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In the most bizarre of cricketing summers, Ben Duckett has had a bizarre summer of his own.

The only Englishman to compile a Test ton, and the scorer of 141 against India in a one-day international at Lord’s, ends with nine scores below 20 from his other 15 innings.

He was talked about as the world’s best all-format batter after his 149 against India last summer but has averaged 27.15 since then across formats.

It is right that England are reticent to drop a batter who has hit such highs, especially as a senior player and one with significant List A experience – a total of 111 matches – behind him in a squad still lacking in 50-over matches.

Duckett and Jacob Bethell also shared an opening stand of 192 in the series decider against India at Lord’s.

But, unlike the Test side where Emilio Gay’s place as Duckett’s partner is not fully secure, never mind a replacement waiting in the wings, Tom Banton and Bethell have shown there could be another world without the diminutive left-hander.

Bethell, who scored 91 in the third ODI against India before missing the Sri Lanka series with a knee injury, is talked of as a senior player in the group, despite still being just 22, while Banton’s first England century on Sunday was superb.

The way Banton hits the ball at the top of the bounce looks suited to the bouncy pitches of South Africa, where the majority of the World Cup will be played.

Duckett, in contrast, averages 23.4 on surfaces deemed as ‘high bouncing’ since the start of 2023. This winter’s Test series in South Africa may shed some more light.

Pietersen’s eyes roll slightly when he is asked about Ben Stokes’ recent comments comparing Harry Brook’s talents to his.

Pietersen, like Brook, was a maverick – a batter capable of incredible highs. Those highs mean the lows come with a disproportionate level of criticism.

“Where I can help him is playing situations, because there was a lot of method in my madness,” Pietersen says.

“Yes, occasionally, I got out to reckless shots and crazy shots in the ’80s and ’90s but there was a lot of structure to the way that I batted.

“I’ve still got notes on my phone on how I played in T20 cricket, one-day cricket, Test match cricket, and about hitting straight back at the stumps, and the techniques, and how I did it, and don’t play certain shots.

“That all-round structure is something I could potentially help him with because he’s so flipping good.

“It’s actually frightening how good he is and how good he can be.”

And Pietersen says he will not limit himself to working purely on white-ball cricket.

He has already spoken to new Test coach Stephen Fleming about how he can help the Test batters during his time with the white-ball squads.

Though he said he would not have time for a full-time role, he suggested he is open to working with the Test side before next summer’s home Ashes series.

“I have got a pretty mad schedule,” he says. “I wouldn’t say no.

“I don’t think that necessarily means I need to be in a dressing room.

“There is a lot of time in the lead up to an Ashes series and a tour of South Africa, when I will be with the Test batters.

“There are conversations I can have there.”

Who knows how long this will last. England may as well make the most of this second chance.

Wales earned plaudits but Craig Bellamy wants more from his side, after admitting they were forced to suffer in their narrow 1-0 defeat in Portugal.

Joao Felix’s deflected strike proved enough to earn victory in Lisbon for the hosts, who also saw Cristiano Ronaldo’s effort ruled out by VAR.

It was a winning start to the Nations League title defence for Portugal and for new manager Jorge Jesus.

Despite being under pressure for long spells in Lisbon, Bellamy’s injury-hit side ended strongly as Brennan Johnson and Lewis Koumas both went close to snatching a draw.

“It was a difficult game for us. We had to suffer a lot,” said Bellamy.

“I think that’s the longest we’ve been in a game without the ball.

“We could have done more with the ball but I’m beyond proud as well.

“We have a lot of players who weren’t here. That’s OK, we can handle it.

“A lot of players who don’t play, week-in, week-out. So for them to use the energy they were able to, we’ve got to have a big heart to be able to do that. They’ve always shown that and they showed that again.”

Leaders of the six Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states are set to meet United States President Donald Trump in New York on Tuesday, as the US-Israel war on Iran nears seven months.

The meeting, to be held on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), brings together countries that have borne much of the fallout from a war they did not start.

Since the war began on February 28, Iran has repeatedly struck US bases across the Middle East as well as airports, energy facilities and hotels. The war has particularly hit the Gulf nations hard, as their oil and gas exports – the mainstay of their economies – have been disrupted, causing a global energy crisis.

