rehab

Roki Sasaki topped 100 mph a half-dozen times in four shutout innings of a rehab start for triple-A Oklahoma City on Tuesday, pushing himself back into the conversation for a spot on the Dodgers’ postseason pitching staff.

“We’ve all got to huddle up and figure out what’s the next plan,” manager Dave Roberts said. “I personally don’t know Roki’s plan after tonight.”

Sasaki struggled through four rehab appearances and seemed to have dropped off the Dodgers’ radar. But he gave up just a hit through the first four innings Tuesday before tiring in the fifth, when he gave up three runs, two walks, two hits and a hit batter.

He threw 90 pitches, 52 for strikes, striking out eight and walking four.

It’s unlikely Sasaki, 23, will be considered for a spot in the rotation but he could pitch out of the bullpen.

“Anything’s possible,” Roberts said. “I know he wants to contribute. So we’ve just got to see where he fits in. And we’ll have that conversation as an organization.”

Sasaki went 1-1 with a 4.72 ERA in eight starts before going on the injured list with a shoulder impingement in mid-May. In his first four rehab starts for Oklahoma City, he gave up 17 hits and 11 earned runs in 14 innings.

The Dodgers’ bullpen is starting to get crowded, however, with left-hander Alex Vesia returning from the injured list Tuesday. Vesia was 3-2 with a 2.75 ERA in 59 games before going to the sidelines on Aug. 23 with a right oblique strain. Right-hander Ben Casparius was optioned to Oklahoma City to create a roster spot for Vesia. Casparius was 7-5 with a 4.64 ERA in 46 games.

Roberts said as the postseason roster begins to come together the decisions on who stays and who goes with 2 ½ weeks left in the regular season become harder.

“The conversation with Ben yesterday wasn’t fun for anyone,” he said. “It starts to get tougher.”

He’ll have to have another one of those talks Wednesday before activating utility player Tommy Edman from the injury list. Outfielder Justin Dean, who has appeared mostly as a defensive replacement, batting just twice in 18 games entering Tuesday, is the most likely to be sent down.

Chris Woakes says rehabilitation “could be a risk he’s willing to take” to be fit for the Ashes, rather than having surgery on the shoulder injury sustained in England’s fifth Test defeat against India.

The 36-year-old is waiting for the results of a scan after suffered a suspected dislocated shoulder on day one at the Oval.

England had ruled him out of the rest of the Test, but he still stepped out to bat with his left arm in a sling as they chased what would have been a series-clinching victory on a dramatic final morning.

The first Ashes Test begins in Perth on 21 November.

“I’m waiting to see what the extent of the damage is but I think the options will be to have surgery or to go down a rehab route and try and get it as strong as possible,” Woakes told BBC Sport.

“I suppose naturally with that there will be a chance of a reoccurrence, but I suppose that could be a risk that you’re just willing to take sort of thing.

“From what I’ve heard from physios and specialists is that the rehab of a surgery option would be closer to four months or three to four months. That’s obviously touching on the Ashes and Australia so it makes it tricky.

“From a rehab point of view you can probably get it get it strong again within eight weeks. So that could be an option, but again obviously still waiting to get the full report on it.”

The Al-Jaleel Society for Care and Community-based Rehabilitation has provided essential services to disabled Palestinians in Jenin refugee camp for decades. But now, after repeated Israeli attacks, the centre has been destroyed, and its staff have discovered that it sits in an Israeli-designated demolition zone.

Al-Jaleel’s staff have received no official notice, but in early June, the Israeli army published an aerial map showing several buildings in the area that were set to be destroyed, including the rehabilitation centre.

Zaid Am-Ali, senior advocacy officer for Palestine operations at Humanity and Inclusion, Al-Jaleel’s partner organisation, told Al Jazeera the reason the organisations were given was that the area was being secured for military and security purposes.

“This is not the first time the centre has been targeted, the Israeli military has destroyed parts of it during previous acts of demolition in the refugee camp and has breached and ransacked the centre and tampered with assistive devices meant for persons with disabilities,” Am-Ali said.

Al Jazeera has reached out to the Israeli military but has not received a response at the time of publication.

Supporting thousands of Palestinians

Al-Jaleel is a “critical lifeline”, Am-Ali said, describing how the demolition of the centre would deprive vulnerable communities in Jenin and the wider northern West Bank of its essential services.

It was established in 1991 as the Local Rehabilitation Committee, which became an independent NGO in 2010 under the name Al-Jaleel.

