Addy Brown had 18 points and eight rebounds, Sienna Betts had 11 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks and No. 10 UCLA never trailed Thursday night in a 76-44 win over Arizona on Thursday.
Makayla Presser-Palmer and Aliyahna Morris led Arizona (2-1) with eight points apiece.
Betts made back-to-back baskets before Donovyn Hunter hit a three-pointer that made it 14-4 a little more than four minutes into the game and the Bruins took a 13-point lead into halftime.
Sumayah Sugapong hit a three-pointer and Gerda Raulusaityte followed with a layup 48 seconds into the second half that made it 37-29 but the Wildcats got no closer.
Brown had a three-point play and hit a three-pointer as part of a a 16-2 run that closed the third quarter and gave UCLA a 62-39 lead going into the fourth.
The Wildcats scored just 19 second-half points, five in the fourth quarter — their lowest-scoring quarter this season. Arizona shot 24% (14 of 58) overall, made just three of 16 (19%) from three-point range, and hit 13 of 19 (68%) from the free-throw line.
The Bruins have won four straight against Arizona and lead the all-time series with their former Pac-12 rival 67-25.
Up next for UCLA: vs. Princeton at Pauley Pavilion on Sunday.
The move was stunningly brazen — redistricting usually takes place once, early in a decade after the census — and it was a terrible thing to do.
Lest there’s any doubt how your friendly political columnist feels, let us repeat: It was a very, very, very, very, very bad thing. And provocative, at that.
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In response, California — egged on by its White House-hankering governor — passed a ballot measure to gerrymander five of its House seats to give a big advantage to Democrats. With that, the battle was joined. More than half a dozen Republican-led states ultimately ended up redrawing their congressional districts in an effort to bypass voters and predetermine the outcome of the November election.
It didn’t work. (Yay, voters! Way to show who’s in charge!)
But that’s not nearly the end of it.
A mind-blowing election
Last week’s Republican wipeout was beyond anything that anyone, save the most hopium-addled Democrat, could have imagined. The party needed a gain of three seats to flip the House. Democrats are on track to pick up more than 40, despite all that Republican gerrymandering.
Registered Republicans make up 25% of California’s electorate and many more regularly support the GOP. In Garden Grove, supporters await GOP gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton’s arrival at his election night event on Nov. 3, 2026.
(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
The map drafted to bolster Democrats has resulted in the near-extinction of California Republicans on Capitol Hill. When the next session of Congress convenes in January, the state’s four remaining House members can caucus inside a Toyota Camry, with room to spare.
Consider: Registered Republicans make up 25% of California’s electorate and many more regularly support the GOP. The party’s share of the 52-member House delegation will be less than 8%.
If you’re a fiercely partisan Democrat, a give-no-quarter lefty or someone who’s animating political impulse is to drive your fist into the other guy’s face, this is all lip-smackingly delicious.
For everyone else, not so much.
Especially if you’re one who believes in the representative part of representative democracy and thinks that if our government and political system are to function properly, it’s important that citizens of all stripes and all political persuasions feel as though they’re invested and have a stake. In short, they need to feel as though their voice and their votes matter.
Millions of Californians now have good reason to doubt that.
Anger and agita
We’ve just witnessed an election that amounted to a primal scream. Much, if not most, of the distemper was aimed at the would-be authoritarian in the White House. But a goodly amount of anger was directed at politicians of both parties and a sense they’re focused more on power and their own interests — such as holding on to power — than the needs of those they’re supposed to represent.
In hindsight, it’s obvious that gerrymandering those five California House seats was unnecessary for Democrats to seize the majority. Given the magnitude of the blue wave, it’s quite possible they might have flipped a few of those seats even without partisan tinkering.
On the day that voters approved Proposition 50 last November, Trump’s approval rating was already heading south. More than half a century of history shows a strong correlation between a president’s standing in polls and his party’s performance in the midterm election; on average, the opposition party gained more than two dozen seats. So even then it appeared highly likely that Democrats would take control of the House, even if the Texas gerrymander worked as planned.
(It didn’t. Democrats ended up winning four of the five seats the GOP intended to flip.)
Voters should hold Democrats to their word and see to it that the nonpartisan commission resumes its map-making role after the next census. (With California projected to lose anywhere from two to four House seats, Democrats will be sorely tempted to again hijack the process to protect their interests.)
With their new majority in Congress, Democrats should act to ban gerrymandering nationwide. The Problem Solvers Caucus, a bipartisan group, has put forth a proposal to begin that process, demonstrating that support exists on both sides of the aisle.
Saniyah Hall and Jazzy Davidson scored 24 points each, JuJu Watkins added 20 and No. 3 USC routed Charleston 105-44 on Tuesday night.
The Trojans (3-0) have scored 100 points or more in each win.
Hall had a 7-0 run of her own in the third quarter, capped by a three-pointer that started on the other end with Davidson’s block and defensive rebound. USC then ran off nine in a row, with Hall scoring four around Davidson’s steal and fast break layin.
Davidson and Watkins combined to score USC’s final eight points and send the Trojans into the fourth leading 86-35. Sitaya Fagan had nine rebounds and Hall had eight as USC controlled the boards, 52-36.
Watkins had six assists, four rebounds, four steals and made all four of her free throws while playing 22 minutes in her third game since returning from an ACL tear that kept her out all last season. She got short breaks in the first three quarters before watching the fourth from the bench.
Isla Juffermans scored 12 points and Anilys Rolon had 10 for the Cougars (2-1), who committed 21 turnovers that led to 28 points for USC.
The Trojans raced to a 25-4 lead, including 18 in a row, to open the game. Watkins and Davidson combined to score 16 of 18 points during that stretch, with their steals leading to layins and both hitting 3-pointers.
USC led 58-23 at halftime after outscoring the Cougars 29-15 in the second quarter.
Iran has opened its first all-women military training camp amid fears of renewed US attacks. Dozens of female ‘Janfadayan’, volunteers willing to sacrifice their lives for Iran, took part in military exercises at Tehran’s Azadi Square.
Pakistani TV anchor Rabiya Ahsan was allegedly shot dead in her bedroom by her husband. Authorities are investigating the husband’s claims that it was an accident.
SACRAMENTO — Billions of words have been regurgitated analyzing how Democrats flipped so many Republican seats last week. But all that’s really needed are five: Americans flipped off the president.
My quick in-depth elaboration:
Sure, voters were fed up with a botched war that raised gas prices to an intolerable level. And they were stung financially by nonsense tariffs that jacked up costs for farming, food, manufacturing and household necessities, including Halloween candy. But there was much more.
Americans were disgusted by the bullying, vindictiveness, ICE thuggery, self-enrichment and the president’s vain focus on monuments to himself, including a silly medieval ballroom, a hideous arch and an algae-laden reflecting pool.
Beyond that, they’d lost respect for the Republican lemmings in Congress who were too cowardly to back away from President Trump and chart their own path instead of sheepishly trailing him to the fatal cliff.
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OK, enough of that.
These are other observations from the election:
First, as it turns out, one additional proposition should have been placed on the California ballot: a referendum on the death penalty.
Gov. Gavin Newsom should have shown respect for voters and asked them whether they wanted to abolish capital punishment. Especially since he promised while initially running for governor to “be accountable to the will of the voters. … I would not [put] my personal opinions in the way of the public’s right to make a determination [on] the death penalty.”
Voters rejected death penalty repeals in 2012 and 2016. In fact, they voted to expedite executions in 2016.
“I firmly believe that state-sanctioned killing is incompatible with California values,” Newsom declared. That’s his opinion. But he should have asked Californians about their values.
Back to the actual election:
Trump’s and the GOP’s self-immolation was sparked in Texas and that’s where they ultimately perished so dramatically.
The president last year strong-armed Gov. Greg Abbott into gerrymandering Texas’ U.S. House seats so Republicans could pick up five. And that triggered a national gerrymandering war that the GOP lost spectacularly.
Newsom and California smartly countered Trump and Texas by gerrymandering our House districts. Voters agreed by approving Proposition 50. Last week, Democrats gained five redrawn seats in California, while Republicans were losing many in Texas and all over America. Abbott was ousted as governor, and Texas even elected its first Democratic U.S. senator since 1988.
Not even Sam Houston could have saved Texas Republicans on Nov. 3.
