTG should host nonunion shows.

Critics questioned whether these productions threaten CTG’s artistic mission and if Angelenos should pay top dollar for nonunion shows. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, what should matter more, a theater’s bottom line or its core values? The underlying implication in much of the criticism was that non-Equity shows are subpar and that hosting them implies a tacit acceptance of the mistreatment of actors.

Savannah Stevenson, who plays Mrs. Paroo in the national tour of “The Music Man,” would like to banish those concerns.

“We should completely dispel the notion that because we’re a non-Equity tour, we’re somehow put through the wringer,” Stevenson said during a phone interview from the Airbnb she was sharing with three cast members. It was a few hours before curtain during the final days of the show’s nearly two-week run in downtown L.A., before it departed for the Capitol Theatre in Yakima, Wash.

Touring small towns like Yakima is a big part of why non-Equity shows exist. The tours began popping up in the 1990s after the rise of the Broadway megamusical, to bring shows to places that would otherwise go without. Before its arrival in L.A., “The Music Man” was in Senatobia, Miss., with a population of about 8,500. A major union show like “The Lion King” will never stop in Senatobia, but the people there can enjoy a bit of River City thanks to Stevenson and the rest of “The Music Man” cast.

“The biggest difference in my mind is, frankly, the schedule. As a non-Equity tour, we do significantly more one-nighters or short engagements,” Stevenson said. “But we also all knew that when we signed up for it. And that is what allows us to share this particular piece of musical theater and musical theater history with such a wide swath of the country.”

Many professional actors choose to remain non-Equity for a variety of reasons, Stevenson said. Jobs are more plentiful for non-Equity actors, she noted, especially if you make a living working at regional houses outside of major cities, which often book only a handful of Equity actors per show. Stevenson recently shared a dressing room and top billing with an Equity actor in a Connecticut show — and other than the fact that the Equity actor was paid more, their treatment was the same, she said.

“We worked side by side every single day, had equally large parts, and I don’t think that anyone coming to that show would have said, ‘Oh, well, gosh, the Equity girl was the real standout in that show,’” Stevenson said gamely.

Elizabeth D’Aiuto, left, Addie Jaymes and Savannah Stevenson in the touring production of Meredith Willson’s “The Music Man.”

(Marshall Meadows)

Stevenson spoke in the wake of a review by Times theater critic Charles McNulty, which called “The Music Man” a “community-theater-level production,” and slammed CTG for “damaging its stature as a nonprofit theater leader by offering such an important showcase to this second-tier touring production.”

The public reception for “The Music Man” was quite warmer. The show ranked above “Amélie, A New Musical,” “Latin History for Morons” and “Paranormal Activity” in audience surveys, according to CTG, and late last week it was on track to outsell “Parade,” “Life of Pi” and “Paranormal Activity.” CTG’s Artistic Director Snehal Desai said each year fans ask for a classic musical and this season only two such shows were on tour: “The Sound of Music” and “The Music Man.” The former (an Equity tour) went to the Pantages, which is run by the for-profit Nederlander organization. That left the latter available to CTG.

The uproar resulting from the non-Equity “The Music Man’s” arrival at the Ahmanson ties directly into the ongoing — and at times overheated — conversation about the future of the American nonprofit theater movement that erupted in late July when the Public Theater’s Artistic Director Oskar Eustis announced his intention to step down after 23 years, declaring the movement “over” and “not coming back.” Since then, theater leaders, including Desai, have been casting around for a brand new way of building a sustainable future. In Desai’s case, that meant attempting to stay in the black — a course of action that is not always looked upon kindly.

Equity vs. non-Equity

The decision to book non-Equity shows was less about saving money than it was about the Tetris-like planning required to keep the Ahmanson gainfully booked, Desai said. The cost of hosting an Equity versus a non-Equity show is about the same for CTG. Non-Equity shows get paid a flat-rate guarantee that is less than what Equity shows seek, but that’s just one piece of the pie, Desai said. CTG also must factor in overhead and local labor costs, production and marketing expenses, and more. This year there are 25 touring Equity shows and 24 non-Equity shows (a number that has stayed fairly steady for the last eight years, with the exception of the height of the COVID-19 pandemic when Equity tours shut down completely). More than 20 available Equity shows went to the Pantages — along with at least five non-Equity shows. This left only a few Equity shows for CTG to choose from, and Desai had to make sure those fit into the schedule.

Aliya Grace in the North American tour of “Boop!,” which is coming next year to the Ahmanson Theatre.

(Matthew Murphy)

This season will see three non-Equity shows: “Clue,” “The Music Man” and Boop!,” which is the rare show to go straight from Broadway to a non-Equity tour.

“The three [non-Equity shows] that we programmed were what was available to us,” Desai said, adding that the shows came from producers CTG had worked with before so he was confident that “they’re maintaining a certain quality. That they’re taking care of the companies. That they’re adhering to standards.”

Daniel Sher, the president of Big League Productions, which is producing “The Music Man” tour, said the organization does its best to follow union rules that are “reasonable.” Big League has produced mostly non-Equity touring shows for about 35 years, and Sher noted that the show’s crew is union, so the production adheres to many union rules by proxy. The Ahmanson is a union house, with its own union crew — so those rules also apply. Sher wishes he could provide health insurance for his actors, but that is cost-prohibitive, so he gives a small health stipend instead.

“I think there’s just a lot of non-Equity work now,” Sher said. “So it’s kind of like it’s a natural market force. As long as there remains this kind of vast amount of work, there are actors who will choose to remain non-Equity.”

Broadway hits will almost always start as Equity tours, he said, but once they stop being money-making juggernauts, they often go nonunion by necessity. That’s the case with “The Music Man,” he said, noting that a show of its size and scope would be financially impossible to stage as an Equity tour in the current marketplace. He would love for the union to consider allowing a mix of union and nonunion actors on national tours — like it does for regional theaters: “There’s a world where the producers and Equity could try to find a way, but the economics just have to work.”

Stevenson’s goal is to keep performing. She was an Equity member at the beginning of her career, then took 18 years off to practice law before returning to acting — this time without an Equity card.

“Whether you are a presenter or a producer or an actor or a member of the crew, or an audience member, we are all aligned around the notion of ensuring that the theater industry does not continue to contract in the way that it has, particularly since the pandemic,” she said. “So if we can ensure that we’re keeping a variety of shows alive and reaching more corners of the country, then we have to make room for both Equity and non-Equity tours.”

The 2025 North American tour of “Clue,” which played at the Ahmanson Theatre during a non-Equity tour.

(Evan Zimmerman for MurphyMade)

Even Actors’ Equity has changed its approach to non-Equity shows. In 2001 the union picketed a previous non-Equity tour of “The Music Man” and in 2014 it ran an ad campaign urging theatergoers to “Ask if it’s Equity,” before buying tickets. That campaign, along with more demanding rules around how an actor could join the union, were scrapped in 2023 out of concern for “small ‘e’ equity and justice, and who should have the decision to join the union,” said Actors’ Equity Assn. sopkesperson David Levy.

Prior rules relied on the employer to decide whether an actor was worthy of joining the union, “and we wanted to put that power back in the hands of the actual members themselves,” Levy said. Actors’ Equity currently has an “open access” policy that allows anyone who has worked in any kind of professional theater in the U.S. to join.

“The quality of the talent in these tours is not any less than the quality of talent on any union stage,” Levy said. “What’s at issue is how that talent is treated, how they’re paid, what the workplace safety rules are, what accommodations they’re given as they travel, whether they get appropriate rest time.”

While the union would prefer that every theater show operate under an Equity contract, it’s aware that this may not be financially feasible in all situations, Levy said, noting that nonunion shows might be the only viable option for smaller towns across the country without rich and diverse theater ecosystems.

“We would never want to deprive those audiences of having that transformational opportunity of seeing singers and dancers and actors and musicians do their thing,” Levy said, adding that L.A., unlike less populous cities, doesn’t have a dearth of theater offerings. “Now, in a perfect world, that job would come with both standardized wages and work rules and benefits, as well as the safety guarantees of a union contract.” He paused, “We do not live in a perfect world.”

