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Tyrone have been drawn to face reigning All-Ireland champions Kerry in the quarter-finals of the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship.

The draw also pitted Monaghan, the only other remaining Ulster county, against Louth, with Galway up against Dublin and Cork to take on Mayo.

All four quarter-finals will be played at Croke Park on Saturday 27 and Sunday 28 June, with the details of dates and times expected to be confirmed later on Monday.

Tyrone are aiming to secure their fifth Sam Maguire title and their first since their most recent success in 2021.

Ulster runners-up Monaghan progressed to the last-eight stage by overcoming Westmeath 1-28 to 2-19 in round three on Sunday.

Munster champions Kerry kept their bid for a third All-Ireland in five years on track with a comprehensive 4-18 to 0-17 victory over Armagh.

The Dubs were 2-26 to 2-22 winners over Donegal after extra-time on Saturday as they attempt to reclaim the title they last won in 2023.

Meath beat Mayo to book their berth in the quarter-finals.

Cork, Galway, Louth and Tyrone all had the benefit of a weekend off after advancing straight to the quarter-finals from round two.

The eight remaining counties are chasing places in the semi-finals, which will be held on 11 and 12 July.

Jon Snow went into a “deep depression” after retiring from Channel 4.

Jon Snow’s wife has revealed they felt he was “struck off” following his dementia diagnosis.

The veteran broadcaster will feature in the one-off 90-minute documentary Jon Snow: A Last Big Story, as he exposes injustice while fighting for a Zambian community whose homes have been demolished by mining operations.

The Channel 4 News presenter will also speak candidly about his Alzheimer’s diagnosis in 2023, two years after stepping down from his long-running career.

Audiences will also be introduced to Snow’s wife, who joins the renowned journalist on his journey to Zambia as he “rediscovers his purpose”.

Who is Jon Snow’s wife?

Former Channel 4 presenter Jon Snow is married to Dr Precious Lunga, a Zimbabwean epidemiologist and neuroscientist.

Born in Rhodesia, she pursued her studies in the UK, obtaining a PhD from the University of Cambridge.

Currently, she serves as CEO and co-founder of Baobab Circle, an award-winning health technology firm utilising AI to tackle the rising challenge of chronic diseases such as diabetes throughout Africa.

Jon, 78, and Precious, 51, first crossed paths on the Caribbean island of Mustique in 2001, tying the knot nine years later in 2010.

The couple went on to welcome a son via surrogacy in March 2021, marking the third time Jon has become a father, having previously had two daughters with his former partner of 35 years, human rights lawyer Madeleine Colvin.

Prior to Jon Snow: A Last Big Story, Precious described how her husband fell into a “deep depression” for six months following his retirement.

Speaking candidly with Anita Rai on Woman’s House, she revealed why Jon has chosen to go public about his condition.

“He said ‘if I don’t speak out who will?'”, Precious began.

“It is something that affected his own mother and affects so many people.

“He felt that when someone is diagnosed with Alzheimer’s they are written off, but it’s not like you fall off a cliff.

“It’s a gradual degradation of the brain. It doesn’t mean you still can’t contribute to the world and he felt he still had so much to give, which is why he decided to make this documentary.”

Precious also revealed that she was initially hesitant about appearing in the Channel 4 documentary, but quickly had a change of heart.

She said: “What helped me overcome it was the fact I am one of over one million people affected by dementia.

“That helped me get over the nervousness of telling our story. It is not the end and we are looking for opportunities to enjoy our life.”

Jon Snow: A Last Big Story airs tonight, Sunday, June 21, at 8pm, on Channel 4.

A VHS tape of 1993’s “The Nightmare Before Christmas” introduced brothers Roy and Arturo Ambriz to the tactile whimsy of stop-motion, an animation technique where physical objects are manipulated and photographed frame by frame to achieve the illusion of life.

Realizing that the characters on screen were figures in real sets shocked the Mexican filmmakers’ young minds and set them on an arduous path to craft their own worlds.

“If there’s something we’ve loved our whole lives it’s toys: collecting them, modifying them, playing with them, creating dioramas for them,” said Roy, 36, from under his dark shades during a recent interview at Netflix Animation Studios in Burbank.

“And for us, the most sublime moments in life are when we’re doing something artistic, whether that’s painting, drawing or sculpting. And stop-motion animation combines all of that.”

The culmination of years of tireless work and financial stress for the Ambriz siblings is the breathtaking period fantasy “I Am Frankelda,” Mexico’s first-ever stop-motion feature, which is now streaming on Netflix.

“Thankfully, no one put it into our heads that it was impossible to do this,” said Arturo, 38. “That’s why we don’t like going around saying that this is extremely difficult, because maybe if young people hear that, they might not want to do stop-motion. Don’t tell them!”

A lavish musical, “I Am Frankelda” follows Francisca Imelda (voiced by Mireya Mendoza), a young aspiring writer living in 19th century Mexico and struggling to publish her stories. Meanwhile, in the Realm of Spooks, an alternative reality that’s home to all of the fictional characters Francisca has written, Herneval (Juan Pablo Monterrubio), a winged prince, must save his parents and his kingdom. The creatures in this world live off of human fear, so they create our nightmares.

Herneval crosses into the human world to bring Francisca with him to the Realm of Spooks, so that she can write new nightmares that actually scare people. Humans have become difficult to terrify. By this point, a frustrated Francisca has decided to change her name to Frankelda (a reference to “Frankenstein” author Mary Shelley, who inspired the character). Frankelda and Herneval sing of the relationship between fiction and reality. One can’t exist without the other.

Frankelda was first introduced as part of the 2021 series “Frankelda’s Book of Spooks,” which HBO Max commissioned. In the show, the heroine shares nightmarish tales alongside Herneval, who appears not as a prince but a sentient book. The film “I Am Frankelda” is a prequel that explains the relationship between these characters.

Last month, “I Am Frankelda” screened at the Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival, where Guillermo del Toro moderated the post-screening Q&A. A longtime mentor of the Ambriz brothers, Del Toro first supported them by donating to a Kickstarter campaign to finance their ambitious 2016 short film inspired by cubist art, “Revoltoso,” about a one-eyed boar living during the Mexican Revolution.

“In that moment, it was incredibly validating to realize that if Guillermo liked what we were doing, then it made sense to keep on doing it,” Roy said.

Two years apart in age, Roy and Arturo both studied filmmaking at the Centro, a university in Mexico City. Yet directing together wasn’t always the plan.

“I said, ‘We have to co-direct,’ because the situation naturally lent itself for me, being the older one, to take on the role of director while Roy would serve as production designer. But at a certain point, I realized that the hierarchy was wrong, and that if we wanted something sustainable for the rest of our lives, it had to be a 50/50 split between us. And I mean, 50/50, Roy!” said Arturo, playfully chastising his younger brother.

“It’s more like 60/40, with me having 60% of the power,” Roy added laughing.

In 2011, not long after graduating, Arturo found himself ridden with anxiety. Over the course of his education, he’d focused on artistic excellence but hadn’t much thought about how to actually make a living out of his and his brother’s shared passion. That’s when he decided they should create their own studio, Cinema Fantasma, so as to have control of the projects they took on. Their productions for hire include the Adult Swim show “Women Wearing Shoulder Pads,” which was produced entirely at their company in Mexico City.

“It’s been very difficult because we are filmmakers by vocation, but we are businesspeople by necessity,” said Arturo. “Developing that side of things has been the hardest part, but both are indispensable.”

To wrap up the “Frankelda” series, HBO Max requested a 30-minute special. Instead of accepting that offer, Roy suggested they use the proposed budget allocated to partially fund a full-length feature film. HBO Max agreed with the caveat that the brothers would have to come up with the rest of the money needed on their own.

To finance “I Am Frankelda,” Roy and Arturo mortgaged two homes. They are losing one of them to pay off their debts, so it helps that their dream of animation is a family affair. Their parents are executive producers on “Frankelda”; Roy’s wife, Ana Coronilla, worked as production designer; and Arturo’s spouse, Irene Melis, as a director of photography.

That “I Am Frankelda” is a musical is due in great part to Roy’s love of musical theater.

“At first, Arturo wasn’t sure, but using my 60% share of the power, I convinced him that it should be a musical,” Roy said. Yet it’s Arturo who wrote the lyrics to musical numbers. Each track starts as a poem that composer Kevin Smithers transformed into songs.

A fantastical stop-motion musical period piece, “I Am Frankelda” is far from an easy sell, and that’s what makes its existence all the more astonishing. The Ambriz brothers’ creative pursuit of the unpopular and the unfeasible has bonded them with Del Toro.

Mexican filmmaker Guillermo del Toro, pictured, interviewed “I Am Frankelda” directors Roy and Arturo Ambriz on May 30 during the film’s screening at the TCL Chinese Theatre as part of the Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival.

(Jill Connelly / For De Los)

“He is our most important mentor and the person we admire most in the world, and we also share many of the same interests,” Arturo explained. “That’s why when we saw ‘Pan’s Labyrinth,’ it was like when the glass slipper fits Cinderella. It was exactly what we loved: monsters, war, the cruelty of the human spirit, fairies and period settings.”

“Did you just call yourself Cinderella?” Roy interjected with the mischievous smirk typical of a younger brother trying to ruffle some feathers.

“Yes!” Arturo said quietly but without hesitation.

Every time they hear Del Toro speak about his interests, the Ambriz brothers discover a new well of references and “cultural protein,” from authors to painters.

“Guillermo is someone who actively champions the work of others, which I believe is the right way for an artist to be,” Arturo said.

When they finished “I Am Frankelda,” the brothers sent it to Del Toro, eager to hear his thoughts. As soon as he watched it, Del Toro called them.

“We spoke with him for hours, and he told us everything he saw, obviously with great tact, sharing both the good and the not-so-good,” Roy recalled. “But most importantly, he kept telling us that we had created something unprecedented. He insisted that we would pull through, even though we had ended up with a lot of debt.”

The version of “I Am Frankelda” that premiered at film festivals in 2025 is not the same one that will be available on Netflix. Based on Del Toro’s thorough feedback, the filmmakers recut the film and even animated new scenes. They playfully refer to this new cut that audiences will see globally as “The Grandfather Cut,” to honor Del Toro’s influence.

That “I Am Frankelda” was picked for distribution by Netflix is also Del Toro’s doing, the brothers said. It was the veteran director who suggested the film to the streaming company.

“I Am Frankelda” debuted in Mexico last October to an incredible reception, in part thanks to the fandom the characters had amassed via the episodic series.

“We receive fan art and fan fiction every day. People send us photos cosplaying the characters or of their ‘Frankelda’-themed quinceañeras. We’ve even bought bootleg merch at Mexican markets and on Temu or AliExpress too,” Roy said.

“We’ve bought ‘Frankelda’ socks from there that are of terrible quality, but all the more beautiful because of their bad quality,” he added.