A June memorandum of understanding (MoU) briefly raised hopes of an end to the war, but it collapsed last month amid disputes over navigation through the Strait of Hormuz, which remains effectively closed.

These talks come as Trump says he faces a “big decision” on the war, and as Iran’s president and foreign minister are also in New York for the UNGA.

So what is on the table and what might come out of the talks? Here is all you need to know:

What do we know about the GCC-Trump meeting?

Trump is set to meet the leaders from Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, which form the GCC, on the sidelines of the UNGA.

Trump told US media outlet Axios on Thursday that he wanted to meet the GCC leaders as he faced a “big decision” on the war and wanted to speak with them directly.

Experts say there are two interconnected issues – the US-Israel war on Iran and the conflict between Houthi rebels and the Saudi-backed government forces in Yemen.

What do the GCC countries want from the meeting?

Broadly, experts say, the GCC nations share a common goal for the meeting.

The GCC has “shared positions on the main principles of regional security and de-escalation”, Luciano Zaccara, a researcher with the New Ground Research think tank in Doha, Qatar, told Al Jazeera.

“With Trump recently threatening to ‘wipe out’ Iran, I expect the six GCC states, or at least most of them, to convey to the US president their grave concerns about the likely consequences of another round of intense US military strikes on Iran,” Giorgio Cafiero, CEO of Gulf State Analytics, told Al Jazeera.

“They will probably seek to underscore their own vulnerabilities to a renewed cycle of all-out fighting between the United States and Iran,” he said, adding that they will try to persuade Trump into making certain concessions to Tehran.

Cafiero said they will look to develop an arrangement that builds on the MoU and which “offers the most viable path toward winding down the crisis”.

Chief among their common concerns is freedom of navigation through the Strait of Hormuz and the Red Sea, according to Ahmed Helal, managing director for the Gulf region at The Asia Group.

‘Divergent’ goals

Despite common goals, the Gulf states have still experienced “divergent” outcomes from the war and will also look to persuade Trump to address their particular predicaments, Helal said.

The UAE, he explained, has been able to keep exporting oil by pipeline to its port of Fujairah, which bypasses the Strait of Hormuz, although not at the volumes it would like.

But fellow GCC member Qatar, whose gas exports depend on the strait, has seen its LNG shipments severely curtailed and wants to avoid any renewed escalation that could see its energy infrastructure targeted again, Helal said.

Speaking at an event in New York, US, on Sunday, Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani described the economic fallout from the US-Israel war on Iran as an “earthquake”.

Saudi Arabia has another problem, as it is now under “enormous pressure” as the Houthis gain ground in Yemen, and has been “intensifying their lobbying” for US strikes on the group, he said.

What does Trump want from the meeting?

Predicting what the US president plans has been difficult since the outbreak of the US-Israel war on Iran, experts say.

“It could be possible that the US is expecting a more direct GCC engagement against Iran in exchange for a direct US intervention to stop the Houthi attacks against Saudi Arabia, but without the GCC leaving the main role in defending themselves”, Zaccara told Al Jazeera.

“Regarding Iran, Trump has not ruled out another major military escalation. At the same time, the administration seems to be open to exploring diplomatic options,” he said, adding there are rumours of a possible indirect US-Iran meeting on the sidelines before Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian’s speech on Wednesday.

Helal said the administration’s focus is domestic, with the midterm elections weeks away and Trump’s approval ratings at a record low; there is “immense pressure” to lower petrol prices.

While Trump has threatened further military action, he remains politically sensitive to an “escalatory ladder” that could spike oil prices, Helal said.

The talks are unlikely to produce a breakthrough, he added, with the best-case scenario an agreement to return to negotiations potentially brokered by Qatar or Pakistan.

After a bitter standoff, Paramount Skydance and California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta have made progress in settlement talks that could push Hollywood’s massive merger over the finish line, people familiar with the matter said Friday.

The two sides have quietly been negotiating a truce to end the antitrust lawsuit brought by Bonta and 11 other Democratic state attorneys general — a legal volley that has threatened to derail Paramount’s $111-billion takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery.

It’s not clear how close to a resolution the two sides are, but talks in recent days have been constructive, one of the knowledgeable sources said.

