Protesters block Iran’s women’s football team bus en route to airport | Newsfeed
Protesters blocked a bus carrying Iran’s women’s football team outside a hotel in Australia after five players slipped away to seek asylum duing the Women’s Asian Cup. They say the remaining players could face danger if forced to return to Iran after staying silent during the national anthem.
Published On 10 Mar 2026
Kremlin Says Putin’s Iran Mediation Proposals Remain on Table
Vladimir Putin has presented multiple proposals to mediate the conflict in Iran, according to the Kremlin. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday that the proposals are “still on the table,” emphasizing Russia’s readiness to help reduce tensions.
Peskov noted that any diplomatic solution requires coordination across multiple parties and agreements, signaling that Moscow intends to play a careful, measured role rather than rushing into mediation. This framing underscores Russia’s attempt to position itself as a credible intermediary while retaining influence over the conflict’s trajectory.
Recent Putin-Trump Contact
The remarks came after a phone call between Putin and Donald Trump on Monday, in which Putin reportedly offered options to end the Iran war quickly. Trump publicly said that Putin “wants to be helpful,” but added that resolving the Ukraine conflict would be an even more useful contribution.
The exchange highlights how Russia’s involvement in Iran is intertwined with its broader geopolitical interests, particularly in Europe and the Middle East. Moscow’s dual focus on positioning as a mediator and protecting its strategic priorities in Ukraine illustrates its careful diplomatic balancing act.
Russia-Iran Relations and Strategic Calculations
Russia maintains a strategic partnership with Iran, which provides it leverage in regional energy and security affairs. While Moscow has condemned U.S. and Israel military actions against Iran, it has also economically benefited from the resulting surge in oil prices.
Reports that Russia may have shared targeting intelligence with Tehran have drawn scrutiny, although Peskov declined to confirm or deny them. By avoiding direct comment, Russia preserves operational flexibility and manages international perceptions, allowing it to maintain influence with Iran while publicly projecting a mediating stance.
Analytical Perspective: Mediation Amid Strategic Interests
Russia’s position reflects a calculated effort to balance diplomacy and national interest. Keeping mediation proposals publicly “on the table” serves several purposes:
- Diplomatic Leverage: By signaling willingness to mediate, Russia positions itself as a necessary interlocutor for any resolution, increasing its bargaining power with both the U.S. and Iran.
- Strategic Buffering: Moscow preserves its ties with Tehran, protecting a partner in the Middle East while benefiting from higher oil prices amid global supply shocks.
- Geopolitical Messaging: The Kremlin is communicating to the West that Russia can influence outcomes in the Middle East, reinforcing its image as a global power capable of shaping crises beyond its immediate borders.
This approach highlights a broader Russian strategy: maintain engagement in multiple theaters simultaneously Ukraine, Iran, and energy markets while avoiding overt entanglement that could provoke direct confrontation with the U.S. or NATO.
Conclusion: Patient Diplomacy as a Strategic Tool
Moscow’s emphasis on patience and coordination indicates that Russia is playing the long game, using mediation as a tool to expand influence rather than as a purely humanitarian effort. Analysts suggest that this approach allows Russia to extract maximum strategic advantage, balancing its regional partnerships, energy interests, and global standing, while leaving room to maneuver depending on how the Iran conflict evolves.
Russia’s dual role as both potential mediator and strategic partner to Tehran exemplifies the complex interplay of diplomacy, energy politics, and military calculation in the Middle East.
With information from Reuters.
Noah Cyrus goes braless in daring shredded gown as she reunites with mom Tish after nasty family feud
NOAH Cyrus made sure she turned heads when she went braless in a daring shredded gown as she reunited with her mom Tish after their nasty family feud.
Things previously took a turn in the mother-daughter relationship when it was reported that Noah, 26, had been seeing actor Dominic Purcell, 56, before her mom Tish, 58, married him.
Things got so bad, that Noah was reportedly “banned” by her mom from her wedding to the Prison Break actor.
But two years later, and things appear to be back on track for the pair as they were seen posing on the red carpet at a glitzy bash.
Noah made a dramatic statement in her shredded dress.
The star had also ditched her bra for the premiere of Reminders of Him at the Hollywood Legion Theater.
Noah was there to promote her new track Light Over the Hill, which she wrote for the film.
Tish, who is also the mom of Miley Cyrus, 33, was seen supporting her daughter at the event, proving that their relationship is back on track.
The ex-wife of Billy Ray Cyrus looked chic in her off-the-shoulder black sweater and black pants.
It’s Noah and Tish’s first outing together following reports of a fallout over actor Dominic.
Most read in Entertainment
Tish married the TV star in the summer of 2023 – a year after her divorce from country star Billy Ray
But Noah was reportedly “banned from the wedding” over fears she might “cause a scene”.
“Tish didn’t invite Noah to her wedding because she thought it would cause a scene and drama,” an insider told Entertainment Tonight.
“It’s also been an adjustment for Noah in general for her parents to be divorced.”
It was then claimed that Noah had actually been “seeing” Dominic before her mom started a romance with him.
The actor, who is 30 years Noah’s senior, started dating her mother Tish in 2022.
“Noah was [seeing] Dominic when Tish started pursuing him,” a source told Us Weekly.
The source also said that Tish was aware of the situation before deciding to pursue him.
“The turmoil between Noah and Tish goes far beyond [what people think],” said the source.
“Noah is very distraught over Tish stealing Dominic from her.”
Tish shares Noah, Miley, and sons Trace and Braison with ex-husband Billy Ray, 64.
The country star is now in a relationship with model Elizabeth Hurley, 60.
Meanwhile, Tish and Billy were married for nearly 30 years before their shock 2022 split.
Saudi Arabia Appoints Al-Saif As Vision 2030 Faces Reality Check
Saudi Arabia’s fixation with megaprojects may be giving way to more pragmatic initiatives better aligned with investor appetite.
The urgent need for foreign investment crystallized last month when a royal decree replaced veteran cabinet member and investment minister Khalid Al-Falih amid broader funding concerns over the kingdom’s signature Vision 2030 development framework.
Foreign investment amounted to just 2.1% of GDP last year, according to Capital Economics. That’s well below the government’s Vision 2030 target. The research firm also forecasts government debt will balloon to 40% of GDP next year. That’s up from just over 30% last year and above consensus.
Vision 2030, which now appears to be under review, represents Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s blueprint for diversifying an economy still heavily reliant on hydrocarbon revenues.
Replacing Al-Falih is Fahad Al-Saif, sometimes also referred to as Fahad bin Abduljalil Al-Saif, a former HSBC banker.
Until his appointment, Al-Saif held various positions at the Public Investment Fund (PIF), Saudi Arabia’s $1.15 trillion flagship sovereign wealth fund. He was also instrumental in overhauling the kingdom’s capital-raising capabilities. Earlier, he played a role in roadshows aimed at mustering investor support for Saudi bond sales.
But the government’s recent signaling suggests Al-Saif will preside over a period of relative austerity while attempting to maintain investor support for a rolling set of reforms. His stewardship is likely to face an early test as policymakers’ attention is focusing on future foreign investment initiatives.
Recent reports imply that the government will soon announce a streamlined set of priorities and a pivot away from nosebleed-inducing megaprojects such as The Line, a 170-kilometer, multibillion-dollar planned smart city that makes up a segment of the ambitious Neom development.
Posts on social media have broadly welcomed Al-Saif’s appointment, variously describing him as a safe pair of hands fit to carry out a shift towards more mundane revenue-generating projects.
We’ve tried and tested the popular social media travel hacks
SOCIAL media is a great place for discovering hacks, but sometimes they don’t always work.
To save you the time and money, we have tried and tested some of the viral travel hacks that have popped up on our social media.
Whether it is grabbing an item you already have and using it for another purpose to save yourself some money or a specific product that can make travelling better, we know what works and doesn’t.
Tried and tested and would recommend
New toys for the journey
One of the best tips I’ve followed is to buy a couple of new toys and keep them out of sight until the plane journey, if you’re travelling with young kids.
Wiki sticks were recommended to me and went down a treat with my son.
Read more on travel inspo
You can mould them into different pieces of art, then pack them away for the next trip.
A small box of Lego works very well too, and you can even pick these up in duty free at most airports.
If you’re looking to save money, a kids’ magazine with several naff plastic toys on the front works equally well – they have often kept my child entertained for the journey and the whole trip.
CBeebies magazine, Lego magazine and Pokemon magazine have held attention for a particularly long time.
– Caroline McGuire, Head of Travel (Digital)
Snoozeband
Any hack that promises to improve sleep will pique my interest and the Snoozeband did not disappoint me.
Essentially, it makes using headphones much more comfortable, particularly when you are trying to catch some kip.
I’ve used my band on many overnight flights – and it’s pretty much the only way I can ensure I’ll get some shut eye.
It looks a little like a sweatband or running headband in that it’s made from elasticated material that wraps around the circumference of your head, over the ears.
Built into the band are two mini speakers that line up with your ears and connect to your device via Bluetooth.
They most definitely save you that horrible discomfort that you get with traditional earbuds or AirPods-style headphones, particularly if you are leaning on a surface trying to catch some Zs or even when on a pillow.
– Sophie Sweitochowski, Assistant Travel Editor
Have an iPad for holidays-only
We have an old iPad that my child is only allowed to use on holiday.
Before the trip, I download audiobooks and Netflix shows and he’s allowed to watch as much TV as he wants on the actual flight.
He also has some apps that he is allowed to use on the holiday.
A big favourite at the moment is Simply Draw, with video tutorials on how to draw different things.
– Caroline McGuire, Head of Travel (Digital)
Universal plug adaptors over single country ones
Plug adapters are a travel essential that often prove to be more frustrating than you’d think.
It’s difficult to remember which countries use which type, and even if you think you know, you can sometimes still end up packing the wrong one.
Some countries will catch you out, too.
For example, even though Switzerland is in Europe it doesn’t use the standard EU Type C plug – it uses the Type J instead.
So the easiest way I’ve found to get around all of this is by packing a universal travel adaptor.
One simple block with prongs that fold in and out depending on which plugs and sockets you’ll need to use – nice and easy.
I often leave one in my suitcase: readily prepared for the next trip, no thinking required.
– Jenna Stevens, Travel Reporter
Inflatable booster seats
Hiring a booster seat from a car rental company can be astronomically expensive, costing up to £15 a day.
But you can buy an inflatable booster seat by BubbleBum for under £40 and take it on multiple holidays for years.
You’ll make the money back in just one trip.
Plus it’s also helpful for if you take taxis to the airport or go on coach transfers.
– Caroline McGuire, Head of Travel (Digital)
Balloons to cover bottles
If travelling with liquids, my biggest worry is always, what if they leak?
But a while ago whilst carrying out my daily doom-scroll session, a video came up of a woman cutting the stem off of a balloon, just to be left with the bit that would have been the spherical part of the balloon.
She then stretched this over a bottle of fake tan.
I was sold, and sure enough on my next trip I tried it out and it worked.
A bag of 20 plus balloons will set you back a couple of quid, which is well worth it when you could be saving your suitcase from being an entire ooey-gooey mess.
