Oct. 28, 2026 11:14 PM PT

HIGH SCHOOL GIRLS TENNIS

CITY SECTION PLAYOFFS
WEDNESDAY’S RESULTS
At Balboa Tennis Center
Finals

OPEN DIVISION
#1 Palisades 20, #2 Granada Hills 9.5

THURSDAY’S SCHEDULE
(Matches at 12:30 p.m. unless noted)
Quarterfinals

DIVISION I
#8 Eagle Rock at #1 GALA
#5 SOCES at #4 Chatsworth
#8 North Hollywood at #3 Venice
#10 L.A. Marshall at #2 El Camino Real

DIVISION II
#9 Fairfax at #1 Granada Hills Kennedy
#12 New West at #4 South East
#6 South Gate at #3 Wilmington Banning
#7 Downtown Magnets at #2 LACES

Note: Division I-II semifinals Monday, Nov. 2 at 12:30 p.m. at higher seeds; Division I-II finals Wednesday, Nov. 4 at 11 .a.m. at higher seeds.

After a 1-1 draw in normal time, Liverpool win 6-5 to edge a narrow win after penalties in last-16 match at Liverpool.

Liverpool beat Chelsea 6-5 in a dramatic penalty shootout to reach the English League Cup quarterfinals.

In a clash between childhood friends Andoni Iraola and Xabi Alonso, it was the Liverpool manager who took the bragging rights in the last-16 tie at Anfield on Wednesday.

A 1-1 draw in normal time set the stage for the shoot-out as Chelsea’s Morgan Rogers netted from the spot, only for Cody Gakpo to equalise with a penalty of his own just before half-time.

Chelsea’s Valentin Barco hit the post in the shootout before Liverpool’s Kostas Tsimikas wasted a chance to win it when he blazed over.

Ryan Gravenberch was denied by Chelsea keeper Mike Penders, but Giorgi Mamardashvili saved Emmanuel Emegha’s kick to keep Liverpool alive.

After Joe Gomez scored for Liverpool, Blues defender Wesley Fofana miscued into the Kop as the hosts advanced.

It was former Liverpool midfielder Alonso’s third defeat in his three visits to Anfield as a manager, following losses with Bayer Leverkusen in 2024 and Real Madrid in 2025.

In their debut campaigns at Liverpool, Jurgen Klopp and Arne Slot both reached the League Cup final, and Iraola is on course to follow in their footsteps with the 10-time winners of the competition.

“We are really happy. Three wins at home in a row is very important. We were struggling at home in the league but now we go against Arsenal on Sunday,” said Iraola, who will face his former club Bournemouth in the last eight.

Alonso added: “Every time you reach the penalties, someone will feel it is harsh to go out of the competition.

“We were showing a good level and this is what it takes to come to these stadiums. The Premier League is the main focus.”

Alonso made just four changes to the Chelsea side that lost 2-0 at home to Tottenham on Saturday, while Iraola made seven changes from Liverpool’s 2-0 win against Brighton on Sunday.

Rogers put Chelsea in front with a 40th-minute penalty after Gravenberch clattered into Moises Caicedo.

But Liverpool were level three minutes later with a penalty of their own as Gakpo converted from the spot following Fofana’s handball.

Student protests that began in September in France have spread to more than 11 European countries as anger rises over high rents and fuel prices and cuts to public services.

Many young protesters said they no longer expect to be better off than their parents, and household wealth data show a wide gap between generations.

Across the eurozone and two other European countries, households headed by someone under 35 have a median net wealth of about 25,000 euros ($27,870) while those headed by 55- to 64-year-olds are worth about 208,000 euros ($231,882), more than eight times as much, according to the European Central Bank’s (ECB’s) 2023 Household Finance and Consumption Survey.

In this visual explainer, Al Jazeera compares wealth by age groups across 22 European countries and looks at how much more expensive life has become since 2000.

Where is the wealth gap widest?

The Household Finance and Consumption Survey, run by the ECB and national central banks since 2010, tracks household wealth and debt in the eurozone, the Czech Republic and Hungary.

It measures net wealth, which includes property, cars, valuables and savings, minus debts. Under-35s hold just 2.8 percent of all household wealth in the 22 countries while 55- to 64-year-olds hold the largest share at 24 percent.

In Finland, under-35s hold 0.8 percent of household wealth, the lowest share of any country surveyed, while over-55s hold more than 71 percent. Young people’s shares are also small in Ireland (1.4 percent), Austria (1.6 percent), Greece (1.8 percent) and Germany (2 percent).

Rising housing costs mean many young people cannot afford what their parents or grandparents could.

Wealth is more evenly spread in Central and Eastern Europe. In Lithuania, under-35s hold 13.2 percent, against 15.9 percent for 55- to 64-year-olds. Their share is 12.3 percent in Croatia, 10.1 percent in Slovakia and 9.8 percent in Estonia. Malta, at 11.1 percent, is the exception outside the two regions.

The graphic below shows how household wealth is split between age groups in each country surveyed.

“What we’ve seen is actually a very strong increase in housing prices both in terms of the rental market as well as the ownership market,” Evelyn Astor of the European Social Observatory told Al Jazeera’s Counting the Cost programme.

“All of this is also reinforcing a sense of inequality because ultimately ordinary families are struggling to pay their rents or be able to purchase their homes whereas wealthy people with capital are able to make rather significant investments in the European housing market,” she said.

How much more expensive is it than 2000?

Prices of everyday goods and services, such as food, energy, transport and household bills, have risen by 67.2 percent in the eurozone, Hungary and the Czech Republic since 2000.

Of the countries in our chart, Hungary has seen the steepest rise with prices more than tripling, according to Eurostat, the European Union’s statistics agency. Its harmonised index of consumer prices is the EU’s official measure of how much everyday goods and services cost.

The chart below shows how consumer prices have changed in each country since 2000 with prices in 2000 set at 100 on the index.

Eastern European countries have seen the sharpest increases – particularly since 2022 when Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine began – because many relied heavily on Russian energy supplies.

Prices rose by about 2 percent a year on average until 2022 when annual inflation in the EU hit 9.2 percent.