Another observation:
Look at the vote count in any California statewide race where a Democrat and Republican competed — whether it was Becerra versus Steve Hilton or some other partisan constitutional office. The voting percentages are the same: roughly 65% Democrat, 35% Republican — landslide numbers in all six races mimicking each other.
What does that tell us? The campaigns and the candidates didn’t matter. All that mattered was whether the candidate was a “D” or an “R.” This is how polarized we’ve become.
Most of us are voting a straight party ticket — a far cry from my parents’ proud boast in the 1950s that they voted “for the candidate, not the party.” That was healthy. This is not, although last week’s blowout in congressional elections was certainly justified.
The blue wave also swept over state elections like an El Niño storm washing away an entire beach front.
Democrats increased their supermajorities in both California legislative chambers, very likely leaving Republicans with their fewest Senate and Assembly seats since the 1880s, according to veteran political analyst Tony Quinn.
For decades, California was a purple state that alternately elected Democrats and Republicans to high office. That changed after 1994 when the GOP aggressively backed the infamous Proposition 187 to deny public services, including education, to undocumented immigrants. The measure was ruled unconstitutional. But 187 awakened Latinos politically in California. And the GOP slid into the abyss.
Proposition “187 is where it started. And the party really has never gotten out from under it,” says Quinn, a former Republican redistricting guru.
Trump failed to learn from the California GOP’s fatal attraction to immigration politics. Instead, he angered Latino voters everywhere by brutally corralling brown-skinned people for deportation without cause.
Mike Madrid, a former Republican strategist who wrote a book on Latino politics, says Trump’s “ICE raids terror” was “no question a big part” of what turned Latinos against the GOP after they moved toward the party in 2024.
And in California and Texas, Madrid notes, Latinos jumped at the chance to “elect one of their own” as governor.
“Let me make something crystal clear,” Becerra said in his election night victory speech, “I didn’t run to make history. I ran to make a difference. … California is exceptional, but it is far from perfect. We have a lot of work to do.”
He’ll have no excuse not to make a substantial difference with a record legislative supermajority to help, a friendly Congress and a weakened White House enemy.
In America, we rebel against tyrants. Reread the Declaration of Independence, whose 250th anniversary we’re fittingly celebrating this historic election year.
Across the country, voters chose to rebel against the despot president and Make America Great Again.
Rybakina pulled out on the eve of the Indian Wells tournament, with Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk replacing the top seed.
Published On 8 Nov 20268 Nov 2026
Defending champion Elena Rybakina has pulled out of the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) Finals, saying she was not physically ready to compete, allowing Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk to take her place in the eight-player field at Indian Wells.
Organisers on Saturday cited a viral illness as the official reason for the world number one’s “disappointing” withdrawal, but said the world number one needs time to recover from the physical toll of a demanding year.
Tournament director Garbine Muguruza, a former world number one and two-time Grand Slam champion, said she had spoken with Rybakina and that the Kazakh had been unable to recover in time after struggling with physical problems late in the season.
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“We love Elena, and we know that she was feeling so-so in Tokyo as well,” Muguruza told the Reuters news agency. “I spoke to her today, and she really couldn’t recover on time.
“What we want is for her to feel good, to go rest, to recover. We don’t want her to feel like she has to play — only if she’s ready to.”
Rybakina, who won two Grand Slam titles this year, also withdrew from the quarterfinals of the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo last month because of a neck injury.
Rybakina undertook a few practice sessions before the WTA Finals, but pulled out of the tournament due to a viral illness [Mathew Stockman/AFP]
‘Amazing field’ despite Rybakina absence
Rybakina’s absence deprives the event of some star power, but Muguruza said the round-robin format and depth of the field would ensure a high-quality tournament.
“We have the best players,” said Muguruza, who triumphed at the WTA Finals in Guadalajara in 2021.
“I know our world number one is not going to be able to play, but we have an amazing field, the very best,” she added.
“Every match could be a Grand Slam final. You really need to be ready. You cannot give one inch.”
Kostyuk, who is making her WTA Finals debut after a breakthrough season that included the Madrid title and a rise into the top 10, was already in Indian Wells as an alternate and practising when Rybakina withdrew.
Muguruza said the Ukrainian, known for her signature post-match backflip celebrations, had earned her opportunity.
“Marta is great. She’s had a breakthrough year,” Muguruza said. “With this year, we have many first-time players in the Finals, and that’s very exciting. It’s very hard to qualify.”
Kostyuk has been outspoken about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and does not shake hands with Russian or Belarusian opponents. Muguruza said the tournament would support players in making their own decisions.
“They’re free to do whatever they feel,” she said. “We are open and supporting them.”
Opportunity for Sabalenka
Rybakina’s withdrawal could create an opening for world number two Aryna Sabalenka to make inroads in the rankings.
Sabalenka, who won the Indian Wells title earlier this year, has the chance to reduce the gap at the top of the rankings, according to Muguruza, who highlighted Russian teenager Mirra Andreeva as a player comfortable in the California desert.
“Of course, Aryna might be thinking that this can be a good opportunity,” she said.
The WTA moved the finals to Indian Wells from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, with Muguruza saying player safety had been the decisive consideration amid conflict in the Middle East region.
“It clearly felt no longer safe to be in a region where there is conflict,” she said. “Taking care of the players and looking ahead to what could be safe, comfortable and secure, relocating felt the best decision.”
Muguruza said players had responded positively to the switch to Indian Wells, where she competed regularly during her career.
“When we knew that Indian Wells could be the next venue, it was just a joy,” she said, adding that ticket sales have been strong. “The whole thing is just perfect.”
Allegations about Brand’s behaviour first emerged in the media in September 2023.
The Times, Sunday Times and Channel 4’s Dispatches programme jointly reported that four women had accused him of rape, sexual assault and emotional abuse – claims he strongly denied.
The investigation into other reports against Brand began soon after the story broke.
“We kind of assumed that people might want to come forward,” Furphy said, “and people came forward.”
Victim reports were made to forces across the country and the Met set up a dedicated team of officers to lead the investigation, which it called Operation Actinolite. Officers said they have since taken more than 340 witness statements – including from Brand’s former employers, his ex-colleagues and associates.
One officer was assigned to read Brand’s books, watch his stand-up routines and DVDs and listen to his podcasts to help build the case.
His high profile and the intense media scrutiny around him proved a challenge to officers, said Furphy.
Another complexity for the team was the allegations were all “non-recent”. The earliest dated back 27 years. It meant there was no CCTV and no forensic evidence to work with.
Furphy said police had to look for other ways to build their case.
“Can we look at where the victims were at the time? Who did they speak to in the aftermath of it? Did they tell anybody else? What other available material is there for us to review that might lend some weight to it? Just because it’s non-recent doesn’t mean that we can’t solve it at all.”
Brand’s former friend was called to court to give evidence for the prosecution, while a statement from the parents of one of thewomen was heard.
The entertainer’s former personal assistant, who worked closely with Brand, told the jury about his “insane sexual appetite”.
RUSSELL Brand has been found guilty of sex attacks on a string of victims as part of a depraved campaign to sleep with 5,000 women.
The 51-year-old became a “ruthless, calculated and manipulative” predator as he sought to satisfy his “voracious” sexual appetite.
Russell Brand and Laura Gallacher arriving at Southwark Crown Court todaySource: Shutterstock EditorialRussell Brand has been found guilty of sex attacks on womenSource: EPA
Brand preyed on women between 1999 and 2009 and used his growing fame – from presenting Big Brother’s Big Mouth and Hollywood movies – to target the victims in a range of locations.
The three counts he was found guilty of today include a sexual assault at a Soho bar, where Brand was accused of touching a woman’s breasts while they were talking about Big Brother in 2004.
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Brand has also been found guilty of sexual assault at a radio station in a “violent, sloppy and frenzied” attack in 2005.
He raped a woman at his Hampstead townhouse in 2009, telling her to “clean up after herself” afterwards, it was found.
The jury also found him guilty of sexually assaulting a Channel 4 worker in 2009, who was forced to give him a massage.
He was found not guilty on three other counts – attempted indecent assault and two counts of rape.
The trial at Southwark Crown Court was told the offences took place when Brand’s “public profile was taking off”.
Instantly recognisable by his trademark skinny jeans, back-combed hair and heavy eye make up, Brand became known for falling out of nightclubs with female admirers draped from his arm.
Some of his victims were lulled into a false sense of security by Brand and believed the comedian was gay as part of his “strategy” to dupe women.