The future of nonprofit theater

CTG came perilously close to financially bottoming out in 2023 when it closed the Mark Taper Forum for almost a year and a half. This happened just before Desai took over from Michael Ritchie as the third artistic director in CTG’s history, arriving just in time to pick up the pieces following the COVID-19 pandemic. When CTG finally reopened its theater doors after an astonishing 56 weeks, its staff was decimated, tickets sales had plunged and the cost of putting on productions had skyrocketed. CTG’s staffing still remains more than 20% down from its pre-pandemic high, although its subscriptions are on the rise — up 226% over last year.

“We used to talk to donors about how CTG valued union-only productions, even though they are more expensive, because CTG valued more than just the bottom-line,” former CTG board chair Kiki Ramos Gindler wrote on Facebook in response to McNulty’s review. “Unlike the Nederlander Organization, a for-profit theatre business keenly focused on profits. … The mission is to support our community, not to find ways to keep from going out of business. If this is a path to staying in business, it’s a wrong path and maybe time to take a final bow rather than completely throw away core values.” (Nederlander declined a request for comment on the issue.)

In late September the DeVos Institute of Arts and Nonprofit Management, which was founded at the Kennedy Center in 2001 and supports arts groups nationwide, hosted a nearly two-hour Zoom forum called “Is the American Nonprofit Theater Movement Over?” About 17 major theater leaders spoke on the call that had 800 participants, including Eustis and Desai, all seeking to examine what elements of “a historical model for producing and presenting nonprofit theater in America” have ended, and which remain relevant.

Center Theatre Group’s Mark Taper Forum in 2019, four years before it was temporarily closed due to a financial crisis.

(Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

“When I first became an artistic director, there were two words that I had never heard before that became my mantra for years: cash flow. These days, a lot of my conversations seem to be focused on three words: minding the gap,” Desai said. “There are so many gaps confronting our field right now. There is the gap between what a production costs and the revenue it can generate. The gap between the impact of the work we make and the value we assign it. The gap between the origin stories of our institutions and the communities we serve. And perhaps, most importantly, there is the gap between the models we inherited and the world we actually live in.”

For CTG, that means keeping the 2,000-seat Ahmanson Theatre booked with revenue-generating shows in order to afford to continue producing work the company does at the Taper and at Culver City’s Kirk Douglas Theatre. “Phantom of the Opera” ran for 4½ years straight at the Ahmanson from 1989 to 1993, a commercial success that enabled a golden age at CTG under founding Artistic Director Gordon Davidson that included the 1992 premiere of Tony Kushner’s groundbreaking two-part play “Angels in America.”

The Ahmanson needs to be that commercial vehicle again, if CTG is to continue pushing artistic boundaries, Desai said. CTG-produced shows are always Equity, while major touring shows arriving at the Ahmanson sometimes aren’t.

“When a show doesn’t meet its goal, it is a huge swing. It is millions of dollars. And so we have to be super careful about what we’re programming,” Desai said. “And I’m also trying to take care of the audience that I’m building in line with the artistic vision.”

AN ex-con at the jail where rapist Russell Brand is being held has warned the fallen star needs to “keep his head down” as he is a “marked man”.

The former HMP Wandsworth inmate said Brand, 51, “needed to survive” until he moves to a new prison, following his sentencing.

It comes after the disgraced actor was jailed for 10 years and six months for rape and sexual assault today.

An ex HMP Wandsworth lag, who was released last year, said Brand is now a “dead man walking” in Wandsworth.

He said: “If Brand stays in Wandsworth, he’s in real trouble – a dead man walking.

“He won’t be there permanently but needs to survive until he’s got his permanent move.

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“Wandsworth is violent, corrupt, dirty and noisy. He will be so far out of his comfort zone.

“When I was there staff paid prisoners to attack other inmates and violence would break out over the smallest thing.

“Brand will be a marked man while he is there and – if he is to stay safe – needs to move quickly.”

Brand has received visits by a prison chaplain while behind bars.

The pair prayed with each other as the fiend started his years-long stretch in jail.

Terrified Brand met the minister at his cell door after he was held following his dramatic rape and sexual assault conviction on Thursday.

Brand – who was strip-searched and scanned on arrival at the violence-plagued jail – was yesterday being kept apart from other cons and assessed by officers.

We can reveal that prison bosses have carried out a Cell-Sharing Risk Assessment (CSRA) on Brand – and have opted to house him on his own amid safety fears.

They have also opened up a care in custody document on former comic and TV star Brand, meaning they have to check him regularly and keep records on his mood.

Officers are understood to have blocked Brand from mixing with other cons to keep him safe from violence and extortion at the prison which has been hit by scandals and the 2023 escape of inmate Daniel Khalife.

Shamed tennis idol Boris Becker was held at the Category B nick for several weeks after he was jailed for hiding assets in 2022 – and described it as “really dirty and extremely dangerous”.

As former Hollywood star Brand took in his new surroundings, he was given an in-depth medical which saw his weight, BMI and blood pressure recorded.

Healthcare professionals also quizzed Brand – said in court to have had a ‘goal’ of bedding 5,000 women – about allergies, drug use and medication – and about his sexual history.

And he was given his visit applications, and allowed to list five people he wants to come to see him, plus 10 he wants to speak to on the phone.

Sources said his wife Laura, 39, and the couple’s three children would be allowed to visit – but that would happen when he moves to a new jail.

All visitors and callers have to undergo vetting and security checks, with each phone number he can call also assigned a PIN.

Brand was also handed a menu sheet where he can pick meals including lasagne, curries, shepherd’s pie and baguettes.

He was offered a cooked breakfast of bacon, sausages and hash browns and a Sunday roast style meal over the weekend.

Brand was placed on a “standard” jail regime which means the star – said to have a net worth of £15 million – will be given £19.80 to spend in the canteen plus be allowed a Freeview TV and DVD player plus phonecalls.

Speaking about his time in Wandsworth so far, a source said: “Brand’s first day in jail was a real shock to his system and a wake-up call.

“He looked shaken and was quiet. A horrible, noisy and dirty jail like Wandsworth is a world away from his previous glamorous, Hollywood lifestyle.

“Brand has been put in a cell and is being kept away from other inmates because he is in real danger due to his offence, his wealth and who he is.

“Some of the officers and inmates will be excited to have a celebrity in there – but a lot of the cons would want to do him some damage.

“The chaplain went to see him at his cell door as Brand is not allowed to go very far.

“And apparently they chatted and prayed together after the minister asked Brand about his wellbeing.

“Brand is openly Christian and tried to be a bit of a preacher – but that puts him in danger, especially in a London jail.

“There are a lot of extremist Muslim inmates at Wandsworth.

“And he is not just in danger from them.

“He is at risk of being attacked because of his offences, and because he is famous and flamboyant which can provoke jealousy.

“Brand is also really rich, which puts him in danger of extortion and blackmail.

“So he will not be allowed to mix while he is in Wandsworth, and it will be safer for him  – and they will want to ship him out as soon as possible after he’s sentenced.

“While he is there he will be able to watch TV, make phonecalls and buy treats like cans of pop and chocolate from the canteen.

“He will find the prison food pretty awful and have to supplement it by buying stuff.

“And the officers will not be happy about having to record everything about him on the care in custody document as it makes a lot of work for them.”

Brand – found guilty of one rape and three sexual assaults – was jailed for 10 years and six months at Southwark Crown Court today.

Mr Justice Bennathan said Brand was a dangerous “sexual predator” who showed “staggering arrogance” and “contempt” for women.

The judge told Brand: “About 20 years ago, Russell Brand, you were becoming famous.

“You were clever – and in many people’s eyes, funny and charismatic.

“You had also become a sexual predator.”

He added that the comic had told a “series of lies” about the women he abused.

The predator showed no emotion while being sentenced but later mouthed “I love you” and “we will be OK” to his wife Laura Gallacher when being led away to the cells.

Gallacher became visibly upset as Brand was jailed and held back tears as she left Southwark Crown Court.

A prison van thought to be containing the disgraced star was targeted by members of the public as it drove away from the court.

The bystanders started banging on the side of the vehicle, with one man shouting: “Not so funny now Russell.”

After the jury delivered their guilty verdicts, Mr Justice Bennathan told him: “You’ve been convicted of a number of offences including rape.

“The consequence of that is inevitably a significant custodial term.”

Brand was convicted of raping a 21-year-old fan at his Hampstead home after they met at his stand-up show in 2009.

He also sexually assaulted a Channel 4 worker in 2009 and “sloppily” kissed a Capital Radio worker without her consent.