– Cyann Fielding, Travel Reporter
TikTok underseat bag for budget flights
Ever since I had to fork out £65 in excess baggage fees at the Ryanair departures gate, I’ve made sure never to make that expensive mistake again.
I realised just before boarding that you can’t simply eyeball your travel backpack and hope for the best – especially since the eye-watering fee cost me more than my return flights to Dublin.
So when I saw the perfect underseat bag pop up on my TikTok For You Page – black, collapsible and barrel-shaped – I knew I had to grab it.
Since my purchase I’ve been able to stuff my new bag to the brim – and it still slides perfectly into the baggage sizer at the gate.
And at £11.99, this one-off purchase has saved an over-packer like me from endless extra luggage fees!
– Jenna Stevens, Travel Reporter
Ditching tours for Google Lens
A friend introduced me to the wondrous Google Lens a while back and it’s saved me hundreds on guided tours over the years.
Strolling around an unknown city and curious to know what a particular landmark is?
Snap it on your camera with Google Lens and it will be identified in a matter of seconds – and if you want to learn more about that monument’s story or historical significance, you can expand the description through use of Google’s integrated AI tools.
The Lens feature is built into the Google app, so it won’t take up an unnecessary storage on your phone.
It doesn’t just work on well known buildings either.
I often use it to identify unusual plants that I don’t recognise in tropical climates or even items of food and old artefacts in museums.
– Sophie Sweitochowski, Assistant Travel Editor
Packing cubes
If there is one thing I never do on holiday, I never check in a suitcase.
And trying all the hacks over the years, my failsafe?
The good old packing cube.
I’ve managed to cram in 10 days worth of clothes into just four packing cubes, which all fit into my hand luggage-size suitcases.
It also makes it so much easier finding my clothes, as everything is separated into tops, bottoms, jumpers and underwear.
You don’t need to spend too much on them either – certainly less than having to check in a suitcase, anyway.
– Kara Godfrey, Deputy Travel Editor
Solid shampoo and conditioner bars
If you’re anything like me, packing your liquids bag often feels like an impossible challenge of fitting a million make-up items into one tiny pouch.
And once you’ve got your mascara, concealer, foundation and perfume in there, suddenly there’s no more room for your actual shower essentials.
So instead of buying a large (and often more expensive than you’d hope) shampoo and conditioner abroad, I recommend packing a solid shampoo and conditioner bar.
These won’t affect your liquids allowance, which is especially great when you’re travelling with hand luggage only.
My personal favourites are from Lush – the Squeaky Green shampoo is packed with fragrant herbs and flowers, and the ‘Big’ conditioner leaves my hair beachy and shiny with a coconut oil and vanilla scent.
– Jenna Stevens, Travel Reporter
Free calculator currency converter
Trying to work out if that Moroccan souk bag is really a bargain? Not sure if that cheap glass of wine is really so cheap?
You don’t need any fancy currency converter apps.
Did you know that the iPhone calculator app can be used instead?
Simply click the button at the top right and change it from Basic to Convert.
And there we go – every currency you can think of at your fingertips, so you don’t end up paying £1,000 for that rug you thought was £100 instead…
– Kara Godfrey, Deputy Travel Editor
Tried and tested and wouldn’t recommend
Foot hammock
With an old knee injury, long haul flights in economy can be pretty unbearable.
So when everyone was raving about ‘foot hammocks’ which you can tie underneath the plane seat, I was intrigued.
The mini hammock is meant to raise your legs to a higher, more comfortable position to ease pressure on your knees and back.
However, I found it didn’t help at all, instead just making my feet slide together and feel even more crammed in.
My cheaper, easier hack?
Just put a small bag on the floor underneath the seat in front of you, and rest your feet on that instead. Voila.
– Kara Godfrey, Deputy Travel Editor
Mobile phone straps
A strap for your phone that hangs around your neck, allowing you to go hands free, sounds great. In reality, however, it falls short.
I don’t think you’ll ever feel fully secure parading one of your most valuable possessions around on display for the world to see, especially in city or festival environments.
The only thing standing between you and a thief is your neck.
And I’m not sure I’d fancy putting my neck on the line (quite literally).
The one time I did use a mobile strap, I found that I wasn’t able to wear it for long as my neck started to ache – and wearing it across the body, on one shoulder, defeats the purpose of having your phone easily accessible as I’d have to remove it from under my arm to use my device.
The one time I did find it useful was at a theme park, when on a roller coaster – although many places don’t allow this.
In general, though, a cross body bag is much more practical. You can carry a shed load more, too.
– Sophie Sweitochowski, Assistant Travel Editor
Elastic band phone strap
I love taking photos and videos on my phone when away, but in some spots I am stressed about losing it forever.
For example, let’s say you are on a boat tour and want to lean over the edge of the boat to take photos of the vibrant blue water.
The fear is that you’ll drop your phone in the sea, right?
Well, if you have an elastic band or hairband, you can loop this through the bottom of your phone case and pop it around your wrist for a makeshift wristband.
After seeing this on Instagram, I thought it was a great idea.
That was until the hairband snapped and my phone plummeted to the ground. Luckily, I wasn’t there.
– Cyann Fielding, Travel Reporter
Mini toiletries
So-called ‘travel-sized’ toiletries are not suitable for travel at all – unless you’re planning on only showering once on your holiday.
These often overpriced minis can set you back £3 to £5 per tiny bottle, or even more if you opt for the luxury brands.
I often find that I can only get one use out of mini shampoos and conditioners, especially when you have longer hair.
And when it comes to the mini spray deodorants, it soon seems like you’re only spraying air from these aerosols.
Other than the disappointing contents, these mini toiletries are also not the most sustainable option.
Plus it can save you both time and money to simply refill a set of reusable 100ml bottles each time you go away, rather than repeatedly fork out on minis.
It’s also worth checking the toiletries your hotel already provides ahead of time.
Most hotel bathrooms are stocked up with shampoo, conditioner and body wash as standard.
So once you’ve simply topped up your refillables with your holy grail products, you’re all set.
– Jenna Stevens, Travel Reporter
Paper to stop clothes creasing
When packing a suitcase, it is slightly heartbreaking to think the next time you open it you’ll see the clothes you meticulously packed, but now with loads of creases.
So you can imagine when I saw someone on social media saying that acid-free tissue paper helps to prevent clothes from creasing, I was thrilled.
You are meant to place a sheet between each folder layer of clothes and essentially, the paper acts as a buffer to stop creases.
Though, having now tried this a couple of times, it hasn’t worked for me.
In the future, I think I’ll stick to using the hotel iron…
– Cyann Fielding, Travel Reporter
Boarding the plane first
You know that announcement at the beginning of the flight that says families with young children can board first? Ignore it.
Unless you have masses of cabin suitcases and are worried about there being enough space on the plane, wait until the end of boarding to get onto the plane.
Because the last thing kids need is MORE time stuck in a seat.
I’d also add that if you’re child can possibly walk to the boarding gate, do away with the buggy and let them.
Because it will tire them out before the journey.
– Caroline McGuire, Head of Travel (Digital)
For more travel tips, here are The Sun’s Travel Editor’s top hacks for having the cheapest ever break with Hols From £9.50.
Plus, Deputy Travel Editor Kara Godfrey has visited more than 100 cities – here are her nine ways to do it on the cheap from ‘alternative’ airports to cheap business hotels.
Prep talk: Bell’s baseball team is surging with 8-1 record
Bell’s baseball team has started in a similar fashion as it did in 2024, when the Eagles surprised everyone by winning the City Section Open Division championship at Dodger Stadium.
The Eagles are 8-1 with wins over Palos Verdes and West Torrance. Gustavo Ramirez had a grand slam last week in a mercy-rule win over Granada Hills Kennedy.
Many of the players who were sophomores on the 2024 team are coming through this season, led by pitcher/infielder Jayden Rojas, who’s 2-0 on the mound and hitting .385.
Bell won the 2024 City title at Dodger Stadium.
(Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times)
Senior pitcher Adolfo Esquivel is 3-0 with 22 strikeouts in 17 innings. He also leads the team with 10 hits.
Bell faces San Pedro in its next nonleague game on Wednesday against San Pedro.
This is a daily look at the positive happenings in high school sports. To submit any news, please email eric.sondheimer@latimes.com.
Women’s football team to be welcomed home with open arms, Iran says | Football News
The Iranian women’s footballers returning to the country after their Asian Cup campaign in Australia will be welcomed home “with open arms”, Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has said.
Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei urged the players to “come home” on Tuesday, hours after five members of Iran’s squad sought asylum in Australia following their team’s exit from the tournament.
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“To Iran’s women’s football team: don’t worry – Iran awaits you with open arms,” Baghaei wrote on X.
His post came shortly after the office of Iran’s general prosecutor said the remaining members of the team were invited back to the country “with peace and confidence”.
“These loved ones are invited to return to their homeland with peace and confidence, and in addition to addressing the concerns of their families,” the general prosecutor’s office was quoted as saying by Iran’s Tasnim news agency.
Australia’s decision to provide visas to five players came amid uncertainty and concerns for the team’s safety following their decision to stand in silence during Iran’s anthem before their first match of the tournament on March 3.
The players sang and saluted the anthem in their remaining two matches, on Thursday and Sunday, prompting fears that they could face punishment upon their return home.
Australian Minister for Home Affairs Tony Burke told a news conference on Monday that he had informed the five members “that they are welcome to stay in Australia, that they are safe here, and they should feel at home here”.
He added that he had also offered the other team members the chance to stay in Australia.
The Department of Home Affairs named the five team members as captain Zahra Ghanbari, midfielders Fatemeh Pasandideh, Zahra Sarbali Alishah, Mona Hamoudi, and defender Atefeh Ramezanizadeh.
The players’ decision to stand in silence during Iran’s anthem before their match against South Korea was labelled as the “pinnacle of dishonour” by a commentator on Iran’s IRIB state broadcaster.
The announcement to grant the players visas came after United States President Donald Trump, who is currently waging war on Iran alongside ally Israel, said he had spoken to Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese about the “delicate situation” faced by the team, and that Albanese was “on it!”
Iran’s Baghaei dismissed Trump’s statement, questioning the US president’s claims of “saving” the players after new footage of a February 28 attack on an Iranian elementary girls’ school in Minab, which killed 165 students, suggested that the site of the school was likely hit by a Tomahawk missile – a weapon used by the US that Israel and Iran do not possess.
The US had previously accused Iran of the attack.
“They slaughtered more than 165 innocent Iranian schoolgirls in a double-tap Tomahawk attack in the city of Minab, and now they want to take our athletes hostage in the name of ‘saving’ them?” Baghaei said.
Following the Australian government’s decision to grant humanitarian visas to five Iranian players, they were moved to an undisclosed location under police protection, Australian officials were quoted as saying by the Reuters news agency.
Iranian media quoted Farideh Shojaei, vice president for women’s affairs at the Iranian Football Federation, as saying the team had left the hotel through the back door with the police.
