A THEME park in the UK has announced it will open all of its major rides throughout the festive season – for the first time.
In previous years, the only open rides were in one just section of the park but now there are Christmas thrills all over.
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Drayton Manor will keep its major rides open for the Christmas seasonCredit: Refer to sourcePreviously it was just rides in Thomas Land that remained openCredit: Refer to source
Drayton Manor in Tamworth has announced all of its major rides will remain open throughout the festive period for the very first time.
Throughout December weekends, Christmas week and Twixmas (the period between Christmas Day and New Year’s Day), Drayton Manor will operate its major rides and attractions.
In previous years, it’s only been a selection of rides in Thomas Land that have been open rather than the bigger coasters.
This year rides that will stay open include Gold Rush, a rollercoaster in the new Wild West area, The Wave and Maelstrom.
There will also be plenty of Christmas experiences between November 22 and December 31.
For the festive season, Drayton Manor has launched its new Elves Behavin’ Badly | Elftoria experience.
Here there’s a Christmas Tree Maze, Snowball Fight Arena, Live Pranking Workshop and Show, Elf Meet and Greet, and elf slide.
There’s festive food and drink too like a pink peppermint milkshake, roast potatoes topped with hot gravy and bacon bits, plus the Christmas classic, pigs in blankets.
There’s even a Yorkshire pudding wrap with chicken, stuffing, roast potatoes, gravy and cranberry sauce.
Elves Behavin’ Badly | Elftoria will be open on selected dates up to December 24 between 4pm to 6pm.
Drayton Manor will also have Winter Wonderland and other festive experiencesCredit: Refer to source
There will also be a Christmas Grotto, the Twinkle Express light trail, and pantomime performance of Cinderella.
Plus, at the end of the day, there will be a new festive show that’s the largest of its kind in the UK – which is included in the price of a park ticket.
Called ‘Drayton Manor’s Christmas Miracle’, it transforms the onsite lake into a stunning visual spectacle.
The new show features a 30-metre water screen, with more than 65 choreographed water jets, dramatic fire effects, vibrant lighting and festive animations.
The awards were organised by ThemeParks-UK.com, and winners were announced after a series of votes made by 330,000 members of British public along with scores from expert judges.
Visitors through late November and all of December can still go on the park’s biggest ridesCredit: Refer to source
There were 22 categories including Best New Attraction, Best Theme Park for Families, for Toddlers and for Thrills, the Best Seaside Park and Theme Park of the Year.
Best Value Theme Park wasn’t the only award Drayton Manor won, it also came in second place for Best (Large) Theme Park for Families, and for Best Theme Park for Toddlers.
Drayton Manor came in first place for Best New Accessibility Initiative, and third for Best Use of IP in an Attraction.
It also came second for its 75th Anniversary Fireworks which won Best New Event.
Park entry tickets are £25 for visitors aged between four and 66. Anyone over the age of 66 can grab a ticket for £19.90.
The festive experiences can be bought on top of the park fee. The Elves Behavin’ Badly l Elftoria experience starts from £20.
The Enchanted Santa’s Grotto costs £10 to enter. The Twinkle Express and Cinderella Pantomime are £5 each.
If you’ve got a Tesco Clubcard, you can double up your Clubcard vouchers and use them to pay for entrance on the gate.
You can’t book in advance online or use the vouchers towards car parking or season passes though, so it’s worth comparing to some of the other offers out there to see which is best for your family.
Blue Light Card
Using a discount scheme like Blue Light Card for public sector workers or Kids Pass can offer savings all year round and also access to special member days, when the park is not open to the public and parking is included in the entry price.
The Blue Light Card member day at Drayton Manor in March offered tickets for £26 per person, with toddlers aged 2 and 3 costing £15 and babies under 2 free.
Black Friday Offers
It’s worth keeping an eye out over Black Friday to see what offers pop up – last November, you could buy four tickets for £75 and they were valid until the end of May this year, which covered Easter and half-term holidays.
Drayton Manor will keep its major rides open throughout the festive seasonCredit: Drayton Manor
The Confederation of African Football (CAF) playoffs begin on Thursday with four teams – Cameroon, Gabon, Nigeria, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo – slugging it out to decide which nation will progress to the FIFA intercontinental playoff tournament in March, which is the final hurdle for qualification into the World Cup 2026 in North America.
The four teams were the best runners-up across the nine African qualifying groups – and the playoff winner will keep alive their nation’s hopes of becoming the continent’s 10th representative at next year’s finals.
Here is all to know about the CAF playoffs:
Where are the African playoffs being held?
Morocco’s capital Rabat will host the African World Cup playoffs, using three different stadiums for the three matches.
Al Barid Stadium and Moulay El Hassan Stadium will be used for the semifinals.
The newly built Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium, which will host the upcoming Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) final on January 18, will be the venue for the CAF playoff final.
What time do the African playoff matches start?
The two sudden-death semifinal playoffs will be played at the following times:
Nigeria vs Gabon: Thursday, November 13 at 5pm (16:00 GMT) at Moulay El Hassan Stadium
Cameroon vs Congo DR: Thursday, November 13 at 8pm (19:00 GMT) at Al Barid Stadium
The winner-take-all final will be played at the following time:
CAF final (Teams TBD): Sunday, November 16 at 8pm local (19:00 GMT) at Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium
How was the draw made for the CAF playoff matches?
The draw was based on the current FIFA world rankings of the four teams as of October 17.
Nigeria was ranked highest (#41), followed by Cameroon (#54), Congo DR (#60) and Gabon (#77).
Based on the rankings, FIFA implemented a No.1 (Nigeria) vs No.4 seed (Gabon) matchup for the first semifinal and a No.2 (Cameroon) vs No.3 (Congo DR) second semi.
Nigeria’s key forward Victor Osimhen is hoping to lead his nation to a seventh FIFA World Cup finals appearance in 2026 [File: Sodiq Adelakun/Reuters]
What does the African playoff winner still need to do for World Cup qualification?
The winner of Sunday’s CAF playoff must still overcome teams from other continents in a FIFA intercontinental playoff scheduled for March in Mexico to decide the final two qualifiers for the World Cup.
The intercontinental playoff will feature two teams from the Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) and one team apiece from the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL) and the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC).
How many African nations have already qualified for the FIFA World Cup 2026?
Nine African countries have already qualified via direct entry from the CAF group stage: Algeria, Cape Verde, Egypt, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Morocco, Senegal, South Africa, and Tunisia.
When and where is the FIFA World Cup 2026?
The tournament is being staged across the United States, Canada and Mexico. The first match will be played in Mexico City on June 11, while the final will be staged in New Jersey, the US, on July 19.
Due to the expansion of the tournament – from 32 teams to 48 – the 39-day event is the longest in its history.
The MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey in the United States will stage the FIFA World Cup 2026 final on July 19 [File: Kena Betancur/VIEWpress via Getty Images]
What are the African squads for the CAF playoffs?
⚽ Cameroon:
Goalkeepers: Andre Onana (Trabzonspor, Turkiye), Devis Epassy (Dinamo Bucuresti, Romania), Simon Omossola (Saint-Eloi Lupopo, Congo)
Midfielders: Frank Anguissa (Napoli, Italy), Martin Hongla (Granada, Spain), Jean Onana (Genoa, Italy), Yvan Neyou (Getafe, Spain), Carlos Baleba (Brighton & Hove Albion, England), Arthur Avom (Lorient, France), Wilitty Younoussa (Rodez, France)
Forwards: Vincent Aboubakar (c) (Azerbaijan Neftci, Azerbaijan), Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting (New York Red Bulls, US), Moumi Ngamaleu (Dynamo Moscow, Russia), Christian Bassogog (Al-Okhdood, Saudi Arabia), Bryan Mbeumo (Manchester United, England), Georges-Kevin Nkoudou (Diriyah, Saudi Arabia), Frank Magri (Toulouse, France), Danny Namaso (Auxerre, France), Patrick Soko (Almeria, Spain), Karl Etta Eyong (Levante, Spain)
Defenders: Aaron Appindangoye (Sivasspor, Turkiye), Jonathan do Marcolino (Bourg-en-Bresse, France), Jacques Ekomie (Angers, France), Bruno Ecuele Manga (Paris 13 Atletico, France), Yannis Mbemba (FC Dordrecht, Netherlands), Johan Obiang (Orleans, France), Mike Kila Onfia (Hafia, Guinea), Anthony Oyono and Jeremy Oyono (both Frosinone, Italy)
Forwards: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Olympique de Marseille, France), Teddy Averlant (Amiens, France), Denis Bouanga (Los Angeles FC, US), Alan do Marcolino (Lusitania Lourosa, Portugal), Randy Essang Matouti (Khenchela, Algeria), Noha Lemina (Yverdon Sport, Switzerland), Bryan Meyo (Oympique Lyonnais, France)
⚽ Nigeria:
Goalkeepers: Stanley Nwabali (Chippa United, South Africa), Amas Obasogie (Singida Blackstars, Tanzania), Maduka Okoye (Udinese, Italy)
Defenders: Chidozie Awaziem (Nantes, France), Semi Ajayi (Hull City, England), Calvin Bassey (Fulham, England), Benjamin Fredericks (Dender, Belgium), Bruno Onyemaechi (Olympiakos, Greece), Bright Osayi-Samuel (Birmingham City, England), Zaidu Sanusi (FC Porto, Portugal), William Troost-Ekong (Al-Kholood, Saudi Arabia)
Midfielders: Alex Iwobi (Fulham, England), Wilfred Ndidi (Besiktas, Turkiye), Raphael Onyedika (Club Brugge, Belgium), Frank Onyeka (Brentford, England), Alhassan Yusuf (New England Revolution, US)
Allison Mack is addressing “the bad things she’s done” as a high-profile member of the “sex cult” NXIVM in a new podcast.
Released Monday, “Allison After NXIVM” is a seven-episode series that features the former “Smallville” star detailing her time as a young actor and how she became involved in the purported self-improvement group, as well as her role in manipulating women into becoming sex slaves for NXIVM leader Keith Raniere and the eventual criminal fallout.
“I don’t see myself as innocent,” Mack says in an early episode as she acknowledges using her success as an actor as “a power tool … to get people to do what I wanted” and that she was “very effective in moving Keith’s vision forward.”
In a later episode, she accepts claims that she was a “harsh monster” during her time at NXIVM.
“I was not kind and I was aggressive and I was abusive,” Mack says. “I was harsh and I was callous and I was aggressive and forceful in ways that were painful for people. [I] did make people feel like they had no choice and was incredibly abusive to people, traumatic for people.”
In 2019, Mack pleaded guilty to racketeering charges related to her role in NXIVM and its subgroup DOS, a so-called “secret society” of women who were branded with Raniere’s initials and forced to have sex with him. Mack was among one of the “masters” in the group, a lieutenant tasked by Raniere with recruiting and coercing other women. She was sentenced to three years in federal prison in 2021 and was released in 2023. (Raniere is currently serving a 120-year sentence after being convicted of sex-trafficking and other charges.)
