Weekly insights and analysis on the latest developments in military technology, strategy, and foreign policy.
The Nimitz class USS Theodore Roosevelt has become the first U.S. Navy supercarrier with an Unmanned Air Warfare Center (UAWC) fully capable of supporting the forthcoming MQ-25 Stingray tanker drone. This marks another step toward the Navy finally reaching initial operational capability with the MQ-25, now set to come in 2029 after years of delays. There is still a lot of work to be done before the Stingray can be fully woven into routine carrier flight operations.
The new details about the Theodore Roosevelt‘s UAWC and other information about the MQ-25 are contained in a Modernized Selected Acquisition Report (MSAR) that the Pentagon recently released. The report itself is dated April 21, 2026, and it was produced as part of work on the U.S. military’s proposed Fiscal Year 2027 budget.
“In March 2026, the USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71) UAWC became the first fully operational/deployable MQ-25 capable aircraft carrier,” according to the report. “The USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) UAWC is planned to be operational/deployable at the end of Aug 2026.”
A stock picture of the USS Theodore Roosevelt, seen here returning to Pearl Harbor in Hawaii during Exercise Rim of the Pacific 2026 (RIMPAC 2026) in July 2026. USN
“In August 2024, the first test Unmanned Air Warfare Center (UAWC), where Air Vehicle Pilots will control future MQ-25 airborne operations, was installed and tested aboard the USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77),” the report also notes.
The USS Ronald Reagan and USS George H.W. Bush are also Nimitz class aircraft carriers. The Navy publicly announced the integration of the UAWC on the George H.W. Bush, a first-of-its-kind development, back in 2024. It is unclear why Theodore Roosevelt‘s UAWC has now become the first to be fully certified to support MQ-25 operations. It has been previously reported that the Navy’s plan is to deploy Stingrays first on the Theodore Roosevelt.
As mentioned, the MQ-25 program, overall, has been beset by delays, as well as cost growth, for years now. The Navy originally hoped to see the Stingray reach initial operational capability (IOC) in 2024. The IOC timeline subsequently slipped to July 2027 and has now been pushed even further to the right to February 2029. The first production representative example only made its maiden flight this past April. An earlier MQ-25 demonstrator, also known as the T1, has been flying since 2019.
The first production-representative MQ-25 Stingray drone seen during its maiden flight in April 2026. Boeing
The Navy currently plans to acquire a total fleet of 76 Stingrays, which will offer critical range extension for current and future aircraft in its carrier air wings. The aim, in turn, is also to eliminate the need for crewed F/A-18E/F Super Hornets to fly in the tanker role, which accounts for a significant portion of their sorties while deployed. This will free up those aircraft up for other missions and reduce overall wear and tear on the airframes. The new drones will also have a secondary intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) capability from the start.
“The MQ-25 Air System is integrating a Ground Control Station (GCS) managed by the Unmanned Carrier Aviation Mission Control System (UMCS) program within UCA [the Navy’s Unmanned Carrier Aviation program]. The UMCS program is a separate ACAT II [Acquisition Category II] program that integrates with multiple networks and systems both afloat and ashore,” the recently released MSAR also notes. “The MQ-25 and UMCS programs are synchronized to provide complete capability to the aircraft carrier.”
While Boeing is the prime contractor for the MQ-25 drone, Lockheed Martin has been leading work on the UMCS, and has described it previously as a “system of systems.” The central element is the MD-5E GCS, which consists of operator stations with arrays of monitors, tablet-like devices, and other computer hardware. What has been seen of the MD-5 system to date in terms of the physical hardware is fully in line with other known GCS designs, including ones the U.S. Air Force has used over the years to operate MQ-1 Predators and MQ-9 Reapers.
A picture the Navy previously released of the inside of the UAWC on the Nimitz class carrier USS George H.W. Bush. USNAn example of a GCS used to operate the MQ-9 Reaper. GA-ASI
The UMCS also includes the Multi Domain Combat System (MDCX), an “autonomy platform” developed by Lockheed Martin’s famed Skunk Works advanced projects division. The company has told TWZ directly in the past that MDCX “provides uncrewed vehicle autonomy, mission planning, and command and control (C2) capability.”
“In October 2025, MQ-25A and the UMCS connected for the first time during air vehicle and Ground Control Station (GCS) Integration Checkout testing, allowing the Lockheed Martin GCS to establish command and control of the aircraft, which was critical to achieving First Flight,” per the recently released MSAR.
“The first Command, Control, Communications, Computers, and Intelligence (C4I) Operational Network Evaluation test event was also conducted in collaboration with the USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN72),” the report also highlights. “This test event transmitted representative-network traffic between an at sea-configured aircraft carrier and a remote MQ-25 surrogate through operational C4I paths that include satellite communications links and the Navy’s primary tactical wide area network.”
The Navy has previously disclosed testing of the UMCS in conjunction with General Atomics MQ-20 Avenger drone to demonstrate the control system’s ability to support other uncrewed platforms beyond the MQ-25. The Navy does envision its future carrier air wings eventually incorporating multiple types of drones, including ones capable of attacking enemy forces at least 1,000 nautical miles away, as you can read more about here. A year ago, the service awarded contracts to Anduril, Boeing, General Atomics, and Northrop Grumman for work on concepts for future carrier-based Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) type designs. Navy officials have said in the past that the composition of the service’s carrier air wings could eventually become 60 percent or more uncrewed.
A US Navy briefing slide from August 2025 discussing CCA contracts and other uncrewed carrier-based aviation plans. USN
Beyond the important additional capabilities the MQ-25 will bring to the Navy’s carrier air wings, the Navy has long described the Stingray as a foundational “pathfinder” for its broader uncrewed aviation plans, something the new MSAR reiterates. As TWZ has explored in detail in the past, the MQ-25’s design and baseline performance, especially its extreme endurance and low-signature design, open the door to the Stingray itself being adapted to strike, advanced ISR, and other missions in the future.
There is more work still to be done before the MQ-25 can enter operational service, including demonstrating the ability of Navy carriers to launch and recover the drones. The service has laid at least some of the groundwork for that years ago with extensive testing involving a pair of X-47B stealthy demonstrator drones, which achieved many firsts for carrier-based uncrewed aviation. That very promising work was done under the Unmanned Carrier-Launched Airborne Surveillance and Strike (UCLASS) program, which subsequently morphed into the radically different Carrier-Based Aerial-Refueling System (CBARS) effort in the mid-2010s. The reasons for that shift are still not entirely clear, as you can read more about in detail here. CBARS ultimately led to the MQ-25.
The Stingrays will have to be further integrated into routine flight deck operations, including just making sure they can be safely moved around with everything else going on. As we have previously written:
“Carrier decks are very constrained environments physically, and present very different conditions to operate in compared to bases on land. This is true even for crewed aircraft operations, where individuals onboard can provide additional situational awareness. A wearable glove-like system that personnel could use for deck handling was notably used during testing of the X-47B. A different kind of portable control device has been used in testing of the T1 MQ-25 demonstrator in the past, as well. The video released today does not appear to offer any major new insights into how the Navy plans to maneuver the Stingray around on carrier decks.”
It is still unclear what the Navy will be using to manage operational MQ-25s on carrier flight decks when the drones enter service.
The glove-like system used during testing of the X-47Bs. USN
With the USS Theodore Roosevelt‘s UAWC now deemed fully able to support MQ-25 operations, the Navy has moved at least one more step closer toward finally fielding the Stingray.