“We have contacted the embassy, the football federation, the Foreign Ministry and anywhere possible to see what will happen,” she said.
“We have even spoken with the families of these five players.”
Some of the Iranian players left their hotel in the northeastern city of Gold Coast on Tuesday afternoon on a bus that was surrounded by members of the diaspora protesting against the Iranian government. They flew to Sydney airport on Tuesday evening before being transferred to the international terminal.
It was not clear how many players arrived at the airport or where they were going.
Trump initially posted on social media that Australia was “making a terrible humanitarian mistake” by allowing the team to be sent back home, apparently unaware that Australia had been in secret talks with the women for several days.
Trump said members of the team would “likely be killed” if forced to return to Iran. “The US will take them if you won’t,” he added.
In a later post, Trump said he had spoken to Albanese and that the Australian leader was “doing a very good job having to do with this rather delicate situation”.
The Iranian general prosecutor’s office said “some members of our country’s women’s football team have, unintentionally and emotionally provoked by the enemy’s conspiracy and mischief, behaved in a way that has caused the delusional excitement of the criminal leaders of the imposed American-Zionist war.”
The US and Israel attacks on Iran have killed 1,255 people in the country and left 1,200 injured after 11 days.
Tehran has responded by launching waves of missiles and drones at Israel and towards several military bases in the Middle East where US forces operate.
Venezuela After January 3: A Nation Standing in the Storm
Code Pink participated in a solidarity brigade to Venezuela in February. (Instituto Simón Bolívar)
On our recent delegation to Venezuela, one quote echoed again and again — a warning written nearly two centuries ago by Simón Bolívar in 1829:
“The United States appears destined by Providence to plague America with misery in the name of liberty.”
For many Venezuelans, that line no longer feels like history. It feels like the present.
The January 3 U.S. military operation that seized President Nicolás Maduro and First Lady Cilia Flores marked a dramatic escalation in a conflict that Venezuelans describe not as sudden but as cumulative — the culmination of decades of pressure, sanctions, and attempts at isolation. “We still haven’t totally processed what happened on January 3,” sanctions expert William Castillo told us. “But it was the culmination of over 25 years of aggression and 11 years of resisting devastating sanctions. A 20-year-old today has lived half his life in a blockaded country.”
Carlos Ron, former deputy foreign minister and now with the Tricontinental Institute for Social Research, described the buildup to the invasion as the result of a carefully constructed narrative. “First there was the dangerous rhetoric describing Venezuelans in the United States as criminals,” he said. “Then endless references to the Tren de Aragua gang. Then the boat strikes blowing up alleged smugglers. Then the oil tanker seizures and naval blockade. The pressure wasn’t working, so they escalated to the January 3 invasion and kidnapping of President Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, and the deaths of over 100 people.”
While in the United States the events of January 3 have largely been forgotten, replaced by a devastating war with Iran, in Venezuela the reminders are everywhere. Huge banners draped from apartment buildings demand: “Bring them home.” Weekly protests call for their release.
In the Tiuna neighborhood of Caracas, we met Mileidy Chirinos, who lives in an apartment complex overlooking the site where Maduro was captured. From her rooftop, she told us about that dreadful night, when the sky lit up with explosions so loud her building shook and everyone ran outside screaming.
“Have your children ever woken up terrified to the sound of bombs?” she asked.
We shook our heads.
“Ours have,” she said. “And they are U.S. bombs. Now we understand what Palestinians in Gaza feel every day.”
She told us psychologists now visit weekly to help residents cope with the trauma.
Within days of the U.S. invasion, the National Assembly swore in Vice President Delcy Rodríguez as acting president. President Trump publicly praised Rodríguez for “doing a good job,” emphasizing his strong relationship with her. But from the beginning, she has been negotiating with the United States with a gun to her head. She was told that any refusal to compromise would result not in the kidnapping of her and her team, but death and the continued bombing of Venezuela.
The presence of U.S. power looms large. Nuclear submarines still patrol offshore. Thousands of troops remain positioned nearby. Every statement and decision made by the government is scrutinized. And on February 2, despite Trump’s praise for Delcy Rodríguez, he renewed the 2015 executive order declaring Venezuela an “unusual and extraordinary threat” to U.S. national security.
The visits from the heads of the CIA and Southern Command have undoubtedly been difficult for the government to swallow. Delcy’s revolutionary father was tortured to death in 1976 by a Venezuelan government that worked closely with the CIA. The U.S. Southern Command coordinated the January 3 attack.
But the government is not without leverage.
“The United States thought the state was weak, that it didn’t have popular support, that the military was divided,” said Tania Díaz of the ruling PSUV party. “January 3rd could have triggered looting, military defections, or widespread destabilization. None of that happened.”
The United States has overwhelming military dominance, but it was also aware that millions of Venezuelans signed up to be part of the people’s militia. This militia, along with the army that remained loyal to the government, gave Washington pause about launching a prolonged war and attempting to replace Delcy Rodríguez with opposition leader María Corina Machado.
While Machado enjoys enthusiastic support among Venezuelan exiles in Miami and the Trump administration recognized her movement as the winner of the 2024 election, the picture inside Venezuela is very different. The opposition remains deeply divided and Trump realized there was no viable faction ready to assume power.
Besides, as William Castillo put it bluntly: “Trump does not care about elections or human rights or political prisoners. He cares about three other things: oil, oil, and oil.” To that, we can add gold, where the U.S. just pushed Venezuela to provide direct access to gold exports and investment opportunities in the country’s gold and mineral sector,
Certainly, under the circumstances, the Venezuelan leadership has had little choice but to grant the United States significant influence over its oil exports. But while Trump boasts that this is the fruit of his “spectacular assault,” Maduro had long been open to cooperation with U.S. oil companies.
“Maduro was well aware that Venezuela needed investment in its oil facilities,” Castillo told us, “but the lack of investment is because of U.S. sanctions, not because of Maduro. Venezuela never stopped selling to the U.S.; it is the U.S. that stopped buying. And it also stopped selling spare parts needed to repair the infrastructure. So the U.S. started the fire that decimated our oil industry and now acts as if it’s the firefighter coming to the rescue.”
In any case, the easing of oil sanctions — the only sanctions that have been partially lifted — is already bringing an infusion of much-needed dollars, and the government has been able to use these funds to support social programs.
But in Venezuela the conflict is not seen as simply about oil. Blanca Eekhout, head of the Simon Bolivar Institute, says U.S. actions represent a brazen return to the 1823 Monroe Doctrine. The doctrine originally warned European powers not to interfere in the Western Hemisphere, but over time it became a justification for repeated U.S. interventions across the region.
“We have gone back 200 years,” she said. “All rules of sovereignty have been violated. But while the Trump administration thinks it can control the hemisphere by force, it can’t.”
The historical contradiction is stark. In 1823, the young United States declared Latin America its sphere of influence. A year earlier, Bolívar envisioned a powerful, sovereign Latin America capable of charting its own destiny. That tension still echoes through the present.
Bolívar’s dream is also being battered by the resurgence of the right across the region. The left in Latin America is far weaker than during the days of Hugo Chávez. Bolivia’s Evo Morales and Ecuador’s Rafael Correa have been replaced by conservative leaders. Cuba remains under a suffocating U.S. siege. Progressive regional institutions like CELAC and ALBA have faded, and the vision of Latin American unity that once seemed within reach now feels far more fragile.
In Caracas, the situation is tangled, contradictory, and volatile. But amid the uncertainty, one thing felt clear: the Venezuelan left is not collapsing. It is recalibrating.
As Blanca told us before we left:
“They thought we would fall apart. But we are still here.”
And in the background, Bolívar’s warning continues to drift through the air — like a storm that never quite passes.
The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect those of the Venezuelanalysis editorial staff.
Medea Benjamin is the cofounder of CODEPINK for Peace, and the author of several books, including Inside Iran: The Real History and Politics of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Source: Code Pink
Why a father of five is telling Judy Blume’s revealing life story
On the Shelf
Judy Blume: A Life
By Mark Oppenheimer
G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 480 pages, $35
If you buy books linked on our site, The Times may earn a commission from Bookshop.org, whose fees support independent bookstores.
One of the biggest takeaways from the biography “Judy Blume: A Life” may not be in the story itself but in its author. Because of her frank talk about puberty and sexual awakenings, Blume’s work is usually associated with young female readers. Her biographer, Mark Oppenheimer, is a middle-aged father of five.
He says he received minimal pushback on the idea that a man should be allowed to write Blume’s definitive life story. If the whole point of her books is that there should be no shame in body awareness, what service does it do to say only a woman has the authority to write her story? Plus, although her books aren’t selling as well as they used to — who’s are? — Oppenheimer’s biography points out that there are still plenty of parents who will throw a copy of her seminal “Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret.” at their kids rather than have the menstruation talk or risk any misinformation that may be online.
“No good writer should be ghettoized,” Oppenheimer says during a recent Zoom call with The Times. “If you’re a good writer, you shouldn’t be marketed just to girls or just to boys or just to white people or just to straight people. Good art should be for everyone.”
It is intrinsic and impossible not to parlay Blume’s stories of sibling rivalries, first loves, friends and frenemies, and (most famously) puberty with what was going on in your life when you read them. Books like “Deenie” and “Superfudge” and “Margaret” are also remarkably malleable enough so that, even if a kid picks them up decades after their release or cannot relate with a parallel experience, they can become placeholders and explainers for what must be going on in the minds of their classmates. Last year, TV creator Mara Brock Akil adapted “Forever,” Blume’s 1975 story of the kind of mutually shared devotion that feels like it will last eternally, into a miniseries set in 2018 Los Angeles.
“I think for many of us, Judy’s books are our first crush or our first love and they do hold a special place that no book we read in our world-weary, cynical 40s can hold,” says Oppenheimer.
Some of this can be attributed to time and brain space. Oppenheimer discovered Blume’s work when he was a child. He’s now a parent, with a career and all the other time-sucks that come with adulthood.
“The books I read as a child imprinted on me in a way that books today don’t,” he says. “I probably remember more plot points of the first Judy Blume books that I read than I do of any book I’ve read in the past five years.”
But what of Blume herself? Can America’s mom also be a three-dimensional person who makes her own mistakes? Discovering her four adult novels — especially “Wifey,” a book about a gilded-caged suburban housewife that even Oppenheimer describes as “a very salacious, one might say, smutty, adult novel” that even some of Blume’s collaborators wanted her to publish under a pseudonym — or watching documentaries about her like 2023’s “Judy Blume Forever,” in which she is seen joking about masturbation with employees at her Key West, Fla., bookstore, can seem as evasive and dangerous as reading your mom’s diary.
Author Mark Oppenheimer
(Lu Arie)
There have been other books about Blume and her work, most notably Rachelle Bergstein’s 2024 deep-dive “The Genius of Judy: How Judy Blume Rewrote Childhood for All of Us.” But Oppenheimer’s biography is a more straightforward tracing of Blume’s life and career. He starts with her childhood when she was encouraged to read Philip Roth at home and went to sleepovers at friends’ houses that were more about body awakenings. He discusses her stifling first marriage, which gave her the last name she carries with her to this day and her two children but is also where she hung her college diploma and another award over her washing machine as reminders of her intellect. There’s talk of her second marriage, which Blume has always been reluctant to discuss, as well as the two abortions that resulted from it. And there are details on her life with her third husband, the polymath George Cooper.
