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Nov. 7 (UPI) — Democrats are ready to end the federal government shutdown if Republicans agree to extend Affordable Care Act credits for another year, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer announced Friday afternoon.

Schumer, D-N.Y., said Senate Democrats favor passing a temporary funding measure and three other bills that would fund the federal government for one year, CNN reported.

“Democrats are offering a very simple compromise,” Schumer said on the Senate floor.

“Now, the ball is in the Republicans’ court,” he added. “We need Republicans to just say yes.”

Schumer’s announcement came after Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., earlier said the Senate will work through the weekend to negotiate reopening the federal government and possibly vote after a bipartisan effort failed Thursday.

Thune wanted to hold another vote on the House-approved continuing resolution to fund the federal government through Nov. 21, but Senate Democrats aren’t on board, he told media earlier Friday.

“Our members are going to be advised to be available if, in fact, there’s a need to vote,” he said.

“We will see what happens and whether or not, over the course of the next couple of days, the Democrats can find their way to re-engage again,” Thune added.

Thune earlier this week expressed optimism that a funding agreement would be made this week, but that ended after Senate Democrats met on Thursday.

“All I know is that the pep rally they had at lunch yesterday evidently changed some minds,” he said Friday.

“We had given them everything they wanted and had asked for,” Thune explained. “At some point, I was gonna say they have to take ‘yes’ for an answer, and they were trending in that direction.”

The impasse is due to Senate Democrats not trusting President Donald Trump to agree to extend Affordable Care Act tax credits that expire after December and to stop firing federal employees, The Hill reported.

Senate Democrats held a working lunch on Thursday, as referenced by Thune, during which they rejected a bipartisan proposal to reopen the government.

Sens. Gary Peters, D-Mich., Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., and Angus King, I-Maine, had worked out a deal with the GOP, which buoyed Thune’s hope of ending the government shutdown on its record 38th day.

Senate Democrats discussed the bipartisan proposal during their Thursday lunch and rejected it due to their distrust of the president.

The proposal would have included a short-term funding measure to reopen the government and a three-year appropriations bill that would have funded the Agriculture Department, Veterans Affairs, military construction and the legislative branch.

The USDA funding would have meant full funding for currently suspended Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits.

Lacking strong guarantees that the president would support extending Affordable Care Act credits that initially were enacted during the COVID-19 pandemic and that are scheduled to expire at the end of the year, the Senate Democrats said they won’t support the bipartisan plan to move forward.

Despite the continued opposition from Senate Democrats, Thune doesn’t expect the shutdown to continue into the Thanksgiving holiday weekend at the end of the month, he said while appearing on Fox News Friday.

Thune needs at least five more Senate Democrats to join with Democratic Party Sens. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada and King, who caucuses with Senate Democrats, to approve the continuing resolution.

Fetterman, Masto and King consistently have voted in favor of continuing the 2025 fiscal year budget while negotiating the budget for the 2026 fiscal year, which started on Oct. 1.

Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky is the only Republican senator to continually vote against the measure.

The House-approved continuing resolution consistently has received a majority of support in the Senate, but it has not received the 60 votes needed to overcome the Senate’s filibuster rule for passage.

Oct. 24 (UPI) — Melissa was upgraded to a Category 4 hurricane as it made its way toward Jamaica, the National Hurricane Center said Sunday.

It is expected to strengthen to a Category 5 storm, causing catastrophic conditions for Caribbean nations.

The hurricane became a Category 4 storm with maximum sustained winds of 140 mph while moving west at 5 mph and positioned about 110 miles south of Kingston, Jamaica, and about 285 miles south-southwest of Guantanamo, Cuba, the National Hurricane Center reported in its 2 p.m. EDT update.

The storm had become a hurricane at 9 a.m. EDT on Saturday and was upgraded to a Category 3 hurricane by Saturday night.

It continues to gain strength and could cause life-threatening and catastrophic flash flooding and landslides in parts of Southern Hispaniola and Jamaica into early next week.

Currently, a hurricane warning is in effect for all of Jamaica.

Hurricane watch advisories are also in effect for the southwestern peninsula of Haiti from the border with the Dominican Republic to Port-Au-Prince and for the Cuban provinces of Granma, Santiago de Cuba, Guantanamo, and Holguin.

Accuweather Meteorologist Alex Duffus warned that entire communities could be cut off from aid and support for several days.

“Melissa’s slow movement over the mountainous islands greatly increases the risk of catastrophic flash flooding and deadly mudslides,” Duffus said. “This can quickly escalate into a humanitarian crisis, where a large number of people are in need of basic supplies such as food, safe drinking water, housing and medical care.”

A hurricane warning is in effect in Jamaica, while a hurricane watch is in effect for the southwestern tip of Haiti and the Cuban provinces of Granma, Santiago de Cuba, Guantanamo and Holguin.

A turn to the north and northeast is forecast on Monday and Tuesday.

“This remains a very serious situation, in terms of catastrophic rainfall, wind, and storm surge hazards for Jamaica, and preparations should be rushed to completion in the area currently under a Hurricane Warning,” NHC forecaster Jack Beven said in a discussion.

On the forecast track, Melissa is expected to move near or over Jamaica through into early next week, and it could be near or over eastern Cuba by the middle of next week and then head northwest in the Atlantic farther from the United States.

“It must be noted that there is very little practical difference in the overall impacts of a Category 4 or 5 landfall, and Melissa is expected to be at least that intensity when it moves over Jamaica,” Beven wrote in a discussion.

“Melissa should weaken as it interacts with Jamaica and Cuba, although it is still forecast to be a major hurricane when it nears Cuba. A faster weakening should occur after passing Cuba when the cyclone encounters strong shear over the southwestern Atlantic,” he wrote.

This would be the strongest direct landfall for the island since tropical cyclone record-keeping has been kept in the Atlantic Basin.

Tropical-force winds stretch outward to 115 mph from the center.

Rainfall of 15 to 30 inches through Wednesday is forecast for portions of southern Hispaniola, which includes Haiti and the Dominican Republic, and Jamaica, with a local maximum of 40 inches, the NHC said.

Eastern Cuba is expected to receive rainfall of 6 to 12 inches, with local amounts up to 18 inches into Wednesday.

“Life-threatening storm surge is becoming more likely along the south coast of Jamaica later in the weekend or early next week,” the NHC said.

Peak storm surge heights could reach 9 to 13 feet above ground level, near and to the east of where the center of Melissa makes landfall and be accompanied by large and destructive waves.

There also is a potential for significant storm surge along the Cuban coast next week.

Melissa is the 13th named storm of the season, and it’s the first in the Caribbean.

This season has seen few storms, which have warmed the Caribbean Sea, and the warm water is potential fuel for stronger and more dangerous storms.

Three days into my walk along the Rhins of Galloway coast path and I was on love-hate terms with this new long-distance trail. Unruly and at times cruel, it forced me to hurdle fences, wade through bracken up to my midriff and teased me with disappearing paths and wayward waymarks.

But then, after I’d yelled profanities into the wind (there were no other hikers around to hear me), this raffishly handsome route would come over all sweetness and light. Look, it would simper: a dazzling and deserted white-sand bay! A ravishing spray of orchids! A crinkle of rocky foreshore be-flumped with seals! Once, moments after I’d cursed my way through a patch of Scottish jungle, a hare leapt from the sward just as a ruddy fox barred my way, a deer herd pronked down the cliffside and a buzzard mewed overhead; I felt like a sweaty Snow White summoning all the creatures at once, only by swearing rather than singing.

“We toyed with whether to call it a ‘path’ or a ‘trail’,” said Bryan Scott, Dumfries and Galloway council’s countryside development officer and route creator. After my solo jaunt on the path/trail’s north and western stages, we were hiking a gentler south-east section together.

Is there an official difference, I asked? “Well, no, but people think ‘path’ means there’s going to be some kind of a yellow brick road.”

I can confirm there is no such thing around the Rhins of Galloway, the striking hammerhead peninsula at the edge of the edge of south-west Scotland. But there is an admirable almost-realised vision and a lot of potential.