And the beast groped an MTV employee at a party in Soho in 2004.

His crimes had a devastating impact on his victims.

One of them, who was attacked by him at a radio station in 2005, said: “Russell Brand has managed to move on and even forget that he sexually assaulted me violently in a very public place and in front of people.”

Another of his victims said the attack on her forced her to take time off work and move back in with her parents.

She added: “I hope the court can understand the large and overarching impact this has had on me, and continues to have on me to this day.”

Brand was taken the seven miles to HMP Wandsworth after leaving court in a Serco prison van at 4.30pm on Thursday.

But he is only likely to be held there for around a week, with justice chiefs yesterday holding high-level talks on where the sexual predator should serve the rest of his time.

Prisons under consideration are Stafford, Usk in South Wales and Channings Wood, Dorset – where pop paedophile Gary Glitter, 81, is held.

Brand would be expected to serve two-thirds of his sentence under government rules but will only have time knocked off if he completes sex offender therapy.

Brand will have to finish courses for sex offenders. They include ones called ‘Building Choices’ – a cognitive-behavioural programme – and a  ‘Thinking Skills’ programme aimed at making culprits question their own behaviour.

Our source explained: “Brand will be moved fairly quickly – probably within days of sentencing – because of who he is.

“The problem they have is that prison governors won’t want him and won’t want the spotlight on their jail.

“But they will have to find a place for him and safety will be on their minds.

“They do not want another Ian Watkins situation on their hands.

“So Brand will probably be moved to a specialist sex offender jail outside London.

“It will be a lot safer for him to be mixing with other middle-aged sex offenders than gangsters and killers.

“A location like that will be more suitable for Laura and their kids to visit if they want to as well.

“And if he wants even a day knocked off his tariff he will have to show remorse and complete the courses.

“Brand’s prison life will still be incredibly grim – but being in a softer jail will work in his favour.”

Paedophile former Lostprophets singer Watkins, 48, was killed in an attack at Category A Wakefield Prison in October, 2025.

A Prison Service spokesperson said they could not comment.

Nov. 9, 2026 11:13 AM PT

NEW YORK — UCLA climbed into the top 10 in the first regular-season Associated Press Top 25 men’s college basketball poll of the season on Monday while Florida remained No. 1 and the top four were unchanged.

The Gators, who began the season with wins over then-No. 14 Miami and Jacksonville, earned six more first place-votes and had 53 of the 60 from a national media panel. Duke earned the other seven first-place votes, Illinois held down No. 3 in the poll, and UConn was fourth after winning an NCAA championship game rematch with then-No. 16 Michigan on Friday night.

Michigan State rounded out the top five Monday, taking the place of Arizona, which lost its opener to the Bruins a week ago.

The former Pac-12 rivals met in Las Vegas, where the Bruins’ Trent Perry scored 21 points to help them overcome a career-best 38 from the Wildcats’ Ivan Kharchenkov. Arizona got within a point with 3:11 left before the Bruins held on for the 84-75 win.

It sent UCLA from No. 22 in the preseason poll to No. 9, its highest ranking since the final poll of the 2022-23 season.

“Huge,” Bruins coach Mick Cronin said of beating Arizona. “They’re going to win a lot of games, man. I don’t know exactly how many [wins] they’ve averaged over the last three years, but I’d guess it’s close to 30. So when you get a win over a team like that, it’s massive.”

Virginia moved up three spots to sixth after a trio of wins last week, including a victory over then-No. 12 Arkansas. Texas and Houston were next, then UCLA and Louisville, which moved up one spot to round out the top 10.

Tennessee fell three spots to No. 11 after beating Wofford in its only game last week. Arizona dropped seven spots to No. 12.

“It’s not about how we start the season. It’s about how we end the season,” Wildcats coach Tommy Lloyd said. “Obviously, it hurts when we’re losing. Just remember that feeling. We’ll have a tough stretch in another game, and we’ll need to dig deeper.”

The rest of the Top 25

St. John’s, Gonzaga and Kansas rounded out the first 15 in the poll. Texas Tech, Miami and Alabama were next, while Arkansas dropped seven spots to No. 18 after its loss to Virginia, and Michigan fell four spots to No. 20 after its loss to UConn.

USC, Vanderbilt, Brigham Young, Kentucky and Nebraska finished out the top 25. The Wildcats, who play the Jayhawks on Tuesday night, are one week shy of becoming the first school in the nearly 78-year history of the AP poll to be ranked for 1,000 weeks.

In and out and on the bubble

The Huskers, who opened their season with wins over Le Moyne and Providence, jumped into the poll thanks in part to Iowa State’s loss to Memphis. The Cyclones fell from No. 18 out of the poll, and were third among the others receiving votes.

Memphis was the first team outside of the top 25, followed by Saint Louis, which had an impressive win over Missouri last week.

Conference watch

The Southeastern Conference not only had the No. 1 team in Florida but seven of the top 25. The Big Ten was next with three of the top 10 and six in the poll. The Big 12 had five ranked teams, the Atlantic Coast Conference had four, the Big East had two and Gonzaga gave the new-look Pac-12 one team in the top 25.

FIRST Dates fans were left stunned when waitress Cici Coleman ended up snogging a man on the show after hitting it off on her own date.

CiCi, 39, has been a regular on the Channel 4 dating show since 2013 and has attracted her own following online.

Now, First Dates has posted a sweet video clip on their official Instagram account which showed Cici on her own date on the show.

They captioned the video: “When the first date becomes a group activity,” and fans went wild in the comments.

In the clip, a stunning looking Cici is seen sitting on the sofa with her date before they leaned in for a passionate snog.

Fellow waitress Laura Tott is seen peeking through the restaurant alongside Gerald and Kyle – for a sneak peak of the action.

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After the snog, Cici’s date exclaimed: “This is getting a little less awkward now, isn’t it.”

Later, when the dating couple were asked if they were paying cash or card, a happy Cici joked: “Is the staff discount on there.”

Fans flocked to social media and one wrote: “This really made my day that they both found love.”

Another added: “This is awesome, you deserve happiness.”

A third said: “Lucky man!”

Over the years fans have been desperate to take CiCi out on a date and back in March, French maître d’ Fred Sirieix revealed that single men could sign up to date the one and only CiCi.

In a social media clip, Fred appeared alongside the restaurant worker and said: “CiCi it’s time to sort your love life out, so this is a shout out to all you guys who have been dreaming of dating CiCi and believe me I’ve had so many direct messages.”

CiCi interjected: “When Fred says all, it means like 10 out of 10 men.”

The online dating coach and former fitness trainer rose to fame on the Channel 4 reality dating show.

Michael Carrick’s team continues its forgettable season with a 4-4 defeat at Old Trafford in front of angry home fans.

Manchester United pulled off a dramatic late comeback to earn a 4-4 draw against Aston Villa in front of their angry home fans amid a torrid time at the Premier League club.

United conceded two goals within the first four minutes of the high-stakes fixture at Old Trafford in Manchester on Sunday, but fought back with two stoppage-time goals and shared the spoils.

The 13-time Premier League champions remain in the relegation zone in the Premier League table, sitting in 18th place with eight points from 10 games. But their manager Michael Carrick will breathe a sigh of relief after avoiding a fifth loss and will again hope to avoid getting sacked.

Carrick was seconds away from heading into the international break on the back of another devastating defeat that would surely have led to his dismissal.

But United struck twice in the six minutes of additional time through Joshua Zirkzee and Patrick Dorgu to leave their manager’s future open to question.

He had earned a stay of execution when United’s hierarchy allowed him to remain in charge despite last weekend’s loss at Chelsea.

United responded by ending a nine-match winless run in all competitions as they came from two goals down to beat Roma 3-2 in the Champions League on Tuesday.

But Man United, who have only three wins in 15 games this season, were back in turmoil when they quickly went 2-0 down.

Alysson struck in the first minute with a shot that squirmed under keeper Senne Lammens.

Nicolas Jackson slotted in the second three minutes later after a weak save from Lammens pushed the ball into his path.

Bruno Fernandes got one back with a 16th-minute penalty after Boubacar Kamara fouled Matheus Cunha, before former Villa midfielder Youri Tielemans slammed in United’s 44th-minute equaliser.

Villa’s John McGinn converted a 48th-minute penalty following Diogo Dalot’s clumsy challenge on Alysson.