The surge was driven mainly by energy costs. Inflation has since eased, but the price rises of the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine have not reversed.

Emmerdale fans were left questioning how Dr Liam Cavanagh and newcomer Dave knew each other, after a link was teased in an episode that also a wedding date confirmed

How does Liam on Emmerdale know new character Dave?

A link is clear, given Dave, who said his name was David Thistlethwaite, clearly knew Liam from his past. Dave commented how he’d seen him before but that he didn’t know anyone by the surname Cavanagh, which is Liam’s surname.

When Dave asked Liam about where he was from and how they knew each other, Liam shut it down. The thing is, he didn’t recognise Dave or his name, so he doesn’t seem to know him.

But it’s when Dave started probing about where he grew up and that he’d seen him close to where he was from at some point, that Liam started to panic.

Dave had been drafted in to take part in a murder mystery organised by Chas Dingle, Liam’s fiancée. At first it seemed Dave was an actual criminal, and he had hijacked the murder game to get revenge on Dylan Penders.

Everyone played along until the end, when Liam unlocked a safe, only to find a piece of paper. On the paper, the date January 29th was written down.

As Liam asked what this meant, they all dropped the act, including Dave, as Chas admitted it was all to announce their wedding date. Dave was actually new at the brewery, helping Chas with deliveries at the pub.

Liam thanked him for taking part, calling him a good sport. It was clear he didn’t know Dave, but it’s then that Dave made a point of knowing where Liam was originally from.

Dave told him: “You do seem quite familiar, although I’m not sure I knew an Cavanaghs.” Liam told him, nervously: “No, it wouldn’t have been me.”

Dave replied: “Are you sure? You do seem very familiar.” Liam started stuttering, trying to suggest he wasn’t there for long before Dave interrupted.

Liam interrupted back though, and bluntly told him: “It wasn’t me.” Dave apologised for asking, and later, we saw an anxious Liam staring at Dave from afar.

Fans began speculating how the men knew each other, and what Liam was hiding about his past. They were convinced that Liam had done something or was running away from something.

Another theory was that he wasn’t he who said he was or had perhaps changed his name. Dave clearly knew Liam by a different surname, and Liam is clearly trying to cover up this link.

One fan said: “I think Liam killed his 1st wife,” as a second said: “I wonder if Liam has a secret family?” A third fan said: “Ooh, who is Liam really?”

Another theory read: “Bigamy so he cant marry Chas,” as one said: “I think it’s going to turn out all this time he has been a bigamist and still has a wife down south.” A final post said: “Wonder if he’s changed his name for some reason ie medical misconduct or immunity from something.”

Emmerdale airs weeknights at 8pm on ITV1 and ITVX. * Follow Mirror Celebs and TV on TikTok , Snapchat , Instagram , Twitter , Facebook , YouTube and Threads .

Following a series of scandals that shook public trust in local government, Los Angeles City Council launched a massive charter reform to boost accountability across city departments. Charter PRT emerged from that reform.

McOsker, who co-sponsored the amendment, said it would offer greater public access and participation into government processes. He believes it is important that those overseeing LAX and Van Nuys understand how neighboring communities are affected by airport decisions.

“The folks that live and work and drive around and experience the impacts of the airport operations should have some say in the future of airport operations,” McOsker said. “They know the best of what the impacts are on the tens of thousands of folks that live around each of those facilities.”

McOsker stressed that the port is on public land and another space that residents should have greater insight into by offering transparency into how leaseholder agreements affect the local economy.

HIGH SCHOOL GIRLS VOLLEYBALL

CITY SECTION PLAYOFFS
WEDNESDAY’S RESULTS
Quarterfinals

OPEN DIVISION
#1 Venice d. #8 Eagle Rock, 25-22, 25-16, 26-24
#4 Taft d. #5 El Camino Real, 14-25, 25-21, 25-19, 25-14
#3 Cleveland d. #6 Granada Hills, 25-12, 25-21, 25-19
#2 Palisades d. #7 Chatsworth, 25-22, 25-20, 25-14

Second Round

DIVISION III
#17 RFK Community d. #1 Franklin, 26-24, 25-19, 26-24
#9 Marquez d. #8 Animo De La Hoya, 21-25, 25-19, 25-20, 25-6
#12 Harbor Teacher d. #5 Annenberg, 25-13, 25-11, 25-23
#4 Wilmington Banning d. #13 Port of L.A., 27-25, 25-22, 25-22
#19 Sun Valley Magnet at #3 Narbonne
#11 Larchmont Charter d. #6 Stern, 25-20, 25-22, 15-25, 25-20
#7 Math & Science College d. #10 Brio College Prep, 25-15, 25-16, 25-27, 25-16
#18 L.A. Wilson d. #2 Lake Balboa College Prep, 25-14, 21-25, 25-18, 26-24

DIVISION IV
#1 Santee d. #17 Los Angeles, 25-22, 29-27, 25-13
#8 Arleta d. Middle College, 25-12, 25-10, 25-20
#12 Fairfax d. #5 Bell, 25-23, 27-25, 25-16
#4 Community Charter d. #20 Downtown Magnets, 25-22, 21-25, 25-21, 25-16
#3 Huntington Park d. #14 Hollywood, 25-8, 25-17, 25-17
#11 Canoga Park d. #6 WISH Academy, 25-9, 25-20, 25-20
#7 Legacy d. #10 Monroe, 25-8, 24-26, 25-16, 25-17
#2 Garfield d. #15 Jefferson, 25-21, 18-25, 25-13, 25-22

DIVISION V
#1 Elizabeth d. #16 Orthopaedic, 25-6, 18-25, 25-20, 25-18
#8 San Fernando Arroyo d. #9 USC Hybrid, 3-0
#21 Discovery d. #5 Magnolia Science Academy, 25-12, 25-22, 25-20
#4 Animo Pat Brown d. #13 Camino Nuevo, 25-20, 25-18, 13-25, 28-26
#14 Smidt Tech d. #3 Burton, 3-0
#6 Angelou d. #11 Diego Rivera
#7 Lakeview Charter d. #10 Van Nuys, 25-19, 25-15, 19-25, 25-23
#15 Manual Arts d. #2 Stella, 25-14, 15-25, 25-16, 25-18