Sir Alastair Cook believes Joe Root is not the long-term solution to be England’s Test cricket captain, but is confident of his ability to lead the side for the next year and help take England forward with the home Ashes coming up in 2027.
Nylah Moore has been a standout flag football and girls’ basketball player at Eagle Rock High. Now comes the arrival of her freshman sister, Cinzia, which means fans in the bleachers might want to start designing and creating signs to wave each time one or the other scores a touchdown or makes a basket. It will be great exercise for the arms considering how many times the two figure to come through this season.
Nylah, who is 5-foot-11, is Eagle Rock’s versatile quarterback and scoring guard. She helped Eagle Rock to a 20-2 record last season, passing for 51 touchdowns as a junior. The basketball team went 10-0 in the Northern League. She averaged 15 points.
With the Moore sisters, Eagle Rock deserves the favorite’s role to win the City Section Open Division flag football title and compete with Birmingham and Westchester for an Open Division girls’ basketball title. Cinzia, who is 5-9, also excels in both sports.
Their mother, Christine Moore, was principal of the year at Luther Burbank Middle School in 2023 for Region 16. Coaches remember her bringing a young Nylah to sporting events years ago. Her biggest challenge will be finding time to watch her two daughters perform in two sports in her new job serving as region director for the Eagle Rock/Highland Park Network.
Official Nelson Bae explains the new rule this season in flag football that allows the losing team to get the ball after a score on the 20-yard line with one play to get a first down at the 40 to keep the ball. pic.twitter.com/EZ8K8p8JL4
Eagle Rock’s rise in flag football is no surprise. The school has been able to attract multisport athletes with speed and versatility. Basketball is where this season a surprise could happen. Coach Julie Wilkins has her biggest team ever after the arrival of 5-10 Marlborough transfer Amelie Cash. She also has a 6-1 player. Since Wilkins coaches both flag football and girls’ basketball, she’s always looking for “volunteers” to play both sports (wink, wink).
That’s how the successful teams in flag football have emerged — getting players from softball, soccer, track and field, and volleyball to join the sport. And it’s working.
Monroe had 20 players come out last season. This year, at least 36 have been practicing. Coach Jose Ruiz always asks Leo Hernandez, the track and field and cross country coach, for recommendations on his athletes as potential flag football players. Now that middle schools feeding Monroe have flag football programs, the numbers are expected to continue to rise.
United States President Donald Trump has been triumphal since the announcement that Palestinian group Hamas had agreed to hand over its weaponry in Gaza.
But the terms of Thursday’s disarmament agreement also stipulate that Israel should withdraw from the Palestinian enclave, and gradually transfer power to a Palestinian administration – conditions that have been met with a frosty reception by Israeli politicians and in the Israeli press.
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The Israeli government has yet to officially comment, but one unnamed senior Israeli official told reporters on Friday that, despite “various publications” reporting “diplomatic progress in the Gaza Strip”, there would be no withdrawal from Israel’s current positions within Gaza before what it determines to be “the genuine disarmament of Hamas”.
Trump, for his part, has said that Israel was “very happy” with the deal.
Electoral suicide
Many Israelis continue to espouse a hard line towards Palestinians in Gaza after the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on Israel, which was launched from the territory. That is despite Israel subsequently conducting a genocidal war on Gaza, killing more than 73,000 Palestinians and destroying the enclave.
A May poll found that 82 percent of Jewish Israeli respondents supported the forcible expulsion of Palestinians from their homes in Gaza – the same poll found that 56 percent of respondents supported the expulsion of Palestinian citizens of Israel from their homes too.
Another poll, a month later, found that 64 percent of those surveyed believed there were “no innocents” among the Palestinians in Gaza.
And many Israeli politicians – including government ministers – have said that illegal Jewish settlements, akin to the ones dividing the occupied West Bank, will soon come to Gaza.
The prospect, therefore, of an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and steps towards the enclave’s reconstruction are unpalatable to many Israelis, with politicians quick to condemn the disarmament agreement.
Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir denounced it as “unacceptable”.
“A commitment to stop the assassinations of [Hamas’s] murderers is tantamount to agreeing to Hamas organising for the next massacre,” Ben-Gvir wrote on social media. “The assassinations in Gaza must continue, the encouragement of emigration must happen. Israel must win.”
The term “encouragement of emigration” is widely regarded as referring to ethnic cleansing.
Politicians regarded as centrists, such as former chief of staff and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s leading rival in the coming election, Gadi Eisenkot, were equally sceptical. He said that any deal that stopped short of the war’s objectives – the destruction of Hamas’s military-political power – was a total failure.
“Nearly three years have passed since the morning of October 7,” Eisenkot wrote, “and Hamas has renewed its strength with a number of terrorists similar to the evening of October 6.”
Politics of peace
Netanyahu has yet to comment, but US-Israeli pollster and consultant Dahlia Scheindlin suggested the stakes are high for the prime minister with an election only a few months away.
Netanyahu’s likely best chance of avoiding a jail sentence if he is found guilty of numerous corruption charges rests on him winning the October elections.
But the opposition are currently leading in many polls, and may be able to gain enough seats to form a government.
Former Israeli chief of staff and Netanyahu rival Gadi Eisenkot has called any agreement that stops short of Hamas’s destruction a ‘total failure’ [File: Clodagh Kilcoyne/Reuters]
“Netanyahu’s considerations have nothing to do with public trauma [from the October 7 attack],” Scheindlin said, and everything to do with politics. “He will care primarily – probably exclusively – about what his current coalition partners think.”
Withdrawing from Gaza was out of the question, Scheindlin said, adding that whatever gambit Netanyahu undertook to maintain his coalition and encourage right-wing voters to support him had to be accomplished without further alienating his allies in the US, who appear to have grown increasingly frustrated with him.
“[Netanyahu] will not want to be seen by Trump and the Americans as undermining any possible moves towards implementing this agreement. And so, therefore, he might manage some very symbolic moving of the Israeli army within Gaza,” she said.
One tactic, Scheindlin suggested, could be for the Israeli military to withdraw back to the positions it was supposed to be in as part of the October 2025 ceasefire agreement. Israel has killed more than 1,200 Palestinians since that agreement, and also repeatedly expanded the territory under its control, ignoring the deal.
Keeping Trump happy
Managing US expectations of Israel is likely to be a problem, not just for Netanyahu, but for all of the politicians vying for leadership of the country.
One anonymous US official has already said that Trump would be “very, very disappointed” if Israel did not adhere to the disarmament agreement.
“Netanyahu already faces an uphill battle in forming any government, more so if he agrees to this,” said Dov Waxman, professor of Israel studies at the University of California, Los Angeles.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrives at the White House in Washington earlier this week [Elizabeth Frantz/Reuters]
Netanyahu has previously been able to sidestep requirements placed on Israel when it comes to Gaza, maintaining unity within his far-right coalition, with some members repeatedly threatening to bring the government down if the war ended without Hamas’s total defeat.
He may be silent on the latest deal for now, but he will eventually have to speak.
“That could be a real problem,” Waxman said, “because, if he criticises the deal, he risks angering Trump who – though he hasn’t endorsed him [in the Israeli election] yet – he must be hoping will deliver him some kind of present during the election cycle, whether that’s a further call for his pardon or normalisation with Saudi Arabia, maybe both. But he has to keep Trump on his side.”