Southern Scotland sees a fraction of the tourists that head to the country’s lionised north: in 2024, there were 1.8m overnight visits to the Highlands and just 520,000 to Dumfries and Galloway – and I’d wager most of those don’t make it out to the Rhins. “No doubt about it,” one taxi driver told me, “this is the land that time forgot.” It was clear the area could do with a boost; creating an 83-mile, six-stage coast path around the Rhins is part of the plan.

“One of the aims was to give people a reason to stay longer,” Scott told me as we advanced along the high clifftops to the Mull of Galloway, Scotland’s southernmost point, where a Stevenson lighthouse stands sentry over the waves. The path is designed to improve access to this untamed, overlooked stretch of coast, which, as well as more lighthouses, features ancient promontory forts, RSPB reserves, ruined castles, spectacular beaches and exotic gardens (the Gulf Stream makes this one of Scotland’s warmest spots). The problem is, Dumfries and Galloway has more than 1,100 miles of core paths that need looking after, with a team of only five to do it.

I’ve been following the progress of the Rhins coast path for a while, drawn to the idea of circumnavigating what is essentially an island that no one seems to visit. This year – its “soft launch”, I was told – seemed the right time.

I started on Stranraer harbour, under the smart arch of corten steel marking the circular path’s beginning and end, using a GPX file of the route on my OS Maps app. From there I walked north, along the exposed shores of Loch Ryan, picking between oystercatchers and whimbrels, the alien blobs of barrel jellyfish, shaggy piles of bladderwrack and a crunchy scatter of shells. Somewhere under the loch’s blue lay Scotland’s last native oyster beds; during the second world war they were joined by surrendered U-boats, stowed here before being scuttled at sea. This area was strategically vital at that time, with parts of the D-day Mulberry harbour tested here, while flying boats, used to protect Allied shipping, were based on the headland known as the Wig.

The going from Stranraer around the north of the Rhins was generally good. Highlights of the 13½ miles included military history, intriguing strandline, flower-flecked tussock and the remains of iron age settlements with views to Ailsa Craig and the isle of Arran beyond. Still, I was excited to finally see day’s end in the distance: lonely Corsewall lighthouse. Erected in 1815, the tower still protects ships in these frothy waters, but the old keepers’ quarters are now a hotel.

John and Helen Harris welcomed me in. As well as running the place – “quite the challenge, in a good way, 99% of the time …” – they’re also among the volunteers helping to look after the coast path, cutting back overgrowth and reporting problems. They’re starting to get a few more walkers staying, they told me, and have compiled a folder of local rambles for guests not tramping the whole trail.

I could see the attraction of basing myself here for nice day walks: I’ve stayed in few more atmospheric spots, and the five-course dinner concocted by Helen’s son Richard in the teeny kitchen was ridiculously good. Before leaving the next morning, we had a quick chat about what lay ahead. Helen reckoned I’d already done the coast path’s toughest stage; John’s expression told me I had not.

John was right. The following two days – Corsewall to the pretty harbour village of Portpatrick, then Portpatrick to Port Logan’s wide, sandy sweep, around 15 miles each – were mettle-testing stuff. But also a proper adventure. I walked amid the sheep-grazed ruins of a wartime radar station to reach moaning seals. I accidentally annoyed a peregrine falcon, which spent a good 10 minutes shrieking above my head. I bounded across hills, high above the serrated rocky shore; at one point, I mistakenly dropped down to the sea, then followed in the hoof-prints of a flock of feral goats to get back up again.

I also picnicked on beaches I couldn’t believe I had all to myself – shingly Salt Pans Bay, where salt was harvested from the 1640s, and awesome Ardwell Bay, a curve of turquoise-lapped gold. In the late 19th century a former clown called William Purves lived in one of the caves here. I could see why.

On the first of these two tough days, for the final miles from Killantringan lighthouse to Portpatrick, the coast path falls in step with a section of the Southern Upland Way, which ultimately makes for Cockburnspath, on the east coast. This is one of Scotland’s official Great Trails, and the difference was stark: regular waymarks; an obvious track; I even met a volunteer hacking back the overgrowth. But, then, this trail was launched 40 years ago – evidence of what can be achieved.

Some of this will probably have been achieved by the time you read this. At the end of my trip, at the Mull of Galloway’s Gallie Craig cafe, Irish Sea swirling outside, Scott took on all my feedback. He’s since rewalked the trail, and a slew of new work is afoot to negotiate fences, increase signage, build a bridge and trim unruly plants. Improvement works should be completed by spring 2026. Yes, the Rhins of Galloway coast path is a little raw, but stick with it: I have high hopes it’ll mature very well.

The trip was supported by the South of Scotland Destination Alliance. Corsewall Lighthouse Hotel has doubles from £175 B&B; five-course dinner £49.50pp excluding drinks. For trail info, see dgtrails.org

BEIRUT, Lebanon, Oct. 10 (UPI) — Lebanon and Syria announced Friday the opening of a new chapter in their relations nearly 10 months after the ouster of Syrian President Bashar Assad.

This marks an attempt to move away from decades of tense ties, characterized by political domination and military interference, toward building a strong political and economic partnership.

Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani, the first high-ranking Syrian official to visit Lebanon since Assad was overthrown by rebel insurgents in December, said a historic, political and economic opportunity exists to transform the Lebanese-Syrian relationship from “a tense, security-based one into a strong political and economic partnership” that benefits both countries.

“We look forward to turning the page on the past because we want to build the future,” al-Shibani said, reaffirming his country’s respect for Lebanon’s sovereignty and its commitment to establishing strong bilateral relations.

Earlier Friday, Syria told Lebanon it decided to suspend the work of the Lebanese-Syrian Higher Council and limit all forms of correspondence between the two countries to official diplomatic channels.

The council was established in 1991, after Syria — under the late President Hafez Assad — imposed itself as the main power broker in Lebanon, having been granted a guardianship role after the civil war ended a year earlier.

Lebanon has suffered from a decades-long Syrian military presence — which began in 1976, shortly after the outbreak of the civil strife — along with political domination and manipulation that deeply affected its governance, political life, economy and overall stability.

Syria also was accused of being behind the 2005 assassination of Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and numerous other such killings during the civil war and in peace time. Its influence over Lebanon began to wane rapidly following the withdrawal of its troops in 2005 and the outbreak of anti-Assad peaceful protests in 2011, which soon escalated into a bloody civil war.

Syrians, for their part, harbor grudges against Hezbollah — and its patron, Iran –for siding with the Assad regime and joining the brutal battles against opposition fighters starting in 2012. The involvement of Hezbollah and Iran in Syria ended with Assad’s fall.

“Our peoples have suffered from wars and tragedies; let us try peace,” al-Shibani said after talks with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, calling for strengthened cooperation in all fields so that Lebanon can benefit from the lifting of international sanctions on Syria.

Aoun, who called for the appointment of a new Syrian ambassador to Lebanon — a post vacant since the fall of Assad — said that deepening and developing bilateral relations requires the formation of joint committees to address all outstanding issues.

Both countries have undergone major changes and are working to resolve several complex issues, including the case of over 2,000 Syrian detainees in Lebanese prisons, the fate of numerous Lebanese prisoners or missing persons in Syria, the return of 1.5 million Syrian refugees from Lebanon to their homeland, the demarcation of land and maritime borders, and joint efforts to combat drug trafficking and terrorism.

“We have a long road ahead of us. …. We have no choice but to agree on what serves these mutual interests,” Aoun said, noting that the situation along the Lebanese-Syrian border has improved.

Al Shibani, accompanied by Syrian Justice Minister Mazhar al-Wais, the head of Syrian intelligence, Hussein al-Salama; and the assistant interior minister, Maj. Gen. Abdel Qader Tahan, said all these issues were “certainly top priorities” and that committees from both countries are reviewing them.

The Syrian foreign minister, who also met with his Lebanese counterpart, Joe Rajji, and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, emphasized the importance of enhancing security and intelligence coordination, as well as forming technical and economic committees across the public and private sectors to support Syria’s post-war reconstruction.

