Ten

USC was down to two walk-ons in its battered backfield, when Trojans coach Lincoln Riley decided to dress injured sophomore running back Bryan Jackson for the second half of Saturday’s win over Michigan, despite the fact Jackson was listed by the team as out on the Big Ten’s pregame availability report.

Riley explained the decision to play Jackson after the game, describing it as “a unique situation” and “a wellness issue.” But on Monday, the Big Ten chose to slap USC with a fine of $5,000 for violating conference rules regarding its availability reports.

“Although these circumstances were unfortunate, it is critical for availability reports to be accurate,” a Big Ten spokesperson said. “Consequently, the conference is imposing a $5,000 fine and admonishes all institutions to use the “out” designation only if there are no circumstances under which a student-athlete could participate in a game. The conference considers the matter closed and will have no further comment.”

Jackson hadn’t suited up since Week 1 while dealing with a lingering turf toe issue. Coming into the game, Riley said that Jackson was unlikely to play “outside of a near catastrophe.” But when one back, Eli Sanders, suffered a potential season-ending injury in the first quarter, and another, Waymond Jordan, seriously injured his ankle in the second, plans changed quickly.

Riley said on Saturday night that USC was in communication with the league office at the time and explained the situation to conference officials beforehand.

Jackson was medically cleared by USC and entered the game in the fourth quarter. He rushed for 35 yards and a touchdown in five carries.

“The kid was ready to go and stepped up,” Riley said. “That’s what you gotta have, man. You gotta have tough guys to play through stuff if you want to win at this level.”

AN experienced vet has revealed the 10 signs that indicate your beloved pooch could have gut problems.

A quiz has been created for pet owners who might not feel confident when it comes to their dog or cat’s gut health – something which can have a huge impact on their overall wellbeing.

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Questions about their appetite and even stools will help to determine whether their diet needs a review, if a check-up with the vet is required or if their gut health means they’re full of life.

It comes after veterinary adviser at Protexin, Ronan Fitzgerald revealed your pet licking their lips, arching their back or being reluctant to move or jump up on furniture could be signs of tummy troubles.

Holding their bum in the air for long periods of time, drooling and pushing their food bowl away with their nose are also indications they could be experiencing issues.

A tender or gurgling tum and them not enjoying a belly rub can be another key indicator of problems with the gut as it can mean they’re experiencing abdominal discomfort.

While excessive flatulence and even blood in their stools could be signs they need a check-up at the vets.

This comes after a study of 2,000 pet owners found only 19 per cent feel confident in identifying if their pet is suffering with gut health problems.

A spokesperson for Protexin, which commissioned the research, said: “Many people believe they know their pets inside out – including how they feel.

“But while we may recognise several behaviours or symptoms as being linked to the gut, some aren’t as clear, such as excess lip-licking which can be linked to intestinal issues.

“Understanding and recognising the signs of good and poor gut health in pets is really important as this can have an impact on whole body health, helping our pets to feel full of life when the gut is working as it should.”

Ronan explained if your dog or cat adopts an abnormal stance like the ‘prayer position’ – front legs extended, chest on the ground and backside in the air – it could be worth a visit to the vets.

The research also found just 24 per cent of owners actively monitor their pet’s digestive health on a daily basis.

But a third (34 per cent) of dogs and cats display some signs of potential digestive issues a few times a year.

As a result, six in 10 (59 per cent) have changed their pet’s diet after noticing a digestive issue, while 53 per cent have gone to a vet specifically for this issue.

The typical owner spends as much as £426 each year, purely on keeping their pet healthy, according to the OnePoll.com figures.

Ronan said: “If your pet is showing signs of digestive discomfort there are a few things you can do.

10 SIGNS YOUR DOG COULD BE EXPERIENCING GUT PROBLEMS

1. Lip licking
2. Adopting a prayer-like stance (front legs extended and chest on the ground while their bum is in the air)
3. Drooling
4. Reluctancy to jump up on furniture
5. Vomiting or nausea
6. Not enjoying belly rubs
7. Gulping
8. Excessive flatulence
9. Diarrhoea
10. Blood in their stools

“Try to think about when the symptoms started and how severe they seem.

“Sometimes it helps to keep notes to see if there is a pattern, for example, are they feeling unwell or acting strangely at mealtimes?

“If your pet has a stomach upset for a day or two it may be that they’ve eaten something when out on a walk or hunting that’s not agreed with them and this will settle.

“But if you find your pet is experiencing ongoing, regular issues with their gut, or its health seems to worsen quickly and markedly, it’s worth visiting a vet for a full check-up.

“They will be able to recommend possible changes to your pet’s diet or even the introduction of a gut-health supplement.”

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Clubs from Saudi Arabia and Europe are set to test Manchester United’s desire to hold to captain Bruno Fernandes in January, Napoli lead race to sign his team-mate Kobbie Mainoo, while Barcelona and Liverpool are keen on Bayern Munich defender Dayot Upamecano.

Manchester United’s resolve to keep their captain Bruno Fernandes, 31, is set to be tested in January’s transfer window with clubs in the Saudi Pro League and Europe keen on the Portugal midfielder. (Manchester Evening News), external

Napoli are front runners to sign Manchester United and England midfielder Kobbie Mainoo, 20, in January. (Tuttomercatoweb – in Italian), external

Barcelona are set to rival Liverpool to sign France defender Dayot Upamecano, 26, when his contract expires at Bayern Munich next summer. (Fichajes in Spanish), external

Arsenal would accept an offer of around £30m for Gabriel Jesus, 28, with Everton a possible destination for the Brazil forward in January. (Teamtalk), external

Newcastle would love to have Nottingham Forest and England midfielder Elliot Anderson, 22, back at the club after selling him 16 months ago. (Mail), external

Manchester City are monitoring the situation of Atletico Madrid and Argentina right-back Nahuel Molina, 27. (Teamtalk), external

Crystal Palace are showing interest in AZ Alkmaar’s midfield prospect Kees Smit, 19, who has played for the Netherlands at U-19 level and attracted scouts from Real Madrid, Barcelona, Chelsea and Manchester United. (Mail), external

Ex-Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag could make a sensational return to management and replace fellow Dutchman Johnny Heitinga at former club Ajax following his brief stint at Bayer Leverkusen. (De Telegraaf via Goal), external

Liverpool forward Federico Chiesa’s preference was always to stay at Anfield this season despite interest in the 27-year-old Italian from clubs in his homeland. (The Athletic – subscription required), external

Crystal Palace want Japanese midfielder Daichi Kamada, 29, to extend his stay at Selhurst Park with his contract due to expire next summer. (Sky Sports), external

Bayern Munich are one of the clubs keen on Arsenal’s Dutch defender Jurrien Timber, 24, who has opened talks over a new contract with the Gunners. (Caughtoffside) , external

Incoming Newcastle director of football Ross Wilson will be tasked with reviewing the club’s summer transfer business when he begins the role at St James’ Park. (The I – subscription required), external

Bayern Munich’s German goalkeeper Manuel Neuer, 39, is considering extending his playing career beyond 2026 and signing a new contract with the Bavarian club. (Bild – in German), external

Broadcom (AVGO -0.06%) and Oracle (ORCL 1.72%) have been two of the best-performing mega-cap growth stocks in 2025. As of this writing, Broadcom is up 19% since reporting earnings on Sept. 4, and Oracle soared 36% on Sept. 10 in response to its own blowout earnings and guidance.

Broadcom is getting closer to reaching a $2 trillion in market cap, and Oracle is knocking on the door of $1 trillion. Yet, you won’t find either of these stocks in the “Magnificent Seven,” which only includes Nvidia (NVDA -0.20%), Microsoft (MSFT 0.73%), Apple (AAPL 2.98%), Amazon (AMZN 1.04%), Alphabet (GOOG 0.69%) (GOOGL 0.65%), Meta Platforms (META -1.32%), and Tesla (TSLA 1.48%).

The “Ten Titans” corrects that error by adding Broadcom, Oracle, and Netflix (NFLX 1.38%) to the group. Combined, these 10 growth stocks now make up 39.1% of the S&P 500 (^GSPC 0.28%).