But while she acknowledges that “100% all those allegations are true,” she also contends that she is “someone who cares deeply and wanted very much to grow and wanted very much for everybody that I was involved with to grow. … [B]oth of those things are true about me.
“I definitely recognize and admit that I was abusing my power,” Mack says. “But I also can’t negate the fact that there was a part of me that was altruistic and was desperate to help people. [I] wanted to be better, and I was willing to do anything to be better in myself and to help other people be better.”
The podcast series also touches on what Mack has been up to since being released from prison. She is pursuing a master’s in social work and looking into PhD programs in expressive arts therapy. She is also working at a nonprofit to help bring creative arts such as music, theater and poetry to prisons.
Over the summer, Mack got married to Frank Meeink, a prominent former neo-Nazi who now speaks out in support of racial diversity and acceptance. The couple met in a dog park not long after Mack’s release from prison in 2023. According to the podcast’s host, Natalie Robehmed, Mack now goes by Allison Meeink.
Robehmed also mentions that “Allison After NXIVM,” which is the latest installment of the true crime podcast “Uncover,” came to be after Mack reached out to journalist Vanessa Grigoriadis following her release from prison, hoping to tell her own story for the first time. Grigoriadis, who serves as an executive producer on the series, had interviewed Mack before her arrest.
WASHINGTON — President Trump hosted Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa at the White House on Monday, welcoming his once-pariah state into a U.S.-led global coalition to fight the Islamic State group.
Al-Sharaa arrived at the White House around 11:30 a.m. and shortly after began his Oval Office meeting, which remained closed to the press. The Syrian president entered the building through West Executive Avenue, adjacent to the White House, rather than on the West Wing driveway normally used for foreign leaders’ arrivals. He left the White House about two hours later and greeted a throng of supporters gathered outside before getting into his motorcade.
“We’ll do everything we can to make Syria successful because that’s part of the Middle East,” Trump told reporters later Monday. The U.S. president said of Al-Sharaa that “I have confidence that he’ll be able to do the job.”
Syria’s foreign ministry, in a statement, described the meeting as “friendly and constructive.”
Trump “affirmed the readiness of the United States to provide the support that the Syrian leadership needs to ensure the success of the reconstruction and development process,” the statement said.
It added that U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio had then met with Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani and Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, who arrived in Washington on Monday, and that they agreed to proceed with implementing an agreement reached in March between Damascus and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces to integrate the SDF into the new Syrian army. Implementation of the deal has repeatedly stalled amid tensions between the two sides. It was unclear what concrete steps were agreed upon in Monday’s meeting.
The statement said the “American side also affirmed its support for reaching a security agreement with Israel,” but it did not say how Syria had responded.
Al-Sharaa’s visit was the first to the White House by a Syrian head of state since the Middle Eastern country gained independence from France in 1946 and comes after the U.S. lifted sanctions imposed on Syria during the decades the country was ruled by the Assad family. Al-Sharaa led the rebel forces that toppled Syrian President Bashar Assad last December and was named the country’s interim leader in January.
Trump and Al-Sharaa — who once had ties to Al Qaeda and had a $10-million U.S. bounty on his head — first met in May in Saudi Arabia. At the time, the U.S. president described Al-Sharaa as a “young, attractive guy. Tough guy. Strong past, very strong past. Fighter.” It was the first official encounter between the U.S. and Syria since 2000, when then-President Clinton met with Hafez Assad, the father of Bashar Assad.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Monday’s visit is “part of the president’s efforts in diplomacy to meet with anyone around the world in the pursuit of peace.”
One official with knowledge of the administration’s plans said Syria’s entry into the global coalition fighting Islamic State will allow it to work more closely with U.S. forces, although the new Syrian military and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces in the country’s northeast had already been fighting the group.
Before Al-Sharaa’s arrival in the U.S., the United Nations Security Council voted to lift sanctions on the Syrian president and other government officials in a move that the U.S. ambassador to the U.N., Mike Waltz, said was a strong sign that Syria is in a new era since the fall of Assad.
Al-Sharaa came to the meeting with his own priorities. He wants a permanent repeal of sanctions that punished Syria for widespread allegations of human rights abuses by Assad’s government and security forces. While the Caesar Act sanctions are currently waived by Trump, a permanent repeal would require Congress to act.
One option is a proposal from Sen. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, that would end the sanctions without any conditions. The other was drafted by Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), a hawkish Trump ally who wants to set conditions for a sanctions repeal that would be reviewed every six months.
But advocates argue that any repeal with conditions would prevent companies from investing in Syria because they would fear potentially being sanctioned. Mouaz Moustafa, executive director of the Syrian Emergency Task Force, likened it to a “hanging shadow that paralyzes any initiatives for our country.”
The Treasury Department said Monday that the Caesar Act waiver was extended for another 180 days.
Kim writes for the Associated Press. AP writers Abby Sewell in Beirut and Fatima Hussein and Konstantin Toropin in Washington contributed to this report.
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva urged the world to fight the spread of misinformation and come together to defeat those who deny the devastating impact of climate change.
Weekly insights and analysis on the latest developments in military technology, strategy, and foreign policy.
Imagery has been published providing a rare look inside the weapons bays of one of the prototypes of Russia’s Su-57 Felon fighter, an aircraft you can read about in more detail here. While internal weapons carriage is a key design feature of the Sukhoi jet, the main weapons bays, at least, haven’t been seen in such detail, with weapons loaded. The footage comes as Moscow embarks on another export drive for the Su-57, which has reportedly so far only been ordered by Algeria.
A recent promotional video from the United Aircraft Corporation (UAC), Russia’s aviation manufacturing conglomerate, shows the prototype T-50-9 being put through its paces ahead of its planned appearance at the Dubai Airshow. The event takes place in the United Arab Emirates next week. In the footage, the T-50-9 performs a variety of maneuvers, but of greatest interest is the forward main weapons bay, opened to reveal a pair of Kh-58UShK anti-radiation missiles.
The United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) has released promotional footage of the Su-57 prototype (T-50-9) ahead of its appearance at the 2025 Dubai Airshow. pic.twitter.com/YVl1aQDVB0
While we have previously seen imagery of weapons being released from the aircraft’s main weapons bays, we. The plan to display the T-50-9 at Dubai, with internal weapons exposed, is also new — this hasn’t been done since the aircraft was first flown in prototype form 15 years ago.
The T-50-9 undergoes final preparations at Zhukovsky International Airport ahead of its appearance at the Dubai Airshow.
The Felon carries its main weaponry in a pair of notably large internal weapons bays that are arranged in tandem between the engines. Each of the bays is sized for the carriage of two missiles with a maximum length of just under 14 feet and a cross-section of around 16 by 16 inches.
For reasons that aren’t entirely clear, it was a long time before Sukhoi began to conduct tests of internal weapons from the Felon. Such trials only began in 2016, six years after the initial prototype T-50 had first taken to the air. In March of 2016, a Felon first launched an undisclosed type of missile from one of its main internal weapons bays.
For the air-to-air role, the large tandem weapons bays are intended to carry two types of beyond-visual-range missiles that were specially adapted for internal carriage. These are the medium-range R-77M (izdeliye 180) and the very-long-range izdeliye 810. You can read more about them here.
For offensive missions, the Kh-69 long-range air-to-surface missile was designed specifically for the Felon, again for internal carriage. The Kh-69 is a weapon we have discussed in detail in the past.
Meanwhile, the Kh-58UShK supersonic anti-radiation missile seen in the recent UAC video is a further evolution of the older Kh-58 (known to NATO as the AS-11 Kilter).
Weighing around 1,400 pounds per piece, the Kh-58UShK (in which the K suffix stands for Kompaktnaya, compact) has a missile body that is approximately 24 inches shorter than the baseline weapon. It also has folding fins to fit in the internal bays. The weapon has a reported range of 150 miles when launched from higher altitudes, although this is significantly reduced when launched from lower levels.
A mockup of the Kh-58UShK supersonic anti-radiation missile. Vitaly V. Kuzmin
Other offensive munitions that the fighter can carry internally include the ‘universal’ Kh-38M air-to-ground missile with a range of different guidance types, the Grom (thunder) missile that adds a range-extending wing kit to the Kh-38M, and the 551-pound KAB-250L electro-optically guided bomb.
The UAC footage also shows the aircraft’s ability to carry two additional air-to-air missiles inside the two so-called ‘quick-launch’ bays — these have previously been seen in some detail, unlike the main bays. The quick-launch bays are located in distinctive underwing fairings, and the design ensures the missile can be extended into the slipstream so it can lock onto its target. Each can be located with a single R-74M2 (izdeliye 760) short-range air-to-air missile. This is another weapon that was developed specifically for internal carriage, derived from the well-established R-73 (AA-11 Archer).
A sequence showing the launch of an air-to-air missile from one of the Su-57’s two small wing-root weapons bays. Russian Ministry of Defense screencap
The missile launch clip begins at approximately 1:19 in the runtime of the video below:
Carrying internal ordnance is a prerequisite if it’s paramount that the Su-57 retains its reduced radar signiture characteristics. However, for missions not requiring such a degree of low-observability, the aircraft can carry a heavier weapons load, making use of four pylons under the wing and two under the air intakes. The underwing pylons can also accomodate drop tanks for additional fuel.
Finally, for close-range combat, the aircraft is armed with a 30-millimeter single-barrel cannon within in starboard wing root and provided with 150 rounds of ammunition. You can see it in action here.
The Su-57 fires its onboard GSh-30-1 cannon. YouTube screencap
Showing off the Su-57’s relatively impressive capability to accommodate larger internal weapons will, UAC surely hopes, help to drum up more export interest in its product.
Overall, the Su-57 program has made only very slow progress, hampered by a lack of investment in the form of foreign orders. A significant blow was struck by India’s withdrawal from the program, with that country’s investment having been considered vital to speed development. The same had been true in the late 1990s when India’s purchase of the Su-30MKI Flanker essentially secured the development of the multirole version of this fighter, which was only later acquired by Russia.
In terms of domestic orders, the Russian Aerospace Forces only began to receive series-built Su-57s in 2022, part of an order for 76 aircraft — a notably small production run.
A pair of Russian Aerospace Forces Su-57s depart Novosibirsk, on their way to the flight test center at Lipetsk, in May 2022. NSKPlanes
While at least six aircraft were delivered to the Russian Aerospace Forces in 2022, more than 10 were handed over in 2023 before numbers tailed off again in 2024, when likely only two or three more were received. It’s unclear if any examples of the Su-57 have been delivered to Russia this year.