Paramount Chief Executive David Ellison is highly motivated to end the court battle with Bonta before Oct. 1, when his company will be obligated to make a higher payout — an extra $7 million a day — to Warner Bros. Discovery shareholders on top of the $81 billion the company has already agreed to pay.

For weeks, Ellison and his team have been ratcheting up political heat on Bonta to abandon his lawsuit, including threatening to pull Paramount out of Hollywood — a scenario that has rattled state and local lawmakers who desperately want to bring film jobs back to Los Angeles, not lose thousands more.

Paramount declined to comment.

A spokesperson for Bonta’s office said in a statement: “Potential settlement talks are confidential. We cannot confirm or deny whether settlement talks are occurring or their alleged substance.”

Both sides have incentives to settle. Ellison, who has leaned on his family’s connections to President Trump and Washington Republicans, would like to avoid taking on more debt for the already highly leveraged deal. And he is eager to close the transaction and take the reins at Warner Bros. before the midterm elections.

Bonta has been on a winning streak with favorable rulings against the Trump administration and social media giant Meta, and he doesn’t want to overplay his hand or risk having his coalition of state attorneys fall apart.

Earlier this week, the two sides agreed to sit down for court-mandated settlement talks in mid-October. The two sides were set to meet in late August but Bonta pulled the plug on those sessions, accusing Paramount of leaking misinformation and “playing games.”

The Wall Street Journal first reported the two sides were in advanced talks.

This is a developing story.

Paramount Skydance will meet with California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta’s representatives next month for court-ordered settlement talks that could clear a path for David Ellison’s $111-billion takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery.

The two sides will convene for two days, Oct. 14 and Oct. 15, according to court documents filed this week.

The talks come as both sides look for ways to resolve the pitched battle over Hollywood’s industry-reshaping deal, which would put HBO, CBS, CNN, TBS, Food Network, Comedy Central and the Paramount and Warner Bros. studios under one roof. Bonta and 11 other Democratic state attorneys general sued in July to block it, and Ellison’s team has been stoking political pressure on Bonta to retreat.

Bonta canceled preliminary last month after details of a session on ground rules leaked, accusing Paramount of “playing games” by violating a confidentiality agreement and spreading misinformation.

Bonta’s Paramount case appears to have ruffled the Trump administration. He sued one month after the U.S. Justice Department blessed the merger without demanding concessions — a decision he said showed federal officials were not doing their jobs to enforce antitrust law. This week the department weighed in on Paramount’s side.

“The United States enforces the federal antitrust laws and has a strong interest in their correct application,” the Justice Department said in a Tuesday filing, describing its unique position to bring antitrust actions. Its “statement of interest” argued that the plaintiffs had sued as “private persons,” who must clear higher hurdles than the federal government.

The department also asked the judge to force California, the other states and the Writers Guild of America to post a $1.88-billion bond, covering fees Paramount would owe Warner Bros. Discovery shareholders if the deal isn’t finalized by Oct. 1. Paramount agreed to the so-called ticking fees earlier this year, confident the deal would sail through regulatory review. Bonta’s office said Wednesday it stands by its earlier filings arguing it should not have to post the bond. A hearing is set for Sept. 24.

Paramount’s chief legal officer, Makan Delrahim, has been quarterbacking the campaign for Warner Bros. Discovery. He served as Trump’s antitrust chief in his first administration, when he led an unsuccessful effort to block AT&T’s takeover of the company, then known as Time Warner Inc. That 2018 deal was the first of two acquisitions that saddled Warner Bros. with instability, strategic misfires and a mountain of debt, paving the way for the Paramount bid — which would mark the third time in a decade the storied studio has changed hands.

Trump has been eager for Ellison to shake up CNN, a Warner property, following his reboot of CBS News, which has coincided with diminished ratings at “60 Minutes”.

Ellison’s company has won approvals from more than 65 international regulators, and Paramount expects the Trump-appointed Federal Communications Commission leadership to sign off on a foreign ownership arrangement that would give Middle Eastern royal families a nearly 50% equity stake in the merged company. Bonta’s lawsuit is the remaining obstacle to closing.