THURSDAY’S SCHEDULE
(Matches at 4 p.m. unless noted)
Quarterfinals

DIVISION I
#9 North Hollywood at #1 SOCES
#5 L.A. University at #4 San Pedro
#14 L.A. Marshall at #11 Lincoln
#7 Sun Valley Poly at #2 Granada Hills Kennedy

DIVISION II
#8 Carson at #1 South East
#13 Panorama at #5 Alliance Levine
#14 South Gate at #11 Maywood CES
#15 Reseda at #7 Verdugo Hills

FRIDAY’S SCHEDULE
(Matches at 4 p.m. unless noted)
Quarterfinals

DIVISION III
#17 RFK Community at #9 Marquez
#12 Harbor Teacher at #4 Wilmington Banning
#11 Larchmont Charter vs. #19 Sun Valley Magnet / #3 Narbonne
#18 L.A. Wilson at #18 Math & Science College Prep

DIVISION IV
#8 Arleta at #1 Santee
#12 Fairfax at #4 Community Charter
#11 Canoga Park at #3 Huntington Park
#7 Legacy at #2 Garfield

DIVISION V
#8 San Fernando Arroyo at #1 Elizabeth
#21 Discovery at #4 Animo Pat Brown
#14 Smidt Tech at #6 Angelou
#15 Manual Arts at #7 Lakeview Charter

Note: Semifinals (all divisions) Tues., Nov. 3 at higher seeds; Finals (all divisions) Fri., Nov. 6 or Sat., Nov. 7 (times and sites TBD).

The United States midterm elections appear stacked against the ruling Republicans, with polls suggesting the Democrats average an eight-point lead in the House of Representatives and the Senate. But if Democrats take one or both houses, could they affect upcoming elections in Europe?

Not fundamentally, analysts and observers have told Al Jazeera, but besides a welcome improvement in transatlantic relations, they point to two potentially adverse effects.

First, a Democratic Congress might produce complacency among Europeans regarding their own far-right movements.

Second, it might spur US President Donald Trump to raise pressure on Ukraine to make a deal it doesn’t want to make with Russia.

“If the Democrats win the House, let alone both houses, it will be read as, ‘you see democracies bounce back,’” said Catherine Fieschi, a nonresident scholar at Carnegie Europe, specialising in European far-right politics. It would introduce “the idea that these things don’t mean the advent of a fascist regime”, she said.

From her vantage point in Paris, Fieschi said she imagines a Democratic win leading to “a whole discussion about whether we should fear a Marine Le Pen election as much as some people say we should, or whether, in fact, it’s swings and roundabouts and, at some point, if people are really bad and really incompetent, then elections right the way,” she said.

French right-wing politician Marine Le Pen is currently leading the field in polling for presidential elections scheduled for April 18, with surveys indicating she has about 34 percent of the popular vote.

There is a precedent for the complacency Fieschi alludes to. In June 2025, the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR), a think tank, polled Europeans following Trump’s first six months in office. Clear majorities in Western Europe said the US political system was broken. In Eastern Europe, majorities said it was working well – though they were weighted towards right-wing voters.

Greek Migration Minister Thanos Plevris warned against giving too much credit to the US for what Europeans think and do, however.

He said he believes European public opinion hardened against asylum and economic migration independently, but the US marked the shift by expressing it more violently, with military deportation flights and armed Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents sweeping American cities.

“I think there was a European about-turn on migration. We saw this in Germany, which had a welcoming attitude [to refugees] for many years, and they went to a more controlled policy. All northern European governments saw societies change,” he told Al Jazeera.

“But the US provided a change in tone, from induction and integration and benefaction to deterrence, border protection, increased returns and consequences if asylum is denied. I do think that pivot played a role in Europe,” Plevris added.

The fallout for Ukraine

Should French voters decide that the only way out is through electing Le Pen – “like some kind of strong medicine that would wake us up to what we might lose”, as Fieschi put it – they would have to contend with three controversial propositions – cutting French financial contributions to the European Union’s federal budget to pay for earlier retirement, cutting military aid to Ukraine and possibly leaving the single currency, the euro, in favour of a devalued franc.

Any one of those policy moves would be a major setback for the European project, which has coalesced around trade, money and now security. A cut in assistance to Ukraine would remove 3.5 percent of its foreign military aid, according to the Kiel Institute’s Ukraine Support Tracker, which other allies would have to make up.

At the same time, “we could end up in a situation where Trump is basically clinching deals with Putin as fast as he can,” said Fieschi, referring to the US-Russian strategy to coerce Ukraine into a peace agreement that involves sacrificing its eastern Donbas region – something Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said would be a strategic error leading to renewed war, and which a majority of Ukrainians are against.

Trump has already leveraged US early warning on incoming ballistics and Starlink satellite navigation against Ukraine. He has twice echoed Russian calls for Zelenskyy to be replaced.

Compounding this renewed pressure from a beleaguered White House, Russia could intensify its “all-domain war”, which many European governments believe it is already waging against them, said Victoria Vdovychenko, a Ukraine expert at Cambridge University’s Centre for Geopolitics.

“Cognitive warfare never stopped on the European continent, and Russians are already using existing vulnerabilities to the utmost,” she told Al Jazeera. “I hope that the European partners will be staying very strong.”

What Europeans think

Trump’s abandonment of the world order the US and Europe established after World War II, his disregard for democracy and human rights, and his betrayal of Ukraine have already transformed European public opinion, observers say.

Only 31 percent of Europeans see the US as Europe’s “most trustworthy ally”, down from 51 percent in 2024, when Trump’s predecessor, Joe Biden, was in office, according to a poll for the German think tank Bertelsmann Stiftung.

Seventy-three percent of Europeans across all age groups say Europe should “go its own way” rather than continue a close cooperation with the US, up from 63 percent in 2024, and that figure includes a clear majority among those on the centre-right and right.

In this year’s Spring Eurobarometer, a regular pulse-taking conducted by the European Commission, 68 percent of respondents wanted the EU’s role in protecting Europeans from global crises and security risks to increase, while 39 percent wanted it to be a top priority.