Once they were behind closed doors, the fiend’s mask would drop and he’d become a “monster” hell-bent on fulfilling his rapacious quest to bed 5,000 women.
Prosecutor Riel Karmy-Jones KC said the star was “childlike in his expectation that his every desire should be met” and only cared about his “birth right to orgasm”.
She told jurors all the women were “wholly unconnected” but each “described a pattern that resonates with who Brand was in the period 1999 to 2009”.
Ms Karmy-Jones added: “Six women who have nothing to gain, who have not sought the limelight, who have not looked out for some form of publicity, who have not taken part in a documentary, not made claims for compensation.
“There is no benefit to them, apart from perhaps some closure by coming before you and telling you their accounts of what happened to them so long ago.”
Brand allegedly made a woman take this photo before raping her, jurors heardSource: AFPBrand had taken part in the Soapbox Cabaret in 1999 in BournemouthSource: PARussell Brand allegedly raped a woman at his home in HampsteadSource: Central NewsHis bathroom was decorated with dark marbleSource: CPSThe home also had a dark feature wall with a decorative stagSource: PAThe room features an array of sofasSource: CPS
One woman who Brand raped at his home told how the comedian made her feel like a “piece of meat”.
She told she had met the celeb after seeing his show at the Hammersmith Apollo in London with a friend in 2009.
He told her his age range was from “16 to death” before she was invited to a backstage bar where they kissed and had a threesome, it was said.
The woman said she went to his home the next day where Brand told her: “Your hair smells funny”.
He then made her take a shower and wash her hair while he watched through a glass shower cubicle.
Laura told the court Brand was an ‘amazingly attentive husband’Source: Rex FeaturesLaura is the sister of sports presenter KirstySource: Instagram
Once in the bedroom, the woman said they had consensual sex after he told her: “This is the best decision you’ve ever made, well done”.
She told the court Brand raped her and looked “absolutely f***ing horrified” – making her think he would apologise.
But the woman added: “But actually what he said was ‘you need to clear up the mess that you’ve made’.”
Another woman was in her 20s working at a radio station in the mid-2000s when Brand sexually assaulted her.
She told the court Brand was a “perfect stranger” to her at the time and said his assault was “violent”, “sloppy” and “frenzied”.
The woman also said she had locked eyes” with one of his entourage and was “pleading with her” to stop what was happening.
One victim said Brand “lunged” at her and grabbed her breasts when they were talking about Big Brother in a Soho bar in July 2004.
At the time, he had a “big, weird grin” on his face and “quite strongly” pulled her into the toilet where he orally raped her, she told cops.
When she protested, Brand told her: “Oh come on don’t be a spoil sport, you want to.”
The sixth woman worked for Channel 4 when she met Brand while he was filming a project.
She said she was informed Brand was “unhappy” and the situation would not improve unless she gave him a massage.
The woman said he walked up to a chair she was sitting on and placed his head directly into her groin area.
During his evidence, Brand wore a crucifix and wrung his hands together as he claimed his “promiscuous” past had been twisted into the allegations made against him.
He had admitted having an “obsession” with sex when he was younger but claimed consent is “non-negotiable” and “more important than sex itself”.
The offences allegedly took place at the height of Brand’s fameSource: GettyHe denied the charges against himSource: Reuters
Brand added: “I do recognise I have been a very determined and focused man and with regard to the latter, with women, of course, which is the subject of my trial.
“I’ve been persuasive, seductive, begging and flirting, and dedicated a lot of my life to what seems now beyond-reckless philandering and idiocy.”
He admitted it had been “wrong” of him to use his fame for sex but denied he had ever forced himself on a woman.
Brand also tried to paint himself as someone who had reformed but whose life had been “consumed” by the allegations.
He moaned about how he had lost friends and said he was unable to persuade anyone to give evidence on his behalf.
But Brand had one supporter in the public gallery – his wife Laura Gallacher – sister of sports presenter Kirsty – who took to the stand herself after weeks of walking into the court hand-in-hand with Brand each day.
The mum gushed over the star – calling him an “amazingly attentive husband” and a “kind and a wonderful father”.
She told jurors “I love him very much” and claimed they always have sex “at my pace”.
Discussing when they began dating in 2007, Laura added: “I was not experienced, I had only had one partner before Russell.
“I felt entirely cared for and looked after by Russell.”
She told jurors Brand “respected my view” if she said she did not want to do something.
Laura said she was 19 when she met Brand, who was 31 at the time, at Edinburgh Festival.
The mum, who shares three children with the comic, revealed they broke up in summer 2007 when she became “very aware” of Brand’s promiscuity.
She added: “When I met him I was aware that he liked women, and I was aware towards the latter half of that year that he was engaging with other women.
“I wasn’t interested in having a relationship with him if he was sleeping with other people.
“I was invested, we both had told each other we loved each other but it was clear it was difficult for him to be monogamous.”
She said they got back together again as a couple in 2015 and married in 2017.
Brand, who displayed little emotion during the trial, was seen in the dock beaming as his wife spoke on his behalf.
He even laughed when she told the court: “We do have many friends and there are colleagues, and we are grateful for those people.”
In recent years, Brand had re-invented himself into a born-again Christian influencer – an image he bolstered in court by clutching a bible each day.
But his new life in the US came crumbling down when the allegations came to light in a Channel 4 Dispatches and he was thrust back into the public eye.
Brand is now facing a lengthy prison term when he is sentenced.
Doncic leads the league in scoring with 37.7 points per game for the Lakers, and Antetokounmpo is fifth at 28.2 for the Miami Heat.
But this matchup didn’t quite live up to the hype after Doncic continued his early season dominance in the Lakers’ 138-117 win.
Doncic was masterful, producing 42 points, 13 assists and seven rebounds. He was 14 for 24 from the field and six for 15 from three-point range.
“Feels good. Like I said, obviously when we win, it feels way better,” Doncic said. “And that’s the only important stuff. But obviously it feels good. You know, when you win by [21] against a team like Miami, it’s really awesome, especially on a back-to-back.”
Antetokounmpo finished with 30 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists, but he also had seven turnovers as he battled tight defensive coverage.
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Clippers lose sixth in a row
Scottie Barnes scored 15 of his 22 points in the fourth quarter, Immanuel Quickley had 27 and the Toronto Raptors rallied for a 125-118 win over the skidding Clippers on Monday night.
Toronto trailed by 13 going into the final period, but Barnes hit a turnaround jumper with 2:08 remaining to give the Raptors their first lead as part of a 12-1 run.
RJ Barrett scored 26 for Toronto. Barnes also finished with 15 rebounds and eight assists.
Kobe Sanders had a career-high 26 points for the Clippers, who have dropped six straight games since winning their season opener Oct. 21 against Sacramento.
Trent Perry scored 21 points for No. 22 UCLA, which opened the season Monday night by overcoming a career-best 38 points from Arizona’s Ivan Kharchenkov to defeat the No. 5 Wildcats 84-75 in a matchup of former Pac-12 Conference rivals.
Kharchenkov, who also had 10 rebounds, topped his previous best of 20 against Denver last Nov. 24. Derek Dixon added 18 points for the Wildcats.
Jaylen Petty and Eric Dailey Jr. each scored 13 points for the Bruins.
In the first meeting between the two schools, the Bruins made 10 of 15 shots in the third quarter and held the Mountain Hawks to three of 13, stretching a 32-27 halftime lead to 55-36.
KK Bransford added 10 points for UCLA, which returns five players but had six taken in the WNBA draft — five in the first round. The Bruins will raise their championship banner on Nov. 15 at the end of their five-game homestand.
Adonis Ratliff scored 25 points in his collegiate debut, Alijah Arenas had 21 points and a career-high eight rebounds, and No. 21 USC beat visiting Milwaukee 95-63 to open the season Monday night.
Darius Ratliff, Adonis’ twin brother, added 14 points and five blocks in his debut for the Trojans. Rodney Rice had 15 points and nine assists in his first game since a season-ending shoulder injury last year, and KJ Lewis added 10 points.
USC (1-0) shot 56.9% from the field, including 12 of 22 from three-point range, and never trailed en route to its third straight season-opening win under coach Eric Musselman.
JuJu Watkins scored 21 points in her return after missing last season with an anterior cruciate ligament injury, freshman Saniyah Hall added 22 in her collegiate debut and No. 3 USC defeated Nevada Las Vegas 100-68 on Monday.