Oppenheimer relied on past news stories about Blume, as well as a collection of her work and professional correspondences that are archived at Yale’s Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library and, probably most informatively, his own interviews with Blume and her friends and family. (Although Blume did agree to speak with Oppenheimer for his book, she declined our request to interview her for this story about that book).
“I think that the difficult subjects are sometimes the ones that make her more relatable,” Oppenheimer says of his subject. “I think most of her fans will find it interesting and admirable that she speaks so candidly about her abortions, about especially her divorce from her first husband, which came as she was getting involved in the [second-wave] women’s movement, about her early same-sex experiences, about masturbation as a girl; these are things we would expect Judy Blume to be candid about.”
Oppenheimer matches how these life events correspond with the ones of Blume’s characters because, for better or for worse, she almost always was an author who wrote what she knew even if her fandom transcended it. What her books lack in character diversity, they make up for in specificity. And that, in turn, also makes them relatable.
“Judy found incredibly compelling human drama in books about the New Jersey suburbs, and that’s a testament to her strength as an artist,” Oppenheimer says.
Writer Judy Blume at her nonprofit bookstore Books and Books on March 26, 2023, in Key West, Fla.
(Mary Martin / Associated Press)
Examining and reexamining Blume’s work as an adult also gave Oppenheimer a better perspective of her writing style. Blume didn’t begin to try to write professionally until she was a married mother of two and some have criticized her work for not being as flowery and polished as others’.
“All of her books tend to take a fairly tight focus on the characters,” Oppenheimer says. “They don’t tend to pull back and look at large societal forces or changes going on in the country or the world. And that’s fine. You know, the same could be said of Jane Austen.”
Perhaps the best example of this is Blume’s own religious foundation. Her most autobiographical novel, “Starring Sally J. Freedman as Herself,” has a protagonist who is paranoid that she sees Adolf Hitler on park benches and whose life is imprinted with stories of a relative who followed her mother into the concentration camps and the neighbors sitting shiva (a time of mourning) for their daughter who got pregnant with her non-Jewish boyfriend. And yet, Oppenheimer notes, Blume is not always immediately thought of as a Jewish writer. Nor have most of her readers been Jewish.
“I think that her Judaism is there, if you know where to look,” says Oppenheimer, who spends the early part of his biography looking at how the synagogue and religious community were a normal part of a young Blume’s life. He adds that “she is somebody who speaks really, really well across religious, cultural and racial differences, and that’s partly why she has sold tens of millions of books.”
Oppenheimer acknowledges that Blume’s characters may not be diverse enough by today’s standards; that they don’t usually discuss “gender identities or sexualities; children of multiracial backgrounds; children who have disabilities.” They can also feel like time capsules to other dimensions; his 12-year-old daughter was scandalized by how normative bullying was after she read “Blubber,” Blume’s 1974 novel about tween mean girls and body shaming.
He adds that some of today’s bestselling young adult novels, like Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson series about a teen demigod or Suzanne Collins’ dystopia-set “Hunger Games” books, are “contemporary realism [that] focus on extraordinary or unusual circumstances.” And while he’s happy for these books’ popularities, he says that some subjects may be better told by kids who also aren’t tasked with saving the world. (I am pretty sure I learned more about male puberty from Blume’s 1971 story “Then Again, Maybe I Won’t,” which is as much about wealth divides and questionable friend choices as it is about a 13-year-old boy’s inner monologues about her awkward adolescence).
“If what you’re looking for is realism that isn’t focused on obvious external differences, but rather on interiority,” Oppenheimer says, “then Judy Blume still remains one of the premier novelists that you would want to read.”
Friedlander is a pop culture and entertainment journalist based in Los Angeles who hates coffee but loves Coke Zero.
Sustainable Finance Awards 2026: Africa
Banks in Africa — including Absa, RMB, Nedbank, KCB, and Standard Bank — are driving critical SDG-focused projects.
Even though Africa is home to some of the world’s fastest-growing economies, the continent faces a funding gap as the 2030 target approaches to meet the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted by the United Nations and tailored to the African Union’s Agenda 2063.
The SDGs aim to improve living standards for the African population by addressing issues such as hunger, education, clean water and sanitation, affordable and clean energy, inequality, and infrastructure.
While scrutiny of sustainability has increased, the African sustainable-finance market has continued to grow over the past two years. Debt volumes have been rising, for example, reaching a record of almost $13 billion in 2024, according to S&P Global.
However, the volume of sustainable bonds issued is less than 1% of the global total, which is insufficient to address Africa’s infrastructure and development needs. To meet these needs, Africa would need to close a funding gap between $670 billion and $762 billion per year by 2030, according to the UN Economic Commission for Africa and the African Development Bank, with the majority of the gap concentrated in the continent’s less developed countries.
This equates to a need for about $1.3 trillion in funding per year to fully achieve Africa’s SDGs. Despite these challenges, there have been significant advances in Africa as a direct result of efforts by African banks. Most importantly, this work has facilitated dramatic improvements in health outcomes over the past decade that are well above progress made elsewhere in the world.
Kenya Commercial Bank
Best Bank for Sustaining Communities
Sustainability is the Kenya Commercial Bank’s foundation for inclusive growth and economic resilience, and the bank’s success directly influences the health of the communities in which it operates. Through the KCB Foundation,
the bank invests in education, climate adaptation, and inclusion. The foundation’s 2Jiajiri program has created almost 61,000 jobs and provided support through vocational training and financial access to about 37,000 businesses. A collaboration with the Mastercard Foundation expanded access to finance and training to entrepreneurs.
KCB also prioritizes community investment projects for water security, education, sustainable agriculture, and inclusion for vulnerable groups. These projects include five community boreholes in Marsabit, Kenya, that provide water to about 27,000 households and 95,000 livestock animals; scholarships that end poverty for families; financing and equipment for about 3,400 livestock farmers and 15 producer groups; and cash-transfer programs for 22,000 refugees.
Absa
Best Bank for Sustainable Finance
Best Impact Investing Solution
Best Bank for Sustainable Infrastructure/Project Finance
Best Bank for Green Bonds
Absa is committed to building a sustainable future in Africa by financing projects that drive positive change, support the continent’s transition to clean energy, and nurture equitable, resilient, and future-focused communities. The bank is working to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050. To work toward this goal, Absa has facilitated and arranged over 29.1 billion South African rands ($1.8 billion) in sustainable-finance transactions in 2025.
The bank contributed 1.6 billion rand as part of a larger 3.8 billion rand debt-financing package to support power producer Red Rocket’s 150-megawatt (MW) wind project. The project will supply 100% renewable energy to Discovery Green, which in turn provides it to medium-and large-sized companies. The package will fund the project’s full life cycle, from design through construction to operations and maintenance.
Absa also contributed 50% of the 9.4 billion rand debt package for the Red Sands Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) through project-finance lending, hedging, guarantees, and agency and account bank services. Once operational, this landmark transaction under South Africa’s Battery Energy Storage Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme will be the largest standalone BESS in Africa. To reduce operational risk, the revenue model is based on availability and not dispatched energy. The project provides environmental and grid benefits through load shifting—energy is stored during the day and dispatched during peak periods—to create greater grid stability and capacity for additional renewable-energy projects.
Rand Merchant Bank
Sustainable Finance Deal of the Year (British International Investment Transition Finance Facility)
Best Bank for Social Bonds
Best Bank for Transition/Sustainability-Linked Loans
Rand Merchant Bank (RMB) has been actively tackling climate resilience and a just transition to a low-carbon world. To accomplish this, the bank incorporates climate factors into its capital allocation, risk appetite, portfolio monitoring, and reporting.
In 2025, the bank completed several landmark transactions, such as FirstRand Bank’s first social-bond issuance for female-owned businesses, totaling 2.5 billion rands. This bond directly addresses barriers to financial inclusion, economic participation, and job creation for women by providing capital to women entrepreneurs.
RMB also arranged for the refinancing of Mediclinic’s 9 billion rand sustainability-linked loan across four lenders in what is currently one of the largest syndicated sustainable-finance transactions in South Africa. Mediclinic operates private hospitals that provide multidisciplinary acute care in South Africa and Namibia.
The bank has also developed a new transition-finance asset class and associated framework for allocating funds to projects facilitating emissions reductions. RMB served as the transition-finance adviser to FirstRand in the 2.6 billion rand facility from British International Investment, the UK’s development finance institution and impact investor. This facility mobilized international capital for Africa’s climate goals by funding transition loans across South Africa and the broader continent to support the decarbonization of hard-to-abate sectors, such as industrials, energy, and cement. The facility also creates a blueprint for how private and development finance can work together to advance the energy transition in emerging markets.
Nedbank
Best Platform/Technology Facilitating Sustainable Finance
Best Bank for Sustainability Transparency
Nedbank is working toward having the entirety of its lending and investment portfolio support a net-zero carbon economy by 2050. The bank’s strategy supports clients and communities while focusing on scalable sustainable-development finance that advances economic decarbonization and inclusive growth.
The bank incorporates transparency into its energy policy so that stakeholders can better understand and monitor its progress. Nedbank tracks and reports its environmental impact, to include exposure to thermal coal, oil, gas, and power generation. Along with Nedbank’s energy policy and nature-position statement, the bank produces glide paths with a framework for its net-zero transition. Position statements on climate change and nature address related risks and opportunities and provide thought leadership on sustainability issues and financing.
Nedbank also leverages technology and analytical tools that provide integral insight into its sustainable financings. The bank’s Climate Risk Tool analyzes how various climate events affect financed properties. The bank captures data not native to its existing systems and uses these in combination with existing data to estimate and report financed emissions that align with accounting methodologies.
Nedbank’s Building Efficiency Scale captures water and energy efficiencies in buildings, and the inhouse EDGE certification tool democratizes green-building certifications to address the low number of green-certified buildings in South Africa.
Standard Bank
Best Bank for Sustainability Bonds
Best Bank for ESG-Related Loans
Standard Bank has made sustainability a strategic priority and uses an approach that maximizes the positive impact while successfully managing risk. The bank focuses on business growth and job creation, infrastructure development, climate mitigation and adaptation, and financial health and inclusion.
The bank served as sole arranger and sustainability coordinator for the Industrial Development Corporation’s inaugural 2 billion rand sustainable bond and 1.4 billion rand private placement. These bonds were listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange Sustainability Segment and are helping advance South Africa’s transition to a more inclusive, low-carbon economy. The bonds will fund projects in renewable energy; energy efficiency; sustainable water management; clean transport; socioeconomic advancement; and MSME financing. They will also support initiatives for grid decarbonization and the growth of independent power producers.
Standard Bank also delivered a 6.1 billion rand debt package to the NOA Group to design, construct, commission, and operate the 505 MW Khauta solar photovoltaic (PV) facility in South Africa. This landmark project includes plans to build a BESS and connect an existing substation to the province’s strong grid via overhead lines. In addition to reducing carbon emissions, this green project will create jobs during construction and operation.
