PHILADELPHIA — Shohei Ohtani wrapped up long toss in the Citizens Bank Park outfield Wednesday afternoon, turned and headed for the two-story bullpen stairs.

Ohtani had initially been scheduled to take the mound for the Dodgers Wednesday against the Phillies. But, with the date of his next pitching start up in the air, his bullpen session still drew a lot of eyes.

Ohtani threw off a mound Wednesday for the first time since receiving an Orthovisc injection in his left knee to lubricate the joint. The side session of about 30 pitches, running through multiple pitch types, was similar to a normal between-starts bullpen, pitching coach Mark Prior said.

“It looked good,” Prior said. “Feels good. We’ll see where he’s at tomorrow.”

Asked if Ohtani said his knee was feeling 100%, Prior said they didn’t get into specifics.

“Just said, ‘How did you feel throwing?’ He said it felt great,” Prior said.

Ohtani, who was in the lineup Wednesday as the designated hitter, was not made available to comment before the game.

It’s still unclear when Ohtani will pick up pitching duties again. But manager Dave Roberts ruled out Ohtani starting on the mound this weekend against the Mets.

“It’s day by day with him,” Prior said. “We’re present today. He threw a bullpen, see where he comes in … Friday, since we’re off [Thursday]. We’ll make determinations after that.”

This bullpen session was a chance for Ohtani to test his knee, which before the injection seemed to be aggravated by pitching.

“It’s a big sign,” Roberts said. “Because the grass, the flat ground, all of that stuff is well and good, the arm is fine. So it’s more of getting down the slope, throwing over your front side. That’s kind of the big test. Usually the bullpens are right around 88 (mph), so we’ll see where he’s at.”

Ohtani has already been out long enough that the Dodgers will have to be mindful of his workload whenever he rejoins the rotation. His last start on the mound was July 3 against the Padres.

“I still think it hasn’t been so long that the equity that he’s built up with the pitch count is that much compromised,” Roberts said. “But with that, I can’t foresee him running out there and throwing 100 pitches his first outing.”

If he’s sidelined for too long, he could have to gradually build up with each start. But it’s hard to pinpoint where that delineation lies.

“I think the easy answer is to say every pitcher is different,” Roberts said.

The Senate was also expected to vote on War Powers resolution, in largely symbolic move attempting to reign in Trump.

Four Republicans in the United States House of Representatives have again joined Democrats in voting to constrain President Donald Trump’s power to wage war against Iran.

The resolution passed on Thursday, nearly a week after three US military personnel were killed by an Iranian attack on a base in Jordan, with a 214-208 vote. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has said Democrats will also force a War Powers vote in the Senate on Thursday.

Both the House and Senate had previously passed a resolution in June that called on Trump to seek congressional approval before launching further attacks. However, because the resolution was passed as a so-called “concurrent resolution”, it was not sent to Trump’s desk.

Even if the measure had been passed as a joint resolution, requiring it to be sent to Trump for approval, the president could veto it. Overriding such a veto requires a two-thirds vote in both chambers.

Democrats have said the latest resolution sends an important message that lawmakers oppose Trump’s approach to the war, which has re-escalated after a ceasefire broke down in early July.

Both the US and Iran have traded 12 days of consecutive attacks, with some analysts warning an even greater US escalation may be on the horizon, as Trump has repeatedly threatened attacks on civilian infrastructure and a possible ground invasion.

“This is a vote that requires us to find the strength to do what is right for the American people, and to send the clearest, even stronger message to this president of the United States that the United States Congress, the House of Representatives, is reasserting our authority over war,” Representative Pramila Jayapal said from the House floor on Wednesday.

“This war must end,” she said.

Under the US Constitution, only Congress can declare war, something it has not done since World War II, although presidents can commit forces in instances of pressing self-defence.

Trump has argued that the culmination of Iran’s actions since 1979 represents such an imminent threat, a claim many constitutional law experts have rejected.

Under the 1973 War Powers Act, presidents must receive congressional approval within 60 days of committing troops. While the US-Israel war with Iran began on February 28, the Trump administration claimed that hostilities had “terminated” following a temporary pause in fighting reached in April.

War powers experts and some members of Congress have said the attempted workaround flouts the law. The administration again notified Congress that fighting had resumed before the most recent round of attacks.

In a statement on Thursday, David Janovsky, acting director of The Constitution Project at the Project On Government Oversight (POGO), said the House vote “reaffirmed what people across the country have been saying all along: We want no part in an illegal war”.

“Contrary to the administration’s claims, the latest hostilities are not a new war. We’re now months past the constitutional deadline for the administration to end this unauthorised war,” he said.

He also noted that the House on Tuesday approved a sprawling $1.15 trillion defence bill that includes tens of billions more in funding for the war. The Senate has not yet voted on the package.

“If Congress is serious about bringing an end to this prolonged conflict, it must also refuse the administration’s request to fund it,” he said.

The conflict in Yemen has entered a new chapter with a declaration by the Houthis that they are imposing a maritime siege on all shipping to Saudi Arabia.

The Yemeni rebel group, also known as Ansar Allah (or supporters of God), has attacked a number of Saudi tankers in the Red Sea.

This development has placed the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, the strategic waterway that connects the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden and the wider Indian Ocean, at the heart of the war between the United States and Iran, and amplifies pressure on global trade routes.

The Iranian-backed Houthis, who seized Yemeni capital Sanaa in 2014, have threatened to close the strait, the route through which much of Europe’s energy supplies pass. It is also a key passage for imports to Saudi Arabia.

The Houthis’ decision to announce a maritime blockade cannot be separated from the turmoil created by the ongoing war between Washington and Tehran, which erupted on February 28 when the US and Israel attacked Iran.

Houthis raise stakes for Saudi’s support

On Monday, Yemen’s internationally recognised government claimed responsibility for an air strike on Sanaa airport, saying that it was a measure to prevent an Iranian plane from landing in Yemen’s Houthi-controlled capital. But the Houthis blamed Saudi Arabia for it.

The Houthis responded by firing missiles into Saudi Arabia – a key backer of the Aden-based Yemeni government – and later upped the stakes by announcing a naval blockade on the kingdom.

These developments mark a major escalation in Yemen’s civil war. Saudi Arabia, which has sought in recent years to avoid a new war on its southern borders, is facing a more complex equation with the threat shifting from land to sea, and the targeting of one of the most important alternative routes for its oil exports.

All of this raises the question: will this escalation cause a new confrontation between the Yemeni government and the Houthis? And if so, what does the balance of power look like between the Houthi and government sides after more than a decade of war? Has the balance changed enough to increase the odds of a military resolution to the conflict?

There has been talk of potential escalations in recent years, but this now seems more likely, especially since it intersects with local, regional and international events and the return of the US-Iran war.

The Yemeni government has restructured its military with a single decision-making centre, and regional messages suggest the military option has not been shelved, as was once thought.

So, will retaking Sanaa return to the table as a military objective to be thought of seriously, and what does that mean practically? And how ready are the parties, especially the Yemeni government, for battle?

The structure of government-affiliated forces

The anti-Houthi camp today comprises the National Army as the official framework of the Ministry of Defence, in addition to new formations with independent commands, such as the Giants Brigades, and the Guardians of the Republic forces in al-Makha, or Mocha, in the west.

These different groupings – all on the anti-Houthi side in the conflict – have emerged over the years due to the weakening power of the central government, the growth of independent figures, and the backing of regional countries.

The number of National Army personnel in the field is estimated at about 400,000, according to recent statements by the Defence Ministry. Its organisational structure includes Yemen’s seven military regions, but troop deployment is concentrated in Marib, Taiz and the country’s southern and eastern governorates, as a result of Houthi control over vast parts of the country’s northwest, including Sanaa.

Also backing the army are the Emergency Forces, comprising between 30,000 to 40,000 personnel, and the Homeland Shield Forces, created in 2022 with between 30,000 and 40,000 recruits, and tasked with taking over camps in Hadramout and the southern governorates in December 2025, following the defeat of separatist forces who previously controlled those areas.

Fighting late last year between the Yemeni government and affiliated forces on one side, and United Arab Emirates-backed separatists on the other, has led to changes in Yemen’s south and west.

After the defeat of the 75,000-strong separatist Southern Transitional Council, following a Saudi intervention on the side of the government and the withdrawal of the UAE from Yemen, the group’s organisational cohesion has been impacted. But they have not been disarmed, and remain in many locations in the south, with some elements absorbed – even if nominally – into government structures.

Another formerly-UAE backed force, the Tariq Saleh-led Guardians of the Republic, is estimated to number about 20,000 fighters. They are stationed primarily on the Red Sea coast and are considered among the most heavily armed formations, due to the past Emirati support.

The Giants Brigades are among the most prominent combat formations in the anti-Houthi camp, with an estimated 20,000 fighters and a presence on the Red Sea coast, in Aden, and in some southern areas.

Consequently, the total size of the forces affiliated with the government and the anti-Houthi camp is estimated at more than 500,000 personnel, albeit with a clear disparity in levels of training, discipline and institutional integration.

Quality of armament and military equipment

The types of weapons held by these forces do not differ as significantly as the level of their operation and management. The National Army relies on conventional weapons inherited from the Yemeni army pre-war, including light and medium weapons, armoured vehicles, tanks and field artillery, alongside various communication and transport capabilities.

The Homeland Shield Forces, backed by Saudi Arabia, are considered among the most relatively well-equipped modern formations. They rely on tactical vehicles, light armoured vehicles, and superior communication systems suited for rapid deployment missions and the protection of institutions.

The Emergency Forces rely on light to medium armament focused on urban operations and rapid deployment missions, more akin to a field military force with rapid intervention duties, combining a security character with combat capability.

The Giants Brigades rely on medium and heavy armament, armoured vehicles and fire support units, and they are recognised for their capability to conduct offensive ground operations compared with other forces.

As for the formations affiliated with the Southern Transitional Council, they rely on diverse weaponry, though readiness varies as a result of the organisational changes they have undergone.

In recent years, the majority of government forces have also developed their drone capabilities, both within regular units and some irregular formations. These assets are now used for reconnaissance and surveillance missions, and occasionally for limited tactical support.

Balance of power with the Houthis

Official military records in Sanaa indicate that Houthi-affiliated army units comprise more than 200,000 fighters and can also mobilise tens of thousands of members from their volunteer Popular Committees for rapid intervention and support.

However, these figures, much like the military rosters in the government camp, may not accurately reflect the actual combat strength on the ground due to the inclusion of reserve or inactive names in registries.

Although government-affiliated forces may possess more manpower, the balance of power in Yemen is not determined solely by numbers.

Despite sustaining significant damage to its forces and assets from US and Israeli strikes over the past few years, the Houthi side benefits from a more centralised command structure and possesses experience in managing asymmetric warfare.

This is in addition to possessing missile, drone and maritime threat capabilities that have proven their impact in the Red Sea and the Bab-al-Mandeb Strait. It appears that the military balance in Yemen is more a balance of organisational and war management rather than a balance of weaponry and numbers.

Readiness of government forces for a major battle

Indicators suggest government forces are capable of engaging in defensive battles, holding territory or managing extensive security deployments. However, they face significant challenges should they consider launching a large-scale offensive.

The most prominent of these challenges was the multiplicity of military decision-making centres – before Saudi Arabia assumed control of this decision-making following the UAE’s withdrawal – and the varying levels of training and discipline, compounded by the difficulty of operational coordination.

Geography is also a factor, as the Houthis’ control over the mountainous northwest grants them a defensive advantage, whereas government forces are dispersed across multiple fronts, limiting their ability to mobilise at a decisive point.

The scenario of entering Sanaa

So far, there are no clear public indications that any international power, including the US, has adopted a declared plan to support a large-scale military operation to take Sanaa.

Although Houthi attacks in the Red Sea have elevated the level of international interest in the Yemeni file, the international strategy has been focused on degrading Houthi capabilities related to the sea and smuggling, rather than on a ground offensive. However, reports have emerged from sources within the Yemeni state regarding a possibility of waging a war against the Houthis with US support.

If an operation towards Sanaa is considered, its success would require complex conditions, most notably unifying the government’s military command, providing broad domestic and regional political cover, and ensuring the ability to manage the city after seizing control of it. Some of these conditions may have already been met.