Since it first opened its doors, Al-Jaleel has provided thousands of Palestinians with a wide range of support and services, especially to those with mobility impairments resulting from injury, illness, or conflict-related trauma.

As well as prosthetics, orthotics and physical and occupational therapies, Al-Jaleel also offers psychological support for those affected by disability and continuing violent assaults perpetrated by the Israeli military, which has been attacking Jenin on a regular basis for years, but has intensified operations since the start of 2025.

“This is the same area that has been subject to an ongoing Israeli military operation for years now, causing a lot of casualties and damage to civilian infrastructure,” Am-Ali said.

Al-Jaleel’s ability to function and provide care was severely compromised in April when an Israeli attack damaged the building.

Although staff have since relocated and started operating from another location due to their displacement from the camp, they have not yet been permitted to re-enter the organisation’s original building to retrieve any equipment that was spared during the April attack.

Staff were told they would be allowed to evacuate their equipment on July 12, but were then not allowed to do so by the Israeli military.

It is unclear when or if staff will be able to collect Al-Jaleel’s belongings before the demolition takes place. With the area now declared a closed military zone, Al-Jaleel’s staff are being denied information about the building’s status.

At the time of writing, the centre has not been demolished, but other buildings in its vicinity have been torn down.

Violence in Jenin

Violence in Jenin has escalated significantly since January 21, when the Israeli military launched “Operation Iron Wall” in the city and the nearby refugee camp.

According to Israeli forces, the operation is an “antiterrorism” offensive, attempting to crush Palestinian resistance efforts in the area.

The Israeli military has for years attempted to root out any form of armed resistance in the occupied West Bank, conducting raids that have escalated in severity since the beginning of Israel’s war on Gaza in October 2023. At least 1,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces or settlers in that period.

“Operation Iron Wall” – targeting Palestinian fighters in the northern West Bank – started in Jenin, but has since spread to Tulkarem, Nur Shams, and al-Fara refugee camps.

On March 22, just 60 days after the beginning of the offensive, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) reported that 40,000 Palestinian refugees had been displaced from refugee camps in the northern West Bank.

In addition, earlier this year, Israeli authorities announced that they planned to wipe out the Jenin refugee camp completely.

Since then, Israeli bulldozers have been tearing down commercial buildings and homes at an alarming rate.

Wafa, the Palestinian news agency, reported on June 30 that more than 600 homes and 15 roads in Jenin camp had been demolished.

On June 17, the Israeli Supreme Court rejected a petition filed by Adalah, a legal centre for Palestinian minority rights in Israel, on June 12 to halt the demolition of Jenin refugee camp.

The Supreme Court authorised the Israeli military to proceed with the destruction of nearly 90 civilian buildings that housed hundreds of Palestinian families.

“The Israeli Supreme Court’s decision to uphold these operations, including its 7 May 2025 rejection of Adalah’s petition against the mass demolitions in Nur Shams and Tulkarem refugee camps, provides a false legal cover for policies of forced displacement and entrenched impunity,” said Adalah.

Bigger picture

The potential demolition of Al-Jaleel fits into a wider pattern of Israeli attacks on Palestinian healthcare institutions.

The targeting of health facilities, medical personnel and patients has been widespread during Israel’s war on Gaza. These actions are considered war crimes under the 1949 Geneva Convention. Israel has justified the attacks as being part of its fight against Hamas and other armed groups, accusing them, without any overwhelming evidence, of using health facilities as cover for their bases and operations.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), at least 94 percent of all hospitals in Gaza are damaged or destroyed.

Between October 7, 2023, and July 2, 2025, WHO recorded 863 attacks on healthcare in the West Bank. These attacks affected 203 institutions and 589 health transports

In a statement to Al Jazeera, WHO reported that, of the 476 government health service delivery units assessed by WHO and partners in the West Bank in June 2025, only 345 are fully functional, 112 are partially functional, nine are non-functional, and 1 has been destroyed.

That, Am-Ali believes, is being overlooked amid the understandable focus on Gaza, where Israel has killed more than 58,000 Palestinians. And it is allowing Israel to get away with its devastation of Palestinian life in the West Bank, and its destruction of vital centres like Al-Jaleel.

“These developments are not isolated incidents and are in clear violation of international law, including the prohibition on the acquisition of territory by force under the UN Charter and the Fourth Geneva Convention,” he said.

It has been more than a year since Cameron Brink suited up for the Sparks, and excitement is building around the return of one of the team’s biggest stars.