Leon Goretzka poked in Villa’s fourth from close-range after United’s Leny Yoro headed against his own crossbar in the 53rd minute.

Yet Zirkzee’s stoppage-time finish gave United hope and Dorgu headed their dramatic equaliser in the final seconds after a weak punch from Villa keeper Zion Suzuki.

Carrick wore a bewildered look on his face as he walked down the tunnel with United next in action at Liverpool on November 22.

Chelsea lose at Sunderland

Chelsea arrived at the Stadium of Light hoping to bolster their bid to qualify for the Champions League via a top-four finish.

Instead, they departed red-faced after an embarrassing loss to third-bottom Sunderland, who celebrated a league victory for only the second time this season.

Fifth-placed Chelsea have already been beaten four times in 10 league matches under former Real Madrid boss Xabi Alonso.

Chelsea were rocked in the 36th minute when Enzo Le Fee converted a penalty after Brian Brobbey was up-ended by Levi Colwill.

“We were not creating enough chances in the final third against the low block. We were not controlling and sustaining the attack there,” Alonso said.

Liverpool back to winning ways

Liverpool got back on track with a 3-1 win at lowly Crystal Palace.

The Reds had been beaten by Arsenal and Fenerbahce before arriving in south London, prompting pointed questions about Andoni Iraola in the former Bournemouth manager’s first season in charge.

But Alexis Mac Allister headed Liverpool in front from Dominik Szoboszlai’s cross after 40 minutes.

Florian Wirtz bagged Liverpool’s second with a composed finish from Bradley Barcola’s cross in the 54th minute.

Alexander Isak finished off Wirtz’s pass in the 89th minute to wrap up fourth-placed Liverpool’s much-needed victory after a two-game losing streak.

“It was an important win for us going into the international break after the week we’ve had,” Iraola said.

Eddie Nketiah’s stoppage-time penalty after a foul by Milos Kerkez was no consolation for Palace.

JEFF Brazier’s ex-wife Kate has gone Instagram official with her hunky new boyfriend, almost a year after her marriage to the TV presenter ended.

The PR executive, 36, shared a string of holiday snaps from South Africa, giving followers their first glimpse of her new man.

In one picture, her dark-haired boyfriend looked relaxed in sunglasses as he enjoyed a ride on the famous Franschhoek Wine Tram.

Another showed him sitting indoors in a black T-shirt and light trousers, holding a bottle as he gazed off to the side.

Kate also shared a romantic picture of the couple standing arm in arm beside a picturesque stretch of water, and she appeared to be making the most of her sun-soaked getaway, posting a snap of herself relaxing beside a swimming pool.

The loved-up pictures come almost 12 months after The Sun exclusively revealed that Kate and Jeff, 46, had separated following seven years of marriage.

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The former couple tied the knot in 2018, having first got together in 2013, but their relationship endured a number of ups and downs.

They previously separated briefly in 2022 before deciding to give their marriage another chance.

However, last November, sources told The Sun that the couple had grown apart following a difficult year, with Kate reportedly moving out of their marital home.

At the time, Jeff hinted at a fresh start of his own, sharing pictures of his new countryside home and telling followers he was embracing a calmer chapter in his life.

The presenter, who raised sons Bobby and Freddy following the death of their mother Jade Goody in 2009, has continued his television career, including his work as a football presenter.

Jeff’s eldest son Bobby, 23, has also carved out a successful showbiz career, starring in EastEnders and reaching the final of Strictly Come Dancing in 2023.

Kate has not yet shared the name or more details about her new boyfriend.

Whether in Missouri or Bruges, an isle off the coast of Ireland or a speck in the Pacific Ocean, a Martin McDonagh movie whisks audiences someplace remote for a detached view of the mess we’ve made of civilization. Human society continually tries to organize itself around religion, politics, empathy and law. His whip-smart and violent comedies are insights into why it keeps failing.

“Wild Horse Nine,” an exemplar of the format, is about two CIA agents, Chris and Lee (John Malkovich and Sam Rockwell), enjoying a getaway on Easter Island. It’s 1973 and the men are stationed in Santiago, Chile, where the U.S. has spent millions of dollars on a propaganda campaign to prevent the socialist Salvador Allende from winning the presidency. When Chileans vote for him anyway, Richard Nixon gives secret orders to “kick them in the ass,” empowering Henry Kissinger to tank the country’s economy, raise inflation, fund paid protesters and stoke extremist polarization.

“We came here to destabilize your country, and it’s going great,” Chris brags to a pair of flabbergasted young Chilean women, Monica and Alicia (Mariana di Girolamo and Ailín Salas), fellow tourists who gape at this Yankee old-timer in dismay. In a few months, a military coup will install Gen. Augusto Pinochet as dictator and begin to disappear liberal dissenters. The folk singer Victor Jara (Aron Hernández), the Woody Guthrie of Chile, is also in Easter Island to play a show and he, too, will soon be machine-gunned by the Army. McDonagh doesn’t show us this (and the soundtrack leans more on Jara’s mentor, Violeta Parra). But he’s definitely hoping you leave the theater and look him up.

Chris likely doesn’t have that long to live himself. The aging spy is suffering from several diseases including dementia, impaired judgment and a mildly guilty conscience — a fatal combination for a blabbermouth who claims to know the whereabouts of the rifle that may have shot John F. Kennedy. Some of what Chris says is a lie; some is addled and confused. His scariest statements are unapologetic facts about the CIA’s involvement in removing other progressive leaders in the Congo and Guatemala. Chris describes overthrowing governments as casually as if he was recalling yesterday’s lunch.

Only classic screwball comedians have delivered dialogue as blithely as Malkovich does here, with zingers that float off unburdened by the heaviness of the real world. He’s marvelous in this. His rogue is as destructive as his villains in “Dangerous Liaisons” and “Con Air,” but carries himself with the lightness of his self-mocking performance in “Being John Malkovich.” While Malkovich gets the best lines, Rockwell gets the best reaction shots, staring aghast at his pesky colleague. Yet, McDonagh himself doesn’t have quite as light of a touch as usual. One of Chris’ digressions about how he’s becoming kinder to insects is terrific, until the script goes one sentence too far and forces the character to blurt out the subtext: He’s nicer to Chile’s moths than to its people.

Ostensibly, the duo are on vacation. Narratively, one has evaded punishment for an outrageous crime and the other has been ordered by their boss, MJ (Steve Buscemi), to assassinate his friend before the truth escapes. The plot is so similar to McDonagh’s 2008 feature film debut, the masterpiece “In Bruges,” which starred Brendan Gleeson and Colin Farrell as exiled hit men, that the filmmaker should sue himself for plagiarism. I’ll forgive it only because “In Bruges” is one of the best movies of the 21st century. (And anyway, both films already owe a debt to John Steinbeck’s sympathetic galumphs George and Lennie in “Of Mice and Men.”)

In transplanting the setting from “Bruges’” moody, gloomy medieval hamlet to a sunshiny island populated by free-roaming ponies, McDonagh teases the idea that this is a western with a twist: a moral showdown told from the perspective of the hired guns who claim they’re too ignorant to take blame. (He even finagles an excuse to cut to Monument Valley.) Together, Chris and Lee have killed over six dozen people, but never for personal reasons — they’re employees. “Maybe I should have learned more about the places I went into,” Chris muses. Staying dumb allows him to pretend that he’s not John Wayne massacring the Comanches. He’s just the horse underneath John Wayne who doesn’t have any control over where he’s told to go.

McDonagh gets a kick out of making us enjoy palling around with sinners as they chitchat about the correlation between democracies and good cheese. Like him, they refuse to retire their favorite retrograde insults which, at this point, feels like McDonagh’s own in-joke for himself. I suspect it amuses him that audiences get more upset when one of his characters says a slur than when that same character shoots someone in the face.

No filmmaker working today is as merciless with a quip. Debating the power of mass protest with Monica and Alicia, Chris says, “Marches are just the place where we can get the cleanest photos of you without you knowing,” a punchline that lands with a wallop in today’s era of constant surveillance. We cringe at Chris’ aberrant chattiness and recoil from his stony confidence that men like him and Lee will continue to control the world, an assurance as implacable as Easter Island’s monolithic statues. Occasionally, cinematographer Ben Davis even lines up those centuries-old face carvings behind Malkovich to note their resemblance to his imposing profile.