‘You’re going to Samobor? You must try kremšnita,” my Dubrovnik friends told me before I set off on my trip north. “But I’ve already had kremšnita in Zagreb,” I told them. They do it better in Samobor, they insisted. I wasn’t about to get embroiled in a battle of the cream cakes in a region where Croatians, Slovenes and Austrians all like to celebrate their own versions of this decadently thick, fat custard slice topped with puff pastry and icing sugar. But I was more than willing – happy, even – to follow everyone’s suggestions to try kremšnita in Hotel Livadić’s Kavana Livadić, in Samobor’s main King Tomislav Square, a mere half-hour drive west of Zagreb.

It lived up to the hype – delicately rich, creamy and with a light touch. After spending a few weeks in sun-bleached Venetian Dalmatia, amid the scrubby, limestone Dinaric Alps, I had swapped empires and was firmly in Habsburg Croatia. Here, in Zagreb County’s prettiest town, handsome baroque houses in pastel shades of buttery yellow, apricot and pistachio, festooned with stucco, line narrow King Tomislav Square, whose umbrella-shaded cafe terraces were filled with Croatians getting their morning fix of coffee and chatter.

The lush green Samobor Hills overlook the medieval town, through which the Gradna – part river, part stream – flows and ripples under wooden bridges adorned with flowers. One of these bridges led to the onion-domed church of Saint Anastasia; another, with a fairytale wooden roof, took me to one of Samobor’s many green spaces, dotted with free red deckchairs, which had the slogan “Volim Samobor” (“I love Samobor”) written in white. In front of them, the stately former home (now the town’s museum) of one of Croatia’s foremost 19th-century composers, Ferdo Livadić, added to the air of gentle refinement, of culture worn lightly. It was easy to visualise Livadić entertaining his artistic friends, including Franz Liszt, in this august setting.

As well as the graceful architectural legacy of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy, this rolling green landscape is crisscrossed with forested trails, particularly within the Žumberak nature park, about 16 miles (26km) west of Samobor, where weekenders from Zagreb come to hike and bike in woods of hornbeam, oak and beech with bubbling waterfalls. Not having time for a full-on hike, I could still drive to Potočna dolina Slapnica, near the Vranjak waterfalls, and scramble up the path beside a series of cascades each more impressive than the last.

Closer to Samobor, the hilltop ruins of Okić castle rose to nearly 500m above sea level, one of the best-preserved romanesque fortifications in the country. The Mongols couldn’t defeat it, nor could the Ottoman Turks. Sadly, it defeated me when I attempted to hike to the top. Not realising there was a newer, easier path, I ended up on one that was little else but vertical tree roots. With a newly healed ankle and no phone signal, I thought it unwise to continue. But it’s on my list for next time.

A much easier path to take was along the Plešivica wine road, where more than three dozen wineries were scattered on a heart-shaped route between the village of Plešivica (10 miles south-west of Samobor) and the town of Jastrebarsko. In a harmonious landscape that could out-Tuscany Tuscany, vineyards clung to steep slopes between forested hills, many producing the sparkling wine Plešivica is renowned for. I met Martina and Krešimir Ivančić, whose ancestors were given a noble title and coat of arms by the Austrian empress Maria Theresa in 1759. The griffin on the family crest inspired the name of the Griffin Winery, which came about when a Hungarian count gave them a licence to plant a vineyard in 1773.

Martina took me to the covered patio of a wooden hut above the vineyards, a suitably bucolic place to taste an elegant and lightly fruity sparkling rose made from red portugieser grapes. We carried on in the extremely stylish tasting room, where plates of cured meats and cheeses accompanied glasses of full-bodied chardonnay.

I was also offered copanjek, a thin savoury pastry pie of cheese and greens. “They’re very portable, so workers would take them to the vineyard,” Martina told me. This looked like the winemaker’s version of rudarska greblica, which I had tasted that morning in the village of Rude, about a 10-minute drive west of Samobor, and liked so much I had to have two. Filled with cheese and walnuts, carrots or greens, these used to be made by the wives of Rude’s long-gone miners. They’re such an integral part of the region that they have their own festival every July and have been given EU protected status. At Pekarnica Nikl, in Rude, I met Jelena and Andrejas Nikl, the only authorised bakers of this much adored speciality. Jelena acknowledged the responsibility of keeping up this tradition of rudarska greblica, especially with the paperwork that came with legal protection – but, she said, it was worth it.