California Dems launch polling effort to winnow gubernatorial field
As anxiety mounts among California Democrats about the potential of a Republican being elected governor, the state party will spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on polling to assess the viability of the sprawling field of candidates hoping to replace termed-out Gov. Gavin Newsom, according to plans released Tuesday.
The move comes after nearly every Democratic candidate refused party leaders’ call last week to withdraw from the race to avoid splitting the vote in the June primary — an outcome that could lead to a Republican being elected to statewide office for the first time in two decades.
“Candidates have filed, and now they’ve got the opportunity to showcase their viability, their path to win. I want to simply ensure that everybody has information to fully understand the current state of the race,” said Rusty Hicks, the leader of the California Democratic Party.
As campaign season ramps up, the series of six polls will allow “candidates, supporters, the media, voters, anyone and everyone to have a clear understanding of what is or is not happening in this particular race,” he said.
The filing deadline to appear on the June 2 ballot was Friday. Three days earlier, Hicks released an open letter urging candidates who did not have a path to victory to withdraw from the race. Of the nine prominent Democrats who had announced runs for governor, only one heeded his call: former state Assembly Majority Leader Ian Calderon.
That means the eight other candidates’ names will appear on the ballot, regardless of whether they decide to later drop out. And that creates the possibility of a Republican winning the race because of how California elections are decided.
The state has a voter-approved top-two primary system, under which the two candidates who receive the most votes in the June primary advance to the November general election, regardless of party.
Two prominent Republicans will appear on the ballot: former conservative commentator Steve Hilton and Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco. Even though Democratic voters outnumber Republicans nearly 2 to 1, and the state’s electorate last elevated Republicans to statewide office in 2006, it is mathematically possible for Democrats to splinter the vote, allowing the two GOP candidates to advance.
Under such a scenario, not only would Republicans be guaranteed the leadership of the nation’s most-populous state, but Democratic voter turnout also would probably be depressed in November, potentially affecting down-ballot races such as those that could determine control of Congress.
Hicks’ call last week prompted concerns among candidates of color, including former U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra and state Supt. of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond, that the effort was aimed at every nonwhite candidate in the race.
The state party chairman responded that his letter was not aimed at any specific candidate.
“It’s not something I lose sleep over,” Hicks said when asked about the racial claims. But he added that the voter surveys will be conducted by Los Angeles-based Evitarus, the state’s only Black- and Latino-led full-service polling firm, and will oversample historically underrepresented communities: Latino, Black and Asian American voters.
Hicks said the polling will cost “multiple six figures” but did not specify the exact amount.
The first poll will be released on March 24, and then five additional surveys will come out every seven to 10 days until voters start receiving mail ballots in early May.
“We’re putting this forward to ensure everyone is armed with the information they need to clearly have an eyes-wide-open assessment of where the state of the race currently is between now and when ballots land in the mailboxes of voters,” Hicks said.
Rams make it clear they want to win the Super Bowl
From Gary Klein: The Rams’ remodeled secondary will have a heavy Kansas City Chiefs influence.
A week after trading for cornerback Trent McDuffie, the Rams on Monday agreed to terms with cornerback Jaylen Watson, a person with knowledge of the situation said. The person requested anonymity because deals cannot become official until Wednesday.
Watson’s deal with the Rams is for three years and includes $34 million in guarantees, NFL Media reported.
Watson and McDuffie, who on Sunday agreed to terms on an extension that reportedly includes $100 million in guarantees, won two Super Bowls with the Chiefs.
Watson, 27, has three career interceptions, including two last season. Watson, 6 feet 2 and 197 pounds, played at Ventura College for two seasons before transferring to Washington State. The Chiefs selected him in the seventh round of the 2022 draft.
The Rams have made several moves involving the secondary. In January, safety Quentin Lake received a three-year extension that includes $25 million in guarantees. They traded the 29th pick in this year’s draft and other picks this year and next for McDuffie, and also agreed to terms with safety Kam Curl on a three-year extension that includes about $24 million in guarantees.
Chargers making moves
Former Baltimore Ravens tight end Charlie Kolar agreed to a deal with the Chargers on Monday.
(Terrance Williams / Associated Press)
The Chargers aren’t hesitating when it comes to bolstering their run-blocking options for new offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel, reportedly agreeing to terms Monday with former Baltimore Ravens tight end Charlie Kolar.
Kolar and the Chargers agreed to a three-year, $24.3-million deal that includes $17 million in guarantees, NFL Media reported.
Widely considered the best run-blocking tight end available ahead of free agency, Kolar should help an uneven Chargers running attack that forced coach Jim Harbaugh to often rely too much on quarterback Justin Herbert — even when his running backs were healthy.
Dodgers prospect Ryan Ward waiting for his chance
Ryan Ward hits for the Dodgers during a spring training game against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Feb. 25.
(Ross D. Franklin / Associated Press)
From Jack Vita: There comes a point in every big leaguer’s career when they graduate from their farm system, a time in which they’ve proven everything they can at the minor league level, and it’s time to see what they are made of in the big leagues.
For some, it’s a fast track. For others, it may come after a few seasons in the minors.
And then there’s players such as 28-year-old Dodgers prospect Ryan Ward. Drafted in the eighth round in 2019, Ward has played 402 games at triple-A Oklahoma City over the past three seasons. Last year, his 36 home runs, 122 RBIs, and .290/.380/.557 slash line made him the MVP of the Pacific Coast League. But after Sunday’s Cactus League game against the Athletics, the Dodgers optioned Ward and left-hander Ronan Kopp to Oklahoma City.
The wait continues for Ward.
Changes at Casey Wasserman’s agency
Casey Wasserman, chairman of the Los Angeles Organizing Committee, speaks during an IOC meeting in Milan on Feb. 3.
(Luca Bruno / Associated Press)
From Meg James: Casey Wasserman’s name has been scrubbed from the agency he founded decades ago, replaced with an amorphous moniker: “The Team.”
Monday’s move comes amid the lingering controversy over the sports mogul’s decades-old association with Ghislaine Maxwell, accomplice of the late sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein. Following revelations of Wasserman’s salacious 2003 emails with Maxwell, several musicians and athletes — led by pop artist Chappell Roan and soccer star Abby Wambach — said that, to stay true to their values, they would leave the agency then known as Wasserman.
Fears of a broad flight of artists and agents prompted Wasserman to announce that he was selling his talent representation and sports marketing firm. Talks with prospective buyers have been ongoing, according to a person close to the agency but not authorized to speak publicly.
Clippers back at the .500 mark
Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard, right, controls the ball in front of New York Knicks guard Josh Hart during the second half of the Clippers’ win Monday at Intuit Dome.
(Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Times)
From the Associated Press: Kawhi Leonard scored 29 points, Bennedict Mathurin added 28 points, and the Clippers beat the New York Knicks 126-118 at Intuit Dome on Monday night to climb back to .500 for the first time since early November.
The Clippers are 32-32 and have won five of their first six games in March as they try to improve their potential position in the NBA play-in tournament. They began the season in a 6-21 tailspin.
It was Leonard’s 42nd straight game with 20-plus points, the second-longest active streak in the NBA and third-longest in team history.
Kings beat Blue Jackets in overtime
Kings forward Adrian Kempe celebrates after scoring in overtime against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Monday.
(Jay LaPrete / Associated Press)
From the Associated Press: Adrian Kempe scored his second goal of the game with 2:26 left in overtime to give the Kings a 5-4 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Monday.
With the victory, the Kings moved within a point of Seattle in the race for the final Western Conference wild-card spot.
Columbus tied the score late for the second straight home game. Kirill Marchenko scored on the power play at 18:04 to force the extra period.
Tom Brady is heading to L.A.
Tom Brady looks on before the NFC championship game between the Rams and the Seattle Seahawks on Jan. 25 at Lumen Field.
(Jane Gershovich / Getty Images)
From Chuck Schilken: Tom Brady‘s return to the football field will take place on U.S. soil.
Right here in Los Angeles, to be specific.
The Fanatics Flag Football Classic, featuring Brady and a slew of other NFL stars and athletes, will take place March 21 at BMO Stadium, the venue that is also slated to host flag football during the 2028 Summer Olympics.
The event was originally scheduled to take place on the same date, but at a location more than 8,000 miles away at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudia Arabia.
U.S. defeats Mexico in World Baseball Classic
Aaron Judge, center, celebrates in the dugout after hitting a two-run home run for the U.S. against Mexico in the World Baseball Classic on Monday.
(Ashley Landis / Associated Press)
From the Associated Press: Aaron Judge hit a two-run homer and Roman Anthony added a three-run blast in a big third inning to lead the United States to a 5-3 win over Mexico in the World Baseball Classic at Houston’s Daikin Park on Monday night.
The U.S. improved to 3-0 and will meet Italy (2-0) on Tuesday night, seeking to secure a spot in the quarterfinals in Houston this weekend.
Jarren Duran homered twice for Mexico (2-1), which will face Italy Wednesday night in the last game of Group B play.
This day in sports history
1913 — The Quebec Bulldogs win the Stanley Cup in two games over Sydney.
1920 — Quebec’s Joe Malone scores six goals to lead the Bulldogs to a 10-4 rout of the Ottawa Senators.
1961 — Wilt Chamberlain of the Philadelphia Warriors becomes the first NBA player to score 3,000 points in a season. Chamberlain scores 32 points in a 120-103 loss to Detroit to bring his season total to 3,016.
1963 — Wilt Chamberlain of the San Francisco Warriors scores 70 points in a 163-148 loss to Syracuse.
1985 — Dick Motta becomes the fourth NBA coach to record 700 victories as Dallas beats New Jersey 126-113.
1991 — Eddie Sutton of Oklahoma State becomes the first coach to lead four schools into the NCAA tournament. Sutton also coached Creighton, Arkansas and Kentucky in the tournament.
1992 — New York Islanders coach Al Arbour becomes the second coach in NHL history to win 700 games with a 5-2 victory over Philadelphia.
2001 — With Swedish great Ingemar Stenmark looking on, Hermann Maier wins the giant slalom for his 13th victory this season, equaling one of the mightiest alpine skiing records. Maier, winner of the overall World Cup title three of the last four years, ties the record Stenmark set in 1979.
2002 — John Stockton, the NBA’s career assist leader, has 13 assists in Utah’s 95-92 loss at Houston to give him exactly 15,000 for his career.
2004 — Orlando’s Tracy McGrady scores a franchise record 62 points in a 108-99 win over Washington.
2011 — Veteran referees Jim Burr, Tim Higgins and Earl Walton, cited for two errors in the final seconds of the St. John’s-Rutgers game, withdraw from the rest of the Big East tournament. The three officials missed two calls — a travel and stepping out of bounds — in the final 1.7 seconds of St. John’s 65-63 win in the second-round of Big East tournament. The Big East acknowledged after the game the officials blew the calls.