“Syria is undergoing a phase of recovery and reconstruction, which should positively reflect on Lebanon,” al-Shibani said.

Rajji praised Syria’s new leadership for respecting Lebanon’s sovereignty and refraining from interference in its internal affairs, adding, “We will work together to open a new path based on peace, security, economic cooperation and joint development.”

Deputy Prime Minister Tarek Mitri, who attended the meeting between al-Shibani and Salam, said both countries demonstrated “political will” to address every issue “without taboos.”

“We have opened a new chapter in Lebanese-Syrian relations unlike any seen in the past fifty years,” Mitri said in an official statement released after the meeting.

PHILADELPHIA — This is over.

Or, from the perspective of the Dodgers, this is just starting.

Because the Dodgers are returning to the World Series.

Technically, they still have to close out their National League Division Series against the Philadelphia Phillies. They still have to win the NL Championship Series.

But they will.

They will because they won’t blow the two-games-to-none lead they have after their 4-3 victory over the Phillies on Monday in Game 2 of their best-of-five series.

They will because the Milwaukee Brewers and Chicago Cubs don’t have the firepower necessary to take down these Dodgers in the next round.

One victory at Citizens Bank Park would have sufficed. The Dodgers won two, and now they’re on the verge of sweeping the greatest threat they will encounter in their title defense.

“To get two in this environment is obviously massive,” first baseman Freddie Freeman said. “You can’t understate it. This is a really hard place to play in the regular season, let alone here (in the playoffs).”

The Dodgers can officially eliminate the Phillies on Wednesday.

They will be playing at Dodger Stadium. They will have their best pitcher on the mound in Yoshinobu Yamamoto.

Call in a priest — or a padre. The time has come to read the Phillies their last rites.

The Dodgers didn’t come close to winning 120 games, and they were underwhelming in the regular season, which explains why they were unable to secure either of the first-round byes that were claimed by the Phillies and Brewers. They entered the postseason with an alarmingly untrustworthy bullpen, and that bullpen nearly blew a four-run lead in Game 2.

But in stealing two wins at Citizens Bank Park, the Dodgers demonstrated they still have that championship something that no other team in baseball has.

That something emerged on Monday night in the six scoreless innings pitched by Blake Snell, the run-scoring slide by Teoscar Hernández on a slow roller by Kike Hernández, the two-run single by Will Smith that broke open the game, the insurance run driven in by Shohei Ohtani. That something was reflected in the two innings contributed by converted starter Emmet Sheehan, and game-saving defensive plays made by Mookie Betts, Max Muncy and Miguel Rojas.

“It’s huge,” manager Dave Roberts said. “It’s obviously huge. Guys are really stepping up.”

The Phillies aren’t stepping up, and their championship window that was opened by the likes of Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber could soon be closing. The urgency of the situation was recognized, with Phillies manager Rob Thomson making no effort to downplay the importance of Game 2, saying before the game that Ranger Suarez and Aaron Nola could pitch in relief.

Suárez and Nola were two candidates to start Game 3 (the Phillies announced after the game Nola would get the nod).

Thomson was prepared to deploy Suárez in a high-leverage situation. He was ready to call on Nola if the game went into extra innings.

“And we’ll figure out Game 3,” Thomson said.

The home fans comprehended the stakes. Citizens Bank Park was a madhouse in Game 1, but the crowd for Game 2 was comparatively toned down.

The nervous tension in the stadium quickly morphed into unbridled frustration, as the Phillies’ lineup was unable to do anything against Snell.

There were boos when batting champion Trea Turner struck out in the third inning. There were boos when Brandon Marsh was caught stealing on a pickoff by Snell to end the inning. There were more boos when Alec Bohm struck out for the final out of the fourth.

The first hit Snell gave up was with two outs in the fifth inning, a flare single to center field by Edmundo Sosa. The very next batter, Marsh, grounded out. More boos.

How nervous were Phillies fans? When a warning on the public-address system about streaking was followed by a bare-chested Philly Phanatic running across the outfield before the sixth inning, they offered no reaction. Baseball’s most iconic mascot was completely ignored.

Up to this point, the Dodgers were equally unproductive against the Phillies starter Jesús Luzardo. Betts singled and Teoscar Hernández walked in successive at-bats in the first inning, only for Luzardo to retire the next 17 batters in a row.

The Phillies threatened Snell for the first time in the sixth inning when Turner and Kyle Schwarber drew successive one-out walks. Up next: Harper, a two-time NL most valuable player.

In almost any other postseason, this is where Roberts would have instructed one of his coaches to phone the bullpen. But Roberts wasn’t about to replace Snell, not at this stage of the game, not with the combustibility of his relievers.

Snell struck out Harper and forced Bohm to hit a sharp grounder to Rojas at third base. Once Rojas secured the ball, he dived to the nearest bag, his outstretched glove touching the base before the hand of a sliding Turner.

The defensive stand set the stage for a four-run seventh inning that decided the game.

Thomson inadvertently assisted the effort but not because he removed Luzardo. His error was in the pitcher he chose to replace Luzardo with runners on second and third base with no outs. With closer Jhoan Duran available, Thomson went with Orion Kerkering.

Nothing could stop the Dodgers — not even their own bullpen.

Sheehan pitched the seventh and eighth innings, over which he limited the Phillies to a run.

Reluctant to use rookie Roki Sasaki twice in three days — Sasaki closed out Game 1 — Roberts gambled by calling on Blake Treinen to pitch the ninth inning. The slumping former World Series hero failed to get a single out, giving up a pair of runs on a double by Nick Castellanos. What was once a four-run lead was suddenly down to 4-3.

With Alex Vesia on the mound, the Dodgers executed a wheel play that resulted in Muncy fielding a bunt by Bryson Stott and throwing to third base, where Betts applied a tag on Castellanos. The play potentially saved a run, as well as the game.

Vesia was replaced with two outs and runners on the corners by Sasaki, who forced Turner to ground out.

The game was over.

Unofficially, the most important series of the postseason was, too.

Despite a difficult start to the year, Tesla (TSLA 2.27%) stock is now up by double digits in 2025. With a market cap of $1.3 trillion, however, many investors are wondering how much additional growth potential shares offer. Some analysts think that Tesla can become a $2 trillion business by the end of 2026. But there are some key risks to be aware of before loading up on Tesla stock.

Image source: Getty Images.

Tesla trades at a steep premium to Rivian and Lucid Group

The biggest risk facing Tesla right now is the stock’s premium valuation. Shares trade at a price-to-sales ratio of around 16. Other electric car stocks like Lucid Group and Rivian have stocks that trade between 3 and 7 times sales. According to this metric, Tesla trades at a 100% to 400% premium over the competition. That’s the case even though competitors like Rivian and Lucid have market caps under $20 billion, theoretically providing much longer growth runways versus Tesla’s $1.3 trillion valuation.

Of course, paying a high premium isn’t a problem if the company in question is growing fast enough to justify such a valuation. A company that trades at 16 times trailing sales, for instance, would trade at just 8 times sales one year from now if revenues grew by 100%. That is far from the case for Tesla, however.

This year, analysts expect Tesla’s sales to fall by around 5%. For comparison, Lucid and Rivian are expected to see sales grow by 61% and 6%, respectively. Next year, analysts do expect positive growth to return for Tesla, with 20% sales growth expected. But Lucid and Rivian are still expected to see higher sales growth than Tesla, with 93% and 33% expected sales growth, respectively.

So at least on a price-to-sales basis, Tesla shares trade at a hefty premium to both Lucid and Rivian even though its expected sales growth both this year and next year are below that of both companies. What’s up with that?

To be sure, competitors like Rivian and Lucid don’t have the scale or brand name recognition that Tesla does. But as mentioned, both also have arguably much more room to grow long term. The main differentiator is current or near-term growth, but long term growth potential in a new and exciting — but possibly overhyped — business segment: robotaxis.