Here’s how the Ten Titans have disrupted the stock market in just a few years and why their dominance in the S&P 500 can still impact your investment portfolio, even if you don’t own any of the Ten Titans outright.

Image source: Getty Images.

A lot has changed in less than three years

The S&P 500 is up a staggering 70% since the start of 2023, and a big reason for that is artificial intelligence (AI). Specifically, a few major companies are profiting from AI through semiconductors and associated networking hardware, software infrastructure, cloud computing, automation, and efficiency improvements.

The Ten Titans encapsulate this theme. The group is now double the market cap of China’s entire stock market and is largely responsible for moving the S&P 500 in recent years.

At the end of 2022, the Ten Titans made up 23.3% of the S&P 500. But since then, many of the Titans have increased in value several-fold, with Nvidia and Broadcom leading the pack.

Data by YCharts.

The Ten Titans’ combination of size and rapid gains has redefined the structure of the S&P 500. Here’s a look at each company’s weight in the S&P 500 as of this writing.

Data source: Slickcharts.

Oracle’s surge on Sept. 10 briefly pole-vaulted it to become the tenth-largest company by market cap. At that time, the nine largest names in the S&P 500 were all tech companies — a far cry from the days when the most valuable U.S. companies were from the oil and gas, consumer staples, financials, and industrial sectors.

The Ten Titans’ influence is growing

Even if you don’t own any of the Ten Titans stocks, their rise may still have ripple effects for your financial portfolio.

The biggest impact would be if you own index funds or exchange-traded funds (ETFs) with exposure to these holdings. Market-cap weighted passive funds that follow a growth theme or the general market will likely have sizable positions in the Ten Titans. And S&P 500 funds that mirror the index, like the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF, SPDR S&P 500 ETF, the iShares Core S&P 500 ETF will all have around 39% of their holdings in the Titans.

The sheer size of the Ten Titans means that the S&P 500 is no longer a balanced index, at least for now. Rather, it’s more of a growth index, similar to how the Nasdaq Composite is typically viewed.

The S&P 500 may contain hundreds of holdings, but its performance is now based on just a couple dozen companies. Investors looking for mid-cap or even large-cap stocks should venture outside the index because the S&P 500 offers little exposure to non-mega-cap names.

Navigating a Ten Titans-dominated market

The rise of the Ten Titans has benefited their shareholders, S&P 500 index fund investors, and folks with exposure to these stocks through ETFs. However, because they are so big, they will likely make the S&P 500 more volatile going forward.

Investors can offset the Ten Titans concentration by investing in value and dividend stocks that no longer make up a large percentage of the S&P 500. On the other hand, if you’re looking for a low-cost and straightforward way to get exposure to top growth stocks, the S&P 500 may be one of the simplest ways to do so.

It was a long, wet afternoon in West Lafayette, but USC emerged unscathed from Big Ten country with its first conference road win in hand and a pick-six for its massive, 360-pound nose tackle. What more could you really ask for from a trip to Purdue?

After marching up and down the field for two weeks and beating up on its first two opponents by an average margin of 50 points, USC was finally tested by a real, genuine football team on Saturday. And while it wasn’t perfect, it was certainly important, considering what awaits the Trojans during the next six weeks.

Welcome back to the Times of Troy newsletter, where we do still have some reasons for concern as the conference competition ratchets up. The secondary, aside from two Bishop Fitzgerald picks, gave Purdue’s receivers too much space and gifted them too many busted coverages. The run game didn’t always find room and the passing attack wasn’t always consistent.

But just closing out a close game on the road in the fourth quarter was a critical step for USC this season. The manner in which it shut the door on Purdue was especially encouraging, given how similar circumstances were handled a season ago.

USC had just two fourth-quarter drives, which it turned into just three total points. On paper, without context, they might look entirely unremarkable. The Trojans averaged just 5.95 yards per play through that stretch, nearly a yard lower than they managed during the full game.

But those two drives, from a situational perspective, were precisely what USC needed in that moment.

And that’s a credit to USC coach Lincoln Riley, whose late-game management left a lot to be desired last season. On Saturday, he showed a much better grasp of how to close out a Big Ten game away from home.

Through three quarters, USC’s run game was mostly stymied, with just 91 yards in 25 carries. Still, Riley kept with it. Knowing he needed to keep the clock running, the Trojans’ coach kept his team grounded for the majority of the fourth quarter. Out of 19 plays in that final quarter, USC ran the ball 15 times.

USC racked up 87 rushing yards during those two drives — almost double its previous output — but more important, it chewed away almost 11 minutes of clock. Eventually, Purdue just ran out of time to mount a comeback.

“We knew how much time we had to chew,” senior tight end Lake McRee said. “We did what we needed to do to get the job done.”

It hadn’t always seemed so simple to USC and its coach. Last season, quarterback Miller Moss was asked to throw the ball at least 50 times in three of USC’s four road losses, all of which the Trojans led in the fourth quarter.

With that in mind, USC set out to make late-game management more of a focal point. So at practice, Riley would run the team through its “Trojan Period,” in which they’d run a sequence of plays focused on late-game situational awareness.

Most of the time, McRee said, that just meant grinding away with the run.

We saw the benefit of that work in West Lafayette. It wasn’t perfect — for instance, USC went 0 for 3 on third down — but Saturday felt, to me at least, like a sign that the Trojans and their coach may have learned the right lessons from last season and perhaps put their fourth-quarter woes in the rearview mirror.

USC defensive tackle Floyd Boucard sacks Purdue quarterback Ryan Browne in West Lafayette, Ind., on Saturday.

(Michael Conroy / Associated Press)

— USC’s pass rush progress feels legit. After its third consecutive game with four or more sacks, I think we can safely say that USC is much-improved in this area. USC not only had five sacks Saturday, but pressured Purdue quarterback Ryan Browne 31 times on 39 dropbacks, according to PFF. That’s an absurd mark. The Trojans actually lead the nation in sacks with 14 through three weeks, much of which they were able to collect without blitzing. Before this season, USC had just two games total with four or more sacks during the Riley era, both in 2023. That rate probably isn’t sustainable. But D’Anton Lynn finally has a collection of talent to rush the passer, and the results look a lot more like UCLA in 2023, when Lynn’s Bruins defense finished in the top-10 in sacks nationally, than USC in 2024.

— Penalties are becoming a real problem. Riley made clear that USC needed to cut down on discipline penalties after it drew eight penalties a week ago. But the Trojans ended up drawing their most penalties of the season Saturday (nine) and the most penalty yards of Riley’s tenure (103). They had two sideline interference calls, a roughing the passer call and a personal foul on a punt. “We know we’ve gotta do better,” Riley said.

— USC’s corner rotation narrowed, as promised. And Marcelles Williams was the main beneficiary. It wasn’t clear who would get the start opposite of DeCarlos Nicholson, and after an iffy showing from the cornerback room, there’s no guarantee that Williams will remain in the role. But Williams beat Braylon Conley, DJ Harvey and Chasen Johnson for the start Saturday, and he finished tied for second on the team in tackles (five). Williams played 45 snaps, while Harvey played 22, Johnson played 21 and Conley played 10. The problem is none of them were really up to par in coverage.

— It’s not often that USC finds itself in a weather delay. The last time was in 2012, when USC beat Syracuse at the Meadowlands in New Jersey. But before that, USC hadn’t had a football game affected by weather since 1990, when officials called the game with 2:36 left, handing a win to USC over Ohio State. The Buckeyes were … umm … not happy about it at the time.

In case you missed it

USC exorcises its Big Ten road demons by beating Purdue to remain unbeaten

USC’s Three Things to Watch Against Purdue

USC hopes more leg room pays off: 3 key questions Trojans must answer vs. Purdue

‘I know what I can be.’ How USC tailback Waymond Jordan went from anonymous to a star

What I’m watching this week

Mark Ruffalo and Alison Oliver hold up guns as they search a street on the HBO show “Task.”

(Peter Kramer / HBO)

I was a huge fan of “Mare of Easttown” when it debuted in 2021, so I was thrilled to hear the creator, Brad Inglesby, was returning to HBO with a new crime drama. Fortunately, I can report that “Task” appears to be everything you’d want it to be if you’re looking for a fitting follow-up to one of the best shows of the past five years.