The full-scale invasion of Ukraine and the subsequent international sanctions against Russia have had the combined effect of slowing down the pace of Su-57 deliveries and limiting export prospects to all but the staunchest Kremlin allies. After all, any country that receives Russian weapons can expect to be on the receiving end of U.S. sanctions. In an effort to counter this, Russia has also offered a degree of local production of the Su-57, specifically with the hope of securing sales from India and the United Arab Emirates. The Dubai Airshow appearance is almost certainly calculated to try and reinvigorate interest from these two nations in particular.
At the same time, while demonstrating the Su-57’s already celebrated agility and its gradually expanding weapons options, the long-promised advanced Su-57M version has made little progress. The Su-57M is powered by the new AL-51F1 (izdeliye 30) turbofan engine, replacing the current AL-41F-1. It promises increased thrust, lighter weight, and lower operating costs. However, a lack of interest from Russia has done little to help the Su-57Ms’ chances on the export market.
The revised, flat version of the engine nozzle for the AL-51F1 turbofan (in the left nacelle), alongside the original three-dimensional version (right nacelle). via X
Recent reports based on an apparent leaked official document relating to Su-57 (and other Sukhoi) exports also pointed to official interest in the Felon from Algeria. This document, the leak of which was attributed to the Black Mirror hacktivist group, was, however, several years old and appears to have described possible export orders, rather than reflecting any kind of firm deals. It is also notable that most of the possible export deals in the document related to the Su-35 Flanker, rather than the more advanced Su-57.
This table has generated a lot of buzz lately, but remember that this is a summary of plans as of April 2022, over three years ago.
Su-57 to Algeria, Su-35 to Iran, Bangladesh, Vietnam, and Ethiopia Su-34 to Algeria pic.twitter.com/yQKgPvJSMY
Regardless, the UAC is clearly aiming to make a big splash with the Felon at the Dubai Airshow, where it seems that the planned Su-57 flying display will demonstrate a high level of maneuverability coupled with a heavy missile load — a common sales tactic for multirole fighters. It’s also possible that more previously secretive aspects of the design could be revealed in more detail, as the campaign to secure lucrative export sales is ramped up.
Welcome back to the Times of Troy newsletter, where we’ve spent the last 48 hours thinking far too much about a fake punt from the second quarter of Friday’s 38-17 win over Northwestern. The play was diabolical. The fallout since has made it all the more fascinating, transforming a random trick play into a sort of college football Rorschach test.
So let me take you back to Friday night, with USC facing fourth and six near midfield. Lincoln Riley sent out his punt team. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary.
Every soul in that stadium not on USC’s sideline assumed the player lined up to punt, wearing the USC punter’s usual No. 80 uniform, was Sam Johnson … the punter. In part because USC is one of the few schools still without names on the back of their jerseys. But then the purported punter cocked back to throw. Right away, as he completed the pass in the face of pressure, I clocked that this No. 80 was left-handed. And I could’ve sworn Johnson punts with his right foot.
Fight on! Are you a true Trojans fan?
So I consulted the game-day roster. And wouldn’t you know it — listed next to Johnson with the same No. 80 was Sam Huard, the Trojans’ third-string quarterback. Later, Riley confirmed Huard had been listed as No. 80 on the official roster for three weeks.
“You guys gotta pay attention,” he said. “I’m glad none of y’all put it on Twitter.”
He’s right. None of us in the press box noticed that one number on the roster amid the 100-plus printed in tiny type on our game-day card had changed. But changing a third-string quarterback’s number weeks ahead of time to pull off a first-half fake punt against a middling Northwestern team hadn’t been on my bingo card.
USC also didn’t put the change on its online roster. Nor did USC’s sports information department update the weekly game notes with Huard’s new number. Both of which probably would’ve made the stunt feel a little less bush league.
“It hadn’t shown up anywhere else,” Northwestern coach David Braun said of the number change after, “but they did legally submit that. It was on the game-day roster that was here present at the Coliseum. The lesson I’ve learned from that for the rest of my career is that we will go over that with a fine-tooth comb, and look for any of those potential issues.”
But while his fake punt probably didn’t make Riley any new friends in the conference, I don’t believe it broke any rules either.
The Big Ten and I don’t have the same interpretation. Though, the statement the conference issued Sunday morning was especially vague.
The Big Ten pointed to NCAA Football Playing Rule 9, Section 2, Article 2, labeled “Unfair Tactics,” which states that “two players playing the same position may not wear the same number during the game.”
It then notes that “if a foul was identified when [Johnson] entered the game as a punter, a Team Unsportsmanlike Conduct penalty would have been assessed resulting in a 15-yard penalty from the previous spot.”
So if the penalty had been called, it would have been on the ensuing drive, when Johnson would’ve punted from USC’s 41-yard line, as opposed to Northwestern’s 44. But that’s all the statement really says.
You can feel how badly the Big Ten wants to chastise USC for what it probably feels is a play unbecoming of the conference. Most people, I assume, feel that way. But what the conference very notably doesn’t say here is that a foul was committed. Or that a penalty should have been called.
That’s because, in this case, I’m sure Riley could argue about semantics until he turns blue in the face.
The number change was technically within the rules. And technically, there’s no rule that a quarterback can’t line up 13 yards behind the center. We’re only assuming, in this case, that the player is a punter. Players line up in different positions all the time.
College football coaches have been manipulating rules like this for the better part of a century. Remember last season when Oregon coach Dan Lanning purposefully put 12 men on the field to drain the clock on Ohio State’s comeback attempt?
That felt a little bush league at the time too. But you can’t tell me that Lanning’s and Riley’s ploys weren’t also kind of brilliant.
And really, if you think about it, that kind of captures Riley in a nutshell. Intermittently brilliant. Consistently brash. And definitely not here to make friends.
What’s happening with Notre Dame?
Since USC made an amended offer to Notre Dame in August to maintain the series for another two seasons, there hasn’t been much obvious movement in negotiations. It’s not hard to figure out why. USC has no interest in budging on its current offer, and Notre Dame has no incentive to cave to its rival’s demands … yet.
However, the Irish did recently make a notable change to their schedule that creates some flexibility in 2026. Notre Dame confirmed last week that its road game against Florida State was struck from next season’s schedule, which leaves a pretty gaping vacancy that USC would fit into quite nicely.
I still believe the rivals will come to an agreement. Right now there’s no official deadline for scheduling the game. But it’s safe to assume that USC would like to know its nonconference slate before rolling out its season-ticket plans for next season. That’s in January, less than two months away.
—Could the Big Ten really force through its $2-billion private equity deal without USC and Michigan’s support? Yahoo’s Ross Dellenger reported Sunday that the other 16 Big Ten schools are discussing a plan to move forward without USC and Michigan, both of whom made clear they’d vote against the proposed plan to sell a 10% stake of the conference to UC Investments. This, to put it nicely, is a pretty bold gambit from commissioner Tony Petitti. To put it less nicely, I find it patently insane. When the conversation started around a potential private equity deal, the Big Ten told its members it wanted consensus. And now, after that didn’t work out his way, Petitti is just going to move the goalposts? Big Ten sources who spoke to Dellenger had the gall to suggest that USC and Michigan could “risk their future within the conference beyond 2036.” L-O-L. As if the Big Ten’s media or corporate partners — or the private equity fund investing — would be cool with dropping two of the conference’s three biggest brands. USC’s stance hasn’t changed. And it shouldn’t, no matter what sort of toothless plan the conference concocts from here.
—USC’s defense is starting to make the right adjustments. Which was D’Anton Lynn’s strength last season. In one of my first newsletters last season, I wrote about how Lynn’s superpower as an inexperienced defensive coordinator was his ability to make adjustments. That wasn’t happening early this season, as USC’s defense looked lost in the second half in losses to Notre Dame and Illinois. But Lynn seems to have found his stride again. In each of the last two weeks, USC’s defense has given up just a field goal in the second half. Northwestern managed only 103 second-half yards, while Nebraska had 106. The ability to clamp down after halftime could come in handy over the next few weeks. We’ll see if it sticks.
—Riley shut down rumblings of him considering other jobs. The report in question was less an actual report than a juicy bit dropped in with no explanation at the end of a podcast. But when asked about it Friday, Riley suggested it had no merit. “You guys know what I sacrificed to come here,” he said. “I’m where I need to be.” Reassurances from coaches are historically unreliable. But let’s think about this logically: Riley hasn’t really done much at USC to warrant Louisiana State or Florida making him an even larger offer with a friendlier deal than the one he has. This feels more to me like the work of an agent seeking to get his client more money. Riley just happens to have recently gotten new representation with Wasserman.
—The Southeastern Conference is dominating the Big Ten when it comes to TV ratings. According to new data from Nielsen, eight of the 10 most-watched teams in college football this season are from the SEC, while Ohio State is the only Big Ten school on the list. That might seem surprising on its face. But the conference hasn’t had many big- games, and its piecemeal media setup, with games on different networks, doesn’t help. But ultimately, TV ratings don’t matter much. The Big Ten media rights deal pays out more money to its member schools, and that’s all that really matters.
—JuJu Watkins is now part-owner of a women’s soccer franchise. Watkins announced last week that she would join former USC quarterback Caleb Williams as an investor in the Boston Legacy Football Club. She’s the first college athlete to invest in a women’s pro franchise, another accomplishment you can add to her already stellar portfolio.
Olympic sports spotlight
USC announced late last week that Galen Center will be sold out for Sunday’s much-anticipated match against No. 1 Nebraska, which means more than 10,000 packing USC’s arena for a women’s volleyball game.
That says a lot about how far women’s college volleyball has come in recent years, and USC is on a hot streak, having won eight matches in a row. The Cornhuskers are the best team in the sport and haven’t lost all season. Women’s college volleyball is exploding in popularity, and Sunday should be one of the most anticipated matches of the Big Ten calendar.
Rachel Sennott and Odessa A’zion in HBO’s “I Love LA.”
(Kenny Laubbacher / HBO)
“I Love LA” might seem like standard HBO comedy fare on the surface. Because it mostly is. Rachel Sennott, who also wrote the show, plays Maia, a twentysomething reconnecting with friends in Los Angeles and finding her way after moving from New York.
A good group-hang comedy is great feel-good TV, and this show has some potential in that department. Plus, it’s willing to poke fun at L.A. and its Gen Z influencer culture, which I can appreciate. I’m not totally sold just yet. But I’m willing to keep watching.
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.
When e-commerce company Jumia wanted to go public in 2019, Africa’s most celebrated start-up didn’t list in Lagos, Nairobi, Kigali or Johannesburg. It went to New York instead. That tells you everything about Africa’s start-up problem: It’s not a money problem; it’s an exit problem.
African entrepreneurs can build world-class businesses, but investors hesitate because they cannot see how or when they will get their money back. Initial public offerings (IPOs) remain extremely rare, and most exits take the form of trade sales – often unpredictable and slow to clear. Our stock exchanges offer little comfort either with liquidity outside the largest firms still limited.
Start-ups here can remain “start-ups” for decades with no clear path to maturity.
By contrast, Silicon Valley hums along because everyone knows the playbook: build fast, scale up and within five to seven years either list on an exchange or get acquired. Investors know they will not be stuck forever. That certainty, not just the capital, drives the flow of billions.