Sidelined by a torn ACL and meniscus, Brink has steadily progressed through drills and contact work since training camp.

Head coach Lynne Roberts, who spoke with her last week, said Brink is making significant progress and is champing at the bit to get back on the court.

There’s no set timeline, as the team remains cautious about pushing her too hard during recovery. At this point, her return depends on when team doctors and Brink agree she’s ready.

“I want to know as much as you do about when she’ll be back — and I don’t,” Roberts said. “It’ll be sooner rather than later, but soon could be a couple of weeks or it could be a month. I don’t know.”

Dearica Hamby, who is close with Brink, said she has seen “the commitment it takes not to give up and show up and pour into herself and her teammates — and being optimistic about getting back.”

Mounting frustrations

Through 17 games, the Sparks are 5-12 — just one win better than their start last season — but there’s confidence they can eventually turn the tide with a healthier roster.

Still, the process has been frustrating, not just because of the losses, but because of how many of them unfolded.

“If we don’t show up and play collectively, with a spirit, we’ll get beat,” Roberts said. “We’ve learned the hard way, too many times this year. Chicago was a good example — we had that game and just fell apart. Really frustrating.”

The return of Odyssey Sims, who missed time for personal reasons, and Julie Allemand, fresh off a EuroBasket championship, has brought renewed optimism.

“Part of the team I signed up to coach is getting close to being back,” Roberts said.

Hamby said the frustration is felt “individually and collectively, at each level — upper staff, lower staff.”

“We’re going to take those frustrations and build off them so we can learn from them to be better,” she added.

The road ahead doesn’t get easier. The Sparks now face a tough three-game trip against the defending champion New York Liberty, the Indiana Fever with a potentially returning Caitlin Clark and the WNBA-leading Minnesota Lynx.

With making the playoffs still a goal, the team currently sits 11th in the standings, as the gap continues to widen between contenders and those on the outside looking in.

Burrell practices

Rae Burrell is off crutches for the first time in six weeks after suffering a knee injury in the season opener.

Initially given a six- to eight-week timeline for recovery, Burrell returned to practice right on schedule and has begun working toward game action. The team is easing her back now that the broken bone in her knee is fully healed.

“We don’t want to throw her into the fire right off the bat,” Roberts said. “Today was her first day out there, but no contact was allowed.”

Roberts said Burrell’s reintroduction probably will move quickly based on updates from the training staff. She will travel with the team and is expected to absorb more contact starting with tomorrow’s practice.
Depending on her progress, her return to the rotation could come as early as Saturday against the Fever.

“She’s amped up,” Roberts said. “She doesn’t look tired like the rest of them — got bounce in her legs. She’s ready to roll. So it’d be good to get her back there, bringing athleticism and length to our perimeter.”

BOBBY Brazier has called his dad Jeff a ‘rock’ in a sweet Father Day’s post – after his brother Freddy’s rehab U-turn.

The EastEnders star, 22, and younger sibling Freddy, 20, are sons of Jeff Brazier and the late Jade Goody.

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Taking to Instagram, Bobby shared a photo of himself, Jeff and Freddy stood on a beach, looking out towards the ocean.

With the three having their arms around each other in the snap, he captioned: “My dads a rock.”

It comes as Freddy made a shock U-turn on plans to enter rehab – just days after admitting he’s been hooked on smoking since the age of 12.

The Celebrity Race Across The World alum shared a dramatic change of heart on Instagram over the weekend.

Posting a black and white throwback of himself as a child, Freddy wrote: “You know what I don’t need rehab! I just need a holiday with a good group of boys or a retreat.”

Freddy stunned followers when he opened up about a long-standing smoking addiction and a desire to make peace with his dad after a tense family rift.

The 20-year-old, revealed he wanted to get help in Spain for cannabis, saying he “wants a healthy relationship with his dad”.

In a heartfelt post, he said: “I want to be clean so I can life happily and have healthy relationships with people and be there for all of my family rather then feeling like I’m in the middle and have to choose a side.”

Freddy also shared hopes of mending things with his famous father, saying: “I want to play football and take up boxing. I want to be happy and be in a healthy relationship and have a healthy relationship with my Nana and my father.”

Elsewhere, elder son Bobby has “become a Hare Krishna” and is “seeking solace” in rituals following mum Jade’s death.

The former Strictly finalist has become a regular at the Hare Krishna temple in Soho, where he takes part in communal prayers, chants mantras and helps prepare meals.