The show follows the intertwining stories of an alcoholic FBI agent played by Mark Ruffalo and a masked robber played by Tom Pelphrey. The aesthetic is dark and dour. And yet, the show is a beautiful piece of filmmaking, and I’m enjoying every minute of it so far.

Until next time …

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

A BRITISH rock band has split with a long-serving member just days before kicking off a UK tour.

Crawlers have ‘decided to part ways’ with their drummer Harry Breen a year after their debut album, The Mess We Seem to Make, reached number seven in the UK charts.

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A statement on Instagram reads: “After a period of reflection, and discussion with our drummer Harry Breen, we’ve each decided to go our separate ways.

“CRAWLERS continues, louder and more alive than ever before. we can’t wait to continue to tell our story, and to forge that beside you on our upcoming headline shows and when we join Pierce the Veil in arenas across Europe this autumn.

“Evolution is in motion, the future is big, there’s a new world building around us and it’s ours to share. all we have is us. yours always, holly, liv & amy.” 

Harry had been due to head out on the band’s new UK tour which kicks off in Portsmouth next week.

It’s thought that the band will have a session drummer to fill in for the tour dates.

The band are also due to head out on tour in Europe with US rock giants Pierce the Veil later in the year. 

The band first formed in 2018 after band members Holly, Liv and Amy met while studying at performing arts college.

Harry joined soon after. The band went on to gain a huge internet following after their song went viral on TikTok.

Following their success, the band gained support from BBC Radio 1 and MTV.

They have also performed multiple sold-out headline tours across the UK.

In 2023, their song So Tired was used in DC universe series Doom Patrol.

Their debut album The Mess We Seem to Make was released in late 2024 and entered the official charts at number seven. 

Last year they had been set to support alt legend Jane’s Addiction on their reunion tour but after frontman Perry Farrell fought with guitarist Dave Navarro on-stage, the band split and run was pulled.

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The unfamiliar road through Big Ten country was not exactly welcoming to USC during its conference debut in 2024. The Trojans blew a fourth-quarter lead during all four of their Big Ten road trips outside of Los Angeles last season, each defeat seemingly more devastating than the one before it.

So as USC sets out on its second swing through the Big Ten, starting with a trip to West Lafayette, Ind., on Saturday, it has tried to address that problem in ways big and small — from replacing the strength and conditioning coach to changing the team’s sleeping and meal times.

Those changes will be put to the test this week when USC crosses two time zones. Part of that new approach includes taking a totally different plane to get there, one with a bit more space to stretch out during a long flight.

“[The players are] gonna like having more leg room,” coach Lincoln Riley said with a smile. “Who doesn’t like more leg room?”

Purdue should make things a bit more uncomfortable for USC than its previous two opponents. The Boilermakers are 2-0 to start under new coach Barry Odom, who brought in 54 transfers to rebuild a team that finished 1-11, dead last in the conference, last season.

Riley may not have much of a handle on Purdue’s personnel, but he should have a pretty good idea what the Boilermakers will prefer on offense. After all, Purdue’s offensive coordinator, Josh Henson, spent the previous two seasons as Riley’s offensive line coach and coordinator at USC.

“He’s going up against us, too,” Riley said. “So those things kind of go both ways. There’s obviously going to be some things that both sides are familiar with because of that. But it’s a players’ game at the end of the day.”

Here are three things to watch as USC takes on Purdue on Saturday at 12:30 p.m. PDT (CBS, Paramount+):

Ten days after a Russian man was mysteriously killed amid a crowd of tens of thousands at the Burning Man festival, Russian media is reporting that the man’s father has asked President Donald Trump to have the FBI investigate.

Vadim Kruglov, 37, had been living in Washington state and, according to friends’ Instagram accounts, was making his first pilgrimage to Burning Man. He was killed sometime between 8 and 9:30 pm on the night of August 30, his body found “in a pool of blood” around the time the giant wooden effigy of a man was lit on fire.

The Pershing County Sheriff’s Department, which has jurisdiction over the Black Rock Desert where the annual event takes place, is leading the homicide investigation but has made no public comments about what might have happened. The agency has issued public appeals for information about “any person who would commit such a heinous crime against another human being.”

The agency has also announced that Kruglov’s family has been formally notified of his death, and that “our sincerest condolences from the Pershing County Sheriff’s Office go out to Vadim Kruglov’s family for their tragic loss.”

The sheriff’s department declined to comment on reports of the father’s appeal, or his criticisms of the pace of the investigation.

The Moscow Times reported Thursday that the pro-Kremlin tabloid Komsomolskaya Pravda published a video from Kruglov’s father Thursday. In it, the father, Igor Kruglov bemoaned that “ten days have passed” and yet the investigation is “being conducted by one local sheriff.”

“Evil must be punished,” the father continues, “therefore, I appeal to you, dear Mr. President, and ask you to order the FBI to immediately begin investigating the murder of my son.”

Kruglov’s friends have been pushing a similar message to their tens of thousands of Instagram followers.

One post claimed that Kruglov died “from a professional knife strike to the neck —a single fatal blow. This happened in a place where more than 80,000 people from all over the world were gathered.” The Pershing County sheriff’s office declined to comment on the manner in which Kruglov was killed or say whether the friend’s post was accurate.

The Instagram post contained several photographs of Kruglov enjoying himself at the festival.

“A young and talented man, who made a big contribution to this world, has been killed,” the friend wrote. “And the person who did this is still walking free.” The post added: “We strongly believe a federal investigation is needed.”

Federal prosecutors on Thursday sued Southern California Edison over its alleged role in the deadly Eaton fire, a blaze that killed 19 people and destroyed more than 9,000 homes and other structures in Altadena and the surrounding area.

In a civil complaint, prosecutors allege that the Eaton fire was ignited by “faulty power infrastructure or by sparks from faulty power infrastructure owned, maintained, and operated” by Edison.

The results of the official investigation of the fire by the Los Angeles County Fire Department and California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection have not yet been announced. The government’s lawsuit notes that the investigation into the fire remains ongoing.

The government also sued Edison on Thursday for its alleged role in the Fairview fire, which burned near Hemet in 2022. Prosecutors are seeking tens of millions of dollars in damages from Edison, alleging the company’s negligence caused both fires.

Together, the fires burned tens of thousands of acres of National Forest System lands, killed 21 people and destroyed thousands of buildings, according to the U.S. attorney’s office in Los Angeles.

Acting U.S. Atty. Bill Essayli said “there’s no reason to wait” for the results of the investigation into the Eaton fire. During a Thursday morning news conference, Essayli cited evidence and “Edison’s own statements … that there’s no other apparent cause for the fire.”

“We believe that the evidence is clear that Edison is at fault,” he said. “The reason not to wait is because fire season is coming up again. We want Edison to change the way it does business. It does not maintain its infrastructure in a way to prevent fires. We do not want another fire igniting.”

Essayli stressed that the intention is for the utility company and “not the ratepayers” to bear the burden of the costs.

“Innocent hardworking Californians who pay their electricity bills should not have to pay for Edison’s negligence by incurring higher utility rates,” he said.

Jeff Monford, a spokesman for Southern California Edison, told The Times that the company is reviewing the lawsuits “and will respond through the appropriate channels.” It is “committed to wildfire mitigation through grid hardening, situational awareness and enhanced operational practices.”

In addition, he said, “our thoughts are with the community affected by the Fairview fire. We continue our work to reduce the likelihood of our equipment starting a wildfire.”

Although the cause of the Eaton fire is still under investigation, Monford said, it “was heartbreaking for so many of us who live and work in the Los Angeles area.”

In April, Pedro Pizarro, chief executive of Edison International, the utility’s parent company, said that “a leading hypothesis” of Eaton fire investigators was that a century-old transmission line, last used during the Vietnam War, somehow became reenergized and sparked the fire.

The government’s lawsuit cites a July Edison filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, in which the utility company stated it was “not aware of evidence pointing to another possible source of ignition” for the Eaton fire.

In March, the California Public Utilities Commission fined Edison $2.2 million for the Fairview fire, which killed two people and destroyed 36 homes and other structures in Hemet.

The commission said the utility violated state regulations by failing to cooperate with investigators and not safely maintaining its electrical equipment.

