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.
Greg Davies has been called up to host the BAFTA TV Awards for the first time1
16:18, 10 May 2026Updated 16:19, 10 May 2026
Greg Davies said he’s looking for a wife(Image: Rex)
Greg Davies is back on our screens tonight as he hosts the BAFTA TV Awards for the very first time.
The 57-year old, known for co-hosting the hit comedy gameshow Taskmaster, follows in the footsteps of Graham Norton, Lenny Henry and Michael Parkinson in his MC role and said it was an opportunity he could not turn down.
“I used to watch Stephen Fry at the Baftas and marvel at his cool, intellectual charm. I won’t be bringing that,” laughed Greg ahead of the show.
The 6ft 8in funnyman shot to fame after starring as headteacher Mr Gilbert in The Inbetweeners and has since become a regular fixture on our screens, thanks to his TV roles in The Cleaner, Brassic, Cuckoo and Man Down.
Speaking as a guest at the BAFTAs last year, Greg gave a rare update on his personal life as he said he was ‘ready for a wife’.
The Taskmaster star and his co-host Alex Horne were nominated in the Entertainment category for their Channel 4 programme alongside The 1% Club, Michael McIntyre’s Big Show and Would I Lie to You?
Speaking on the red carpet, Alex said: “We’re an unlikely couple,” with Greg piping up: “That’s why we’re a good team.”
Alex then added: “And I would like to thank my wife for getting us here tonight,” before Greg joked: “I don’t have a wife so maybe I can thank Alex’s wife.”
Tom insisted he could meet his wife at the star-studded event, with Greg responding: “Maybe I will, I’m open to it. It would be so lovely, it’s been too long and I’m ready now.”
Alex simply quipped: “Lonely”,” as Greg added: “Oh god, the horrible hot lonely tears.”
The Cleaner star was in a relationship with Labour Party politician Liz Kendall between 2007 and 2015, but usually keeps his love life under wraps.
Liz told previously The Mirror about their romance: “I am not going to be the sort of politician who does all that stuff about their private life because it’s very precious to me and really important to me that I have that space that’s personal and just to me. We are not together any more but we remain really good friends.”
In the past Greg has made jokes about his disastrous single life and previously said he ‘gave up’ on romance while on The Graham Norton Show.
Greg said his grandfather once caught him in an embrace with his first girlfriend and the experience left him mortified. “It’s not for me, romance… that was the day I gave up on romance,” he explained. However, Greg counts one ex-girlfriend of changing the course of his life. His former partner, who he has not named, convinced him to switch from his teaching career to one in comedy. Speaking to The Times, he said: “I’ve been doing comedy for about 15 years now. I always wanted to do it, I just never had thick enough skin.
“A girlfriend I had while teaching was a pragmatist and always told me that if you want to do something, then go for it. So eventually I made the switch. Comedy is definitely where I’m happiest.”
Mortified Greg recalled: “I met Janet Ellis once in a fish and chip shop. I used to have a terrible crush on her, all throughout my childhood. Then I finally met her and said something humiliating, I think chips-based, that guaranteed I would never end up in the relationship I craved.” He added: “I met her daughter Sophie on a show once and told her I fancied her mum and she rolled her eyes and said ‘everyone does’.”
While he was known for playing doting dad Ken in the sitcom Cuckoo, the actor himself does not have any children. He does, however, have lots of experience looking after kids as he was a secondary school drama and English teacher for 13 years before moving into comedy.
That’s not Greg’s only transformation. In recent years the funnyman has admitted to using Ozempic to lose weight after receiving concerning health news from his doctor.
The host claimed to have lost three stone – and named the diabetic medication in an interview. Ozempic is not designed as a weight loss drug and is used instead as a treatment for type 2 diabetes in adults – however, many patients have experienced weight loss as a side effect.
He told The Times: “[I] lost three stone on the old Ozempic, in about four months, before putting most of it back on.” The interview also notes that his doctor warned him that if he was shorter, he would “look obese” – and that he is now considering turning to fasting in an attempt to maintain his weight.
Noting that he is not concerned about ageing, he added: “I think that’s probably good in my game, isn’t it?”
The last time the Supreme Court threatened to end access to the country’s most popular abortion method, California’s network of online providers and their pharmaceutical suppliers scrambled to respond.
Now, with the fate of the cocktail used in roughly two-thirds of U.S. terminations once again in the balance, they’re not even breaking a sweat.
Dr. Michele Gomez, co-founder of the MYA Network, a consortium of virtual reproductive healthcare providers, said the supply chain is “ready to switch in a day” to an alternative drug combination.
“It’s not going away and it’s not going to slow down,” Gomez said.
On May 1, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled to block the drug mifepristone from being prescribed virtually and shipped through the mail, making such deliveries illegal across the country. On Monday, the Supreme Court stayed that decision, allowing prescriptions to resume until the court issues an emergency ruling next week.
Mifepristone is the first half of a two-drug protocol for medication abortion, which made up 63% of all legal abortions in the U.S. in 2023.
Between a quarter and a third of those abortions are now prescribed by healthcare providers over the internet and delivered by mail — a path Louisiana and other ban states are fighting to bar.
“Abortion access has gone up with all the telehealth providers,” Gomez said. “We uncovered an unmet need.”
But the cocktail’s second ingredient, misoprostol, can be used to produce abortion on its own — a method that’s often more painful and slightly less effective.
It would be easy for suppliers to switch to a misoprostol-only protocol — and much harder for courts to block it, experts said.
“We heard about this on Friday and organizations that mail pills were mailing misoprostol on Saturday,” Gomez said. “They already knew what to do.”
After the Supreme Court overturned Roe vs. Wade in 2022, California became one of the first states to enshrine abortion rights for residents in its Constitution and legislate protection for clinicians who prescribe abortion pills to women in states with bans.
Last fall, legislators in Sacramento expanded those protections by allowing pills to be mailed without either the doctor or the patient’s name attached.
But cases like the one being decided next week could still sharply limit abortion rights even in states with extensive legal protections, experts warned.
“Even though California has built a fortress around its own constitutional protections of reproductive freedom, those [protections] become vulnerable to the whims of antiabortion states if the Supreme Court gives those states their imprimatur,” said Michele Goodwin, professor at Georgetown Law and an expert on reproductive justice.
Coral Alonso sings in Spanish as protesters rally on the three-year anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court decision overturning Roe vs. Wade on June 24, 2025, in Los Angeles. The ruling ended the federal right to legal abortion in the United States.
(David McNew / Getty Images)
Legal experts are split over how the justices will decide the medication’s mail-order fate.
“This is a case where law clearly won’t matter,” Eric J. Segall, a law professor at Georgia State University and an expert on the Supreme Court.
“In a very important midterm election year, I think there’s at least two Republicans on the court who will decide that upholding the 5th Circuit would really hurt the Republicans at the polls,” he said. “If women can’t get this by mail in California or other blue states where abortion is legal, it’s going to have devastating consequences, and I think the court knows that.”