And while the Israeli public has grown sceptical that Israeli security remains at the forefront of the Trump administration’s priorities, the need for the US security umbrella is accepted by the vast majority of the public and political establishment, elements of which have seized upon any potential fracturing in it as a means to criticise Netanyahu.
“Netanyahu has shown himself to be very good in the past at handling these kinds of things,” Nimrod Goren, president and founder of Mitvim – The Israeli Institute for Regional Foreign Policies, said.
“He’ll make sure Trump gets his announcement, his signing ceremony and all the optics are in place, but I don’t see him withdrawing from Gaza,” Goren said.
“I think the idea of him withdrawing goes further than just public opinion,” the Israeli analyst added. “It goes against his whole philosophy, ideology and worldview: that Israel needs to be present beyond its borders and everywhere bad intentions could be turned into action. If anything, I see him escalating in the build-up to the election rather than discussing withdrawal.”
There’s no reason to watch them even though there’s more than a month left on their schedule. Again.
For the sixth consecutive season, one of the WNBA’s legacy franchises has come apart at the seams, tattering the franchise’s three-championship history with a sordid record that mandates a clear response.
Trade your best player.
Trade Kelsey Plum.
The trade deadline is Sunday so do it quickly, and do it boldly, sending her to the sort of playoff contender who would find her worthy of young talent and draft picks.
Trade KP and do it now.
Yes, her 25-point scoring average would rank second in the league if she had not missed half the games with injuries.
Truly, she is arguably the team’s biggest attraction with the sort of Hollywood flash that overshadows even Nneka Ogwumike.
Indeed, the hard-nosed ballplayer elicits more screams and sells more tickets than any other Sparks player.
Trade her anyway. Swallow hard and make it happen. Out of a million reasons, here are just three.
First, her contract expires at the end of the season and she reportedly does not want to spend her prime years on a losing team. Can you blame her? Trade her before you lose her for nothing.
Nneka Ogwumike shoots over Chloe Bibby of the Chicago Sky during a game this month.
(Geoff Stellfox / Getty Images)
Second, at age 31, she is the team’s most valuable asset, and would command a high price among contenders looking for a shooter with a championship pedigree.
Third, this would be a powerful first move in a season-ending tank job.
You read that right. The Sparks should tank. They should tank hard. Tank, tank, tank. They should do anything it takes to have the best chance at nabbing the first pick in the 2027 draft and a chance to take USC phenom JuJu Watkins. The pursuit of Watkins, who will need to be convinced to give up her final year of college eligibility, should be the organization’s most important priority.
Anything for JuJu, and that includes trading Plum. While they’re at it, could they also please dump the massively disappointing Ariel Atkins and Erica Wheeler? Those two busts were part of the Sparks’ ill-conceived attempt last offseason to build a veteran team that could immediately compete.
It didn’t work, and now the Sparks have only four players who should be welcomed back next year — Cameron Brink, Rae Burrell, Dearica Hamby and Ogwumike.
Without Plum, Brink can have more space to work inside. Without Plum, Burrell can score 25 points a game. It’s a tank, but it’s not necessarily an ugly tank.
Cameron Brink is pressured by Indiana Fever guard Lexie Hull during a game in May.
(Jae C. Hong / Associated Press)
Their replacements might be anonymous shadow dwellers, but that’s OK. The Sparks need to not hire college wonders — no Cori Close — and enlist some good old-fashioned WNBA veteran thinkers and evaluators and leaders.
The Sparks basically need to start from scratch, and it starts with a major move sometime in the next five days.
Trade KP.
Please?
“We pushed in a lot of chips this year, and we had good reason to do that, but the reality is it hasn’t gone as we’d hoped or expected,” said Farhan Zaidi, special advisor to Sparks’ owner Mark Walter. “Now we have to be open for anything. Everything has to be on the table for us. We have to take a long-term perspective rather than focusing on the rest of the season.”
In other words, the trade light is lit!
Zaidi wouldn’t comment on specific players or club personnel, only to note that the Sparks cannot grow as constituted.
“We have to be realistic where we are,” he said. “We don’t want to be that team stuck in the middle.”
In other words, keeping Plum might give them a few more wins, but to what end? They contend for the final playoff berth only to fall short? And if they make it, how long would they last against a powerhouse like Minnesota? For a big-market, win-now team like the Sparks, mediocrity is a death knell.
Zaidi trusts that Sparks fans will understand, and I agree.
Their growing fan base is as smart as they are passionate. They understand that to break this losing spell, the Sparks will have to break with franchise tradition and basically give up on this season to build hope for the next.
My daughter and fellow season-ticket holder MC was quick to react when I told her I was going to advocate trading Plum.
The Sparks should trade Kelsey Plum before she walks away as a free agent.
(Aryanna Frank / Getty Images)
“Write it,” she said. “I want hope.”
Zaidi thinks other fans will agree.
“We have very smart fans, I don’t want to patronize them as to where we are,” he said. ”Our dedicated fans will understand if we have to take a step back to get to that championship level. I can step back if I feel like we’re building something.”
Zaidi noted, “I think it can happen quickly.”
He’s right. In a league in which a team like Golden State can contend for a title in only its second season, in a space where both of this year’s expansion teams — Toronto and Portland — can have better records than the Sparks, rebuilding doesn’t take much.
If the Sparks get some young talent and draft picks for Plum, then sign a top free agent by using the construction of their new practice facility as a selling point… who knows?
The Sparks need to do whatever it takes to become the Sparks again.
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But Plaschke reported his philosophy has quickly forged deep roots in Westwood, where Chesney’s optimism fits in seamlessly at the school built on John Wooden’s Pyramid of Success. There’s also some very strong Ted Lasso energy brewing, which makes sense since the character is partially inspired by Wooden values.
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We’ve heard from some UCLA fans were irritated about a potential Plaschke curse after he announced Chesney will make the Bruins winners, but its seems the Bruin faithful are just going to have get used to a growing bandwagon.
The UCLA hype should go national Wednesday, when quarterback Nico Iamaleava, defensive back Cole Martin and linebacker Samuel Omosigho join Chesney during Big Ten football media days.
It’s Chesney’s first chance to meet the national and regional media covering the Big Ten. He is naturally an exceptional public speaker and inevitably will be compared to his predecessor, who went viral for his difficulty the first time he stepped into the Big Ten spotlight.
It’s not a fair comparison, but Chesney is sure to score high marks despite a healthy amount of cynicism among Big Ten blue bloods and whispers throughout the league that UCLA’s high 2027 recruiting ranking is a bit inflated. Perhaps that’s the biggest compliment for UCLA, going from being ignored or laughed at to taking a few jabs over your glowing reviews.
Shortly after UCLA returns from media days, the team will kick off preseason camp. We’ll start to get a closer look at the Bruins’ offseason weight room progress and the team will work to prepare for a deceptively difficult opener at California, another long overlooked team with considerable hype entering the 2026 season.
Betts shines in Canada
Sienna Betts showed she’s ready to step into her older sister Lauren’s formidable shoes during a women’s basketball exhibition game against Canada.
The Bruins lost 69-55 to the Canadian national team Wednesday, but Sienna Betts looked like a formidable focal point of the UCLA attack.
She finished with 20 points, 12 rebounds and two blocks.
Betts got valuable but limited minutes last season as Lauren Betts, Gabriela Jaquez and Angela Dugalic dominated the paint for the national champions.
Canada and UCLA did not have their full rosters available for the tune-up, with Bruins Timea Gardiner, K.K. Bransford, Somto Okafor and Lina Jerkovic missing the game.