In a June poll for the European Council on Foreign Relations, the description of the US as an “ally” fell from 22 percent in November 2024 to 11 percent across all territories polled in Eastern and Western Europe.

In a June poll for the Pew Research Center, a Washington-based think tank, 76 percent of people polled in 36 countries, of which nine were EU members, expressed no confidence in Trump, and 57 percent expressed unfavourable views of the US.

It would appear that such shifts against the US and especially Republicans, formed over two Trump terms, would be difficult to reverse in a single congressional election, especially with a Russian war ongoing in Europe.

Trump administration issues more than 100 subpoenas across 13 states as search for alleged noncitizen voters ramps up.

A United States judge has rejected a Department of Justice request to temporarily halt California from counting mail ballots from a list of 20,000 alleged noncitizens just six days before the country’s midterm elections.

US District Judge David Carter’s ruling on Wednesday came as US President Donald Trump expands efforts to search for alleged noncitizen voters, with subpoenas issued in at least 13 states.

“Never before in American history has the federal government, on the eve of an election, sought to coerce a state and local government to abandon their own Constitutional elections procedures and bend to the will of the Executive Branch,” Carter wrote on Wednesday.

The judge, a 1998 appointee of Democratic President Bill Clinton, said the Justice Department’s last-minute request to exclude more than 20,000 ballots ran afoul of “longstanding constitutional principles mandating that states have control over their elections”.

The Justice Department swiftly appealed the decision to the Ninth US Circuit Court of Appeals and did not immediately respond to requests for comment by the Reuters news agency.

The Justice Department filed the lawsuit on October 15, a rare intervention in the voting process weeks before Tuesday’s election, when voters will choose which party controls Congress as well as their state and local representatives.

Escalating efforts from Trump

The decision marks the latest setback in Trump’s effort to expand the federal government’s role in elections ahead of the legislative midterms, as his Republican Party fights to retain control of both houses of Congress.

The Trump administration issued more than 100 subpoenas demanding records on tens of thousands of voters in at least 13 states, both Republican- and Democratic-leaning.

Most of the subpoenas Reuters documented were issued to state and local election officials in the past three months, though some date to the start of the year. Many were previously unreported, revealing a federal effort to identify potential noncitizen voters that is broader than publicly known.

It is illegal for noncitizens to vote in US federal elections. Legal experts say the records could be used to contest close midterm results, despite scant evidence that noncitizen voting is widespread.

‘Deeply flawed process’

Also on Wednesday, Democracy Docket, a US media platform that tracks election litigation, reported that the Department of Justice list of alleged noncitizen voters “appears to have been created using a deeply flawed process” that could disenfranchise US citizen voters beyond California.

In a court filing, a government whistleblower revealed that voters were being scrutinised nationwide, not just in California, as part of the federal government’s “Unlawful Voter Initiative” investigation, the group reported. The whistleblower warned that “the current process is knowingly sweeping known US citizens in as potentially ‘unlawful voters’”.

California has said the state’s safeguards against noncitizen voting are robust. It said the Justice Department’s assertions relied on “suspect data” and that complying with its demands would risk disenfranchising eligible voters. Democracy Docket reported that in Los Angeles County, one in four voters on the “noncitizen” list were born in the US.

PRINCESS Andre has been given another major career boost after landing a FOURTH series of her hit show in less than two years.

The TV star is quickly becoming an ITV fan-favourite thanks to her reality TV show, The Princess Diaries.

Now, The Sun can exclusively reveal that the programme is coming back for a fourth series.

Our insiders revealed that filming for the next edition is already underway with Princess and everyone around her delighted that the show will be coming back again.

A source told us: “Everyone’s thrilled Princess is doing another series, it’s been so successful for ITV.”

With filming already underway, it is expected that new episodes could land early next year.

DAUGHTER BANTS

Princess Andre left laughing as she pulls hilarious prank on mum Katie Price

AMERICAN BEAUTY

Inside Princess Andre’s plan to be ‘British Kylie Jenner’ and conquer US

So far, three series of The Princess Diaries have aired since the programme launched in summer 2025.

It originally followed Princess as she turned 18 and entered into adulthood and stepped outside of the shadows of her parents, Peter Andre and Katie Price.

Mum Katie was originally banned from appearing in the show in series one but dad Peter made several appearances.

Both her parents were then absent for the second series before Katie’s ban was overturned for the third series where she began filming for the first time.

Peter also made a return to the series around this time as well.

Her own show isn’t the only TV appearance the young influencer has going on with the star currently appearing in Celebrity Race Across The World with her brother Junior.

The two sides disagree sharply over what the changes to the law would mean in practice.

Dan Dunmoyer, president and chief executive of the California Building Industry Assn., a trade group supporting the measure, said the state is the slowest in the nation when it comes to reaching a conclusion about whether projects can be built. Per Dunmoyer, it’s one of the top two reasons housing here is so pricey.

Supporters point to accumulating interest on loans, shelling out for litigation and rising costs for materials.

Dunmoyer believes the measure would make the review process faster and easier. He estimated it will reduce the cost of building single family homes by $75,000 a pop.

“We think … it will allow us to provide more housing of all types, not just for sale, but for rent and legally defined affordable housing, even homeless shelters, more quickly than under the current environmental review process,” he said, “and we think that’s beneficial to Californians who very much want a place to call home.”

Proponents of the measure characterize the effort as procedural: It will firm up timelines, but projects still will be reviewed. But those fighting it, as well as some legal experts, say the 41-page proposal essentially guts CEQA for projects that qualify.

Aruna Prabhala, a senior attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity, a conservation group opposing the measure, said it would eliminate the need to analyze a project’s specific impacts, such as how it affects people living nearby. Instead, the process would become a “checklist” to see if the project complies with existing environmental laws.

The measure also states it “should be interpreted and implemented to afford the fullest possible weight to the interest of, and the approval and realization of, essential projects.” Prabhala and others believe it flips the purpose of CEQA to approve projects, rather than protect the environment.

“So much of what’s in the initiative mirrors what we’re seeing from the federal level and the Trump administration from rolling back environmental review, from really limiting public participation,” she said. “For not only failing to enforce protections for our air and water quality, but making it that much harder for agencies to do that.”