But he and others believe it’s no longer a matter of if — but when and how — the drugs are restricted, including in California.
“This is curating a backdrop for a legal showdown that may surely come,” Goodwin said.
The court’s most conservative justices could find grounds to act in the long-forgotten Comstock Act of 1873. The brainchild of America’s zealously anti-porn postmaster Anthony Comstock, the law not only banned the mailing of the “Birth of Venus” and “Lady Chatterley’s Lover,” but also condoms, diaphragms and any drug, tool or text that could be used to produce an abortion.
Though it hasn’t been enforced since the 1970s, the antiabortion provision of the law remains on the books, experts said.
“The next move is with the Comstock Act, which Justices Alito and Thomas have already been hinting at,” Goodwin said. “In that case, it’s like playing Monopoly — we could skip mifepristone and go straight to contraception. The goal is to make sure none of that gets to be in the mail.”
That move would upend how Americans get both abortions and birth control, and put an unassuming L.A. County pharmacy squarely in the government’s crosshairs.
Although doctors in nearly two dozen states can safely prescribe medication abortion to women anywhere in the U.S., only a handful of specialty pharmacies actually fill those mail orders, Gomez explained. Among the largest is Honeybee in Culver City, which did not reply to requests for comment.
Even if the justices don’t reach for Comstock, a decision in Louisiana’s favor next week could create a two-tiered system of abortion across California and other blue states, experts said.
“The people this case hurts the most are the poor and the rural,” said Segall, the Supreme Court expert.
National data show that abortion patients are disproportionately poor. Most are also already mothers. Losing mail access to mifepristone would leave many with the more painful, less effective option while those with the time and means to reach a clinic continue to get the gold standard of care.
“There are fundamental questions of citizenship at the heart of this,” said Goodwin, the constitutional scholar. “Under the 14th Amendment, women are supposed to have equality, citizenship, liberty. It’s as though the Supreme Court has taken a black marker and pressed it against all of those words.”
For Gomez and other providers, that’s tomorrow’s problem.
“The lawyers and the politicians are just going to do their thing,” the doctor said. “The healthcare providers are just trying to get medications to people who need them.”
Welcome back to the Lakers newsletter, where, against all odds, we’re still kicking.
The Lakers defied expectations by winning their first-round series against the Houston Rockets. Most didn’t give them any chance. It felt dicey after a deflating Game 5 loss at home. But the Lakers pulled it off with a headlining performance from their 22-time All-Star and award-worthy supporting performances from the ensemble cast.
Against the league-leading Oklahoma City Thunder, even fewer people are giving the Lakers a chance for an encore performance. But as Kevin Garnett once said: “Anything is possible!”
All things Lakers, all the time.
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Set the tone
Marcus Smart rotated over to the baseline. He came face to face with Houston’s Tari Eason as the 6-foot-8 Rockets forward leapt toward the basket. The 6-3 guard jumped right along with him.
Smart is used to taking on big challenges.
The Lakers brought Smart in for this moment. It’s not just the defensive tenacity to block a forward five inches taller and eight years younger than him, but when the postseason inevitably challenged the Lakers in unforeseen ways, they needed Smart’s leadership. He proves it every time he steps up to take a charge, gets a deflection or just pulls a teammate aside for a quick word.
“Marcus is a true leader,” center Deandre Ayton said. “Besides [Le]Bron [James], Luka [Doncic] and AR [Austin Reaves], Marcus is the other guy with the grit where [if you feel] discombobulated, he tries to be that guy that puts his arm around you and some of the younger guys. Whether it’s coming down to his competitiveness, keeping that same, consistent edge, Marcus tries to keep that level of intensity pretty high and it’s contagious, too.”
With Doncic (hamstring) still sidelined to begin the Western Conference semifinals against the top-seeded Thunder, the Lakers are counting on their supporting players for major performances. Smart’s role will be one of the most taxing; he’ll be the top defender for a team trying to slow down the NBA’s reigning most valuable player.
On his long list of elite matchups, Smart ranked Shai Gilgeous-Alexander at the top.
“I think we all know that, right?” the former defensive player of the year said. “He does a really good job of getting to the free-throw line. He’s mastered it. … It’s tough, but it can be done, it’s just going to take a lot of effort from everybody and we gotta stay together.”
Gilgeous-Alexander is a front-runner for his second consecutive most valuable player and led the Thunder to a sweep over the Phoenix Suns in the first round. The Thunder easily carved up Phoenix’s ninth-ranked defense, scoring 126.9 points per 100 possessions. Their offensive efficiency was five points better than the next best team in the first round.
The Lakers are coming off their own defensive masterpiece against Houston, holding the Rockets to less than 100 points in four of the six first-round games. Their 78 points allowed in the series-clinching Game 6 were the fewest in a playoff game by a Lakers opponent since May 16, 2012.
The anchors of the defensive performance are two major offseason additions acquired to help the Lakers bounce back from their disappointing first-round series loss to Minnesota last year. Smart and Ayton are quietly starring this postseason.
Ayton’s 11 points per game didn’t accurately reflect the influence he made against the Rockets. His 10.8 rebounds per game, including four games in which he had 10 or more rebounds despite being ejected in the third quarter of Game 4, were even more impressive against a team that dominated the rebounding battle at a historic rate.
A strong performance from Ayton lifts the ceiling on the team more than anyone else, Lakers coach JJ Redick said. An underrated and unexpected part of Smart’s value is his ability to unlock the team’s most important piece.
“I’m just somebody who he respects,” Smart said. “He sees [me] go out there and not only preaching, I’m actually doing what I’m preaching.”
Smart and Ayton barely knew each other before this season. But their paths are parallel: Former postseason mainstays who, in Ayton’s words, “disappeared.” The center who helped Phoenix to the NBA Finals trudged through Portland for two seasons; Smart, the former Boston Celtics stalwart, bounced between Memphis and Washington.
They’re now soaking up the spotlight in L.A.
“We’re both here, we’re both trying to get our names back into the good graces of the basketball gods,” Smart said, “and just show what we still can do.”
Priority No. 1
The Lakers had two keys for their first-round series against the Rockets: boxing out and taking care of the ball.
Now against what Redick estimated was “one of the greatest teams ever in NBA history,” that list has narrowed to one big thing.
Turnovers.
The Lakers, who got swept in the four-game regular-season series by an average of 29.3 points per game, averaged 17.5 turnovers per game against the Thunder during the regular season, three more than their regular-season average. Turnovers nearly undid the Lakers’ first-round series: they averaged 17.7 against the Rockets and gave up 19 points off turnovers per game.
The Thunder are an especially dangerous matchup for a team that can’t take care of the ball; Oklahoma City led the league in points off turnovers with 22 per game during the regular season.