The excursion gave a heavily overhauled UCLA roster a chance to face different and formidable competition before setting off on sight-seeing adventures, a team bonding opportunity that likely will mean more to the coaching staff than the final score.
UCLA alums win AUSL title
Bruins alum Jadelyn Allchin won Athletes Unlimited Softball League championship MVP honors after helping lead her team to its second consecutive AUSL title.
UCLA softball great Lisa Fernandez is the Talons’ general manager. Her roster and the entire league is packed with former Bruins who are helping AUSL grow at a rapid rate.
Connor Dullinger offered a great look at the role the Bruins have played in the growth of pro softball and explains why Fernandez is thinking bigger, pushing for global gains so that softball can be a permanent fixture at the Olympics.
Do you have a comment or something you’d like to see in a future UCLA newsletter? Email newsletters editor Houston Mitchell at houston.mitchell@latimes.com. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.
July 25 (UPI) — President Donald Trump said Friday that he’s ready to continue talks with Iran or escalate fighting, but an Iranian general said it’s ready to fight.
Trump met with top advisors and cabinet members on Friday to make a decision on whether to escalate attacks on Iran, The New York Times reported. Friday night, no attacks on Iran from the United States or on U.S. military sites were reported after 13 straight nights of fighting.
The White House hasn’t said if the president decided what to do, but Trump said the military is ready for a heavier attack if Iran doesn’t want to resume talks.”Look, we’re locked and loaded,” Trump told reporters on Friday. “We’re ready to go, but we’re talking to them, so maybe there will be, maybe there won’t be a tipping point. Maybe they will cry uncle, or maybe they’ll just give up, or maybe they’ll just go into a cave and hide.”
He told reporters that Iran is getting more serious about talks to end the fighting.
“We are talking to them. I think they’re getting more and more serious as the days go by, for maybe the obvious reason, but we are talking to them right now,” Trump said Friday.
He said that Iran would “love to make a deal” but he didn’t “think they’re ready to.”
But an Iranian general pushed back Saturday, even suggesting that Tehran welcomed a ground invasion by American troops.
“Our war with the enemy is a war of attrition, one that will not end,” the official whom Iranian media named General Asadi said Saturday, CNN reported. “We ask God that the ground forces of the aggressor American army find themselves in a position where we can engage them on the ground.”
In an interview with Axios on Thursday, Trump said he was considering a “massive attack” on Iran.
“Bigger than ever before. I am close to making a decision. We are all set for it,” he said. But he said that decision would have consequences, and he hadn’t decided on it yet.
He told Axios that the Iranians “want to negotiate” but aren’t ready to make a deal.
“They haven’t received enough pain yet,” he said.
Two regional sources with knowledge of mediation efforts told Axios that Iranian leadership hasn’t accepted the latest proposal.
One of the sources said, “We are trying, but the Iranians are not being helpful.”
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt speaks during a press briefing in the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House on Thursday. Photo by Samuel Corum/UPI | License Photo
Adam Ramsay-Peaty becomes the latest to face the latter situation on Saturday – in the 100m breaststroke final at Glasgow’s Commonwealth Games, shortly after 21:00 BST.
The greatest breaststroker the world has seen is on his own journey – one which he hopes ends with a third individual gold at the Los Angeles Olympics in two years’ time.
Manoeuvring into his slipstream is 18-year-old Filip Nowacki.
Master meet apprentice.
Not only has Nowacki started to pick off Ramsay-Peaty’s age-group records, he is part of the 31-year-old’s AP Race stable – the programme set up to develop the next generation.
Ramsay-Peaty has spoken of wanting to mentor and pass on advice to his young pretender. Last year, Nowacki repaid him by breaking his 100m breaststroke junior British record.
Ramsay-Peaty, who is chasing a 33rd major gold of a glittering career, appeared in no mood to hand over the baton in Friday’s semi-finals.
There is uncertainty around a broken finger suffered in June but, side by side in lanes four and five, Ramsay-Peaty built an early lead and held off the youngster in the second length. Nowacki was close but never quite close enough.
“I saw his front wave, but at the same time that is what I train for,” Ramsay-Peaty said.
“I know I am a sprinter. I know I can go out fast.”
Nowacki, who competes for Jersey here having learned to swim under the tutelage of Nathan Jegou on the Channel Island, is arguably best in the 200m event – a distance Ramsay-Peaty does not race.
In this shorter contest, it is the youngster who should stay stronger for longer.
And when they spoke afterwards alongside each other, Ramsay-Peaty, all chest and tattooed muscle, towered over his young rival – so much so you would be forgiven for thinking the pair compete in different sports.
Nowacki appeared wary of Ramsay-Peaty but there is a cheeky confidence within.
“Course I do,” he laughed when asked if he believes he can win.
“No, I wish, I’m gonna give it my best shot” was his quick addition.
Nowacki was not long out of armbands when Ramsay-Peaty won gold in this same pool at the 2014 Commonwealth Games.
That was his emergence on to the global stage and two years later the Englishman won his first Olympic title in Rio de Janeiro. Nowacki was only eight years old.
“Adam is a true role model in the sport,” Nowacki said.
“I grew up watching him race at Rio, Tokyo and Paris.
“To race him and not be a random competitor but give him a race is special to me.”
The pair should compete as Team GB team-mates in LA but are also racing for their own personal ambitions on Saturday.
Despite winning an emotional silver at the Olympics in Paris two years ago, Ramsay-Peaty has not stood atop a major podium since the Birmingham Commonwealth Games in 2022.
In that meet he won the 50m crown but lost his 100m title to James Wilby. A “self-destructive spiral” amid issues with his mental health, which led to him considering his future in the sport, soon followed.
If Nowacki wins a medal it would be Jersey’s first at the Commonwealth Games for 36 years. They have only ever won one gold medal.
Australia’s Sam Williamson, who won the first semi-final, will also have something to say.
“It is going to be a good scrap, especially down that last 25m, and I do love a good scrap,” Ramsay-Peaty said.
Anthony Joshua says he is not ready for the loss of his two close friends and team members to “sink in yet” as he prepares for his first fight since their death.
Sina Ghami and Latif “Latz” Ayodele died when the vehicle they were travelling in, alongside heavyweight boxer Joshua and another passenger, collided with a stationary truck on a major road near Lagos, Nigeria, on 29 December 2025.
Joshua, who sustained minor injuries, is set to return to the ring against heavyweight Kristian Prenga on Saturday for his first contest since knocking out American YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul 10 days before the crash.
The 36-year-old told BBC Sport: “It’s tough, every time I think about it, it hurts.
“Even talking about it now… pictures… it hurts but I keep my mind occupied you know.
“If I stop, you let it sink in and I’m not ready for it to sink in yet.”
Ghami was Joshua’s full-time sport and exercise rehabilitation coach and worked with him for more than 10 years.
Hours before the crash, Joshua posted a video on Instagram of him playing table tennis with his long-time friend Ayodele, a personal trainer.
Prenga will be Joshua’s first competitive fight since his knockout loss to IBF world champion Daniel Dubois at Wembley Stadium in September 2024.
The former world champion admitted to feeling a “little bit nervous” before his return.
“It’s competition at the highest level,” he added.
“I want to perform for my team, I want to make them proud and make myself proud.
“It’s a balance of nerves but I understand what my job is. [I have] a lot of understanding and clarity on what I have to do.”
France will not willingly surrender possession to Spain in their World Cup semifinal, coach Didier Deschamps said while confirming Kylian Mbappe’s full availability for the crucial fixture.