Has Saudi Arabia provided cover to confront the Houthis?

The Yemeni government’s military decision-making is largely tied to Saudi political and military support, and any broad move against the Houthis remains contingent upon Riyadh. But Riyadh has preferred to focus on protecting the kingdom’s southern borders, securing shipping lanes and preventing the expansion of the Houthi threat deep into Saudi territory.

It seems that Saudi strategy has previously leaned towards managing the conflict rather than resolving it, by combining limited military pressure, diplomatic moves and de-escalation tracks to reduce the security and economic costs of the war.

The Saudi position may have shifted recently in light of international and regional events, particularly concerning the security of navigation in the Red Sea. Riyadh may be pushed to re-evaluate its options regarding the Yemeni file, and the one currently on the table may be a military one.

As EastEnders’ king-hearted teen Barney Mitchell lands himself in hot water, let’s take a look inside the life of actor Lewis Bridgeman.

EastEnders has aired shock scenes for the teenagers of Walford this week, and Barney Mitchell could be hiding a very dark secret.

Actor Lewis Bridgeman arrived on the BBC One soap in the summer of 2024, alongside his dad, Teddy (Roland Manookian), and Harry (Elijah Holloway), and drama quickly followed.

It was soon revealed that self-confessed bookworm Barney is the product of an affair between his mum, Nicola (Laura Doddington), and Zack Hudson (James Farrar), leaving both Barney and Teddy devastated by the truth about his paternity.

Sweetheart Barney appears to be an innocent extension of the Mitchell family with a passion for friendship and education, but the schoolboy is now taking center stage, as he may be hiding a sinister side following a violent incident involving Joel Marshall (Max Murray).

In recent episodes of the BBC soap, Joel returned to Walford following a six-month prison sentence for violently attacking his step-mum, Vicki Fowler (Alice Haig), who was determined not to live under the same roof as the tearaway teen.

He soon realised he was not welcome in the Square and planned to leave without saying goodbye to his dad, Ross Marshall (Alex Walkinshaw). However, before Joel left the Square, he was attacked by Walford’s teenagers who tied him to a fence and soaked him in beer while making fun of him.

Lily Slater (Lillia Turner), Avani Nandra-Hart (Aaliyah James), Amy Mitchell (Ellie Dadd), Nugget Gulati (Juhaim Rasul Choudhury), Ricky Branning (Frankie Day), Denzel Danes (Jaden Ladega), and Barney Mitchell (Lewis Bridgeman) later went back to free Joel after Will Mitchell (Freddie Phillips) ordered to let him go.

But when they returned, Joel was found unconscious on the floor with a serious head injury. On Thursday (July 23), the group was sickened by the sight of his body, and the police soon arrived at the scene.

DC Craig Ingram (Matthew James-Bailey) assured the teenagers were not under arrest as their parents gathered at the station, though they were all witnesses to the assault.

The group later gathered in The Arches to get their story straight as Joel received treatment in the hospital, but Barney looked visibly sheepish.

Harry Mitchell (Elijah Holloway) arrived and told them to leave, saying that the garage owner, Phil Mitchell (Steve McFadden), would be furious if he knew they’d used his premises as a meeting point. It then transpired that Barney had taken his spare key.

With everyone gone, Barney asked his brother if he’d found anything. Harry pulled a carrier bag from his coat that contained a hammer and said he needed to know everything. Did Barney attack Joel?

Who plays Barney in EastEnders?

Barney Mitchell is played by actor Lewis Bridgeman. The 19-year-old actor was born in Maldon, Essex, and attended Plume School with aspirations to become a drama teacher or an actor from a young age.

In 2021, Lewis joined the National Youth Theatre, which allowed the soap star to participate in workshops and stage productions and opened up opportunities for professional acting contracts.

The young actor has since appeared in various theatre productions, including The Wind in the Willows and Goodnight, Mister Tom.

Lewis’ talents do not stop at acting, as the soap star is also very intelligent. At the age of 12, he took Mensa International’s acceptance test and passed, indicating an IQ above 132 and placing him in the top 2% of the world’s population.

Lewis has been diagnosed with autism and dyspraxia, and his mother, Jayne Bridgeman, was worried he would struggle at school.

“Lewis has wanted to become an actor since the age of six,” proud mum Jayne told Maldon Standard in 2021.

“He adores everything to do with theatre and film. I’m very proud, I love the theatre, and we geek out together on Star Wars and Marvel things.”

Lewis went on to achieve four grade 9s and studied drama at A-Level whilst attending Chelmsford Drama Centre at weekends.

He landed the role of Barney Mitchell in EastEnders in 2024, with his first scene airing the same summer.

EastEnders airs Monday to Thursday on BBC One and iPlayer

The Rams, as is seemingly their custom with a Super Bowl scheduled to be played at SoFi Stadium, made blockbuster trades to improve an already star-studded roster.

Players will report to training camp Saturday at Loyola Marymount as favorites to win Super Bowl LXI in their home stadium in February.

And that does not factor in eight-time All-Pro defensive lineman Aaron Donald’s possible return from retirement.

Much, however, can go awry on the way to the NFL’s biggest showcase.

Injuries, subpar performances by Rams players and coaches, and outstanding clutch play by opponents — see the 2025 Super Bowl-champion Seattle Seahawks — could derail the Rams’ presumptive date with destiny.

On Sunday, they will hold the first of 11 training-camp practices before preseason games against the Kansas City Chiefs, New Orleans Saints and the Chargers.

Here are six things to watch in training camp:

Quarterback Matthew Stafford’s workload

Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford speaks with coach Sean McVay during an organized team activities workout in May.

(Kevin Terrell / Getty Images)

In 2025, because of a back issue, Matthew Stafford did not take a single training-camp snap.

The lack of on-field preparation did not appear to adversely affect him: Stafford eventually tested his fitness after training camp ended — and he went on to win the league’s most valuable player award for the first time.

So the Rams learned from the experience. Preseason inactivity is not necessarily a bad thing for a 17-year veteran who has thrown more than 9,000 passes in regular-season and playoff games and thousands more in practices.

McVay is expected to limit the 38-year-old Stafford’s participation in full-team drills.

Without the luxury of veteran Jimmy Garoppolo running the offense, rookie Ty Simpson, the 13th pick of the NFL draft, and fourth-year pro Stetson Bennett will get plenty of snaps with the starters and with backups during preseason games.

The Myles Garrett effect

Rams defensive end Myles Garrett, left, speaks during a news conference while sitting next to coach Sean McVay on June 2.

(Ric Tapia / For The Times)

The Rams in June made the biggest and boldest move of the offseason when they traded for defensive end Myles Garrett, a two-time NFL defensive player of the year who amassed an NFL record 23 sacks last season for the Cleveland Browns.

Garrett joins a front that includes outside linebacker Byron Young and interior linemen Kobie Turner, Braden Fiske, Poona Ford and ….

Donald?

The Rams, at least publicly, are still waiting on a decision from the three-time NFL defensive player of the year who retired after the 2023 season. If Donald does not make his plans known before report day, it will not stop speculation about a return before or during the season.

Who will be the third receiver?

Rams wide receiver Xavier Smith catches a pass in practice in May.

(Jayne Kamin-Oncea / Associated Press)

Puka Nacua spent part of the offseason in rehab and is the defendant in a civil lawsuit. During organized-team activities, he appeared fit and sounded determined to build on an All-Pro resume that could eventually earn him a record-setting contract.

After discussing trading Davante Adams for A.J. Brown, McVay and general manager Les Snead ultimately chose to stick with the 13th-year pro and future Hall of Famer, who last season led the NFL with 14 touchdown catches.

During the draft, the Rams passed on the opportunity to select former USC receiver Makai Lemon and opted instead to pick Simpson, Stafford’s heir apparent.

With much-loved but seldom-used Tutu Atwell now playing for the Miami Dolphins, Xavier Smith, Jordan Whittington, Konata Mumpfield and rookie CJ Daniels will compete for the opportunity to be a third receiver.

Secondary as primary strength

Rams cornerback Trent McDuffie participates in drills during practice in May.

(Jayne Kamin-Oncea / Associated Press)

The Rams upgraded their most obvious weakness by trading for All-Pro cornerback Trent McDuffie and signing cornerback Jaylen Watson.

Both played in three Super Bowls for the Kansas City Chiefs, winning two.

They join safeties Quentin Lake and Kam Curl — both of whom received extensions — to give the Rams one of the strongest units in the league.

Cornerback Emmanuel Forbes Jr. and safeties Kamren Kinchens and Jaylen McCollough provide depth and experience.

Jimmy Lake replaced Aubrey Pleasant as defensive backs coach.

Offensive line depth

Rams guard Steve Avila, right, blocks defensive tackle Poona Ford in practice in May.

(Jayne Kamin-Oncea / Associated Press)

Left tackle Alaric Jackson will not face criminal charges for a domestic incident that resulted in his arrest in June. But the NFL could still suspend Jackson, who in 2024 was forced to sit out two games for violating the league’s personal-conduct policy.

Warren McClendon Jr., the starting right tackle, has experience playing on the left side. Rookie Keagan Trost and veteran David Quessenberry could compete to back up Jackson.

McClendon, guards Kevin Dotson and Steve Avila and center Coleman Shelton are in the final year of their contracts. Jackson is signed through 2027, though his salary is not guaranteed, according to Overthecap.com.

Special teams

Bubba Ventrone will be tasked with helping the Rams turn around their special teams unit in 2026.

(Brevin Townsell / Los Angeles Rams via the Associated Press)

Last season, the Rams lost several games that featured major special teams breakdowns.

McVay hired coordinator Bubba Ventrone to make sure it does not happen again.

After replacing Joshua Karty, Harrison Mevis established himself as a reliable and clutch kicker in the second half of the season and the playoffs.

Punter Ethan Evans is in his fourth season with the Rams, veteran snapper Joe Cardona is in his first.

July 23 (UPI) — The Houthis in Yemen claimed responsibility for two attacks on Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea with missiles and drones.

The Iran-backed Houthis, who have been fighting for control of Yemen, claimed on Wednesday that they had hit the Encelia and the Layla oil tankers, which they said were violating their blockade of Saudi ships. They had announced the blockade on Monday.

Saudi Arabia’s transportation authority confirmed the attack on the Encelia in a statement. It said there was a fire on board but the crew were all safe. It didn’t mention the Layla.

Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree said the group promised to continue naval operations and would continue “enforcing the ‘siege for a siege’ equation,” the BBC reported.

The Houthis claimed they had also forced “10 ships to retreat and return.” That claim could not be independently verified, The Times said, but at least six vessels reversed course in the Red Sea on Monday and Tuesday after the Houthis warned shipping companies to avoid Saudi ports, according to Kpler, a maritime data company. It was not clear if those ships were part of the Houthis’ claims.

The Saudis and the Houthis have been in an effective cease-fire since 2022. But last week, tensions flared when the Houthis accused the Saudis of striking the airport in Yemen’s capital Sanaa. The spat came from a dispute when an Iranian plane had tried to land at the airport.

The Houthis then attacked the Abha airport in Saudi Arabia.

When the Houthis announced the “maritime embargo,” they didn’t give many details. But a media official said they would close the Bab al-Mandab Strait. That strait is on the other side of the Arabian Peninsula from the Strait of Hormuz. It’s the gateway between the Arabian Sea and the Red Sea, and blockades of both straits would cut off Saudi Arabia ships entirely.

The United States and Iran continued to trade attacks for the 12th consecutive night after the cease-fire between the two countries ended.

Inflation has fallen both in the UK – down to 2.6% in the year to June helped by slowing diesel and petrol prices – and in the US to 3.5%.

But questions remain whether the slow down will prove short-lived due to the renewed conflict in the Middle East.

New data released on Thursday showed that UK petrol prices have risen by 5p a litre since the beginning of July, hitting reaching almost £1.56.

Diesel is at £1.72 a litre, on average, according to the RAC.

Average gasoline prices in the US have surpassed $4 a gallon once more, up from $3.92 a month ago, according to motorist advocacy group AAA.

“More expensive fuel and energy can ripple through the wider economy, increasing costs for businesses and ultimately feeding through into the price of food and other goods,” said Jonathan Raymond, investment manager at Quilter Cheviot.