Doom engulfs the movie much like the water circling the stunning coastline. The script’s air of inevitability prevents it from mustering up much suspense. Even when the danger ripples all the way to Lee’s wife (Parker Posey) back in the States, the tension drains away. You expect McDonagh to play around more with Chris’ memory loss and morphine addiction than he does; meanwhile, another junkie beat is so convenient that I can’t believe the film even tried to get away with it, and nearly succeeds.

“Wild Horse Nine’s” darkest prank is convincing us that a charming scoundrel like Chris should have a say in how and when he dies — a privilege he didn’t grant his own victims. What’s the use of punishing a terminally ill man? But that, McDonagh suggests, is how life actually works. Normal westerns mete out justice. This tropical one refuses.

The Dodgers lost four straight playoff games to the Milwaukee Brewers in a humiliating end to their season.

But this was worse.

Steve Hilton lost to Xavier Becerra in the race for governor before “Jeopardy” aired.

But this was worse.

President Trump lost early, late and often Tuesday night in the midterm elections.

In contests across the country — for governor, for Senate, for the House — he had told people to vote as if he was on the ballot.

They did, and Democrats ran the table, taking the House and then the Senate.

Trump lost big, inspected the wreckage, and claimed the problem was lousy candidates.

Has he lost a step? I would have expected him to say the election was stolen. All of the elections.

But maybe he realized that for all intents and purposes, his political career is over. Trump was trounced, the country triumphed, and the long national nightmare is over, but for the rest of his lame duck presidency.

I don’t think we were witnessing a national love affair with Democrats, nor do I think Tuesday night’s winning political party has all the answers on any of the day’s pressing matters. The Dems have their own problems, including an identity crisis and a shortage of bankable presidential prospects.

But the country’s voters signaled loud and clear that they’re tired of:

The lies.

The insults and name-calling.

The hatred.

The chaos.

The self-dealing.

The lack of civility.

The absence of humility.

Last week I turned on the news and saw Trump making fun of the name of newly elected Michigan Sen. Abdul El-Sayed, a Muslim.

An awful thing to see a president do, but here’s what’s worse:

I wasn’t surprised.

Then I saw him say at a political rally that he had looked at a man’s rear end, “and I’ve never done that before…Off the record, women, yes, men no, OK?”

Again, no surprise.

He once mocked the physical appearance of a female presidential primary foe, as well as the wife of a male foe, and insisted for years that the first Black president was secretly from Africa.

Trump had always been able to get away with this sort of numbskullery. His true believers were willing to put up with it as long as he seemed true to his promise of working on their behalf. Until they could no longer deny that he was only working on his own behalf.

The cryptocurrency profiteering. The bloody ballroom. The gold-plating of the White House.

All of it while working people, including staunch supporters, struggled to understand the goofball tariffs and wondered when the promise of lower grocery prices would be delivered.

Trump and the Republicans might have prevailed Tuesday night if not for the war in Iran, which everyone is still paying for at the gas pump. The president who promised we’d stay out of international conflicts went all in, for no good reason, then said it was over, we won, except that it’s not over, and we didn’t win.

And there’s no exit plan.

But so what?

It’s not like Trump is paying for gas. His golf cart is probably electric.

In the beginning, as a Republican populist who tapped into justifiable voter disapproval of Democratic leadership, Trump was onto something when he first ran for president. The scapegoating of immigrants was odious even then, but in 2016, at a Trump campaign rally in Arizona, I caught a glimpse of his appeal to adoring fans who cheered the presidential candidate’s vow to build a border wall, strengthen the military and make America great again. A struggling low-wage worker told me Trump was the best hope for a new day.

“We’re going to come back and rebuild our country,” Trump told the approving crowd that day in Arizona. “You will never be disappointed with me. … You are going to be so proud of your president.”

The act worked for way longer than I would have predicted. But 10 years later, and halfway through a second presidency, the gig is up. Voters said yes, they are disappointed, and no, they’re not so proud.

We thought we were having a mid-term election.

It turned out to be a political wake.

But also an awakening.

Red states voted for blue candidates in a nearly total Trump rebuke.

As I watched the returns Tuesday night, I thought about my daughter–an earth science grad student–and her generation. She’s 23, which means that for almost half her life, Trump has been a political force. Imagine being that young and living in a country that twice elected one of the most divisive and scabrous figures in history.

A man who attacked judges, invaded American cities, insisted ad nauseum that a lost election was stolen, pardoned the Jan. 6 barbarians, exonerated political donors and allies, called climate change a con job, gutted environmental protections and upended America’s global in scientific research.

It’s easy to understand why younger generations have lost faith in elections, both primary parties and the political/corporate establishment.

But on Tuesday, voters of all ages turned out and said enough already, in states red and blue.

The man who so bitterly divided us might ultimately have united us, at least for an evening.

That doesn’t mean that there is consensus on much of anything. Surely calamity awaits, just beyond the shadows, and new species of political trolls are being spawned as we live and breathe. But there was hope, on election night, in the collective declaration that we deserve and demand better.

Trump once said he was so popular and powerful, he could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue in New York, shoot somebody, and not lose any voters.

It might have been true once.

But he’s lost them now.

steve.lopez@latimes.com

Projected season opening date: Nov. 27

What makes it special: Sugar Bowl is an independently-run resort with an old-school, European vibe. Its terrain stretches over four peaks on Donner Summit near Lake Tahoe, varying between steep tree skiing, wide-open groomers, terrain parks and beginner-friendly zones. Season passes and lift tickets are limited here, so the slopes aren’t crowded.

What’s new this season: Sugar Bowl Resort continues a multi-year, $100-million resort development project with major improvements debuting this winter, including a new Village Gondola, a reimagined main lodge and beginner experience, expanded terrain parks and snowmaking on the mountain and enhanced snowmaking at Sugar Rush Tubing.

Lift ticket prices: Dynamic lift ticket pricing, with midweek tickets starting at $99. Sugar Bowl is also introducing new 2-, 3- and 4-day packs. Mountain Collective and Ski California Gold passes honored.

Pro-tip: Sugar Bowl opened with the backing of Walt Disney in 1939, making it one of the oldest ski areas in North America. At the resort, look out for Mt. Disney, along with the Donald Duck run, off the Disney Express chairlift.

While United’s victory was certainly well received, it will not mask wider issues.

‘Green and gold’ protests against the ownership took place before kick-off and during a first-half when the home side were abysmal.

Chants against the Glazer family, minority owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe and director of football Jason Wilcox will not stop just because of this victory, no matter how thrilling.

The sober assessment should also recall United came from behind to beat Atalanta 3-2 at Old Trafford during Solskjaer’s time. They lost 5-0 at home to Liverpool four days later. Within a month, the Norwegian had been sacked.

In October 2018, Jose Mourinho was on the brink of dismissal before a Premier League encounter with Newcastle. United trailed 2-0 after 10 minutes but fought back to win. Mourinho lasted 13 more games.

No-one can know how much time Carrick has bought himself with this victory.

“I don’t have a crystal ball to know what happens next,” he told Amazon Prime. “We move on to the weekend. We’ve got a really important game here against Aston Villa, which we need to prepare for.”

Chief executive Omar Berrada and Wilcox certainly looked much happier at the final whistle than they had done midway through the first half.

Suddenly United look like they can qualify for the next phase of the Champions League. For the first time since September, Carrick’s players are enjoying the winning feeling.

But it will mean little unless they can maintain the momentum against Villa, who were getting beaten heavily by Barcelona as Old Trafford was in tumult.

Asked if he will sleep better thanks to the win, Carrick was honest enough to admit that would not be the case.

“Genuinely, no. I don’t. Really, I don’t,” he said. “Whether that’s right or wrong, or normal or not, I don’t know, but I didn’t feel relief. It was more I was genuinely pleased for the players.

“I know how much they care, I know what they’re giving. Sometimes it looks like that, sometimes it doesn’t, sometimes we play well, sometimes we haven’t, and I understand that.

“But I could feel their willingness to do well, and so for them to have to dig really deep, and to see everybody having that feeling that we all crave, that’s why we’re all here.”

Bruno Fernandes says Manchester United’s players “don’t need to save anyone’s job” after their improbable comeback win against Roma in the Champions League.

The Red Devils produced a remarkable second-half fightback to come from 2-0 down to win 3-2 and end a run of nine games without a victory.