HIGH SCHOOL FLAG FOOTBALL

SOUTHERN SECTION PLAYOFFS
WEDNESDAY’S RESULTS
Third Round

OPEN DIVISION
Pool A
#1 JSerra 39, #8 Edison 7

Pool B
#2 Newport Harbor 14, #7 Westlake 7

Pool C
#6 Woodbridge 26, #3 Orange Lutheran 20 (OT)

Pool D
#5 Mater Dei at #4 Huntington Beach

Byes: #9 Lakewood St. Joseph; #10 Downey; #11 Dos Pueblos; #12 Sierra Canyon

SATURDAY’S SCHEDULE
(Games at 5 p.m. unless noted)
Semifinals

OPEN DIVISION
#4 Huntington Beach at #1 JSerra (time TBA)
#6 Woodbridge at #2 Newport Harbor (time TBA)

DIVISION 1
El Toro at Oxnard, 2 p.m.
Palos Verdes at Corona del Mar

DIVISION 2
Segerstrom at Gahr, 6 p.m.
Chaminade at San Clemente

DIVISION 3
South Torrance at Quartz Hill
Valencia at California, 2 p.m.

DIVISION 4
Hemet at West Ranch
Santa Paula at Cerritos Valley Christian, 1 p.m.

DIVISION 5
Loma Linda Academy at Village Christian, Friday at 3 p.m.
Westridge at Peninsula, 2:30 p.m.

DIVISION 6
Heritage at Mountain View, 3 p.m.
St. Monica at St. Bonaventure, 12 p.m.

Note: Finals (all divisions) Saturday, Nov. 7 at Huntington Beach High.

In a surprising development, Ethiopia has taken receipt of 12 Russian-made Su-35 multirole fighters, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed announced, adding a significant new capability to the Ethiopian Air Force. The agreement also calls for four batteries of Russia’s S-400 surface-to-air missile system, although their delivery schedule remains unclear.

Abiy said the fighters arrived a year ahead of schedule under an agreement with Moscow and thanked Russian President Vladimir Putin for facilitating the accelerated delivery. The financial terms of the deal, the aircraft’s basing locations, and whether additional fighters are included in the agreement have not been disclosed. The Ethiopian leader announced the development on his X account, also posting photos and a video showing himself and other Ethiopian and Russian officials alongside two of the jets. The location appears to have been the third Russia-Africa Summit, taking place in Moscow on October 28-29.

The acquisition comes as Ethiopia seeks to strengthen its military capabilities amid persistent domestic security challenges and tensions across the Horn of Africa.

The Su-35 is a heavily modernized derivative of the Soviet-era Su-27, known by NATO as the Flanker. It combines twin thrust-vectoring engines for a high degree of maneuverability, advanced radar and other sensors, and the ability to carry a range of air-to-air and air-to-surface weapons.

Its radar and long-range air-to-air missile capabilities, in particular, represent a notable improvement for Ethiopia’s ability to detect and engage hostile aircraft, while its multirole design allows it to perform a wide range of strike missions.

Su-35 Multirole supermaneuverable fighter / AERO INDIA 2021

Ethiopia already operates Russian-designed Su-27 fighters, providing a considerable degree of familiarity with the Flanker family. The current fleet comprises around 10 (and perhaps as many as 15) secondhand Su-27s, including two-seaters, supplemented in 2024 by a pair of Su-30Ks. The latter were originally produced for India as interim equipment, and then ended up in storage in Belarus before being refurbished and delivered to Ethiopia. The Ethiopian Flankers saw action against Eritrean opposition in the 1990s, and there have also been a handful of non-combat attrition losses.

However, introducing the Su-35 will still require specialized pilot training, additional maintenance infrastructure, weapons integration, and a dependable supply of spare parts. The latter, in particular, is something that Moscow has not always been able to guarantee in practice.

The planned acquisition of four S-400 batteries could prove equally significant.

The S-400 is a mobile air-defense system designed to engage aircraft, cruise missiles, and certain ballistic missile threats.

If delivered, the systems would considerably strengthen Ethiopia’s ability to protect military installations, critical infrastructure, and other strategic sites against aerial attack.

Ethiopia occupies a strategically important position in the Horn of Africa, bordering Eritrea, Djibouti, Somalia, South Sudan, and Sudan. Its security environment includes various unresolved regional tensions, longstanding border disputes, and internal armed conflicts.

Ethiopia’s relationship with Eritrea remains particularly relevant given their history of war and continuing tensions. Relations with Egypt and Sudan are also shaped by disputes over the Nile.

Abiy has presented the acquisition as a means of deterring aggression and strengthening national sovereignty.

At the same time, the delivery reinforces Russia’s position as a supplier of advanced military equipment to African countries. Russian exports to the continent have included combat aircraft, helicopters, armored vehicles, and ground-based air-defense systems.

Su-35s, specifically, have previously been delivered to Algeria, a long-term recipient of Russian military equipment on the African continent, as you can read about here.

Interesting report indicating Algeria has purchased at least some of the Russian Su-35s originally built for Egypt and later reported to be sought by Iran.https://t.co/0soV9aOopn

— John Hardie (@JohnH105) April 9, 2025

The Algerian jets are understood to have originated in a batch of Su-35s built for Egypt, which had ordered 24. However, the planned transfer to Egypt fell through, under the threat of U.S. sanctions and a teased offer of F-15s. In particular, Washington had said it would put sanctions on Cairo under the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA).

CAATSA includes provisions for sanctions against parties found to have knowingly engaged in significant transactions with Russia’s defense or intelligence sectors. Washington previously invoked the provision against China over its acquisition of Su-35 fighters and S-400-related equipment, although any action against Ethiopia would depend on a separate U.S. determination.

The Su-35s built for Egypt were repeatedly connected with a sale to Iran, but this also never materialized.

Permanent Mission of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the UN announced on Friday that Iran has finalized buying #Sukhoi fighter jets from Russia.

Here is what Iran has purchased: pic.twitter.com/aw7EVkc18N

— IRNA News Agency ☫ (@IrnaEnglish) March 11, 2023

Potentially, the 12 jets for Ethiopia could also have been left over from the abandoned Egyptian deal.