“Of course, there are haters, too, but a large segment of the audience really identified with Frankelda as someone who perseveres, as someone who refuses to let her detractors hold her back. It’s been really beautiful watching that fandom grow,” Arturo said.

Another conviction where they align with Del Toro is their disinterest in engaging with artificial intelligence.

“AI is the antithesis of stop-motion. We’re not even remotely interested in it, because we do stop-motion to enjoy the artistic processes,” Roy said. “We created the studio for painting, drawing, sculpting and writing. Whatever happens with AI doesn’t really matter to us.”

Their second feature, “The Ballad of the Phoenix,” a medieval fantasy, is already in the works.

Activists rally in Geneva to denounce policies of G7 countries ahead of group’s annual meeting this week in France.

Thousands of protesters have gathered in Geneva ahead of this week’s Group of Seven (G7) summit, which is set to bring together United States President Donald Trump and other world leaders in nearby France.

The demonstration on Sunday was led by the so-called “No-G7” coalition, which is comprised of more than 60 associations and groups, including Palestinian rights advocates, feminist activists and environmentalists.

“We are very afraid of the policy and the politics of Mr Trump and also of the other leaders of the G7, because they are fighting, making war all over the place,” said Francoise Nyffeler, a spokesperson for the coalition.

“The planet is in danger, and we are very scared about it and we want to protest and say that the people of the world are against their policies,” she added.

Swiss and French authorities have deployed thousands of police to provide security for the three-day summit, which begins on Monday in the French resort town of Evian-les-Bains.

Authorities have blocked off roads, banned unauthorised gatherings, and pledged financial support for businesses that could be hit by unrest.

Scores of businesses and shops have boarded up their storefronts with wooden panels as a precaution, leery of upheaval that left a trail of damage in Geneva during a similar summit in Evian in 2003.

Reporting from the protest in Geneva on Sunday, Al Jazeera’s Natacha Butler said demonstrators had denounced the G7 as being “all about the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer”.

“They say the club of wealthy nations doesn’t represent the global population; that their policies and decisions have a negative impact on the world in terms of climate, equal rights and poverty,” Butler said.

Questions about the legitimacy of the G7 – which includes the US, Canada, Japan, France, Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom – are not new.

The group of countries previously accounted for 70 percent of global gross domestic product (GDP) – a figure that has shrunk to just 40 percent – while representing one-tenth of the global population.

In a sign that global power dynamics are shifting dramatically, other global groups also are growing. The BRICS countries – which include India, Russia and China – have doubled their bloc’s number of members from five to 11.

While G7 summits regularly draw protests, this year’s event also comes amid global frustration with Trump’s leadership on issues as diverse as tariffs, the US-Israeli war on Iran, and the climate crisis.

Demonstrators had been gathering for days in advance of Sunday’s march in Geneva.

A flotilla of around 20 boats appeared on Lake Geneva off the coast of Evian on Saturday, displaying anti-G7 and pro-Palestinian banners. Some 20 protesters were detained on Friday evening, according to Swiss media reports.

The city witnessed Carl Lewis win four Olympic gold medals, cheered Valerie Brisco-Hooks’ historic golden double and watched Edwin Moses extend his 400-meter hurdles unbeaten streak. L.A. has history with track and field.

Now when Ato Boldon, a UCLA Hall of Famer and four-time Olympic medalist for Trinidad and Tobago, looks to this weekend’s L.A. Grand Prix and the city’s future with the sport, he wonders what it holds.

“I’ve always felt like L.A. needs a signature event,” Boldon said, “and with the Olympics coming up in two years, you look at the quality of this event this weekend, and you’re like, yeah, this is the kind of meet they should have all the time.”

At the halfway mark of the Olympic quadrennium, the USA Track & Field event serves as an important checkpoint for the sport’s hope to break out of the four-year popularity cycle.

The two-day event, which begins Saturday with the women’s hammer throw at the South Bay Athletic Club, features 18 Olympic or world champions competing primarily at USC’s Allyson Felix Field. Sunday’s marquee competition beginning at 1 p.m. will be televised on NBC.

With USA Track & Field building toward a home Olympics, L.A. has been a critical but stubborn market to conquer. Last year’s L.A. Grand Prix, which would have been the third edition of the meet, was canceled in April. The decision, USA Track & Field Chief Executive Max Siegel said, came down to another meet scheduled in the same venue within the same month.

But that competing event, part of Michael Johnson’s upstart Grand Slam Track league, was canceled only weeks before it was set to take place at UCLA’s Drake Stadium, leaving L.A. without a major track competition last summer.

“We knew last year when we canceled the meet that we had every intention leading up to the Olympics to be present in the L.A. market,” Siegel said.

The city knows great track. UCLA boasts legends such as Rafer Johnson, Jackie Joyner-Kersee and Florence Griffith-Joyner. USC, which boasts more Olympians than any other U.S. university, had athletes win nine Olympic medals in track and field at the 2024 Games in Paris, including double gold medals for Rai Benjamin in the 400-meter hurdles and 4×400-meter relay and a 4×100-meter relay championship for TeeTee Terry.

After Terry ran the second leg of the relay, Sha’Carri Richardson’s stare down at the end of her anchor leg became one of the iconic shots of the Paris Games, where 70,000 people packed Stade de France and millions more tuned in for one of the most-watched Olympics.

But the sport is back in the shadows like it always seems to be outside of Olympic years, said Boldon, now NBC Sports’ track and field analyst. There have been several attempts to penetrate the U.S. sports consciousness since the successful Paris Games. Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian launched Athlos, a women’s track and field meet that began in New York City in 2024 and added a stop in London to its 2026 schedule. Grand Slam Track, founded by the Olympic legend Johnson and touting major names including Gabby Thomas and Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, filed for bankruptcy last year, after completing only three of four planned events in its first season, and is only now emerging from it.

This year’s inaugural USATF Tour aims to organize the fragmented sport by streamlining the calendar and working with existing event coordinators to provide resources, including prize money and travel for top athletes, marketing and drug testing. The tour, which was in College Station, Texas, last week for the Lone Star Grand Prix, has 17 events in 10 states.

American Tara Davis-Woodhall after winning the women’s long jump at the 2025 world championships in Tokyo.

(Ashley Landis / Associated Press)

“I feel like LA28 gives the country something to organize around,” said Siegel, who hopes track and field can rise to be among the five most popular sports in the United States. “People are paying more attention to athlete stories in anticipation of what’s going to happen on U.S. soil.”

There is no shortage of stories at the L.A. Grand Prix. Almost everyone who matters in American track and field will be there, Boldon said. Kenny Bednarek, the silver medalist in the 200 meters in Paris, will line up in the 100 meters against Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo, who took gold in the 200 in 2024.

Tara Davis-Woodhall, the reigning Olympic long jump champion, will compete in her signature event and race in the 100-meter hurdles for just the second time in the last five years. Her husband, Hunter Woodhall, will race in the 400 meters on Saturday, when Para athletes will be among those competing in the L.A. Distance Classic at Allyson Felix Field.

Richardson will run her first 100-meter race of the season. The 2024 Olympic silver medalist could be in line to end a three-decade gold medal drought in 2028. No U.S. woman has stood atop an Olympic podium for the 100 since 1996, when Gail Devers won in Atlanta.

Such a stacked field outside of an Olympic year on U.S. soil could be a sign of a changing tide for track and field, Boldon said. The L.A. Grand Prix is a gold-level event on the World Athletics Continental Tour, the second-highest tier of single-day international competition. As athletes vie for world ranking points, the event could be a true Olympic preview two years before the Games begin at the Coliseum.

“This,” Boldon said, “is not a normal week in our sport.”

In “Rheology,” Shayok Misha Chowdhury, an experimental theater artist, and his mother, Bulbul Chakraborty, a theoretical physicist, bridge the language of their different disciplines to explore a subject dear to both of them: loss.

Chowdhury, author of the play “Public Obscenities,” a 2024 finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, and the director of the sensational off-Broadway production of Jordan Tannahill’s “Prince Faggot,” is as tenderly devoted to his mother as the young Marcel was to his own in Proust’s “In Search of Lost Time.” The idea of his mother dying is insupportable to Chowdhury, but given that she’s in her 70s and he’s in his 40s, certain terrifying realities must be faced.

“Rheology,” which is receiving its West Coast premiere at REDCAT (in a brief run ending Saturday), is the piece they’ve created to prepare Chowdhury for that fateful day. This strikingly staged Bushwick Starr, HERE Arts Center and Ma-Yi Theater Company production is an interdisciplinary experiment that is as playful in its methodology as it is serious in its research aims.

Chakraborty, a professor at Brandeis University, starts off with a physics lesson. Her subject is sand, and she poses a simple question: Is the sand pouring through the hourglass sitting on the counter before her a liquid or a solid?

A charismatic teacher, she knows how to Socratically engage a room. Her welcoming manner draws out from the audience the different ways sand behaves both like a solid and like a liquid.

Shayok Misha Chowdhury, in rear, and Bulbul Chakraborty in “Rheology” at REDCAT.

(Roy and Edna Disney CalArts Theater [REDCAT])

Rheology, or the science of how a substance responds to external stress, is her chief interest. Her research, focused on soft condensed matter, has been seeking a comprehensive theory to explain the curious elasticity of such material. A photo of a sand dune, in which she’s seated alongside Chowdhury as a toddler, helps illustrate her point that sand can flow like a liquid yet retain its shape like a solid.

An onstage sandbox is more than just another visual accompaniment to her talk. It’s a source of both elemental mystery and childlike wonder. But elucidation is her motive. She enters the box with her bare feet, noting the way the sand flows around her toes yet supports her weight in observation of the rule that “every grain has to be in force balance.”

She writes equations on the board to explain these findings, equations that begin to glow as the production moves from the realm of pure science to the more slippery domain of art. The transition, like all aspects of this piece, is frolicsomely conducted.

While pouring sand from one container to another, Chakraborty appears to be overcome with dust. For a moment, it’s not clear if this is part of the show or a medical incident until Chowdhury, discreetly occupying a seat in the audience, asserts himself as the director. He asks his mother to run through the death scene with a different sequence of movements and introduces the accompaniment of George Crotty on cello to liberate her performance.

They are rehearsing not so much Chakraborty’s end but Chowdhury’s reaction. He assumes he will fall apart and vows to die himself out of heartbreak. Chakraborty wants him to carry on his work, just as she carried on her research as a mother with a young son who would wail uncontrollably when she would drop him off at daycare.

She recounts that his emotional outbursts were so extreme that it was painful leaving him behind. But she was assured that he was handling the separation. For proof, she was taken into a private teacher’s room, where through a one-way mirror she saw him compose himself shortly after her departure and start to play with the other children.