“Whatever moments we felt Houston pressuring, like the maximum amount of pressure they put on us, that’s OKC’s baseline,” Redick said.
The Thunder, even playing without star two-way wing Jalen Williams for much of the season, were the NBA’s most disruptive defense. They’re league-leading defensive rating came with the third-most steals (9.7), sixth-most blocks (5.5) and the second-most turnovers forced (16.7) per game.
“They somehow do all of that without fouling,” Redick said with a hint of sarcasm in his voice, “which is one of the most remarkable things, I think, in NBA history.”
The Lakers, who attempted the second-most free throws in the league behind Doncic’s top-ranked 10.1 attempts, committed fewer fouls than the Thunder this season: 18.5 fouls per game compared to Oklahoma City’s 19.
On tap
Tuesday at Oklahoma City, 5:30 p.m. PDT (Game 1)
Two of the Lakers’ worst losses of the year were in Oklahoma City. If November’s 29-point loss wasn’t painful enough, the injury-plagued disaster on April 2 could be enough for the Lakers to want to sage the whole arena.
Thursday at Oklahoma City, 6:30 p.m. PDT (Game 2)
The Thunder have had the league’s best home record for each of the last two seasons, including a 34-7 mark this season, but still had two home playoff losses last year. Oklahoma City dropped Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinals and the NBA Finals last year, needing to win both series in seven games en route to the championship.
Saturday vs. Oklahoma City, 5:30 p.m. (Game 3)
The Thunder lost Game 3 in three of their four playoff series last year. The only exception was their first-round sweep over Memphis.
Monday vs. Oklahoma City, 7:30 p.m. (Game 4)
Could this be the final Lakers game of the year?
Status report
Luka Doncic (left hamstring)
After missing the first round, the Lakers’ superstar guard is still sidelined with a Grade 2 hamstring strain. He is not expected to return for the start of the series and has yet to progress to live on-court workouts.
Jalen Williams (left hamstring)
The Thunder’s All-NBA wing will miss at least Game 1 after he suffered a Grade 1 left hamstring strain on April 22, which kept him out of the Thunder’s last two games. After last year’s breakout season, Williams was plagued by injuries to his wrist and right hamstring that limited him to just 33 regular-season games.
(Second) favorite thing I ate this week
Because I did not take a picture of it, the only evidence I have from my No. 1 meal from Houston is a lingering sweet and spicy tang on my tongue from Rodeo Goat’s Billy F Gibbons burger. It was delicious: candied bacon, caramelized onions, gouda, mango pico, cream cheese and habanero sauce.
Street taco plate from Luchi & Joey’s in Houston.
(Thuc Nhi Nguyen / Los Angeles Times)
A close second was the street taco plate from Luchi & Joey’s, a food stall in downtown Houston’s underground tunnels. The five-taco spread hit the spot while I was hiding from the heavy storm moving through Houston on the day of Game 6. The six-mile tunnel system is lined with restaurants and shops that came in handy during torrential rain. I was safe from the elements while I hunted for lunch then only had to make a one-block scramble through the rain back to my hotel.
Like most of his música mexicana contemporaries, Diego Millán, better known artistically as Calle 24, sang about the excesses of living the rock star life — the money, the cars, the booze and the women.
Since signing with Street Mob Records — the independent label founded by Fuerza Regida frontman Jesús “JOP” Ortiz Paz — in 2020, the singer-songwriter has been responsible for hits like “Que Onda, ” which featured labelmates Chino Pacas and Fuerza Regida. The trombone-laced earworm about a deboucherous tryst was a breakthrough for Millán, reaching No. 61 on the Billboard Hot 100 after it debuted in August 2023.
These days, the 23-year-old Chihuahua-born artist is dialing down the glitz, opting for songs that aren’t about living the luxurious life.
“Money brings more problems,” Millán tells me inside an Italian restaurant at the Americana at Brand, Glendale’s monument to opulent consumerism. “Because the more money you have, the more things you have to support.”
In April, Millán released “Eterno,” his fourth studio album. The 15-track LP largely forgoes the boisterous brass section that’s become a staple in the genre in favor of stripped-down tracks about being disillusioned with newfound wealth (“10 de mayo”), his mental health (the gritty “Si Me Ven”) and romantic heartbreak and anguish (“Solo”). He also touches on a topic that might be too taboo to discuss: Mexico’s widespread systemic relationship of organized crime (“El Sentrita”).
Millán says this is the most authentic he’s ever been in his music, something he attributes to moving back to Mexico, a country he believes is deeply misunderstood and has profoundlyshaped his personality.
“[Mexico] is filled with deep values, strong ethics and a profound sense of social understanding,” he said.
While música mexicana artists might feel compelled to move to the states in search of fame and fortune, Millán now finds freedom in his native country — and through “Eterno.”
“Now, I can be myself,” he said.
The follwing interview was conducted in Spanish, and has been condensed and edited for clarity.
In “Solo” you talk about romantic loneliness. Why was that vulnerability important to include in this album?
I prefer to approach those themes from a more grounded perspective. With that song, I wanted to really open myself up to that feeling and express regret, that sense of loneliness that comes with saying “I screwed things up.” I feel that’s how you establish a deeper connection with your audience. After all, so many people out there don’t have luxuries or material things like that so how do you get to them? With emotion. A feeling that expresses regret, including with the phrase: “I know I’m a piece of s—, but you know that I love you.”
It reminds me of Joan Sebastian’s “Un Idiota,” in which the singer admits he still loves the person he wronged, and that he knows he messed up.
That’s what I wanted to do too, talk about the human experience and what it is. I wanted people to listen to it as they’re drinking, and all of a sudden that wave of feelings just hits you like a slap to the face.
The song “Si Me Ven” talks about burnout and the idea that money isn’t as fulfilling as one might think. Did you base it out of your own personal experiences?
This song fits like a ring on my finger. They say that money won’t make you happy and it’s true. In my case, I spent five years without seeing my family and missed many things.
On Instagram, you told fans: “I feel like I am more human than artist, I hope you all can understand. Sometimes I wake up wanting to do nothing, or sometimes asking myself what am I doing? Where am I going?” Do you feel drained by this career?
Of course [being a successful musician] is my dream, but I didn’t know all that it would entail. To this day, it has been draining, and there’s some days where I don’t feel like doing anything because I’m more of a person than an artist. There are some colleagues that do live life as if it were a movie, but I’m more of a homebody.
How do you make sense of the industry where part of the allure is tied to wealth, fancy cars and material goods?
I obviously love cars. Any normal person would love those types of things. And when you work hard, of course you fill the gaps you had when you were younger. But I don’t like putting it in people’s faces.
You say this, but your “Eterno” album cover shows you with a stack of money.
[Laughs] But there’s something curious about that cover. I was feeling down that day, there was just a lot of sadness around that time. Yet there I am, surrounded by all that stuff and that’s where the clash lies, you know? That contrast is what gives my album cover its depth.