If Africa wants its tech ecosystems to thrive, we need a parallel play alongside any new funds. Yes, let’s mobilise sovereign wealth, pensions, banks and guarantees. But equally, let’s change the rules of the game. Let’s build an exit clarity framework that gives investors confidence.
That means fast-track “growth IPO lanes” on our exchanges with lighter costs and simpler disclosures. It means standardised merger templates that guarantee regulatory reviews within clear time limits.
It means regulated secondary markets where early investors and employees can sell shares before an IPO.
It means modernising employee stock ownership rules so talent can build wealth too.
And it means creating anchor-exit facilities where big domestic players like South Africa’s Public Investments Corporation or IDC commit to buy into IPOs with risk-sharing from development partners.
The evidence shows why these matter. More than 80 percent of startup funding in Africa comes from abroad. African unicorns are overwhelmingly funded by foreign venture capital, with several having foreign co-founders or being incorporated outside the continent. This means exits and wealth creation largely flow offshore. When global shocks hit, whether interest rate hikes in Washington or political turmoil in Europe, our ventures shake.
On the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, small-cap boards make up only a sliver of daily trading activity, underscoring how limited liquidity is outside the blue chips.
In Kenya, the Growth Enterprise Market Segment, set up to serve fast-growing firms, has struggled to gain traction with only five companies currently listed as of 2024 – more than a decade after its 2013 launch.
To be sure, there are those who will argue that exits already exist: Trade sales are happening, holding periods in Africa are shorter than in many markets and capital is trickling in regardless.
That is true, but partial. Trade sales can be an option, but they are often unpredictable. Regulatory approvals take time, and deal terms are not always transparent enough for investors to build them confidently into their models.
This is not a system that inspires confidence from our own pension funds or sovereign wealth managers.
The response, then, is not to simply wait for more money to arrive but to fix the structures that govern its movement. If we could walk into investor meetings and say, “Here’s the pipeline of companies. Here’s the capital vehicle, and here is a clear five-year exit pathway,” we could shift the conversation entirely.
We could make African innovation not only attractive to foreign investors but also bankable for African ones. South Africa is uniquely positioned to lead this change. It has deep capital markets, capable regulators and institutional pools of capital looking for new growth opportunities.
The ask is not just to invest in start-ups but to invest in a new rulebook that makes exits real. If we succeed, we will have built more than another fund. We will have built a system that recycles African savings into African innovation, creating African wealth.
For too long, the debate has been framed around scarcity of money. But the truth is less about scarcity and more about certainty. Investors do not only chase returns. They chase predictable exits. Without exits, funds hesitate. With exits, funds multiply.
So, yes, let us mobilise capital and launch new funds. But let us also do the harder, braver thing: change the rules, not just the money. That is how we ensure our unicorns aren’t built on foreign capital alone. That is how we give our own savers and pensioners a stake in Africa’s growth.
And that is how we finally write a new playbook under which African innovation, African capital and African ownership all run on the same page because, in the end, the real lesson of Jumia is not that Africa cannot produce billion-dollar start-ups. It is that until we change the rules of exit, we risk exporting the wealth that should be owned and grown at home.
The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera’s editorial policy.
The largest work of art in the Los Angeles area by a woman might just be a museum.
The Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena is covered almost entirely in 115,000 hand-crafted architectural tiles created by ceramicist Edith Heath in 1969. Those tiles, affixed to the facade of a curvilinear building designed by architects Thornton Ladd and John Kelsey, have recently been cleaned and refurbished as part of a $15-million renovation designed to reintroduce the underappreciated museum to the public by making its exterior match the quality and beauty of the rare art inside.
The Heath tile is one of Norton Simon’s “superpowers,” said project architect Liz MacLean, a principal at the firm Architectural Resources Group, which specializes in historic preservation. “I think people drive by this museum all the time and have no idea that it’s clad with Edith Heath tile.”
Edith Heath attaching her tiles to the Norton Simon Museum in 1969. Heath would go on to be the first non-architect to win the Industrial Arts Medal from the American Institute of Architects for her work on the building.
(The Brian and Edith Heath Foundation and the Environmental Design Archives, UC Berkeley)
It’s not just the tile made by a groundbreaking ceramicist and innovator of midcentury modern tableware that people often drive by without recognizing — it’s the museum itself, said Norton Simon Vice President of External Affairs Leslie Denk.
The 85,000-square-foot museum — housing a private collection of 12,000 objects including work by Rembrandt, Degas, Picasso, Fragonard, Goya and Vuillard — and its 79,000-square-foot sculpture garden, dotted with work by Jacques Lipchitz, Henry Moore and Robert Morris, are situated on a steeply graded wedge of land girded by bustling Colorado Boulevard, and the traffic-snarled 134 Freeway, near where it meets the 210.
The new signage at the entrance of the Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena. Improving the curb appeal of the museum was the original goal of the renovation, which expanded to include refurbishing the Heath tiles and beloved sculpture garden.
(Etienne Laurent / For The Times)
The signage signaling the museum’s presence along one of Pasadena’s busiest thoroughfares was underwhelming and easy to miss, and the landscaping along Colorado Boulevard was overgrown and wide open. People would sometimes leave their shopping carts from a nearby Ralphs grocery store beside the entrance, not seeming to notice it at all. They also seemed unaware that French artist Auguste Rodin’s famed 1880 sculpture “The Thinker” had been sitting contemplatively along the street for decades — in a spot that no one appeared to realize was open to the public.
The sculpture was originally placed beside the main Norton Simon sign so that it would be visible to cameras filming the Rose Parade, but Denk said that when she recently watched a telecast, the sculpture was obscured by trees. That this iconic work was going unseen was representative of the museum’s problem as a whole.
Conversations about improving the Norton Simon’s curb appeal began a decade ago, said Denk, with the hope of unveiling new signage and entryways in time for the museum’s 50th anniversary celebration.
The space was built in the 1960s for what was originally called the Pasadena Art Museum, but that organization fell on rough times, and in 1974, industrialist Norton Simon — who had become a prominent art collector — took over the building, which reopened under his name in 1975. The last significant work on the museum — a $5-million renovation — was done in 1995 by architect and former museum trustee Frank Gehry.
The lobby of the Norton Simon Museum and its back garden pond, which was reduced in size and lined with concrete. It was also connected to a fountain that helps block the sound of nearby traffic.
(Etienne Laurent / For The Times)
Thirty years later, the need for more upgrades became paramount.
“What the museum was looking to do was to really improve our street presence, to elevate the way we present ourselves along Colorado Boulevard,” Denk explained. “There was a disconnect between the way we looked along the street to the experience of walking into the galleries.”
The renovation conceived to remedy this quandary naturally expanded to include a long-overdue restoration of the Heath tiles, as well as a refreshed sculpture garden with new resin-bound gravel pathways. A running fountain now connects to a concrete-lined pond with a reduced footprint to invite more foot traffic and allow for more community events, and walls have been erected to block traffic noise from nearby freeways. Crucially, a new pedestrian-friendly entryway has been constructed, alongside welcoming podium signage with fencing and pole banners that gaily announce the museum to the public.
The work, which took a total of 10 months, was scheduled to start on Jan. 7 — the same day that wildfires began tearing through the Pacific Palisades and Altadena, which borders the museum to the north. The campus was locked down immediately and no smoke infiltrated the galleries, said Emily Talbot, vice president of collections and chief curator, but the sculpture garden looked as if a hurricane had torn through it.
The restoration took on added meaning in the days that followed, Talbot said.
“This building’s design was intended to be in dialogue with the mountains, and so its preservation now just feels all the more significant and important,” she said.
Project architect Liz MacLean, from left, Norton Simon Museum Vice President of External Affairs Leslie Denk and Vice President of Collections and Chief Curator Emily Talbot. “It really is a work of art,” MacLean said of the Heath tiles that cover the building.
(Etienne Laurent / For The Times)
The mottled brownish-red of the Heath tiles is a huge part of that environmental dialogue, and on a recent sun-soaked Friday they shone with a radiant luster under an azure sky. Before the restoration they were cracked and dirty — some had fallen off altogether and others were marred by biological growth. ARG began the process of identifying which tiles needed the most remediation by doing a photorealistic laser scan of the building that MacLean described as a sort of high-tech x-ray.
Twelve artisans at Heath Ceramics, which still operates in the Bay Area, created 3,000 new tiles by hand. The process was complicated, MacLean and Denk note, because the workers had to re-create the tiles with a new formula. The original included materials like lead, which can no longer be used. So they had to test out different processes of glazing in order to make the tone and texture match the old tiles as closely as possible. They ended up using a two-part glaze and also created an entirely new mold since the tiles are not a standard shape.
After the first pressing in the clay, the final tiles shrank about 12%, said MacLean, so the fabricators had to conduct many trials to get just the right size. There were places on the facade where a single tile needed to fit in the grout on the wall. This work was done by Gardena-based company KC Restoration, which retouched and treated each damaged or cracked tile with the type of care and attention to detail used by painting conservators, Denk said.
The entrance and lobby of the Norton Simon Museum. “Our collection is at the heart of everything we do,” said chief curator Emily Talbot.
(Etienne Laurent / For The Times)
“It’s interesting, because a lot of times building elements are seen as owned by the architect,” said MacLean of the Heath tiles. “And this is a finish done by someone outside of the architecture firm and architecture world, which is really exciting.”
Thanks to her work on the Norton Simon, Heath became in 1971 the first non-architect to win the Industrial Arts Medal from the American Institute of Architects, helping launch her career.
“It really is a work of art,” said MacLean. “It’s more than just a building.”
It’s also what’s inside that building, said Talbot, which is coming into focus with the 50th anniversary celebrations.
“Our collection is at the heart of everything that we do,” she said.
Fittingly, “The Thinker” has been moved to a prominent spot by the new pedestrian entrance, where everyone can see it — and take an obligatory selfie — on their way to the front doors.
We live in Pasadena with our two teen boys, 14 and 17. We moved from the East Coast four years ago and are still getting to know all the interesting neighborhoods, foods and quirks of Los Angeles. We spent a lot of time in Little Tokyo as we love all things Japanese, but we need to explore more and see other neighborhoods that we don’t even know about. We’re interested in art, but not really art museums because that’s too boring for teen boys. We love food as an anchor for a visit to a neighborhood. Can you give me some suggestions? — Margaret Hunt
Looking for things to do in L.A.? Ask us your questions and our expert guides will share highly specific recommendations.
Here’s what we suggest:
I don’t have kids yet, but every time my siblings visit me from Las Vegas, I’m reminded of how difficult it is to keep teenagers entertained (and off their phones). But it sounds like your boys have some cool interests. We’ve put together a few mini itineraries in different neighborhoods. You won’t be able to cover them all in one day, so choose your own adventure.