Mother and son enact a similar situation where, after a more permanent leave-taking, she can catch a glimpse of her son recovering himself sufficiently to survive her loss. Chowdhury, a queer artist who enjoys sampling performance modes, adopts the figure of the grieving Bollywood widow. The effect isn’t to lampoon but to confront his raw emotion and to test his capacity for resilience.

The experiment might sound sentimental, but Chakraborty, the production’s secret weapon, maintains a scientific restraint, albeit one suffused with maternal anguish. The way she listens to her son, takes in his feelings, gently suggests other possibilities of response and treats his experimental theater piece with the same dignity as her own research is incredibly moving to witness. Her performance won an Obie Award, and though she insists that she’s not an actor she demonstrates a sincerity and collaborative grace that many veteran performers would envy.

As it unfolds, “Rheology” can seem piecemeal, even haphazard. There’s an informality built into the production, but it’s somewhat deceptive because the mercurial staging is extremely precise. Chowdhury’s direction has visual panache. Kameron Neal’s video design transforms Krit Robinson’s part lab, part lecture hall set into something kaleidoscopic.

When mother and son sing songs from the famous cycle by Bengali writer-composer and Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore or hold a deathbed conversation in Bangla, the piece spins further across time and space. Empiricism gives way to surrealism. But the world, as any scientist probing into the atomic level can attest, contains more secrets than meets the eye.

Fragile matter is Chakraborty’s specialty, and her expertise is put to novel use in shoring up her son’s tender heart.

The lord of the rings works behind a nondescript door in a Beverly Hills office building, not far from the UCLA campus where he once sold hair clips and trinkets from a folding table. Jason Arasheben was $28,000 in debt back then, running low on options. Now, eight of the past 11 NBA champions have worn his jewelry on their fingers.

Super Bowl winners have his rings, too — the Rams, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Philadelphia Eagles and the Seattle Seahawks, whose players opened their ornate jewelry boxes at a private team party Thursday night to find the prize every NFL player covets.

The Seahawks ring, large as a child’s fist, is encrusted with 20 carats of white diamonds and blue sapphires. It’s a miniature Lumen Field, featuring the hawk-head logo and two Lombardi Trophies. The top lifts off and converts into a pendant. Inside is a cowhide segment of a game-used football. Twelve flags on the sides nod to the “12th Man” fan base; one is a secret button — push it and the arches pop out to reveal the words “World Champions.”

A look at the Seattle Seahawks’ Super Bowl ring celebrating their 2025 season championship.

(ONROPE studios; Jason Arasheben)

Even the box performs. Three tiny spotlights shine on the ring as it rotates on a mechanical platform. Each weighs about a third of a pound.

“It’s a memento to a certain period of time,” said Arasheben, who concedes the rings are closer to trophies than wearable jewelry. He competes for ring contracts with Tiffany & Co. and Jostens, both much larger operations. “It celebrates this time that these players and these fans will remember forever.”

His rings appraise for $50,000 to $250,000, though the market can push them higher. In 2024, Kobe Bryant’s 2000 Lakers ring sold at auction for $927,000, the highest price ever paid for an NBA title ring, topping Bill Russell’s 1957 ring at $705,000.

Beverly Hills jewler Jason Arasheben is

(Ric Tapia / For The Times)

NFL franchises typically order two or three times what NBA, NHL or MLB teams request — as many as 3,000 rings in four quality tiers. Lower-level employees might get cubic zirconia instead of diamonds. A limited number of fan versions are available at smaller scale and lower price. Arasheben always builds two extra into his contract so each of his sons can have one.

A career in luxury jewelry was never the plan. He grew up in Granada Hills and Calabasas; his Iranian father and Norwegian mother envisioned a doctor, lawyer or engineer. At UCLA, he found himself more interested in bars than books.

“I was $28,000 in debt because I enjoyed going out far too much, like every other college student,” he said.

One day he tagged along with a friend to the wholesale district downtown and had a flash of inspiration. She was buying plastic hair clips and silver trinkets by the dozen. He figured he could sell them to girls on campus.

He pitched the idea of a folding table to the university, which agreed when he offered to split the profits. He bought $400 worth of tchotchkes. One table became two, then six locations across Southern California campuses.

Then came the motherlode. He built acrylic display cases holding 30 to 40 pieces and drove from Agoura Hills to San Diego, stopping at every nail salon he could find, splitting the profits with owners who let him put a case on the counter. By his senior year, he had agreements with roughly 350 salons and was clearing $25,000 to $30,000 a month.

After college, as a regular on the L.A. nightclub scene, Arasheben built relationships with professional athletes and celebrities. He would go home and sketch chain designs for players he’d met, knowing nothing about the jewelry industry.

“Finally, an NBA player said, ‘Why don’t you come to my hotel room tomorrow before we play the Lakers and bring all the jewelry you have? I’m going to buy something from you,’” said Arasheben, describing an encounter with the late Anthony Mason.

Problem was, he had no jewelry. He spent the night cutting pictures from magazines and downloading images to create a makeshift catalog, then promised Mason a custom $40,000 necklace. Mason put down $20,000.

Arasheben went downtown, knocked on doors and found somebody to make it for $37,000. A new business was born, growing by word of mouth. Eventually he had four employees and a small office downtown, outsourcing most of his work.

Through his friendship with Jim Buss, son of owner Jerry Buss, Arasheben landed the contract to make the Lakers’ 2009 championship ring. It was a mad scramble. He and his employees slept in sleeping bags on the factory floor the final two weeks of production.

“We delivered the very last player ring 20 minutes before the ceremony began,” he said. “The ring ceremony was on national television, and can you imagine if they had to announce the rings weren’t ready? My career would have been over before it started.”

He made the Lakers ring in 2010, too, and five years later — through relationships with several Golden State players — produced four championship rings for the Warriors.

Tom Brady saw LeBron James’ ring during the 2020 offseason and convinced the Buccaneers to go with Arasheben.

A lot of Arasheben’s rings have James Bond elements such as secret compartments or special elements. The top comes off the miniature SoFi Stadium on the Rams ring, for instance, and the field below is made of a melted-down patch of the actual artificial turf. The World Series ring of the Texas Rangers features a tiny circle of leather from a game-used baseball.

He first incorporated a special feature in the 2018 Warriors ring, when a star player objected to a blue face and wanted white, only weeks from delivery. Arasheben devised a mechanism allowing the face to switch colors.

Jason Arasheben poses with some of the sports championship rings he has crafted over the years.

(Ric Tapia / For The Times)

“We started getting a lot of championship ring contracts after that,” he said. “Because we took it to a new level and showed some ingenuity. We wanted to be innovative.”

Push a button on the Eagles’ ring and wings pop out on the sides. Arasheben came up with that idea while shopping for a Buzz Lightyear toy for his nephew.

Buzz, too, has wings that pop out.

“I thought, ‘I can do that for the Eagles, but with amazing gold and diamonds,’” he said.

He will put a proposal together to make the medals for the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. Then there’s the one that got away.

“We lost out on the L.A. Dodgers,” Arasheben said. “They went with a company based in Canada instead of the hometown team, which broke my heart. But you know, that’s part of the business. You take your lumps.

“But I’ll still pitch. Every year, I pitch.”

Pope Leo has traveled to the Canary Islands as the final stop of his week long visit to Spain, placing migration and human dignity at the center of his international message. The Canary Islands have become one of Europe’s most important migration gateways, with thousands of people risking dangerous Atlantic crossings from Africa in search of safety, opportunity, or asylum.

The visit comes amid growing global debate over migration policies, border security, and humanitarian responsibilities. During his Spain tour, Leo has repeatedly argued that the treatment of migrants represents a moral test for governments and societies.

His stop in the Canary Islands includes meetings with migrants, humanitarian organizations, and local groups assisting new arrivals, as well as a memorial tribute to those who lost their lives attempting the journey.

Why the Canary Islands Have Become a Migration Flashpoint

Located off the northwest coast of Africa, the Canary Islands have emerged as a major entry point for migrants seeking access to Europe.

As Mediterranean routes have become increasingly difficult or heavily monitored, many migrants have turned to the Atlantic route despite its extreme dangers. The journey often involves overcrowded boats, harsh weather conditions, and long periods at sea.

The rising number of arrivals has transformed the islands into a focal point of European migration debates, exposing tensions between humanitarian obligations and border management concerns.

Pope Leo’s Broader Message on Migration

The pope’s visit is consistent with his broader emphasis on human rights, social justice, and international responsibility.

Throughout his papacy, Leo has framed migration not merely as a political issue but as a question of human dignity. His criticism of the international community’s response reflects concerns that many governments are prioritizing deterrence and border enforcement over humanitarian protection.

By meeting migrants directly, Leo is attempting to shift attention from statistics and policy disputes toward the personal experiences of those undertaking dangerous journeys.

Spain’s Different Approach

Spain has largely adopted a more welcoming position toward migrants compared with several European countries that have tightened immigration policies.

The government’s efforts to regularize the status of hundreds of thousands of undocumented migrants reflect a belief that legal integration can strengthen social cohesion and economic participation.

However, implementation challenges remain significant. Many migrants continue to face lengthy bureaucratic processes, uncertainty regarding legal status, and difficulties accessing employment and social services.

At the same time, migration has become an increasingly contentious political issue, with critics arguing that more permissive policies could encourage additional arrivals.

The Growing European Debate

Migration remains one of the most divisive issues across Europe.

Governments face competing pressures to maintain border security, address labor shortages, uphold humanitarian commitments, and respond to domestic political concerns. Rising support for nationalist and far right parties in several countries has further intensified the debate.

Against this backdrop, Pope Leo’s intervention highlights the widening gap between humanitarian advocates and political leaders who favor stricter migration controls.

His visit also underscores the role religious institutions continue to play in shaping discussions about ethics, responsibility, and international solidarity.

Analysis

The significance of Pope Leo’s Canary Islands visit extends beyond Spain’s migration challenges.

The trip represents an effort to place human rights concerns at the center of a debate increasingly dominated by security, border control, and political polarization. By choosing one of Europe’s most visible migration entry points, Leo is drawing attention to the human consequences of global inequality, conflict, and displacement.

The visit also reflects a growing tension between moral leadership and political realities. While many governments acknowledge humanitarian responsibilities, they face domestic pressures that often push policy in the opposite direction.

Leo’s message is therefore unlikely to change migration policy overnight. However, it may strengthen the position of humanitarian organizations and advocates who argue that migration should be addressed through a combination of legal pathways, international cooperation, and human rights protections rather than deterrence alone.

Future Outlook

Migration pressures on Europe are unlikely to diminish in the near future.

Conflict, economic instability, climate related challenges, and demographic trends will continue to drive movement across borders. As a result, countries will face increasing pressure to develop sustainable migration frameworks that balance security concerns with humanitarian obligations.

Pope Leo is expected to remain one of the most prominent global voices advocating for migrants and refugees. His Canary Islands visit may become a defining symbol of his broader effort to place human dignity at the center of international policymaking.