For Moscow, the deal provides a prominent example of continued defense cooperation with an important country in the Horn of Africa. The transfer also comes amid broader efforts by Russia and African governments to deepen political, economic, and military ties.

The agreement’s cost and financing arrangements have not been made public, leaving questions about the long-term expense of operating the fighters and maintaining their supporting infrastructure.

The deal also needs to be seen in the context of Russia’s war in Ukraine.

Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and the subsequent international sanctions, have hampered efforts to secure sales for any kind of military equipment, other than to a handful of selected close allies, with little prospect that this will change any time soon. Amid those same sanctions, as well as Moscow’s increasing pariah status, any kind of export success will be very welcome for Moscow, even if it involves jets previously built for another customer.

At the same time, the ability of the Russian defense industry to provide in-service support for these jets, once they are delivered, is even more questionable than it was in the past. Since the invasion, Moscow’s need to prioritize its own forces, combined with Western sanctions restricting access to key components, has further complicated the situation. For Ethiopia, any disruption to parts deliveries or maintenance support could have an outsized impact on operational readiness, and this is compounded by the requirement of Russian industry to support Moscow’s own Su-35S jets, its primary fighter.

Ultimately, the acquisition represents a substantial reported addition to Ethiopia’s combat aircraft fleet. The planned S-400 systems could extend that modernization into ground-based air defense, and further influence the military balance in the Horn of Africa region.

Contact the author: thomas@thewarzone.com

Actor Barbara Barrie, best known for films in which she elevated the role of Mom — including her Oscar-nominated turn in “Breaking Away” (1979) — died Wednesday in her Manhattan home. She was 95.

Barrie’s death was confirmed to the L.A. Times by the actor’s representatives, who said it was medically assisted. Her daughter, Jane Harnick, told the New York Times that her mother’s death followed a terminal cancer diagnosis.

Barrie’s representatives said in a statement to the L.A. Times that the actor was a proponent and advocate of New York’s Medical Aid in Dying Act, a law that took effect on Aug. 5.

Born Barbara Berman in Chicago in 1931, Barrie and her family moved to Corpus Christi, Texas, where she attended Del Mar College. She would later transfer to the University of Texas, where she received multiple awards for drama.

After graduation, she took her acting dreams to the Big Apple, where she made her Broadway debut in the 1955 play “The Wooden Dish.” Throughout her career, Barrie starred in various Broadway productions, among them “The Selling of the President” (1972), “California Suite” (1976) and, most notably, the 1970 musical “Company,” by Stephen Sondheim, for which she received a Tony Award nomination for featured actress in a musical.

Her last Broadway stint was in 2017 in the original role of Helene Berman in the Joshua Harmon play “Significant Other.”

Barrie extended her acting expertise beyond the stage, however, making her first television appearance on “Kraft Television Theater” in 1955. A year later, she made her film debut, albeit uncredited, in the western epic “Giant” while she was in Texas visiting her family.

With more than 120 credits to her name, Barrie began appearing in popular TV shows in the 1950s and ’60s, such as “Naked City,” “The Twilight Zone,” “The Alfred Hitchcock Hour,” “The Nurses” and more. Later TV credits included “Barney Miller” and “Suddenly Susan,” where she played an on-screen grandmother to Brooke Shields.

Her first major film role came in 1964, when she played divorcée Julie Cullen Richards in “One Potato, Two Potato.” She portrayed a white woman who falls in love with a Black man, Frank Richards (played by Bernie Hamilton). The film was released during a time when interracial marriage was not yet legalized nationwide. Barrie earned a Cannes Film Festival Award for the performance.

The actor went on to star as the mom Evelyn Stroller in the 1979 coming-of-age comedy-drama “Breaking Away,” which earned her an Academy Award nomination for supporting actress, and later an Emmy nomination when she reprised the role for the 1980 television series.

Other film credits include 1980’s “Private Benjamin,” 1997’s “Hercules” (where she voiced Alcmene, Hercules’ mortal mother) and 1999’s “Judy Berlin.” According to her IMDb profile, her last credit was in 2025 for the queer romantic comedy “Things Like This.”

In 1994, Barrie was diagnosed with rectal cancer, prompting her to raise awareness about the disease. She published two books on the matter, including “Second Act,” a 1997 memoir about resolute optimism and acceptance, and “Don’t Die of Embarrassment: Life After Colostomy and Other Adventures,” a 1999 memoir where she dives deep into her diagnosis and experience with a colostomy procedure.

Barrie married actor, director and producer Jay Harnick in 1964. He died in 2007. The two are survived by their children, Jane and Aaron.

In California, fuel prices often are higher than anywhere else in the country, a reflection of the state’s high cost of living that voters want their next governor to address.

The two candidates running to replace termed-out Gov. Gavin Newsom — Democratic former U.S. Health and Human Services secretary Xavier Becerra and Republican former Fox News host Steve Hilton — have vastly different views on climate and energy policy.

Here is where they stand on gas prices, electric vehicle mandates and California’s long-delayed high-speed rail project.

Gas prices and California’s refineries

California is the most expensive gasoline market in the nation, according to AAA, with an average price of $6.01 per gallon. Nationally, the average price was $4.28 per gallon, and this month was expected to become the most expensive for gas prices on record, according to AAA.

Becerra and Hilton both blame the high costs on the opposing political party — Becerra says President Trump’s war in Iran has increased prices by $2 per gallon, while Hilton blames California’s prices on policies pushed by Newsom and Democratic lawmakers.

Hilton has made the promise of $3 a gallon gasoline at California’s pumps a central plank of his affordability campaign. He argues he can achieve the target by repealing “outdated” environmental regulations and issuing more drilling permits in California.

Pumps in the McKittrick oil field, just north of the town of McKittrick on State Route 33.

(Carolyn Cole/Los Angeles Times)

“We could be producing most of it here in California, [in] Kern County, and sending it to the refineries in a nice clean pipeline,” Hilton said during an August town hall in Modesto. “Instead of that, we’re shipping it halfway across the world, and giant super tankers spewing out carbon emissions. It’s insane.”

While he has expressed a desire to lower costs, Becerra has released scant details about how he would do it.