If your teens are into the art form of comic books, check out Revenge Of, not too far from Pasadena in Glassell Park. “The shop, with its black-and-white tile floors, murals and neon lighting, is full of comic books, graphic novels and collectibles,” Times entertainment and features editor Brittany Levine Beckman tells me. “There are also pinball machines and arcade games, which may be as fun for you as they are for your kids.” Next door is sister shop And Destroy, which offers coffee and inventive beverages (the November menu includes a cornbread matcha concoction and sweet potato latte), and hosts a board game day on Sundays. Up the street is Bub and Grandma’s diner (the tuna made our food critic’s list of great sandwiches in L.A. a few years ago). But be warned, it gets packed on the weekends, so prepare to wait for a table or order to go.
For a Westside option, given that your family is already acquainted with Little Tokyo, explore L.A.’s other Japanese enclave: Sawtelle. Kick off your adventure at Odd One Out, an award-winning boba tea shop, then take a quick walk to the Giant Robot store, which is often cited as the birthplace of Asian pop culture products. Your kids will love browsing the shelves. In a Times guide to Sawtelle, Grace Xue writes that it’s packed with “quirky-cool art pieces, blind boxes, plushies, home goods, toys, anime merch and gifts that will delight the young and young at heart.” Across the street is Giant Robot’s sister gallery, GR2. The snug art hub is anything but boring — this month’s group exhibit features dinosaur art. By now, you’ve probably worked up an appetite and the noodles at Wadaya are hearty enough to satisfy the stomachs of teen boys. Times contributor Tiffany Tse recommends its mazemen: “the rich, sauce-slicked, brothless cousin of the classic noodle bowl.”
A neighborhood that should be at the top of every East Coaster’s list is Los Feliz, one of the most walkable areas in L.A. Start your day off at Ululani’s Hawaiian Shaved Ice, a Maui-born sweet shop that sells cloud-like shaved ice that is so soft it practically melts in your mouth. There are fun flavors like cotton candy and pickled mango. Once you’ve secured your treats, head to Barnsdall Art Park, where you can relax on on a luscious lawn and take in a stunning view of the city. Don’t forget to bring a picnic blanket, and for bonus points, bring a card game to play. I did this with my siblings and we had so much fun. You can also tour the century-old, Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Hollyhock House from Thursday to Saturday — advance tickets are recommended. Have a quick dinner at smash burger hot spot Goldburger and be sure to order the curly fries. Finally, wrap up your evening at Vista, a glorious single-screen movie theater owned by Quentin Tarantino.
Now for some rapid-fire picks across L.A.: There’s Koreatown, where you can take your pick of delicious Korean BBQ joints, then go bowling at Shatto 39 Lanes, virtual golfing at W Screen Golf or sing your heart out at karaoke. My colleague, food writer Stephanie Breijo, also suggests checking out Santa Monica’s pier, Camera Obscura Art Lab, “some of the L.A.’s best pastries at Petitgrain Boulangerie” and having dinner at Southeast Asian hot spot Cobi’s. For an off-the-beaten-path art option, there’s Phantasma Gloria, one Echo Park man’s massive front-yard sculpture. It’s made of rebar and colorful glass bottles, and shines differently depending on the light that day. You can see the art from the street on a drive-by or schedule a free tour by texting the creator, Randlett King Lawrence, in advance at (213) 278-1508. He says he has some “recent spectacular expansions.” Finally, Downtown L.A. is overflowing with things to do such as exploring the treasured Last Bookstore, eating food from around the globe at Grand Central Market, taking a ride along the iconic Angels Flight railway and learning about music history at the Grammy Museum.
Living in L.A. is realizing how expansive it is. Each time I feel like I’ve figured this city out, something new and exciting pops up, sending me down a road of discovery. So as you and your family explore the sprawling city, I hope you find more and more reasons to love it as much as I do.
Not for the Chargers, whose defense put the clamps on the Pittsburgh Steelers with a 25-10 victory before a sea of black-and-gold-clad fans and a national TV audience.
Neither team had many offensive highlights — or first downs, for that matter — but the Chargers did enough to win their third game in a row, something they hadn’t done since the first three games of the season.
You might call the Chargers inhospitable, seeing as the Steelers came into the game averaging 25.3 points. You might call the Steelers inhospitable for filling SoFi Stadium with Pittsburgh fans.
The Terrible Towels were everywhere, but there were precious few opportunities to swirl them. By the fourth quarter, thousands of those fans were streaming for the exits. The Steelers were held to 11 first downs, converted two of 11 third downs and generated 221 total yards.
Aaron Rodgers looked every bit of his 41 years. He was sacked three times, intercepted twice, brought down in the end zone for a safety and he finished with an anemic passer rating of 50.6.
The Steelers looked nothing like the team that forced six turnovers against Indianapolis the week before and handed the Colts just their second loss.
In the waning moments, Keenan Allen caught a pop pass and ran seven yards to become the Chargers’ all-time receptions leader (956), surpassing Hall of Fame tight end Antonio Gates.
Rodgers couldn’t establish anything close to an offensive rhythm, and Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert took an all-too-familiar beating, playing behind an offensive line that has had 19 different combinations this season.
Herbert was sacked five times, a week after the Tennessee Titans got to him six times.
Chargers linebacker Bud Dupree dances after sacking Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers on Sunday.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
The Steelers scored first with a 59-yard field goal by Chris Boswell in the opening quarter, but after that it was virtually all Chargers. Cameron Dicker had three field goals, and Ladd McConkey and Kimani Vidal scored touchdowns.
Rodgers threw a 27-yard touchdown pass to Roman Wilson with 2 minutes 57 seconds remaining, but that was merely a cosmetic score that made the game appear a bit closer.
Herbert took a hit from behind in the second quarter, was slow to his feet and got both ankles taped on the sideline.
According to NBC, he came into the game having been pressured an average of 17 times per game, more than any other quarterback this season, and having absorbed an average of nine hits per game, second-highest for an NFL quarterback in the last 20 seasons.
Even though they leaned into a bunch of quick-developing pass plays to get the ball out of Herbert’s hands quickly, the Chargers still saw their quarterback knocked down time and again. His passes were batted down at the line of scrimmage too, with one winding up back in Herbert’s hands for a reception (although that was wiped out by a Pittsburgh penalty).
The Chargers’ defense got to Rodgers as well, putting the first points on the scoreboard for the home team by sacking the future Hall of Famer in the end zone.
The Chargers next head to Jacksonville. The Jaguars, who got off to a 4-1 start, have lost three of four.
Jacksonville is the site of a horrible memory for the Chargers, who blew a 27-point lead there to suffer a one-point loss in a January 2023 playoff game.
SEATTLE — Lenny Wilkens, a three-time inductee into the Basketball Hall of Fame who was enshrined as both a player and a coach, has died, his family said Sunday. He was 88.
The family said Wilkens was surrounded by loved ones when he died and did not immediately release a cause of death.
Wilkens was one of the finest point guards of his era who later brought his calm and savvy style to the sideline, first as a player-coach and then evolving into one of the game’s great coaches.
He coached 2,487 games in the NBA, which is still a record. He became a Hall of Famer as a player, as a coach and again as part of the 1992 U.S. Olympic team — on which he was an assistant. Wilkens coached the Americans to gold at the Atlanta Games as well in 1996.
“Lenny Wilkens represented the very best of the NBA — as a Hall of Fame player, Hall of Fame coach, and one of the game’s most respected ambassadors,” NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said Sunday. “So much so that, four years ago, Lenny received the unique distinction of being named one of the league’s 75 greatest players and 15 greatest coaches of all time.”
Wilkens was a nine-time All-Star as a player, was the first person to reach 1,000 wins as an NBA coach and was the second person inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame as a player and coach. He coached the Seattle SuperSonics to the NBA title in 1979 and remained iconic in that city for the rest of his life, often being considered a godfather of sorts for basketball in Seattle — which lost the Sonics to Oklahoma City in 2008 and has been trying to get a team back since.
And he did it all with grace, something he was proud of.
“Leaders don’t yell and scream,” Wilkens told Seattle’s KOMO News earlier this year.
Wilkens, the 1994 NBA coach of the year with Atlanta, retired with 1,332 coaching wins — a league record that was later passed by Don Nelson (who retired with 1,335) and then Gregg Popovich (who retired with 1,390).
Wilkens played 15 seasons with the St. Louis Hawks, SuperSonics, Cleveland Cavaliers and Portland Trail Blazers. He was an All-Star five times with St. Louis, three times in Seattle and once with Cleveland in 1973 at age 35. A statue depicting his time with the SuperSonics was installed outside Climate Pledge Arena in June.
“Even more impressive than Lenny’s basketball accomplishments, which included two Olympic gold medals and an NBA championship, was his commitment to service — especially in his beloved community of Seattle where a statue stands in his honor,” Silver said. “He influenced the lives of countless young people as well as generations of players and coaches who considered Lenny not only a great teammate or coach but also an extraordinary mentor who led with integrity and true class.”
Wilkens twice led the league in assists but was also a prominent scorer. He averaged in double-figure scoring in every season of his career, except his final one in 1974-75 with the Trail Blazers. His best season as a scorer came in his first season with the SuperSonics in 1968-69 when he averaged 22.4 points, 8.2 assists and 6.2 rebounds.
Leonard Wilkens was born Oct. 28, 1937, in New York. His basketball schooling came on Brooklyn’s playgrounds and at a city powerhouse, then Boys High School, where one of his teammates was major league baseball star Tommy Davis. He would go on to star at Providence College and was drafted by the Hawks as the sixth overall pick in 1960.
His resume as a player would have been enough to put Wilkens in consideration for the Hall of Fame. What he accomplished as a coach — both through success and longevity — cemented his legacy.
Countless other honors also came his way, including being elected to the FIBA Hall of Fame, the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame, the College Basketball Hall of Fame, the Providence Hall of Fame and the Cleveland Cavaliers’ Wall of Honor.
His coaching stops included two stints in Seattle totaling 11 seasons, two seasons in Portland — during one of which he still played and averaged 18 minutes per game — seven seasons in both Cleveland and Atlanta, three seasons in Toronto and parts of two years with the Knicks.
Wilkens also has the most losses in NBA coaching history with 1,155. But his successes outweighed the setbacks. He guided the SuperSonics to their lone championship with a victory over the then Washington Bullets, a year after losing to them in the Finals.
Wilkens moved into first place on the wins list on Jan. 6, 1995, while coaching the Hawks. His 939th victory surpassed Red Auerbach’s record. From there, he became the first coach to reach 1,000 career wins, a mark since matched by nine others.
The possibility of playing and coaching at the same time was raised before the 1969 season when Wilkens was at the home of SuperSonics general manager Dick Vertlieb and playing a leisurely game of pool.
“I thought he was crazy,” Wilkens recalled. “I kept putting him off, but he was persistent. Finally, we were getting so close to training camp, so I said, ‘What the heck, I’ll try it.’”