Let’s talk about “El Sentrita.” The song contextualizes organized crime as a systemic issue. What prompted you to write about this topic?
I wanted to frame it as social commentary, addressing what has been going on in Mexico for decades, as well as the obstacles we face as artists who aren’t allowed to express ourselves or certain themes through music. Just as we were discussing right now, rap used to be how artists delivered social commentary through the medium of music. I would like to do that as well.
I figured if the government tells me I can’t sing a corrido, then I’ll use a corrido to offer them some criticism instead. You have to pay close attention to follow the character’s storyline as it unfolds. At the end of the song, it hits you, none of this would have happened if someone would have given him a chance. The goal was to raise awareness, to show that there are so many dreams within [Mexico] but they need to be given the opportunity to pursue them so that they don’t end up on the wrong path.
The music video for “El Sentrita” shows how one young boy gets roped into organized crime. It feels less of a choice and more a result of the system. Tell me more about this decision to give dimension to the character.
That’s the question: Who is the victim in this system? The way I saw it was that he was a good person who fell in with bad people and ended up becoming a bad person himself. If we look at it from a different angle, one where you don’t judge whether a person is good or bad, he was simply someone operating in that world out of necessity.
That’s when you have to question yourself and ask: how can we call someone a bad person when society leaves them with no other choice. I also wanted to do this to show young people that life in that world isn’t easy. Society right now is deeply damaged. This new generation of youth needs a lot of attention.
There is a phrase at the end of the song where you say, “You don’t sing about what you do, you sing about what you see.” What did you mean by that?
Because it’s not like we’re out there doing those things, you know? We aren’t engaging in any kind of criminal activity whatsoever. We simply sing, literally, about what we see, about what goes down in [Mexico] every single day. Because it’s not just some isolated incident; it’s something that happens constantly — day in, day out, without fail.
After watching Manchester City slip to a 3-2 defeat by Brighton on Saturday, Arsenal fans started to believe they had a chance.
And Slegers’ team made sure to capitalise on the opportunity with seven unanswered goals against Leicester, improving their goal difference to 33 – six behind City.
Leah Williamson’s glancing header – the Gunners’ seventh against Leicester – also took their tally to 103 goals under Slegers. No WSL team has scored more since she was appointed – initially as interim boss – in October 2024.
“Clean sheet, seven goals scored, different scorers – it was a great night for us,” Slegers said to Sky Sports.
“You saw so many players playing the Arsenal way, we played attractive football and we were very brave in everything we did.”
What will also boost Arsenal’s belief is their squad’s strength in depth.
With the second leg of their Women’s Champions League semi-final against Lyon awaiting on Saturday, Slegers rested Williamson, Lotte Wubben-Moy, Mariona Caldentey, Caitlin Foord and Alessia Russo against the Foxes.
Their replacements did the job.
On her 100th WSL appearance, Maanum scored the opening goal and assisted two more, while Smilla Holmberg bagged her first two goals in an Arsenal shirt.
Stina Blackstenius has often had to play second fiddle to Russo, but the Swede, who scored the winning goal in last season’s Champions League final, showed her quality with two goals in the space of nine minutes.
“Everyone knows their role and brings their strengths. There are such high levels of communication and trust within the team, on the pitch, off the pitch,” Slegers added.
It will be the first time that a famous trans person has competed on Channel 4’s military challenge show, which films its ninth series this summer.
Meanwhile Freddy Brazier is also in talks to compete on the show – following in the footsteps of his dad Jeff Brazier, who starred on the show in 2019.
Former Special Forces big dogsBilly Billingham, Jason Fox, Rudy Reyes, and Chris Oliver will all be on hand to push the stars to their limit.
Series eight, which went out in January, was given a Team UK v Team Australia theme and produced in conjunction with Aussie broadcaster Channel 7.
Seven stars from each country were pitted against each other to find out which of them were capable of completing the course.
Former Love Islanders Dani Dyer and Gabby Allen as well as retired Australian swimmer Emily Seebohm were crowned the winners.
Head coach Scott Bemand says Ireland are “ready” for the pressure of facing France in Clermont on Saturday after learning from a string of big-game experiences.
Ireland began their Women’s Six Nations campaign with a 33-12 loss to England in front of a record 77,120 at Twickenham’s Allianz Stadium.
Bemand’s side also faced New Zealand and France in front of near-capacity crowds at the World Cup last year – and the coach feels those days will stand to his squad as they bid for a first win on French soil.
“We’ve got the benefit now with our group having come through the World Cup piece where we had full stadiums, a lot of noise and a lot of expectation, internal expectation,” said Bemand.
“Going away to France is a class experience. We were away in England two weeks ago so we’ve had a recent opportunity of stepping into that sort of arena.
“I saw a completely different group to two years ago walking into that space, so as we continue to evolve, continue to get more confident in ourselves and our performances, I think we’re ready for this one.”
Bemand, who has made one change from last week’s nine-try win over Italy, added the team feel “excitement and anticipation rather than nerves”.
“We’re ready for this, we’ve trained well this week,” he added.
“We’re now recovering, we’ll travel, we’re going to enjoy it. The weather looks good over there and we’ll be absolutely gunning to start and get out of the blocks when the whistle goes on Saturday night.”
General Atomics is positioning the MQ-9B SeaGuardian unmanned aerial system (UAS) as an ideal partner for the U.S. Navy’s P-8 Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft. The SeaGuardian features an expanding suite of anti-surface warfare, anti-submarine warfare and situational awareness-enhancing capabilities. These can be employed to complement existing platforms or to provide a complete solution on their own for long-endurance over-water missions.
The modular payload and open architecture MQ-9B is designed to carry a huge range of systems that enable it to sense and observe things that come or go on land, sea, in the air, and even beneath the waves. The aircraft can also collect signals intelligence or take on a number of other roles by using many specialized payloads. This is in addition to the aircraft’s ability to strike targets of many kinds, with long-range weapon integration now planned.
SeaGuardian packed with sonobuoy dispensers and sensors. (General Atomics) GA-ASI
The MQ-9B has the ability to deploy sonobuoys to listen for and track submarines – a highly valuable feature considering what lurks below the surface in increasingly strategic but remote areas, like deep in the Pacific and across the the frigid Arctic. General Atomics has flight-tested sonobuoy dispensing system (SDS) pods as part of a broader demonstration of anti-submarine warfare (ASW) capabilities for the SeaGuardian.
TWZ‘s Jamie Hunter spoke with Doug Hardison of General Atomics at the Sea-Air-Space 2026 trade event to get the low-down on how the company is progressing with the huge range of capabilities that SeaGuardian intends to bring to the table, and how teaming it with the P-8 presents an especially attractive opportunity.