Jazzy Davidson led all scorers with 23 points on 10-for-11 shooting for the Trojans. Hall added seven rebounds and seven assists.
Kennedy Smith contributed 12 points and Sitaya Fagan had 11 for USC, giving the Trojans five scorers in double figures. Watkins added five rebounds and two assists in 25 minutes.
From Gary Klein: Rams edge rusher Myles Garrett, who has been on injured reserve since undergoing knee surgery after the season opener, will practice this week, coach Sean McVay said Monday.
The Rams will open the 21-day window for Garrett to return to the roster, but McVay said the Rams would proceed cautiously before determining when Garrett will play in a game.
The Rams (4-4) play the Washington Commanders (2-4-1) on Sunday in Landover, Md.
“I want to be careful to even set any sort of expectations,” McVay said during a videoconference with reporters. “I think just taking it a day at a time is going to be the best way that we can approach it.
But keeping the Dodgers, right? “No matter what,” Walter told the California Post last week.
Wait a second, though. In August, Walter’s TWG Global holding company issued a statement that was definitive in two specific aspects: the Dodgers were “not being sold” and his company was “not considering exiting its stake in the Cadillac Formula 1 team.”
So I reached out to Walter’s company and to his personal spokesman, asking how to reconcile the definitive statement denying interest in a Formula One sale with the news of a possible sale and, in light of that development, whether the denials of interest in a Dodgers sale should remain credible.
No one at the company emailed me back, and the spokesman declined to comment.
From Bill Dwyre: Come to find out, as we approach the season of plump turkey legs and similar Santa Clauses, all is not well at ESPN. Turns out Joe Buck and Troy Aikman are having a hissy fit.
Will sports broadcasting ever be the same? As the late Chick Hearn would say, “Oh me, oh my.”
Buck and Aikman have broadcast various pro football games together for 25 years. They are Abbott and Costello, but not anywhere near as funny. You tune in just to wait for Joe to say, “I’m Joe Buck and this is Hall of Famer Troy Aikman.”
Kind of gives you goose bumps.
According to various reports, Joe went out and negotiated a new contract without telling Troy. Divorce lawyers are now circling the wagons.
The reports have Joe getting $108 million for six years so that Joe can tell us that one of the teams on the field needs to establish a run game. Golly.
That concludes today’s newsletter. If you have any feedback, ideas for improvement or things you’d like to see, email me at houston.mitchell@latimes.com. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.
That said, it isn’t a governor’s job to excite any journalist or to entertain the public.
It’s OK for a governor to be boring — Pete Wilson and George Deukmejian, for example — if they can produce results that improve the state and lives of its residents.
California needs a governor who gets stuff done. Boring is acceptable, even in this fast-paced polarized world. But a do-nothing governor who’s just moseying along is intolerable.
We can’t know yet what kind of governor Becerra will be — except rather boring, most likely. No Jerry Brown or Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Will this 68-year-old career politician with the yardlong resume have the resolve and courage to stand up to special interests — labor as well as business, immigration rights activists and rich techies alike — and make timely decisions they won’t like?
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Decisions such as whether the state should continue rolling back Medi-Cal healthcare benefits for undocumented immigrants.
Newsom and the Democrat-dominated Legislature began providing free Medi-Cal for all low-income Californians regardless of their immigration status. But reality quickly smacked them in the face. The state couldn’t afford the generosity. So the governor and lawmakers began retreating.
Becerra, who will be California’s first elected Latino governor, is the proud son of Mexican immigrants. Will he make the prudent decision to chop more Medi-Cal benefits for undocumented noncitizens, especially in the wake of President Trump’s huge cutbacks in federal healthcare funds?
The new governor will need to act fast on all things involving money. He must send his first state budget proposal to the Legislature by Jan. 10, six days after taking office. For practical reasons, he has to decide by mid-December.
He could kick the can down the road until the annual May budget revision, using the excuse of revenue uncertainty and needing more time for study. But that would be seen by many as a sign of indecisiveness and weakness. Not a good start.
He has long advocated “Medicare for all.” But that’s not the same as government-run “single payer,” the dream of Democratic progressives. Medicare for all is, well, just that. And Medicare is not single-payer because it allows for supplemental private insurance. The issue of universal coverage is horrendously complicated and the goal is massively expensive.
Another contentious budget decision Becerra must make soon is what to do about the sputtering bullet train. Scrap it or keep throwing tax money at the failed project that’s decades behind schedule and $100 billion over budget. No tracks have even been laid.
One immediate problem: High-speed rail’s anticipated $1-billion annual funding source from the state’s Cap-and-Invest program is drying up. That’s because industrial polluters aren’t buying permits to emit greenhouse gas like they were. It’s a long story that means short revenue for rail construction.
“We’re going to build the bullet train, but not this bullet train,” Becerra told me in April. “It’s too expensive. Sit everybody down and come out with a position.”
OK, but based on his campaigning, Becerra still doesn’t know “the right way.” That’s understandable. No one else seems to either. Take your time, Xavier, but not a lot — or you’ll be seen as part of the problem, like Newsom is.
There’s a long list of nagging state dilemmas we didn’t hear specific solutions for during Becerra’s sleepwalk campaign. He spoke mostly in generalities. Did he not know the fixes? Or was he too risk-averse to speak out? Probably both.
Becerra adhered to the old playbook taught to young political consultants in campaign management 101:
If you’re ahead, hide. When you do emerge from under the bed, avoid risky provocation. It could cost you poll points and potentially the election.
Becerra did get out and jog round the track — never a sprint and always stepping cautiously.
He missed a golden opportunity.
Becerra had nothing to lose. He was a Democrat running against a Trump-embraced Republican in a deep blue state angry at the GOP president. He could have created some excitement by making bold pronouncements about, for example, what he’d do “first thing on Day One.”
He certainly should have participated in more than one general election debate, especially after initially declaring that he would. He performed well in his one debate — coming across as calm, likable and capable.
Becerra should have held more — and more meaty — news conferences with reporters. The few he engaged in were relatively brief and unenlightening, I’m told by colleagues.
He missed a chance to build a solid statewide support base that could help when the postinaugural honeymoon quickly ends.
But that‘s not his natural style. And, anyway, when all the votes are counted, he’ll be a landslide winner.
One smart move at the end: helping Democratic candidates in hot House races by campaigning with them.
Becerra could be just the governor California needs: an experienced pol knowledgeable on most issues — a longtime U.S. House member, state attorney general and U.S. Health secretary.
Importantly, he’s not someone who craves national attention. He’ll be focused on the job he was elected to.
He’ll just need to be bolder, more decisive and move faster than what we saw during the campaign — while having the guts to tell allies “no.”
Manchester City won the WSL title impressively last season but externally, there was an expectation Chelsea would bounce back.
Bompastor was more cautious, insisting they were still transitioning after the departures of big-name players including Sam Kerr, Millie Bright and Guro Reiten.
She said: “You need to consider the fact that Chelsea had the same coach for 12 years. It takes a while for players to adjust to a new coach, a new way of playing and a philosophy.
“Even if you have really good players, it doesn’t just go like this. There are a lot of things we are doing behind the scenes for us to stay successful.
“I was lucky enough to come in when [Hayes] left the team in a really good place. But last season we had a year where a lot of important players left.”
But captain Erin Cuthbert said she was “not really” surprised at how good their level has been so far.
“We had a good time to build in pre-season and a good trip away. The quality was always there, we just weren’t clicking,” she added.
“Manchester City ran away with the league in the end, but we were there or thereabouts. I feel this time the team’s just gone up another level.”
As well as adapting more to Bompastor’s ways, and adding defensive solidity to a creative frontline, work has gone into improving the club’s culture.
Cuthbert said before Wednesday’s win there was “really good momentum and a good feeling” in the squad – so can they kick on now?
“For me, the mental aspects and cultural aspects are just as important,” admitted Bompastor.
“We probably needed to rebuild a little bit of that going into this new season. We reflected a lot on how we wanted to set up the process for that.
“Right now, we are in a good place. When you are able to get good results, it’s not only about the tactical aspects. It also has to be about mentality, culture and values.
“I think we have clarity on where we want to go as a team and how we want to get there, and that’s just as important.”
ATLANTA — Keisha Lance Bottoms talks a lot about the policies she would pursue as Georgia governor. The Democratic nominee is less likely to talk about the history she would make by winning the job.