State investigators concluded that the 2022 Fairview fire was ignited when Edison’s equipment came in contact with a cable owned by Frontier Communications.

The government is seeking more than $40 million in damages tied to the Eaton fire. For the Fairview fire, the government is seeking to recover about $37 million in damages incurred by the Forest Service, including approximately $20 million in fire-suppression costs, according to the U.S. attorney’s office in L.A.

“The lawsuits filed today allege a troubling pattern of negligence resulting in death, destruction, and tens of millions of federal taxpayer dollars spent to clean up one utility company’s mistakes,” Essayli said in a written statement Thursday.

“We hope that today’s filings are the first step in causing the beginnings of a culture change at Southern California Edison, one that will make it a responsible, conscientious company that helps — not harms — our community.”

Edison is facing dozens of lawsuits from people who lost their homes or businesses in the Jan. 7 Eaton fire. A study by UCLA estimated that losses from the fire could be $24 billion to $45 billion.

State officials say damage claims from the Eaton fire could wipe out a $21-billion fund California created to shield utilities from the cost of blazes sparked by their electrical lines.

ERIK TEN HAG was sacked by Bayer Leverkusen after just two matches due to FIVE major problems.

The former Manchester United was dumped by his new German side after failing to win either of his opening Bundesliga games.

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Ten Hag’s exit came as a shock, with some fans feeling the Dutchman was unfairly treated while following in Xabi Alonso’s footsteps.

Leverkusen bid farewell to numerous title-winning stars including Florian Wirtz, Jeremie Frimpong and Piero Hincapie, with all three now in the Premier League.

And Ten Hag was left to work with a new group of aces whose quality was arguably not as high.

However, Leverkusen bosses were eager to pull the plug after long-standing employees branded him the WORST coach in their club’s history.

BIZARRE APPROACH

Bild now claims there were five key reasons to sack Ten Hag as quickly as possible – with the Dutchman leaving with a DAILY earning of £86,000 thanks to his £5.2million salary and severance package.

First off, it’s claimed that Ten Hag failed to get along with any of his players OR staff – including the ones who arrived with him in July.

He refused to give a “rousing” speech before the first match against Hoffenheim, with the game ending in a 2-1 defeat.

And many of his staff and players were left questioning his bizarre decision to almost downplay the occasion.

BEST FREE BETS AND BETTING SIGN UP OFFERS

TRANSFER MADNESS

Secondly, the Dutchman was accused of “interfering” with Leverkusen’s transfer plans, including only proposing players from his own agency.

Ten Hag is represented by SEG Football, who represent Rasmus Hojlund and also allegedly batted for Andre Onana and Antony when they joined Man United for huge fees.

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Meanwhile, he publicly vetoed Granit Xhaka’s move to Sunderland, despite an internal agreement for the Swiss ace to move on.

And Leverkusen chiefs went directly against Ten Hag when they granted Xhaka his exit just days later.

Elsewhere, the late arrival of Lucas Vazquez from Real Madrid was made without Ten Hag knowing until AFTER the ace’s contract was signed – highlighting his lack of relationship with club transfer guru Simon Rolfes and ultimately indicating Leverkusen’s decision to move forward without him.

TRAINING PAIN

The third reason for Ten Hag’s exit was his insistence on players doing PUSH UPS during training, ranking it as important as working with the ball.

Stars were used to lots of tactical and technical work under predecessor Alonso, now at Real Madrid.

And Ten Hag’s “unusually long” training sessions, packed with dull physical work, left many unmotivated.

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NO CONNECTION

Fourthly, chiefs were left concerned by the “cold” atmosphere around the club, with Ten Hag’s lack of leadership resulting in a major disconnect at the training ground AND the stadium.

Staff ranging from coaches to nutritionists and physios quickly became disillusioned.

And the recent memories of Alonso’s title-winning reign only further compounded the misery.

TACTICAL DISASTERCLASS

Finally, the proof was in the pudding itself.

Leverkusen lost their first match to Hoffenheim, and then threw away a two-goal lead to draw with 10-men Werder Bremen.

Players were said to be baffled by the lack of ideas and general game plan – and it showed.

Individuals were expected to take decisive actions, but none seemed to work in a consistent tactical manner across the field.

And the only thing Leverkusen chiefs have been left to ponder is whether they should have sacked Ten Hag earlier.

Reports claim former Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou is now being considered as his replacement.

While there is also interest in former Bundesliga managers Marco Rose and Edin Terzic, with a decision set to be made over the international break.

Fergal KeaneSpecial correspondent

BBC

Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images

Sean Gallup/Getty Images

Hungary’s tough stance

MARTIN BERTRAND/Hans Lucas/AFP via Getty Images

‘Just one big circus’

A deluge of abuses

Carl Court/Getty Images

Paula Bronstein/Getty Images

A changing Sweden

Graves marked ‘Unknown’

MANOLIS LAGOUTARIS/AFP via Getty Images

After his short tenure at Bayer Leverkusen, Erik ten Hag is being dubbed Erik Ten Weeks by some critics.

Ten weeks is an exaggeration – his reign was actually one day short of nine weeks, clocking in at 62 days. He lasted just two Bundesliga games.

He was sacked after Leverkusen threw away a 3-1 lead against 10-man Werder Bremen on Saturday, to draw 3-3.

That disappointing result came one week after Leverkusen lost to Hoffenheim in their season opener at home. Ten Hag only won one competitive game – a German Cup tie against a fourth-division side.

The experienced Dutchman was appointed in late May to replace title-winning coach Xabi Alonso, who departed for Real Madrid, but he did not begin work until 1 July.

At first, Leverkusen seemed to be convinced he could lead a partial rebuild, as the Werkself were losing a number of key players, including Florian Wirtz and Jonathan Tah.

But while early results this season were disappointing, they were not the sole reason – or even the main reason – for Ten Hag’s dismissal.

Almost from the start, Ten Hag caused irritation with his decisions and behaviour.

For instance, he rescheduled a friendly against Flamengo’s under-20s team during Leverkusen’s training camp in Brazil. The game was played four days earlier than initially planned and Leverkusen lost 5-1 in quite an upset.

Around the same time, Ten Hag took a stance against Granit Xhaka’s departure, saying the midfield leader ought to stay and that Leverkusen had lost enough key players already.

However, Leverkusen had made it known that Xhaka could leave if the right offer came in. He went to Sunderland.

In addition, Ten Hag criticised his players for not being fit enough, even though he and his staff had overseen pre-season.

And he has been accused of lacking the kind of charisma necessary to lead any ambitious top-flight team, but especially a newly assembled group of players. He seemed to struggle with convincing players of his ideas. Sources close to the club suggest he gave lacklustre pre-match talks.

Before the season opener against Hoffenheim, it has been said Ten Hag didn’t even give a pre-match talk.

In contrast, Spaniard Alonso tried his best to improve his German and his leadership skills as a manager during his tenure at Leverkusen.

The 10 largest growth-focused U.S. companies now make up 38% of the S&P 500. Known as the “Ten Titans,” the list includes Nvidia (NVDA -3.38%), Microsoft, Apple, Amazon, Alphabet, Meta Platforms, Broadcom, Tesla, Oracle (ORCL -5.97%), and Netflix (NFLX -1.87%).

Oracle, Netflix, and Nvidia have been the best performers of the Titans year to date. Let’s determine if these growth stocks have what it takes to continue outperforming next year.

Image source: Getty Images.

Oracle has innovative ideas, but they come at a price

Oracle has been the standout among the Titans. With a year-to-date total return of more than 40%, it vaulted its market cap above $660 billion.

ORCL Total Return Level data by YCharts.

Oracle was close to dead money in the five years between 2015 and the end of 2019 — gaining just 17.8% compared to 56.9% for the S&P 500. But since the start of 2020, Oracle is up 345% compared to a 100.6% gain in the S&P 500. A big driver of the outperformance is the build-out and adoption of Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI).

Oracle transformed from a database-first company to a fully fledged ecosystem. Not long ago, companies were using Oracle’s database software on third-party clouds. Oracle decided to capture that revenue by building out its own cloud services.