Fernandes was speaking to the media for the first time since being dropped to the bench after publicly criticising manager Michael Carrick’s tactics in the wake of their 4-1 loss at Como.

Restored to the team for the Premier League defeat by Chelsea, the 32-year-old’s penalty on 58 minutes sparked an incredible revival to ease some of the pressure on Carrick.

But when asked if the result would save his job, United captain Fernandes told Amazon Prime: “We don’t need to save anyone’s job.”

He continued: “The club needed that win, the players needed that win. We have been working so hard to get out of this situation all together.

“It’s been tough, there’s been a lot of speculation in the media. A lot of lies around many things that have happened between me and the manager, that we have cleared the air, then after that the manager took the decision to put me on the bench because I’m not performing.

“Everyone thought that was a punishment for the words that I had. If it was, it was right. The manager is the one who makes the decisions.

“It doesn’t change the belief I have of the manager and the staff and every player in this club. It doesn’t change my aim to win every game that I have ahead of me.”

More to follow.

Nov. 3, 2026 11:26 AM PT

OKLAHOMA CITY — Federal authorities charged an Oklahoma City man with sending hundreds of letters containing nonhazardous white powder to public officials ahead of the 2024 and 2026 elections.

The powders turned out to be yeast or flour, though not all letters have been fully tested, the FBI said in a court filing made public Tuesday.

Robin Martin is charged with conveying a hoax and mailing threatening communications. Martin was arrested Monday and was expected to make an appearance Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Oklahoma City.

Online records do not list an attorney who could comment on his behalf, and several relatives didn’t immediately respond to social media messages seeking comment.

Federal authorities announced last month that they were investigating letters with “suspicious substances” that had been mailed to congressional and election offices nationwide and urged recipients to treat the mailings as “potentially hazardous.”

The packages led to the evacuation in October of election offices in Louisiana and Oklahoma. Numerous states, from Idaho to Florida, said their election offices either received letters or had them intercepted by the Postal Service.

Investigators believe more than 700 mailings appeared to be associated with the same sender. They were addressed to election officials, members of Congress, pollsters, news media and federal law enforcement, FBI agent David Cole said in an affidavit.

The investigation stretched back to 2024 when multiple election officials in every state reported mail with a white substance and a three-page letter declaring war, the FBI said. Some bore ominous messages that could only be read under ultraviolet light.

The sender wrote a return address as “U.S.T.E.A., United States Traitor Elimination Army, Takoma Park, MD.”

A common message in the 2024 and 2026 mailings was a warning to recipients about upcoming arrests for treason “or worse!!”

The FBI said it has video evidence of Martin’s car stopping in October at mailboxes at Postal Service sites in Oklahoma City, Dallas and San Antonio. Investigators also gleaned his fingerprints from a letter addressed to FBI Director Kash Patel, whose first name was written as “Kashyap.”

The Democratic Socialists of America apparently assisted the FBI in the investigation. The FBI said it believes Martin, posing as someone using the name George Livingston, posted a message to a DSA email list in October, warning that members were traitors and eligible for arrest for treason if they vote in the Nov. 3 election.

White and Hollingsworth write for the Associated Press. AP journalist Alanna Durkin Richer in Washington contributed reporting.

Angel City and “Ted Lasso” both came to life in the summer of 2020 when the rest of the world was preoccupied with something far more serious, the global COVID-19 pandemic.

In those dark times, the series about kindness, grace, optimism — and soccer — became the show we didn’t know we needed, but suddenly couldn’t do without.

Angel City, meanwhile, would play its first NWSL game two years later, by which time “Lasso” and Jason Sudeikis, the title character of the Apple TV series about a fictional Premier League team and its manager, had already won multiple Emmys.

Hollywood is a small town, so it wasn’t long before Sudeikis reached out to Kara Nortman, a venture capitalist who co-founded Angel City in 2020, and asked to talk about women’s soccer.

Angel City co-founders Natalie Portman, left, Kara Nortman and Julie Uhrman speak during the team’s equity summit in Australia during the 2023 Women’s World Cup.

(Hanna Lassen / Getty Images)

“And I was like, ‘You had me at hello,’” Nortman said.

What was supposed to be an hour-long phone call turned into four-hour meeting in person, Nortman said.

“The most fun conversation I’ve had in a long time,” she remembered last month. “It really started as a shared passion and interest in women’s sports and building communities and new leadership models and all the things that ‘Ted Lasso’ is about that are far beyond football.”

What the conversation led to was the foundation for the just-completed fourth season of “Ted Lasso,” which focused on the unique challenges faced by women’s soccer teams and players — challenges Nortman knows only too well as the co-owner of a team. That’s why she was credited as a consultant on the series.

And the collaboration comes at a time when the soccer team and the soccer TV series are both at the top of their game, with “Lasso” drawing record audience numbers this summer and Angel City advancing to this weekend’s NWSL playoff quarterfinals after the most successful season in its history.

“They could have continued writing about the men’s team,” Nortman said. “They chose to write about women’s football.

“I’m super proud that we were part of what helped them really understand how to write a beautiful script that was really representative of a lot of challenges we went through.”

The challenges go beyond just salaries, media attention and funding to things as serious as child care and the rash of ACL injuries in the women’s game and as frustrating as hand-me-down uniforms and locker rooms. In “Ted Lasso,” the women’s team Sudeikis coaches — a man coaching women? That topic is addressed, too — uses a dressing room abandoned by a men’s team, one with urinals but without enough working showers.

Angel City captain Sarah Gorden dribbles the ball in front of Boston Legacy’s Sarah Schupansky at Dignity Health Sports Park on Sunday.

(Katelyn Mulcahy / Getty Images)

One player nearly misses a game because she can’t find a babysitter, something that really happened to Angel City captain Sarah Gorden. Another player is recognized by a fan while working for a food-delivery company to supplement her tiny soccer salary, something that really happened to English star Lucy Bronze in her early playing days.

For many viewers, the “Ted Lasso” plot lines were their introduction to those real-life issues.

“The vibe of authenticity,” Nortman calls it.

“They got right the ACLs, they got right the locker-room dynamic, they got right the training facility,” she said. “I think they got all those things right.”

Sudeikis and Brendan Hunt, the creative geniuses behind “Ted Lasso,” declined to be interviewed for this story, as did everyone involved with the series. But Sudeikis has long denied the show is about soccer.

“This show is as much about soccer as ‘Rocky’ is about boxing,” said Sudeikis, who described the eponymous title character as a cross between John Wooden and Mister Rogers.

Actors Jason Sudeikis, center, and Tanya Reynolds, right, lead a professional women’s soccer team through authentic challenges during the fourth season of “Ted Lasso.”

(Colin Hutton / Apple TV)

But the series has always had soccer in it. So it was natural that Sudeikis and Hunt, who both have long supported women’s sports, would turn their massive spotlight on women’s soccer and bring attention to the glaring inequalities that had slowed the development of the game.

And Nortman wasn’t the only one from NWSL to join that cause. The “Lasso” season opener, shot largely in Kansas City, Mo., was a paean to that city’s women’s soccer team, the Current, and its stadium, where the team has sold out every game over the last three seasons and is unbeaten in its last 32 matches there. (Angel City opens the playoffs in Kansas City on Saturday.)

The synergy helped both sides, with “Lasso” shattering viewership records, trailing only Amazon Prime Video’s “Reacher” as the most-streamed series overall in September, while NWSL’s viewership numbers through the first half of the season jumped 61% on ABC and ESPN. The average season attendance of 11,032 was the second-highest in history.

“Once we knew that Jason and the cast were going to feature a season about women’s soccer and start that season at one of our stadiums with one of our teams, the authenticity with that just lent itself to doing an integration,” said Jennifer Levine, the league’s vice president for public relations and communications.

Kansas City Current fans cheer during the team’s first match at CPKC Stadium in 2024. It is the first stadium built solely for a pro women’s soccer team and was featured in the latest season of “Ted Lasso.”

(Jamie Squire / Getty Images)

“There was a lot of crossover between what they were doing and what we’re doing. So it kind of created a perfect storm for us. Being a part of the cultural conversation as part of ‘Ted Lasso’ will only add to the excitement around the NWSL.”

But will it solve the problems and level the inequities that continue to plague women’s soccer?

“I like to hope it helps,” Levine said. “They have been honest. … I think the writing team and the cast did an incredible job portraying what it’s like to be a women’s footballer.