General Atomics Explains How U.S. Navy Could Use MQ-9B SeaGuardian To Complement P-8 Poseidons
Islamabad, Pakistan – Pakistan is gearing up to host the second round of talks between the United States and Iran aimed at ending their war, but rising tensions in recent hours have cast uncertainty over Tehran’s participation, as the deadline nears for the end of the two-week ceasefire.
Unlike the first round of talks held in Islamabad on April 11, the upcoming negotiations could last for multiple days until a temporary deal – mediators are calling it a memorandum of understanding – is signed, effectively extending the ceasefire, sources close to these efforts have told Al Jazeera. If the MoU is agreed, it would give negotiators a longer window – even up to 60 days – to secure a longer peace deal.
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But all of that hinges on the participation of Iran, which – as of Monday morning – has not confirmed that it will be sending its negotiators to Islamabad. That follows a rapid escalation in tensions over the past 24 hours.
US President Donald Trump announced on Sunday that his representatives were heading to Pakistan for a second round of negotiations with Iran, as a fragile ceasefire, due to expire on Wednesday, edges towards its deadline. But Trump accompanied his announcement with a revival of earlier pre-ceasefire threats to bomb Iran’s energy and power facilities.
“My Representatives are going to Islamabad, Pakistan. They will be there tomorrow evening, for Negotiations,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. He accused Iran of a “Total Violation of our Ceasefire Agreement” after Iranian gunboats fired on vessels in the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday, hitting ships including a French vessel and a British freighter.
“We’re offering a very fair and reasonable DEAL, and I hope they take it because, if they don’t, the United States is going to knock out every single Power Plant, and every single Bridge, in Iran,” Trump wrote. “NO MORE MR. NICE GUY!”
The tensions did not ease overnight. In the early hours of Monday, Trump announced on Truth Social that the US Navy guided missile destroyer USS Spruance had intercepted an Iranian-flagged cargo ship, the Touska, nearly 900 feet (274 metres) long, in the Gulf of Oman after its crew refused to heed warnings to stop.
“Our Navy ship stopped them right in their tracks by blowing a hole in the engine room,” Trump wrote. US Marines have now taken charge of the vessel, which Trump alleged was under US Treasury sanctions for prior illegal activity.
Iran has described the seizure of the ship as “piracy”.
The Serena Hotel is scheduled to host the anticipated next round of talks between the US and Iran. [Sohail Shahzad/EPA]
Pakistan’s preparations
Amid those military and social media exchanges between Iran and the United States, Pakistan has been busy getting ready to host talks that it – as the principal mediator between Washington and Tehran – hopes will yield a deal to end the war, now into its eighth week.
Islamabad’s Marriott Hotel asked guests to vacate by Sunday afternoon. The Serena Hotel, just a few kilometres away and the venue for the first round of talks a week earlier, soon issued the same order and stopped taking reservations.
Roads into the Red Zone, the capital’s most heavily fortified area, were sealed. The district houses key government buildings, including the National Assembly, foreign embassies and both five-star hotels. Thousands of additional police and paramilitary personnel arrived from across the country.
Barbed wire and barricades lined the streets, and most access routes were shut.
But even before Trump’s latest threat to blow up Iranian energy and power facilities, and the subsequent hijacking of the Iranian ship, Tehran was unclear about whether it would join the talks.
Minutes before Trump’s Truth Social message, Iran’s ambassador to Pakistan, Reza Amiri Moghadam wrote on his social media that violations of international law, the continuation of the US naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, threats of further strikes, and what he described as unreasonable demands could not be reconciled with a genuine pursuit of peace.
“As long as the naval blockade remains, faultlines remain,” he added.
The negotiators: The US and Iranian teams
Trump first said on Sunday that Vice President JD Vance, who had led the US team in the first round of Islamabad talks, would not visit the Pakistani capital this time around, because of security concerns.
But White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt later said that Vance would join the US delegation, alongside special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, the same team that led the first round.
Flight tracking data showed at least four US government aircraft carrying communications equipment and motorcade support landed on Sunday at PAF Base Nur Khan in Rawalpindi, the primary VIP entry point for Islamabad.
However, by late night, sources close to mediators told Al Jazeera that it was once again unclear whether Vance would travel to Islamabad on Monday. They said that the US might now send Witkoff and Kushner to Islamabad first, and if the talks actually happen, Vance might join them.
Amid Iranian hesitation over whether to join the Islamabad talks, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif spoke with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian. The call lasted about 45 minutes, the Pakistan PM’s office said.
Sharif briefed Pezeshkian on his recent visits to Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkiye, where he met with their leaders, describing those engagements as helpful in “building consensus in support of a sustained process of dialogue and diplomacy”.
But by early Monday morning, Trump’s revived threats and the capture of the Iranian cargo ship have left the prospects of talks in Islamabad even more on edge than before.
Iran pushes back
Tehran pushed back sharply against Trump’s flurry of social media posts on Sunday.
Iran’s state news agency IRNA said reports of a second round of talks in Islamabad were “not correct”, and blamed the lack of progress on what it described as American “greed”, unreasonable demands, shifting positions and “continuous contradictions”.
According to IRNA, the naval blockade – imposed by Trump last Monday, two days after the first round of Islamabad talks – violated the ceasefire understanding and had “so far prevented progress in negotiations”.
It added that “no clear prospect for productive negotiations is foreseen” under current conditions and dismissed US statements on talks as “a media game”, aimed at pressuring Iran through a “blame game”.
A satellite image shows shipping movement in the Strait of Hormuz on April 17, 2026, in Space. [Handout/ European Union/Copernicus Sentinel via Reuters]
In a post on X, foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei went further, describing the US naval blockade as “unlawful and criminal” and saying it amounted to “war crime and crime against humanity”.
Despite the public denials, Iranian sources earlier on Sunday indicated a delegation was expected in Pakistan on Tuesday. It could include Parliamentary Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, who led Tehran’s team in the first round, and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who had joined him then.
Pakistan’s foreign ministry said Araghchi and his Pakistani counterpart Ishaq Dar spoke by phone on Sunday and discussed “the need for continued dialogue and engagement as essential to resolving the current issues as soon as possible”.
Analysts say the gap between Iran’s public stance and private signalling reflects a deliberate strategy.
“This gap reflects a dual-track negotiation strategy,” Seyed Mojtaba Jalalzadeh, an international relations analyst based in Tehran, told Al Jazeera. “At the public level, Iran maintains a hardline position to preserve domestic legitimacy and increase its leverage; at the non-public level, by dispatching a team to Islamabad, it signals that it has not abandoned diplomacy but is instead testing its conditions.”
Fahd Humayun, an assistant professor of political science at Tufts University, agreed.
“When warring parties come to the table to negotiate, they come with the understanding that there is occasionally a gap between public posturing and private positions,” he told Al Jazeera. “My sense is that they will pick up from where they left off, rather than getting too caught up in the rhetoric that has emerged since”.
That divergence extends to the pace of negotiations.