2014 — The game between Dallas and the Columbus Blue Jackets is postponed by the NHL after Stars forward Rich Peverley collapses on the bench during the first period.
2018 — Texas Southern beats Arkansas-Pine Bluff 84-69 in the Southwestern Athletic Conference championship game. Texas Southern (15-19) earns an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament after starting out 0-13 this season. The Tigers didn’t win a game until Jan. 1 and never beat a nonconference opponent.
2018 — The Vegas Golden Knights set a record for road wins by an expansion team with a 2-1 shootout victory at Buffalo. At 20-12-3, the Golden Knights break a tie with the 1993-94 Anaheim Ducks for most road wins by an NHL team in its first season.
2022 — After a 99-day lockout, Major League Baseball and MLB Players Assn. reach a new collective bargaining agreement; MLB teams set to play full 162 game season in 2022.
Compiled by the Associated Press
Until next time…
That concludes today’s newsletter. If you have any feedback, ideas for improvement or things you’d like to see, email me at houston.mitchell@latimes.com. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.
Warning to anyone who’s ever misplaced their passport
UK passport holders are being urged to check theirs now
Many people often don’t know where in the home their passports are(Image: Westend61 via Getty Images)
UK passport holders are being urged to check the whereabouts of their documents now, particularly if they’ve got any holidays on the horizon.
Many of us have mislaid our passports at some point, so it’s wise to store yours in a specific spot, such as a lockable drawer or cabinet. The Passport Office advises that you must cancel a lost or stolen passport immediately, to minimise the risk of someone else using your passport or stealing your identity. You can also report a lost or stolen passport on behalf of someone else if they’re unable to do so themselves.
However, it’s crucial to search your home thoroughly for your passport before declaring it lost. This is because once you notify the authorities that it’s lost or stolen, you won’t be permitted to use it if it turns up and regardless of how much validity it has remaining.
This is because, when you report a passport as lost or stolen, all the information on the document is forwarded to the National Crime Agency. If you try to travel with it, you’ll be stopped at the border and it will be seized.
If you do locate your lost passport, you should instead cut off the top right-hand corner and post it to the Passport Office alongside a Recovered British Passport Form. You’ll then need to apply for a new passport if you wish to travel abroad.
The current estimated processing time is a maximum of three weeks, though government officials warn it can occasionally take longer “if we need more information, or we need to interview you”. If this applies to you, you’ll receive notification within the three-week timeframe.
A standard adult passport, for those aged 16 and above, costs £94.50 when you apply online, or £107 if you use the paper application form. However, if you require a replacement passport urgently, a one-week fast track document costs up to £191 for an adult.
A one-day premium service costs up to £235.
Russia the only ‘winner’ of US-Israel war on Iran: EU Council president | US-Israel war on Iran News
Antonio Costa says Russia benefits from soaring global energy prices and attention being diverted from war in Ukraine.
Published On 10 Mar 2026
European Council President Antonio Costa has said Russia is the only country benefitting from the US-Israeli war on Iran, as global energy prices soar and attention from Moscow’s four-year conflict with Ukraine is diverted.
Now in its 11th day, the war has spiralled rapidly throughout the region as Iranian forces hit back at US and Israeli targets, as well as facilities in the Gulf. It has also slowed oil and natural gas flows through the strategic Strait of Hormuz to a near standstill, pushing fuel prices upwards and threatening far-reaching impacts on a number of industries.
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“So far, there is only one winner in this war – Russia,” Costa said in a speech to European Union ambassadors in Brussels on Tuesday.
“It gains new resources to finance its war against Ukraine as energy prices rise. It profits from the diversion of military capabilities that could otherwise have been sent to support Ukraine. And it benefits from reduced attention to the Ukrainian front as the conflict in the Middle East takes centre stage.”
Costa stressed the need for the EU to protect the international rules-based order, which he said was now being challenged by the United States, and for all parties in the Middle East to return to the negotiating table.
“Freedom and human rights cannot be achieved through bombs. Only international law upholds them,” he said. “We must avoid further escalation. Such a path threatens the Middle East, Europe, and beyond.”
The US and Israeli attack on Iran triggered the biggest spike in oil prices on Monday since the turmoil following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Costa’s comments came as the Kremlin said all parties wanted to continue US-mediated Russia-Ukraine peace talks, but that no date or venue had been agreed yet for the next round.
Russia and Ukraine held three rounds of talks in Turkiye last year and have conducted several more US-mediated sessions in Abu Dhabi and Geneva this year. But they remain far apart on key issues, especially on Russia’s demand for Ukraine to cede control of the whole of its eastern Donetsk region.
On Monday, US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, held their first phone call of the year, during which they discussed the wars in Iran and Ukraine.
The Kremlin said the possibility of lifting US sanctions on Russian oil had not been discussed in any detail with Washington, but that US actions were aimed at stabilising global energy markets.
Following this call, Putin said Russia, the world’s second-largest oil exporter and holder of the biggest natural gas reserves, was ready to work again with European customers if they wanted to return to long-term cooperation.
Before the Ukraine war, Europe was buying more than 40 percent of its gas from Russia. By 2025, combined sales of pipeline gas and LNG from Russia accounted for only 13 percent of total EU imports.
Also on Monday, Trump said his administration would lift some sanctions on oil-producing countries to keep energy prices down – though he did not say which ones.
Washington currently maintains sanctions on the oil sectors of Russia, Iran and Venezuela.
The Reuters news agency, citing multiple unnamed sources, reported that Trump was considering easing sanctions on Russia as part of his plans to keep oil prices down.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent last week announced a 30-day waiver on sanctions on Russian oil sales to India to help it cope with the cuts to Middle East supply.
HRW Alleges Israel Illegally Used White Phosphorus in Southern Lebanon
Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on Monday that the Israeli military illegally deployed white phosphorus munitions over the southern Lebanese town of Yohmor on March 3, posing severe risks to civilians.
Ramzi Kaiss, HRW’s Lebanon researcher, described the incendiary effects of white phosphorus as capable of causing death or “cruel injuries that result in lifelong suffering.” The group said it had verified eight images and reports from civil defense personnel responding to fires in residential areas.
Legal and Humanitarian Context
White phosphorus can legally be used in warfare to create smoke screens, illuminate battlefields, mark targets, or burn fortified positions. However, HRW emphasized that deploying airburst white phosphorus over populated areas is prohibited under international humanitarian law.
Protocol III of the Convention on the Prohibition of Certain Conventional Weapons classifies white phosphorus as an incendiary weapon and forbids its use against military targets located among civilians. While Israel has not signed the protocol and is not legally bound by it, HRW and other rights groups argue that its use in populated areas constitutes a violation of humanitarian principles.
Previous Patterns and Scale
The report comes amid an intensification of Israeli strikes in Lebanon over the past week. According to the Lebanese National Council for Scientific Research, between October 2023 and July 2024, Israel carried out 175 attacks using white phosphorus in southern Lebanon, sparking fires across more than 600 hectares (1,480 acres) of farmland.
HRW previously accused Israel of using white phosphorus in 2023, a charge the Israeli military denied. Civilian displacement and casualties have been severe: nearly 400 people killed and hundreds of thousands forced to leave their homes as strikes continue.
Israeli Response
The Israeli military told Reuters it was unaware of and could not confirm the use of white phosphorus shells in Yohmor. Officials said they had not reviewed the same videos cited by HRW and declined to comment on the allegations. Lebanese authorities have not issued a statement on the report.
On March 3, the Israeli military ordered residents of Yohmor and 50 other nearby towns to evacuate ahead of strikes, highlighting the heightened risks to civilians in affected areas.
Analysis
The allegations underscore the ongoing humanitarian and legal concerns in southern Lebanon amid Israel’s operations. Even without Israel being formally bound by Protocol III, the use of incendiary munitions in populated areas raises questions about compliance with customary international humanitarian law, which prohibits indiscriminate attacks on civilians.
The repeated accusations of white phosphorus use reflect both the intensity of Israel’s military campaign and the broader risk of civilian harm in the conflict. Beyond immediate casualties and destruction, agricultural damage and displacement threaten long-term social and economic stability in southern Lebanon, particularly for farming communities still recovering from previous conflicts.
The HRW report may intensify international scrutiny on Israel’s conduct in Lebanon, potentially influencing diplomatic and humanitarian responses in the region.
With information from Reuters.
Olivia Attwood drops cryptic hint on her ex Bradley Dack’s ‘breach of trust’
OLIVIA Attwood has dropped a cryptic hint about her ex Bradley Dack’s “breach of trust” following their split.
The TV and podcast star, 34, appeared to suggest her next relationship won’t have the same pitfalls in her Instagram story.
She shared a post that read: “No more learning experiences please god I am smart enough,” while Tame Impala’s aptly titled ‘New Person, Same Old Mistakes’ played over the top.
Yesterday, Olivia revealed that she will speak about her split from footballer Bradley, 32, a week after she was spotted leaving the same Manchester hotel as close pal Pete Wicks, 37.
The Sun reported how he was seen carrying two pizzas up to his room at 3am.
Yesterday, Olivia joined This Morning hosts Ben Shephard and Cat Deeley in the studio to discuss her new ITV show The Heat.
READ MORE ON OLIVIA ATTWOOD
But the presenters couldn’t help but turn the spotlight onto Olivia’s personal life as they asked her how she was coping following her split.
Ben said: “It’s been a very busy start to the year for you professionally and personally, how you doing?” to which Olivia began to laugh.
She replied: “My feet haven’t touched the ground, I’m grateful forever for this wonderful thing that I get to call work and I can throw myself into it.
“I think when you are in entertainment and you have to show up as the person you’re booked to be, almost when you’re doing that you kind of trick your brain – it’s a distraction isn’t it, you can just get into it, that’s been my anchor since Jan.
“I feel like I haven’t breathed.”
Olivia then spoke about her house move, which saw her leave her shared home with Brad last month.
“I am now getting there with the apartment, I am very lucky that I’m in the position where I’m on my own two feet and I can do that. But moving is hell, no matter how much help you have,” she said.
Olivia acknowledged there is an expectation for her to share her private life due to her rise to fame on reality show Love Island.
But she said she’s taking her time to process everything before speaking about her split on her podcast.
“The reason I’m sat here with you guys today is from being on Love Island, so people are used to a level of access to me which I have no issue with providing still but I have to do it when I’m ready and I know what I’m wanting to share,” she said.
“I’m trying to do that a little bit more as I get older ‘think before you speak’, because once you’ve said it, it’s hard to take it back.
“I’m still digesting things and working things out. We’ll get to it, we’ll have a podcast chat, it’s coming but I just need to process it.”
The Sun revealed in January that Olivia had split from Gillingham footballer Bradley following a “breach of trust” on his part.
In 2017, she went on Love Island and emerged in a relationship with Chris Hughes, later saying it was revenge on Bradley for cheating.
They eventually reunited after having a heart to heart while she was still with Chris, and she joined Towie in 2019, on which Pete was already a regular.
Last summer, Olivia and Pete were seen in an intimate embrace on a yacht off Ibiza.
We revealed Bradley has now blocked Pete on Instagram — just a few weeks after the couple’s split.