“Spain can apply a lot of pressure, but we are also a team who need the ball,” Deschamps told reporters on Monday. “There will be a battle for control.”
Spain have built their run to the last four around their ability to dominate the ball, press opponents deep into their own half and control the rhythm of matches.
France possess the pace to hurt them on the break, but Deschamps rejected the idea that his side would be content merely to defend and wait for transitions.
Midfielder Warren Zaire-Emery said France’s range of qualities gave them several ways to approach the contest.
“Spain have great quality on the ball,” he said. “We have the qualities to attack quickly on the counter, to keep possession ourselves and to defend well.
“The course of the game will dictate things. I cannot say now exactly how the match will unfold.”
Tchouameni available to play
France’s prospects of competing in the central areas have been strengthened by the return of Aurelien Tchouameni, who last played in the 3-0 round of 32 victory over Sweden on June 30.
Deschamps said the 26-year-old Real Madrid midfielder had not yet fully recovered but was available for selection after being left out of the previous game as a precaution.
“For the last match, the risk was too high,” he said. “He is better today, although we cannot say he is 100% recovered.
“His last game was two weeks ago, but that is not prohibitive. The important thing is that he is available.”
Tchouameni’s presence would give France a natural holding midfielder capable of protecting the defence, competing physically and helping the team play through Spain’s pressure.
Mbappe skips part of France training, set to play against Spain
France captain Kylian Mbappe did not complete Monday’s final training session after suffering a minor ankle injury during Les Bleus’ quarterfinal win over Morocco.
Mbappe, who was substituted late in France’s 2-0 victory last Thursday, was partly rested during Monday’s session.
The injury is not expected to prevent him from playing on Tuesday.
“Kylian is fine,” Deschamps said.
Asked if Mbappe had trained, he added: “Yes, he trained. He is allowed to do 10 minutes in one drill instead of 15.”
France forward Kylian Mbappe takes part in an MD-1 training session at the Southern Methodist University (SMU) in University Park, Texas on July 13, 2026, on the eve of the 2026 World Cup football tournament semifinal match between France and Spain [Franck Fife/AFP]
Midfield configuration
Deschamps could also retain the midfield configuration that carried France past Morocco, with Manu Kone alongside Adrien Rabiot. Zaire-Emery provides another option in an area likely to determine whether Spain can impose their familiar rhythm.
Spain’s possession game is designed not only to create openings but also to exhaust opponents by shifting the ball repeatedly from one side to the other.
Full-back Jules Kounde said on Monday that France would need possession of their own to disrupt that pattern rather than allow Spain to settle into prolonged spells of control.
Deschamps believes France’s experience of recent major tournaments will help them manage those different phases, although he insisted past meetings with Spain offered no guarantee of how Tuesday’s match would develop.
Spain eliminated France in the Euro 2024 semifinals before beating them again in the Nations League last four in 2025.
“There are no particular lessons,” Deschamps said. “There was one truth in those matches, with the players who were present on both sides at that time.
“The players are different now, and they are not necessarily at the same level of form.
“Spain won those two matches, so congratulations to them, but what interests me is tomorrow’s game.”
Adaptation central to France consistency
The France coach said adaptation had been central to his side’s consistency, with Les Bleus now seeking to reach a third successive World Cup final.
“When you are a coach, the key word is adaptation,” explained Deschamps.
“Football is not an exact science, but preparation and planning are always important, right down to the smallest detail.”
France’s attacking threat has been led by Mbappe, the tournament’s top scorer.
However, the semifinal may hinge on whether Deschamps’ midfield can prevent Spain from monopolising the ball and still provide the forwards with enough service.
Declan Rice is likely to be available to start England’s World Cup last-16 tie against Mexico on Sunday despite an ongoing injury issue.
The Arsenal midfielder has been playing with a neural problem that affects his hamstring and lower back and was substituted in injury time of the 2-1 win over DR Congo in the last 32.
Speaking after that game, manager Thomas Tuchel said: “I asked him. He said: ‘I can do it for the team but I am in terrible pain.’ When Declan tells you he is in terrible pain then you know he cannot take it any more.”
Though Rice is likely to be available to start against Mexico, there remain doubts about Reece James’ availability, with the Chelsea right-back having sat out two matches because of a hamstring injury.
It is understood James is yet to return to full training in the build-up to the game against Mexico, which is scheduled for 18:00 local time on Sunday (01:00 BST on Monday), though could move because of the weather.
Back-up right Jarell Quansah, who missed the win over DR Congo with an ankle issue, has stepped up his recovery but it is not known yet if he will be available.
Ryanair’s intervention comes after an open letter published online on Wednesday in which top representative bodies for Europe’s airports and airlines said that delays caused by EES had reached a “critical point”.
The airline highlighted seven airports (Image: Dmitri Zelenevski via Getty Images)
Ryanair has issued a warning to families travelling this summer.
The budget airline has lashed out at the EU’s passport control Entry/Exit System (EES), arguing that the system is not ready for the end-of-school-term travel period, when millions of families will travel across Europe for their summer holidays.
Ryanair has called on European governments to suspend the rollout of EES until September, when the busiest travel period has passed, to prevent passengers, many travelling with young families, from being forced to suffer long and avoidable passport control queues.
The airline’s intervention comes after an open letter published online on Wednesday in which top representative bodies for Europe’s airports and airlines said that delays caused by EES had reached a “critical point”.
“Passengers have already been forced to queue for extended periods outside terminal buildings and on exposed aprons because border control facilities cannot process arrivals quickly enough. Airlines face half-empty planes at gate closing time, while passengers are stuck in border control queues,” the statement from industry groups ACI Europe, which represents airports, Airlines 4 Europe and the International Air Transport Association, which represents airlines, read.
The group claimed some planes have had to delay takeoff while waiting for passengers and that queues are reaching up to five hours at peak times. Recently, The Mirror exclusively reported that huge passport and security queues at Athens Airport led to passengers missing their Ryanair flight – without the EES gates even being in operation.
Ryanair has warned passengers of the increased queues at passport control when travelling to non-Schengen destinations, and urged them arrive earlier at the airport.
Checks may require scanning passports, providing fingerprints and having a facial image taken. Ryanair has claimed that the current infrastructure is “NOT ready to manage the high passenger volumes expected during peak season, due to insufficient staff, kiosks and system readiness.”
“Airports such as Tenerife South, Palma, Alicante, Malaga, Milan Bergamo, Krakow and Paris Beauvais are experiencing major disruptions, with further congestion expected as we enter the busiest weeks of summer,” the airline’s statement continued.
Ryanair’s Chief Operations Officer, Neal McMahon, added: “As schools break up and Europe enters the busiest travel period of the year, it is clear that EES is still not ready for peak summer volumes. Passengers and families should not be used as guinea pigs for a half-baked passport control system that risks creating long queues, missed flights and unnecessary stress at airports this summer.
“It is as simple as postponing EES until September, as other EU countries like Greece have already done. Ryanair calls on European Govts once again to delay the implementation to protect passengers, families and airport operations during the school holiday rush, instead of forcing holidaymakers to endure needless passport control chaos.”
Ghana midfielder Thomas Partey says he is ready to face England after being denied entry to Canada for the Black Stars’ World Cup opener.
The former Arsenal player, 33, missed Ghana’s win against Panama last week because of ongoing criminal proceedings in the UK.