He took heat from fellow Democrats during the primary for defending Chevron after the oil producer donated half a million dollars to a committee supporting his campaign. He clarified that his statements were about keeping oil refineries in California, especially since several have shut down in recent years.

“We need to continue to have refineries so that we can process the petroleum, so we can have gasoline, so we don’t have prices that are even higher than what they are right now,” Becerra said during an August event with Politico.

EVs and car regulations

The next governor will decide whether to continue Newsom’s ambitious plan to accelerate the transition to zero-emission vehicles by banning the sale of new gas cars in California by 2035.

While Becerra supports transitioning away from gas-powered vehicles, along with California’s broader carbon neutrality goals, he has raised concerns about costs.

“The goal is great. What we have to do is make sure that goal matches the reality of our families,” he told CalMatters this year. “And if our families can’t afford to keep pace with the goal, then what good is the goal?”

Becerra would be open to revising or delaying the goals to prioritize affordability.

Hilton would end the state’s climate goals, which he blames for driving up energy and other costs.

A car charges at an EV station.

(Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)

“I’m not against reducing carbon emissions,” Hilton said during a town hall with The Times and LAist this month. “I just want to do it in a way that both helps with the fight against climate change, but doesn’t hurt working people and small businesses.”

He argued that increasing domestic oil production and overhauling vegetation management to reduce the risk of megafires would reduce emissions more effectively than decades of heavy-handed climate rules.

Hilton has railed against “nanny-state” regulations, including new fuel efficiency standards for car tires.

“We are gonna shut it all down, rein it in, merge all of these regulators so we have common-sense regulation instead of this out of control, costly bureaucracy,” he said, standing outside a state office building in August to protest the tire regulations. He also has pledged to abolish the Department of Motor Vehicles and reduce registration fees to $73.

High-speed rail

The Tied Arch Bridge construction site, which will take high-speed trains over State Route 43 in Fresno County.

(Godofredo A. Vásquez / Associated Press)

Hilton would “cancel” all high-speed rail funding, which he said would save more than $3.7 billion per year.

While supportive of high-speed rail, Becerra is concerned by the project’s delays and cost overruns. He would “clean shop” at the authority, which signed off on hundreds of thousands of dollars in travel expenses that should not have been approved, according to a recent audit.

“If we build, it’s gonna be because we can get this done the right way. We’re not gonna have this overspending, we’re not gonna have this misspending,” he said during a recent campaign stop in Sacramento. “California is the fourth-largest economy, with the most innovation. We can get it done too, but it won’t be done this way.”

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One of the main reasons behind Estevao’s exile has been the form of Pedro Neto.

It was only a couple of months ago that Portugal international Neto looked destined to leave Chelsea, only two years after joining from Wolverhampton Wanderers.

The 26-year-old was linked with a move to Saudi Pro League side Al-Ahli, but he ultimately remained at Stamford Bridge.

That decision appears to have been influenced by Alonso, who has underlined his faith in Neto by handing him seven starts in eight Premier League matches this season.

His success out on the right – which also happens to be Estevao’s favoured position – has meant opportunities have been few and far between for the Brazilian.

He has primarily been deployed as a right-sided wing-back in Alonso’s 3-4-2-1 system, with his Premier League experience and greater defensive solidity compared to Estevao seemingly winning over the Spaniard.

After an impressive start to the campaign, in which he has scored four goals in 11 matches, Neto was rewarded with a new six-year deal at Stamford Bridge.

“He’s a player who is a little bit of a victim of the system,” former Reading midfielder Jobi McAnuff told Sky Sports.

“Alonso tends to play Neto in that hybrid wing-back role, expecting him to get high up the pitch as well. Maybe he doesn’t feel that suits Estevao, and I don’t feel it does either.”

One area that has not been a problem for the Blues this season is attack, with the forward positions firmly in the hands of Joao Pedro, Cole Palmer and Rogers, who has made a spectacular start to life at Stamford Bridge following his £117m move from Aston Villa.

Against Liverpool, though, Estevao couldn’t even get a look-in despite Chelsea being without the suspended Palmer and the injured Joao Pedro.

“How Estevao has not got on the pitch tonight, I do not know,” said former Crystal Palace forward Clinton Morrison.

“He must be thinking, ‘What do I have to do? We have injuries to two of the star players up front, and I’m still not getting on the pitch’.”

Estevao will be hoping he can follow in the footsteps of Neto and revive his Stamford Bridge career.

Government says Salim Said ‘hit the jackpot’ in a scheme claiming to feed needy children during the COVID-19 pandemic.

A 37-year-old man who played a key role in defrauding a United States food programme in the state of Minnesota during the COVID-19 pandemic has been sentenced to 30 years in prison, in a case that has drawn intense national scrutiny and political pressure from President Donald Trump.

The widespread scheme in Minnesota, which resulted in dozens of convictions, has repeatedly drawn attacks from Trump, who ridiculed the Democratic governor for failing to stop the scheme and cited it as grounds for an immigration crackdown in the state’s largest cities.

Salim Said, who operated Safari Restaurant in Minneapolis, was accused of vastly overstating the number of meals when seeking payment for providing food to needy children. The government said he was responsible for $44 million in fraud, some of which was committed by others he recruited.

“You took more than taxpayers’ dollars to enrich yourself. You took the reputation of our state down with you,” US District Judge Nancy Brasel said.

Said was claiming a “ridiculous daily distribution of 6,000 meals” while FBI cameras showed 40 people a day collecting food, prosecutors said in a court filing.

“The defendant and his sites did not serve thousands of children; he served a calculated, lucrative lie,” prosecutors said.

Said, who was born in Somalia, denied the allegations while testifying at his 2025 trial, saying many meals were delivered off site. But he changed course and expressed remorse at his sentencing on Wednesday.

Defence lawyer Barry Zone, who had asked for a 12-year prison sentence, disputed the government’s claim that Said was the “architect”.

COVID-19 brought changes to a federal programme that typically fed children through schools. Restaurants could participate, and food distribution was extended to places outside schools.

“For 21 consecutive months, Said made thousands of fraudulent reimbursement claims,” prosecutors said. “Each submission represented meals purportedly provided to underprivileged children, yet the listed children themselves were entirely fictitious.”