From there, he became increasingly enamored with coaching.
Seattle trailed the Cincinnati Royals by four points with a few seconds remaining when Wilkens set up a play that resulted in a dunk. Then, he ordered his players to press since the Royals were out of timeouts. The Sonics stole the inbounds pass, scored again to tie it and won in overtime.
“I was like, ‘Wow!”’ Wilkens said. “I had just done something as a coach that helped us win, not as a player.”
After his coaching career ended in 2005, Wilkens returned to the Seattle area where he lived every offseason. Wilkens ran his foundation for decades, with its primary benefactor being the Odessa Brown Children’s Clinic in Seattle’s Central District.
He also restored a role with the SuperSonics in 2006 as the team’s vice chairman, but he left the post a year later after it became clear new owner Clay Bennett wanted to move the club out of Seattle.
Wilkens is survived by his wife, Marilyn; their children, Leesha, Randy and Jamee; and seven grandchildren.
NEW YORK — Paul Tagliabue, who helped bring labor peace and riches to the NFL during his 17 years as commissioner but was criticized for not taking stronger action on concussions, died Sunday from heart failure. He was 84.
NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said Tagliabue’s family informed the league of his death in Chevy Chase, Maryland.
Tagliabue, who had developed Parkinson’s disease, was commissioner after Pete Rozelle from 1989 to 2006. He was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame as part of a special centennial class in 2020. Current Commissioner Roger Goodell succeeded Tagliabue.
“Paul was the ultimate steward of the game — tall in stature, humble in presence and decisive in his loyalty to the NFL,” Goodell said in a statement. “I am forever grateful and proud to have Paul as my friend and mentor. I cherished the innumerable hours we spent together where he helped shape me as an executive but also as a man, husband and father.”
Tagliabue oversaw a myriad of new stadiums and negotiated television contracts that added billions of dollars to the league’s bank account. Under him, there were no labor stoppages.
During his time, Los Angeles lost two teams and Cleveland another, migrating to Baltimore before being replaced by an expansion franchise.
Tagliabue implemented a policy on substance abuse that was considered the strongest in all major sports. He also established the “Rooney Rule,” in which all teams with coaching vacancies must interview minority candidates. It has since been expanded to include front-office and league executive positions.
When he took office in 1989, the NFL had just gotten its first Black head coach of the modern era. By the time Tagliabue stepped down in 2006, there were seven minority head coaches in the league.
In one of his pivotal moments, Tagliabue called off NFL games the weekend after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. It was one of the few times the public compared him favorably to Rozelle, who proceeded with the games the Sunday after John Kennedy was assassinated in 1963. A key presidential aide had advised Rozelle that the NFL should play, a decision that was one of the commissioner’s great regrets.
Tagliabue certainly had his detractors, notably over concussions. The issue has plagued the NFL for decades, though team owners had a major role in the lack of progress in dealing with head trauma.
In 2017, Tagliabue apologized for remarks he made decades ago about concussions in football, acknowledging he didn’t have the proper data at the time in 1994. He called concussions “one of those pack-journalism issues” and contended the number of concussions “is relatively small; the problem is the journalist issue.”
“Obviously,” he said on Talk of Fame Network, “I do regret those remarks. Looking back, it was not sensible language to use to express my thoughts at the time. My language was intemperate, and it led to serious misunderstanding.
“My intention at the time was to make a point which could have been made fairly simply: that there was a need for better data. There was a need for more reliable information about concussions and uniformity in terms of how they were being defined in terms of severity.”
While concussion recognition, research and treatment lagged for much of Tagliabue’s tenure, his work on the labor front was exemplary.
As one of his first decisions, Tagliabue reached out to the players’ union, then run by Gene Upshaw, a Hall of Fame player and former star for Al Davis’ Raiders. Tagliabue had insisted he be directly involved in all labor negotiations, basically rendering useless the Management Council of club executives that had handled such duties for nearly two decades.
It was a wise decision.
“When Paul was named commissioner after that seven-month search in 1989, that’s when the league got back on track,” said Joe Browne, who spent 50 years as an NFL executive and was a confidant of Rozelle and Tagliabue.
“Paul had insisted during his negotiations for the position that final control over matters such as labor and all commercial business dealings had to rest in the commissioner’s office. The owners agreed and that was a large step forward toward the tremendous rebound we had as a league — an expanded league — in the ’90s and beyond.”
Tagliabue forged a solid relationship with Upshaw. In breaking with the contentious dealings between the league and the NFL Players Association, Tagliabue and Upshaw kept negotiations respectful and centered on what would benefit both sides. Compromise was key, Upshaw always said — although the union often was criticized for being too accommodating.
Tagliabue had been the NFL’s Washington lawyer, a partner in the prestigious firm of Covington and Burling. He was chosen as commissioner in October 1989 over New Orleans general manager Jim Finks after a bitter fight highlighting the differences between the NFL’s old guard and newer owners.
Yet during his reign as commissioner, which ended in the spring of 2006 after pushing through a highly contested labor agreement, he managed to unite those divided owners and, in fact, relied more on the old-timers who supported him than on Jerry Jones and many of the younger owners.
Tagliabue was born on Nov. 24, 1940, in Jersey City, New Jersey. He was the 6-foot-5 captain of the basketball team at Georgetown and graduated in 1962 as one of the school’s leading rebounders at the time — his career average later listed just below that of Patrick Ewing. He was president of his class and a Rhodes scholar finalist. Three years later, he graduated from NYU Law School and subsequently worked as a lawyer in the Defense Department before joining Covington & Burling.
He eventually took over the NFL account, establishing a close relationship with Rozelle and other NFL officials during a series of legal actions in the 1970s and 1980s.
Tagliabue was reserved by nature and it sometimes led to coolness with the media, which had embraced Rozelle, an affable former public relations man. Even after he left office, Tagliabue did not measure up in that regard with Goodell, who began his NFL career in the public relations department.
But after 9/11, Tagliabue showed a different side, particularly toward league employees who had lost loved ones in the attacks. He accompanied Ed Tighe, an NFL Management Council lawyer whose wife died that day, to Mass at St. Patrick’s Cathedral, a few blocks from the NFL office.
Art Shell, a Hall of Fame player, became the NFL’s first modern-day Black head coach with the Raiders. He got to see Tagliabue up close and thought him utterly suited for his job.
“After my coaching career was over, I had the privilege of working directly with Paul in the league office,” Shell said, “His philosophy on almost every issue was, ‘If it’s broke, fix it. And if it’s not broke, fix it anyway.’
“He always challenged us to find better ways of doing things. Paul never lost sight of his responsibility to do what was right for the game. He was the perfect choice as NFL commissioner.”
Tagliabue is survived by his wife Chandler, son Drew, and daughter Emily.
Both the Chargers and Pittsburgh Steelers are coming off victories, with the Chargers winning in Tennessee, and the Steelers forcing six turnovers to hand the Indianapolis Colts just their second loss.
The Chargers lost left tackle Joe Alt to a season-ending ankle injury and once again have to reshuffle an offensive line that has been in a constant state of flux.
Rodgers has rediscovered his spark in Pittsburgh and consistently puts the football in the right places.
How the Chargers can win: Protect Herbert with quick-developing pass routes that allow him to get the ball out of his hands. Pittsburgh’s edge rush of T.J. Watt, Alex Highsmith and Nick Herbig can create havoc if Herbert holds the ball too long. Attack the corners. Joey Porter Jr. has been penalty-prone, and Darius Slay isn’t as fast as he once was. The Steelers often struggle covering tight ends, so Oronde Gadsden II could be in line for a big game.
How the Steelers can win: Generate pressure and turnovers. When the Steelers force mistakes, they win. Let Watt and Highsmith collapse the pocket and make Herbert uncomfortable behind a patchwork Chargers line. Keep Rodgers clean and balanced with an efficient mix of Kenneth Gainwell and Jaylen Warren runs to control tempo. Defensively, stay disciplined in coverage with Jalen Ramsey and Kyle Dugger as the new safety tandem.
When the ball was thrown in her direction with the championship on the line, Avery Olson was ready. There was no time on the clock when the JSerra junior defender ran step for step with Orange Lutheran receiver Josie Anderson, who dove but could not reach it in the end zone — an exciting finish to the Southern Section Division 1 girls’ flag football final Saturday night at Fred Kelly Stadium in Orange.
The top-seeded Lions capped off a perfect season by forcing two incompletions from the two-yard line in the last six seconds — a goal-line stand that summarized everything the team has been about since the start of the season: defense first — to prevail 25-20 over their Trinity League rivals, who captured the inaugural Division 1 championship last fall.
JSerra’s pass rush forced quarterback Makena Cook to hurry a throw to the corner of the end zone that fell incomplete on third down and the Lions began celebrating, thinking the game was over. However, the referee quickly held up two fingers to signal there were two seconds remaining.
Ava Irwin (2) celebrates with her teammates after catching two touchdown passes in JSerra’s 25-20 victory over Orange Lutheran for the Division 1 title on Saturday.
(Steve Galluzzo / For The Times)
“That was the hardest part, realizing they were so close to the goal line and we had to go out there one last time with everything on the line,” Olson said. “We were anticipating a jump ball to Happy [Dubois] or someone who could can go up and get it but they came up with a whip route, something shorter and I wasn’t expecting that. I saw her hips turning and said to myself ‘I gotta get my hands on it.’ We knew it would be a dogfight. O Lu is a great team!”
While the Lions’ defense saved the game, the offense won it. When freshman quarterback Kate Meier could not find anyone open, she took off for the goal line and scooted just inside the pylon from six yards out to put JSerra in front with exactly one minute to go.
“I just took what they gave me,” said Meier, who is known as the team’s Brett Favre and scored the winning touchdown on a similar scramble in the teams’ first league meeting. “There was a huge opening. I saw a large gap opened up and I think I got in.”
JSerra quarterback Kate Meier leaps into the arms of teammate Kai Beary after running for the winning touchdown against Orange Lutheran with one minute left.
(Steve Galluzzo / For The Times)
However, Orange Lutheran marched from its own 14 to the Lions’ two to set up the frantic finish.
Cook used her legs to buy time in the pocket before finding Capri Cuneo in the middle of the end zone for a touchdown that tied it with 6:53 left, then threw to Ruby Fuamatu for the one-point conversion that pushed Orange Lutheran into the lead, 20-19.
JSerra intercepted four passes by Cook to win that Sept. 30 showdown 18-7 and held on for a 21-20 home win to clinch the league crown nine days later. They intercepted three more Cook passes Saturday, two of them by Kai Beary, including the most critical with 27 seconds left in the first half and the Lancers inside the JSerra 10.
“I was rushing with GG Szczuka, we got pressure and was able to pick it off,” said Beary, who also caught a touchdown pass from Meier. “It’s been such a fun season. It’s sad that it’s over.”