“This creates another headache for central banks as they continue their battle against inflation.

“If energy prices remain elevated, policymakers may come under pressure to keep interest rates higher for longer or even raise them. This would come as a blow to mortgage holders and borrowers already feeling the strain.”

The Bank of England, which sets UK interest rates, has held them at 3.75% in its last four meetings.

Paul Dales, chief UK economist at Capital Economics, said he believed the Bank will “almost certainly” hold them again. But he said analysts still expected that interest rates could be cut next year if energy price rises ease.

Kevin Warsh, the newly-appointed chair of the US Federal Reserve, last week told Congress that the central bank had “no tolerance to persistently elevated inflation”.

US President Donald Trump had pushed Warsh’s predecessor, Jerome Powell, to cut interest rates.

Trump has made it clear he expects Warsh to fulfil his demand for reductions in borrowing costs for Americans.

But the Fed held US interest rates between 3.5% and 3.75% at Warsh’s first meeting last month. He also told Congress that he was committed to “restoring price stability” in the wake of the Middle East conflict impacting prices.

A NEW 34-mile coastal path linking two pretty English villages has opened today.

It will give hikers access to previously unwalkable routes and forms part of a huge coastal path project.

A major new 34-mile section of the King Charles III England Coast Path has officially opened today, Thursday July 23.

Running between Foxfield and Greenodd, the opening of the path is the latest milestone in completing the 200-mile coastal stretch from Gretna to Silverdale, on the Lancashire border.

The new opening now brings the grand total of walkable Coast Path in the North West to around 208 miles.

Those looking to walk the path will be treated to charming coastal communities, nature reserves and historic industrial landscapes.

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When fully complete, the King Charles III England Coast Path will become a 2,700-mile stretch around the entire English coast.

The National Trail route is set to be the longest managed coastal walking route in the world.

From today, walkers can now explore the new section of path located on the eastern edge of the Furness Peninsula.

The new section of path is a key milestone in the delivery of the 70-mile stretch of coastal route from Silecroft to Silverdale.

Winding through a number of coastal communities, visitors will pass by Kirkby-in-Furness, Askam-in-Furness, Barrow-in-Furness, Bardsea and Ulverston, before crossing the Leven Estuary.

The route also offers views of Morecambe Bay and passes the end of the Ulverston Canal.

Walkers can also spot a number of distinctive slag banks, sand dunes and an abundance of wildlife along the path.

The delivery of the new path will move visitors away from previously unavoidable shores, leading to a greater discovery of the area’s coastal landscape.

Natural England deputy director for Cumbria, Claire Argent, said: “The Furness Peninsula is one of those places that genuinely takes your breath away, whether you’re watching the light change across Morecambe Bay, listening for curlews over the estuary, or discovering the layers of history tucked into these coastal communities.

“This new stretch of the King Charles III England Coast Path gives people the chance to experience all of that on foot, safely, sustainably and responsibly, whilst learning about and caring for our wonderful landscapes and nature.

“We’re proud to see this route taking shape and look forward to completing the full 200-mile Cumbrian stretch.”

The path is located on a mix of existing public rights of way, permissive access routes and new access.

Councillor Adrian Waite said the project was a “huge job” which required “securing contracts and permissions, specifying work, getting quotes, managing the contractors and liaising with landowners”.

The cabinet member for Environmental Services and Transport at Westmorland and Furness Council said the teams had put in “more than 300 signs and waymark posts, 10 sets of steps, 23 bridges, around 60 gates” and five kilometres of fencing and surfacing.

Anyone looking to grab their hiking boots and try out the coastal path is reminded to follow the Countryside and Coastal codes when walking the route.

Travellers are also warned to exercise caution around Morecambe Bay, as fast-moving tides and quicksands in the area could be dangerous when venturing onto sands and saltmarshes without an experienced guide.

A wartime science fiction thriller is available on BBC iPlayer and viewers are hooked

A World War I drama hailed as “brilliant” by viewers is available to stream now.

The Sentinels, an eight-part French wartime sci-fi series from STUDIOCANAL, has been snapped up by the BBC and can currently be viewed on BBC iPlayer.

Starring Louis Peres, the series was drawn from the graphic novels Les Sentinelles by Xavier Dorison and Enrique Breccia and is billed as an “adrenaline-drenched steampunk-style thriller”.

It follows a soldier, played by Louis, who who has been injected with a super serum and joins an elite unit on a mission to end the fighting.

“At the outbreak of World War I, Gabriel Ferraud – a gravely wounded soldier – is recruited into a top-secret French military programme designed to create the ultimate weapon: enhanced humans,” said a synopsis.

“After being injected with a mysterious serum, Gabriel gains extraordinary strength, speed, and resilience. He joins an elite unit known as the Sentinels – augmented soldiers forged for the front lines.”

However, as the conflict goes on, Gabriel discovers “a terrifying truth”.

“The Sentinels is a fully immersive war drama, drenched in adrenaline,” said Nick Lee, head of BBC programme acquisition. “Prepare for something totally different and unforgivingly entertaining.”

The series has won over viewers, with one posting on IMDb.com: “If you like superheroes (antiheroes), war movies and aren’t afraid of some action with a touch of grim dark sci-fi in a first world setting… then you’ll love this!”

Another wrote on review site Rotten Tomatoes: “This is absolutely brilliant if you’re into war dramas, thrillers and superheroes. The characters are well developed, both protagonists and antagonists – there’s three main storylines which are all equally compelling, and the action set pieces are entertaining bringing all the gritty brutality of fighting on the Western Front combined with the dirty combat. All in all, something different to the usual.”

“I thought this show absolutely ruled and hope to see more seasons,” another viewer commented on Reddit.

“This was a really great watch,” agreed somebody else. “Loved the costume design, and the action wasn’t cringy and badly done like a lot of shows.”

The Sentinels is available on BBC iPlayer.

New research shows more Brits have visited the Eiffel Tower than some of Britain’s most iconic landmarks, with cost of living and lack of time cited as the main barriers to exploring closer to home.

Britons are more likely to have visited landmarks overseas than those on their own doorstep, according to new research.

A survey of 2,000 adults found that more people have laid eyes on the Eiffel Tower (55%) than some of Britain’s most beloved landmarks, including the Tower of London (54%), Tower Bridge (53%) and Trafalgar Square (52%). The findings also revealed that people were better at identifying foreign landmarks than those closer to home.

More than three quarters (78%) of respondents could identify the Eiffel Tower, while 71% recognised the Leaning Tower of Pisa and 61% could identify Rome’s Colosseum. By contrast, fewer people were able to recognise St Paul’s Cathedral (58%), Westminster Abbey (53%) and Edinburgh Castle (52%).

In honour of these landmarks, Railcard.co.uk, which commissioned the research, collaborated with ‘Sand in Your Eye’ to craft a variety of attractions and famous sights from across Britain in sand. The sculpture was revealed on Blackpool promenade and will stay there for the public to view until the weekend.

Constructed using 12 tonnes of sand and taking three days to complete, the creation showcases the attractions topping Brits’ wish lists: Tower of London (22%), Edinburgh Castle (18%), Stonehenge (18%), Eden Project (18%) and Scotland’s Loch Ness (18%).

Catherine Lyver, from railcard.co.uk, which commissioned the research to encourage Brits to make the most of British landmarks by offering a third off travel for adults and 60% off for children, said: “It’s easy to overlook the iconic landmarks and hidden gems on our doorstep, yet Great Britain is full of incredible places to explore.

“We’re encouraging people to do a third more with their break, making it easier and more affordable to tick off some of the bucket-list-worthy destinations closer to home.”

“Whether you’re still looking to tick off historic favourites like the Tower of London or have added the modern Eden Project to your list, there are plenty of opportunities to make your summer go further when you travel by train.”

The overwhelming majority in the OnePoll.com survey for railcard.co.uk (79%) said they would like to discover more British landmarks – but the cost of living (43%) and lack of time (33%) are the primary obstacles preventing them.

When visiting British landmarks 23% will travel by train, because it’s relaxing (59%), more convenient (46%) and don’t have to worry about parking (43%).

THE 10 MUST VISIT ATTRACTIONS IN BRITAIN:

1. Tower of London
2. Edinburgh Castle
3. Stonehenge
4. Eden Project
5. Loch Ness
6. The British Museum
7. Buckingham Palace
8. Lake Windermere
9. Windsor Castle
10. Jurassic Coast

A year after racking up more miles than any team in the NFL, the Chargers are homebodies.

For the first time in their 10 seasons in Los Angeles, they will open with back-to-back games on their home field — against Arizona and Las Vegas.

What’s more, one of their away games will be at SoFi Stadium, against the host Rams on Nov. 1.

Who knows if less time in an airplane will make a difference, but a franchise that hasn’t won a postseason game since the 2018 season will look for anything to change that trajectory.

It’s worth noting that Jim Harbaugh got his team to the playoffs in each of his first two seasons, and he has a history of turning around franchises in college football and the pros.

And, as they’ll show in training camp, the 2026 Chargers have made some significant changes.

Here are five things to watch in training camp:

Justin time

Chargers offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel speaks at a news conference on June 17.

(Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Times)

It’s the seventh season for Justin Herbert, and the star quarterback is on his fifth offensive coordinator. Will former Miami Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel be the play-designing architect to push him over the top and get him that elusive first playoff victory?

Already, McDaniel has done some tinkering and fine-tuning, tweaking Herbert’s footwork out of the shotgun formation to allow him to get the ball out of his hands a fraction of a second earlier. That should allow his receivers more time to turn up the field and bump up their yards-after-catch numbers.

The ball is coming out even before the receivers have turned their heads for it, and McDaniel has warned them the ball could hit them in the face if they’re not ready. It’s a way to neutralize the pass rush, too.

“If you’re getting the ball out quickly, there’s really nothing they can do about it,” Herbert said of defenders. “You’ve got to find a way to slow them down, and I think that’s just [McDaniel’s] way of taking them out of the game.”

Herbert has absorbed a lot of hits over the years, and he has leaned heavily on his arm strength too.

“In years past, you rely on your arm strength to put the ball exactly where you need to,” he said, “instead of trusting it and just throwing it to a spot and letting them go and get it.”

Next man up

Chargers defensive coordintor Chris O’Leary speaks at a news conference on June 17.

(Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Times)

Jesse Minter did such a solid job as defensive coordinator of the Chargers that he was hired as head coach of the Baltimore Ravens. So in steps his protege, Chris O’Leary, who coached under him at Georgia State and Notre Dame before spending the 2024 season coaching Chargers safeties. Then it was off to Western Michigan for O’Leary last season, where he was defensive coordinator — a year of experience in that job before returning to replace the departing Minter for the Chargers.

If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. That’s expected to be the philosophy of O’Leary, who tutored his Western Michigan players by showing them tapes of the Chargers.

That said, he’s probably not going to follow Minter to the letter. He likely will have the same coverage schemes and rely just as much on All-Pro safety Derwin James, but his defenses might blitz more than Minter’s (the Chargers were near the bottom of the league in that category in 2026) and will look to turn first-round pick Akheem Mesidor into a pass-rushing star.

Odafe Oweh, acquired during the 2025 season in a trade with Baltimore, will play for the Washington Commanders this season. Mesidor, a linebacker who played collegiately at West Virginia and Miami, was selected 22nd overall.

It’s all on the line

Chargers offensive tackle Joe Alt participates in a drill at minicamp in June.

(Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Times)

The Chargers have huge draft capital invested in their offensive line — including spending first-round picks on bookend tackles Rashawn Slater and Joe Alt — and that was supposed to be a strength of the team last season. That went off the rails early, however, with the team losing Slater to a season-ending injury in training camp and Alt soon after the season started.

The line wound up being a disaster with a reshuffled cast virtually every week. One of the few fixtures was center Bradley Bozeman, who Pro Football Focus rated 40th out of 40 players who qualified at that position. He retired after the season.

The Chargers have a new center in Tyler Biadasz, who was released by the Commanders in a cost-cutting move, and Alt (ankle) and Slater (knee) are cleared and ready to go. If this unit can stay healthy, it will look a lot different — and a lot better — than the 2025 version.

Beginning of the ends

Chargers tight end David Njoku speaks during a news conference on May 19.