The larger challenge for Europe will be determining whether political leaders can translate humanitarian principles into workable migration policies amid growing public and political divisions.

With information from Reuters.

June 10 (Asia Today) — Senior U.S. human rights officials visiting South Korea met over two days with families of South Koreans detained or abducted by North Korea, civic groups said Wednesday.

The meetings included families of South Korean missionaries detained in North Korea, wartime and postwar abductees and prisoners of war who were not repatriated after the Korean War.

Riley M. Barnes, assistant secretary of state for democracy, human rights and labor, met Tuesday with Choi Jin-young, the son of South Korean missionary Choi Chun-gil, who is being held in North Korea, according to civic groups.

Julie Turner, acting deputy assistant secretary in the State Department’s Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, and Belsis Romero, a White House faith liaison, also took part in the visit.

On Wednesday, U.S. officials met representatives of groups representing families of Korean War abductees, postwar abductees and prisoners of war.

The U.S. officials told the families that Washington continues to pay attention to the issue and that its position has not changed on supporting efforts to confirm the detainees’ status and seek their return, according to the groups.

Choi thanked Barnes for calling for the release of South Koreans detained in North Korea, including missionaries Kim Jung-wook, Kim Kuk-gi and Choi Chun-gil, during a video message last month for an international conference announcing the formation of the Republic of Korea Hostage Family Association.

Choi also delivered a letter addressed to President Donald Trump asking the United States to make the safe return of South Korean detainees, including the three missionaries, part of its North Korea diplomacy.

He also delivered 10,000 signatures gathered online and offline, largely through Korean churches in Los Angeles, calling for the detainees’ repatriation and confirmation of whether they are alive.

Kim Jung-sam, the older brother of missionary Kim Jung-wook, also sent a letter asking Trump to speak out during his presidency on detainees and religious freedom.

Choi said he asked U.S. officials to send a message that Washington has not forgotten the detained missionaries.

“I asked that the U.S. ambassador, the secretary of state or the president meet from time to time with families of South Korean abductees, detainees and prisoners of war,” Choi said. “In that context, I also requested that the U.S. ambassador to South Korea attend an event for Abductees Remembrance Day.”

Lee Sung-eui, head of the Korean War Abductees’ Family Union, Choi Sung-ryong, head of the Association of the Families of Postwar Abductees, and Sohn Myung-hwa, head of a group representing families of prisoners of war, met Turner on Wednesday and urged continued U.S. attention to the abduction issue.

Lee delivered a letter asking Washington to place humanitarian issues first in any future U.S.-North Korea talks, including the return of detained South Koreans, confirmation of the fate of abductees and visits by bereaved families to graves in North Korea.

Lee said he emphasized that wartime abductions during the 1950-53 Korean War were “the root of all forced disappearance crimes committed by North Korea.”

Barnes and Turner also met Saturday with Son Hyun-bo, pastor of Segero Church, who led rallies opposing the impeachment of former President Yoon Suk Yeol. The U.S. officials discussed religious freedom issues in South Korea and attended a Sunday worship service.

On Monday, the U.S. delegation also met Chang Wook-jin, director-general for global multilateral diplomacy at South Korea’s Foreign Ministry, to discuss bilateral efforts to promote democracy and human rights.

A South Korean Foreign Ministry official said the U.S. State Department regularly communicates with a wide range of stakeholders inside and outside South Korea while preparing annual reports on human rights, trafficking in persons and international religious freedom.

The official said the delegation’s visit to South Korea was part of that regular outreach.

A civic group official who recently visited the United States and met State Department officials said the bureau’s meeting with families of North Korean detainees appeared connected to Washington’s recent attention to religious persecution.

The official said U.S. officials also asked questions during a recent meeting about religious freedom and human rights issues involving the South Korean government.

— Reported by Asia Today; translated by UPI

© Asia Today. Unauthorized reproduction or redistribution prohibited.

Original Korean report: https://www.asiatoday.co.kr/kn/view.php?key=20260610010003179

It’s just past midday and I appear to be inside a rain cloud. Soaked to the skin, my walking boots squelching through tufts of grass and black bog mud, I can hear hundreds of streams rolling off this wide mid-Wales peak, each vying to be the fastest. I’ve hiked around more than 8 miles (13km) of Hafren Forest trails to the top of Mount Pumlumon Fawr (Plynlimon), to reach a wooden post carved with the words Source of the Severn. And I’m here, alone, because I’m hoping to meet a river goddess.

It’s perhaps not as strange as it first sounds. Starting about 150 years ago, the folklorist John Rhys travelled across Wales to archive as many local myths as possible, and among them was the very tale that brought me to this peak: the story of the birth of the River Severn, in which three sisters – Hafren (Severn), Rheidolyn (Rheidol) and Gwy (Wye) – each choose their own route to the sea. My trip to the river’s source was itself a moment of mythically inspired travel, something that has been common practice in the British Isles for as long as we’ve told stories, not least as a means of passing them on.

Folklore is experiencing a revival in Britain, whether it’s in wild tales told around festival campfires or in the rise of Mabinogion-inspired romantasy fiction. I was here on my own adventure, travelling around the islands to rediscover our lost goddess myths and what they mean for modern womanhood, for my new book, No Fair Maidens. My journey took me from Somerset to Skye, from Gower to Eryri, and was less about archaeological sightseeing and more a journey into the landscape and waterways themselves: the river sources, lakesides, spring wells and seashores that feature so vividly in old lore.

Water, it seems, is often the site of powerful women and magical happenings. In Roman and perhaps pre-Roman times, Britannia was a network of waterways represented by goddesses, from Sulis’ hot spring in Bath to Coventina’s well near Carrawburgh on Hadrian’s Wall. For centuries, wells and river sources have been places of pilgrimage for people to bring their wishes, throwing in stones and coins and asking for help from forces unseen. They are also places where magic can sometimes cross over. In local Welsh myth, the Ffynone waterfall is regarded as a portal to the mystical Otherworld, where the goddess Rhiannon lived before riding her white horse into the real world to choose a husband. Up the road at Llyn y Fan Fach in the Bannau Brycheiniog (Brecon Beacons), the mountain lake is known as the home of a beautiful nymph who agrees to marry a mere mortal, only to return to the waters, taking her large dowry with her, when he breaks their covenant.

The shores are also home to some of our most renowned female fighters. On the Isle of Skye, in the dark ruins of Dunscaith Castle on the edge of Loch Eishort, we meet Scáthach: a fearsome Scottish warrioress from eighth-century Irish mythology, who was tasked with training Celtic princes to become warriors. She was said to be invincible, wielding supreme combat skills and a giant spiked spear, leading many a man to seek out her tutelage. Today, it is easy to picture her on the battlements, battered by wind and rain, wearily awaiting the next wannabe hero.

Indeed, as I travel across the island, powerful women weave through our folklore so readily that they feel like a source code, even though their stories are mostly unmarked in the landscapes from which they come. In England on the River Stour, I hear the 12th-century legend of Gwendoline, who was said to have raised an army in Cornwall and seized the crown from her cheating husband’s dead hands, making her the mythic first queen of a peaceful, united England. Further down the road as I climb Glastonbury Tor, it’s the matriarchal myth of Avalon that’s calling me, the tale of a magical island of sisters bound by the powers of shapeshifting, healing and prophecy. It’s wild to imagine that Britain might once have been home to that benevolent circle of women.

It seems as if, across Britain, the landscape is brought to life through story. As I discuss in my book, exploring the island through the lens of myth and folklore invites us to see Britain in a different light; as a place full of wonder, where wild and strange things are possible. And with more of us investigating how to build a stronger, healthier connection with the natural world, folklore and myth can create a kind of bridge, inviting us to see waterways less as “resources” and more as living beings with their own stories and a curious will of their own. This is Britain, but not as you know it; and perhaps by travelling through the landscape with myths as our guides, we might find new inspiration too.

Back on Mount Plynlimon, I was never quite sure how to go about meeting a river goddess, lacking the rituals and training our ancestors might once have known. But perhaps it was enough simply to know her story, so I could appreciate the land a little better. Whenever I see a river now, I can’t help saying hello, still in awe of how vast she has become, and how quickly she grew from nothing.

Kim Willis is the author of No Fair Maidens: A Wild Journey with the Lost Goddesses of Britain (Doubleday, £20). To support the Guardian, order your copy at guardianbookshop.com. Delivery charges may apply.

Hi, and welcome to another edition of Prep Rally. I’m Eric Sondheimer. It’s awards time for baseball and softball as school ends and summer workouts begin.

And the winner is . . .

Shortstop James Tronstein went four for four on Tuesday in Harvard-Westlake’s 8-0 win over Sherman Oaks Notre Dame.

(Craig Weston)

When the high school baseball season began, James Tronstein of Harvard-Westlake was focused and eager to show what he learned after not being selected for the U18 national baseball team in the fall. He proceeded to bat .531 with 52 hits and 10 home runs. Here’s his story as The Times’ player of the year.

St. John Boscoo pitcher Julian Garcia (right) celebrates with shortstop James Clark after throwing a one-hit shutout to beat Norco 2-0 in the Division 1 final.

(Craig Weston / For The Times)

The baseball all-star team is loaded with major league prospects and future top college players. Here’s a look at Southern California’s best this season.

The Birmingham co-coaching duo of Gus Rico (left) and Matt Mowry guided the Patriots to league and City titles for the first time in Mowry’s 20 seasons of coaching.

(Birmingham HS)

This season, Birmingham coach Matt Mowry added co-coach duties to pitching coach Gus Rico. The two guided the Patriots to their first West Valley League title in 20 years, followed by a sixth City Open Division title. Here’s a look at why they are the coaches of the year.

St. John Bosco is No. 1 in The Times’ final top 25 rankings. Here’s a look.

Liliana Escobar is The Times’ softball player of the year.

(Dylan Stewart)

Liliana Escobar was the pitcher to watch all season, and she helped JSerra win their first Southern Section Division 1 softball championship. She is The Times’ player of the year. Here’s a look at what she accomplished.

Softball coach Katie Stith of JSerra is The Times’ coach of the year for 2026.

(JSerra)

When it comes to future college softball players, The Times’ all-star team is filled to capacity. Here’s a look at the All-Star team.

The coach of the year is JSerra’s Katie Stith. Here’s a look how she built the Lions into a champion.

Here are the final rankings for The Times produced by CalHiSports.com.

Regional champs

Jared Grindlinger, center, stands with his older brothers Trent, left, and Bradley after Huntington Beach’s 5-3 win over San Diego Cathedral in the Southern California Regional Division I final on June 6, 2026.

(Steve Galluzzo / For The Times)

It’s the end of an era at Huntington Beach, where three Grindlingers made an impact on and off the baseball diamond and the final one, Jared, saved the best for last, delivering a two-run home run and getting the final out so the Oilers could win the Southern California Division I regional title over Cathedral Catholic 5-3. Here’s the report.