Partey pleaded not guilty to seven charges of rape and one count of sexual assault relating to allegations by four different women between 2020 and 2022 and is scheduled to stand trial next year.
He was denied entry to Canada after telling officials he had never been arrested or charged with a crime, but is expected to feature against England in Boston on Tuesday.
“It’s part of football,” the Villarreal player said.
“Things happen outside football that you cannot control. For me now, I feel OK and ready to play.”
In a statement, US customs and border protection (CBP) said last week: “The US is aware of the pending court case for Mr Partey.
“However, at this time, he has not been convicted of a crime and was admitted to the United States after being issued a visa.”
Ghana head coach Carlos Queiroz said his players were “fully motivated” to face England.
“This is the easiest type of match, because when you’re about to play against England, France or Germany, you don’t need to say anything to the players,” he added.
“Everybody is fully switched on and everybody wants to perform well.”
Khatibzadeh tells Al Jazeera diplomacy is way forward, but US must ensure that Israel stops its attacks on Lebanon.
Published On 19 Jun 202619 Jun 2026
Iran’s deputy foreign minister says Tehran wants to continue the diplomatic process with Washington, if the United States is serious about respecting their agreement and ensures Israel abides by the terms of the memorandum of understanding (MoU).
“We are ready to move forward step by step, if the other party demonstrates the same seriousness,” Saeed Khatibzadeh told Al Jazeera Arabic in an interview on Friday.
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His comments came after talks between the US and Iran that were due in Switzerland on Friday were called off, and US Vice President JD Vance cancelled his planned trip there.
Earlier, officials including mediators Pakistan and Qatar said the two sides would meet in Burgenstock to begin negotiations on a host of issues as outlined in the MoU signed between the US and Iran this week.
Reports said the talks may have been called off after intense fighting between Israel and Hezbollah in southern Lebanon on Friday. Lebanon’s health ministry said Israeli attacks killed at least 47 people since midnight.
Speaking to Al Jazeera, Khatibzadeh denounced the latest Israeli attacks in Lebanon, saying Israel’s “continued war-making” would have “serious and immediate consequences”.
He said Iran was seeking “peace on all fronts, including Gaza”, and explained that Lebanon had been included in the MoU because of its direct connection to the conflict.
Article 1 of the MoU explicitly states that ending the war in Lebanon is an integral part of the broader ceasefire arrangement across all fronts.
“There will be no peace or stability in Lebanon and the region without ending the occupation and Israel’s commitment to international law,” Khatibzadeh added.
On the Strait of Hormuz, he said Iran would continue to provide navigation services in coordination with Oman and in accordance with international law.
He added that Tehran would not impose passage fees during the 60-day period outlined by the agreement, but said a new mechanism for managing the waterway would be introduced afterwards and presented to regional countries.
Khatibzadeh also said that any future agreement must include the release of all frozen Iranian funds.
Esmaeil Baghaei, spokesperson for Iran’s ministry of foreign affairs, said on Friday that the necessary consultations involving the US deal are being carried out through mediators, and that if the conditions for starting negotiations are met an official announcement will be made.
Regarding the Lebanon ceasefire required for talks between the US and Iran to continue, a Hezbollah official told Al Jazeera that the ceasefire would hold if Israel abided by it.
Israel’s ambassador to the US Yechiel Leiter said on X: “Israel remains firmly committed to an immediate ceasefire. If Hezbollah honours the agreement and ceases its hostilities, they will be met with quiet”.
Saka, who will make his 50th appearance for England in his next match, played 27 minutes of England’s warm-up game against Costa Rica as the forward’s game-time was managed by Tuchel.
The winger was taken off in the Champions League final as Arsenal lost to Paris-St Germain in Budapest with the scores level at the time of his substitution.
Saka’s performance in that match was criticised, but when asked if he found it frustrating being judged while not 100% fit, he said it is a “gamble” he is willing to take.
“Yeah, but I think as players it’s the biggest gamble, especially if you’re not feeling your sharpest. You have the choice whether you don’t play or you put yourself out there knowing that people are going to judge you the same,” Saka said.
“And at the end of the day people don’t really care how you’re feeling, they expect you to deliver, they expect you to perform.
“I’m happy to take that gamble and it paid off I’d say, and I’m going to continue doing that – but like I said I’m feeling a lot better than I did in March and I’m ready to go, so I’m excited.”
Saka is competing for a starting spot on the right wing with Arsenal team-mate Noni Madueke, but says that despite competing for game-time for club and country they want the best for each other.
“It’s quite unique, two players that play in the same position to be as close as we are,” Saka said.
“I don’t really know how it works, but it works. Noni is like my brother on and off the pitch. We push each other and we speak every day.
“We have that mutual respect for each other and we want each other to do well.
“The good thing is that we play on the same team and that if one of us is doing well it is good for the other.”
At first it looked like just another fight over war powers and Congress doing its job. But it feels like something bigger: the start of a real tug-of-war over what the Republican Party is going to be once Trump isn’t the center of everything.
For almost ten years now, Republican politics has been all about Trump. You rose if you stood with him, and you got sidelined if you didn’t. Loyalty often counted more than old-school conservative ideas, passing bills, or sticking to principles. But every party eventually has to answer the tough question that personality-driven movements hate: what happens when the big guy starts looking more like a problem than a winner? That question is getting harder for Republicans to dodge.
Trump didn’t just take over the party in 2016 — he remade it. The old Republican worldview of strong alliances, free trade, and steady leadership shifted toward a more populist, Trump-centered style.
It worked for a while. He won elections, fired up voters who felt ignored, and built a super-loyal base. As long as the wins kept coming, most Republicans went along. Parties get tested in the tough times, though — not the good ones. And the Iran conflict is turning into exactly that kind of test.
A lot of Republicans who backed Trump’s rise never thought they’d end up defending another big Middle East war. Trump made “no more endless wars” one of his best lines—slamming both parties for the messes in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Now the fighting with Iran has dragged on for months. Costs are adding up, gas prices sting at the pump, and nobody’s really clear on what “winning” would even mean. That’s created real quiet discomfort inside the party. The senators and reps who voted to rein in Trump’s war powers weren’t just talking procedure. They were signaling that blind loyalty isn’t automatic anymore.
Parties talk a lot about ideology, but when things get serious, survival often wins out. Some Republicans are starting to put distance between themselves and Trump — not because they hate everything he stands for, but because they don’t want their own careers sinking with one person. There’s a real difference between backing conservative policies and handing the whole party over to a single leader. More of them seem to be waking up to that.
What’s interesting is that the pushback is coming from inside the tent. Democrats opposing Trump is old news. When Republicans do it, it hits different. Senators like Rand Paul, Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, and Bill Cassidy broke ranks on the Senate vote. In the House, guys like Thomas Massie, Brian Fitzpatrick, Tom Barrett, and Warren Davidson did the same. These are still small numbers. But big shifts often start small.
The bigger story might be that some Republicans are finally imagining a future without Trump dominating every headline. A younger crop is coming up—they agree with him on immigration, trade, and culture wars, but they don’t want the party to be defined only by personal loyalty to him forever. They want a Republican Party that can keep going after he’s gone—Trumpism as one important piece, not the whole thing.
History shows parties sometimes tie themselves too tightly to charismatic leaders. Sometimes it revitalizes them. Sometimes it drags them down.
Right now, some inside the GOP worry Trump might be moving from asset to liability—especially with the Iran war dragging on and polarization getting worse. Trump is still the biggest force in the party with a rock-solid base. But power and lasting control aren’t the same.