(William Liang / Associated Press)

In the not-too-distant past, the Chargers had one of the NFL’s premier tight ends in Antonio Gates, enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame last summer. Since, the team has had more downs than ups at the position, although it saw some flashes last season from rookie Oronde Gadsden II, a talented pass catcher.

The Chargers got another infusion of promising tight ends in the offseason, acquiring free agents David Njoku and Charlie Kolar, both of whom thrived elsewhere.

Njoku was a gifted receiver and blocker in Cleveland, catching 81 balls and scoring six touchdowns in 2023. His numbers dropped off last season, though, as the Browns cycled through five different quarterbacks.

Kolar was more blocker than receiver in his four years with the Ravens, and he did that very well. When he did see passes thrown his way, he did a good job of reeling those in.

Oh my, Omarion

Chargers running back Omarion Hampton speaks at a news conference during minicamp on June 17.

(Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Times)

The rookie grade for running back Omarion Hampton? Incomplete. The 2025 first-round pick from North Carolina got off to a good start, including a 128-yard rushing performance at the New York Giants in Week 4, before sustaining a fractured ankle the following week that sidelined him for two months.

In his sophomore season, he should be running behind a far better line and playing for an offensive coordinator with a history of coaching running backs to breakout seasons. Look what De’Von Achane did under McDaniel in Miami, where he ran for 1,350 yards and caught 67 passes last season.

If Hampton can come close to that, he’ll be a popular fantasy pickup.

July 23 (UPI) — President Donald Trump said on social media Thursday that Saudi Arabia must sign the Abraham Accords as part of its nuclear deal with the United States.

Trump added that the nuclear deal will be approved but Saudi Arabia’s entry into the Abraham Accords is a required condition.

“The Civil Nuclear Deal (There will be no enrichment of material!) being made between the United States Department of Energy and Saudi Arabia, which pertains only to non-military use such as the ones that Iran and UAE (and others) already have, will be approved, but it is totally subject to Saudi Arabia joining the very respected and successful Abraham Accords,” Trump wrote. “The United States is not opposed to Civil (Non-Enriched) Nuclear Facilities.”

Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman signed the agreement on Wednesday. The Department of Energy says U.S. companies will benefit from the deal with involvement in establishing nuclear facilities in Saudi Arabia to the tune of billions of dollars.

The nuclear deal is to last 30 years and will involve the United States supporting Saudi nuclear development.

The Abraham Accords are meant to normalize relations between Israel and Arab nations in the Middle East, including the United Arab Emirates. Saudi Arabia’s entry into the Abraham Accords would be a step toward a diplomatic relationship with Israel.

Saudi Arabia has called for progress toward Palestinian statehood, a sticking point that has drawn Israel’s criticism of the nuclear deal with the United States.

Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have also voiced skepticism over the nuclear deal, fearing that it may ultimately lead to the enrichment of uranium and plutonium for the development of nuclear weapons.

“This agreement will set off a nuclear race in the region, further disincentivizing Iran from limiting its own program,” Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., posted on social media.

Fatima ‘Teema’ Mahmud uploaded a short clip on her Telegram Status that morning; it showed a leaked intimate video involving individuals in northern Nigeria. The time was 8:13 a.m.; minutes later, she uploaded another one and another. By midday, she had uploaded dozens of similar pieces of content. By evening, there were hundreds.

Some of the updates advertised leaked, non-consensual intimate videos that had circulated across social media timelines in the region days earlier. Others promoted sex work services, paid erotic video calls, and private VIP groups featuring explicit videos of women, particularly northern actresses. Among them, and pinned prominently at the top of Fatima’s Telegram profile, were screen records of what she claimed were sexual and nude videos of children, advertised under paid access tiers.

The next morning, the cycle began again.

This reporting was never supposed to become an investigation into child sexual abuse material. It began with a simpler question: where do the leaked intimate videos that circulate on northern Nigerian social media end up?

Every few weeks, another such video appears. The names change, but the outrage follows a familiar script: WhatsApp groups begin asking for links, X users post screenshots before directing followers to Telegram, and Facebook pages recycle the same clips. For a day or two, timelines become courtrooms. Then attention shifts elsewhere, and the people at the centre of those scandals disappear from public conversation, but the links do not.

One such link appeared in May. An X account, now suspended, promoting what it described as a leaked intimate video involving a woman, instructed followers to continue on Telegram. Instead of downloading the material, HumAngle followed the trail, using a pseudonymous account to trace the same path thousands of other users take whenever another intimate video erupts across northern Nigerian social media.

For three months, HumAngle watched what that trail led to: an ecosystem that had evolved to survive platform bans, rebuild audiences almost overnight, and transform some of women’s most private moments into commercial products. Within that ecosystem, children appeared to have become one of its most valuable commodities.

Following the trail

It started with “Teematv” on X. HumAngle stumbled on the account promoting a teaser video following a scandal involving a Kaduna-based woman, whom HumAngle will not name to avoid re-victimising her. The X account claimed to have the “full video” and encouraged followers to access it on Telegram.

We created a pseudonymous account and followed the trail.

The first Telegram channel, “Teematv” (@teematv9), which is the main feeder channel and had over 40,000 subscribers before it got suspended in June, looked much as expected: pornography, leaked videos, and VIP subscriptions. But the longer the investigation continued, the less it resembled another anonymous pornography page. The channel did not exist in isolation. Every video and image posted linked to something else, and subscribers were encouraged to save the phone numbers provided by the administrators. “Add my contact,” she often tells subscribers. 

Once saved, these numbers unlocked Telegram Status updates, which promoted private VIP groups, which led to new administrators, who promoted replacement channels. When one account disappeared, another had already taken its place.

It felt less like browsing social media and more like walking through a marketplace where every stall owner knew the next. The journey was remarkably consistent, and the pattern held across every operator HumAngle traced; the public channels attracted attention, Telegram Status sustained it, and private conversations completed the sale. Each platform served a different purpose within the same business. X functioned as a storefront, where explicit clips and provocative teasers attracted attention and encouraged users to click through. Telegram became the marketplace itself, while WhatsApp and private Telegram conversations handled the transactions.

Looking closer, the structure reflected an operation built specifically to survive the content moderation it was navigating.

The pattern started with what appeared, and what did not appear, on X. Operators such as Teema used their X accounts to post pornographic clips into X’s video feed, content that the platform’s moderation has grown relatively permissive toward, and whose recommendation algorithm readily surfaces more of it once a user engages with it repeatedly. At no point during our three months of monitoring did HumAngle observe child sexual abuse material posted directly on X. 

Whether by experience or deliberate caution, the operators appeared to understand the distinction: ordinary pornography might slip through a platform that has relaxed many of its guardrails around adult content, but material involving children almost certainly would not survive there. The Telegram link attached to those X posts was, in turn, rarely the final destination. It served as an additional layer of security, requiring users to either save a phone number or send a private inquiry before anything further was revealed.

Only after that number was saved did the next stage begin, through Telegram Status. There, too, the same caution applied. Rather than posting material involving children directly, operators uploaded blurred collages or screenshots, with titles and scenes presented as proof that a fuller collection existed, along with a caption advertising group access and a price, directing interested buyers into a private conversation. Nothing that could be mistaken for the material itself appeared in a space Telegram or outside observers could easily flag; the proof of possession and the point of sale were kept one careful step apart. HumAngle observed screenshots of children naked and being abused.

The advertisements rarely remained online for long. Telegram Status updates disappear automatically after 24 hours, and the administrators appeared to exploit that feature deliberately, because the posts remain accessible on the profile itself to anyone who has saved their contact. On some days, one operator uploaded close to 200 Status updates, rotating through advertisements, teaser clips, and promotional graphics before repeating the process the following morning.

The result was a constantly changing catalogue. One day, the focus might be leaked intimate videos. The next, sex work services. Then paid video calls. Then another newly emerging leaked-video scandal that had just begun trending elsewhere on social media. The operators appeared to respond quickly to public attention: whenever an intimate video began circulating widely online, it often appeared inside the network within hours, repackaged as a commercial product, a short preview posted publicly with the full video available, administrators claimed, after payment. The scandals that dominated social media for a day or two became inventory.

Identifying the operators

There was one problem with Telegram usernames: they rarely lasted. By the time HumAngle finished documenting one account, another had often appeared. The usernames, invitations, and even profile photographs changed. But the people behind them did not.

To understand who was operating the network, our investigation moved beyond monitoring channels and focused instead on the digital traces the administrators had left behind, rather than the material they were advertising. The approach was deliberate: HumAngle had already decided it would not purchase access to private VIP groups or attempt to obtain any material advertised as involving children. 

Beyond the obvious ethical concerns, doing so could expose journalists to illegal content and compromise the investigation itself. Instead, we focused on the operators’ own mistakes, and the first was surprisingly ordinary: money.

Like any online business, the administrators eventually needed customers to pay. Across multiple Telegram channels and Status updates, Teema repeatedly instructed interested buyers to save a phone number before making enquiries or completing payments. Unlike her usernames, the number rarely changed. It became the first real-world lead.

A search through Truecaller, a popular caller identification service, returned the name “Fatima Mahmud”. One result was not enough, so the same number was cross-checked against Nigerian online banking applications, including OPay and PalmPay, both of which use registered phone numbers as account identifiers and display the associated account name before a transfer is completed. Both returned the same name. For the first time, the investigation had connected one of the network’s most active operators to a real-world name, confirmed through two independent verification methods.

Finding the person behind that name proved harder. Searching “Fatima Mahmud” and “Teema” on social media produced dozens of unrelated results, and many of the accounts connected to the investigation had already been suspended or had disappeared before they could be examined. So HumAngle changed direction, following relationships rather than names: Telegram usernames led to older accounts, older accounts led to replacement accounts, and replacement accounts led to suspended X profiles, each revealing another fragment of the same digital footprint.

The same process and the same dual verification through Truecaller and banking app records identified a second recurring figure in the network who used several online identities: Deejah, Nanadady, and Deharjah. Once again, the payment trail pointed to one name: Khadija Adamu.

Despite the frequent account suspensions and identity changes, traces of her activity remained visible. As recently as July 17, Khadija remained active. In a Telegram Status update, she told followers her phone had been damaged and appealed for financial support to replace it, posting her Union Bank account details. The account name she provided, Khadija Adamu Abubakar, was confirmed through a mobile banking application search, adding a third independent verification to the identity already established through Truecaller and her OPay and PalmPay records. Fatima’s administrator account was also active at the time of publication.

Khadija’s operation mirrored Teema’s in structure, but she operated across a considerably wider segment of the online sex trade, advertising leaked intimate videos, homosexual pornography, sex work, paid sexual video chats, sex toys, sexual stimulants, and VIP groups promoted as containing child sexual abuse material. Of that range, child sexual abuse material appeared to be one of her primary products, and her pricing across the board was consistently higher than Teema’s, with VIP access advertised at between ₦50,000 and ₦100,000. From what HumAngle observed, she made no attempt to obscure or apologise for any of it.

A further question remained: were the photographs attached to their profiles genuine? At first glance, they appeared convincing: young Hausa women in casual portraits and self-portraits, but reverse-image searches using Google Lens and facial-recognition software found that several did not belong to the account holders at all. Instead, they matched publicly available photographs of Hausa actresses and other individuals whose images had been lifted from elsewhere online. The people running the accounts had carefully concealed their own identities behind someone else’s faces.

Fatima addressed this directly in the description of her main feeder channel, Teematv (@teematv9), which had more than 40,000 subscribers before it was suspended on June 12. “I post pretty Hausa girls on my page. If you see your picture here, then know [that] you are pretty,” she wrote. “Some of you are complaining. I just leave compliments as the caption. I mean no harm. [It] is just for fun.”

A final search, this time relying on Facebook’s “People You May Know” recommendation feature after the administrators’ phone numbers were saved as contacts, surfaced a profile that strongly matched the identity already established for Khadija. Fatima’s case proved less conclusive; several profiles appeared, but none could be verified with sufficient confidence. The search stopped there. We do not possess the legal powers available to law enforcement agencies, but what the reporting established was enough: two operators had been identified through the payment infrastructure they themselves had created, and neither appeared to be working alone.