JSerra (28-0) entered the game ranked No. 1 in California and second in the country by MaxPreps. The Lions blanked 12 opponents and dealt the No. 2 team in the state, Orange Lutheran, its only three defeats. Asked if his team deserved to be No. 1 in the nation, JSerra coach Brian Ong did not seem to care.
“We beat all the teams we played and no one’s gone undefeated to win CIF — these girls are the first to accomplish that,” Ong said. “I don’t think there’s another team in the country that could beat Orange Lutheran three times in a row.”
Since they first squared off in 2017, nearly half of their 18 matchups have been decided by three points or fewer, including the 49ers’ 26-23 overtime victory on Oct. 2 at SoFi Stadium.
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Gary Klein breaks down what you need to know for Sunday’s matchup between the Rams and San Francisco 49ers at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara.
So expect another game that could come down to the final possession when the Rams play the 49ers in an NFC West game at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara.
“Two good teams with two good staffs that are familiar with each other,” Rams tight end Tyler Higbee said in explaining the tight nature of the matchup, “and then you throw the rivalry part into it.”
McVay is 7-11 against Shanahan, his former mentor, though the Rams had won three in a row before the Week 5 loss that ended when 49ers star linebacker Fred Warner stopped Kyren Williams on a fourth-and-one play at the 49ers’ 11-yard line.
Rams kicker Joshua Karty missed a 53-yard field goal attempt and had an extra-point attempt blocked in the defeat.
The Rams this week moved to improve their season-long kicking-game issues by signing rookie kicker Harrison Mevis and veteran long snapper Jake McQuaide to the practice squad. Both will be elevated to the roster and play on Sunday.
Mevis, 23, made 89 of 106 field-goal attempts at Missouri, including one from 61 yards. In the United Football League this past season, he made 20 of 21 field-goal attempts.
The 49ers wasted no time addressing their own kicking-game issues.
After a season-opening defeat that included a missed field goal and a blocked kick, they released Jake Moody and signed Eddy Pineiro.
Pineiro has made all 19 of his field-goal attempts and 14 of 15 extra points.
There’s a never-ending list of places across the UK where you can get your hands on a hearty dish of fish and chips. But there’s one particular chippy that has long been hailed as ‘the best’
15:00, 08 Nov 2025Updated 15:23, 08 Nov 2025
Davys Fish & Chips has been hailed as one of the best in Britain(Image: @Beamish_Museum)
Fish and chips are a staple in British cuisine, and have been famously classed as the national dish for centuries. Whether that’s eating them at the seaside, indulging in a fish supper at your local pub, or making your own variation at home, there’s nothing quite like it.
But there’s one UK village thought to offer one of the best places to enjoy the delicacy. Nestled in the village of Beamish in County Durham, which “hasn’t changed over 100 years”, is Davys Fish & Chips.
Content creator and avid foodie, Callum (@streetfoodanalysis), took to TikTok to share a video of the hearty eatery, labelling it the “best” in the country. In a video showing a glimpse inside Davys Fish & Chips, Callum said: “This is the fish and chip shop trapped in time.
“One of the last in the world that uses coal to heat the original 1950s fryers with fish and chips cooked in beef dripping.”Proving just how delicious Davys Fish & Chips is, Callum shared a clip of himself indulging in the dish as he exclaimed, “Wow”.
With a perfect crisp on both the fish and chips, it’s not just Callum who has given rave reviews of this frozen-in-time fish and chip shop. His video was flooded with comments from others who have sampled the famed meal from this charming eatery, with its blue counter and original features. One affirmed: “Beamish fish and chips were the best fish and chips I have ever had.”
A second penned: “Beamish is one of our favourite places to go, as for the chip shop, it’s amazing, you can’t get better. It’s the one on the mining village, beware, the portions are huge. Can’t wait to go back.”
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“Love going to Beamish, those fish n chips are absolutely worth the 2 hour wait”, a third noted. Another added: “Love Beamish the chips are a must.”
While another commented: “The fish n chips looked amazing! Absolutely beautiful place! And visitors still keep on visiting Beamish!” “Love Beamish, the chippy is unreal!” one more declared.
In the video, which has accumulated more than 500K likes, Callum said the chippy is found in Beamish, where “the sweet shop makes candy by hand and the bakery makes the same cakes as a century ago.” He also noted that it’s a place which rarely has phone signal, adding to its quaint and historic appeal.
CHICAGO — When I turned on my phone after landing at O’Hare Airport on Wednesday, texts poured in from friends and colleagues warning that I was about to enter a region under siege.
Many sent a video from that morning of immigration agents running into a day care facility in Chicago’s Roscoe Village neighborhood to pull out a teacher. It was the latest attack against the metropolis by President Trump’s deportation Leviathan, whose so-called Operation Midway Blitz this fall has made its earlier occupation of Los Angeles look like a play date.
Armed agents have sauntered through downtown and manned a flotilla of boats on the Chicago River. They shot and killed a fleeing immigrant and raided an apartment building with the help of a Black Hawk helicopter. In nearby Broadview, home to the region’s main ICE detention facility, rooftop migra shot pepper balls at protesters below, including a pastor. They even tear-gassed a neighborhood that was about to host a Halloween children’s parade, for chrissakes.
From Back of the Yards to Cicero, Brighton Park to Evanston, immigration agents have sown terror throughout Chicagoland with such glee that a federal judge declared that it “shocks the conscience” and issued an injunction limiting their use of force — which they no doubt will ignore.
I was in town to speak to students at the University of Chicago about the importance of reporting on things one may not like. Heaven knows that’s been my 2025. But as I waited to deplane, I checked my email and found something I’ve sorely needed this year:
Hope.
On Tuesday, Democrats won governor’s races in New Jersey and Virginia by wide margins. Democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani was elected mayor of New York, telling Trump to “Turn. The. Volume. Up” during a soaring victory speech.
Back home in California, 64% of voters favored Proposition 50, the ballot initiative crafted by Gov. Gavin Newsom to create up to five Democratic-leaning congressional districts in response to Trump’s gerrymandering in Texas.
It was a humiliating rebuke of Trumpism. And the tip of the Democratic spear? Latinos.
Rep. Mikie Sherrill, the Democratic governor-elect in New Jersey, takes a photo during an election-night party. Democrats reclaimed political momentum Tuesday with gubernatorial victories in New Jersey and Virginia, early signs that voter unease with the economy in President Trump’s second term could give them a path to winning control of Congress next year.
(Michael Nagle/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
In New Jersey, where Trump received 46% of the Latino vote in 2024, a CNN exit poll showed just 31% of Latinos siding with the losing GOP candidate for governor. Nearly two-thirds of Latinos in Virginia went against Cuban American Atty. General Jason Miyares, a Republican who also lost. The CNN poll also found that more than 70% of California Latinos voted for Proposition 50, a year after GOP Latino legislators made historic gains in Sacramento.
At the same time, support for Trump has dropped among Latinos. Only 25% of Latinos surveyed in October by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research viewed Trump favorably — a cratering from the 45% who liked him in April. Even more telling, two-thirds of Latino men thought negatively of Trump — despite 51% of that demographic choosing him in 2024.
Latinos’ leftward shift on election night already set off as many thought pieces as Trump did when he captured 48% of the Latino vote — the most a Republican presidential candidate has earned, despite his long history of slurring, maligning and insulting America’s largest minority. Democrats, who have long depended on Latino voters, were shocked, and GOP leaders were delighted, feeling that a demographic that had long eluded them was finally, truly within reach.
This week Latinos sent a loud message: You had your chance, y nada.
House Speaker Mike Johnson tried to play off his party’s collapse among Latinos to NBC News, sniffling, “I do believe that the demographic shift that we were able to see and experience in the 2024 election will hold.”
Mike: time to bring the Republican Party out of its Stockholm syndrome. Your guy has blown it with Latinos. Let him keep doubling down on his madness, and Latinos will continue to flip on ustedes like a tortilla.
Trump’s 2024 victory was the culmination of an extraordinary shift in the Latino electorate that few saw coming — but I did. As I’ve written ad nauseam since 2016, Latinos were beginning to favor the GOP on issues like limited government, immigration restrictions and transgender athletes in high school sports because Democrats were taking them for granted, obsessing over woke shibboleths while neglecting blue-collar issues like gas prices and high taxes.
A voter holds a sign in Spanish while riding with other voters to the Maricopa County Tabulation and Election Center as part of a 2024 event organized by LUCHA (Living United For Change In Arizona) for Latinx voters and volunteers in Arizona.
(Anna Watts/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
All this was was happening as the Biden administration made it easier for newly arrived undocumented immigrants to remain, angering those who have been here for decades without similar help. The long-standing tendency for Latinos to sympathize with the latest Latin Americans to cross over eroded, and some became more receptive to Trump’s apocalyptic words against open borders.
Last year 63% of Latinos in California considered undocumented immigrants to be a “burden,” according to a poll by UC Berkeley’s Institute of Governmental Studies and co-sponsored by The Times.
That happened to be the same percentage of California voters who favored Prop. 187, the infamous 1994 initiative that sought to make life miserable for undocumented immigrants and showed the GOP that xenophobic politics can work.
After the 2024 election, Latinos seemed to be joining earlier Catholic immigrants who were once cast as invaders — Irish, Italians, Poles, Germans — on the road to assimilation and the waiting arms of the Republican party. All Trump had to do was improve the economy and clamp down on the border. If he did the former, Latinos would have been largely supportive of the latter, as long as deportations focused on newcomers.
Instead, Trump wasted his opportunity.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents knock on the door of a residence during a targeted enforcement operation in Chicago.
Trump officials keep issuing punitive policies that crush the dreams of Latinos, like a crackdown on English fluency in the trucking industry and ending federal grants that helped colleges and universities recruit and retain Latino students.
Federal agents leave the area of North A Street as residents and community members protest an early morning federal enforcement action in Oxnard.
(Julie Leopo/For The Times)
But Trump’s biggest mistake has been his indiscriminate deportation raids. His toxic alphabet soup of immigration enforcement agencies — HSI, ERO, CPB, ICE — largely has ignored the so-called “worst of the worst” in favor of tamale ladies, fruteros and longtime residents. Nearly three-quarters of immigrants in ICE detention as of September have no criminal convictions, according to Syracuse University’s Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse.
Trump’s deportation deluge has rained down across the country as his administration repeatedly has exhibited white supremacist tendencies, from effectively blocking all new refugees except South African Boers to pumping out social media garbage extolling a mythical America where white makes right and Latinos exist only as blurry mug shots of alleged illegal immigrants.
A federal agent holds his weapon as law enforcement officers conduct a raid on street vendors. New Yorkers witnessing the attempted detainments began protesting and attempted to block agents.
(Michael Nigro/LightRocket via Getty Images)
No wonder 65% of Latinos feel it’s a “bad time” to be Latino in the U.S. — a 25-percentage-point drop in optimism from March of last year, according to an Axios-Ipsos poll done with Telemundo and released this week.