Oracle Integration Cloud hosts software-as-a-service offerings for financial reporting, automated workflows, human resources operations, marketing, personalization, and more. Oracle also offers artificial intelligence (AI)-powered database services. And OCI has been shown to be much more cost-effective for data-intensive operations than Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, or Google Cloud. It’s an especially ideal offering for industries like financial services and healthcare that have complex regulatory frameworks and sensitive information. On its earnings calls, Oracle often discusses how industries are choosing OCI for its security and compliance capabilities.

Oracle was already a leader in enterprise software solutions. And now, it is a major player in the cloud business. The main downside of Oracle is that its valuation is expensive, and it is spending extremely aggressively. Oracle is arguably among the higher-risk, higher-potential-reward Titans. If its investments translate to bottom-line earnings growth, it could continue to be one of the best performers in the group. If not, it wouldn’t be surprising if the stock underwent a sizable sell-off.

Netflix is an entertainment giant that is raking in the cash flow

Netflix’s outsized returns in recent years are partly due to how beaten down the stock was going into 2023. Netflix fell over 50% in 2022, outpacing the broader sell-off in the Nasdaq Composite (NASDAQINDEX: ^IXIC) that year. At the time, other streaming platforms were gaining traction, and Netflix was still inconsistently profitable.

The business model has remained largely unchanged over the past decade. So it’s not a transformational story like Oracle. Rather, Netflix has perfected its craft.

The biggest change has been its content slate — what it spends on, how it markets that content (like the global success of “KPop Demon Hunters,”) and basically just boosting its overall content success rate. The second major change was cracking down on password sharing. This was a resounding success because a lot of new accounts opened up — showing that customers were willing to pay for Netflix because they value the service (again, despite a lot of competition). And finally, Netflix’s ad-supported tier is driving new signups, which accelerates revenue growth.

Netflix is an industry-leading cash cow with high margins. It has become a near-perfect business. The only issue is that the valuation reflects that, as Netflix trades at 52 times trailing 12-month earnings. Netflix could still be a winning long-term stock, but it may need a year or two to grow into its valuation. Therefore, it may not be a standout performer in 2026.

Nvidia just delivered another blowout quarter

Nvidia reported exceptional second-quarter fiscal 2026 results on Aug. 27 despite the company’s China business being hindered by export restrictions to China.

Even with difficult comps from the second-quarter fiscal 2025, Nvidia grew revenue by 56% and adjusted earnings per share by 54%. Arguably, the most impressive aspect of Nvidia’s results is that it continues to sustain ultra-high gross margins over 70%. Nvidia’s high margins allow it to convert a substantial amount of sales into profit, which is a testament to its edge over the competition and technological leadership on the global stage.

Nvidia gets a lot of attention for its data center business — and rightfully so, as it made up 88% of revenue in the recent quarter. But it’s worth noting that the rest of the business is doing well too. Nvidia’s non-data center revenue, which includes gaming and AI PC professional visualization, automotive, and robotics, was collectively $5.49 billion — up 48% compared to $3.7 billion a year ago.

Nvidia is in its third year of what has been an uninterrupted masterclass of exponential growth on a scale unlike any business the world has ever seen. And somehow, the company still has its foot on the gas with no signs of slowing down.

Nvidia’s outlook for the third-quarter fiscal 2026 calls for $54 billion in revenue even if it ships zero H20 chips to China — all while maintaining a 73% gross margin. That would mark a 54% increase in revenue and just slightly lower gross margins than third-quarter fiscal 2025 and a near three-fold increase in revenue in just two years.

Despite the impeccable results, Nvidia’s valuation isn’t cheap, as investors are pricing in a sustained breakneck growth rate. But Nvidia just keeps delivering, so its 58.4 price-to-earnings ratio is reasonable.

If Nvidia’s stock price remained unchanged for a year but the company grew earnings by 50%, the P/E would drop to 38.9. So even now, with the stock on track to crush the S&P 500 for the third consecutive year, Nvidia remains a top AI stock to buy now.

I expect Nvidia to continue leading the Ten Titans higher in 2026, especially if trade policy with China eases. However, if for whatever reason there’s a slowdown in AI spending from key Nvidia customers, Nvidia could drag down the Ten Titans and the broader market with it.

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite are hovering around all-time highs. A big part of the rally is investor excitement for sustained artificial intelligence (AI)-driven growth and adjustments to Federal Reserve policy that open the door to interest rate cuts.

While investor sentiment and macroeconomic factors undoubtedly influence short-term price action, the stock market’s long-term performance ultimately boils down to earnings.

Nvidia (NVDA 1.10%) will report its second-quarter fiscal 2026 earnings on Aug. 27 after market close. Here’s why expectations are high, and why the “Ten Titans” stock could single-handedly move the S&P 500.

Image source: Getty Images.

Nvidia’s profound impact on the S&P 500

The Ten Titans are the largest growth stocks by market cap — making up a staggering 38% of the S&P 500.

Nvidia is the largest — with a 7.5% weighting in the index.

The other Titans are Microsoft, Apple, Amazon, Alphabet, Meta Platforms, Broadcom, Tesla, Oracle, and Netflix.

Aside from its value, Nvidia is also a major contributor to S&P 500 earnings growth.

NVDA Market Cap data by YCharts

Megacap tech companies influence the value of the S&P 500 and its earnings. And since many of the top earners are growing quickly, the market arguably deserves to have a premium valuation.

Since the start of 2023, Nvidia added roughly $4 trillion in market cap to the S&P 500. But it also added over $70 billion in net income — as its trailing-12-month earnings went from just $5.96 billion at the end of 2022 to $76.8 billion today. That’s like creating the combined earnings contribution of Bank of America, Walmart, Coca-Cola, and Costco Wholesale in the span of less than three years.

Nvidia’s value creation for its shareholders, and the scale of just how big the business is from an earnings standpoint, is unlike anything the market has ever seen. But investors care more about where a company is going than where it has been.

Nvidia’s unprecedented profit growth

Expectations are high for Nvidia to continue blowing expectations out of the water. Over the last three years, Nvidia’s stock price rose after its quarterly earnings report 75% of the time. Analysts have spent the last few years flat-footed and scrambling to raise their price targets as Nvidia keeps raising the bar. It looks like they aren’t making that mistake any longer — as near-term forecasts are incredibly ambitious.

As mentioned, Nvidia’s trailing-12-month net income is $76.8 billion, which translates to $3.10 in diluted earnings per share (EPS). Consensus analyst estimates have Nvidia bringing in $1 per share in earnings for the quarter it reports on Wednesday and $4.35 for fiscal 2026. Going out further, analyst consensus estimates call for 37.8% in earnings growth in fiscal 2027, which would bring Nvidia’s diluted EPS to $6 per share.

NVDA Net Income (TTM) data by YCharts

Based on Nvidia’s current outstanding share count, that would translate to net income of $107.7 billion in fiscal 2026 and $148.5 billion in fiscal 2027. Unless other leaders like Alphabet, Microsoft, or Apple accelerate their earnings growth rates, Nvidia could become the most profitable U.S. company by the time it closes out fiscal 2027 in January of calendar year 2027. These projections strike at the core of why some investors are willing to pay so much for shares in the business today.

The key to Nvidia’s lasting success

Nvidia can single-handedly move the stock market due to its high weighting in the S&P 500. However, its influence goes beyond its own stock, as strong earnings from Nvidia could also be a boon for other semiconductor stocks, like Broadcom. But the ripple effect is even more impactful.

In Nvidia’s first quarter of fiscal 2026, four customers made up 54% of total revenue. Although not directly named by Nvidia, those four customers are almost certainly Amazon, Microsoft, Alphabet, and Meta Platforms. So strong earnings from Nvidia would basically mean that these hyperscalers continue to spend big on AI — a positive sign for the overall AI investment thesis.

However, Nvidia’s long-term growth and the stickiness of its earnings ultimately depend on its customers translating AI capital expenditures (capex) into earnings — which hasn’t really happened yet.

ORCL CAPEX To Revenue (TTM) data by YCharts

Cloud computing hyperscalers are spending a lot on capital expenditures (capex) as a percentage of revenue — showcasing accelerated investment in AI. But eventually, the ratio should decrease if investments translate to higher revenue.