Source: Getty Images

Robotaxis could become a $1 trillion business for Tesla

Analysts are very bullish on Tesla’s robotaxi dreams. The company launched a pilot version of its autonomous taxi service this summer in Austin, Texas. Additional cities like San Francisco may soon be on the way. Tesla CEO Elon Musk optimistically believes there could be 1 million or more Tesla robotaxi’s roaming the streets of America by the end of 2026.

How big could this business be for Tesla? Dan Ives, an analyst at Wedbush Securities, believes it could soon add $1 trillion to Tesla’s market cap. Cathie Wood, a high-profile, outspoken Tesla investor, believes the overall market could eventually be worth $10 trillion. Tesla is uniquely positioned to take on this market, with its large production facilities, multi-year investments in autonomous driving, and its sheer access to capital.

Even if Tesla’s robotaxi service stumbles in its first year — which many skeptics predict — the growth opportunity is clearly immense. And as mentioned, Tesla is uniquely capable of taking a leading role in this new industry. But as Reuters recently pointed out, “getting from dozens to millions of self-driving cars won’t be easy.” This should be viewed as a multi-decade opportunity for Tesla, not a near-term reality. Tesla’s bumpy rollout in Austin should be a testament to that fact.

Tesla’s stock price is reasonable for long-term investors who believe in the company’s robotaxi aspirations. But the premium is far too high for a simple EV manufacturer with smaller business segments in energy storage and generation. Tesla remains an exciting company to watch, but investors must be bullish on robotaxis over the long haul to justify a position.

1996. Wembley Stadium. I’m standing in a sea of England flags and fans, watching the Euros semi-final. As the crowd roars with one voice, it’s electric. Football’s coming home.

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It didn’t of course. But that day, England stood shoulder to shoulder. Beyond the stadium, across the entire country, we shared the highs and lows together.

Being there felt like we were part of something larger than ourselves. An England that belonged to our grandparents and our history, but also to our children and our future. And I felt like I was part of it.

That’s the power of our flag. To make us all feel like part of Team England.

Win or lose, north or south, black or white, old or young. Even Spurs and Arsenal were on the same team that day, cheering on our country.

So I know what a source of pride our flag can be, and what it means to people.

Which is makes it all the more shameful when people exploit that symbol to stoke anger and division.

I know people feel angry that the country they love doesn’t seem to work for them.

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People who feel like they’re doing everything right, but getting nothing to show for it.

Working harder and harder just to stand still, and worried what the future will look like for their kids.

I share that frustration. I’m determined to fix it. But a small minority see instead an opportunity to whip up hatred. To follow and old and dangerous playbook that sets people against one another.

That’s what we’ve seen in parts of the country. Police officers assaulted.

Loutish behaviour on the streets. And people made to feel like they are not welcome or safe here because of their heritage, religion or colour of their skin.

We’ve seen a nine year old black girl shot at in a racist attack. Chinese takeaways defaced. That sends a shiver down the spine of every right-minded Brit. This is not who we are.

When populist politicians, convicted criminals, and foreign billionaires take to the stage to encourage violence, make racist comments, and threaten our democracy, it casts a dark shadow of fear and violence across our society.

They want to drag our country down into a toxic spiral of division and hatred because it’s good for them. But their vile lies are not good for the country.

Here’s the truth. Over the past 15 years, trust in politics has been eroded. the economy became weaker and weaker. Opportunities disappeared as libraries, leisure centres, community spaces shut down during austerity.

Public services like our NHS neglected, neighbourhoods looking more and more tired as high streets shuttered up, anti-social behaviour blighting people’s lives.

Working people were left to scrap over fewer and fewer crumbs.

Now we’re at a crossroads. There is a dark path ahead of division and decline, toxicity and fear.

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A path that relies on destruction and disappointment, because when the damage is done and the graffiti cleaned away, it’s clear the populists  never had anything to offer – no hope, no future, no answers.

Or, there is the patriotic path of national renewal. Every one of us playing our part to renew, restore, rebuild the country we love.

That is the path we choose. 

Because this government is taking responsibility to reverse the decline.

We’re growing our economy so there’s more to go round for everyone, with 5 cuts in interest rates saving families up to £1,000 on their mortgage each year.

We’re building 1.5 million new homes, new towns, hospitals and schools and improving transport across the country. We’re delivering 5.2 million extra NHS appointments.

And we’re saving families £7,500 a year on childcare, giving hard working parents more cash and more time.

Of course we need to deal with the issues the country faces, like illegal immigration, head on.

But the way to be proud of our country again is to be part of the renewal, not the destruction. This is a struggle for the heart and soul of our nation.

But it’s not between ordinary people who simply want a better life for their families. It’s between patriots who care about our country, and populists who only care about themselves.

They want to control a current of tension and fear. I want the electricity I felt in that stadium almost thirty years ago, of a defiant Britain, a nation of decency and diversity, that still dares to stand together and believe in better.

Because this is the country that stood tall – with our allies – against the forces of fascism 80 years ago.

This is who we are. We’ve got the match of our lives ahead. And we need you on the pitch.

Sept. 20 (UPI) — The election of Pope Leo XIV in carried special meaning for Peru, particularly for the city of Chiclayo in the Lambayeque region, where the then-priest Robert Francis Prevost spent decades as a missionary and nearly 10 years as bishop.

Although Prevost was born in Chicago, he became a Peruvian citizen in 2015 when he was named bishop of what he called his “beloved diocese of Chiclayo,” a phrase he delivered in Spanish in his first words to the world after being elected pope.

The impact of his election has been not only spiritual, but also economic, with a significant boost to tourism in the city.

Lambayeque Gov. Jorge Pérez said Thursday that the region recorded an additional $42 million in revenue from tourism tied to the pope’s history in the area.

“No marketing agency, not even the most powerful in the world, could have achieved what Pope Leo has accomplished,” Pérez said in a television interview with CanalB.

Peru’s Ministry of Foreign Trade and Tourism officially launched the “Path of Pope Leo XIV” tourist route in late July, highlighting the Peruvian cities in which the pontiff carried out his missionary and pastoral work.

“This tourist route is not just an itinerary of more than 35 attractions in the regions of Lambayeque, La Libertad, Piura and Callao. It is a spiritual path and an invitation to rediscover who we are, where we come from and what unites us as Peruvians,” the ministry said.

As part of its plan to promote the route, the Peruvian government released a promotional video titled The Route of Leo, aimed at encouraging both domestic and international tourists to visit the destinations.

The official route includes historic churches, landmark museums and natural sites, such as the Santa María Cathedral in Chiclayo, the Pómac Forest Historic Sanctuary, the adobe pyramids of Túcume, the ruins of the former San Agustín Convent in Zaña, the Royal Tombs of Sipán Museum and the Chaparrí Ecological Reserve.

This is complemented by the rich cuisine of northern Peru, known for its diverse flavors and ancestral traditions, with dishes that blend seafood, agriculture and the pre-Hispanic heritage of the Mochica and Chimú cultures.

Some of the region’s most famous dishes include arroz con pato (rice with duck), cabrito a la norteña (northern-style goat and one of Pope Leo XIV’s favorites), stingray omelet and black clam ceviche.

For the first stage of the route, which required coordination across four regions and 20 municipalities, the Peruvian government allocated $151 million.

The Ministry of Culture also announced a second stage of the project, with $2.5 million set aside to upgrade the Sicán National Museum and to reinforce the preservation of Chiclayo’s Cathedral and La Verónica Chapel.

In addition, plans are underway to expand the Royal Tombs of Sipán Museum, one of Peru’s most important archaeological museums, which is known for its historical value, the preservation of its artifacts and the quality of its exhibits.

The museum houses the funerary treasures of the Lord of Sipán, a Moche ruler from the third century A.D., which were discovered in 1987 at Huaca Rajada near Chiclayo.

The discovery is considered one of the most significant in the Americas because it was the first intact royal Moche tomb found without looting, offering researchers a detailed view of the hierarchy and splendor of that culture.

We are now two weeks into the college football season, and here at the Times of Troy newsletter, we can confidently say that … we’re not really sure what to think of USC’s football team. The Trojans are an emphatic 2-0, having outscored their first two opponents by a combined margin of 99 points. They put up more yards against Georgia Southern (755) than they had in a game since at least 1972, when statistical records were first available.