The product

The advertisements followed a consistent commercial logic, and the same pricing structure recurred across all operators and channels documented in this investigation.

Individual leaked Hausa intimate videos, after a short teaser had been posted publicly, typically sold for between ₦2,000 and ₦5,000. Buyers seeking larger collections were encouraged to pay for VIP memberships instead, which administrators claimed offered hundreds of additional videos. The advertisements suggested a tiered business: casual customers bought individual videos, regular customers subscribed, and those willing to spend more were offered access to increasingly exclusive groups.

At the top of the pricing structure were advertisements for group access explicitly involving children. Unlike the adult-content advertisements, which typically promoted individual clips, these posts promised something larger: a collection, membership, exclusivity. They were usually brief: a blurred collage or screen record, a short caption, sometimes only a few words, followed by a price. Most commonly, that price was ₦50,000, though some operators, like Khadija, advertised memberships as high as ₦100,000. The wording varied slightly from one administrator to another, but the sales strategy did not, and the same pattern appeared consistently across multiple Status updates, different administrators, and different channels over the three months of monitoring.

At first, HumAngle questioned whether the advertisements were genuine; exaggerated claims to lure paying customers are common online. But the consistency, repeated across unrelated administrators using nearly identical language, made coincidence difficult to sustain as an explanation.

Teema’s advertisements illustrated how the claims were built up over time. In a sequence of Status updates viewed chronologically, she claimed her VIP collection had grown from around 600 videos to more than 800, and eventually to over 1,200. HumAngle could not independently verify those figures, but documented them as part of the marketing strategy: growth itself had become a product, with a larger claimed catalogue used to strengthen the sales pitch.

The operators appeared to understand a basic principle of online commerce: that people rarely arrive intending to make their largest purchase but are guided towards it. Every stage encouraged the next. The channels resembled a subscription business more than an ordinary social media page. Only the product was different, and its advertisements did not appear hidden in obscure corners of the internet. They appeared alongside the same promotional posts advertising leaked intimate videos, prostitution, and paid video calls. Children were not presented as something separate. They were presented as another product category, another premium tier.

HumAngle also decided not to attempt to identify the children referenced in the advertisements. INTERPOL’s International Child Sexual Exploitation database, the tool specialist law enforcement units use to identify victims and offenders worldwide, treats abusive images and videos as evidence tied to real children, real locations, and real offenders, material to be handled by trained victim-identification specialists rather than pursued independently. Attempting to trace the children through the material risked compounding the harm the investigation was seeking to expose.

The network

For much of the investigation, Teema and Khadija appeared to be running separate operations: different Telegram channels, different X usernames, different pricing. It was easy to assume they were competitors. Then one Status update changed that.

While reviewing Teema’s Telegram Status one afternoon, HumAngle noticed she was no longer advertising her own channel, but Khadija’s. Only days earlier, one of Khadija’s Telegram accounts had disappeared or been removed before we could complete the documentation of its activity. The replacement account appeared almost immediately, and Teema introduced it to thousands of followers. Over the following days, the same promotion resurfaced repeatedly across dozens of Status updates before disappearing after 24 hours, only to return.

Tracing the followers who interacted with those promotions on X uncovered dozens of accounts exhibiting remarkably similar behaviour. When one profile disappeared, another announced its replacement. When Telegram removed a channel, fresh invitation links circulated through WhatsApp Status updates and newer Telegram accounts. The audience rarely needed to search; the network guided them. Investigators documented several accounts operating under different versions of Teema’s identity, including @teematv2 and @teematv3, with Khadija running parallel replacements under her own aliases.

Around them was a wider ecosystem. Channels such as AREWA GIDAN DADI, Arewagidanharkazallah, and Sadearharka surfaced repeatedly throughout the investigation.

HumAngle found no evidence that these accounts were all controlled by the same individual, nor could we establish that every operator knew every other one personally. What our investigation does establish is narrower but significant: the accounts consistently promoted one another, shared audiences, and directed followers towards replacement channels, forming a distribution network that platform bans repeatedly failed to disrupt.

The blind spot

The most surprising thing about the network was not that it existed, but that it appeared to operate in plain sight. The operators behaved less like people trying to disappear than people confident they would not be noticed. That raises a broader question: why did a network operating so openly prove so resilient?

Part of the answer may lie in language. Almost every account documented in this investigation communicated primarily in Hausa, and the cities referenced in conversations, such as Kano, Kaduna, Maiduguri, Katsina, Sokoto, and Abuja, pointed overwhelmingly to audiences in northern Nigeria. This was not simply a Nigerian online marketplace; it was a Hausa-speaking one. 

Researchers have increasingly warned that many widely spoken African languages remain “low-resource” from the perspective of artificial intelligence and automated content moderation. While Hausa is spoken by tens of millions of people across West Africa, there are comparatively fewer linguistic datasets and moderation tools to help technology companies automatically identify harmful content in the language, meaning abusive or exploitative content can be harder to detect at scale than equivalent content in English. 

Nothing in HumAngle’s investigation suggests the operators tried to hide the language they used; on the contrary, their marketing relied on local expressions and reflected the culture of Arewa social media. The same characteristics that made the network accessible to its intended audience may also have made it less visible to moderation systems built primarily around better-resourced languages.

This is not a uniquely Nigerian, or even uniquely Hausa-language, problem. Investigations in other parts of the world have documented strikingly similar patterns, in which mainstream platforms funnel users toward Telegram-based child sexual abuse material (CSAM) marketplaces that survive enforcement through rapid replacement. 

A BBC Eye investigation published in July found that Instagram’s advertising system in India was itself directing a test account toward paid child sexual abuse material sold through Telegram channels, with material advertised for as little as the naira equivalent of one US dollar; Meta’s own moderation team initially cleared one flagged advertisement as compliant with its policies, and only acted once BBC journalists sought formal comment. 

A separate investigation by Sudan’s Ayin Network documented Telegram channels operating an almost identical structure to the one described here: administrators charging roughly $30 for VIP access to material described as exclusive, channels going dark after reports only to be quickly recreated with subscribers migrated across, and content sourced from economically vulnerable communities with little legal recourse. 

Malaysiakini’s Kini News Lab has separately described Telegram as functioning as a “dark mall” for this kind of material, in which promotional content on more visible platforms consistently routes interested users toward Telegram, where moderation is comparatively lighter. 

Another investigation, conducted by the Brazilian outlet Núcleo with the Pulitzer Centre’s AI Accountability Network, found dozens of Telegram bots capable of generating AI-manipulated child sexual abuse imagery, most operating despite Telegram’s own public commitments on child safety.

These investigations point to a recurring global pattern. Broader research suggests the problem extends far beyond the networks examined in any single investigation. Research conducted by UNICEF Innocenti, ECPAT International, and INTERPOL across 13 countries in Africa and Southeast Asia found that, depending on the country, up to one in five internet-using children aged 12 to 17 had experienced online sexual abuse within a single year. Social media platforms were among the environments where children most frequently encountered the abuse. 

Nigeria was not included among the countries studied, leaving no comparable national estimate of how many Nigerian children may be affected. UNICEF and the WeProtect Global Alliance have warned that online child sexual exploitation is becoming increasingly complex as offenders adapt quickly to new technologies, encrypted platforms, and gaps in national responses, arguing that effective responses require cooperation between technology companies, law enforcement, child-protection organisations, and governments, rather than isolated moderation decisions by individual platforms. UNICEF Nigeria has separately noted that violence against children increasingly occurs in both physical and digital spaces, while support for victims remains limited.

As we identified the operators of these accounts, an obvious question emerged: if journalists could trace those digital footprints using publicly available tools, what prevented authorities from doing the same?

Nigeria does not lack the relevant laws. The Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) Act criminalises the production, distribution, and possession of child sexual abuse material, alongside offences relating to the use of digital platforms to facilitate unlawful activities, including the non-consensual distribution of intimate images.

The Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Act recognises image-based sexual abuse, and children receive further protection under the Child Rights Act and the Trafficking in Persons (Prohibition) Enforcement and Administration Act. 

The activity documented in this investigation appears to fall squarely within conduct already prohibited under Nigerian law. Over three months of monitoring, HumAngle found no public record of investigations or prosecutions specifically targeting the Hausa-language Telegram ecosystem documented in this reporting, even as channels disappeared, replacement channels emerged, subscribers migrated, and the marketplace continued operating.

The threat was not entirely new to Nigerian authorities. In 2023, the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) said it had observed increasing cases involving child sexual abuse material, sextortion, and revenge pornography, and had established a Cybersecurity Response Team, in partnership with organisations including Meta and the United States National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC). That year, the agency said it was investigating six cyber-tip reports involving online child exploitation and sextortion, drawing on NCMEC’s CyberTipline, the centralised reporting system through which tech companies and the public flag suspected child exploitation to law enforcement worldwide. What remains unclear is whether the Hausa-language network HumAngle documented had ever entered that reporting system.

The network appeared to exploit precisely the jurisdictional and institutional gaps that researchers have long warned about: Telegram channels directed users toward WhatsApp, WhatsApp conversations led back to Telegram, and X attracted new audiences, with each platform seeing only one part of the picture while the operators appeared to see the whole. Platform enforcement removed accounts. Law enforcement, at least publicly, appeared largely absent, aside from the small number of cases NAPTIP said it was already investigating. 

What follows

Before publication, HumAngle shared its findings with Telegram and NAPTIP, seeking answers about the network, its operators, and the apparent gaps that allowed it to persist. The advertisements, the Telegram links, the payment instructions, and the phone numbers had all been public. The operators had made no effort to hide them.

In the Mid-City neighborhood where Syd grew up, lots of people now refer to this 34-year-old musician as the mayor.

“During COVID, I’d spend all day on the grass waving at everybody,” she says with a laugh. More recently, a bunch of “unruly teenagers,” as Syd describes them, have been doing doughnuts in the street near her parents’ house.

“I’m out there talking about, ‘Hey! Stop!’ I had one of my trucks parked in front, so I was like, ‘Y’all ain’t finna mess my s— up.’ But also they were hanging out the window — it was really dangerous.” She laughs again.

“I’m an old head when it comes to safety.”

Syd’s new album happily embraces a sense of maturity — of “feeling more sure of myself than I ever have,” she says. Released last week, “Beard” — the title was inspired by Syd’s wife’s request that she maintain the peach fuzz on her upper lip — sets thoughts of romantic commitment and professional achievement against gleaming R&B grooves that occasionally nod toward Afrobeats or bossa nova. It’s Syd’s third solo LP since she emerged nearly two decades ago as a member of the Los Angeles hip-hop collective Odd Future; it also comes eight years after her most recent album with the Internet, the Grammy-nominated soul-music combo she shares with Matt Martians and Steve Lacy (the latter of whom dropped his new “Oh Yeah?” on the same day Syd dropped “Beard”).

Yet for all the growing up she’s done, “ironically, I feel younger than I’ve ever felt,” Syd says. “Beard’s” blurry cover photo, which shows her shaved head and slightly doleful eyes, “captures exactly what I was trying to portray with the music,” she adds. “It’s kind of this nonbinary image, where if you’re looking at it and you don’t know who I am, you might wonder: Is that a 12-year-old boy?”

Syd and I are talking over coffee at a crowded spot on Jefferson Boulevard that she says she visits every day. (So many people say hi to her that I’m inclined to believe it.) The restaurant isn’t far from her house, which itself is just an eight-minute drive from her folks’ place; eventually, she says, her parents plan to swap homes with Syd and her wife, the model Simone Clay, so that the couple can fulfill their dream of becoming foster moms in the larger house.

“With all my privilege and with all the peace I’ve been able to create for myself, I would love to spread that,” says Syd, whose full name is Sydney Bennett and whose younger brother Travis (known as Taco) also came up through Odd Future before finding success as an actor.

Syd recorded “Beard” between a studio she built at her parents’ place and a studio in North Hollywood owned by Raphael Saadiq, the veteran R&B star whom Syd counts as something of a mentor. The singer says she can relate to the way Saadiq moves between making solo records, working in a band (in his case Tony! Toni! Toné!) and writing and producing for other artists, as Syd did on Beyoncé’s 2022 “Renaissance” album.