Never has a Black woman been elected governor in any state. The former Atlanta mayor and onetime White House adviser to Democratic President Biden is trying to do it in a Deep South state where her lineage extends back to antebellum enslavement.
“I am at least a fifth-generation Georgian,” Bottoms, 56, says as she campaigns. “I say ‘at least’ because we can only trace our family back five generations to a plantation in Crawfordville.”
Bottoms rarely if ever mentions slavery, Jim Crow segregation or even race explicitly. But that story — hers, Georgia’s and the nation’s — shadows her battle with Republican nominee Rick Jackson.
The billionaire, a 72-year-old white man who grew up in Atlanta but now lives on a sprawling suburban estate, has hammered the former mayor as a failure, painting her four-year tenure as a crime-ridden decline. Other Republicans, up to Donald Trump, have joined in, with the president accusing Bottoms of ruining a once-great city.
“It’s a long-standing playbook to paint Atlanta as this big bad place,” Bottoms said, dismissing the Republican frame as ridiculous for a town that once hosted the Olympics and recently staged eight World Cup soccer matches.
One of her most recent ads pushes back by featuring clips of the news conference she held with the city’s law enforcement leaders during the peak of 2020 street protests of police violence in Atlanta and nationwide against Black men. “If you care about this city, then go home,” she said. “We are better than this.”
Bottoms would have her chance to answer Trump and Republicans at a rally Wednesday headlined by Barack Obama, the first Black U.S. president.
Some Black women see the attacks as loaded
Republican coalitions in most states, and certainly in Georgia, are overwhelmingly white and anchored in suburbs, smaller cities and small towns. Those are places where many voters look skeptically, even scornfully, upon big cities and the people who run them. But some of the rhetoric directed against Bottoms is steeped in the specter of race and gender in a state where all 83 governors since 1776 have been white men.
Jackson’s TV ads, a deluge funded by more than $200 million of his own money, feature footage of the demonstrations and violence in Atlanta in 2020, along with grainy images of Bottoms. The protests followed the police killing of Rayshard Brooks, an unarmed Black man, by a white Atlanta police officer.
The Republican campaign effort has not gone unnoticed among some Bottoms supporters, especially other Black women.
“It’s easy for people to attack Atlanta and Mayor Bottoms based on their own biases,” said retired educator Beverly Rice, a Bottoms supporter.
Bottoms’ bid marks the third consecutive time that Georgia Democrats have nominated a Black woman for governor. Stacey Abrams lost in 2018 and 2022 to Republican Gov. Brian Kemp, who is leaving office in 2027 after eight years due to term limits. Abrams came as close to winning a governor’s race as any Black woman before her.
In an interview, Abrams was reluctant to assign race and gender as the deciding factor in her defeats. But she said Black women running for governor face a higher bar because there is no example yet for voters who place a special emphasis on executive experience. Abrams, also an Atlantan, had served previously as state House minority leader, a role Republicans minimized as insufficient experience.
Abrams said that executive standard “does not apply equally across candidates” in politics. She said Bottoms “has a sound argument” because she has held the executive’s role. Before that, Bottoms was a City Council member, magistrate judge and prosecutor. That resume, Abrams and others said, is why Republicans have so aggressively criticized Bottoms’ experience.
“Bad mayors don’t make good governors,” Jackson has said over and over in the closing stretch of the campaign.
He has taken special notice of her decision not to run for a second term as mayor, instead joining Biden’s White House as a senior adviser – a move Bottoms said she deliberately put off to finish her four-year term. In Jackson’s telling, Bottoms “turned her back on Atlanta.”
Republicans say Atlanta ‘burned’ in Bottoms’ tenure
Other conservatives have gone further than Jackson.
“Keisha Lance Bottoms let Atlanta burn,” top Jackson surrogate John King, a former Atlanta police officer and now state insurance commissioner, sometimes says at the candidate’s rallies.
That is a reference to protesters setting fire to a Wendy’s fast food restaurant close to where Brooks was killed. The reference carries an extra weight in a city whose symbol is a phoenix rising from the ashes — a symbol adopted because Union forces burned parts of a young Atlanta during the Civil War.
At a Trump rally last weekend in Macon, a smaller city in middle Georgia, the president hammered away, too. Bottoms “destroyed Atlanta with her crime and filth and constant riots,” Trump said, echoing the kind of sometimes profane attacks he has leveled against many places with large or majority Black populations.
“I always viewed Atlanta as a great city,” he insisted. “It’s not considered that anymore.”
In a 2017 dispute with then-U.S. Rep. John Lewis, Trump called the civil rights icon’s district, which includes Delta Airlines’ and Coca-Cola’s world headquarters and the Georgia Institute of Technology, “crime-infested” and said it was “falling apart.”
Bottoms counters with a more complicated reality
Atlanta did see a crime spike during Bottoms’ tenure, but it was not an outlier alongside the COVID-19 pandemic surge across the country, according to federal statistics. After the pandemic waned, U.S. and Atlanta crime rates dropped significantly. Bottoms did sign an executive order blocking the Atlanta jail from holding federal immigration detainees.
Republicans have exaggerated her action on bail. Bottoms signed a city ordinance that eliminated cash bail for certain nonviolent crimes, intending to reduce the jail’s population and what she and other city officials deemed excessive punishment for low-grade offenses.
Her latest advertising retort follows a surge of fundraising that she did not have throughout Jackson’s summer advertising onslaught. “When a national crisis poured into Atlanta, Keisha Lance Bottoms stood up,” a voice-over says.
Besides her exhortation for people to leave the streets, the mother of four said, “Above everything else, I am a mother, so you are not going to out-concern me and out-care about where we are.”
Her aides see the ad — and the reality of how she handled the matter in real time — as depicting a political figure who is tough and empathetic, aware of public safety concerns and the realities for Black Americans.
But Bottoms’ advisers, and the candidate herself, also say they want Georgians to make their decisions on tangible policy distinctions, most notably her emphasis on addressing economic struggles and expanding Medicaid insurance eligibility — a move that would reach urban and rural populations across racial lines.
That is the point of the governor’s office, said Rice, the retired educator.
“I have 100% faith that she can win if people just judge her with their values,” she said. “I don’t look at her and see a ‘Black governor.’ I see a governor for all the people.”
So where do things stand less than a week from election day?
With the usual caveats, about no certainties in life or politics …
Of course …
…. it seems pretty darned certain that Democrats are going to take control of the House next week, notwithstanding the delusions (or professed confidence) of Speaker Mike Johnson and his Republican allies. The only question is the margin.
Democrats need to flip just three seats, and even the most conservative handicappers (in terms of circumspection, not political views) see them netting more than half a dozen, at a minimum. From there, forecasts climb into the double digits.
“In the best-case scenario,” Erin Covey wrote in a recent analysis for the Cook Political Report, Democrats “could enter the new Congress with more seats than they had after successfully flipping control of the House in 2006 and 2018.”
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Didn’t Republicans gerrymander several states to boost their chances?
That helped precipitate a nationwide redistricting war which, once the haze cleared, resulted in a third of the nation’s 435 House districts being redrawn to at least some extent. But that only marginally increased Republicans’ advantage. And there are signs the rejiggering of political lines may have backfired, or boomeranged, on the GOP.
How so?
By spreading their reliable voters thin and counting on support from 2024 Trump backers who’ve since soured on the president. In particular Latinos. In doing so, Republicans have put several House seats into play, most notably in Texas and Florida.
That’s what’s known in the business as a “dummymander.”
A knife’s edge
What about the Senate?
That remains a toss-up, which few would have imagined at the start of this election season.
Virtually all the contests that will decide control of the Senate are being fought in states that President Trump carried — several by landslide margins — making them not exactly friendly Democratic territory. But war, inflation and Trump’s wretched approval rating have dragged GOP candidates down in states such as Kansas, Mississippi and Texas, which, a year ago, would have required hallucinogens to appear remotely competitive.
So what’s the math?
Democrats need to hold on to all of their seats and gain four to flip the Senate.
While incumbent Jon Ossoff seems certain to win in Georgia, Democratic-held seats in Minnesota, New Hampshire and, especially, Michigan are more problematic. In terms of pickup opportunities, the aforementioned Kansas and Texas are toss-ups, along with Alaska, Iowa, Ohio and Maine. North Carolina seems ready to flip Democrats’ way.