(History lesson: That was still well off the program record of 978 yards, set almost exactly 100 years ago, when USC pummeled Pomona College 80-0 at the start of the 1925 season.)

And yet, for all the fireworks, I still have most of the same questions that I did before the season. Has Jayden Maiava taken a leap? Will the offensive line hold up? Is the defensive line better? Has the pass rush improved? All are trending in a positive direction at this point, but we still can’t answer any definitively. Not after two wins over completely overmatched opponents.

But for all my skepticism, I feel certain about one thing from the last two weeks, no matter how small the sample size: USC’s clearest path to the Playoff this season is through its backfield.

Through two games, USC leads the nation in yards per carry (8.6). It ranks second in the country in rushing touchdowns (10) and ninth in 20-plus yards runs (six), while exactly one in every three rush attempts by USC this season has gone for a first down.

None of those insane statistics are sustainable, of course. But Lincoln Riley told us that this was “the most talented backfield” of his tenure at USC, and so far, regardless of the competition, it seems clear that’s the case. What we don’t know for sure yet is how Riley will deploy his backfield through the Big Ten gauntlet that awaits at the end of this month.

He certainly shouldn’t need much more convincing that Waymond Jordan is capable of carrying USC’s offense. The junior college transfer’s ability to elude tacklers and change directions on a dime is truly unlike any back Riley has had at USC.

Early in the third quarter on Saturday, Jordan burst from the backfield like he was shot out of a cannon, stutter-stepped just enough to shake off two defenders, then turned on the jets. What might have otherwise been a seven- or eight-yard gain, instead became a 36-yard score.

Jordan isn’t alone in his explosiveness. Senior Eli Sanders is just as capable of breaking off a big play, like he did in Week 1, when he caught a screen pass and took it 78 yards to the house, sprinting at one point at a speed of 21 mph. Jordan served as more of a bell cow against Georgia Southern, but he still had three plays of his own of 10-plus yards.

Together, they appear to be a perfect duo in Riley’s offense. So will he let them lead the way?

Riley’s history might suggest otherwise. He has irritated fans for his reluctance to lean on the run, and rightfully so. You could make the case better clock management could have flipped a few of the one-score losses USC suffered a year ago.

This season, that could be even more important. The more Maiava throws the ball, the more likely he is to make the sort of big mistakes that could swing the game.

It happened more than once last season with Miller Moss. In three of USC’s six losses, Moss threw the ball 50 times. Enough that even Riley recognized that he should have run the ball more.

That can’t happen this season. Not with all that USC now has to work with in its backfield. And not with a season of experience in the Big Ten under Riley’s belt.

Riley has seen what it takes to make it through a Big Ten slate. Now it’s time to apply what he’s learned …

… and run the damn ball.

Tyran Stokes celebrates after a slam dunk earlier this year while playing for Sherman Oaks Notre Dame.

( Steve Galluzzo / For The Times)

—Micah Banuelos got the start at right guard over Alani Noa. Banuelos was in the thick of the competition to start at one of the guard spots, so this is less of a surprise on his end. But Noa being bumped after one week could be an interesting development. When Riley was asked about it, he only said that it was an “inside-the-walls decision”. Could this be Banuelos being the guy going forward? I didn’t think either really separated from the other at the position.

—Jahkeem Stewart lined up all over the defensive line in his first game action. The five-star freshman only played in a dozen football games at the high school level — and hadn’t played one in a while before Saturday. So Riley expected some rust. But even in his first game back, USC didn’t hold back on moving him around. Stewart played pretty much every position on the defensive line, including nose tackle. He played 23 snaps, fifth-most among USC linemen, and tallied two tackles. “He’s a really talented guy that I think is going to really impact our defense positively this year and in the future,” Riley said.

—A one-time transfer portal window is imminent. But there’s no perfect option. The NCAA Football Oversight Committee voted last week to get rid of the spring window, and while the change hasn’t been formally adopted, it’s heading in that direction. I agree with Riley that it’s ultimately progress. But if the 10-day window opens on Jan. 2, as Yahoo’s Ross Dellenger reported, that means coaches in the final four of the College Football Playoff will have to contend with players hopping into the portal mid-playoff run. Opening after the Playoff, meanwhile, might mean missing the beginning of an academic semester. “I don’t know that there’s a right answer,” Riley said. “You’re going to give up something either way.”

—The No. 1 basketball recruit in the country just visited USC. Sherman Oaks Notre Dame star forward Tyran Stokes took his official visit with Eric Musselman and Co. over the weekend. Stokes has already visited Kentucky, Kansas and Louisville, but USC is still in the thick of the race. He’s not the only top prospect who’s visited with the Trojans recently, either. Bellflower St. John Bosco stars Christian Collins (eighth overall) and Tajh Ariza (14th) had official visits at USC the weekend before Stokes. There’s no denying USC’s hustle on the recruiting trail during an absolutely critical year for recruiting in L.A. Now they just need to close with one of these top recruits.

—Tennessee and Penn State both just signed massive apparel deals to switch from Nike to adidas. Could USC follow? USC’s previous long-term deal with Nike is up next year, and the school is looking into all of its options. When Mike Bohn was athletic director, he complained to me multiple times about how bad USC’s current deal was with Nike. That’s not to say USC is looking to leave. But you can count on the size of the next deal making a much bigger difference, and adidas has shown a willingness to take big swings. For what it’s worth, in 2018, current USC athletic director Jennifer Cohen negotiated an identical switch, signing a huge apparel deal to flip Washington from Nike to adidas.

Big Ten travel tip

The most critical thing to know when traveling to Indiana from Los Angeles is that there are no direct flights into Indianapolis. So you can catch me flying into Chicago for each of the Trojans’ next three road trips.

But when it comes to fueling up before USC’s Big Ten opener in West Lafayette, Ind., next weekend, I’ll be checking out Triple XXX Family Restaurant. Once you get over the confounding/awesome name, it looks like just the sort of Midwestern diner that shouldn’t be missed. I’m a sucker for a diner burger. Especially when it’s named after a famous alum.

In case you missed it

Hernández: Is USC’s offense really that good? The Trojans’ numbers impress, but some questions loom

Clay Helton returns to USC at peace after being fired by Trojans

George Raveling, former USC basketball coach and Naismith Hall of Famer, dies at 88

What I’m watching this week

Domhnall Gleeson as Ned in “The Paper.”

(Aaron Epstein / Peacock)

I was skeptical when I heard that NBC was making a spinoff of “The Office” based on a Midwestern newspaper. I didn’t want it to sour my deep adoration for the original. But given the fact that it fits my algorithm to a frighteningly precise degree, of course I was going to give “The Paper” a shot.

And predictably, the plight of the newspaper — let alone one set 45 minutes from my hometown — was enough to get me hooked. It’s not a perfect show yet by any means, but neither was “The Office” when it first started. What I do know is Domnhall Gleeson is a joy, and there’s a kernel of something that could work here. I’ll subscribe.

Until next time …

That concludes today’s newsletter. If you have any feedback, ideas for improvement or things you’d like to see, email me at [email protected], and follow me on X at @Ryan_Kartje. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.

TORONTO — The smile is beatific, blissed out, even at an ungodly hour on our Zoom call from France. A week later, when I finally meet 43-year old filmmaker Oliver Laxe in person at a private Toronto celebration for his new movie “Sirât,” he radiates serenity. He’s the happiest (and maybe the tallest) person in the room.

“One of the first ideas that I had for this film was a sentence from Nietzsche,” he says. “I won’t believe in a God who doesn’t dance.”

Laxe goes to raves — “free parties,” he clarifies, indicating the ones you need to hear about via word of mouth. He’s thought deeply about what they mean and what they do to him. “We still have a memory in our bodies of these ceremonies that we were doing for thousands of years, when we were making a kind of catharsis with our bodies.”

It’s almost the opposite of what you expect to hear on the fall festival circuit, when directors with big ideas make their cases for the significance of the art form. But the body, the return to something purely sensorial, is Laxe’s big idea.