“Syd is just looking for things in music that are breathing,” says Saadiq, who plays bass and co-produced several cuts on “Beard.” “She keeps developing, and she’s not developing to be relevant — she’s developed because she loves doing it. People like Syd and myself, we’ve been at this since we were kids. We were the ones in the neighborhood who’d walk outside and say, ‘Anybody want to get on this track? Anybody want to play?’”

Songs on “Beard” like “Closet” and “My Love” reflect recent changes in Syd’s life, not least her decision to get hitched last year, which she attributes in part to an uncertainty about how long same-sex marriage will remain legal in the United States.

“You know the Supreme Court,” she says with a shrug.

She also quit drinking after realizing that she was waking up more often than not with a hangover. “People around me weren’t like, ‘She be drinking,’” Syd says. “But it was every day, and it was just at the crib. Everybody has a different relationship to it, and I found that mine was tied to boredom, which I think is probably better than it being tied to sadness. But that’s also what made it a little bit harder to call it a problem, you know what I mean? I had to realize: OK, this might not be a problem for someone else, but it’s not serving me.”

So two and a half years ago, she stopped — and on a holiday some can’t imagine without booze.

Says Syd: “I raw-dogged New Year’s Eve, bro.”

“Ironically, I feel younger than I’ve ever felt,” Syd says.

(Nabil)

“Beard” encompasses shifts in Syd’s business too. After fulfilling her contract with the Columbia label, the singer signed last year to Warner Records, where an old high school pal, Tim Hinshaw, oversees a boutique label called Free Lunch. The new deal inspired her to mix up her creative process and hold a songwriting camp with an assortment of writers and producers, among them the duo Nova Wav, who’ve also worked with Beyoncé; on “Beard,” the duo co-wrote and co-produced the hooky “Callin” and “Jasmin 17,” a lusty boudoir jam titled after the unisex fragrance. (Additional collaborators on the album include James Fauntleroy, Van Hunt, Rodney Jerkins, Big Sean and Jordan Ward.)

Given her high-profile gig writing and producing Beyoncé’s “Plastic Off the Sofa” — a sensual retro-soul number that went on to win a Grammy — I tell Syd that I assume the offers came rolling in immediately afterward to join other A-list acts in the studio.

“To be honest, that opportunity didn’t give me any more producing opportunities,” she answers, to my surprise. “Nobody was reaching out — like, ‘Hey, can I get beats?’” She’s not bothered, though, since what the experience did do was “give me the confidence to produce this album for myself.”

And anyway, she’s got a solo tour coming up, not to mention a long-awaited Internet LP to finish. The band has been recording intermittently at her place, and last month she spent a week working at Martians’ studio in rural Georgia.

“We’re closer than we’ve probably ever been,” Syd says of the band, whose drummer, Christoper Smith, put out yet another solo record on the same day as “Beard” and Lacy. Syd doesn’t want to reveal too much about the Internet’s new music. But she will say that so far the group has avoided using Auto-Tune, the vocal-processing software that she feels has become sadly ubiquitous.

“I want nuance, I want texture, I want the lack of perfection,” she says. “I’d rather mess up naturally than not mess up unnaturally.”

The budget airline has confirmed it’ll be cutting the number of aircraft from one of its city bases by five, and its schedule will have two million fewer seats to a popular city break destination as of winter 2026

Ryanair has slashed the number of seats from its schedule for a city break destination that’s famous for its Christmas market and historic sites, as well as being a major business hub.

The decision was made in response to the country’s decision to raise aviation taxes, with Ryanair releasing a strongly-worded statement to announce they would be cutting two million seats from two of the capital’s airports.

The Federal Government of Belgium announced plans to raise the country’s aviation tax from €5 (about £4.20) to €7 (about £6) as of January 2027. This was erroneously described by Ryanair in a statement as a “250% increase since 2025.”

As a result, the budget carrier plans to cut five aircraft from its base at Brussels South Charleroi Airport, and reduce capacity by two million seats overall from Belgium’s Charleroi and Zaventem airports. The reductions will be applied to the winter 2026 and summer 2027 schedule.

Brussels is not the first destination to see a cut in the number of Ryanair seats this year. Earlier this year it announced reductions in services to Spain and Portugal, with smaller regional airports the most affected.

Valladolid and Jerez saw cuts to their services, while scrapped routes included Asturias and Vigo. A service to Tenerife North was also scrapped as a result of a dispute over airport fee hikes, leaving the airport with no alternative direct UK routes. Ryanair also closed its two aircraft base at Santiago de Compostela which reduced capacity.

As a result over one million seats were taken from the winter 2025 routes, and 1.2 million cut from the summer 2026 schedule. Another cut was to a Portugal service, with Ryanair cutting six routes to and from the Azores, an emerging tourist destination. It was estimated the cuts affected around 400,000 passengers.

At the time, Ryanair blamed this cutback on growing airport charges set by Portuguese authorities and environmental taxes linked to the EU Emissions Trading System. John Paul II Ponta Delgada Airport, the islands’ main airport, now only has a single seasonal UK route from London Heathrow operated by British Airways.

Speaking about the cuts in Belgium, Ryanair CEO, Eddie Wilson, said in a statement: “It’s absurd that the Federal Govt have decided to increase Belgium’s aviation tax by 250% from Jan ’27, especially when competing EU countries, like Sweden, Hungary, Slovakia, regional Italy, and Albania are abolishing aviation taxes to grow traffic, tourism and jobs.

“We warned Prime Minister De Wever that increasing Belgium’s aviation tax would result in traffic cuts, but he failed to listen. As a result, Ryanair will now remove 5 aircraft from our Charleroi base and 2m seats from our Brussels schedules (Charleroi and Zaventem) for Winter ’26/Summer ’27 and relocate to more competitive economies.”

Have a story you want to share? Email us at webtravel@reachplc.com

So what is the project Codina sees at West Ham?

Guarino, who led Juventus to four successive Serie A titles, took over from Rehanne Skinner at West Ham midway through last season.

She stated in January that “step by step” they would improve their style of play, but it was clear that organisation and a focus on defensive stability was the priority.

But that could change this season.

“Honestly, I think that we’re going to see a West Ham that the fans will be proud of, and that’s the main thing for me,” said Codina.

“It will be a recognisable West Ham – a team that can play football, and that will try to have the ball as much as possible.

“With Rita, you could see their main characteristic was to defend, but I think that this season we’re going to try to improve on the ball.”

Codina says she already feels at home, having begun pre-season training this week, but it helps that she is still living in London.

The centre-back moved to England in 2023 after nine years at Barcelona, where she progressed from the club’s academy and into the first team.

Now she wants to give back to the community and is already giving up her time to help West Ham’s foundation work with young children in east London.

“I’m enjoying the life here. I love to learn new cultures. London has something special. I’m trying to enjoy it as much as possible,” said Codina.

“Football gives me this opportunity and I’m going to try to use it as good as possible.

“I tell [the children] that it’s not only about winning. It’s not only about going to WSL. It’s not only playing for the national team. It’s all the other things.”

July 23 (UPI) — Three firefighters were killed, two in France and one in Italy, and 12,000 people were forced to evacuate as wildfires continued to ravage areas of southern France, Italy and Spain.

Almost 6,000 acres have been burnt in the area west of Bordeaux, where 10,000 people were ordered to flee amid a ban on internal combustion and electric engines and road closures, the Gironde regional government said Thursday.

Authorities said 500 firefighters were tackling the blaze, which was moving southwestwards after breaking out in Saumo, a small town 20 miles northwest of Bordeaux, on Wednesday and that firefighting aircraft were en route to the scene.

No injuries had been recorded.

The two French firefighters died Tuesday as they battled to bring a separate blaze under control in a suburb of Bordeaux.

Var, a department on the Cote d’Azur between Marseille and Nice, was also badly affected, with thousands of acres burnt. Residents evacuated there were allowed to return to their homes Thursday to assess damage on strict instructions to restrict movement and activities because of the risk the fire could flare up again, amid windy conditions.

Meteo-France red alerts for forest fires were in place across several other departments in southern France on Thursday.

In Italy, a firefighter was killed and another was injured Wednesday battling a major fire on Sicily.

Sicilian Civil Protection chief Salvo Cocina said the wildfire in San Cataldo, in the southwest of the island, was one of 10 major incidents that had triggered the evacuation of residents, as a precaution.

About 6,000 firefighters, forestry officers and civil protection personnel were deployed in the operation.

The regional government said the most critical fires were in Casaboli, Bivona, Alimena, San Cataldo, Galati Mamertino districts and certain areas of the Madonie Park and Syracuse areas.

Footage online, shot by the Spanish Civil Guard, shows officers going door-to-door telling residents to leave as a major wildfire raged southwest of Madrid, between Almorox and Villa del Prado.

It comes after a huge wildfire to the north of the capital in Guadalajara province that broke out on July 16 razed almost 80,000 acres and a deadly forest fire in southeastern Almeria province that killed at least 11 people on July 10.

Across European Union countries, wildfires have burnt more than 628,000 acres so far in 2026, European Forest Fires Information System figures show — although the figure was below the 668,000 acres burnt in the same period in 2025.

Indian authorities release the two men after years in prison although both remain under tight court-imposed restrictions.

Indian authorities have released prominent Kashmiri human rights activist Khurram Parvez and journalist Irfan Mehraj on bail after years in prison on “terrorism” financing charges although both remain under tight court-imposed restrictions.

The two men walked free from a New Delhi jail late on Wednesday, their relatives said, as India’s National Investigation Agency seeks to overturn their bail – the latest chapter in what rights groups call New Delhi’s sweeping crackdown on activists, journalists and dissidents in India-administered Kashmir since 2019 when it scrapped the region’s autonomy, granted under the Indian Constitution.

Parvez, programme coordinator for the Jammu Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society (JKCCS), was arrested in 2021 by the National Investigation Agency at his home in Srinagar.

Mehraj, a freelance journalist who worked with the same rights group as a researcher, was arrested in 2023.

Both face charges of “funding terrorism” and “propagation of secessionist agenda” under India’s stringent “antiterrorism” laws, which in effect allow authorities to hold people without trial indefinitely.

The National Investigation Agency accuses the two of using the JKCCS to fund militant-linked activities and promote a separatist agenda. Both men deny the allegations.

A lower court granted them bail last week, but the agency appealed. The Delhi High Court refused on Tuesday to suspend the release order although it imposed tougher restrictions on the men’s movements and activities while it hears the appeal.

Under their bail conditions, the two must arrange their own stay in the capital, where they are facing trial, and cannot travel to Kashmir, according to a court document seen by the news agency AFP. Proceedings in the case will continue in the coming weeks.

Human rights violations

The JKCCS has for decades documented alleged rights violations by Indian government forces in Kashmir, including torture and unlawful killings, and has drawn attention to thousands of unmarked graves in border areas suspected of holding victims of “enforced disappearances”.

International rights groups, including the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, have consistently called for the men’s release, saying they were jailed for their work.

In 2023, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention said Parvez’s arrest was an “act of reprisal for his human rights work, and an attempt to silence him and Kashmiri civil society as a whole”.

After their release, the Paris-based International Federation for Human Rights and the World Organisation Against Torture said the two were arrested on “trumped-up charges” and called on Indian authorities to drop the case, describing the proceedings as politically motivated.

Journalists in Indian-administered Kashmir say they have faced harassment and arrests since Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government annulled the region’s partial autonomy.

From 2019 to 2023, more than 3,600 people were arrested there under “antiterrorism” laws, more than half of whom remain in prison, according to government figures.

Muslim-majority Kashmir has been divided between India and Pakistan since their independence from British rule in 1947. Both countries claim the territory in full.

Rebel groups have fought the Indian government since 1989, demanding independence or a merger with Pakistan. The conflict has killed tens of thousands of people, mostly civilians.

Is the Trump administration actually stealing from Venezuelans?

The Financial Times estimated the “likely value” of Venezuela’s oil revenues since January, when those income streams (not only from oil and gas, but also from gold and other minerals) came under the direct control and supervision of the US government. Using data from Kpler and Argus Media, the newspaper put the figure at $13 billion. 

Let’s assume that one figure is accurate or at least comes close to the real number. The key question here, which neither the United States nor Venezuelan authorities have bothered to answer, is how much of that has been trickling back to the Venezuelan economy.