All around the Samobor Hills, people were holding fast to their heritage and infusing it with life. The Korak family is one of the most illustrious, with its Michelin-starred Korak winery and restaurant in Plešivica. Not a whiff of Michelin stuffiness or pretentiousness here, just the fourth and fifth generations of a family producing superb wine and making beautiful food in a serene setting facing the vineyards. Brother Bernard is chef (and has worked with Massimo Bottura of Italy’s Osteria Francescana and Ana Roš of Slovenia’s Hiša Franko); sister Vera is front of house; and parents Velimir and Mirjana tend the vines – even the siblings’ grandparents are still making cheese and pršut (prosciutto) for the restaurant.

Bernard grows as much as he can – the rest comes from local producers, including the farmer whose pigs are fed on scraps from Bernard’s kitchen. And if it’s not in season, it’s not on the plate. My June visit rewarded me with a truffle tagliatelle, and clams and green beans in a caviar sauce, among other delicious dishes in a five-course tasting menu at €118 (a very reasonable price, and in keeping with the region’s overall lower prices).

I could only imagine what delights autumn will bring, especially during the annual Wine Days festival in Jastrebarsko from 25-27 September. The Samobor Hills will be teeming with autumn truffles and mushrooms, and welcoming the change in season the best way they know – on the plate.

Jerusalem: Israel’s President Isaac Herzog warned against British sanctions on settlements in the occupied West Bank, expected to be announced on Tuesday, saying the decision would “fall on the wrong side of history”.

“Later today, we expect to see headlines announcing certain British trade sanctions on Israeli settlements in Judea and Samaria,” Herzog said, using the biblical term for the West Bank.

“If this happens – and other nations may join – I believe it will prove to be a grave miscalculation, a decision that will fall on the wrong side of history,” he added.

The expected UK move follows weeks of increasing settler attacks against Palestinians in the occupied territory.

It also comes as the right-wing government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ramps up settlement construction in the West Bank, which some western governments fear threatens a two-state solution.

British government minister Pat McFadden said Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband would make a statement to parliament laying out “measures specifically targeted at the expansion of these settlements, which are illegal under international law, in the West Bank”.

He told Sky News that the changes, on which he provided no further detail, would be motivated by “the idea of keeping alive this possibility of seeing a Palestinian state alongside Israel”.

“I think it’s also important to say that Israel is an important trading partner for the UK. This isn’t intended to be a boycott of all Israeli goods.”

UK government ministers have suggested recently that goods coming out of settlements could be subject to trade restrictions as part of the changes.

Herzog on Tuesday said: “Sanctions are not a solution. Dialogue is.”

“I say to all foreign governments: Stop! Step away from the dead-end of sanctions and boycotts. And turn toward constructive dialogue and toward cooperation,” he added.

Israel has since 1967 occupied the West Bank, where more than 500,000 Israelis live in settlements among some three million Palestinians.

With Israel headed to the polls next month, Herzog said the UK move, if announced, “would be a gross interference in the democratic elections of a sovereign nation”.

“It will serve no one. It will directly harm – unfortunately – Palestinians, robbing them of business and employment,” he added.

WASHINGTON — Confronted by an intransigent Iranian government that has refused to back down in the face of a massive military campaign, President Trump appears to have settled on a dual-prong approach that combines economic pressure with the potential of a devastating escalation in force.

Having launched “Operation Economic Outcast” just last week to try to isolate Iran from its remaining global trade partners, the Trump administration also resumed strikes in recent days, prompting Iranian retaliation that has renewed concerns of an all-out regional war.

However, the combination of already intense sanctions on Iran and an off-and-on bombing campaign since the war began more than six months ago has not bowed the Iranian leadership and has left the administration struggling to find a way to wind down the conflict. Tehran has dug in its heels — to Trump’s frustration — as energy prices rise, the global economy roils and poll numbers on the administration’s handling of the war dip ahead of November’s midterm congressional elections.