Investors may want to keep an eye on the capex-to-revenue metric because it provides a reading on where we are in the AI spending cycle. Today, it’s all about expansion. But soon, the page will turn, and investors will pressure companies to prove that the outsize spending was worth it.

The right way to approach Nvidia

Almost all of Nvidia’s revenue comes from selling graphics processing units, software, and associated infrastructure to data centers. And most of that revenue comes from just a handful of customers. It doesn’t take a lot to connect the dots and figure out just how dependent Nvidia is on sustained AI investment.

If the investments pay off, the Ten Titans could continue making up a larger share of the S&P 500, both in terms of market cap and earnings. But if there’s a cooldown in spending, a downturn in the business cycle, or increased competition, Nvidia could also sell off considerably. So it’s best only to approach Nvidia with a long-term investment time horizon, so you aren’t banking on everything going right over the next year and a half.

All told, investors should be aware of potentially market-moving events but not overhaul their portfolio or make emotional decisions based on quarterly earnings.

The largest growth-focused U.S. companies by market cap are Nvidia (NVDA 1.65%), Microsoft (MSFT 0.56%), Apple (AAPL 1.21%), Amazon (AMZN 3.12%), Alphabet (GOOG 2.98%) (GOOGL 3.10%), Meta Platforms (META 2.04%), Broadcom (AVGO 1.48%), Tesla (TSLA 6.18%), Oracle (ORCL 1.30%), and Netflix (NFLX -0.20%).

Known as the “Ten Titans,” this elite group of companies has been instrumental in driving broader market gains in recent years, now making up around 38% of the S&P 500 (^GSPC 1.52%).

Investment management firm Vanguard has the largest (by net assets) and lowest cost exchange-traded fund (ETF) for mirroring the performance of the index — the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO 1.46%). Here’s why the fund is one of the simplest ways to get significant exposure to the Ten Titans.

Image source: Getty Images.

Ten Titan dominance

Over the long term, the S&P 500 has historically delivered annualized results of 9% to 10%. It has been a simple way to compound wealth over time, especially as fees have come down for S&P 500 products. The Vanguard S&P 500 ETF sports an expense ratio of just 0.03% — or $3 for every $10,000 invested — making it an ultra-inexpensive way to get exposure to 500 of the top U.S. companies.

The Vanguard S&P 500 ETF could be a great choice for folks who aren’t looking to research companies or closely follow the market. But it’s a mistake to assume that the S&P 500 is well diversified just because it holds hundreds of names. Right now, the S&P 500 is arguably the least diversified it has been since the turn of the millennium.

Megacap growth companies have gotten even bigger while the rest of the market hasn’t done nearly as well. Today, the combined market cap of the Ten Titans is $20.2 trillion. Ten years ago, it was just $2.5 trillion. Nvidia alone went from a blip on the S&P 500’s radar at $12.4 billion to over $4 trillion in market cap. And not a single Titan was worth over $1 trillion a decade ago. Today, eight of them are.

S&P 500 Market Cap data by YCharts.

To put that monster gain into perspective, the S&P 500’s market cap was $18.2 trillion a decade ago. Meaning the Ten Titans have contributed a staggering 51.6% of the $34.3 trillion market cap the S&P 500 has added over the last decade. Without the Ten Titans, the S&P 500’s gains over the last decade would have looked mediocre at best. With the Ten Titans, the last decade has been exceptional for S&P 500 investors.

The Ten Titans have cemented their footprint on the S&P 500

Since the S&P 500 is so concentrated in the Ten Titans, it has transformed into a growth-focused index, making it an excellent way to double up on the Ten Titans. But the S&P 500 may not be as good a fit for certain investors.

Arguably, the best reason not to buy the S&P 500 is if you’re looking to avoid the Ten Titans, either because you already have comfortable positions in these names or you don’t want to take on the potential risk and volatility inherent in a top-heavy index.

That being said, the S&P 500 has been concentrated before, and its leadership can change, as it did over the last decade. The underperformance by former market leaders, like Intel, has been more than made up for by the rise of Nvidia and Broadcom.

So it’s not that the Ten Titans have to do well for the S&P 500 to thrive. But if the Titans begin underperforming, their sheer influence on the S&P 500 would require significantly outsized gains from the rest of the index.

Let the S&P 500 work for you

With the S&P 500 yielding just 1.2%, sporting a premium valuation and being heavily dependent on growth stocks, the index isn’t the best fit for folks looking to limit their exposure to megacap growth stocks or center their portfolio around dividend-paying value stocks.

The beauty of being an individual investor is that you can shape your portfolio in a way that suits your risk tolerance and investment objectives. For example, you use the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF as a way to get exposure to top growth stocks like the Ten Titans and then complement that position with holdings in dividend stocks or higher-yield ETFs.

In sum, the dominance of the Ten Titans means it’s time to start calling the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF what it has become, which is really more of a growth fund than a balanced way to invest in growth, value, and dividend stocks.

Investors with a high risk tolerance and long-term time horizon may cheer the concentrated nature of the index. In contrast, risk-averse investors may want to reorient their portfolios so they aren’t accidentally overexposing themselves to more growth than intended.

A WOMAN has been fined £116,000 for chopping down a tree over ten years ago.

Claire Rands, of Allt-yr-Yn, Newport in Wales, hadn’t realised she was doing anything wrong.

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She had instructed a tree surgeon to chop down the tree after a number of serious grass fires behind the houses in the cul-de-sac.

It left her concerned that the tree could pose a fire hazard.

The mother-of-four took a precautionary measure and had the tree chopped down in 2012.

At the time, she hadn’t realised the 100-year-old lime tree would land her a colossal fine.

In articles in the South Wales Argus and the Telegraph the same year, the couple said that their tree had caught alight during the summer.

Claire said it was the result of alleged deliberate grass fires that had spread.

Several neighbours were also impacted by the fires.

It prompted Claire and her husband to file a planning application that would enable them to chop the tree down.

This required a legally-binding tree preservation order (TPO) to be lifted.

It prohibits the cutting down, topping, lopping, uprooting or wilful damage or destruction of trees without explicit consent of the local planning authority, even on private land.

The couple’s lime tree was protected because of its age and amenity value.

However, the couple chopped the tree down despite the planning applications not being approved.

They planted another tree in its place.

The council said that one of its ecologists was walking past the property when they noticed the tree was no longer there.

Recently, Newport City Council sent the couple a letter saying they would be prosecuted for causing or permitting the destruction of a tree protected by a TPO.

While husband Damon Rands was cleared of wrongdoing, it resulted in a trial at Newport Magistrates’ Court for Claire.

Yesterday, Claire lost her appeal and was sentenced.

It followed a long dispute over the TPO’s wording, with Claire’s lawyers arguing that the crime is written into law in England, and not Wales.

Instead, they argued she should be convicted of a lesser offence, as she didn’t personally chop down the tree.

Tim Straker, representing Newport Council alongside Elizabeth Nicholls said: “There is no dispute that Rands engaged somebody and secured the large lime tree of considerable amenity value to be removed from her garden, to use the vernacular, lock stock and barrel.

“It is said that in Wales you cannot be guilty of an offence of causing or permitting the destruction of a tree protected by a TPO. But it is unsatisfactory that someone could order a protected tree to be cut down on their land but then run free from any responsibility.”

It led Judge Celia Hughes to convict her of the more serious offence.

She said before sentencing:  “It would be contrary to common sense that a householder could be prosecuted for a more minor offence when they are the person who directed the tree to be removed in the first place.”

The council estimated their property value had increased by at least £50,000 by removing the tree.

As such, she was dealt a £16,000 fine, as well as being ordered to pay £100,000 in prosecution costs.

She has 12 months to pay the fines.

The case has helped to define how the English law applies in Wales, determining that “causing or permitting the felling of a protected tree is an offence” according to Sarah Dodds of Tree Law UK.

A United States federal judge has granted a temporary block against a Texas law that would require the Ten Commandments from the Christian Bible to be displayed in the classrooms of every public school.

On Wednesday, US District Judge Fred Biery issued a preliminary injunction against Texas’s Senate Bill 10, which was slated to take effect on September 1.

Texas would have become the largest state to impose such a requirement on public schools.

But Judge Biery’s decision falls in line with two other court decisions over the past month: one in Arkansas and one in Louisiana, both of which ruled such laws are unconstitutional.