“Everything that we’re doing at the league with investing in infrastructure and building more purpose-built stadiums and building training facilities, it’s all to improve the experience that viewers are seeing in ‘Ted Lasso.’”

Or as Sudeikis’ character once put it, “doing the right thing is never the wrong thing.”

⚽ You have read the latest installment of On Soccer with Kevin Baxter. The weekly column takes you behind the scenes and shines a spotlight on unique stories. Listen to Baxter on this week’s episode of the “Corner of the Galaxy” podcast.

Oct. 31, 2026 2:31 PM PT

A federal immigration officer charged with aggravated assault after he ran over a Mexican man with his car in Houston will turn himself in on Monday, according to his attorney.

Mario Alberto Morales, a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer, struck Miguel Parra Hernandez, a 48-year-old construction worker, with his unmarked SUV on Oct. 10, as he chased Parra Hernandez through a parking lot. A grand jury indicted Morales on Friday on a felony charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

Morales is planning to turn himself in at a courthouse sometime Monday, his attorney, David Lindenmuth, told the Associated Press. Lindenmuth previously told the AP that the incident was “clearly just an accident” and that local officials had “invented a crime out of thin air.”

Parra Hernandez broke his leg and is recovering at a rehabilitation facility while in federal custody, Harris County Dist. Atty. Sean Teare told reporters Friday.

ICE has said Parra Hernandez ran in front of Morales’ car.

Previously released surveillance camera video shows Morales’ vehicle drive over a median and strike Parra Hernandez as he runs away.

Teare played video from Morales’ body camera on Friday that showed the agent making sharp turns with his steering wheel. He then stops and exits the vehicle and turns toward Parra Hernandez, who is lying on the ground, screaming.

“I was coming in, and I hit him with the car,” Morales can be heard saying after another ICE agent arrives.

Parra Hernandez told deputies that he fled the traffic stop when Morales started pulling on a mask, and Morales “threw the car” at him, according to a Harris County Sheriff’s Office incident report reviewed by the AP. Morales told deputies that he did not brake before he hit Parra Hernandez, but that he did not intentionally strike him, according to the report.

ICE said after the incident that the target of the operation was a man named Jose Mendoza-Cervantes, who the agency said was seen getting into a car with Parra Hernandez. Mendoza-Cervantes’ daughter told the immigrants’ rights group FIEL that her father has been dead for nearly a decade.

Morales is among a small group of federal agents who have been criminally charged for wounding people during the Trump administration’s aggressive immigration crackdown. ICE agent Christian Castro pleaded not guilty last month to charges that he lied to the FBI after he shot and wounded a Venezuelan man as immigration agents swept Minneapolis earlier this year.

Many other ICE shootings, including some that were fatal, have not resulted in charges for the agents involved.

Morales, 34, has served as an ICE agent for a little over a year, according to Lindenmuth.

Teare said Friday that authorities have a “significant amount of information” on Morales, and that, in his experience, law enforcement agencies would not hire someone with his background. He did not elaborate.

Morales was charged with a misdemeanor in 2013 for stealing four DVDs, according to Harris County court records. Those charges were dismissed after he paid a $270 fine and struck a plea deal.

Morales unsuccessfully ran to represent Texas’ 34th Congressional District in this year’s election cycle under the name “Bam Morales,” which Lindenmuth confirmed. Morales served in the Army’s 82nd Airborne Division and later as a corrections officer and law enforcement officer, he wrote in a Ballotpedia candidate survey. He wrote that his top priorities were veterans’ rights, economic issues and service guided by the Christian principles of “compassion, integrity, service, and accountability.” He listed illegal immigration as one of the country’s greatest challenges.

Morales also wrote in the survey that he was endorsed by an organization called Make America Godlier Again.

Morales appeared at a 2024 Christian conference held by televangelist Johnson Suleman. In video of the conference, Morales appears to act as a Spanish translator as Suleman serves free food and “extends his touch of love to migrants.”

“I want to pray for the immigrants,” Suleman said, as Morales translated those words into Spanish. “I bless you. May the Lord grant your request and open your doors.”

Mayes-Osterman and Brook write for the Associated Press.

There could have very easily been a different outcome.

This was an afternoon when Manchester City accumulated an xG of 1.92, compared to 1.00 for Brighton, so there was no shortage of chances for the hosts.

Home head coach Enzo Maresca will be all too aware that City will have to rediscover their finishing touch – and quickly – if they are to mark his debut campaign in charge with a first Premier League title since 2024.

Manchester City had 21 shots on target without scoring, their highest number without doing so in the Premier League since November 2024, when they managed 24 in a game and drew a blank.

When Maresca sits down to pick apart his side’s shortcomings, he will look rueful at chances from Iliman Ndiaye, Abdukodir Khusanov and Nunes in particular.

But to say Brighton‘s victory only came because of an off performance from City would be an extreme injustice to Hurzeler’s side, who are quickly becoming one of the most well-rounded in the Premier League.

In addition to being the division’s highest scorers – having found the back of the net 24 times in nine matches this season – Brighton have also kept the most clean sheets (six).

Only Premier League champions Arsenal – who have played one game less and travel to Anfield to face Liverpool on Sunday – have conceded fewer goals than Brighton‘s seven. Arsenal have shipped five, going into the Liverpool game.

One of the main reasons behind Brighton‘s solid rearguard has been the signing of Luka Vuskovic from Tottenham Hotspur.

The 19-year-old has been a transformative figure since arriving at Amex Stadium for a club record fee in July, starting all nine Premier League matches.

The Croatian has formed a rock-solid partnership with fellow centre-back Lewis Dunk and built an understanding with goalkeeper Verbruggen, all of whom played the full 90 minutes at the Etihad.

“It was a good game from all of us,” said Verbruggen. “I’m happy to help the team and make some important saves, but I wasn’t the only one.

“I think there were four or five shots blocked in an amazing way as well. It was a joint effort from everyone. We celebrate and go again.”

Manchester United one place outside EPL bottom three as Coventry City climb with 3-1 win against Sunderland.

Joint record Premier League winners Manchester United were plunged to the brink of the relegation zone by their defeat at Chelsea followed by Coventry City’s win against Sunderland.

Ten-man United were beaten 2-0 at Stamford Bridge in the early kickoff in the English top flight, leaving them on their first nine-match winless run since 1986. The Red Devils have already made their worst start to a league season in 40 years.

Despite an improved display in the first-half, in which recalled captain Bruno Fernandes spurned one of many key chances, United were beaten by a brilliant solo goal by Morgan Rogers and a penalty converted by Cole Palmer.

Lisandro Martinez was shown a second yellow card for a reckless challenge on Wesley Fofana in an aerial duel from a corner.

United’s day was about to get worse.

Coventry City’s 3-1 home win against Sunderland saw them leapfrog the fallen giants, leaving United just one point and one place outside the relegation zone.

There’s a chance the 20-time English champions, who have won only once in nine league games, could be in the bottom three by the end of Matchweek 9 – a desperate situation for a club widely regarded as the biggest in the country.

Man United’s only two victories from 13 matches in all competitions this season were against promoted Ipswich in the Premier League and tournament newcomer Sabah in the Champions League.

United’s next match is at home to Roma in the Champions League on Tuesday with yet more doubts on whether Carrick will still be in charge.

“I think the mentality was there right from the first minute,” United forward Bryan Mbeumo said. “We still trust everyone.

“Maybe today we just missed some chances. We could have been up early in the game, but that’s a positive to take out of this game.”

Only Nottingham Forest’s 2-0 defeat at Brentford ensured United did not drop into the bottom three.

The pressure regardless is piling onto Manchester United manager Michael Carrick, who is only in his first full season in charge.

The former midfielder remains in defiant mood.

“The two halves of football couldn’t probably be further apart,” said Carrick, who added he expects to be in charge for Tuesday’s Champions League tie against Roma.

“We looked in a good place going into half-time and then found a way of unravelling it second half.”

A point for Crystal Palace in the last Premier League game of the day at Tottenham will see United fall into the bottom three.

Michael Carrick’s stay of execution as Manchester United boss may not last long after his team imploded in a 2-0 Premier League loss at Chelsea.

The visitors wasted a string of chances to take the lead at Stamford Bridge on Saturday before Morgan Rogers waltzed through the heart of the United defence to open the scoring on 50 minutes.