The government said Said hit the jackpot, using the stolen funds to buy a $1.2 million home, commercial real estate and an $87,000 pickup truck.

Said was convicted in 2025 alongside Aimee Bock, leader of the Minnesota nonprofit Feeding Our Future, who is serving a 42-year prison sentence for devising the scheme and was ordered to repay $242 million.

State auditors found that Minnesota’s education department received numerous complaints about Feeding Our Future but often told the group to police itself. Following relentless criticism from Trump over theft in federally funded programmes, Governor Tim Walz announced in January that he would not run for re-election.

Video footage posted online showed several men, some of them armed, beating Nathaniel and Andrey X.

Russian activist Adele Shoko has said that Israeli settlers attacked her alongside two of her colleagues in the Palestinian village of Umm al-Khair, in the Masafer Yatta area of the occupied West Bank, according to social media posts.

Shoko said on social media platform X that she, US journalist Jasper Nathaniel, and Israeli-Russian activist Andrey X were beaten and threatened by armed settlers who stole equipment and personal items.

“Jasper and I were also beaten. Jasper was then pepper-sprayed and arrested,” Shoko wrote, adding that Nathaniel was taken away by Israeli forces.

Shoko said Andrey X suffered a concussion and lost consciousness multiple times during the incident before being detained by authorities.

“Andrey was severely beaten and lost consciousness several times in front of police. Despite this, he was denied hospital treatment. He was put in an ambulance – but instead of being taken to hospital, he was taken to a police station. He is still there, arrested and being denied medical care,” she wrote.

Video footage Shoko posted online showed several men, some of them armed, beating Nathaniel and Andrey X. Further video showed Israeli authorities leading away Nathaniel while he shouted that he had just been beaten up.

The assault follows an October 16 incident in Abu Falah, northeast of Ramallah, where masked Israeli settlers attacked Palestinian farmers harvesting olives, setting trees on fire and throwing stones using slingshots.

Washington Post photojournalist Heidi Levine, who was covering the attack, was beaten, robbed, and hospitalised, while a Palestinian man was shot in the leg by Israeli soldiers who arrived on the scene and fired live ammunition and tear gas.

Levine, who was wearing a protective vest marked “PRESS”, said settlers repeatedly kicked and beat her on the ground before stealing her passport, phone, and camera equipment. Washington Post Executive Editor Matt Murray condemned the “unwarranted attack on a journalist doing her job”, while several US lawmakers called for an investigation and an end to settler violence in the region.

Summer Strallen, who is best known for her career in the West End and is currently starring in Beetlejuice, has addressed her stint in Hollyoaks that acted as a publicity stunt almost 20 years ago

West End star Summer Strallen has admitted she is “embarrassed” by her role in Hollyoaks – almost two decades after she left the Channel 4 soap.

The actress, 40, has had a hugely successful stage career and in the late 2000s, she was cast in the leading role of Maria von Trapp in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s production of The Sound of Music, acting as a replacement for Connie Fisher, who had won the part on the BBC reality show How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria?

In an attempt to drum up more publicity for the musical, Summer was cast as aspiring actress Summer Shaw in Hollyoaks, and the storyline was designed around her fictional counterpart also landing the role made famous by Dame Julie Andrews. The publicity stunt also served as the exit for long-running character Sam “O.B.” O’Brien (Darren Jeffries) who left the fictional village to be with Summer when she moved to London.

Speaking about the odd plotline almost 20 years on, she said: “I did The Sound of Music for Andrew Lloyd Weber and did that whole Hollyoaks thing where I don’t know if I should [mention it]… It was like a publicity stunt where I went into Hollyoaks for five months and then I got the part of Maria on Hollyoaks.

“So it was around the programmes. Connie Fisher had done the first one, How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria? and they were basically…they needed another bump of publicity for the new person coming in so they had this idea that I’d go into Hollyoaks for five months. I had a proper role, they called me Summer Shaw.

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“They called me Summer in it. And it was mad. I moved up to Liverpool and everything to do it and then went into The Sound of Music. It was hilarious. And Andrew was in it, we did scenes where be offered me the part of Maria and me and OB, who was my boyfriend, moved to London. I took OB with me, he was a massive part in Hollyoaks, and he left with me.”

Summer, who is the niece of West End legend Bonnie Langford, was chatting to fellow West End actress and former Strictly Come Dancing contestant Amber Davies on her Call to Stage podcast when she addressed her soap stint. When the ex-Love Island winner said she was going to dig out some clips on YouTube, Summer said: “It’s embarrassing!”

But the star, who also had a small role in Wicked: For Good opposite Ariana Grande and also appeared in BBC soap Doctors, is also thankful for the experience that working in television gave her at the time.

She added: “But it was good because I It meant that I did that. It was like in baptism of fire. for TV. So then when I did other TV jobs was great because I knew how to hit my mark. I knew not to drink, stuff like that. It’s totally different and so it really set me up.”

The late 2000s marked a time of using television to heavily publicise theatre and How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria was the first in a series of four BBC casting shows. It was followed by Any Dream Will Do, in which Lee Mead won the part of Joseph before going on to star in other West End shows and enjoy a stint in Casualty.

I’d Do Anything launched the acting career of Jodie Prenger, who won the part of Nancy in Oliver! and now plays Glenda Shuttleworth in Coronation Street whilst Jessie Buckley finished in second place in the years before she became an Academy Award winner.

In 2010, Over the Rainbow found Danielle Hope to play Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz and also launched the career of Stephanie Davis, who is best known for her own Hollyoaks role and for appearing on Celebrity Big Brother. The talent searches were all headed up by composer Andrew Lloyd Webber, and hosted by Graham Norton.

Various celebrities like stage actress Denise Van Outen, Loose Women panellist Zoe Tyler as well as Doctor Who actor John Barrowman, singer Charlotte Church and EastEnders star John Partridge all served as judges over the years.

Since her Hollyoaks stint, Summer, whose sisters are Zizi and Scarlett are also West End actresses and are known for the respective performances in Wicked and Mary Poppins, has mostly focused on theatre as well and is currently starring in the musical adaptation of Beetlejuice.

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