And, who knows, there might be a surprise or two — which, obviously, wouldn’t be a surprise if we’re talking about it here.
One thing to bear in mind: Close races all tend to break in favor of one party or the other. Think of dominoes falling, not checkers hopscotching across the board.
Polls look good for Democrats.
They do. But as both of my faithful readers know, your friendly political columnist can’t stand the constant chattering about polls.
It’s not just how surveys understated Trump’s support the two times he won the White House. (In their defense, pollsters did pretty well in the last two midterm elections, in 2018 and 2022.)
It’s that too many people — including folks who should know better — ascribe a false precision to polls, which at best offer nothing more than an educated guess.
Are the polls again overstating Democratic support?
Could be.
In a recent analysis, the Economist found that polls tend to underestimate a party’s strength in states they dominate. That could mean surveys showing toss-up races in red states such as Alaska, Iowa, Kansas, Ohio and Texas could be overstating Democratic strength.
(Research also has shown that dispirited voters are less likely to participate in a poll, which could mean an oversampling of Democratic sentiments despite quite conscious attempts to adjust and weight the data.)
All of which is to say, ignore the polls and don’t let your hopes get too high, or your mood too low. We’ll have election results soon enough.
What does the early voting tell us?
Nothing dispositive. (That’s a fancy way of saying, again, don’t read too much into those numbers.)
Democrats are evidently way more enthused about voting this election than Republicans. And there have been some eye-popping turnout numbers among Black and Latino voters. But maybe Republicans are holding back to cast their ballots closer to or on election day.
Things will be abundantly clear after the fact, as they always are.
Table stakes
How about all the money Republicans — and Elon Musk — are pouring into the election?
It’s gross. But money alone is not determinative.
Just ask Tom Steyer, who spent the GDP of a small country on his failed run for California governor. Or Trump, who was outspent by Hillary Clinton nearly 2-to-1 when he was elected in 2016.
A certain amount of money is necessary to compete; it’s like the table stakes required for a serious competitor to get into the race. Beyond that, factors like candidate performance, external events and, especially, the overall political climate matter a good deal more.
The big Republican money advantage can help drive turnout, which is no small thing, especially if it helps coax reluctant GOP voters to the polls. But elections aren’t like vending machines, where the more money you put in, the more you take out.
Thankfully, we haven’t reached a point where public office can be purchased automatically like soda or a candy bar. At least not yet.
So get out and vote, or make a plan to, if you haven’t already.
Scotland men emulated their female counterparts by opening the European Curling Championships with victory.
Grant Hardie’s rink triumphed 8-4 in Ostrava in the Czech Republic and face Belgium later on Wednesday.
The men picked up two at the opening end and three at the third to lead 5-1. The Dutch were 6-4 down after six ends but Scotland picked up two more at the seventh to see out the win.
Fay Henderson’s Scotland women began their campaign with a comprehensive 12-3 victory over Denmark.
They edged the opening two ends by single points before the Danes halved the deficit.
However, the Scots took control of their opening, surging into a five-point lead by the close of the fourth end.
Although Denmark scored two points in the fifth, Scotland ended the contest emphatically with a six-point haul in the sixth and final end.
Al-Bureij, Gaza Strip – A Sack of Flour, an 11-minute documentary by the emerging filmmaker Mona Abu Qass, draws on her personal experience to examine Israel’s use of starvation against Palestinians in Gaza during Israel’s genocidal war on the enclave.
The film is one of five documentaries by Palestinian women screened Monday at the opening of the second Gaza International Women’s Film Festival, which also marked the official launch of the Gaza Cinema Academy.
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The event took place at the site of the al-Nakheel Hall in al-Bureij, central Gaza, under the slogan “Women Creating Life from Death”. The hall is destroyed, like the majority of buildings in Gaza, after three years of Israel’s war, which has killed more than 74,000 Palestinians.
The film captures Palestinians’ struggle to find food in Gaza, the dangers at aid distribution points and the lives lost while trying to obtain flour.
Through Abu Qass’s own experiences, A Sack of Flour explores how the trauma of hunger continues to affect families even after food becomes available again.
Those experiences have renewed relevance as Israeli restrictions on goods entering Gaza and cuts to food assistance have caused shortages and fears of a return to famine.
“The idea for the film stems from a personal experience and a true story,” Abu Qass told Al Jazeera. “It documents daily life in Gaza, weighed down by bombardment, destruction, siege, hunger, and loss.”
“I want to capture details that reveal suffering and people’s determination to hold on to their life,” she added. “I seek to show reality as people experience it and help viewers understand what the war has done to their relationships, dreams, and hopes.”
Beyond Silence, which marks Raghda al-Buhaisi’s directorial debut, portrays the suffering of people with disabilities during the genocidal war on Gaza [Eyad al-Qatrawi/Al Jazeera]
Highlighting struggles of the disabled
Another film, Beyond Silence, by emerging filmmaker and journalist Raghda al-Buhaisi, explores wartime struggles in Gaza for people with disabilities through the story of a deaf artist who never learned to read, write or communicate through sign language. His art studio in southern Gaza’s Rafah was destroyed by Israel, and his parents and several family members were killed.
After being displaced to Deir el-Balah in central Gaza, another family took him in and set up a modest studio by the roadside. His paintings reflect loss and displacement, expressing what words cannot through colour and line.
“I want to highlight the additional challenges people with disabilities face during war, including displacement, family loss, and the destruction of livelihoods,” al-Buhaisi told Al Jazeera. “Art can cross barriers of language and silence, turning an individual experience of pain into a visual message that conveys Gaza’s suffering to the world.”
Alongside those films were three others by emerging Palestinian women filmmakers – Soso: The Lifeline, Remnants of Light, and Dandana. The films document life in Gaza and the suffering brought by war.
Soso: The Lifeline follows an orphaned child and his donkey, who help people survive in Gaza. Remnants of Light follows a filmmaker struggling with the loss of her family and home, while Dandana tells the story of a mother whose eight children were killed, and who turns to Palestinian songs with her surviving family to cope with her grief.
The five documentaries were produced through a filmmaking diploma programme that began in March and brought together 25 young Palestinian women.
The film festival was held under the slogan “Women Creating Life from Death” [Eyad al-Qatrawi/Al Jazeera]
Preserving Gaza’s stories
Festival director Ezzedine Shallah said the films draw on experiences women and girls lived through during the war, offering visual testimony to daily life and giving women space to tell their stories in their own voices.
“Though their subjects differ, the films turn individual pain into broader human stories, revealing war’s psychological and social scars,” he told Al Jazeera. “They preserve stories that might otherwise never reach the screen, transforming suffering into cinematic testimony and bringing Gaza’s stories to audiences beyond its borders.”
The festival, which runs until October 31, features 73 films from 24 countries and offers a broader platform for filmmakers from Gaza and beyond.
But even with events like the festival, filmmaking in Gaza comes with formidable challenges. The destruction of cultural institutions, scarce equipment, limited funding, power and internet outages, and the pressures of war and displacement have severely restricted opportunities for film production. Women filmmakers also struggle to access training, production opportunities and international festivals.
Filmmaker Rima Mahmoud, a co-founder of the festival, said that war and the Israeli siege on Gaza – which predates 2023 – have hindered young women’s filmmaking, pushing some to use simple methods, self-fund projects and document Gaza’s reality even with the difficulties.
“Despite limited resources, these films deserve international exposure,” Mahmoud said. “Their makers need technical and financial support, translation, and partnerships with festivals and platforms.”
The Gaza International Women’s Film Festival took place in a destroyed hall in al-Bureij [Eyad al-Qatrawi/Al Jazeera]
Resisting attempts at erasure
Palestinian filmmaker Mai Masri, based in Lebanon and another co-founder of the festival, said the films help young women tell their own stories, resist erasure and preserve collective memory, while building skills and accessing work in Gaza or through digital platforms.
The academy has also developed a filmmaking diploma in cooperation with al-Quds Open University and accredited by the Palestinian Ministry of Education.
Masri said that the academy is also now trying to help directors reach international festivals.
“We are seeking agreements with distributors to screen these films in educational and cultural institutions outside Palestine, and through international platforms and festivals focused on women’s and human rights,” she said.
“This would bring the voices of Palestinian women to a global audience, shed light on their human experiences and artistic creativity, strengthen the presence of Palestinian cinema internationally, and open new horizons for young female directors to reach global screening platforms and film festivals,” Masri added.