Lisandro Martinez then ruined any chance of a revival from Carrick’s men with two quickfire yellow cards, the second of which also conceded a penalty converted by Cole Palmer.

Winless in nine games, their defeat leaves the 20-time English champions still just one point above the relegation zone and in danger of ending the weekend in the bottom three.

Many expected Carrick to be axed following last weekend’s 3-0 home defeat to Bournemouth.

The former United midfielder was instead given the chance to turn his side’s fortunes around and will lament a lack of ruthlessness during the first half.

Carrick recalled captain Bruno Fernandes after he was left out last weekend in the wake of criticising his manager’s tactics during the 4-1 thrashing at Como in the Champions League.

Fernandes should have marked his return with the opener when he blazed over from Bryan Mbeumo’s inviting cross.

The roles were reversed when Mbeumo could not stretch to meet Fernandes’s delivery at the back post before Amad Diallo was twice denied by Chelsea’s stand-in goalkeeper Mike Penders.

United did finally get the ball in the net when Matheus Cunha turned in Harry Maguire’s header from a corner, but the Brazilian had strayed just offside.

Carrick could not hide his frustration in a half-time interview with broadcasters and his mood soured further with a disastrous start to the second period.

Chelsea’s Rogers credits Carrick for revitalising his career during a spell together at Middlesbrough, but dealt a potentially decisive blow to his former boss.

The England international collected the ball inside the centre circle but was allowed to drive directly towards the United goal before dinking the ball over Senne Lammens.

Martinez also spoke out publicly in recent weeks to criticise United’s lack of spending in the transfer market to bolster Carrick’s squad.

But on this season’s evidence, Martinez is one of those most in need of replacing.

The Argentine international could not cope with Rogers’s strength moments later as he was penalised for hauling back the Chelsea forward.

From the resulting free-kick, Martinez then needlessly crashed into Wesley Fofana with a raised forearm.

After a VAR review, referee Peter Banks awarded a penalty and showed Martinez a second yellow card.

Lammens got hands to Palmer’s spot-kick but still allowed the ball to trickle into the bottom corner.

On a rare start since Xabi Alonso took charge of the Blues, Estevao had a third goal disallowed for offside when he crashed a pass from Palmer into the top corner.

Cries of “sacked in the morning” rained down from the Chelsea fans as their side toyed with United for the final quarter without adding to their lead.

Another big decision awaits the United hierarchy before the massive Champions League clash at home to Roma on Tuesday.

Beaten in two of their three European games so far, United face both the embarrassment and financial shock of an early exit should they fall to another defeat against the Italians at Old Trafford.

Ian McKellen is saying goodbye to his dear friend Patrick Stewart.

Stewart, the storied actor whose performances spanned comic book films, Shakespearean stage productions and sci-fi TV, died Wednesday at his home in Los Angeles after a battle with Alzheimer’s disease and Lewy body dementia. He was 86. While tributes from former co-stars across the “X-Men” films and “Star Trek” franchise poured in, fans of Stewart were keeping a close eye out for McKellen’s remarks, as the two had a famously close friendship, often on full display with red-carpet smooches and pally interviews.

On Thursday, McKellen posted a tribute to Stewart.

“Before everything else, Patrick was defined by being born and bred in Yorkshire, the proud county in the north of England which he loved to the end,” McKellen’s statement began. “You could hear it in his accented voice and in the stern honesty with which he told you what he thought and felt. Yorkshiremen have no truck with half-truths or avoidance of big issues. He wore his heart on his sleeve, which made him a man to rely on, to admire and in my case, love.”

Although the two had known each other since they were young actors with the Royal Shakespeare Company in the 1970s, Stewart said he initially was too shy to approach McKellen, but was “impressed.” Stewart said the two had “X-Men” to thank for their close bond. On set, the two had trailers that were next door to each other, and with time to kill between filming, they would head next door and chat for hours.

“It was a delight for me to find that the enthusiasms and passions that I’d had all my life were shared by Ian,” the late actor said in a 2014 interview. When asked to write a hashtag that summed up their bromance, Stewart wrote #Aren’twelucky, and McKellen wrote #eternal.

In addition to playing rivals across multiple “X-Men” films, Patrick and McKellen starred together in “Waiting for Godot” and “No Man’s Land” on Broadway and London’s West End.

“We first met as ambitious young actors with the Royal Shakespeare Company half a century ago but we weren’t in the same productions,” McKellen’s tribute continued. “My first strong memory was a few years later, meeting him in the street in central London when he told me about an offer to take over a leading part in ‘Star Trek.’”

McKellen recalled saying, “But Patrick think of your stage career in the UK. Do you really want to risk—getting lost in Hollywood for years and years?”

“Well, he took the risk and thank goodness for us all that he did for not just his devoted Trekkies but film and theatre audiences, who marvelled at his using international celebrity to star in a string of cinema successes (‘X-Men’ of course) and in great classical plays by Shakespeare, Ibsen, Arthur Miller, Peter Shaffer, Pinter and Beckett at Stratford-upon-Avon, in London’s West End and on Broadway.”

In 2014, Stewart admitted to Broadway.com that he was envious of McKellen for both his university education and his hair.

“Ian knows and he thinks I’m foolish to feel this way,” he said. “Ian went to Cambridge and my formal schooling ended when I was 15. I envy that, but I also envy your head of hair. If only because in the two plays you don’t wear a wig and yet you manage to make your hairstyle look completely different … I envy that whereas I have to stick on a wig.”

McKellen responded by telling Stewart that he was gorgeous with and without the wig.

In 2013, Stewart married longtime girlfriend Sunny Ozell in a Lake Tahoe ceremony that McKellen officiated.

“America was his adopted home, where he met his adored Sunny who has cared for him through sickness and health, through thick and thin. But he never forsook his origins: and the proudest achievement of the most respected and beloved actor of his generation on either side of the Atlantic, was his appointment as Chancellor of Huddersfield University in Yorkshire.”

McKellen and Stewart star together again in the forthcoming “Avengers: Doomsday,” which hits theaters Dec. 18.

The officer faces charges after allegedly striking a fleeing construction worker with an SUV during an immigration raid.

A grand jury in Texas has indicted a United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer accused of deliberately running over a Mexican construction worker during an operation in Houston this month.

ICE officer Mario Alberto Morales faces charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon for the October 10 incident, Harris County District Attorney Sean Teare announced on Friday.

Criminal charges against federal immigration officers have been rare during President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown, although several encounters involving officers have prompted investigations.

Morales is accused of striking 48-year-old Miguel Parra-Hernandez, an immigrant who has lived in Harris County for more than 30 years. Teare said that Parra-Hernandez had no criminal record.

Parra-Hernandez was running away from federal agents when an unmarked black Jeep Cherokee struck him in a car park near Clay Road and Highway 6, according to investigators. He suffered multiple fractures to his right leg and an ankle injury which required surgery.

The indictment follows a dispute between local prosecutors and federal authorities over what happened. ICE has maintained that Parra-Hernandez ran in front of the vehicle, dismissing the allegations that the officer intentionally struck him as “reckless and false.”

But Teare has said surveillance video contradicts the agency’s account.

It shows the SUV crossing a median and pursuing Parra-Hernandez as he runs away. Although another vehicle obscures the moment of impact, the video shows the man on the ground moments later.

Authorities also released body-camera footage on Friday. In the recording, Morales can be heard acknowledging that he struck Parra-Hernandez with his vehicle.

Teare also accused federal authorities of failing to cooperate with the investigation, including by removing the Jeep before local investigators could examine it for potential evidence.

A search warrant obtained by local media shows investigators had not been granted access to the vehicle as of October 23.

The case has also raised questions about the operation’s intended target. ICE said agents were searching for a man identified as Jose Mendoza-Cervantes, whom they believed to be travelling with Parra-Hernandez.

But Mendoza-Cervantes’s daughter told The New York Times that her father died in 2017. Parra-Hernandez’s family has disputed that the two men knew each other.

The Morales indictment comes as the Harris County District Attorney’s Office continues investigating the fatal shooting of another Mexican, Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, on July 7.

An ICE officer, Gregory Feathers, has been accused of firing at the vehicle Salgado Araujo was driving on his way to work in Houston.

Federal authorities said the officer acted in self-defence, a claim the surviving passengers in the vehicle dispute.