The example Jared set, ignoring that he’s going to be a first-round draft pick next month and deciding to play with his best friends to the very last game, will be long remembered by Oiler faithful.

Another Sunset League team, Newport Harbor, won the Division II regional title with UC Santa Barbara-bound Gavin Guy leading the way on the mound.

Then there was Glendora rallying to win the Division III championship over Kaiser. North Torrance won Division IV with Sei Nagashima going four for four in the final.

Verdugo Hills appeared headed to the Division V final with a 5-1 lead over Roosevelt in the bottom of the sixth. That’s when a rundown play happened, and both benches emptied. Both schools were disqualified from playing in the final. Under CIF rules, players are not allowed to leave the bench. They faced a one-game suspension. Coast Academy in Oceanside was awarded the title.

In softball, San Bernardino won Division V over Arroyo Valley. Riverside Prep took Division II.

Steve Baik is back

Steve Baik coaching Chino Hills in 2015.

(Los Angeles Times)

Steve Baik, who guided Chino Hills to an unbeaten basketball season in 2015-16 when the Ball brothers were playing, is returning to high school basketball as the new head coach at Calabasas.

Here’s the report.

Quarterback Ford Green of Westlake.

(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)

Let the summer football action begin, and one player to watch is sophomore quarterback Ford Green of Westlake. Here’s a profile of a rising inquarterback who earned an Ohio State scholarship offer this spring.

There will be extensive passing tournaments in June and July. Saugus is hosting its annual tournament at Central Park on June 20 beginning at 4 p.m.. Simi Valley has its tournament on June 27. The Edison Battle at the Beach is July 11. Ocean View has its own tournament on that day. The Mission Viejo tournament is July 18.

Gardena Serra is hosting weekly seven-on-seven competitions on Wednesdays beginning June 17 with some great teams dropping by.

Chaminade won the Western tournament last weekend.

Nike has relaunched The Opening, which will be held June 24-26 in Oregon.

Basketball

The Section 7 boys and girls tournaments will be in Mesa, Ariz. The boys tournament is June 20-22 and the girls June 13-14.

The Boys Cal Live tournament is June 26-28 in Rocklin. The Girls Cal Live tournament is June 18-20 in Ladera.

The annual Fairfax tournament will be June 15-20 at Fairfax High.

Prep talk

The final week of the 2025-26 sports season offers a look at people making a difference.

City Section hurdles champion Jayden Rendon with his mother, Denise.

(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)

Here’s Carson hurdler Jayden Rendon leaving for USC as a hometown hero.

The Rams donated equipment and other football materials to LAUSD, which sent them to 69 high schools in the district.

(Angelo HS)

Here’s a look at the Rams donating football equipment to 69 Los Angeles Unified School District teams.

Here’s a look at the Clausen brothers creating youth flag football league for boys and girs.

Notes . . .

The Bonita and Murrieta Mesa softball teams are facing sanctions from the CIF after pulling out of the regional softball playoffs and having to forfeit their opening games. Each had the option of opting out but didn’t and are especially in trouble for not pulling out before seedings were made. Doubtful either will be invited to next year’s state playoffs when the first state championship in softball will be held…

David Armendariz is the new baseball coach at Sierra Canyon. He’s been an assistant the last three years and was a standout player at Sherman Oaks Notre Dame and played briefly in MLB with Cleveland….

Warren Snyder is the new boys water polo coach at Agoura…

John Gabriel is the new girls lacrosse coach at St. Margaret’s….

James Tronstein of Harvard-Westlake has been named the Gatorade state player of the year in baseball….

Offensive lineman Amaziah Siale of Mission Viejo has committed to Cal….

Point guard Earl Bryson is leaving JSerra for Crean Lutheran, which returns two top guards….

Mater Dei’s basketball team has added two large transfers, 6-9 Ryan Doane from JSerra and 6-11 Ender Berg from Legacy Christian….

The Southern Section has decided not to move from its office in Los Alamitos and will remodel to handle its additional employees approved by membership….

Corona Santiago pitcher Striker Pence announced he has reclassified to become part of the class of 2027….

Justin Torres is out as baseball coach at West Covina….

Joe Wyatt, who coached El Camino Real and Sun Valley Poly to City Section basketball championships, has resigned at Poly to become head coach at rival North Hollywood….

Bob Hart, Burbank’s longtime baseball coach, is no longer head coach….

Girls point guard Madison McDonald from Westlake has committed to Arizona Western….

Sierra Canyon has hired Camarillo coach Michaeltore Smith to be its first flag football coach. He had great success coaching quarterbacks, and he’ll have the best this season in Orange Lutheran transfer Makena Cook….

The high school football transfer portal is about to gain more steam with school out and players switching before the fall semester. Here’s the list that keeps growing…

Nick Hernandez is the new baseball coach at Glendale….

Infielder Justin Lopez from Villa Park has committed to Cal State Fullerton.

From the archives: Nate Castellon

Nate Castellon, a former Calabasas shortstop, helped Cal Poly reach the Super Regionals. He entered this week as the team’s second-leading hitter with a .328 batting average, including 14 doubles.

The sophomore has been as consistent as he was at Calabasas, where he hit .500 his senior year. He was a freshman All-American for the Mustangs.

Here’s a story from 2023 when he hit a grand slam.

Recommendations

From The562.org, a story on Anthony Razo, the new Lakewood baseball coach who’s agreed to replace the legendary Spud O’Neil.

From Yahoo, a story on New Mexico nearing a final decision to allow one free transfer for high school athletes.

From Ouresquina.com, a story on former Cypress and current USC shortstop Abbrie Covarrubias and his Latino background.

From Texashsfootball, a story on a school district spending $6 million to cover a sports facility to help with hot weather.

Summer vacation

Prep Rally will be taking the next couple of weeks off. Everyone enjoy your break — if you get one. And if you don’t, please find a way for a day off or two to refresh, regroup and prepare for 2026-27.

Tweets you might have missed

Until next time….

Have a question, comment or something you’d like to see in a future Prep Rally newsletter? Email me at eric.sondheimer@latimes.com, and follow me on Twitter at @latsondheimer.

Did you get this newsletter forwarded to you? To sign up and get it in your inbox, click here.

Published on
03/06/2026 – 17:25 GMT+2

The European Commission confirmed to Euronews on Wednesday that EU trade chief Maroš Šefčovič will meet his Chinese counterpart, trade envoy Li Chenggang, on the sidelines of an OECD ministerial meeting in Paris on Thursday.

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The visit comes as EU-China relations remain strained, with Brussels seeking to crack down on Chinese overcapacity and tackle a record-high €359.9 billion trade deficit with Beijing.

After the EU unveiled the so-called Industrial Accelerator Act and the Cybersecurity Act which could exclude Chinese companies from the EU market, China threatened retaliation, fuelling fears of a trade war between the two trading partners.

Tensions escalated further last week when EU commissioners met to discuss the bloc’s strategy towards the Asian giant.

“The current state of the trade and investment relationship is not sustainable,” the Commission said in a statement after the meeting.

An EU official told Euronews that a majority of the Commissioners had agreed to strengthen the EU’s trade defence tools to help counter China. Proposals will be made to EU leaders during their summit on 18 June.

However, member states remain divided over the EU’s China policy. A non-paper signed by France, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands and Lithuania called for faster use of tariffs and quotas on imports threatening EU industrial sectors, with China the principle target. The idea is to restore a level playing field against Chinese trade practices that many in Europe describe as unfair.

Among those countries taking a different line is Germany, whose policy is to preserve access to the Chinese market for its companies even as it faces a deep trade deficit.

Meanwhile, the Commission said it will continue engaging with China. There have been reports that Commerce Minister Wang Wentao could visit Brussels on 28 and 29 June, but the visit has not yet been publicly confirmed.

CLOVIS — Cool conditions produced a bunch of fast times Friday at the CIF state track and field championships.

Rosary Academy sprint coach Jon Gilmer was worried 4×100-meter relayers Tra’via Flournoy, Justine Wilson, Pfeiffer Lee and Maliyah Collins might get complacent at prelims, but the Royals were the top qualifiers in 45.13 seconds — nearly a full second faster than Canyon Country Canyon (46.07) — at Buchanan High School.

“It’s different not having Calabasas here,” Gilmer said. “Now we’ve got to push ourselves.”

Rosary set a state record (44.23) at the Arcadia Invitational on April 11, but lost to the Coyotes one week later at the Mt. SAC Relays. However, the anticipated state finals clash was not to be as Calabasas dropped the baton in the Southern Section finals and failed to advance.

Collins had a huge lead by the time she received the stick for the anchor leg Friday.

“This is maybe our fourth- or fifth-fastest time but we just wanted to make finals,” said Wilson, who ran the second leg before handing off to Lee. “We want to run faster tomorrow when we go for a PR, the meet and the state record.”

Calabasas might be out of the relay, but three Coyotes remain in contention in the 100, led by Malia Rainey (the top qualifier in 11.54), Marley Scoggins (11.63) and Olivia Kirk (11.63).

Calabasas sprinter Marley Scoggins, center, wins her 100-meter heat at the CIF state track and field preliminaries on Friday.

(Steve Galluzzo / For The Times)

Collins won her heat in 11.62, the third-fastest time.

Servite won the first heat in the boys 4×100 relay in 40.29 — two hundredths off its winning time at last year’s state finals — and is primed to defend its title in the event. Concord De La Salle (40.81) was the second-fastest qualifier, followed by the other heat winners, Rancho Cucamonga (40.87) and Loyola (40.93).

“We got the stick around pretty good today,” said Jorden Wells, who ran the first leg Friday instead of his customary second leg, which was run by Jaelen Hunter. “Did it feel different? Not really, I’ve done it before.”

Wells said his twin brother Jace will run the first leg Saturday, he will run the second while Kamil Pelovello and Benjamin Harris will stay in the third and fourth positions.

Harris, the favorite to win the 100 meters, won his heat in a wind-legal 10.36, but three others were fractions faster in wind-aided times — Elk Grove’s Cy Lugo (10.20), Will Wood’s Deshawn Seymour (10.34) and De La Salle’s Damari Dean (10.34). Newbury Park’s Jaden Griffin won the last heat in 10.37, setting the stage for an exciting finals sprint as all nine qualifiers ran under 10.48.

Harris put himself in position for a Saturday double by winning his 200 heat in 21.10 but as he did in the 100, Lugo (the Sac-Joaquin Section record holder) had the fastest time (20.73), followed by Seymour (20.88), Camren Hughes (20.93) of Palos Verdes and Jace Wells (21.02). Jordan Wells (21.11) also made the cut.

Newbury Park’s Jaden Griffin, center, shouts after winning his heat in the 100 meters at the CIF state track and field preliminaries on Friday.