Washington has pushed for a rapid resolution, with Trump repeatedly declaring the war “close to over” even as fighting continues. Tehran, by contrast, has shown little inclination to be rushed.
A diplomat in Islamabad, who has followed the talks closely, described the contrast.
“The previous round of talks is a great example. It appeared as if the Americans brought a stop-watch, whereas the Iranians came armed with a calendar,” the diplomat said on condition of anonymity.
What is achievable?
Officials do not expect a final deal this week.
The immediate goal is likely to be a ceasefire extension, with both sides in Islamabad working towards a limited understanding.
Pakistani officials expressed cautious optimism, saying the process was moving in a positive direction while stressing that a final agreement would require sustained engagement and compromise.
Unlike the first round, talks could run for several days, with the aim of agreeing on a framework for broader negotiations in the coming weeks and months.
Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif with Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf before anticipated peace talks in Islamabad, April 11, 2026. [Handout/Office of the Iranian Parliament Speaker via Reuters]
Humayun cautioned against viewing the first round as a failure.
“I wouldn’t characterise the first round as having failed, that assumes expectations of resolving the most difficult issues early on, which is unlikely in talks of this nature where the issues are so complex,” he said.
For this round, a ceasefire extension would be “a meaningful outcome in itself”, while both sides would likely be “probing for any shifts or flexibility in positions since they last spoke”.
It is that movement, he added, that would allow both sides to “politically sanction an extension of the ceasefire”.
“A ceasefire extension could represent the most minimal form of agreement achievable in this round,” Jalalzadeh said, adding that the deal Washington seeks is “far broader in scope and is rooted in a history stretching back 47 years”.
Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Saeed Khatibzadeh, speaking on the sidelines of the Antalya Diplomacy Forum in Turkiye over the weekend, said “significant progress” had been made in the previous round but stressed that a framework must be agreed upon before talks could advance.
He described US demands on Iran’s nuclear programme as “maximalist”.
Ghalibaf was more direct. “There are many gaps and some fundamental points remain,” he said in televised remarks on Saturday night. “We are still far from the final discussion”.
The core sticking points, Iran’s nuclear programme and control of the Strait of Hormuz, remain unresolved since the first round, held on April 11, which lasted 21 hours and ended without agreement.
A separate Israel-Lebanon ceasefire is now in place, removing one of Tehran’s stated conditions for talks.
But Jalalzadeh said the ceasefire fell well short of satisfying Iran’s demands. “The current Israel-Lebanon ceasefire is temporary, fragile, and incomplete,” he told Al Jazeera, noting that Hezbollah – Tehran’s most powerful regional ally – was absent from the agreement, which the Lebanese government negotiated with Israel.
“This ceasefire is a tactical palliative, not a substitute for Iran’s strategic demand,” he said, adding that Tehran’s insistence on Lebanon being part of any broader deal, rather than handled through a separate arrangement, remained unchanged.
Humayun said Iran would want the Israel-Lebanon truce to hold and ideally include “some form of assurance against violations”.
US Vice President JD Vance with Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif for talks about Iran in Islamabad, April 11, 2026. [Jacquelyn Martin/Pool via Reuters]
The broader question, he said, is “whether Iran can secure at least some degree of US pressure on Israel to adhere to the ceasefire and to refrain from further escalation”.
The Sharif-Pezeshkian call capped an intensive week of Pakistani diplomacy.
Field Marshal Asim Munir travelled to Tehran last Wednesday, carrying what officials described as a new message from Washington.
Iranian Ambassador Reza Amiri Moghadam said last week in Islamabad that Tehran would “do talks in Pakistan and nowhere else, because we trust Pakistan”.
Analysts say Pakistan’s value as a mediator lies in the rare credibility it holds with both sides.
Humayun said that even if this round produces no breakthrough, it would not necessarily erode trust in Islamabad.
“All parties understand how difficult these issues are and that, without Pakistan’s facilitation, they may not have reached this point at all,” he said.
Jalalzadeh offered a more cautious assessment, saying Pakistan’s role ultimately depends on results.
“If this round also fails, its standing as an effective mediator will be weakened, even if it continues to function as a minimal communication channel,” he said.
Still, he noted, Islamabad has already distinguished itself among countries that have attempted mediation, filling a gap left by others and establishing itself as a credible host.
Trump, however, insisted a deal would come regardless.
“It will happen. One way or another. The nice way or the hard way,” he told ABC News. “You can quote me.”
Unmoved by postseason pressure, superstar LeBron James said he doesn’t plan to change his preparation ahead of the Lakers’ playoff opener against the Houston Rockets on Saturday. Approaching his record-tying 19th postseason appearance, James has reason to believe in his well-established routine.
“Nothing changes for me from the regular season to the postseason,” James said, “besides just making even more heightened focus.”
The consistent approach that guided him through 23 regular seasons puts James in position to star in another high-stakes game as the Lakers (53-29) chase the franchise’s 18th NBA championship. James will command almost the entire spotlight with guards Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves still sidelined.
The 41-year-old, 22-time All-Star has never had a problem with being a leading man.
“I think a lot of the great players, the best players, what they’re addicted to is being the showman,” Lakers coach JJ Redick said, referencing Stephen Curry’s fourth-quarter heroics that pushed the Golden State Warriors over the Clippers in a thrilling play-in game Wednesday night. “And being on the stage and giving a performance. …
Get the latest on L.A.’s teams in the daily Sports Report newsletter.
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Lakers playoff schedule
First round All times Pacific
Saturday: Houston at Lakers, 5:30 p.m, ABC Tuesday: Houston at Lakers, 7:30 p.m., NBC Friday, April 24: Lakers at Houston, 5:30 p.m., Amazon Prime Video Sunday, April 26: Lakers at Houston, 6:30 p.m., NBC *Wed., April 29: Houston at Lakers, TBD *Friday, May 1: Lakers at Houston, TBD *Sunday, May 3: Houston at Lakers, TBD
*-if necessary
Mike Trout homers again
Mike Trout hit his fifth homer of the series and the Angels overcame a homer by Aaron Judge in their 11-4 victory over the New York Yankees on Thursday afternoon for a four-game split.
Trout, who recently made a mechanical adjustment, went six for 16 with five homers and nine RBIs in the series. Trout hit his latest homer with one out in the seventh inning when he sent a 2-2 slider from reliever Angel Chivilli about halfway up the left field bleachers for a 7-4 lead.
Trout homered in his fifth straight game at Yankee Stadium and became the fourth to hit five homers in a series against the Yankees. The others were Jimmie Foxx (1933), Darrell Evans (1985) and George Bell (1990), according to MLB researcher Sarah Langs.
From Marisa Ingemi: A surprisingly shaky semifinal evening for UCLA gymnastics has the Bruins leaving Fort Worth early after finishing in third place in the NCAA national semifinals.