American officials, in press conferences and hearings, have given remarks about how the revenue repatriation framework is supposed to work under the current arrangement. There was a temporary framework immediately after the gringo takeover (the famous Qatar fund we reported in January). Now, it allegedly works like this:

1) Oil revenues flow into accounts managed by the US Treasury. Crude buyers, such as India and Spain, route payments into US-controlled “Foreign Government Deposit Funds.” 

2) Secretary of State Marco Rubio (empowered by Executive Order 14373) provides instructions to the Treasury for disbursements to Venezuelan entities, particularly the Venezuelan Central Bank (BCV).

3) The funds land in BCV accounts.

4) One chunk of that pays pensions, public workers’ salaries, the military and the police apparatus, i.e. the basic components of the State.

5) Another part of those dollars is channelled to the domestic banking system through a select group of private banks—here’s where things start to get tricky. Rather than holding competitive auctions or floating currency rates on a free market, the BCV distributes capped quotas of dollars to these banks at the strictly controlled official exchange rate.

6) At the final stage, from commercial banks to the private sectors, the transaction is a direct cash sale: to purchase dollars, Venezuelan companies must have the full equivalent in bolivars ready in their accounts. Banks immediately debit the buyer’s bolivar account at the day’s official rate and credit the equivalent dollars into the company’s local foreign-currency account. It works as a rationing mechanism, since major corporations (e.g. those in key sectors like food and medicine) are prioritized, and smaller companies acquire USD on a first-come, first-served basis through online banking platforms until daily dollar quotas run out.

Good. So now we know how the repatriation framework is supposed to work.

Let’s go back to the $13 billion figure, and the stage of the sequence connecting the US Treasury and the BCV. The US calls itself de facto custodian of Venezuelan money (remember EO14373 speaks of the “Custodial Nature of United States Possession”), so it should showcase full transparency over those transactions and demand accountability from the Delcy Rodríguez government. How much money has the US disbursed? Has it published anything about those disbursements? What about the Delcy government?

The fundamental question is not only how much revenue the US and the Rodríguez administration are processing, but who ultimately benefits from these flows and whether they contribute to genuine economic recovery.

Here’s where the news is worse. Washington has not disclosed anything concrete. What we know is limited to what US officials tell journalists (mainly foreign correspondents) off the record, which is very vague, and very little. Most recently, a “senior US official” told reporter Stephania Taladrid (who wrote this 11-pager about Maria Corina Machado) that the Trump administration “authorized the disbursement of more than six billion dollars to Rodríguez’s government.” Officials had given some accounts of the amounts disbursed in the first days of the arrangement. For instance, Rubio mentioned that $300m were disbursed through the Qatari fund during a Senate hearing in late January. In early February, an anonymous US official confirmed that Venezuela received its first $500 million post-Maduro. That was the first full disbursement, the last one that the US addressed, though without offering any form of paper trail.

You could say things are equally opaque on Delcy’s front, with the caveat that we are used to this defining feature of the chavista regime. I should add something else about the US-Venezuela framework explained above: according to public statements from American officials, Caracas should submit monthly budget requests to the US, so Rubio can keep authorizing cash transfers with peace of mind. The State Department (through Western Hemisphere chief diplomat Michael Kozak, who is playing an important role in Venezuelan politics) said in April that the accounting firm KPMG was hired to produce quarterly audits of how Venezuelan oil revenues are being spent. He also claimed that, by then, $3 billion had been “moved through” to Venezuela.

Three months later, those reports do not exist. Or are not public at least. It seems that our friend El Kenedi was right when he warned Venezuela will never show you the money, but that’s the Viceroy’s fault, not just Delcy’s.

The Financial Times, which ran the story that ignited the controversy, is playing an interesting role in shaping the conversation about the value of Venezuelan assets and liabilities. Right before the devastating earthquakes, an FT scoop said the Delcy government would reveal a $240 billion debt pile (“much higher than expected”). The latest article might not paint the full picture (as a New York Times reporter suggests) but it’s perhaps the first major broadsheet to lambast Trump for his irresponsible (and misleading) remarks, and his team for the lack of transparency over the handling of Venezuelan money. This issue is nothing new, although the recent catastrophe makes full disclosure much more urgent. Other prominent figures and organizations had raised their voice before the quakes.

On June 2, Harvard economist Ricardo Hausmann wrote a column in Project Syndicate titled “The Rape of Venezuela” where he addresses this issue and others, including the politics of the looming debt restructuring and the lack of a democratic recovery. In it, he accuses the Trump White House of viewing Venezuela not as a democratic reconstruction project, but as a strategic hydrocarbon asset in the service of American power. A day later, the Council on Foreign Relations (a leading liberal-leaning US think tank) broke down how US control of Venezuelan oil remains murky. That has served as a valuable source for much of the stuff we mention here.

Going back to yesterday’s story, it quotes Venezuelan economist Alejandro Grisanti noting clear indications of large dollar inflows over the past few months. While Grisanti had initially expected economic growth to accelerate in the fourth quarter of this year, he noted that the recent earthquake is now likely to push that recovery back into the middle of next year.

These “indications of large dollar inflows” provide a clear clue as to how the Delcy Rodríguez administration is spending the oil revenues disbursed by the US Treasury. The BCV continues to deploy significant foreign currency reserves to artificially stabilize the official exchange rate. As Juan Comella observed in May, Rodríguez’s monetary policy differs little from that of the Maduro regime. Grisanti and Ecoanalítica remain sharp critics of this interventionist model, the very mechanism that wrecked Venezuela’s economy in the first place by turning privileged access to official-rate dollars into a primary driver of systemic corruption and economic inefficiency.

In an April report, Ecoanalítica criticized the rigid framework governing the domestic private sector’s acquisition of foreign exchange. Only entities with foreign bank accounts (which can be cleared through the SWIFT network) can buy dollars from the select group of major Venezuelan banks, effectively excluding emerging firms and SMEs. Consequently, local businesses receiving US dollars often cannot execute international transactions (such as paying overseas vendors) because they lack the proper banking infrastructure or because their local financial institutions lack correspondent banks abroad. Furthermore, the report highlights that retail accounts held by natural persons capture 20-30% of total FX allocations. This reflects the classic playbook of rewarding cronies while perpetuating market distortions: privileged individuals purchase dollars cheaply at the official BCV rate and immediately offload them on the parallel market at a premium.

We may not know the exact figures, but funds are trickling through the system. The fundamental question is not only how much revenue the US and the Rodríguez administration are processing, but who ultimately benefits from these flows and whether they contribute to genuine economic recovery.

When a pitcher purposely throws high and inside, the batter has four choices.

He can stare down the pitcher. He can charge the mound. He can get revenge by walloping the next pitch for a hit.

Or he can ignore the intimidation tactic and continue as if nothing happened.

The last choice is the wimp’s way out, since the batter will lose his teammates’ respect, while opposing pitchers will consider him a pushover and fire more brushback pitches at him.

Ever since the Dodgers visited the White House last spring to commemorate their 2024 World Series win, President Trump has launched a barrage of metaphorical fastballs trying to hurt Los Angeles — in the courts, in speeches and on social media, but especially via his deportation deluge that’s starting to simmer again.

So how have the Boys in Blue responded in defense of the metropolis they wear on their jerseys and the community that has sustained them for nearly 70 years, making Dem Bums one of the most valuable franchises in baseball?

They’re scheduled to visit the White House today so Trump can use them as a photo op and bask in their 2025 championship.

That’s like staying in the dugout during a bench-clearing brawl after a pitcher plonks a batter, then offering the offender a handshake the next inning.

Winning back-to-back titles and blazing through this season has brought Angelenos much-needed happiness during a terrible stretch for the city — but winning is what the Dodgers are supposed to do. They’re also supposed to do more.

This is the team of pioneers like Jackie Robinson and Sandy Koufax, Glenn Burke and Fernando Valenzuela. The squad whose mythology insists it’s a franchise apart from the rest of professional sports because the Dodger Way is kinder, braver and more willing to take moral risks that transcend baseball and make society better.

And yet manager Dave Roberts told Times sports columnist Bill Shaikin in February that he would gladly accept another White House invitation “to continue to try to do what tradition says and not try to make political statements, because I am not a politician.”

Well, thank God the Dodgers broke baseball’s longstanding tradition of segregation long before Roberts, who is Black and Japanese American, was born!

Manager Dave Roberts of the Los Angeles Dodgers looks on from the dugout during a 2025 game against the San Diego Padres at Petco Park in San Diego, California.

(Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)

Most of the Blue Crew fans I know — who are mostly Trump haters, by the way — roll their eyes every time a wokoso member of Dodger Nation complains about the team’s White House visits or the failure of players, coaches and executives to speak out more forcefully against Trump’s anti-immigrant campaign. Politics have no place in baseball, my friends and family members will say.

But standing up for L.A. by snubbing Trump or calling out his war against us isn’t political at all.

Angelenos need a champion on the Dodgers to say what needs to be said: The City of Angels is wonderful, and Trump is wrong to target it. If you can’t stand up for the simple belief that we don’t deserve to be Trump’s personal piñata, then you have no place playing for the Dodgers.

Only two players have announced they’re not going to the White House: superstar Mookie Betts and fan favorite Kiké Hernández. The latter, a native of Puerto Rico, endeared himself to the Dodger faithful last year during the height of the immigration raids with an Instagram post that read, “I cannot tolerate watching our community continue to be violated, attacked, abused and separated. ALL people deserve to be treated with respect, dignity and their human rights.”

This time around, Hernández told the Times that he’s not going so he can focus on a rehabilitation stint in the minors. When pressed by reporter Maddie Lee, he said, “I’d rather take a day off than do team activities.”

Nice way to rhetorically strike out, Kiké.

Betts, meanwhile, said he wants to spend time with his newborn child — as legitimate a reason as any. But then he sat down for a short interview with Fox News.

“I don’t know why the world sees athletes as political figures or these people that can make change,” Betts said. The future Hall of Famer, who like Roberts owes a lot to Robinson for paving the way for him and other Black players, hemmed and hawed as if he didn’t quite believe what he was saying.

Dodgers past and present haven’t been averse to political stands — they just usually happen to be of the conservative variety.

After his retirement, Robinson campaigned for Richard Nixon’s unsuccessful 1960 presidential bid but left the GOP eight years later, accusing Nixon of “prostituting himself to the bigots in the South” to win the presidency.

Other Dodger legends, from former owner Peter O’Malley to Steve Garvey to Tommy Lasorda, were proud, vocal Republicans as well. Reliever Blake Treinen pitched in a game with “Charlie Kirk” written on his hat after the assassination of the far-right commentator — you know, the guy who lambasted L.A.’s response to Trump’s immigration hammer as “open rebellion to American sovereignty and authority … in a corrupt blue city.”

Treinen — who skipped the Dodgers’ 2021 White House visit when Joe Biden occupied the Oval Office — was at it again this year when he and teammate Alex Call declined to wear Pride Night-themed caps, choosing instead to play with the standard-issue one. They followed the example of Dodgers titan Clayton Kershaw, who wore a Pride cap last year but adorned it with a verse from the Book of Genesis commandeered by MAGA Christians to accuse LGBT+ people of appropriating rainbow colors to celebrate their supposedly wicked ways.

Dodgers management didn’t browbeat Treinen and Call, and that’s fine — ballplayers should be entitled to share their personal thoughts, however noxious. I even understand why the team might want to ham it up with Trump this week — that’s what multimillionaires seem to want to do these days, after all.

Federal agents stage outside Gate E of Dodger Stadium on June 19, 2025.

(Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)

What offends me most is that Dodgers owner Mark Walter knows what Trump is doing to L.A. is wrong, even if he’ll never publicly say anything.

Last June, the team announced that it had prevented Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents from entering the Dodger Stadium parking lot — the feds denied that this happened. The Dodgers also announced they would donate $1.1 million to nonprofits to assist people affected by the immigration raids — a response to community disgust about video of federal agents in front of a Dodger Stadium gate with people who had been detained at a nearby Home Depot.

Soon after, the Dodgers were hit with a federal civil rights complaint, filed by a legal group co-founded by Stephen Miller, accusing them of discrimination because of their diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. This year, Walter’s investment firm rid itself of all shares in GEO Group, which runs immigrant detention centers on behalf of the federal government.