Speaking ahead of the Brit Awards on their Sunday Roast podcast, Pete said: “What always happens at these events is Liv and I gravitate towards each other and basically just stick together, don’t we?”
Olivia replied: “Because I feel like we both have the same objective. And talk to as few people . . .”
Pete then added: “As possible.”
Pete then said: “Although we are not going big this year, are we?” – to which Olivia countered: “What do you mean?”
Pete continued: “You have a flight the next day.”
Olivia replied: “I know – you need to keep me lucid enough that I don’t get stopped at immigration.”
Pete said: “The danger being that I jump on the flight with you in what I am wearing from the Brits.”
Sustainable Finance Awards 2026: Central Eastern Europe
These Central and Southeastern Europe banks are expanding ESG financing, green bonds, and sustainable infrastructure.
Last year may well go down as the year Central and Southeastern Europe truly came to grips with climate change—three heat waves across late spring and summer, unseasonal heavy rain, and serious flooding (which affected harvests across the region) proved that climate change can no longer be ignored.
Banks across the region have recognized the opportunities and are demonstrating ingenuity in developing new green-financing techniques. They are working closely with multinational institutions such as the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) to help implement the EU’s Green Deal and make the continent the world’s first climate-neutral one.
Last year’s Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) Sustainable Finance Summit—held in May 2025, with this year’s summit scheduled for September—highlighted the region’s priorities. Many of these reflect CEE’s Communist past, in which pollution was exacerbated by a reliance on polluting coal and lignite and by a system that worked against conservation.
Financing in the energy sector remains key, with CEE aiming to increase the share of renewables from 30% of total energy consumption today to 75% by 2050. In addition, CEE and Southeastern European countries need about €8 billion annually for low-carbon technologies, particularly in infrastructure, transport, and energy.
The summit concluded that although there has been some pushback on ESG, there is growing awareness of the need to recalibrate it, especially where it excludes investments in defense and security. Reflecting the deterioration in Europe’s geopolitical situation over the past few years, among other things, the summit concluded that “security and defense can and should be reframed as part of broader sustainability and resilience agendas. Long-term peace and democracy are fundamental to sustainable societies.”
Raiffeisen Bank International
Best Bank for Sustainable Finance
Best Bank for Green Bonds
Best Bank for Sustainability Bonds
Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI) is hardly a stranger to sustainable finance—the Austrian-based entity was among the first to sign the UN Principles for Responsible Banking and has embedded ESG across its strategy, now fully aligned with global standards. Since launching its first green bond in 2018, the bank has built a €5 billion sustainable bond portfolio across multiple currencies and countries.
By November 2025, ESG-labeled bonds were worth some €5 billion, 20% of the total €24.6 billion issued. Raiffeisen Bank Hungary issued a successful €300 million in green bonds in June 2025, while RBI’s €500 million benchmark green bond, issued in November 2025, was oversubscribed by a record amount, demonstrating strong demand for the product and the trust in which RBI is held.
One of RBI’s notable sustainable-finance achievements in 2025 was the relaunch of its Sustainability Bond Framework. According to Markus Ecker, RBI’s head of Sustainable Finance, “RBI will expand eligible green-loan categories and further strengthen advisory services to help clients transition. The goal: deeper emissions reductions and accelerated decarbonization across Central and Eastern Europe.”
RBI has also been active in issuing ESG loans: These increased 14.9% YoY to €19.3 billion at the end of September 2025.
Garanti BBVA
Sustainable Finance Deal of the Year: Antalya-Alanya Motorway Project
Best Bank for Sustaining Communities
Garanti BBVA, one of Turkey’s largest banks, with 28 million customers and almost 800 branches, was established in 1946 as Garanti Bank and is now 86% owned by Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (BBVA). Garanti has made sustainable investment core to its strategy. It seems only right that it should win these two prestigious awards, as its efforts are linked.
The bank’s community investment programs’ strategy comprises four focus areas aimed at sustaining and enriching communities: education for all, reducing inequality, accessible culture and knowledge production, and combating the climate crisis. Garanti monitors the outcomes of its programs using internationally recognized measurement and research techniques through social-impact analysis, ensuring that every Turkish lira invested generates substantially more value.
This emphasis on bringing people together made Garanti BBVA a natural fit for the flagship Antalya-Alanya Motorway Project. The new 122-kilometer motorway connecting Antalya to Alanya is one of Turkey’s major infrastructure developments.
Garanti BBVA participated in €1.7 billion in financing for the project, which will reduce travel time from two-and-a-half hours to just 36 minutes. According to the bank, the motorway will enhance productivity, contribute to overall economic growth, and generate annual savings of approximately 16.9 billion Turkish lira ($385.4 million) in time and 800 million lira in fuel consumption, resulting in a total yearly economic benefit of nearly 17.7 billion lira.
The new corridor will reduce carbon emissions by 47,000 tons per year, helping to preserve the pine forests of the Taurus Mountains as well.
Akbank
Best Impact Investing Solution
Best Bank for Sustainability Transparency
Akbank’s Sustainable Finance Framework—which had a portfolio of almost $4 billion at the start of 2025—is among the most ambitious and far-reaching in Turkey and the wider region, helping the bank to secure three of our CEE regional awards.
Akbank’s submission underscored the seriousness with which it approaches impact investing, stating, “We encourage investors to direct their capital toward areas and companies that contribute to the well-being of the planet.”
To prove it, Akbank launched Turkey’s strategic partnership with the UN Development Programme’s Cool Up program, which seeks to advance sustainable-cooling finance to mitigate the climate impact of cooling technologies.
Regarding sustainability transparency, Akbank has launched a series of initiatives, including active participation in the development of the EU’s Green Asset Ratio calculation criteria in conjunction with the Turkish Banking Association’s Sustainability Working Group and the banking sector’s Green Asset Ratio Working Group.
In 2025, Akbank began implementing the green transformation score for commercial, corporate, and SME clients in the 2030 target sectors. The scores are based on client-level transition practices, such as the availability of science-based climate targets, the implementation or planning of low-carbon practices, and the availability of low-carbon products.
This serious approach to transparency and commitment to social bonds is reflected in the bank’s raising of its sustainable-finance target for 2030 to 800 billion lira, having exceeded the bank’s previous 200 billion Turkish lira target.
PKO Bank Polski
Best Platform/Technology Facilitating Sustainability Finance
In response to customer demand for support with ESG, the energy transition, and sustainability generally, PKO Bank Polski—Poland’s largest bank by assets and a leader in ESG financing and bond issues—launched energiatransformacji.pl in 2025.
The new service, an interactive business hub, offers tools to help customers with their energy transition strategy (carbon footprint calculators and a subsidy search engine) and includes an educational database on ESG, sustainable development, and financing.
The initiative reflects PKO BP’s 2025-2027 strategy to secure a 20% share of Poland’s energy transition financing.
VUB
Circular Economy Commitment
As part of the Intesa Sanpaolo Group, VUB has long been committed to the highest ESG standards. Much of this focus has been on the consumer sphere, reflecting the Slovak bank’s strong position in its home market and in Czechia.
A typical example of VUB’s capacity for innovation was the introduction of a new Building Reconstruction Simulator that combines real-time market calculations and expert insight to help homeowners make informed, sustainable decisions when undertaking domestic renovations.
For corporate clients, particularly SMEs, the bank has introduced special minibonds that enable the issuance of direct debt securities to finance ESG-related projects. These include specific offerings to promote the circular economy, as well as the installation of renewable-energy projects and energy-efficiency upgrades.
Bank Pekao
Best Bank for Sustainable Infrastructure/Project Finance
Best Bank for Transition/Sustainability-Linked Loans
Poland’s second-largest bank, established in 1929, has prioritized ESG investing and lending over the past decade, becoming one of the largest players domestically and in the CEE region. In 2025, Bank Pekao unveiled its 2025-2027 strategy, outlining its main plans and priorities, building on its 2023 Sustainable Finance Framework.
In the first three quarters of 2025, Bank Pekao financed green projects totaling 5.1 billion Polish zloty ($1.4 billion), up from 3.7 billion zloty in 2024, aiming to reach 9 billion zloty by the end of 2027.
Along with other banks, Bank Pekao has provided financing for the approximately €6.3 billion construction of the Baltyk 2 and Baltyk 3 wind farms in the Baltic Sea, developed by Polenergia and Equinor. The wind farms have a total capacity of over 1.4 gigawatts and can supply green energy to over 2 million Polish households. The farms should start producing energy in 2027 and reach full operational capacity in 2028.
In 2025, Bank Pekao also helped issue a syndicated €300 million loan to a leading energy company, issued five-year green bonds for a leading telecoms company totaling 700 million zloty, and issued bonds worth 1 billion zloty for sustainable development for a large retail company.
QNB Bank
Best Bank for Blue Bonds (New for 2026)
In October 2024, QNB Bank issued Turkey’s first blue bond, in collaboration with the IFC as the sole investor, for $25 million and a five-year maturity.
The bond is financing nearly all water conservation activities, including wastewater management, boosting sustainable tourism, reducing marine pollution, and enabling sustainable fishing.
The bond was issued under QNB Group’s Sustainable Finance and Product Framework. Late last year, QNB Bank again cooperated with the IFC, alongside the EBRD, to complete a $100 million climate transition bond issue, the first of its kind, focused on financing decarbonization efforts in carbon-intensive sectors such as cement production and steel, which are generally excluded from green bonds because of their high emissions.
This climate transition bond is viewed as a strategic link to green and ESG finance.
Poison-pill effort to cancel proposed billionaire tax hits voters’ mailboxes
California voters are being urged to put a poison-pill effort on the November ballot that would nullify a controversial proposed tax on the state’s billionaires.
Neither proposal has yet qualified for the ballot — supporters of each need to gather the verified signatures of hundreds of thousands of voters. But petitions that have been mailed and texted to California voters in recent days demonstrate the stakes in a contest that has drawn tens of millions of dollars in campaign spending.
“Government has wasted billions of our tax dollars on homelessness and many other failed programs with little to show for it,” reads the new mailing to voters. “We can’t afford more wasteful spending!”
The proposal is aimed at countering a proposed one-time 5% tax on billionaires assets that would fund healthcare for the state’s neediest residents, but opponents say it would lead to lost tax revenues as California’s wealthiest flee the state.
Mailers and texts recently sent to voters describe the new proposal as an effort to create a more accountable, transparent and effective state government that would require auditing of new state taxes and ensuring they comply with existing law.
The small-font description of the proposed initiative included in the mailing specifies that any new tax enacted after Jan. 1 must be deposited into the state’s general fund and conform with current state tax policy, which is an oblique reference to a prior voter-approved ballot measure requiring that a significant portion of the state’s tax revenue be spent on education.
If competing proposals appear on a ballot and are successful, the one that receives the most votes nullifies the other. There are other ballot measure proposals aimed at thwarting the billionaires tax.
The mailers and texts were funded by a committee called Californians for a More Transparent and Effective Government, which was funded by another group, called Building a Better California, according to the California secretary of state’s office.