An early fall from Jordan Chiles followed by some wobbly vaults in the final rotations were too much to overcome as No. 13 seed Minnesota stunned in their final rotation on bars and national favorite Oklahoma was steady throughout. The top two teams advanced to the championship on Saturday.
The No. 4 seed Bruins scored a 197.2750, 0.1875 behind Oklahoma and Minnesota and just ahead of No. 9 seed Arkansas, which was also eliminated. UCLA was the only top-four seed that didn’t advance.
Chiles took the individual floor title with a 9.9750 score, her second NCAA floor championship.
Matthew Stafford shows off the Rams’ new white uniforms.
(Brevin Townsell / Rams)
From Gary Klein: The Rams’ bone-colored uniforms have been sent to the graveyard.
In a release on Thursday, the team unveiled updated Royal Blue and white uniforms and announced subtle changes to logos as part of what the Rams described as “a refined brand and uniform refresh.”
Later this year, according to the release, the Rams will announce two alternate uniforms to go along with the revamped Royal Blue and white ensembles and the black “Midnite Mode” rivalry uniform they debuted last season in a game against the Seattle Seahawks at SoFi Stadium.
But the team “removed the ‘Bone’ uniform from the rotation,” the release said.
The Rams also made other subtle changes. The “LA” monogram no longer includes gradient coloring. The Rams head logo has been “enhanced to appear bolder and tougher for a fiercer expression, and the horn features a sharper, more defined point,” the release said.
Led by Olympic gold medalist Jordan Chiles, the Bruins’ gymnastics squad is having its best season since 2018 and will compete in Fort Worth in an NCAA national semifinal on Thursday for a spot in Saturday’s championship meet.
The Bruins haven’t won an NCAA gymnastics championship in eight years, a long gap for the seven-time champions known for developing Olympic talent.
UCLA will compete in a semifinal against Oklahoma, Arkansas and Minnesota. The Bruins will start on the bars, then go to the beam, floor and vault.
Arsenii Sergeev made 27 saves in his first NHL start, Zayne Parekh broke a third-period tie and the Calgary Flames beat the playoff-bound Kings 3-1 on Thursday night to end the season.
The Kings learned during the game that they’d be the second wild-card in the Western Conference and face NHL regular-season champion Colorado in the first round — with Game 1 on Sunday in Denver.
The Kings finished 35-27-20. Earlier Thursday, Edmonton took second place in the Pacific Division with a 6-1 home victory over Vancouver, and the Ducks won 5-4 at Nashville to finish third.
Sunday: Kings at Colorado, noon, TNT, truTV, HBO Max Tuesday: Kings at Colorado, 7 p.m., ESPN Thursday: Colorado at Kings, 7 p.m., TNT, truTV, HBO Max Sunday, April 26: Colorado at Kings, 1:30 p.m., TNT, truTV, HBO Max *Wed., April 29: Kings at Colorado, TBD *Friday, May 1: Colorado at Kings, TBD *Sunday, May 3: Kings at Colorado, TBD
*- If necessary
Ducks defeat the Predators
Troy Terry scored on a power play with 2:54 left, and the Ducks beat the Nashville Predators 5-4 Thursday night putting them close to clinching the third seed in the Pacific Division for the postseason.
The Ducks came into the regular-season finale third in the Pacific with five different scenarios still possible to lock down the final playoff slots. This win, combined with Edmonton needing only a point against visiting Vancouver, means the Ducks likely start the first round Monday at Edmonton.
The Ducks also took the season series against Nashville 2-1, though the Ducks go into the postseason 2-6-2 over their final 10.
Monday: Ducks at Edmonton, 7 p.m., ESPN2 Wednesday: Ducks at Edmonton, 7 p.m., TBS, HBO Max Friday: Edmonton at Ducks, 7 p.m., TNT, truTV, HBO Max) Sunday: Edmonton at Ducks, 6:30 p.m., ESPN *Tuesday, April 28: Ducks at Edmonton, TBD *Thursday, April 30: Edmonton at Ducks, TBD *Saturday, May 2: Ducks at Edmonton, TBD
*-if necessary
This day in sports history
1939 — Joe Louis knocks out Jack Roper at 2:20 of the first round in Los Angeles to retain the world heavyweight title.
1967 — Italian boxer Nino Benvenuti beats American Emile Griffith in a 15-round points decision to win world middleweight crown.
1976 — Australian tennis star Evonne Goolagong Cawley wins her second WTA Tour Championship at the Los Angeles Sports Arena; beats Chris Evert.
1982 — The Denver Nuggets’ Alex English, Dan Issel and Kiki Vandeweghe each average 20 points a game, the first front court to do so since Bob Pettit, Cliff Hagan and Clyde Lovellette of St. Louis in 1961.
1987 — Julius Erving of the Philadelphia 76ers becomes the third player to score 30,000 points in his pro career. Erving scores 38 points to join Wilt Chamberlain and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
1994 — Carl Lewis and his Santa Monica Track Club teammates rewrite their world record in the 800-meter relay at the Mt. San Antonio College Relays. Lewis, Mike Marsh, Leroy Burrell and Floyd Heard are timed at 1:18.68, breaking the record of 1:19.11 they had set on April 25, 1992.
1995 — Wayne Gretzky reaches 2,500 career points when he sets up a power-play goal by Rob Blake in the Kings’ 5-2 loss to Calgary.
1997 — The New Jersey Devils’ Martin Brodeur becomes the second NHL goalie to score in the playoffs. Brodeur’s empty net goal caps a three-goal third period that gives the Devils a 5-2 win and a 1-0 lead in a first-round series against Montreal.
1999 — Quarterbacks go 1-2-3 in the NFL Draft as Tim Couch, Donovan McNabb and Akili Smith go to Cleveland, Philadelphia and Cincinnati — the first quarterback trifecta since 1971.
2006 — Sidney Crosby, scores three assists in Pittsburgh’s 6-1 win over the New York Islanders to become the youngest player in NHL history to score 100 points in a season. The 18-year-old becomes the seventh NHL rookie to reach the 100-point mark.
2011 — Jimmie Johnson wins the Aaron’s 499, edging Clint Bowyer by about a foot. The official margin of 0.002 seconds, ties for the closest finish in NASCAR Sprint Cup history.
2018 — Brayden McNabb scores against his former team in the second period, lifting Vegas to a 1-0 victory over the Kings that makes the Golden Knights the first expansion team in NHL history to sweep its first playoff series. Marc-Andre Fleury turns in another stellar performance, stopping 31 shots as the Knights finish off their fourth one-goal victory of the series.
Compiled by the Associated Press
This day in baseball history
1932 — New York first baseman Bill Terry tied an NL record with 21 putouts as the Giants beat Boston 5-0 behind Hal Schumacher’s two-hitter.
1951 — In his first major league game, Mickey Mantle went 1-for-4 in the New York Yankees’ 5-0 victory over the Boston Red Sox.