Steadily, “Sirât” has become, since its debut at Cannes in May, a growing favorite: not merely a critic’s darling but an obsession among those who’ve seen it. (The film will have an awards-qualifying run in Los Angeles beginning Nov. 14.) A dance party in the desert set at some vaguely hinted-at moment of apocalypse, the movie is something you feel, not solve. Its pounding EDM beats rattle pleasurably in your chest (provided the theater’s speakers are up to snuff). And the explosions on the horizon shake your heartbeat.

“I really trust in the capacity of images to penetrate into the metabolism of the spectator,” Laxe says. “I’m like a masseuse. When you watch my films, sometimes you’ll want to kill me or you’ll feel the pain in your body, like: Wow, what a treat. But after, you can feel the result.”

An image from the movie “Sirât,” directed by Oliver Laxe.

(Festival de Cannes)

Laxe can speak about his influences: cosmic epics by the Russian master Andrei Tarkovsky or existential road movies like “Zabriskie Point” and “Two-Lane Blacktop.” But he is not a product of a typical grad-school trajectory. Rather, it’s his escape from that path after growing up in northern Spanish Galicia and studying in Barcelona (he tried London for a while) that’s fascinating.

“I was not good,” he recalls. “I didn’t find I had a place in the industry or in Europe. I was not interested. I had bought a camera, a 16-millimeter Bolex, and I knew I was accepting that my role was to be a kind of sniper that was working in the trenches but making really small films.”

At age 24, Laxe moved to Tangier, Morocco, where he would live for 12 years at a monastic remove from the glamour of the movies, collaborating with local children on his films. The experience would grow into his first feature, 2010’s “You Are All Captains,” which eventually took him all the way to the prize-winning podium at Cannes, as did his second and third films, all of which came before “Sirât,” his fourth.

“Slowly, the things we were making were opening doors,” he says. “In a way, life was deciding, telling me: This is your path.”

Path is what “Sirât” means in Arabic, often with a religious connotation, and his new movie takes a unique journey, traversing from the loose-limbed dancing of its early scenes to a train’s tracks stretching fixedly to the end of the line. There’s also a quest that gets us into the film: a father and son searching among the ravers for a missing daughter, potentially a nod to “The Searchers” or Paul Schrader’s “Hardcore,” but not a plot point that Laxe feels especially interested in expounding on.

“Obviously I have a spiritual path and this path is about celebrating crisis,” he says. “My path was through crisis. It’s the only time when you connect with your essence. I just want to grow. So that’s why I jump into the abyss.”

“My path was through crisis,” says director Oliver Laxe of his steady rise. “It’s the only time when you connect with your essence. I just want to grow.”

(Christina House / Los Angeles Times)

Laxe tells me he didn’t spend years perfecting a script or sharpening dialogue. Rather, he took the images that stuck with him — trucks speeding into the dusty desert, fueled by the rumble of their own speaker systems — and brought them to the free parties, where his cast coalesced on the dance floor.

“We were telling them that we were making ‘Mad Max Zero,’ ” he recalls, but also something “more metaphysical, more spiritual. A few of them, I already knew. There are videos of us explaining the film in the middle of the dance floor with all the people dancing around. I mean it was quite crazy. It’s something I would like to show to film schools.”

Shot on grungy Super 16, the production drove deep into craggy, sandblasted wastelands, both in Morocco and mountainous Spain, where the crew would make hairpin turns along winding cliff roads that would give even fans of William Friedkin’s legendary 1977 misadventure “Sorcerer” anxiety.

“It was my least dangerous film,” Laxe counters, reminding me of his “Fire Will Come,” the 2019 arson thriller for which he cast actual firefighters. “We were making the film in the middle of the flames, so I don’t know. I’m a junkie of images and I need this drug.”

There is a Herzogian streak to the bearded Laxe, a prophet-in-the-wilderness boldness that inspires his collaborators, notably longtime writing partner Santiago Fillol and the techno composer Kangding Ray, to make the leap of faith with him. But there also seems to come a point when talking about “Sirât” feels insufficient, as opposed to simply submitting to its pounding soundscapes, found-family camaraderie and (fair warning) churning moments of sudden loss that have shaken even the most hardy of audiences.

“The film evokes this community of wounded people,” he says. “I’m not a sadistic guy that wants to make a spectator suffer. I have a lot of hope. I trust in human beings, even with their contradictions and weaknesses.”

For those who wish to find a political reading in the movie, it’s there for them, a parable about migration and fascism but also the euphoria of a headlong rush into the unknown. “Sirât” is giving odd comfort in a cultural moment of uncertainty, a rare outcome for a low-budget art film.

Its visionary maker knows exactly where he is going next.

“I got the message in Cannes,” Laxe says. “People want to feel the freedom of the filmmaker or the auteur. What they appreciate is that we were jumping from a fifth floor to make this film. So for the next one —”

Our connection cuts out and it’s almost too perfect: a Laxian cliffhanger moment in which ideas are yanked back by a rush of feeling. After several hours of me hoping this was intentional on his part, the director does indeed get back to me, apologetically. But until then, he is well served by the mystery.

Germany begin their World Cup qualifying group with defeat by Slovakia, the third straight loss for four-time winners.

Four-time world champions Germany suffered their first away loss in a World Cup qualifier after their shock 2-0 defeat by hosts Slovakia in their opening qualifier for the 2026 tournament.

The Germans, who have set a goal of winning the 2026 World Cup, had never before lost a World Cup qualifier on the road, and they have now lost their last three consecutive matches, following defeats by Portugal and France in the Nations League in June.

“We did not show any emotionality in our game today. In terms of emotions, the opponents were miles ahead of us,” Germany coach Julian Nagelsmann said after Thursday’s defeat. “We want to go to the World Cup, but today we were miles away from that.

“I want to see that emotionality. We picked the best players in Germany, but maybe we have to put less importance on quality and more on players who will give it all out there.”

The Germans have not made an impact in major international tournaments since last winning the World Cup in 2014.

Nagelsmann’s team were on the back foot with the Slovaks missing a golden chance in the opening seconds with Lubomir Satka. Germany goalkeeper Oliver Baumann then denied Leo Sauer in their one-on-one with a superb save in the 21st minute, in early warnings that the visitors did not heed.

Slovakia’s offensive play paid off in the 42nd when Germany’s Florian Wirtz lost possession and the hosts launched a quick break with David Hanchko completing it with a fine finish.

Germany, toothless in the first half, looked more aggressive after the break, and Leon Goretzka came close. However, Slovakia struck against the run of play, with David Strelec sending defender Antonio Rudiger the wrong way before curling a shot past Baumann in the 55th.

“The first five minutes of the second half were a bit brighter, but the rest was pretty grim,” Nagelsmann said.

“I trust my team, but they have to understand that simply being a better player than the opponent is not enough if you don’t show willingness and desire. You won’t get results with the handbrake on.”

The Germans, who were eliminated in the first round of the previous two World Cups, were unable to mount a serious comeback, lacking any ideas and punch up front.

Slovakia travel to Luxembourg for their next Group A match on Sunday, while Germany host Northern Ireland.

Sudan has been struggling with a devastating conflict for more than two years.

Now it faces yet another challenge.

The paramilitary Rapid Support Forces has announced a parallel government to rival the one led by the army chief.

The African Union has rejected the move, and the army has dismissed it as a desperate attempt by the RSF to cling to power.

But analysts say the move carries a real risk, one that could further divide an already fractured country.

So how will this new power struggle play out both inside Sudan and more widely?

And how could it affect the Darfur region, where the RSF still wields control?

Presenter: Adrian Finighan

Guests:

Hafiz Mohamed – Director of Justice Africa Sudan, an advocacy organisation and research institute

Kholood Khair – Sudanese political analyst and founder of Confluence Advisory, a think tank formerly based in Khartoum

Cameron Hudson – Senior associate in the Africa Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies

California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta said Tuesday that he believes there is a “legal pathway” for Democrats to present new congressional district maps directly to voters on a statewide ballot, without input from the state’s independent redistricting commission.