Friends say Bobby’s interest in spirituality has grown over the past year and is helping him process the lasting impact of losing his mum to cervical cancer in 2009, when he was just five.

A volunteer at the temple told MailOnline: “He’s here every Saturday without fail. He joins our kitchen session, learns the prayers – this isn’t a gimmick.”

A family friend added: “Bobby had a difficult life. His mum dying left a mark on him, as it would.

“Hare Krishna is somewhere he seeks solace. It might seem strange, but for him, it works.”

Last year, The Sun published images of Bobby joining in cha-cha-chanting at a Hare Krishna gathering on Oxford Street, where he was even seen handing out leaflets.

Bobby said of the movement: “I’ve had the blessing of meeting some incredible devotees who have really taken me under the wing and been really merciful upon me.

“And they are just the most beautiful, happy, content, smart, intelligent people.”

The young actor will also soon be leaving his EastEnders role as Freddie Slater.

Inside Bobby Brazier’s burgeoning TV career

Bobby Brazier has risen through the ranks to become a well known face on British TV.

As the son of Jade Goody and Jeff Brazier, he has been well-known amongst the public from a young age.

Bobby first embarked on a showbiz career when he was just 16-years old when he started modelling.

The star made his catwalk debut in 2020 at Milan Fashion Week, but it wasn’t long before he had his eyes on a TV career.

He shot to prominence in 2022 when he was cast as Freddie Slater in EastEnders.

The incredibly acting skills displayed on screen earned him the National Television Award in the ‘Rising Star’ category.

His famous dad was in tears as Bobby accepted the award on stage in front of the likes of Holly Willoughby and Alison Hammond.

It wasn’t long before BBC bosses wanted him to take part in the 21st series of Strictly Come Dancing.

He clearly impressed the viewers with his dancing skills as he made the grand final and was a runner-up.

Since then, viewers were delighted when he returned to his role in the long-running BBC One soap.

An EastEnders spokeswoman said: “We can confirm that Bobby Brazier will be leaving EastEnders, and we wish him all the best for the future.”

A telly insider revealed: “Bosses had a meeting with Bobby only recently as they had a plan in mind for a storyline, and it just so ­happened that Bobby was also thinking that now was the right time to look for other opportunities outside the show.

“The timing of the decision worked for both, but his final scenes are not for a while yet.

“The character has had a great run, but the time is now right for Bobby to look for other opportunities, and for EastEnders to wave goodbye to Freddie Slater.”

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May 31 (UPI) — The former leader of two rehab centers faces federal charges in the alleged harassment of New Hampshire Public Radio journalists in retaliation for an unfavorable news story about alleged sexual misconduct.

Eric Spofford, 40, was arrested Friday after being indicted by a federal grand jury in the U.S. District Court for Massachusetts on one count of conspiracy to commit stalking through interstate travel and using a facility of interstate commerce; one count of stalking using a facility of interstate commerce; and two counts of stalking through interstate travel, the Departmentof Justice announced.

Each count is punishable by up to five years imprisonment, three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000.

Spofford is the founder and former chief executive officer of the for-profit Granite Recovery Centers in Salem, N.H., and Miami.

He has an arraignment hearing scheduled at 3:30 p.m. EDT Monday at the federal courthouse in Boston.

GRC is one of the largest drug and alcohol rehabilitation centers in New England, and Spofford sold it in 2021 for $115 million, The New York Times reported.

Many abuses detailed

NHPR on March 22, 2022, published an online article that discussed allegations of sexual misconduct, abusive leadership and retaliation by Spofford.

He allegedly harassed former patients and staff, and was accused of sexually assaulting at least two staff members.

One former patient said he sent her unwanted text messages and at least one photo of an obscene nature, which she said caused her to suffer a relapse.

Several staffers and a former chief operating officer left GRC due to the alleged behavior by Spofford, according to the article.

He denied the allegations, but the article gained a lot of attention locally and nationally, according to the DOJ.

He sued the public radio station for defamation, but a judge dismissed the case in 2023.

A scheme to ‘harass and terrorize’

From March 2022 through at least May 2022, Spofford allegedly “devised a scheme to harass and terrorize the journalist who authored the article, the journalist’s immediate family members [and] a senior editor at NHPR,” the DOJ said.

Federal prosecutors say he paid a close friend, Eric Labarge, $20,000 to undertake the scheme and provided him with names, addresses and instructions on how to stalk and harass the intended victims.