Trump said Wednesday that he didn’t think the conflict would last “much longer,” but he again shrugged off suggestions that its unpopularity and high gasoline prices resulting from Iran’s chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz would affect the elections for Republicans.

“It doesn’t matter. And I’m not affected by the election,” he told reporters. “I’m not running. But my party is running, and I’m going to help my party. But I think my party respects the fact that we’re not allowing Iran to have a nuclear weapon.”

A regional diplomat briefed on the matter described the current impasse between Tehran and Washington as reflective of both countries’ domestic priorities: the midterm elections for Trump and Republicans and the internal crises within Iran.

Domestic issues are critical reasons why neither side is willing to blink first, said the diplomat, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive negotiations.

The diplomat said negotiations, including those between Iran and Oman or even Iran and the U.S., will not go anywhere without addressing the initial catalyst of war: Israel. And the diplomat was skeptical of the Trump administration’s new sanctions plan, saying the threats require more explanation than what the U.S. has provided so far.

The Trump administration’s economic isolation of Iran is off to a slow start

The administration’s new push for Iran’s economic isolation was announced with great fanfare last week and a dire warning for all remaining countries to cut off financial and trade ties with Iran or face U.S. retaliation — but the campaign so far has fallen flat.

Just one branch of an Egyptian bank in the United Arab Emirates has been targeted so far. For actual sanctions to bite, experts agree that they must apply to Iran’s main trading partners: mainly China but also India and Russia. But Trump is loath to target China especially as he is preparing to host President Xi Jinping later this month.

Trump also insists that the U.S. has control over the Strait of Hormuz, where one-fifth of the world’s oil transited before the war began. The strategic waterway has been a key pressure point for Iran, and reopening it fully has become one of the prime goals for the U.S. administration.

Ship traffic through the strait is well below pre-war levels due to the risk of attack if vessels don’t comply with an Iranian vetting regime near its coastline, which is in sharp contrast to the unhindered navigation before the war. There were 102 transits last week and 126 the week before, according to shipping data company Lloyd’s List Intelligence, compared with 130 or more per day before the war.

“As President Trump said, the strait is open and all mines have been cleared,” White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly said Thursday. “The naval blockade remains in full force and effect, and Operation Economic Outcast is underway to sever every remaining economic lifeline sustaining the regime.”

The White House has repeatedly touted the economic impact that the sanctions have had on Iran, citing its rampant inflation and the massive loss in the value of its currency. U.S. officials have described Iran’s financial system as “one big house of cards.”

Going forward, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said “the price” Iran will pay will be primarily economic, “but we reserve the right … to take military action when necessary — not just to protect ourselves but to prevent them from being able to threaten others as well.”

“They’re going to continue to feel the squeeze,” he told Fox News host Brian Kilmeade in an interview that aired Wednesday.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent this week likened Iran to a snake that has been decapitated but whose body is still writhing.

“We are burying the head of the Iranian snake,” he said Tuesday. “The snake doesn’t know it’s dead yet, but it will stop wiggling when the sun goes down. And so the Iranian regime — they are in demise, and they will figure it out.”

Combining military force and sanctions on Iran ‘is the only option,’ one analyst says

Complicating things for the U.S., Iran’s leadership has shown signs of divisions between moderates more open to a diplomatic solution and hardliners who want to press ahead with a more confrontational approach.

President Masoud Pezeshkian is one of the most prominent voices still calling for a negotiated solution. But the hardliners appear to have gained the upper hand, and Iran shows no sign of backing down. Tehran continues to lash out at U.S. interests and allies around the region in response to military strikes.

“This kind of a hybrid approach — the combination of military force, blockade and economic pressure — that is the only option that seems to be available to the United States at this moment,” said Hamidreza Azizi, consulting senior Iran analyst for the International Crisis Group.

Still, he said, “it’s been for a long time, but now maybe more than ever, a battle of endurance between the two sides.”

Amr Hamzawy, director of the Middle East program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, pointed to two main reasons for the deteriorating situation.

“One, none of the two parties is satisfied with the outcome — meaning that the current situation does not serve U.S. interests well, and it does not serve Iranian interests well,” Hamzawy said.

The other reason is how leaders from both sides are perceived at home.