Such a move, he suggested, would allow the state to counter Republican efforts to tilt next year’s midterm election by pushing redistricting measures that favor the GOP in conservative states such as Texas. If successful, Republicans would have a better chance of holding their slim majority in the U.S. House of Representatives and protecting President Trump’s ability to enact his agenda.

“I think the governor could call a special election that the voters of the state of California would participate in, and present to them a pathway forward that’s different than the independent redistricting commission, that has maps presented to them ready [and] tangible and specific, and then the people vote,” Bonta said, adding that his staff had been discussing the matter with Gov. Gavin Newsom’s team.

Republicans, who probably would lose seats if such a ballot measure was approved, were dubious of Bonta’s claim and argued that it is harmful to democracy. GOP Assembly Leader James Gallagher criticized Bonta’s proposal as a “strange legal theory to undermine CA voters.”

“It’s undemocratic, it’s wrong, and it needs to be stopped,” Gallagher said in a social media post Tuesday evening. “If they move forward in this fashion they will rip the state and this nation apart.”

Bonta provided few details about a potential ballot measure aside from saying that new district boundaries could be drawn by the state Legislature and presented to voters in a special election. The measure would ask voters to rescind the power they granted to an independent redistricting commission, at least temporarily.

Presenting maps directly to voters is viewed as an effort to sway Californians who may be leery of letting the Legislature redraw the districts after they vote, according to redistricting experts.

The governor’s office declined to say whether Newsom intends to ask the Legislature to put a map of the proposed districts on the ballot. His team said it is continuing to explore the two pathways he previously outlined — either having state lawmakers redraw the maps, which probably would face legal challenges, or placing the matter on the statewide ballot for California voters to decide.

Redistricting — the esoteric process of redrawing political boundaries — typically occurs once a decade, after the U.S. Census tallies population shifts across the nation. But it’s in the news because Trump — potentially facing the loss of the slim GOP majority in the House — urged Texas to redraw its congressional districts middecade to elect more Republicans in the 2026 midterm election so he can press his agenda during his final two years in office.

California lawmakers, like those in most states, used to gerrymander political boundaries to favor political parties and protect incumbents, often leading to bizarrely shaped districts with voters who sometimes had little in common. But in 2010, voters overwhelmingly passed a ballot measure to create an independent redistricting commission that focused on drawing congressional districts that consolidated communities of interest, respected minority voting rights and geographically made sense.

The state Republican and Democratic parties opposed the effort because it eroded their power. Now, after the Trump administration is urging GOP states to redraw district lines in a manner that would shore up their party’s control of Congress, Democrats are fighting back. In California, a partisan redrawing of the districts could net their party a half-dozen seats in the state’s 52-member delegation, which currently has nine Republicans.

Several steps would have to occur before any such potential change could be presented to the electorate, notably that the Legislature would have to approve placing the matter before voters in a special election and draw new maps in a compressed schedule. Legal challenges are likely.

“Generally, when the people vote on something, if it’s going to be changed in a significant way and not have additional steps taken by the Legislature in furtherance of what the people voted for, then the people need to vote for that change,” Bonta said, after being asked about the matter during a news conference. His office was working to “have confidence and assurance that there is a legal pathway for California to take action in response to any action that Texas takes. … We want to be confident that it was done lawfully originally, and that we can defend it appropriately in court.”

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The EU and the US are moving toward an agreement that would take the form of a headline “political understanding” to resolve their tariffs dispute before a July 9th deadline, rather than a comprehensive deal, according to several diplomats and an EU official.

“If there is to be an agreement, the most realistic outcome would likely be a general framework or a ‘principle agreement’ — something that, due to time constraints, would resemble the kind of understanding the US has reached with the UK or even with China,” a senior EU diplomat said, adding: “This would not be a detailed, comprehensive trade deal, but rather a political understanding laying the groundwork for more concrete arrangements.”

The potential agreement was discussed at a behind closed doors meeting in Brussels on Monday, with European Commission officials briefing EU ambassadors about the ongoing negotiations between the EU and the US. Ambassadors were also informed of a new US counterproposal which offered  “nothing very concrete”, one of the diplomats said.

The EU and the US are under pressure from the looming 9th of July deadline, after which US President Donald Trump has threatened to impose 50% tariffs on EU imports if negotiations fail.

Since mid-March, Washington has implemented a new policy that calls into question its trade relations with partners across the globe. The US currently imposes tariffs of 50% on EU steel and aluminium, 25% on cars, and 10% on all EU imports.

After weeks of fruitless discussions, negotiations between the Commission — which holds the mandate to negotiate on behalf of the 27 member states in trade matters — and the Trump administration began in mid-June, but their outcome remains in doubt.

The Commission initially proposed a zero-tariff agreement on industrial products and an offer to purchase strategic goods such as US liquefied natural gas. But it now appears to be coming to terms with a deal that would maintain a baseline 10% tariff on EU imports. Lower tariffs might then be negotiated for strategic sectors such as aircraft, for which transatlantic production lines are interdependent.

However, member states are divided over a potential deal with a baseline 10% tariff. Germany and Italy are reportedly in favour, while countries like Ireland and France remain more sceptical.

“If the US maintain 10% tariffs, there will have to be compensation on goods and products imported from the US,” French president Emmanuel Macron stated on 26 June after an EU summit, adding: “The levy must be the same — 10% for 10%, or the equivalent of 10%.”

A second EU diplomat told Euronews that the agreement could be deliberately short in order for the two parties to reach further and more detailed agreements in different sectors.

“It is not excluded that some sectors could be addressed while others are not,” an EU official said.

Commission officials also asked ambassadors to consider several scenarios, including the possibility of an “asymmetrical agreement” in which the EU would make more concessions than the US, the prospect of no deal, and the option of the EU triggering retaliatory measures.

During the same meeting with the member states, the Commission indicated that a second list of countermeasures proposed on 8 May was still under development, according to a third EU diplomat. This list was subject to feedback from industry over several weeks and member states will still need to formally adopt it.

The proposed list targets €95 billions’ worth of US products. It would come on top of a first list or retaliation which covers  €21 billions’ worth of US products and was suspended until the 14 July after Donald Trump announced a 90-Day truce in the trade dispute.

A team of Commission experts is in Washington this week to advance the negotiation.

The EU’s trade commissioner Maroš Šefčovič is set to travel there on Wednesday for a meeting on Thursday with his US counterparts, US secretary of commerce Howard William Lutnick  and US trade representative Jamieson Lee Greer.

On Monday, Šefčovič confirmed that the bloc had received “the first draft of the [US] proposals for the eventual agreement in principle.”

Half of the Fifa Club World Cup quarter-final ties have been set – and teams can start plotting a route to the final.

Chelsea, one of England’s two representatives, will play Palmeiras on Saturday, 5 July (02:00 BST).

The Blues reached this stage with an extra-time win over Benfica – in a game that was delayed for two hours because of the weather.

European champions Paris St-Germain play Bayern Munich later that day (17:00 BST) in a meeting of two heavyweights.

There are four remaining last 16 ties to be played – including Manchester City v Al-Hilal on Tuesday, 1 July (02:00 BST).

The last 16 draw in full:

VATICAN CITY — Pope Leo XIV urged the warring sides in the Israel-Iran war to “reject the logic of bullying and revenge” and choose a path of dialogue and diplomacy to reach peace as he expressed solidarity with all Christians in the Middle East.

Speaking at his weekly Wednesday general audience, the American pope said he was following “with attention and hope” recent developments in the war. He cited the biblical exhortation: “A nation shall not raise the sword against another nation.”

A ceasefire is holding in the 12-day Iran-Israel conflict, which involved Israel targeting Iranian nuclear and military sites and the U.S. intervening by dropping bunker-buster bombs on Iranian nuclear sites. Iran has long maintained that its nuclear program is peaceful.

“Let us listen to this voice that comes from on High,” Leo said. “Heal the lacerations caused by the bloody actions of recent days, reject all logic of bullying and revenge, and resolutely take the path of dialogue, diplomacy and peace.”