Labarge enlisted the help of three others to stalk and harass the victims, all of whom were charged and convicted of crimes related to the scheme, DOJ said.

Labarge, Tucker Cockerline, Keenan Saniatan and Michael Waselchuk last year were sentenced to between 21 months and 46 months in prison.

Even as their pitching injuries have mounted in recent weeks, the Dodgers haven’t panicked.

On multiple occasions, team officials have noted how none of the seven pitchers who have gotten hurt since the end of spring camp suffered relatively serious injuries. In time, they promised, the staff would get back close to full health.

On Tuesday, signs of that optimism finally began to appear.

Tyler Glasnow and Blake Snell (both out with shoulder inflammation) continued their throwing progressions, with Glasnow making some light pitches off a mound slope for the first time since going on the injured list last month, according to manager Dave Roberts.

Kirby Yates (hamstring strain) began playing catch just days after hitting the IL, raising his hopes of being back within the two-to-four week time frame the team has targeted. Blake Treinen (forearm sprain) also continued his catch play, while Michael Kopech (shoulder impingement) was set to make a rehab outing with triple-A Oklahoma City.

Most of all, though, Shohei Ohtani checked off another important box in his return from a 2023 Tommy John surgery, taking another step closer to resuming two-way duties for the first time as a Dodger.

In a flat-ground throwing session Tuesday afternoon, Ohtani mixed in some breaking pitches for the first time in his throwing program this year, Roberts said, a notable development after the right-hander had been limited to fastball and splitters previously in pitching activities.

Already in recent weeks, Ohtani had been ramping up his pitching work in other ways. He had steadily increased the number of throws in his weekly bullpen sessions, getting up to 50 last Saturday. He has been doing up-downs in his bullpens, too, to simulate the downtime he will experience between innings when he returns to a big-league mound.

Roberts confirmed it is all a sign that Ohtani is finally getting closer to facing live hitting again for the first time since he underwent his second Tommy John procedure two offseasons ago.

Roberts said he was still unsure exactly when that might happen, but indicated that Ohtani and Snell are on similar timelines to return — with Glasnow a tick ahead of each of them.

“It is progressing,” Roberts said of Ohtani’s pitching rehab, which had been in more of a static stage with weekly 20-pitch bullpen sessions earlier this year. “I’m not sure when [he’s] going to take that slider from the flat ground to the bullpen, but that is progress. Yes.”

Right now, the Dodgers could use all the pitching help they can get.

Over their last 11 games, the team’s shorthanded pitching staff has struggled mightily, posting a 6.31 ERA over a 4-7 stretch that included a four-game losing streak entering Tuesday.

Among the opening day rotation, only Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Dustin May have stayed healthy through the first two months. And outside of Yamamoto — an early-season Cy Young candidate who was needed to be a stopper Tuesday night against the Arizona Diamondbacks — no Dodgers pitcher with more than three starts has a sub-4.00 ERA to this point of the campaign.

The rotation’s struggles have bled into the bullpen, where Dodgers relievers have combined for an MLB-high 207 2/3 innings this season, 19 more than any other team. Closer Tanner Scott has been solid, with a 1.74 ERA and nine saves in 11 opportunities. But many of the Dodgers’ other top relief arms have gotten hurt, including virtually all of their most trusted right-handers.

“It’s not the staff we thought we’d have this season,” Roberts acknowledged Monday night.

Before long, however, the Dodgers are hopeful it will be again.

In addition to Ohtani, Snell and Glasnow, the Dodgers will also eventually get Roki Sasaki (shoulder impingement) and Emmet Sheehan (Tommy John recovery) back as rotation options. Sasaki is expected to begin throwing again during the team’s upcoming trip. Sheehan has been throwing live sessions against hitters for the last several weeks as he works back from last year’s elbow procedure.

Brusdar Graterol (offseason shoulder surgery) is also scheduled to return during the second half of the season.

About the only injured pitcher who hasn’t made recent progress is Evan Phillips, whose original 15-day diagnosis now looks likely to stretch far longer than that.

Still, no one’s return has been more eagerly anticipated than Ohtani’s. After almost a year and a half of waiting, the Dodgers are hopeful his return, which has been expected to come around the All-Star break, is finally on the horizon.

His next step will be facing live hitting. And given his recent workload increases, it’s possible it could come soon.

“I really wish I had an answer [on when it will be],” Roberts said. “I’m just waiting for the green light from people that are sort of managing the Shohei rehab, day to day.”