SACRAMENTO — You haven’t voted yet because the state propositions are too bewildering? I’m with you. There are too many for normal human consumption. But I’ve figured them all out at last.
I’ve concocted my own personal voter information guide that I’ll share here. Heads up: I’m negative on most measures, including some expected to pass.
Anyway, here’s my thinking:
Proposition 1: Affordable housing bond
The state would borrow $11.25 billion for affordable housing programs, mainly to provide below-market rentals for poor people. Students and farmworkers also would benefit minimally. So would military veterans through the CalVet program. The proposal is packed with goodies aimed at drawing broad political support. Which it has.
But it’s an expensive item — costing the state at least $500 million annually for 25 years. Taxpayers already are paying about $6 billion annually to retire $80 billion in bond debt.
This measure is too costly given our fragile, chaotic state budget. There should have been more prioritizing. I’m a “no” vote.
Proposition 2: Doubles the state’s ‘rainy day’ fund
This would cement the nation’s highest state income tax rates into the California Constitution — up to 12.3%, affecting the top 2% of earners with incomes above $371,000 for single filers and $743,000 for married couples. (Million-dollar earners pay an added 1%.) The money helps fund schools, healthcare and other state programs.
The high rates were sold to voters as temporary in 2012. Later, voters extended them until 2031.
My hesitancy: Tax rates should not be embedded in the constitution where they can only be altered by voters. The governor and legislators should do their jobs and update our volatile state tax system. Moreover, “temporary” shouldn’t be translated into “permanent.” And there’s no rush. The rates don’t expire for five years. No.
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Proposition 4: Repeals ban on public financing of election campaigns
Look, either wealthy donors and special interests buy the politicians or the public does. Anyway, if a few major cities are permitted to enact public financing, all cities should be. Yes.
Proposition 5: Changes recall elections
Currently, voters decide two questions in a state recall election: 1. Should the official be recalled? 2. Who should be the replacement? Under this proposal, only the first question would be asked. Any replacement would be determined by the normal non-recall process. Depending on the office, that usually ends up in a special election.
This makes lots of sense. Too many shabby games have been played with the present bifurcated system. Yes
Proposition 37: Down payment loans for home buyers
Middle-income buyers could take out a second mortgage to cover most of their 20% down payment on a newly constructed home. They’d need to dig up only 3% in cash. The program would be financed by a $25-billion state revenue bond, repaid by home buyers. Lending institutions would qualify the borrowers and take the risk, costing the state zilch.
My hang-up is that the measure was crafted to assure that half the money goes to one institute, whose billionaire founder is the proposition’s chief backer. State money should be available to all potential bidders. No.
There’s simply no evidence of widespread voter cheating anywhere. This measure is unneeded and would just hassle voters and slow the vote count. Flat no.
This is nutty. There’s no such thing as a temporary tax. Proposition 3 is an example. We shouldn’t have a one-time tax anyway. It’s like a sugar high that quickly wears off. Then what? Who’s next to have their wealth taxed? Want a wealth tax? Make it national to keep billionaires from fleeing California with their riches for more friendly states. No way.
Proposition 41 and Proposition 42: Twin poison pills
I don’t like Proposition 40, but I also detest deceptive games-playing with ballot initiatives. They should be discouraged. No.
Proposition 43: Raises vote requirement for local tax hikes
Currently, special tax increases placed on a local ballot by citizen signature-collecting require only a simple majority vote. This measure would increase the threshold to two-thirds, the same as if proposed by a city council or county supervisors board.
It’s ridiculously confusing. But I don’t like two-thirds requirements for taxes because a minority of voters can overrule the majority. That’s undemocratic. No.
The low-profile measure would require local nonprofit clinics caring for poor people to spend 90% of their funds on health services.
This smacks of a failed negotiating tactic by the union sponsor of the billionaires tax. Many clinics say they’d need to close shop. No.
Proposition 45: Regulatory streamlining for building projects
This would substantially overhaul the environmental protection act that has kept California less polluted from development projects. The act also has been sorely abused and used as a tool to stop projects, particularly housing. This measure would make it easier to build, not just housing but many things, such as water facilities, clean energy, giant warehouses and freeway expansions.
It goes too far, enabling sprawl and leaving citizens with fewer weapons to fight projects. The Legislature has been trimming home building regulations and should continue. No on 45.
Happy voting. I’m glad I didn’t vote early so there’d be time to bone up on this hodgepodge.
The victory helped the Kazakh take a big step towards securing the year-end number one ranking.
Published On 25 Oct 202625 Oct 2026
Elena Rybakina blazed past unseeded Canadian Leylah Fernandez 6-2 6-2 in the Ningbo Open final to retain her title and lift her first trophy as the world number one ahead of the WTA Finals next month.
The victory on Sunday also helped the Kazakh take a big step towards securing the year-end number one ranking, further burnishing a spectacular season in which she won the Australian Open title before adding the US Open crown to reach the summit.
Top seed Rybakina made the breakthrough with her trademark power in the fifth game and then unleashed a searing crosscourt backhand winner to go 4-2 up, before the 27-year-old wrapped up the opening set in only 38 minutes.
World number 30 Fernandez made a bright start to the next set but Rybakina absorbed the pressure and raised her level to force an error and break for 2-1, with the three-time Grand Slam champion breezing to victory from there.
Rybakina’s latest triumph is a timely lift after setbacks in Beijing and Wuhan, as she turns her attention to the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo this week before launching her title defence at the season finale in Indian Wells from November 8.
Health workers in Gaza are participating in a breast cancer campaign
called ‘pink blooms from among the rubble’ to educate and support women with the disease amid Israel’s genocidal war. Al Jazeera spoke to breast cancer patient Hiba Musbah about her painful journey.
Taiz, Yemen – As Houthi fighters tighten their siege on the government-held southwestern Yemeni city of Taiz, women who initially organised food deliveries for soldiers defending the city have begun raising money to buy weapons and ammunition.
The initiatives have emerged spontaneously since the resumption of fighting in early September in the western countryside of Taiz governorate, between Saudi-backed forces of the internationally recognised government and the Iran-backed armed group.
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At first, women volunteers came together to bake cookies for fighters on the front lines.
The aim was “to strengthen the relationship between the supportive social base and the members of the national army and pro-government popular resistance forces stationed at the front lines in defence of their besieged city, which is subjected to daily shelling in preparation for an invasion,” said Amira al-Saghir, an activist involved in the campaign.
The cookie-making initiative attracted widespread participation among women volunteers, drawing encouragement and support on social media. It coincided with a broader community campaign to supply fighters with food and other basic necessities, as well as weapons, with people contributing from districts and villages across the governorate.
In Yemen, a conservative country and the poorest in the Middle East, the vast majority of women do not participate in active fighting in the civil war, which began in 2014. Instead, these initiatives allow women to take part in what they see as the defence of their city against an invading force, and support for the men who are fighting.
After nearly four years of relative calm following a United Nations-brokered truce in April 2022, Houthi forces launched a major ground offensive in western Taiz in early September. The armed group rapidly captured territory along Yemen’s Red Sea coast, including the strategic port city of Mocha on September 10 , expanding its presence around Bab al-Mandeb strait, a vital shipping route.
The Houthis, also known as Ansar Allah, Arabic for Supporters of God, subsequently advanced towards other parts of Taiz governorate, taking control of key routes into the provincial capital and effectively surrounding the city. Government forces have since launched counteroffensives, with control of some areas remaining contested.
The renewed siege has severely restricted the movement of people and essential supplies into the city, triggering shortages of food, fuel, and medicine.
From cookies to weapons
As the fighting intensified, the women’s initiatives expanded. What began with baking cookies and organising food convoys to supply arms kitchens gradually evolved into efforts to buy ammunition for fighters.
Women involved in the initiatives told Al Jazeera that they felt they had been “forced” to act because of the risk of their city falling to the Houthis.
The change began as more rural districts began falling to the Houthis, leading to some donors making their contributions conditional on part of the money being used to buy ammunition for fighters.
Al-Saghir believes the shift was encouraged by information and criticism circulating on social media suggesting that government fighters in Taiz lacked sufficient ammunition to continue defending the city and surrounding front lines.
The initiatives soon took off, encouraging more women to get involved. Among them was Huriya Wabel, a humanitarian activist.