The Chicago-born Leo also expressed solidarity with the victims of Sunday’s attack on a Greek Orthodox church in Damascus, Syria, and urged the international community to keep supporting Syrian reconciliation. Syria’s Interior Ministry has said a sleeper cell belonging to the Islamic State group was behind the attack at the Church of the Holy Cross, which killed at least 25 people.

“To the Christians in the Middle East, I am near you. All the church is close to you,” he said. “This tragic event is a reminder of the profound fragility that still marks Syria after years of conflict and instability, and therefore it is crucial that the international community doesn’t look away from this country, but continues to offer it support through gestures of solidarity and with a renewed commitment to peace and reconciliation.”

WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Sunday that America “does not seek war” with Iran in the aftermath of a surprise attack overnight on three of that country’s nuclear sites while Vice President JD Vance said the strikes have given Tehran a renewed chance of negotiating with Washington.

The mission, called “Operation Midnight Hammer,” involved decoys and deception, and met with no Iranian resistance, Hegseth and Air Force Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said at a Pentagon news conference.

“This mission was not and has not been about regime change,” Hegseth added.

Caine said the goal of the operation — destroying nuclear sites in Fordo, Natanz and Isfahan — had been achieved.

“Final battle damage will take some time, but initial battle damage assessments indicate that all three sites sustained extremely severe damage and destruction,” Caine said.

Vance said in a television interview that while he would not discuss “sensitive intelligence about what we’ve seen on the ground,” he felt “very confident that we’ve substantially delayed their development of a nuclear weapon.”

Pressed further, he told NBC’s “Meet the Press” that “I think that we have really pushed their program back by a very long time. I think that it’s going to be many many years before the Iranians are able to develop a nuclear weapon.”

The vice president said the U.S. had “negotiated aggressively’ with Iran to try to find a peaceful settlement and that Trump made his decision after assessing the Iranians were not acting “in good faith.”

“I actually think it provides an opportunity to reset this relationship, reset these negotiations and get us in a place where Iran can decide not to be a threat to its neighbors, not to a threat to the United States and if they’re willing to do that, the United States is all ears,” Vance said.

He added: “The Iranians can go down the path of peace or they can go down the path of this ridiculous brinkmanship of funding terrorism, of trying to build a nuclear weapon and that’s just not something the United States can accept.”

Much of the world is absorbing the consequences of the strikes and the risk that they could lead to more fighting across the Middle East after the United States inserted itself into the war between Israel and Iran. Airstrikes starting on June 12 by Israel that targeted Iran’s nuclear facilities and generals prompted retaliation from Iran.

While U.S. officials urged for caution and stressed that only nuclear sites were targeted by Washington, Iran criticized the actions as a violation of its sovereignty and international law.

Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, said Sunday that Washington was “fully responsible” for whatever actions Tehran may take in response.

“They crossed a very big red line by attacking nuclear facilities,” he said at a news conference in Turkey. “I don’t know how much room is left for diplomacy.”

Both Russia and China condemned the U.S. attack. Araghchi said he would travel to Moscow later Sunday to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin. A Turkish Foreign Ministry statement warned about the risk of the conflict spreading beyond the Middle East to “a global level.”

The Pentagon briefing did not provide any new details about Iran’s nuclear capabilities. Hegseth said the timeline was the result of a schedule set by President Donald Trump for talks with Iran about its nuclear ambitions.

“Iran found out” that when Trump “says 60 days that he seeks peace and negotiation, he means 60 days of peace and negotiation,” Hegseth said. “Otherwise, that nuclear program, that new nuclear capability will not exist. He meant it.”

That statement was complicated as the White House had suggested last Thursday that Trump could take as much as two weeks to determine whether to strike Iran or continue to pursue negotiations. But the U.S. benefited from Iran’s weakened air defenses as it was able to conduct the attacks without resistance from Iran.

“Iran’s fighters did not fly, and it appears that Iran’s surface to air missile systems did not see us throughout the mission,” Caine said.

Hegseth said that a choice to move a number of B-2 bombers from their base in Missouri earlier Saturday was meant to be a decoy to throw off Iranians. He added that the U.S. used other methods of deception as well, deploying fighters to protect the B-2 bombers that dropped 14 bunker-buster bombs on Iran’s site at Fordo.

The strikes occurred Saturday between 6:40 pm and 7:05 pm in Washington, or roughly 2:10 am on Sunday in Iran.

Pesoli and Boak write for the Associated Press.

EXCLUSIVE: Jenny Powell says her eldest daughter Connie, 24, has been asked to be on Love Island three times but has turned it down as she’s too much of an ‘old soul’

Jenny Powell might be one of Britain’s most glamorous TV stars – but don’t expect her eldest daughter to be strutting round the Love Island villa in a tiny bikini any time soon.

In fact, Connie, Jenny’s 24-year-old first-born, has now politely declined an invite to join the smash-hit dating show not once, not twice – but THREE times, her mum reveals in an exclusive chat. “They’ve asked her three times now!” laughs Jenny, who at 57 (and looking about 37!) is still a firm TV favourite, regularly popping up on everything from Loose Women to presenting at this summer’s Rewind Festival.

Jenny, who lives in South Manchester with fiancé Martin Lowe, 51, and their youngest daughter Pollyanna, 16, says she’s secretly relieved Connie has no interest in reality fame.

“I was on Loose Women and all of a sudden I got a call,” she said. “It was during lockdown and she was at uni. She was like, I’m at UCL studying Art History, I don’t think I’m up for doing that! I think it’s quite cool that she’s turned it down three times! I quite like it. If we ever meet someone famous they are not impressed at all. They’re not bothered.”

While plenty of 20-somethings would jump at the chance for sun, scandal and a six-figure influencer deal, Jenny says Connie is cut from a different cloth entirely – and so is her youngest, Pollyanna.

“Connie posts on Instagram about once a year. Do you know what I mean? She’s not that person. And therefore I don’t think she would even realise the pressure and the attention she’d get. I think I’d worry for her.”

Jenny says she’s proud Connie didn’t get swept up in the showbiz circus, and reckons her grounded attitude comes from a solid upbringing – and the knock-on effects of a tough few years during the pandemic.

“I just think we don’t realise in this day and age, even though all these young people, they’ve got this facade, they’re all so confident and look a certain way and all that stuff. But actually, I think there is a huge fragility in these past couple of generations, especially ones that have been through shit through COVID.”

“I mean, you know, for her, she got a degree on her own, sitting in a room. Those amazing uni years at UCL, which is up there with Oxford, and UCL’s major. She’s got three A stars. Connie worked at Maddox Galleries in Mayfair.”

“Now, she decided she’s done enough there. Then she’s gone to Knight Frank, shares a flat with her friend from Manchester. She’s got a lovely boyfriend. She’s very old school. Old soul. They both are. I think it will help them through these times, because they’re not great times.”

While Connie is not the only daughter of a famous British celebrity to be associated with the show, Princess Andre, 18, was also rumoured to be entering the villa but dad, Peter, quickly turned down those rumours.

In his exclusive weekly column about the rumours that eldest daughter Princess, who just turned 18, could be signing up to Love Island – he admits that he doesn’t know where the rumours came from, and says at 17 she can’t legally apply yet anyway.

He says: “There’s been a lot of talk about Princess going on Love Island, and I don’t know where it came from. She’s not 18 yet, so it’s not even an option.” He adds that, though he would support her if she wanted to sign up to the ITV2 show, it’s not something he’d ever choose for her.

“Whether she chooses to do it in the future is up to her, but of course it’s every dad’s nightmare. Then again, I look at people like Molly-Mae Hague and Tommy Fury, and others, and see how happy they were in their relationships that came from the show. It’s about what makes Princess happy at the end of the day. I wouldn’t stop her, but if she asks my opinion, I’ll be honest.”

In a recent episode of her podcast, Katie Price revealed that she has tried to encourage her daughter Princess Andre to sign up for competition show Love Island. However, the model and entrepreneur has tellingly responded that she doesn’t want to be known as a ‘Love Islander’.

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George Herd, BBC News, reporting from Eryri