Biery’s decision opens by citing the First Amendment of the US Constitution, which bars the government from passing laws “respecting an establishment of religion”. That clause underpins the separation of church and state in the US.

The judge then argues that even “passive” displays of the Ten Commandments would risk injecting religious discourse into the classroom, thereby violating that separation.

“Even though the Ten Commandments would not be affirmatively taught, the captive audience of students likely would have questions, which teachers would feel compelled to answer. That is what they do,” Biery wrote.

“Teenage boys, being the curious hormonally driven creatures they are, might ask: ‘Mrs Walker, I know about lying and I love my parents, but how do I do adultery?’ Truly an awkward moment for overworked and underpaid educators, who already have to deal with sex education issues.”

Biery’s decision, however, only applies to the 11 school districts represented among the defendants, including Alamo Heights, Houston, Austin, Fort Bend and Plano.

The case stemmed from a complaint made by several parents of school-aged children, who were represented by groups including the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and Americans United for Separation of Church and State.

One of the plaintiffs was a San Antonio rabbi, Mara Nathan, who felt the version of the Ten Commandments slated to be displayed ran contrary to Jewish teachings. She applauded Wednesday’s injunction in a statement released by the ACLU.

“Children’s religious beliefs should be instilled by parents and faith communities, not politicians and public schools,” Nathan said.

Other plaintiffs included Christian families who feared the schoolhouse displays of the Ten Commandments would lead to the teaching of religious interpretations and concepts they might object to.

The Texas state government, however, has argued that the Ten Commandments symbolise an important part of US culture and therefore should be a mandatory presence in schools.

“The Ten Commandments are a cornerstone of our moral and legal heritage, and their presence in classrooms serves as a reminder of the values that guide responsible citizenship,” Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said in a statement. He pledged to appeal Wednesday’s ruling.

But in his 55-page decision, Judge Biery, who was appointed by Democratic President Bill Clinton in 1994, drew on a range of cultural references – from Christian scripture to the 1970s pop duo Sonny and Cher and the actress Greta Garbo – to sketch a history of the dangers of imposing religion on the public.

“The displays are likely to pressure the child-Plaintiffs into religious observance, meditation on, veneration, and adoption of the State’s favored religious scripture,” Biery wrote at one point.

He also said such displays risk “suppressing expression of [the children’s] own religious or nonreligious backgrounds and beliefs while at school”.

Biery even offered a winking, personal anecdote to illustrate the power that governments can hold over the adoption of religion.

“Indeed, forty years ago a Methodist preacher told a then much younger judge, ‘Fred, if you had been born in Tibet, you would be a Buddhist,’” Biery wrote.

A separate federal case involving Dallas area schools is also challenging the Ten Commandment requirement. It names the Texas Education Agency as a defendant.

Such cases are likely to eventually reach the Supreme Court, which currently has a six-to-three conservative supermajority and has shown sympathy for cases of religious displays.

In the 2022 case Kennedy v Bremerton School District, for instance, the Supreme Court sided with a high school football coach who argued he had the right to hold post-game prayers, despite fears that such practices could violate the First Amendment. The coach had been fired for his actions.

Judge Biery concluded Wednesday’s decision with a nod to how controversial such cases can be. But he appealed for common understanding with a prayer-like flourish.

“For those who disagree with the Court’s decision and who would do so with threats, vulgarities and violence, Grace and Peace unto you,” Biery wrote. “May humankind of all faiths, beliefs and non-beliefs be reconciled one to another. Amen.”

Texas cannot require public schools in Houston, Austin and other select districts to display the Ten Commandments in every classroom, a judge said Wednesday in a temporary ruling against the state’s new requirement.

Texas is the third state where courts have blocked recent laws about putting the Ten Commandments in schools.

A group of families from the school districts sought a preliminary injunction against the law, which goes into effect Sept. 1. They say the requirement violates the 1st Amendment’s protections for the separation of church and state and the right to free religious exercise.

Texas is the largest state to attempt such a requirement, and U.S. District Judge Fred Biery’s ruling from San Antonio is the latest in a widening legal fight that’s expected to eventually go before the U.S. Supreme Court.

“Even though the Ten Commandments would not be affirmatively taught, the captive audience of students likely would have questions, which teachers would feel compelled to answer. That is what they do,” Biery, who was appointed by President Clinton, wrote in the ruling that begins by quoting the 1st Amendment and ends with “Amen.”

The ruling prohibits the 11 districts and their affiliates from posting the displays required under state law. The law is being challenged by a group of Christian, Jewish, Hindu, Unitarian Universalist and nonreligious families, as well as clergy, who have children in the public schools.

A broader lawsuit that names three Dallas-area districts as well as the state education agency and commissioner is pending in federal court. And although the ruling marks a major win for civil liberty groups, the legal battle is probably far from over.

Texas Atty. Gen. Ken Paxton said he planned to appeal the ruling, calling it “flawed.”

“The Ten Commandments are a cornerstone of our moral and legal heritage, and their presence in classrooms serves as a reminder of the values that guide responsible citizenship,” the Republican said in a statement, echoing sentiments from religious groups and conservatives who support the law.

Texas has a Ten Commandments monument on the Capitol grounds and won a 2005 Supreme Court case that upheld the monument.

The families who sued were represented by the American Civil Liberties Union, Americans United for the Separation of Church and State and the Freedom from Religion Foundation.

“The court affirmed what we have long said: Public schools are for educating, not evangelizing,” Tommy Buser-Clancy, senior staff attorney at the ACLU of Texas, said in a statement.

A federal appeals court has blocked a similar law in Louisiana. A judge in Arkansas told four districts they cannot put up the posters, and other districts in the state said they’re not putting them up either. In Louisiana, the first state that mandated the Ten Commandments be displayed in classrooms, a panel of three appellate judges in June ruled that the law was unconstitutional.

Biery, the judge, cited both the Louisiana and Arkansas cases in his 55-page ruling. He also includes extensive historical references, quotes that range from the founding fathers to evangelist Billy Graham, and even a Rembrandt painting of Moses holding the stone tablets, alongside an image of actor Charlton Heston in the film “The Ten Commandments.”

Having the displays in classrooms, Biery wrote, would probably pressure children of the parents challenging them into adopting the state’s preferred religion and suppressing their own religious beliefs. The judge said there are ways students could be taught the Ten Commandments’ history without it being placed in every classroom.

“For those who disagree with the Court’s decision and who would do so with threats, vulgarities and violence, Grace and Peace unto you,” he wrote. “May humankind of all faiths, beliefs and non-beliefs be reconciled one to another.”

DeMillo writes for the Associated Press.

Greg Biggins, the 247Sports.com college football recruiting analyst who is one of the best in the nation at what he does, likes to say that you need dudes to win big.

No one has won a national championship in the College Football Playoff era whose roster wasn’t at least halfway stocked with four- and five-star players. Only a handful of teams have made the title game without meeting that blue-chip ratio — and they’ve been walloped.

“So you’ve got to have dudes, you have to have talent,” Biggins recently told The Times. “Coaching and development is huge, but you take coaching and development with guys who look like [star Ohio State wide receiver] Jeremiah Smith, now that’s a different level altogether.”

As UCLA’s DeShaun Foster prepares to open his second season as the head coach at his alma mater, he’s increasingly replenished his roster with dudes. Transfer quarterback Nico Iamaleava is a five-star talent, and 13 other players who arrived through the transfer portal were rated as four stars either coming out of high school or as a transfer.

While the Bruins’ blue-chip ratio still falls well short of 50%, it’s creeping upward. But as Biggins mentioned, coaching and development also matter. Former UCLA linebacker Carson Schwesinger, who received zero stars coming out of high school, is now with the Cleveland Browns after being selected in the second round of the NFL draft.

For the Bruins to have the breakthrough they’re seeking under Foster, they will need both blue-chippers and less heralded prospects to emerge as stars. Here are 10 players who must become dudes for UCLA to succeed in 2025:

Offense

QB Nico Iamaleava: Well, duh. UCLA is not going to have the kind of season it wants unless its quarterback puts himself in the conversation for the school’s best player at the position since Brett Hundley. (Sorry, Dorian Thompson-Robinson and Josh Rosen, eight- and nine-win seasons don’t suffice.) Efficiency will tell the story. If Iamaleava exceeds his 2024 accuracy, when he completed 63.8% of his passes and tallied nearly four times as many touchdowns (19) as interceptions (five), then the Bruins will be in business.