These congressional votes show that at least some Republicans are already looking ahead to the next chapter. They see the risks of hitching the whole party’s future to one man. Whether they’re right or wrong, time will tell. But the conversation inside the party has clearly moved past just Iran or war powers. It’s now about whether the Republican Party still belongs to Trump — or whether it can finally start belonging to itself again.
Williams was a key player for Forest last term, playing in 53 games as they maintained their Premier League status and reached the Europa League semi-finals.
He was named Forest’s player of the season and the City Ground club have opened talks with the Wrexham-born player over a contract extension.
“It’s physically and mentally tough, but we’re professional enough to deal with what gets put in front of us,” Williams added.
“If that’s games every other few days or the travelling, we’re prepared for that and I’ve enjoyed it.
“I’ll be going straight on holiday, having a few cocktails and putting my feet up on the beach.
“We’ll get a couple of weeks off and then straight back into it.”
Iran is ready to reassure the international community that it is not pursuing nuclear weapons or instability in the region, President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Sunday, Anadolu reports.
“Prior to the martyrdom of Ayatollah (Ali) Khamenei, Iran’s late Leader, we declared — and we reiterate now — that we are ready to assure the world we do not seek nuclear weapons,” Pezeshkian said in remarks carried by state-run news agency IRNA.
“It is rather Tel Aviv that is driving regional instability,” he said, accusing Israel of pursuing a vision of “Greater Israel.”
Iranian negotiators will never compromise on the country’s “honor and dignity,” added Pezeshkian.
His remarks came a day after US President Donald Trump on Saturday said an agreement with Iran to end the war was “largely negotiated” and awaited finalization.
Regional tensions have escalated since the US and Israel launched strikes against Iran in February. Tehran retaliated with strikes targeting Israel as well as US allies in the Gulf, along with the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
A ceasefire took effect on April 8 through Pakistani mediation and was later extended by Trump indefinitely.
May 23 (UPI) — Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth delivered a graduation speech to graduating West Point cadets Saturday, and told them they are “ready” for war.
“West Point is set apart. It’s special. It’s above politics,” Hegseth said at the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, N.Y., Saturday. “Success here is based on merit. It’s how you perform that matters.”
He accused former “foolish and feckless leaders” of pushing identity politics on the academy.
“The battlefield does not grade on a curve, and you can’t throw your pronouns at the enemy,” The Hill reported Hegseth said. “Combat is the ultimate test, and our best Americans must ace it.”
He said previous “woke and weak leaders” tried to transform the school into “woke Princeton.” Hegseth got a bachelor’s degree from Princeton.
“They embraced the [diversity, equity and inclusion] craze and tried to introduce diversity and inclusion studies,” Hegseth said. “They hired professors who advocated for anti-American ideologies right here in these halls, but no more.
“You are fit, not fat. You are disciplined, not distracted,” Hegseth told the cadets.
While he didn’t mention the war in Iran, he told the graduates that they “are stepping into the arena at a time when the stakes could not be higher.”
“We’re sending you to lead, we’re sending you to forge warriors, and we are sending you, perhaps, to war, and you are ready,” he said.
On stage were also Rep. Steve Womack, R-Ark., Rep. Pat Ryan, D-N.Y., Army Secretary Dan Driscoll and other military officials.
Last year, President Donald Trump delivered the graduation speech.
The Blue Angels perform a flyover during graduation and a commissioning ceremony at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md., on May 22, 2026. Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI | License Photo
On the eve of the City Section championship baseball game at Dodger Stadium, let’s explore a sometimes forgotten character trait: Patience.
When JJ Saffie walks onto hallowed ground Saturday as a starting left fielder for 10-time City champion El Camino Real High in the Open Division championship game against Birmingham, he will be finishing a journey few want to travel these days.
He spent three years on the junior varsity team waiting and grinding before getting his chance to start on varsity this season.
“Very patient,” he said. “Freshman year, played frosh-soph, called up for a few JV games. Sophomore year, on and off starter on JVs. Junior year is when it started clicking for me. I found my bat, I found the style I like to play, I started hitting real good.”
He was part of an outstanding JV team his junior year, called up as a pinch runner for the playoffs. He developed power and a knack for hitting balls over El Camino Real’s left-field fence during batting practice.
“I’ve hit two windows and six cars,” said the 18-year-old, who likes to cause mayhem for insurance companies.
El Camino Real celebrates a 4-3 win over Granada Hills to earn a trip to Dodger Stadium on Saturday.
(Craig Weston)
He’s hit two home runs this season and become a key player for the Royals.
Now he gets to start at Dodger Stadium, a moment every high school baseball player in the City Section dreams of reaching.
“I’m a big believer in good things will come to those who are patient,” he said. “I knew I needed to be patient, work on my game and eventually success would come my way and I’d have my opportunities and here’s my opportunity. I’m trying to prove that Saturday.”
El Camino Real needed a two-run single by RJ De La Rosa in the bottom of the sixth inning on Wednesday to defeat Granada Hills 4-3 in the semifinals at Cal State Northridge.
“I saw my pitch,” De La Rosa said. “I wanted to take advantage. It was the bottom of the sixth. The team needed me most and I pulled through. It was an amazing moment. These boys are my brothers. I will fight for them. I will do everything for them. I can’t wait to make some memories at Dodger Stadium.”
For Saffie, staying and fighting to get better rather than running away from a challenge is a great lesson for others.
“I had a few people tell me to transfer,” he said. “But my sister came here, my dad. I want to prove myself at this school.”
Top-seeded Birmingham will have junior Nathan Soto starting on the mound in the 1 p.m. game. It’s a big assignment and he’ll be working on his mental part of the game.
“It’s just another game,” he said after the Patriots’ 4-1 semifinal win over Carson. “I think it’s everyone’s dream to pitch there, but you have to keep it as a normal game.”
Pitcher Carlos Acuna grinded out a complete game in Birmingham’s 4-1 win over Carson to send the Patriots to Dodger Stadium.
(Craig Weston)
Birmingham can thank Carlos Acuna for putting together a sophomore season to remember. His pitching season is done. He finished with an 11-0 record after a complete-game win against Carson.
“It’s an amazing season he’s having,” coach Matt Mowry said.
In six of the seven innings on Wednesday, Carson got the leadoff batter aboard, forcing Acuna to work extra hard while throwing 102 pitches.
“He was on the edge of coming out,” Mowry said.
Acuna wouldn’t let him.
“I love this team,” Acuna said. “I want to play one last game.”
He’ll start on Saturday at second or third base in a game matching two of the most successful programs in City baseball history. El Camino Real is seeking a record 11th title. Birmingham wants its ninth title.
The 10 a.m. game at Dodger Stadium has Verdugo Hills taking on Taft in the Division I final.
Fans will come for the sun, the hot dogs, the fun of cheering on someone they know or enjoying a moment of distraction at Los Angeles’ most sacred stadium.
Just remember those are teenagers out there who’ve sacrificed and spent years working toward this moment. There’s no losers when you get to play at Dodger Stadium as a high school kid.
For Saffie, it validates his belief in trusting the process and trusting himself. He didn’t run when the going got tough. He persevered and learned a valuable lesson: patience still pays off.
SpaceX founder Elon Musk announced plans on Wednesday for one of the biggest stock sales ever, by taking a space company public that is currently losing billions of dollars a year.
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A filing shows that SpaceX lost $2.6 billion (€2.24bn) from operations last year on $18.7 billion in revenue, and the losses continued at the start of this year.