“After we saw that those [Houthi] militias … are waging a war of extermination against our city, we felt that we had to take a serious stand to support the army, not just with food and clothing, but with weapons as well, especially since a siege has been imposed on Taiz and supplies can no longer reach it easily,” Wabel told Al Jazeera.
“We also found many civilians who wanted to participate in the fighting alongside the army in defence of the city, but they did not have weapons,” she added. “So it became incumbent upon us to help by focusing more of our activities on this aspect at this stage.”
Khadija al-Majidi, a local activist, has begun gathering donations for weapons as well as food for government forces in Taiz [Courtesy of Khadiji al-Majidi]
Defending their city
For Khadija al-Majidi, the move from providing humanitarian supplies to delivering military equipment is a response to the growing threat facing Taiz.
“When the enemy reaches the gates of your city and imposes a complete siege on it in preparation for storming it by force, and everyone in it – including you, your children, and members of your family – is threatened with being killed, captured, or displaced … then what do you expect from us?” the activist told Al Jazeera. “Did you expect us to carry flowers for the criminal who came from the farthest reaches of the country to destroy our city and kill us?”
When Al Jazeera spoke to al-Majidi, she had just returned from the fighting around Jabal Sabir, the mountain overlooking Taiz from the south.
It was al-Majidi’s second trip to the front that day, delivering ammunition and other military supplies, which she valued at $3,000, to the commander on the front, along with winter clothing, shoes, food, and other necessities.
She said that after more than 10 years of living through Yemen’s devastating war, she no longer felt afraid to visit active battlefronts.
“Repeated visits to the front lines play a major role in removing fears, given what we see on the ground of the heroes’ courage and bravery in defending the city and their confidence in victory,” she added.
As fundraising expands, the women’s department of Taiz’s Supreme Council for Popular Resistance launched a campaign on October 8 , aiming to equip 10,000 pro-government fighters with rifles and ammunition.
Supplies are regularly delivered to government forces on Taiz’s frontlines [Courtesy of Khadiji al-Majidi]
The council has called for contributions from Yemenis across the country and abroad to support the initiative.
The campaign reflects the state of the fighting in Taiz, with government forces facing daily Houthi attacks, as they try to conduct their own counter-attacks.
But the longer the siege continues, the more difficult the military and humanitarian situation becomes in the city.
Al-Saghir and al-Majidi both explained that while many of the donations they receive come from Yemenis living abroad, people on the ground are also giving whatever they can, despite the humanitarian crisis in Taiz.
Al-Saghir said one woman whose husband was fighting in the army donated a wedding ring, while al-Majidi recounted stories of other women donating their gold jewellery.
Al-Majidi recalled a woman arriving at her home carrying envelopes containing Yemeni and Saudi currency.
The woman had written on the envelopes, “God willing, we will win. Buy ammunition for the heroes with this.”
China finished 0.233 points ahead of the Americans, denying them a chance to win an gold eighth consecutive team gold.
Published On 22 Oct 202622 Oct 2026
China have denied the United States an eighth consecutive women’s team title at the Artistic Gymnastics World Championships as Qiu Qiyuan sealed a dramatic victory with the final routine.
Qiu needed to score more than 12.600 points in the closing floor routine to give her country gold and did just enough with 12.833 on Wednesday.
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The USA last failed to win gold when they were beaten by Russia at the 2010 championships, but were left to count the cost of several errors on the balance beam in Rotterdam.
China, who also led the way in qualifying, finished with 165.764 points, edging out the Americans by 0.233 overall.
Japan were a further 1.468 points behind as they completed the podium ahead of fourth-placed France.
Silver medallists USA, from left, gold medallists China and bronze medallists Japan stand on the podium [Francisco Seco/AP]
USA superstar Simone Biles, a 23-time world champion including five times in the team competition, is taking a break from the sport and has not competed since the 2024 Paris Olympics, where she won three gold medals.
The reigning champions took a healthy lead at the halfway stage, helped by strong vault and uneven bars routines by Skye Blakely, the only gymnast on the team who was part of the quintet that won their seventh consecutive title in 2023.
But 18-year-old Caylor Dulcy stumbled on the beam, scoring just 12.333, as the Americans were outscored by more than four points on the apparatus by their rivals.
Zhang Qingying, who topped beam qualifying, in particular made them pay with a sparkling performance that earned her 15.066 points.
The Chinese were put under pressure on the floor, but Qiu held her nerve to secure their first women’s team world crown since 2006.
The championships continue in the Netherlands on Thursday as Japan’s Daiki Hashimoto defends his men’s all-around title, with a big challenge expected from his compatriot and Olympic champion Shinnosuke Oka.
Japan took the men’s team title on Tuesday, pipping Russia and China.
Zhang Qingying competes in the uneven bars [Francisco Seco/AP]
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Is it resentment that Wiener’s years-long maneuvering blocked the ascension of Pelosi’s daughter, Christine, who’d been widely talked about as her mom’s name-brand successor? (Instead, she’s running for Wiener’s seat in 2028, or sooner if he makes it to Congress.)
Is it Pelosi once more leaning into her long-standing role as a champion of women and women in politics, which drew her to support Supervisor Connie Chan?
Perhaps it’s a bit of all three.
Pelosi, for her part, told reporters that “nobody knows Congress better than I do” and she believes, simply enough, that Chan “would be the best member of Congress.”
But maybe there’s something more elemental.
“Pelosi is the daughter of a machine politician,” said Eric Jaye, a strategist who’s spent decades working in and around San Francisco politics. “She moves from Baltimore” — where her father was a congressman and mayor — “and becomes initially a lieutenant in the political machine here and, ultimately, the general of it.
“She’s playing by the classic rules of machine politics,” Jaye said, “which is the machine has the prerogative of choosing the line of succession…. Nancy Pelosi wanted to be able to make that choice.”
Peas in a pod
Chan, a leader of the city’s progressive wing and a favorite of organized labor, was languishing until Pelosi delivered her endorsement in the final stretch of the primary campaign. Her imprimatur sent Chan surging past tech millionaire Saikat Chakrabarti to place second behind Wiener.
With less than two weeks until election day, the November runoff appears too close to call, though many give Wiener the edge.
There is little that substantively divides the two candidates, both liberals in good standing. Wiener is considered the more moderate of the two, graded on San Francisco’s very-left curve.
“Connie Chan and Scott Wiener are going to vote the same way 99.9% of the time,” said Jim Ross, another longtime San Francisco political strategist. Further, he noted, it’s going to be years before either acquires the clout needed to be a significant force on Capitol Hill. “That’s just the reality of how Congress works.”
Which makes Pelosi’s heavy involvement in their fratricidal fight all the more striking.
She’s put her hefty fundraising muscle behind Chan, helping narrow Wiener’s financial advantage. She’s appeared in pro-Chan advertising — striding in her trademark stilettos — and lent her Washington communications director to the campaign.
San Francisco politics have long been personal, nasty and brutish. The city’s close quarters and intraparty rivalries help make it so, and Pelosi’s intervention has further frayed old ties and strained deep-seated alliances.
Susie Tompkins Buell, a San Francisco philanthropist and one of the Democratic Party’s most influential donors, told Politico she couldn’t understand why Pelosi would use her final months in office to torpedo Wiener’s campaign. She’s spoken to other prominent Democrats, Buell said, who felt pressured to endorse Chan because the speaker emerita hit them up.
“All you do is say, ‘Why, why is this happening?’ ” Buell wondered aloud.
It’s been nearly 40 years — going back to when Pelosi was first elected in 1987 — since San Francisco had an open congressional seat. Winning here is tantamount to a lifetime appointment; since 1964, just three people have held the seat Pelosi is vacating.
Both Wiener, who is gay, and Chan, who immigrated to San Francisco from Hong Kong, are bidding to write their own bit of history. Wiener, 56, would be the first out LGBTQ+ person to represent San Francisco in Congress. Chan, 48, would be the first Asian American.
As for Pelosi, her aggressive intervention in the contest won’t even merit “a footnote in her biography,” Jaye said.
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![Supplies are regularly delivered to government forces on Taiz’s frontlines [Courtesy of Khadiji al-Majidi]](https://i0.wp.com/occasionaldigest.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/%D9%85%D9%88%D8%A7%D8%AF-%D8%BA%D8%B0%D8%A7%D8%A6%D9%8A%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%AC%D9%8A%D8%AF%D9%8A-1792596341.jpg?w=640&ssl=1)