Trump even is losing credibility among Latino Republicans, with a September 2024 AP-NORC poll finding that 83% of them had a “very” or “somewhat” positive view of the president last year.
Trump very well can win back some of those Latinos in 2026 if the economy improves. But every time his migra goons tackle innocents, another Latino will turn on him and get ready to fight back.
At the University of Chicago, orange whistles hung around a bronze bust just outside the room where I spoke. They’ve become a symbol of resistance to Trump’s invasion of the City of Strong Shoulders, blown by activists to alert everyone that la migra is on the prowl.
A bronze bust with whistles around it inside Swift Hall at the University of Chicago. They’ve become a symbol of resistance, blown by activists to alert everyone that la migra is on the prowl.
(Gustavo Arellano/Los Angeles Times)
I grabbed one as a memento of my time here and also as a reminder of what’s happening with Latinos right now. Nationwide, we’re warning everyone from the front lines — the streets, the ballot box, the courtroom, everywhere — about the excesses of Trump and warning him what happens if he doesn’t listen.
Sarah Paulson appears to be having a blast in Ryan Murphy’s new Hulu “legal” drama “All’s Fair,” and that’s about the only good thing about the show.
The New York Times recently ran a piece extolling it’s reimagining of the power suit (down to at least one visible thong) and I suppose that’s one way of avoiding the obvious. Still, I’m going to stick with Paulson’s obvious glee in playing a villain. Her Carrington Lane was left behind to fester in the comic-book sexism of a male-dominated divorce law firm when two of her colleagues stalked away to form an all-female team and Carrington is not one to surrender a grudge.
It’s impossible not to like Paulson and she is clearly enjoying the opportunity to glare and hiss and indulge in the kind of gross but creative profanity Melissa McCarthy likes to unleash when her characters hit the brink.
As for the rest … well, let’s just say with “All’s Fair,” American culture is getting exactly what it deserves: A series that wallows in the shiny, knockoff-ready trappings of new money (immaculate and soulless homes, private jets, diamonds the size of a Rubik’s Cube), defines “sisterhood” as the belief that any personal crisis can be alleviated by vaginal rejuvenation combined with a girls’ trip to a jewelry auction and gauges power by the ability to plot and take revenge. Preferably in the form of huge amounts of money.
“All’s Fair” may or may not be, as some have said, the worst show of the year (or possibly of all time), but with its celebration of the 1%, personal feuds and financial vengeance, it is certainly the first to truly embody the culture of the Trump presidency.
Down to the reality star at its center. “All’s Fair” gives top billing not to any of the fine and seasoned actors that star — Paulson, Niecy Nash, Naomi Watts, Glenn Close — but to Kim Kardashian, who plays Allura Grant, head of the law firm Grant, Ronson and Greene.
Niecy Nash, from left, Glenn Close and Kim Kardashian are among the stars of Ryan Murphy’s new Hulu drama “All’s Fair.”
(Ser Baffo / Disney)
That Kardashian (and Kris Jenner, who serves as a producer) were able to summon such forces of the galaxy to showcase her, shall we say, limited thespian abilities could be justifiably viewed as yet another “you go girl” testament to her seemingly limitless business acumen.
On the other hand, “All’s Fair” makes the dismal final season of “And Just Like That” look like Chekhov.
Murphy, and the forces at Disney, which owns Hulu, the home of “The Kardashians,” understand Kardashian’s cult-like following and are operating under the assumption that viewers will be so entranced by her and the fashions (which include an alarming amount of hats, capes and gloves) that they won’t notice that the main player is relying on her eyelash extensions to do her acting for her.
To be fair to Kardashian, few nonprofessional actors would shine beside scene partners like Close, Watts and Nash, and the writing of the series, which flirts with camp but never fully commits, does no one any favors.
Not since “Charlie’s Angels” has there been a “feminist fantasy” with such a male gaze. (Apologies to “Charlie’s Angels,” which was in many ways a groundbreaking show.)
After suffering on the sidelines of a mostly male law firm, Allura and Liberty Ronson (Watts) decide to branch out on their own. They do so with the blessing of Dina Standish (Close), that firm’s only female partner, and take with them ace investigator Emerald Greene (Nash). When we meet them again, 10 years later, Allura also has an assistant/mentee in Milan (Teyana Taylor), who later provides a predictable plot twist.
The names alone suggest a level of parody, and, in the first episode, a send-up quality flits in and out of the proceedings, but the show chooses cynicism over satire every time.
Instead of sexist jokes, the partners of Grant, Ronson and Greene spend much of their time discussing how awful men are, with the possible exception of Liberty’s beau, Reggie (“The Handmaid’s Tale’s” O-T Fagbenle), and Standish’s ailing husband, Doug (Ed O’Neill).
That is, after all, the raison d’etre of the firm: Grant, Ronson and Greene are intent on protecting rich women from the perils of the prenup and generally making the bastards pay, sometimes through their “superior” knowledge of the law (in one storyline, this involves explaining that gifts are the sole property of the recipient, which even I knew), but more often blackmail (if you have chosen to live your life without ever seeing a butt plug the size of a traffic cone, keep your eyes shut when Emerald starts her slideshow).
A brief, and seemingly contractually required, mention of the firm raising money to help the underprivileged is laughable — “All’s Fair” is 100% après-moi television, in which extreme wealth is presented as too normal to even be aspirational, and any work not done by Emerald consists of sashaying in super slick shades from one successful throwdown to the next. With brief interludes in sumptuous cars and, as previously mentioned, overbidding on hideous brooches at a high-end jewelry auction (held by a firm client, which honestly seems potentially unethical, but whatevs).
If the dialogue were sharp, funny or even self-aware, Murphy and his team might get away with it, but it’s not — “It’s a shame your mother didn’t swallow,” Dina tells Carrington in what passes as proof that women can be as tough as men. Or that older women can talk trash. Or that Close will do her best to give a decent reading of any line. Or something.
There are brief nods to the women’s personal lives — as a divorce lawyer, Liberty is reluctant to marry Reggie, Dina is struggling with Doug’s decline, Emerald is a super-single mom — but it all feels very box-ticky. Including Allura’s disintegrating marriage, which becomes a major plot point as the gals gather round to make that bastard pay as well, and her realization that if she wants to become a mother, she’s running out of time.
Reading the zeitgeist, the creators of “All’s Fair” were clearly not looking for raves or awards, just viewers.
(Disney)
In many ways, “All’s Fair” is an American version of the excellent British series “The Split,” which follows a matriarchal family of female divorce lawyers. Early on, one of the daughters (played by Nicola Walker) leaves the family firm and, in her own way, attempts to right the wrongs often done to women facing divorce from rich and powerful men while dealing with her own marital breakdown and a family with actual children.
But “American version” doesn’t really cut it. This is Trump’s-America version, in which ethics, morals and virtually all human feeling are secondary to winning, and winning is defined by who ends up making their opponent pay.
Between Kardashian’s conspicuous nonacting and dialogue that often seems lifted from the all-caps regions of X, “All’s Fair” has, not surprisingly, received a critical drubbing. Which seems almost intentional.
Critics, after all, have long been routinely, and often viciously, disparaged (after the reviews were in, Close felt moved to post a sketch of the cast gathered around a “Fatal Attraction”-like “critic bunny stew”). More important, reviews, bad or good, do not (nor should they) predict audience reaction (see early theater reviews of “Wicked”). As Trump has proved again and again, bad press is still press and the worse it is, the more easily it can be cast as proof that the cultural elites (i.e. critics) are out to get … somebody.
So it shouldn’t surprise anyone that, despite a 5% score on Rotten Tomatoes, “All’s Fair” was Hulu’s most successful scripted series premiere in three years.
Reading the zeitgeist, the creators of “All’s Fair” were clearly not looking for raves or awards, just viewers. In this American moment, bad is good and shrewd operators know that if you throw in enough high-profile ingredients — Kardashian, Murphy, a bevy of fine actors — you needn’t take the trouble to ensure the mix will rise to the occasion.
As the president builds a ballroom while food banks are overrun, why wouldn’t TV audiences want to feast on fallen cake?
The intensity is always high when Palisades and Venice meet on the volleyball court. This time, however, there was more than just neighborhood bragging rights at stake.
In the fifth meeting this season between the Western League rivals, the second-seeded Dolphins brought their ‘A’ game and won the City Section Open Division girls’ championship with a 25-23, 25-18, 25-18 victory Friday night at Southwest College.
It was the record 31st section crown for Palisades (35-7), which had won its last title (all but two of which have been in the top division) four years ago when the 2020 fall season was delayed until the following spring because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Tulah Block’s seventh and final kill on match point sent her teammates pouring off the bench to hug each other.
“Going up for that kill I just knew I had to do it for the team,” Block said. “I’m so proud of the whole team especially with everything we went through and are still going through after the fire and not having a gym. We even had to go the beach to practice one day.”
The West Valley League has dominated girls’ volleyball over the last decade, but Palisades and Venice each vanquished two West Valley League opponents to reach the final. The Dolphins ousted Granada Hills and defending Open champion Taft while the top-seeded Gondoliers eliminated Chatsworth and El Camino Real.
Venice (32-11) won Division II in 2012, Division I in 2016 and the Open Division in 2021. The last time a West Valley League school failed to reach the Open Division final was 2019 when Eagle Rock beat Palisades in four sets.
Venice was swept in the team’s first league meeting on Aug. 28 but rebounded to take the rematch in five sets on Sept. 25 and ultimately took first place because of the Dolphins’ surprising five-set loss to University. The teams also met twice in tournaments, Venice winning both times in a best-of-three sets format.
“Our slogan all year was ’no gym, no problem,” Palisades senior libero Lucy Neilson said. “Today we came with a ‘leave it all out there’ mentality.”
Palisades rallied from a 19-16 deficit to win the first set on a kill by Block that Venice’s Samantha Lortie dove for in desperation but could not quite dig. Venice’s last stand came in the third set when it built a 13-7 lead but Palisades answered with a 14-point run on the serving of Phoebe Messiha.
Lortie, who teamed with Savannah Rozell to win the City pairs tournament on April 29 in Santa Monica and three days later led the Gondoliers to their first beach volleyball title, traded kills with Palisades’ Anabelle Redaelli, who finished with a match-high 13. Lortie had 11 and Gaia Adeseun-Williams added eight for the Gondoliers.
“Winning it this season is special given the obvious circumstances and it had to be against Venice,” Neilson added. “It’s important for our program because we hadn’t won it in a few years and that’s our goal every year.”
In the preceding Division V final, fifth-seeded Legacy swept No. 11 Sotomayor, 25-20, 25-18, 25-12. Both teams were seeking their first City title. Legacy improved to 10-15 while Sotomayor dropped to 12-12.
“We’re here because we pushed for it,” Tigers libero Yahaira Ramirez said. “Not all teams are going to have a 100 percent win streak. I love my position. I love to stand out. I save my team a lot of points.”