(Steve Galluzzo / For The Times)

Servite (3:15.43) had the second-fastest qualifying time in the 4×400-meter relay behind only El Cerrito (3:14.96) of the North Coast Section.

Coming off a state-record 3:33.83 at the Masters Meet in Moorpark, Long Beach Wilson’s 4×400 girls relay had the fourth-fastest qualifying time (3:46.73) without two out of its best runners (Clara Adams and Saniah Varnado), taking second in the first heat behind San Luis Obispo (3:45.85) and safely advancing to the finals along with Heat 2 runner-up Rosary (3:45.08) and Heat 3 winner Canyon Country Canyon (3:46.77).

Having broken the Southern Section record in the 400 meters six days earlier in 51.98, Adams put it in cruise control to win her heat in 53.53, the fastest qualifying mark. Joining her in the final will be her three relay teammates Varnado (54.42), Wilson (54.57) and Fowler (54.62). Adams later won her 200 heat in 23.60, a tenth of a second behind fastest qualifier Naiaja Sizemore of Vanden.

San Jacinto Valley Academy’s Kaahliyah Lacy ran a wind-legal 13.59 for the top qualifying spot in the girls 100 hurdles and Varnado (40.85) was the top qualifier in the 300 hurdles.

Another showdown is brewing in the boys 400, where Loyola’s Ejam Yohannes (47.08) and Hunter (47.21) won their heats in the two fastest times Friday. Hunter clocked 46.32 to set a California freshman record last spring, but lost to Yohannes by 11 hundredths of a second at the Masters Meet.

City Section champion Jayden Rendon showed good form in his bid to defend the state 300 hurdles crown, posting the fastest prelims time (36.80). He also advanced to the finals in the 110 hurdles with a 13.83 effort. Moorpark’s Davis Benson (14.03) nabbed the last spot.

Corona Santiago’s Braelyn Combe, right, wins the first heat of the 800 meters at the CIF state track and field preliminaries on Friday.

(Steve Galluzzo / For The Times)

Corona Santiago senior Braelyn Combe won her 1,600 heat in 4:46.88 and is set for a four-lap battle with San Diego Section champion Chiara Dailey of La Jolla, who won the second heat in 4:46.00. Combe is the defending champion, having edged Hanne Thomsen of Santa Rosa Montgomery by five hundredths of a second in the finals last year.

“I just wanted to advance with as little effort as possible,” Combe said. “It was not as hard as I expected. I don’t want to leave any regrets. I’m taking it one race at a time.”

Combe also had the fastest time (2:08:25) of three heats in the 800 meters.

Venice senior Lawrence Kensinger, who set the City Section shot put record with a state-leading throw of 65 feet 11 inches last week, had the third-best mark at prelims (59-6¾) and easily advanced to the finals. Defending state high jump champion JJ Harel of Sherman Oaks Notre Dame tied nine others for the second-best mark (6-6) heading into the second day.

Aliso Niguel senior Jaslene Massey had the top marks in the girls shot put (51-3¾) and discus (175-6) and transgender athlete AB Hernandez from Jurupa Valley was the leading qualifier in the girls long jump (20-5½) and triple jump (41-8½) and was one of 13 qualifiers in the high jump.

AB Hernandez competes at the CIF state track and field preliminaries at Buchanan High School on Friday.

(Tomas Ovalle / For The Times)

Clara Adams expected to win the 400-meter dash Saturday in the Southern Section Masters Meet at Moorpark High. The Long Beach Wilson junior not only won, she broke the section record, circling the track in 51.98 seconds.

“To be honest, I did not expect a 51 today … that was my end goal and I got it before state,” said Adams, who topped the previous mark [set by Norco’s Shae Anderson in 2017] by one hundredth of a second. “It says a lot about my training and teammates who push me in practice every day. I’m ecstatic.”

Even better than breaking a section record is breaking a state record and Adams was smiling wider several hours later after she and teammates Brooke Blue, Brooklyn Fowler and Saniah Varnado did just that by clocking 3:33.83 in the 4×400 relay to obliterate the time of 3:35.49 set by Moore League rival Long Beach Poly in 2004. Rosary Academy was a distant second in 3:41.33.

“The 400 was our first race of the day, all of us ran it and we all qualified for state and that carries over to the rest of the day,” said Adams, who ran the third leg and widened the Bruins’ lead before handing the baton to Varnado for the anchor leg. “The state record is a bonus. We handled our business and now we have a week to prepare to go for the national record.”

Florida Montverde Academy owns the national record of 3:31.68, achieved at the 2024 New Balance Nationals Outdoor in Philadelphia, but Wilson’s foursome was content with the state record, at least for now.

“We already had a good lead when I got it but everyone was getting loud and I was pushing,” Varnado said. “I was thinking we could run in the high 3:30s. I’m proud of how well we did and hopefully we can do even bigger things at state.”

The CIF state track and field championships are next weekend (prelims Friday and finals Saturday) at Buchanan High in Clovis and as usual the Southern Section will be well-represented as numerous athletes met the qualifying standards.

After three-peating in the 1,600 and 800 one week before at the Southern Section finals, Corona Santiago senior Braelyn Combe won both events again Saturday, winning the 1,600 in 4:43.03, well off her 4:41.36 effort at the section finals but still more than two seconds faster than runner-up Reese Holley of JSerra. She won the 800 Saturday by about the same margin in 2:06.04.

Calabasas dominated at the section finals with four runners breaking the Division 3 record in the 100. They were back at it Saturday as last week’s champion Malia Rainey ran 11.33 to win the first heat. Devyn Sproles equaled Rainey’s 11.41 one week before to win the second heat and take second overall. Marley Scoggins (11.46) was third and Coyotes teammate Olivia Kirk (11.62) was fifth.

Tra’via Flournoy led off Rosary’s 4×100 relay, which won in 44.79 at the Masters Meet on Saturday in Moorpark.

(Steve Galluzzo / For The Times)

Rosary’s 4×100 relay established itself as the favorite at state finals with a 44.79, more than a second faster than runner-up Canyon Country Canyon. The Royals’ foursome of Tra’via Flournoy, Justine Wilson, Pfeiffer Lee and Maliyah Collins is hoping to top the state-record (44.23) it set at Arcadia in April when it heads north for the state meet.

“It wasn’t a [personal record] but it was faster than last week,” said sophomore Collins, who ran the anchor leg. “This was a tuneup. Our handoffs were clean and we got the baton around the track. That was our main focus.”

West Ranch junior Tamea Crear (23.50), Kirk (23.54) and Rosary’s Wilson (23.61) and Collins (23.69) took the top four spots in the 200 meters.

San Jacinto Valley Academy sophomore Kaaliyah Lacy clocked 13.44 to win the 100 hurdles, one hundredth off her state-leading time that earned her the Division 4 section title one week ago. Varnado won the 300 hurdles in 41.53.

Irvine senior and Duke commit Summer Wilson, a three-time Southern Section champion in the 3,200, ran a new-season best (10:14.45) and shaved nearly 10 seconds off her time in the Division 2 sectional race.

Irvine’s Summer Wilson wins the 3200 meters in 10:14.45 at the Masters Meet after placing third last year.

(Steve Galluzzo / For The Times)

After sweeping the all three jumps events at the Division 3 section finals, Jurupa Valley senior AB Hernandez did the same Saturday, winning the long jump in 20 feet, 0.75 inches, the triple jump in 40-7 and the high jump in 5-8.

Los Alamitos senior Cassidy Nguyen cleared 13-2 to win the pole vault while Aliso Niguel was first in the discus (165-10) and shot put (49-0) after winning the Division I section crown in both last week.

Woodbridge junior Aidan Antonio won the 3,200 boys race in 8:55.30 while Sterling White of Oaks Christian became the first freshman in state history to break nine minutes, finishing seventh in 8:59.26 to break the ninth-grade record of 9:01.1 set by Eric Hulst of Laguna Beach in 1973.

Riverside King’s Maximo Zavaleta (4:06.30) and Antonio (4:06.54) battled all the way to the finish line to claim the top two spots in the 1,600.

Having won the Division 3 boys title in 38.39 one week earlier, Servite’s 4×100 relay won Saturday’s race in 40.17, followed by Moorpark (40.60) and Loyola (40.83).

“I like the first leg and coming out of the blocks because I get to see my teammates win,” said Jace Wells, whose exchange to Jorden Wells was smooth. Kamil Pelovello and Benjamin Harris ran the last two legs. The foursome set the state record (39.70) at Arcadia.

Harris won the 100 in a wind-aided 10.17 (one hundredth faster than his time in the Division 3 section finals last week), then won the 200 in 20.80 (31 hundredths slower than his winning time a week ago).

“It’s what I expected — I’m proud of it,” Harris said of his 100 time. “I just wanted to execute, win my race and move on. There’s more work to be done.”

Loyola’s Ejam Yohannes beats Servite’s Jaelen Hunter by 11 hundredths of a second in the 400-meter dash.

(Steve Galluzzo / For the Times)

In the most exciting finish of the day, Loyola senior Ejam Yohannes edged Servite sophomore Jaelen Hunter by 11 hundredths of a second in 46.40 in the 400 meters, one week after Hunter ran 46.36 to set a section Division 3 record. Johannes cut three tenths off his Division I winning time last week.

Upland (3:18.54) won the boys 4×400 and Gardena Serra (3:18.88) was second. Crean Lutheran’s Noah Richardson cleared 15-6 to win the pole vault while Redondo Union’s Bo Ausmus won the discus with a throw of 185-7 and the shot put with a mark of 61-9.

Having won the Southern Section Division 3 high jump crown in a lifetime best and state-leading 7-01 seven days earlier, Sherman Oaks Notre Dame senior JJ Harel still had the best height Saturday at 6-10, tied with Nathaniel Baca but winning on fewer misses. Harel aims to repeat as state champion.

Moorpark’s Davis Benson was first in the long jump Saturday at 22-11.75 (he won the Division 3 section crown with a leap of 23-5 last week), followed by Dane Malloy (22-10.5) and Harel (22-9.25). Paloma Valley senior Arthur Stringer won the triple jump in 47-4.5.

Long Beach Poly’s Lynnox Newton won the 110 high hurdles in 13.69, Etiwanda’s Brandon Andrade (13.85) was second and Benson (13.94) third. Andrade (37.01) was second behind Palm Desert’s Kingston Penny (36.86) in the 300 hurdles.

DEVELOPING STORYDEVELOPING STORY,

Xi and Putin hold talks just days after US President Donald Trump made an official visit to China.

A meeting between Chinese leader Xi Jinping and visiting Russian President Vladimir Putin has started in Beijing, Chinese state media report.

Xi welcomed Putin to the Chinese capital on Wednesday, shaking hands with the Russian leader outside the Great Hall of the People before their talks, video by Russian media showed.

Before entering the Great Hall, Putin and Xi walked down a red carpet, rolled out to greet the Russian leader, and stood as a military band played their two national anthems.