OT Courtland Ford: Quickly slotting into the starting left tackle spot in spring practices, Ford projects to have his biggest role since he started the first eight games of the 2021 season at USC. He went on to become a part-time starter with the Trojans in 2022 and at Kentucky in 2023 and 2024 before transferring to UCLA. The hope is that he can provide stability and bolster an offensive line that was a major weakness last season amid several injuries at left tackle.

RB Jaivian Thomas: Jaydn who? Foster likes to point out that Thomas was the top tailback at California last season despite Jaydn Ott receiving much of the hype. There’s a widespread expectation that Thomas will reprise that role with the Bruins as part of a deep group of running backs that also includes Jalen Berger, Anthony Woods, Anthony Frias II and Karson Cox. While each of those players holds promise, Thomas appears to have the biggest upside given his speed, patience and vision.

WR Kwazi Gilmer: Often by Iamaleava’s side getting off the team bus at training camp, Gilmer quickly established a narrative of becoming his quarterback’s go-to receiver. The duo established a strong connection during the short practice viewing window open to the media, Iamaleava often finding the speedy and shifty Gilmer in the end zone. It’s easy to envision Gilmer more than doubling his output from 2024, when he caught 31 passes for 345 yards and two touchdowns. Gilmer showed some swagger by saying he wanted to win the Biletnikoff Award that goes to the nation’s top college receiver; now he’s got to back up those words.

TE Hudson Habermehl: After shedding his surfer look, those long blond locks replaced by a far more streamlined hairstyle, Hambermehl yearns to reintroduce himself as a sleeker, more productive version of the player Bruins fans last saw in the spring of 2024. That’s when he suffered a season-ending anterior cruciate ligament injury that would require two surgeries and more than a year of recovery. Now Habermehl is back, ready to become the team’s most targeted tight end while exceeding his 2023 production (nine catches for 148 yards and three touchdowns).

Defense

LB JonJon Vaughns: Having abandoned his baseball pursuits for football full time, Vaughns needs to slide into a starring role. He’s shown glimpses of promise, particularly during a 2022 season in which he started 11 games and made two interceptions and five pass breakups. Now comes the challenge of sustaining that sort of production while leading a defense that thirsts for new playmakers to emerge at every position.

S Key Lawrence: Perhaps the most energetic player on the team, the Mississippi transfer also boasts plenty of talent thanks to his combination of speed and smarts. Barring a setback from the minor right leg injury he sustained midway through training camp, Lawrence projects to be an opening-day starter. He’ll need to anchor a secondary that’s replacing every starter.

Edge Devin Aupiu: UCLA’s pass rush was meh last season, generating 22 sacks to rank tied for No. 78 in the nation. As a part-time starter, Aupiu made 4½ tackles for loss, including 1½ sacks — decent production given his role and easily the most among returning players. Getting into the backfield more often this season is a must for the redshirt senior.

DT Gary Smith III: Most successful diets don’t end with someone weighing 340 pounds. But after shedding 20 pounds thanks to what he described as clean eating, Smith appears slimmer, stronger and more explosive in his return from the ankle injury that sidelined him all of last season. He posted a video of his squatting a team-high 700 pounds and could combine with fellow interior defensive lineman Keanu Williams to make running up the middle the place where ambitions go to die for opposing tailbacks.

LB Isaiah Chisom: In case Chisom was tempted to get cocky after one season at Oregon State in which he was selected a freshman All-American by The Athletic, he lost out to new UCLA teammate Jalen Woods in the battle to keep his No. 9 jersey. Maybe every time he glances at his No. 32, it will remind him of the work he needs to put in to become a super sophomore.

Olympic sport spotlight: Men’s soccer

The program that produced Sigi Schmid, Cobi Jones and Paul Caligiuri hasn’t been in the news much lately.

UCLA men’s soccer has not made it past the Round of 16 in the NCAA tournament since reaching the finals in 2014, when it lost to Virginia. The Briuns’ last national championship came in 2002.

Could 2025 be a breakthrough year?

Answers will start to emerge once the Bruins open the season Thursday evening at UC Irvine. UCLA returns four starters, including junior midfielder Philip Naef, who led the team last season with 10 assists — the most since Jackson Yueill also reached double digits in 2016. A bevy of talented freshmen from the nation’s top-ranked recruiting class, according to TopDrawerSoccer, should also help coach Ryan Jorden’s bid to guide his team deep into the NCAA tournament.

Alumni watch

UCLA linebacker Carson Schwesinger at the NFL football combine earlier this year.

(Michael Conroy / Associated Press)

Carson Schwesinger’s incredible ascent continues.

The linebacker who was essentially unwanted out of Oaks Christian High when UCLA snagged him with a walk-on spot impressed in his NFL preseason debut, leading the Cleveland Browns with six tackles during a 30-10 exhibition victory over the Carolina Panthers.

Making that production all the more impressive, it came in only 13 snaps. Maybe that transition from college to the NFL isn’t so hard after all.

“I mean, I think there’s always going to be a difference going to the next level,” Schwesinger told reporters after the game, “but we’ve been practicing against it so much now that it’s something that I’m getting used to. So there wasn’t a huge difference, I would say, from practice to the game. I think that’s because of how we practice.”

Remember when?

UCLA quarterback Mike Fafaul gets away from Utah defensive back Justin Thomas in a 2016 matchup.

(Mark J. Terrill / Associated Press)

My favorite UCLA-Utah game felt like one played in an alternate universe.

The Bruins, who ran what could have been called the “Point-Three Yards and a Cloud of Dust” offense under Kennedy Polamalu in 2016, came out in a spread, no-huddle, hurry-up formation against the Utes for the first time all season.

It might have resulted in a UCLA victory had the Bruins’ defense showed up.

Utah running back Joe Williams ran for a school-record 332 yards and four touchdowns during the Utes’ thrilling 52-45 victory, overcoming a record-setting day for UCLA quarterback Mike Fafaul. Continuing to start in place of the injured Josh Rosen, Fafaul completed 40 of 70 passes for a career-high 464 yards and five touchdowns while breaking Rosen’s previous school records for completions (34) and pass attempts (57).

In a lost season for the Bruins, this was as entertaining as it got.

You can watch highlights from that game here.

Poll results

We asked, “Which UCLA football player not named Nico Iamaleava will be the team’s most important in 2025?” and gave you five choices: offensive tackle Courtland Ford, running back Jaivian Thomas, wide receiver Kwazi Gilmer, defensive tackle Gary Smith III or linebacker Isaiah Chisom.

After 534 votes, the results:

Running back Jaivian Thomas, 37.4%
Wide receiver Kwazi Gilmer, 23.7%
Offensive tackle Courtland Ford, 17.6%
Defensive tackle Gary Smith III, 17.4%
Linebacker Isaiah Chisom, 3.9%

Opinion time

UCLA’s 2025 football schedule features a handful of games that scream intrigue.

The opener against Utah is a battle of former Pac-12 rivals. A showdown against presumed national title contender Penn State could match undefeated teams if the Bruins get off to a hot start. The game at Ohio State provides fans willing to travel more than halfway across the country a chance to visit one of college football’s top venues. The rivalry game at USC speaks for itself.

Which game are you looking forward to most?

Utah on Aug. 30

Penn State on Oct. 4

Ohio State on Nov. 15

USC on Nov. 29

Click here to vote in our survey.

In case you missed it

UCLA’s training camp a real tearjerker as players, coaches open up to bond

Michigan hit with major fine for sign-stealing scheme. Jim Harbaugh’s NCAA exile extended 10 years

Can UCLA’s Kwazi Gilmer win the Biletnikoff Award? He’s going to give it a go

UCLA stars Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Gabriela Jaquez share lessons with kids close to home

Have something Bruin?

Do you have a comment or something you’d like to see in a future UCLA newsletter? Email me at [email protected], and follow me on X @latbbolch. To order an autographed copy of my book, “100 Things UCLA Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die,” send me an email. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.