1953 — Mickey Mantle cleared the bleachers at Griffith Stadium with a 565-foot home run off Chuck Stobbs. The shot came in the fifth inning of a 7-3 win over the Senators.
1964 — The New York Mets lost their first game at Shea Stadium, falling 4-3 to the Pirates. Pittsburgh’s Willie Stargell hit the first homer at Shea.
1969 — Bill Stoneman of Montreal pitched a 7-0 no-hitter against the Philadelphia Phillies in the 10th game of the Expos’ existence.
1976 — Mike Schmidt of the Philadelphia Phillies hit four consecutive home runs and a single in an 18-16, 10-inning victory over the Cubs in Wrigley Field. Hitting .167 going into the game, he connected twice off Rick Reuschel, once off Rick’s brother, Paul, and once off Darold Knowles. He drove in eight runs.
1983 — Nolan Ryan strikes out seven Expos in a 6-3 Houston victory to become only the second pitcher in major league history to record 3,500 career strikeouts.
2000 — Major League Baseball owners vote to approve the $96 million sale of the Kansas City Royals to team chairman David Glass.
2001 — Barry Bonds became the 17th major leaguer to hit 500 home runs. Bonds’ two-run, eighth-inning drive off Terry Adams went into San Francisco Bay to lead the Giants over the Dodgers 3-2.
2008 — Troy Tulowitzki’s RBI double with two outs in the 22nd inning scored Willy Taveras and the Colorado Rockies beat the San Diego Padres 2-1 in the longest game in the majors in nearly 15 years, a 6-hour, 16-minute marathon.
2008 — Chipper Jones, Mark Teixeira and Brian McCann hit consecutive home runs in a span of 12 pitches in the fifth inning off Florida’s Ricky Nolasco in Atlanta’s 8-0 win.
2009 — Jason Kubel completed the ninth cycle in Twins history with a go-ahead grand slam in the eighth inning that helped Minnesota to an 11-9 victory over the Angels.
2010 — Ubaldo Jimenez pitched the first no-hitter in the Colorado Rockies’ 18-year history, dominating the Atlanta Braves in a 4-0 victory. Jimenez (3-0) walked six — all in the first five innings. He was helped by Dexter Fowler’s diving backhanded catch in left-center field in the seventh inning.
2010 — Jose Reyes hit a sacrifice fly in the 20th inning and the New York Mets beat the St. Louis Cardinals 2-1 in the longest game in the majors in two years. Jeff Francoeur also had a sacrifice fly for New York in the 19th inning, snapping a scoreless tie, but Yadier Molina singled in Albert Pujols with two out in the bottom half. St. Louis left the bases loaded in the 10th, 12th and 14th and stranded 22 runners, including 14 in extra innings.
2012 — Jamie Moyer, 49, became the oldest pitcher to win a major league game. He threw seven masterful innings and Dexter Fowler hit a two-run homer, helping the Colorado Rockies hold on for a 5-3 win over the San Diego Padres. Moyer’s 268th win tied him with Hall of Famer Jim Palmer for 34th on the career list.
2014 — Major League Baseball suspended Seattle Mariners first baseman Ji-Man Choi 50 games following a positive test for a performance-enhancing substance.
Compiled by the Associated Press
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 houston.mitchell@latimes.com. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.
United States Pentagon Chief Pete Hegseth has said the military blockade of Iran’s ports will continue “as long as it takes”, saying Washington remained “locked and loaded” to attack Iran’s energy facilities.
The US Pentagon chief spoke on Thursday as a tenuous pause in fighting agreed to last week has continued. On Monday, President Donald Trump announced the military would blockade Iran’s ports in the Strait of Hormuz and the Persian Gulf after US-Iran talks in Pakistan failed to reach a breakthrough.
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Hegseth struck an aggressive tone as he maintained the US military was monitoring Iran’s military movements during the pause in fighting, which currently is meant to extend through early next week.
“We are reloading with more power than ever before…even more importantly, better intelligence than ever before,” Hegseth said.
“As you expose yourself with your movement to our watchful eye, we are locked and loaded on your critical dual-use infrastructure, on your remaining power generation and on your energy industry,” he said.
Still, the Pentagon chief said the US prefers to resolve the conflict, which began with US-Israeli attacks on Iran on February 28, through diplomacy.
“You, Iran, can choose a prosperous future, a golden bridge, and we hope that you do for the people of Iran,” he said. “In the meantime and for as long as it takes, we will maintain this blockade, successful blockade, but if Iran chooses poorly, then they will have a blockade and bombs dropping on infrastructure, power and energy.”
On Wednesday, a Pakistani delegation arrived in Tehran to coordinate a new round of talks. While both sides have indicated they remained open to further negotiations, Major-General Ali Abdollahi, the commander of the Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), warned that the US blockade could end the current pause in fighting.
White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt, meanwhile, indicated the US maintained a positive outlook on future talks.
“At this moment, we remain very much engaged in these negotiations, in these talks,” she said.
But reporting from Tehran on Thursday, Al Jazeera’s Ali Hashem says deep-seated distrust remains. The US under Trump twice attacked Iran amid ongoing indirect talks over Iran’s nuclear programme, a fact that has cast a long shadow over the most recent bout of diplomacy.
“Clearly, there have been several messages conveyed to the Iranians. But rather than consolidating a feeling of trust and optimism, it seems that it’s already shaken,” he said.
“We saw a platform closely associated with the foreign ministry tweeting today, quoting a source saying that whatever is being demonstrated or said in the media regarding the optimism is just hype, and this is used for PR and it’s for President Trump to use in the markets,” he said.
Iran’s speaker of parliament, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, who led the Iranian delegation in the talks with Iran, told his Lebanese counterpart on Thursday that a ceasefire in Israel’s invasion and ongoing bombardment of Lebanon is “as important” as the pause in fighting in Iran.
A Lebanon ceasefire has emerged as one of the main sticking points in talks, which also include control of the Strait of Hormuz and the future of Iran’s nuclear programme.
‘We will use force’
Speaking during the news conference on Thursday, General Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said so far, 13 ships leaving Iranian ports have turned around in response to US military warnings.
“If you do not comply with this blockade, we will use force,” Caine said.
Admiral Brad Cooper, the head of US Central Command (CENTCOM), meanwhile, said the US is using the wear to rearm and reposition its forces.
“We’re rearming, we’re retooling, and we’re adjusting our tactics, techniques and procedures. There’s no military in the world that adjusts like we do, and that’s exactly what we’re doing right now during the ceasefire,” said.
During questions with reporters, Hegseth also shot down reports that China was planning to send weapons to Iran amid the pause in fighting. Hegseth said Washington had received assurances from Beijing that this was not the case.
Hegseth also used a large portion of the news conference to attack US press coverage of the war, which the Trump administration is receiving criticism for its shifting objectives and justifications for launching the conflict.
Hegseth called the coverage “incredibly unpatriotic”.