Putin began the talks by hailing the “strong, positive” momentum in cooperation between Russia and China, according to Russian media.

“Even amid unfavourable external factors, our cooperation and economic cooperation is showing strong, positive momentum,” Putin told Xi.

Addressing Putin, Xi lauded the “unyielding relationship” between China and Russia.

“We have been able to continuously deepen our political mutual trust and strategic coordination with a resilience that remains unyielding despite trials and tribulations,” Xi told Putin, according to China’s Xinhua news agency.

The Chinese leader also addressed war in the Middle East, telling his Russian counterpart that further conflict was “inadvisable” and a ceasefire was necessary.

“A comprehensive ceasefire is of utmost urgency, resuming hostilities is even more inadvisable and maintaining negotiations is particularly important,” Xi said, according to Xinhua.

Al Jazeera’s Katrina Yu, reporting from Beijing, noted that Putin’s visit and that of the recently concluded trip by US President Donald Trump to China were very different.

Putin, she said, is marking 25 years of the Sino-Russian friendship, has visited China dozens of times, and met with Xi on more than 40 other occasions.

“So this visit will really be about deepening existing coordination and cooperation,” Yu said.

“We are expecting that the two sides will update each other on the situation in the Middle East, as well as Ukraine. No doubt, Xi Jinping will also talk to Putin about what was discussed with Donald Trump last week,” Yu said.

Putin is being accompanied by a large delegation of Russian businesspeople and government leaders, and the Kremlin has announced that the two leaders will sign some 40 different agreements, Yu said, covering everything from the economy and tourism to education.

“But I think for Putin, the main topic of discussion with Xi Jinping is going to be on energy security,” Yu said.

“Since the war in Ukraine, any gas sales that were previously heading to Europe – that is all dried up – and Russia is in desperate need of revenue to replace that, especially since we are in the fifth year of the Ukraine war,” she added.

In a video address released before meeting Xi, Putin said Beijing and Moscow are prepared to cooperate with each other on “core interests ‌of ⁠the two countries, including the protection of sovereignty and national unity”, the Reuters news agency reports.

Both countries are actively expanding ⁠ties in economy, politics and defence, Putin said, adding that “a close” and “strategic” connection between Moscow and Beijing ⁠was playing “a stabilising role” in global relations.

“We are not aligning against anyone, but working ⁠for the cause of peace and universal prosperity,” Putin said.

United States President Donald Trump has departed for Beijing ahead of a high-stakes summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping, after weeks of unsuccessful US efforts to persuade China to help bring Iran back to negotiations and ease tensions around the Strait of Hormuz.

The leaders of the world’s two largest economies are due to meet on Thursday and Friday during Trump’s first visit to China since 2017, with talks expected to focus on trade, Taiwan, artificial intelligence and the war involving Iran.

Here is what we know about the upcoming summit and the key issues expected to dominate the agenda.

Why does the Trump-Xi summit matter?

The Trump-Xi summit is a high-level meeting between Trump and Xi Jinping taking place in Beijing as the world’s two largest economies face growing tensions over trade, technology, Taiwan and the Iran war.

The summit is particularly significant because Trump will be the first US leader to visit China in nearly a decade, while the talks also come at a time of heightened geopolitical and economic uncertainty. Originally expected earlier this year, the meeting was delayed by the war on Iran.

Before departing for Beijing, Trump said he and Xi would have a “long talk” about Iran, although he stressed that trade would remain the central focus of the visit.

“Trade remains politically powerful, especially for Trump, because it gives rivalry a language that voters can easily understand,” said Salvador Santino Regilme, associate professor and programme chair of international relations at Leiden University. “Yet the deeper conflict concerns hierarchy, legitimacy and the future architecture of global order.”

Regilme added that both countries remain locked in a relationship shaped by strategic rivalry and deep economic dependence.

“The United States still relies heavily on China’s manufacturing capacity and low-cost production, while China depends on access to US consumers, technology, capital markets and the wider stability of the dollar-centred global economy.”

“This is the paradox of US-China rivalry: each side wants greater autonomy, yet both remain tied to a structure of mutual dependence that neither can easily dismantle without hurting itself,” Regilme added.

What are the biggest issues at the Trump-Xi summit?

Analysts say the US and China are entering the summit with different priorities.

Trump is expected to focus heavily on trade with the aim of securing what he can present as economic wins ahead of November’s midterm elections. Washington has pushed for China to increase purchases of American goods, including Boeing aircraft, beef and soya beans, while also seeking closer investment and trade cooperation.

Beijing, meanwhile, is expected to press the US to ease restrictions on advanced semiconductor exports and roll back measures limiting China’s access to critical chip-making technology. Taiwan is also likely to remain one of the most sensitive and contested issues in the summit.

Trump has also said he plans to raise the case of Jimmy Lai, the jailed Hong Kong media tycoon and pro-democracy figure sentenced earlier this year under Beijing’s national security law.

Beyond bilateral disputes, the two leaders are also expected to discuss the war on Iran, tensions around the Strait of Hormuz and the growing risks linked to artificial intelligence.

The biggest flashpoints include:

Tech vs rare earths

Technology and supply chains are expected to be among the key issues at the summit, as Washington and Beijing remain locked in a widening battle over semiconductors and critical minerals.

The US has tightened restrictions on advanced chips and chip-making equipment going to China, saying the measures are needed to slow Beijing’s military and AI development.

China, meanwhile, controls roughly 90 percent of global rare earth refining, materials essential for semiconductors, electric vehicles, military equipment and electronics, and has responded with tighter export controls on several critical minerals.

Beijing is expected to push for fewer US technology restrictions, while Washington wants China to resume shipments of rare earths and critical minerals after export controls disrupted parts of the American automotive and aerospace sectors.

 Iran war and the Strait of Hormuz

The Iran war is expected to be one of the most closely watched issues at the summit.

Analysts expect Washington to press Beijing to use its influence over Tehran, particularly because China remains the largest buyer of Iranian oil — by far — purchasing more than 80 percent of Iran’s shipped crude exports. US officials have also urged China to support efforts to reopen and secure the Strait of Hormuz, a vital route for global energy supplies.

The conflict has also increased pressure on China’s economy and energy security. About half of China’s crude oil imports come from the Middle East, while disruptions in the Gulf have left commercial shipping vulnerable to attacks and delays.

“I have no doubt that Trump is going to at least try to enlist Xi Jinping to assert some pressure for the Iranians to come back to the table and agree to a settlement,” said Dan Grazier, a senior fellow and director of the National Security Reform programme at the Stimson Center.

Experts say Iran may be one of the few areas where US and Chinese interests overlap, as both countries benefit from stable energy flows through the Gulf.

“Both sides would like to see the strait opened,” said Gregory Poling, director and senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), but he noted Beijing is unlikely to align itself too closely with Washington’s approach towards Tehran.

While China wants shipping through the Strait of Hormuz restored, Poling argued the diplomatic and strategic pressure created by the disruption is falling far more heavily on Washington.

“It is not China being humiliated in the strait … It’s the US.”

Taiwan: An existential problem

Taiwan is expected to be one of the most sensitive issues, with Beijing repeatedly warning that it remains the biggest source of tension in US-China relations.

China claims the self-ruled island as part of its territory and has increased military pressure on Taiwan in recent years through regular air and naval operations around the island.

Tensions have risen further under Taiwanese President William Lai Ching-te, whom Beijing has sharply criticised because his party views Taiwan as already sovereign.

The US officially recognises the communist mainland as China but is legally committed under the Taiwan Relations Act to support Taiwan’s self-defence, a policy that has long angered China. Washington has approved tens of billions of dollars in military sales to Taiwan over the years, including an $11bn package announced last year, and Trump recently said he discussed the issue with Xi ahead of the summit.

Analysts say Taiwan will be paying close attention to what Trump and Xi say publicly after the summit, especially on defence and arms sales.

“What matters is the precise wording,” Regilme said. “Whether Trump reaffirms support for Taiwan’s defence, whether he sounds ambiguous on arms sales, and whether he gives Xi any rhetorical opening to claim that Washington is restraining Taipei.”

Regilme said Beijing is likely to push for limits on US arms sales and stronger political restrictions on Taiwan, while also discouraging any movement towards formal independence. At the same time, Taipei fears it could become part of a broader geopolitical bargain between Washington and Beijing.

“In great-power politics, small words often carry large consequences, especially for those whose survival depends on the credibility of others,” Regilme added.

Tariffs

Trade is also expected to be a sticking point after years of friction between the US and China over tariffs and economic competition.

The latest trade dispute intensified last year when Trump imposed new tariffs on Chinese goods. China responded with its own tariffs.

At the height of the dispute, tariffs on some goods climbed above 100 percent, prompting concerns about the impact on global trade and supply chains.

The two countries later agreed to temporarily lower tensions through a trade truce reached during talks in South Korea. As part of the deal, China agreed to buy more US agricultural products, including soya beans, while Washington rolled back some tariffs.

What would count as a successful outcome for Trump and Xi?

Analysts say a successful outcome for Trump would likely need to be visible and easy to sell politically at home. That could include Chinese purchases of US goods, movement on tariffs, cooperation on Iran, or progress on rare earth exports.

“Trump’s foreign policy style places enormous value on the public performance of dealmaking, so the optics of success may matter almost as much as the substance,” Regilme said.

For Xi, success would mean preserving stability without appearing to bow to Washington, while securing greater economic predictability and recognition of China as a global power.

“A comprehensive trade deal seems unlikely because the structural sources of rivalry remain unresolved,” Regilme added.

Instead, he said a limited agreement is more likely, potentially involving tariff pauses, purchase commitments, rare earth arrangements or a framework for future negotiations.

“Such an agreement would manage the rivalry temporarily, while leaving untouched the deeper problem: the two economies remain mutually dependent, but their governments increasingly treat that dependency as a strategic danger.”

UK PM, who is battling to remain in his job amid resignations of ministers, is expected to hold talks with Streeting.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, fighting for his political survival after dozens of his own MPs called for him to resign, promised to press ahead with plans to reform the country before an expected meeting with his potential leadership rival Wes Streeting, the health secretary.

Starmer has so far defied calls to quit from Labour MPs, who blame him for heavy losses in local elections last week and say he has failed to deliver reforms since coming to power in a landslide 2024 election victory.

The meeting in Downing Street will take place before King Charles gives a speech at the opening of parliament – a grand ceremony led by him and used by the government to set out its political priorities and legislative agenda for the year ahead.

A public statement is not expected to follow the Streeting-Starmer meeting to keep the attention on the speech, according to British media reports.

Resignations

More than 80, or almost a quarter, of the prime minister’s elected MPs have called for Starmer to go, and four junior ministers have resigned in protest, including prominent MP Jess Phillips, who said she was tired of seeing “opportunities for progress stalled and delayed”; Alex Davies-Jones, who called last week’s election results “catastrophic”; and Zubir Ahmed, who is a Streeting ally.