“The Trump administration is afraid of being portrayed in the U.S. as an administration that failed to end a military campaign successfully, and that’s going to impact the midterm elections,” he said. “And the Iranians, especially the Revolutionary Guard, are quite afraid of appearing as if they are submitting to U.S. sanctions with no actions on their side, which might hurt them domestically.”

Lee, Magdy and Amiri write for the Associated Press. Magdy reported from Cairo. AP writers Will Weissert in Washington and David McHugh in Frankfurt, Germany, contributed to this report.

The $1 coin designed to celebrate America’s 250th birthday and seemingly President Trump, whose face gazes from one side of the gold finish, will go on sale Wednesday, according the U.S. Mint.

The coin’s design — Trump’s visage as “heads” and the Great Seal of the United States as “tails” — was given the stamp of approval this year by the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts, whose members Trump appointed. In past comments, the president said that the idea to stamp his face on a coin was “very unusual” but that he was “honored by it.”

The president’s second term has come with several such brandings, or attempts at them that have become tangled up in lawsuits. That includes moves to put Trump’s name on the Kennedy Center, as well as the U.S. Institute for Peace, as Trump works to leave his stamp on history and Washington, D.C.

The coins, which can be used as legal tender, stirred some criticism particularly because of federal law that bars the depiction of a living president on U.S. currency. But in some circumstances, the treasury secretary does have authority to authorize the minting and issuance of special coins.

The coins were struck to “honor 250 years of great American heritage,” the U.S. Mint wrote on its website. In an arc above Trump’s face is written “LIBERTY,” and below is “1776 — 2026.” On the flip side is the Great Seal of the United States, with the bald eagle gripping arrows in one claw and an olive branch in the other. In a banner clutched in its beak is written “E PLURIBUS UNUM,” Latin for “out of many, one”

A roll of 25 coins will cost $61, and a bag of 100 will cost $154.50, and the U.S. Mint said they randomly hid some special-issue coins among the rolls and bags. Those will be marked “July 4th,” because they were stuck on that day, the anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.

Households are limited to only two orders, the U.S. Mint wrote, but that cap will lift at 2 p.m. Eastern time on Thursday.

Bedayn writes for the Associated Press.

The Amass case is a strange one. A natural left-back in United’s academy, who did well in a loan spell at Sheffield Wednesday last season, then got injured straight after switching to Norwich in the winter window, Amass, 19, impressed many observers with his performances during pre-season, when he shadowed Shaw.

Yet, for some reason, United were willing to let him leave.

In the summer of 2024, then manager Erik ten Hag opted not to pick the teenager in his squad for the Community Shield, even though Amass had given a creditable account of himself up against Mo Salah in a pre-season game in the United States just a week earlier.

Ten Hag felt, physically, Amass was not at the level required. In theory, the two years that have elapsed since then should have made the defender bigger and stronger.

There have been multiple expressions of interest in Amass. Even heading into deadline day, his omission from United’s Premier League 2 game against Leicester on Monday reinforced a widespread belief he would leave, probably on loan.

But that has not happened and it is not clear what his role will be within the senior squad.

The willingness to view Mazraoui as a left-back option was helped by the performances of Leny Yoro in pre-season.

Signed from Lille for £52m in 2024 as a central defender, Carrick used Yoro mainly as a right-back this summer.

Against Ipswich on Sunday, that was the slot Yoro was introduced into as a replacement for Dalot, at the same time as Mazraoui was coming on for Shaw.

At just 20, Yoro has plenty to learn about the right-back role. However, he has pace, is strong and is good on the ball. United supporters only have to look at how Josko Gvardiol has adapted to the full-back role at Manchester City after signing as a central defender to realise switching positions can have a positive outcome.

That is the calculated risk United have taken.

What they absolutely did not want to do, having taken a hardline stance all summer on the fees they were willing to pay, and a refusal to spend more than they thought a player was worth, was end up making a signing like Alex Telles, or Matteo Darmian, or Sergio Reguilon, who all arrived in recent years but were evidently short of the standard required.

It makes sense. It is probably the right call.

But that is a view taken away from the emotion of matches and the rollercoaster of results. And the reality is they will be the deciding factor in whether it was a good decision or not.