The prospectus did not put a dollar figure on the amount Musk hopes to raise, but various reports have estimated it at around $75bn (€64.5bn). An offering of that size would easily surpass the current title holder, Saudi Aramco, the oil giant that went public seven years ago and raised $26bn (€22.4bn).
SpaceX, formally known as Space Exploration Technologies Corp., said the money will help finance projects to put people on the Moon and Mars, as part of its goal to make humans an interplanetary species in the face of existential threats that could wipe out civilisation.
“We do not want humans to have the same fate as dinosaurs,” the filing states.
The prospectus reads, in part, like a Hollywood-style vision of the future, detailing in one section that part of Musk’s compensation will be granted only if he maintains “a permanent human colony on Mars with at least one million inhabitants.”
Short of that, the stock sale alone could make Musk — the founder and a major shareholder of SpaceX — the world’s first trillionaire. Forbes currently estimates his net worth at $839bn (€722bn), roughly equivalent to Poland’s annual GDP.
Losses mount despite strong revenue and Starlink growth
In addition to making reusable rockets to send astronauts into orbit, SpaceX has other businesses, some successful and others struggling, with plenty of question marks.
The document shows that Starlink, the world’s largest satellite communications company, is a major source of cash, generating $4.4bn (€3.8bn) in operating income last year. The business uses 10,000 satellites in low orbit to provide internet service to 10 million people in 150 countries and territories.
Among the struggling businesses are two Musk ventures recently acquired by SpaceX — his social media platform X, formerly Twitter, and his artificial intelligence firm xAI. Those purchases were criticised by some SpaceX investors as bailouts, as both are significant loss-makers.
The prospectus said its AI business lost $6.4bn (€5.5bn) from operations last year.
The original SpaceX business — building rockets and conducting launches — has benefited from major government contracts, raising questions that could come back to affect the company. Given Musk’s close ties to the Trump administration, government ethics lawyers and watchdogs have questioned whether he received preferential treatment in securing taxpayer-funded contracts, and whether that support will continue once Donald Trump leaves office.
SpaceX has won contracts worth $6bn (€5.2bn) from NASA, the Defence Department and other government agencies over the past five years, according to USAspending.gov. The company noted in its filing that one-fifth of its revenue last year came from the federal government.
Musk was the biggest donor to Trump’s presidential campaign and remains a major backer, despite a sometimes rocky relationship following his role in the government cost-cutting effort known as DOGE early last year.
Musk’s pay tied to ambitious targets as he retains firm control
Like many corporate CEOs, Musk’s compensation goes far beyond his annual salary, which was $54,080 (€46,538.5)in 2025 and has remained unchanged since 2019, according to the filing.
The prospectus says stock grants for him will be divided into 15 nearly equal tranches — 67 million shares each — and will vest only as the company reaches preset market capitalisation targets. In addition to the Mars colony milestone, SpaceX’s market value would need to reach $7.5 trillion (€6.45tr) for him to receive the full award.
He would receive additional stock awards if SpaceX succeeds in deploying giant data centres the size of football fields in space.
The document shows Musk will retain significant control over the business.
It states that he and certain other shareholders will receive shares in a special class of stock that gives them 10 votes per share. These shareholders will be able, among other things, to elect a majority of the company’s board of directors.
“This will limit or preclude your ability to influence corporate matters and the election of our directors,” SpaceX said in a warning to prospective investors.
SpaceX will be able to market the offering to investors — in what is known on Wall Street as a “roadshow” — 15 days after making its prospectus public. In this case, that would be 4 June.
The fear of renewed US strikes in Iran looms while Israeli attacks continue in Lebanon despite extended ‘ceasefire’.
Published On 18 May 202618 May 2026
United States President Donald Trump has warned Iran that the “clock is ticking” to clinch a deal to end the war as reports have emerged that Washington and Israel might be planning to carry out air strikes on Iranian energy infrastructure.
“For Iran, the Clock is Ticking, and they better get moving, FAST, or there won’t be anything left of them,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform. “TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE!”
Iranian Ministry of Defence spokesperson Reza Talaei-Nik said on Sunday that the military is “fully prepared” to confront any new aggression from the US and Israel.
Saudi Arabia on Monday said it intercepted three drones, a day after a drone strike hit the Barakah Nuclear Energy Plant in the United Arab Emirates.
Meanwhile, Israel has continued its bombardment of Lebanon despite another “ceasefire” extension.
As the US-Israeli war on Iran continues for its 80th day, here is what we know:
In Iran
Mohsen Rezaei, a member of Tehran’s Expediency Council and former Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commander, issued a warning to the US to lift its blockade of Iranian ports, saying the Iranian military is ready for further confrontation. Rezaei made this warning while speaking to state television.
Talaei-Nik said the Iranian armed forces are “fully prepared to confront any new potential attack by the US and the Israeli regime against the country”.
War diplomacy
Mikhail Ulyanov, Russia’s envoy to international organisations in Vienna, suggested in an X post that Iran appoint a special envoy to Moscow, similar to Tehran’s arrangement with China.
In an X post, Jean-Luc Melenchon, the leading figure of France’s left-wing La France Insoumise party, condemned “European complicity” in the US-Israeli strikes on Iran, which have triggered a wider regional war.
In the Gulf
The New York Times reported that the Israeli military has operated two “covert” outposts in Iraq’s western desert and killed a shepherd and a soldier in a bid to hide one of the sites near the town of al-Nukhaib.
After the drone attack on the nuclear facility caused a fire, the UAE Ministry of Defence said two other drones had been “successfully” dealt with after they were launched from the “western border”. It did not elaborate.
The drone that got through the UAE’s defences hit an electrical generator outside the inner perimeter of the Barakah Nuclear Energy Plant, the Abu Dhabi Media Office said. Radiological safety levels were unaffected, and there were no injuries, it said. The UAE’s Federal Authority for Nuclear Regulation later confirmed that the plant remained safe with no radioactive material released from the strike.
Saudi Arabia said the three drones it intercepted entered from Iraqi airspace and warned that it would take the necessary operational measures to respond to any attempt to violate its sovereignty and security.
In the US
Marjorie Taylor Greene, a former US congresswoman and a once-close ally of Trump, has warned in a post on X that any attempt to send US troops into Iran would trigger what she described as a “political revolution”.
Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, speaking to the NBC broadcaster, urged Trump to “hurt” Iran, including launching attacks on its energy sites, until it agrees to US terms on its nuclear programme. The US and Israel have hit civilian targets multiple times during the war on Iran. Attacks on civilian facilities are considered war crimes under international law.
In Israel
Israel’s Channel 13 reported that dozens of US cargo planes carrying ammunition from bases in Germany have landed in Tel Aviv.
Israeli media reported that the military is preparing for renewed hostilities with Iran. The public broadcaster Kan quoted an unnamed security official as saying that Israel would join any new US strikes and target Iranian energy infrastructure.
In Lebanon
Israeli strikes have continued in southern Lebanon, where Israel issued evacuation orders for four towns and villages and then struck two of those locations.
Strikes were also reported in Az-Zrariyah on a moving vehicle while another raid in Tayr Debba resulted in some significant casualty numbers, Al Jazeera’s Obaida Hitto reported from Tyre, Lebanon.
Global markets
Stalled peace efforts between Iran and the US caused oil prices to rise again on Monday. This pushed the price of the global benchmark Brent crude up to about $111 per barrel, close to its highest level in weeks.