Yet now, the Dodgers are going to the White House.

Enjoy the trip, fellas. Hey, maybe one of you will shake Trump’s hand and tell him that multicultural, immigrant, Dodgers-blue Los Angeles is all right.

Hey, maybe the Angels will win the pennant.

Dalton Rushing snaps nine-game hitless streak

From Maddie Lee: Dodgers catcher Dalton Rushing fought to end his skid.

He held up on a curveball from Phillies right-hander Aaron Nola that clipped the bottom of the strike zone. He fouled off a changeup. And he stayed disciplined as Nola tried to get him to chase a fastball up and two breaking balls in the dirt.

In a full count, Rushing fouled off another changeup. And then, finally, Nola made a mistake.

Rushing hammered the grooved fastball to left-center field, just shy of the Citizens Bank Park concourse.

“It’s pretty obvious I’ve been fighting recently,” Rushing said after the game. “The more you try in this game to fight out of a hole, the deeper you dig yourself in a hole. So I think that’s what it’s been recently. And today it was, obviously, you get a good start to the day, and it’s kind of uphill. Yeah, I wouldn’t say it was anything different. I just trusted myself today.”

It was the Dodgers’ first run during a 9-5 win and Rushing’s first hit in more than two weeks. Over the course of nine hitless games, he went 0-for-19.

Rushing has been the Dodgers’ starting catcher since early June, when Will Smith was first sidelined with a neck injury. And the Dodgers will continue to rely on him, with Smith out indefinitely.

Continue reading here

Dodgers box score

MLB standings

MORE DODGERS:

‘It looked good.’ Dodgers encouraged by Shohei Ohtani bullpen session after knee injury

Angels fall to Cards in series finale

Hunter Dobbins scattered six hits over six innings, JJ Wetherholt hit a home run in the sixth and the St. Louis Cardinals held on for a 1-0 victory over the Angels on Wednesday at Angel Stadium.

Dobbins, recalled from triple-A Memphis for Wednesday’s start, struck out five and walked none to help St. Louis snap a four-game losing streak and end the Angels’ three-game win streak.

Luis Gastelum threw a scoreless seventh, George Soriano had a 1-2-3 eighth and closer Riley O’Brien struck out Oswald Peraza with an 80-mph sweeper and Josh Lowe with a 98-mph sinker with two on in the ninth for his 26th save.

Continue reading here

Angels box score

MLB standings

New baseball team courts Asian fans in Irvine

From Bill Shaikin: Would he get his own song?

Lars Nootbaar grew up in Southern California, playing for USC and attending games at Dodger Stadium. His mother is from Japan, so he played with Shohei Ohtani on Team Japan in the 2023 World Baseball Classic.

In Japan, fans come up with a song for each player and sing it happily and relentlessly. Nootbaar played in the major leagues, not in the Japanese league, so he was not sure he would get a song until he came up to bat.

“I don’t know how everybody in the stadium knew how to do it,” the St. Louis Cardinals outfielder said Wednesday at Angel Stadium. “Everybody was chanting it. It was pretty awesome.”

In Japan, baseball games are nine innings of songs and chants, drums and noise sticks. No excessively caffeinated in-game hosts. No scolding video commands to make some noise. The joyful sounds are organic, and they come from the fans.

Nootbaar attended Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s last game in Japan and absolutely raved about the energy in the stadium. Does he believe that kind of fan experience would translate to an American ballpark?

“I don’t see why not,” Nootbaar said. “It would probably have to start small, but it would be cool to integrate that.”

We’re starting small, and soon. A minor league team plans to launch in Irvine next year, and the entrepreneur behind it is pitching it as a way to provide fans with a taste of Asian baseball.

“We’re going to really lean into some of the innovation in fan experience that you’ve seen in Korea and Japan,” said Paul Freedman, co-founder of Innovation Baseball Partners.

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Sparks fall to Mercury in final game before all-star break

From Joaquin Ruiz: The Sparks and Mercury teetered and tottered, but Phoenix pulled away late to hand Los Angeles an 86-82 loss on Wednesday afternoon at Crypto.com Arena in the two teams’ final game before a much-needed All-Star break.

With the game tied at 60 entering the fourth quarter, Phoenix scored consecutive baskets and never relinquished its advantage. Forward Alyssa Thomas dominated with 19 points, 11 rebounds, 15 assists and three steals, while guard Kahleah Copper poured in 21 points on 10-for-16 shooting to lead the Mercury precisely as Sparks coach Lynne Roberts expected.

“Players like [Thomas] and [Copper] … can both take over games,” Roberts said before the game. “Last time we played them, Copper had 41 … she is an absolute talent. I think they run good stuff. I like what [Mercury coach Nate Tibbetts] does.”

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Sparks-Mercury box

WNBA standings

Son scores again in LAFC win over Real Salt Lake

Son Heung-min scored a goal for the second consecutive game, Denis Bouanga added a goal, and LAFC beat Real Salt Lake 3-1 on Wednesday night.

Hugo Lloris, who leads MLS with nine shutouts this season, had six saves for LAFC (9-5-3).

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MLS standings

Galaxy fall to sizzling St. Louis City

Lukas MacNaughton and Marcel Hartel scored four minutes apart late in the first half to break open St. Louis City’s 3-1 victory over the Galaxy on Wednesday night.

Simon Becher scored in the second half after Galaxy defender Emiro Garcés was sent off in the 49th minute with his second yellow card, and St. Louis cruised to its third straight win.

St. Louis, which is unbeaten in six straight since early May, also leapfrogged the Galaxy into the Western Conference’s playoff positions with this victory.

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This day in sports history

1907 — Australasia beats British Isles 3-2 to win the Davis Cup held at Wimbledon. Australasia wins its first David Cup and ends the four-year reign of the British Isles.

1921 — At the annual Harvard-Yale vs. Cambridge-Oxford meet at Harvard Stadium, Harvard’s Edward Gourdin becomes the first to long jump 25 feet. Harvard lists Gourdin’s jump as 25 feet, 3 inches, but the official listing in U.S. Track and Field is 25-2.

1960 — Betsy Rawls becomes the first woman to win the U.S. Women’s Open golf title four times.

1966 — John Pennel pole vaults 17 feet, 6 1/4 inches for the world record in a meet at Los Angeles. It’s the eighth of nine world records he set in the event in his career and his first since 1963.

1976 — The last NFL All-Star game is held and is shortened when thunderstorms hit Chicago. The Pittsburgh Steelers beat the All-Stars 24-0.

1978 — Hollis Stacy wins the U.S. Women’s Open golf championship for the second straight year.

1989 — Mark Calcavecchia wins the British Open, edging Greg Norman and Wayne Grady in a three-man playoff. Calcavecchia, the first American to win the Open in five years, birdies three of the four holes in the playoff.

1989 — Greg Lemond wins his second Tour de France with the closest finish ever, edging Laurent Fignon by 8 seconds. Lemond starts the day 50 seconds behind Fignon and wins the final stage, a 15-mile race against the clock from Versailles to Paris, in 26:57. Fignon finishes the stage 58 seconds slower.

1995 — John Daly wins the British Open at St. Andrews by four strokes in a four-hole playoff with Italy’s Costantino Rocca. Rocca forces the playoff by sinking a 65-foot putt on the 18th hole.

1995 — Miguel Indurain of Spain wins his record fifth consecutive Tour de France. Indurain joins Jacques Anquetil, Eddy Merckx and Bernard Hinault as the other five-time winners.

2000 — Tiger Woods, at 24, becomes the youngest player to win the career Grand Slam with a record-breaking performance in the British Open on the Old Course at St. Andrews. Woods closes with a 3-under 69 for a 19-under 269 total, the lowest score in relation to par at a major championship.

2000 — 87th Tour de France: no winner (Lance Armstrong disqualified).

2006 — Tiger Woods, one month after missing the cut for the first time in a major, becomes the first player since Tom Watson in 1982-83 to win consecutive British Open titles.

2006 — Floyd Landis, pedaling with an injured hip, cruises to victory in the Tour de France, keeping cycling’s most prestigious title in American hands for the eighth straight year.

2009 — Mark Buehrle pitches the 18th perfect game in major league history, a 5-0 win over Tampa Bay.

2012 — Penn State is all but leveled by penalties handed down by the NCAA for its handling of the allegations against former assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky. The NCAA imposes an unprecedented $60 million fine, a four-year ban from postseason play and a cut in the number of football scholarships it can award.

2017 — British cyclist Chris Froome wins his fourth Tour de France.

2019 — Nike’s Jordan Brand signs 2019 NBA #1 draft pick Zion Williamson to richest multiyear sponsorship deal for a rookie in history; estimated 7 years for $75 million.

2021 — The Opening ceremony of the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games takes place after a one-year delay due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

2021 — The Cleveland Indians announce the team will be re-named the Guardians.

Compiled by the Associated Press

This day in baseball history

1925 — Lou Gehrig hit the first of his major league record 23 grand slam homers as the New York Yankees posted an 11-7 triumph over the Washington Senators.

1930 — Pie Traynor won both ends of a doubleheader for the Pittsburgh Pirates with home runs. In the first game, Traynor homered in the ninth and in the second game, he connected in the 13th.

1944 — Bill Nicholson of the Chicago Cubs hit four home runs in a doubleheader split with the New York Giants. Nicholson hit a home run in the opener, which the Cubs won 7-4. He hit three straight in the second game, but the Giants won 12-10. In that game, Nicholson was walked with the bases loaded in the seventh inning.

1955 — Bob Cerv and Elston Howard of the New York Yankess hit consecutive pinch-hit home runs to force extra innings against Kansas City. The Athletics won 8-7 in the 11th inning on Hector Lopez’s RBI-single. Trailing 7-5 entering the top of the ninth, Cerv batted for pitcher Tommy Byrne and homered of Alex Kellner. Tom Gorman replaced Kellner and Howard, hitting for Irv Noren, tied the game.

1964 — Bert Campaneris of Kansas City hit two home runs in his first major league game. He homered on the first pitch off Minnesota’s Jim Kaat, and then connected again in the seventh to lift the Athletics to a 4-3 win.

1974 — Write-in starter Steve Garvey of the Los Angeles Dodgers singled and doubled to lead the NL to a 7-2 victory over the AL in the All-Star game at Pittsburgh.

1985 — Oddibe McDowell became the first player in Texas Rangers history to hit for the cycle in an 8-4 win over the Cleveland Indians.

2000 — Ryan Klesko hit a game-tying solo homer in the ninth inning and a two-run shot in the 10th to lift San Diego over Colorado 6-4.

2009 — Mark Buehrle pitched the 18th perfect game in major league history, a 5-0 win over Tampa Bay. It was the first since Randy Johnson’s on May 18, 2004. Buehrle threw 76 of 116 pitches for strikes and fanned six in his second no-hitter — the first coming on April 18, 2007, against Texas.

2011 — The Red Sox extend Seattle’s losing streak to 14 games, tied for the longest in team history, with a 3 – 1 win at Fenway Park which is also Terry Francona’s 1000th as Sox manager. Josh Beckett is the winner.

2014 — Padres OF Cameron Maybin is handed a 25-game suspension for testing positive for amphetamines; he is the first major leaguer suspended for PED use this season.

2016 — Trevor Story hit two home runs to set an NL rookie record for shortstops and Colorado beat Atlanta 8-4. Story had four hits including his 25th and 26th homers to pass his mentor, Troy Tulowitzki, who had 24 for the Rockies in 2007. Nomar Garciaparra of the Boston Red Sox set the major league record for shortstops with 30 in 1997.

2020 — CommissionerRob Manfred springs a surprise on everyone as he announces a modified postseason format for this year only. There will be eight teams participating from each league: the two teams with the best records in each division, and the ones with the two next best records in the league. The teams will be seeded one to eight. The Wild Card Game will be replaced by a preliminary round with all teams participating, played in best-of-three format, with all games played in the better-ranked team’s ballpark.

2021 — Cleveland baseball team announced the team will be called the Guardians beginning in 2022.

2023 — In Cooperstown, NY, Fred McGriff and Scott Rolen are inducted into the Hall of Fame as the Class of 2023.

Compiled by the Associated Press

Until next time…

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