Miatta Fahnbulleh, who was the first of four ministers to resign on Tuesday, said in a letter to the prime minister, cited by British media: “The public does not believe that you can lead this change – and nor do I.”

Meanwhile, Starmer said in a statement on Tuesday evening: “Britain stands at a pivotal moment: To press ahead with a plan to build a stronger, fairer country or turn back to the chaos and instability of the past.”

Despite the turmoil, Starmer will take part in parliament’s grand opening on Wednesday.

“The British people expect the government to get on with the job of changing our country for the better. Cutting the cost of living, bringing down hospital waiting lists and keeping our country safe in an increasingly dangerous world,” Starmer said.

A package of more than 35 bills and draft bills will focus on measures to improve the economy, strengthen national security and “reform the state to support a more active government that is on the side of British people”, the government said.

After travelling to parliament and donning the Robe of State, Charles will read a speech written by Starmer’s government setting out the planned new laws.

But the implementation of that speech remains as uncertain as Starmer’s political future. If he were to be removed, his successor would not be bound to follow the same plan.

After spending much of Tuesday behind closed doors at his Downing Street office as he sought to rally support, Wednesday’s ceremony will put Starmer’s struggle for power back in public view.

Donald Trump gives conflicting messages on prominence of Iran war in upcoming talks, with his administration emphasising trade.

United States President Donald Trump has departed the White House en route to Beijing, where he will meet with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping.

Trump spoke briefly with reporters on Tuesday as he boarded the Marine One helicopter. He was then set to arrive in China aboard Air Force One on Wednesday, ahead of the planned meetings on Thursday and Friday.

United States officials have taken pains in recent days to downplay how big a topic the US-Israel war on Iran will be during Trump’s visit.

Beijing has made its opposition to the war clear, at times asserting behind-the-scenes pressure on its trading partner Iran. However, it has largely avoided being pulled into the fray.

In recent days, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent have stepped up their calls for China to use its influence to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz, through which about 20 percent of the world’s oil supply flowed before the war began.

But Trump again gave conflicting messages on Tuesday about how much the war would feature in his meetings in China.

“We’re going to have a long talk about it. I think he’s been relatively good, to be honest with you,” Trump said of his plans to discuss the conflict – and how it has roiled global oil markets – with Xi.

Minutes later, he added, “We have a lot of things to discuss. I wouldn’t say Iran is one of them, to be honest with you, because we have Iran very much under control.”

“I don’t think we need ⁠any help with Iran. We’ll win it one way or the other, peacefully or otherwise,” he said.

Trade to loom large

The upcoming meetings will be the first face-to-face exchanges since the leaders of the world’s two largest economies met on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Busan, South Korea, in October 2025.

It is the second time Trump will travel to China as president, and the first time since his second term began on January 20, 2025. Xi is expected to travel to the US later this year.

Beyond the war, the US administration has stressed that trade will be a top subject discussed, with Trump seeking a series of business deals and agreements.

Underscoring that initiative, Trump invited an array of US business leaders to accompany him on the trip, including Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who had previously chaired Trump’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), and Apple CEO Tim Cook.

Both sides are expected to seek to avoid a return to the tariff war that defined Trump’s early days in office, which saw Trump set tariffs on Chinese goods at 145 percent, while China announced a further tightening of rare-earth export controls that would have hurt US industry.

The two sides reached a fragile truce in October of last year.

China’s continued support for Iran’s ballistic programme and its defence of Tehran’s nuclear programme has also risked again derailing relations.

Last month, Trump threatened to impose a 50 percent tariff on China after reports that Beijing was preparing to deliver a shipment of new air defence systems to Iran. He later backed away from the threat, claiming that he had received written assurance from Xi that he would not provide Tehran with weaponry.

Days later, Trump said that the US Navy had intercepted a Chinese vessel carrying a “gift” for Iran. Neither side offered further details of the incident.

Xi was also expected to push Trump on US arms sales to Taiwan, the self-governing island that China claims as its own.

Signing off her letter, Phillips said: “I want a Labour government to work and I will strive as I always have for its success and popularity, but I’m not seeing the change I think I, and the country expect, and so cannot continue to serve as a minister under the current leadership.”

Ian Bowen is manager of the “66 to Cali” shop/kiosk on the Santa Monica Pier. Many travelers go to the kiosk for the Route 66 “passports” and certificates of completion.

(Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)

Beyond the merry-go-round and before the Ferris wheel on Santa Monica Pier, Ian Bowen does business in a snug kiosk overstuffed with souvenirs, guidebooks and replica highway signs. The whole structure measures about 77 square feet. But the idea behind it sprawls for miles and keeps Bowen talking for hours on end: Route 66.

The 66 to Cali kiosk is owned by Dan Rice, who started the business in 2009 after years of travels on the Mother Road. But Bowen, 35, has been managing it for 10 years, making sales, offering advice and hearing travelers’ tales, which almost always come with surprises. He calls himself “a bona fide nerd about Route 66.”

“It took me six years to do the whole road and finish my last stretch in Arcadia, Oklahoma,” Bowen said between customers one recent night. Rather than cover more than 2,400 miles in a single trip, he has done what many American “roadies” do: biting off one chunk at a time. Before you know it, he said, “you become part of the community.”

That became obvious as Bowen flipped through the photo albums he keeps in the kiosk. There’s Harley Russell, ribald proprietor and performer at the Sandhills Curiosity Shop in Erick, Okla. There’s Fran Houser, the late, widely beloved proprietor of the Midpoint Cafe in Adrian, Texas. And there’s Bowen getting a haircut from Angel Delgadillo, the Seligman, Ariz., barber, now 99, who kicked off a resurgence of interest in Route 66 in 1987 with a call for historical recognition.

This is not the career Bowen planned for; he studied to be an industrial designer. But now that he’s in the business of celebrating Route 66, he sees it, and other highways like it, as a launching pad for independent businesses, a lifeline for small towns and an antidote to the isolation of contemporary society.

“The old roads aren’t just about nostalgia,” Bowen says on his website. “They’re about creativity, honest work, investing in ourselves and our communities, and the notion that effort is rewarded.”

For those considering a Route 66 trip, Bowen has advice of all kinds.

Want an old-school meal along the route in Santa Monica? Bowen will point you toward Bay Cities Italian Deli & Bakery, which opened in 1925.

A lunch spot near Elmer’s Bottle Tree Ranch in Oro Grande? Cross-Eyed Cow Pizza, said Bowen, is just down the road.

The backstory on Bobby Troup’s song “Route 66?” Bowen can tell you that Nat King Cole recorded it in early 1946 in a studio at 7000 Santa Monica Blvd. And that address, now occupied by the Jeffrey Deitch art gallery, is actually on Route 66.

Whatever your itinerary, Bowen urges a loose schedule, leaving plenty of room for discoveries and unplanned conversations. Otherwise, “it’s so easy to use up all your time and end up running behind,” he said.

One recent Friday, Leonidas Georgiou, 36, stepped up to the kiosk, brimming with enthusiasm.

Georgiou, who lives in Athens, only learned about Route 66 last year “from an influencer on Greek TikTok.” But once he heard about it, he acted fast. Georgiou plotted a U.S. trip, recruited his mom to ride shotgun and picked up a rented Mazda SUV in Chicago. They made the drive in 23 days, with detours to Las Vegas and Monument Valley and a stop at the Walter White house (from “Breaking Bad”) in Albuquerque.

The varying weather and landscape, Georgiou said, made it feel like a four-season trip. Several times, in cities where hotels seemed too pricey or too sketchy, he and his mom slept in their SUV. Before Bowen could speak up, Georgiou added that he’s a police officer in Athens, and that he chose their spots carefully. Georgiou’s mother, who didn’t speak much English, nodded in affirmation.

“Instead of spending $40 each and getting bedbugs, it’s better to sleep in the car,” Georgiou said. And in the larger picture, he said, it was important to give the trip all the time it needed.

“This is a lifetime journey,” Georgiou said.

Bowen nodded and smiled. Another 66 traveler, another set of surprises.

May 7 (UPI) — U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio met Thursday with Pope Leo XIV at the Vatican, a moment of diplomacy in the wake of President Donald Trump‘s repeated attacks on the Catholic leader.

Rubio and the pope talked about “the situation in the Middle East and topics of mutual interest in the Western Hemisphere,” State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott said, The Washington Post reported.

“The meeting underscored the strong relationship between the United States and the Holy See and their shared commitment to promoting peace and human dignity,” Pigott said.

The meeting, which was a little more than 2 hours long, was not open to the press. There has been tension between the White House and the Vatican in recent months, with Trump directing insults at the pope and the pontiff (who is the first U.S.-born pope) criticizing the United States’ actions in the Middle East.

Rubio also met with Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin. Pigott said Rubio and Parolin talked about “mutual cooperation and pressing international issues” and efforts “to achieve a durable peace inthe Middle East,” CBS News reported.

The meeting comes after Trump said in an interview Monday that the pope’s views on the U.S. attacks on Iran “are endangering Catholics and a lot of people” and that the Catholic leader “thinks its just fine for Iran to have a nuclear weapon.” In recent months, the president has also criticized Pope Leo on social media, saying the pontiff is “WEAK on crime” and “terrible for Foreign Policy.”

For his part, Pope Leo has said that he “has no fear of the Trump administration.”

“Should anyone want to criticize me for proclaiming the Gospel, they should do so with the truth,” the pope said in response to Trump’s comments Monday. “For years the Church has spoken out about all nuclear weapons, so there’s no doubt about it, there. So I simply hope to be listened to for the value of God’s word.”

May 4 (UPI) — U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is scheduled to meet this week with Pope Leo XIV in Italy, with planned topics including the Middle East and Cuba.

The State Department announced Monday that Rubio will meet this week with Leo, and an official Vatican calendar notice confirmed the meeting will take place Thursday.

The Washington Post quoted the announcement as saying Rubio, a prominent Catholic in President Donald Trump‘s administration, will “discuss the situation in the Middle East and mutual interests in the Western Hemisphere.”

A USA Today report indicated Rubio and Leo are also expected to discuss Cuba, which has been subject to a U.S. oil embargo and other measures in an attempt to force the smaller country into an economic deal.

The meeting will be the first time a high-ranking administration official has met with the pope since Trump took to social media last month to brand Leo “weak on crime” and “terrible for foreign policy.”

“He wasn’t on any list to be Pope, and was only put there by the Church because he was an American, and they thought that would be the best way to deal with President Donald J. Trump,” Trump wrote in April. “If I wasn’t in the White House, Leo wouldn’t be in the Vatican.”

Rubio and Vice President JD Vance previously met with Leo during a private audience at the Vatican in May 2025, one day after the pope’s Inauguration Mass.