Earlier this year, the latter group received a $20-million donation from Google co-founder Sergey Brin, $2 million from former Google Chief Executive Eric Schmidt and $2 million from Stripe CEO Patrick Collison, among donations from other Silicon Valley leaders, according to fundraising disclosure reports.
Attempts to reach spokespeople connected with the effort were unsuccessful Monday night.
Suzanne Jimenez, chief of staff at SEIU-United Healthcare Workers West, the primary union backing the billionaire tax, decried what she described as an effort by a small number of the state’s wealthiest residents to avoid paying their fair share.
“So far, those few billionaires are failing,” she said in a statement. “Despite the expensive and wasteful tactics by a small group of billionaires that aim to deny voters a choice on the billionaire tax in November, our growing coalition and volunteer base is on track with signature collection and gaining momentum. The public is crystal clear on the fact that keeping ERs and clinics open is more important than billionaires getting more tax breaks.”
California’s budget is notoriously volatile because it is largely dependent on taxes paid by its wealthiest residents. Revenue hinges on capital gains from investments, bonuses to executives and windfalls from new stock offerings, all of which are grossly unpredictable.
The billionaire tax would cost more than 200 of the state’s richest residents about $100 billion if a majority of voters support it on the November ballot.
The proposed tax would retroactively apply to billionaires’ assets as of Jan. 1, and has already prompted some of California’s wealthiest residents to leave the state. It has also created a wedge among Democrats. Some argue that it is necessary to address tax inequities that benefit the rich and harm everyone else. Among the supporters is Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who kicked off the billionaire tax proposal drive in February.
But others, notably Gov. Gavin Newsom, oppose the effort, saying policies that vary by state would drive innovators and businesses outside of California.
Luke Kennard’s prolific 3-point shooting is transforming Lakers
Benvenuti a The Times Lakers newsletter, where, after a month in Italy, we are so back.
The Lakers are largely in the same situation as when I left. They’re still safely in the playoff race with a 39-25 record, but flirting with the play-in. LeBron James, Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves are still searching for their three-man chemistry. Deandre Ayton hasn’t dyed his hair again.
But the tl;dr version of February does have one major change for the Lakers.
Hot hand Luke
Lakers guard Luke Kennard reacts after making a three-pointer against the Golden State Warriors at Crypto.com Arena on Feb. 7.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
JJ Redick always knew how good of a shooter Luke Kennard was. This former Duke sharpshooter wouldn’t expect anything less from another Blue Devils star. But Kennard’s influence since joining the Lakers in a February trade has gone beyond his league-leading three-point percentage.
The Lakers are 5-1 in the past six games with Kennard shooting a blazing 56.7% from three-point range. He jump-starts the Lakers’ offense with his constant motion and elite floor spacing, making the transition from midseason acquisition to integral bench piece look effortless.
“It all comes down to, like, the point-five decision making,” Redick said. “… That’s where we try to focus a lot of the development [on] being able to recognize when there has been an advantage created, and then playing off that and not giving up the advantage. And we have some guys that have to grow in that area.
“Luke,” Redick added, “that’s what he does.”
The Lakers were shooting 34.9% from three before the trade, 21st in the league. Since acquiring Kennard, the Lakers are shooting 39.2% from three-point range, ranking second in the NBA during that stretch.
Kennard, shooting 50% from the three-point line, is on track to become just the sixth NBA player to shoot 50% or better from three over an entire season. There are some players in the NBA who couldn’t hit 50 out of 100 three-pointers in an empty gym, Redick said.
Redick has known Kennard for more than a decade. Not only was he comfortable with the coaching staff, Kennard also has history with former Memphis teammates Jake LaRavia and Marcus Smart and being in L.A., playing with the Clippers from 2020 to 2023. Kennard said he “lit up inside,” when he heard he would be heading to the Lakers, who sent Gabe Vincent and a 2032 second-round pick to Atlanta in the deal.
The organization is “the biggest stage you can play on in basketball,” Kennard said. And he gets to share it with generational talents.
Playing with Doncic and James has created some of the most open three-point shots Kennard has had in his career, he said. When he gets one wide-open three early, that only helps his rhythm. Then teams start to help too much on his shooting and that opens the paint. It’s the type of chain reaction Kennard watched with envy from the opposite sideline when Doncic, then with Dallas, was slicing up the Clippers in the playoffs.
“It’s definitely something you think about like, ‘Man, I wish that was me there getting those open looks,’” Kennard said. “But now it’s a reality.”
Kennard marvels at his new reality sometimes. When Doncic was in his peak, “Luka Magic” form Friday, banking line-drive step-back threes off the backboard in the Lakers’ rout over the Indiana Pacers, Kennard said he caught himself just gawking at his teammate a few times.
But Doncic, who scored 44 points in the win, was quick to credit the team’s bench contributions. Kennard had 15 points on three-of-five three-point shooting, and Doncic said he has encouraged Kennard to shoot more.
A smile broke across Kennard’s face when he was told of the praise.
“Especially coming from a guy like that,” Kennard said, “one of the best scorers ever to play the game, it just builds confidence in you as a player to play off of him.”
Catching Kareem
Lakers star LeBron James shoots over Denver’s Zeke Nnaji to set the all-time NBA record for most successful field goals on Thursday.
(Chris Swann / Clarkson Creative / Getty Images)
He used it to break the NBA’s most iconic record. It seemed fitting that James used a midrange fadeaway shot to claim another record from Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
Already the leader in NBA seasons played, minutes played and points scored, James added another record to his resume last week by passing Abdul-Jabbar for most made field goals in NBA history. His record-breaking 15,838th made shot came against Denver on Thursday, and, with a 180-degree pirouette added, looked similar to the shot he used to claim the scoring record from Abdul-Jabbar in 2023.
“At the end of the day, just to be able to link my name to being mentioned with some of the greatest to ever play this game has always been humbling and a pretty cool thing,” James said after the Lakers lost. “I grew up watching, reading [about], idolizing a lot of the greats and if I ever was able to be part of the NBA, I wanted to put myself in position that I can be named with some of the greats by doing something right.”
The record is a true testament to James’ staying power. He established the regular-season scoring record in the same 20 seasons as Abdul-Jabbar played, but the field-goal record would have been well out of reach had James not continued into his historic 23rd season. When comparing their NBA careers, Abdul-Jabbar, who averaged 10.15 made field goals per game across his career to James’ 9.86, made more shots than James in 16 of 20 seasons. Abdul-Jabbar had two 1,000 field goal seasons while James’ highest total was 875 in his third year. Michael Jordan, in 1989-90, was the last NBA player with more than 1,000 made field goals in a season (1,034).
(Thuc Nhi Nguyen / Los Angeles Times)
James’ longevity and productivity at the twilight of his career is so unmatched that even the idea that the James era could end soon barely even registers for some competitors.
“I think he can play forever,” Knicks coach Mike Brown said when asked if he thinks about how any game could be the last he coaches against James. “That’s just my personal opinion. I know he won’t, but the shape that he is in and how he takes care of his body is just amazing.”
James, who is ineligible for postseason awards for the first time in his career because he missed more than 17 games, is questionable for Tuesday’s game with a right hip contusion and left foot arthritis. He has missed the last two games with a left elbow contusion he sustained in the final minutes against Denver. He did not practice Monday.
The next personal milestone for James may be career games played, where he trails Robert Parish’s 1,611 by five.
On tap
Records and stats current before Monday’s games.
Tuesday vs. Timberwolves (40-24), 8 p.m.
With two October wins that feel like a lifetime ago, the Lakers already own the head-to-head season tiebreaker against the Timberwolves, meaning that a win Tuesday could vault the Lakers to third place in the West.
Thursday vs. Bulls (26-38), 7:30 p.m.
This is the only should-win game of the week against a team well outside of the playoff race. The Bulls added Collin Sexton at the trade deadline, but the former Charlotte guard left Sunday’s game against the Sacramento Kings with a leg injury.
Saturday vs. Nuggets (39-26), 5:30 p.m.
This game will decide the season series tiebreaker between the Lakers and Nuggets, who split their first two games.
Monday at Rockets (39-24), 6:30 p.m. PDT
The Lakers and Rockets have consecutive games in Houston on Monday and Wednesday. The Rockets are not the same team that dominated the Lakers on Christmas Day, though. Steven Adams has been out since Jan. 20 with a season-ending ankle injury, and a team that was on pace to be the best rebounding squad in a generation is seventh over the last 15 games with a 51.5% rebounding rate.
Favorite thing I ate this week
Gnocchi with spider crab and tomato sauce and black spaghetti with tuna tartare in Venice, Italy.
(Thuc Nhi Nguyen / Los Angeles Times)
I’ve been back from Italy for a week, but I didn’t share any meals from my post-Olympic vacation. We definitely saved the best for last in Italy.
Possibly my favorite of my entire month was in Venice at Oniga, a cozy restaurant we found away from the otherwise crowded narrow streets. Staying true to Venetian seafood tradition, we began with an appetizer of mussels and clams in a tomato sauce that had me wiping the bowl with our fresh baked bread. Our mains (pictured) were fresh gnocchi with local spider crab and tomato sauce and black spaghetti with tuna tartare and garlic oil. For dessert, we had salted caramel panna cotta and pistachio tiramisu. Squisito!
In case you missed it
Lakers prove against Knicks they can achieve gritty defensive wins
Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves carry LeBron-less Lakers to win over Knicks
Luka Doncic joins elite Lakers company with 44-point effort in win over Pacers
Luka Doncic is one technical foul away from an automatic suspension
LeBron James breaks another Kareem Abdul-Jabbar record, but hurts his elbow in loss
Swanson: The Lakers are the wrong kind of interesting amid relentless fan scrutiny
Lakers hope comeback win over Pelicans gives the team a timely boost
All five starters score in double figures as Lakers defeat the Pelicans
Until next time…
As always, pass along your thoughts to me at thucnhi.nguyen@latimes.com, and please consider subscribing if you like our work!
Tuesday 10 March International Wig Day
This news digest primarily highlights International Wig Day, an annual event held every March 10th to celebrate diverse headwear while honoring a deeper mission. Founded by a Danish organization in 2016, the holiday aims to support cancer patients by raising awareness about the hair loss associated with medical treatments. While some participants use the day to showcase flamboyant styles, it also offers a moment of solidarity for those who wear hairpieces out of necessity. In addition to this feature, the publication briefly touches on global current events, such as geopolitical tensions in the Middle East and legislative debates regarding social media regulations. These snippets provide a snapshot of the
Man removed from flight after call to prayer was mistaken for ‘bomb threat’ | Aviation
A passenger onboard Southwest Airlines was removed from their flight after their call to prayer was mistaken for a ‘bomb threat’. Officials later called the incident a ‘misunderstanding’ after finding no credible threat, following the Florida-bound flight’s emergency landing in Georgia.
Published On 10 Mar 2026
Markets Bet on Quick End to Iran War Despite Threats from Both Sides
Investors placed strong bets on Tuesday that Donald Trump could bring the war in Iran to a rapid conclusion, even as both sides escalated threats. The Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps of Iran declared that no oil would leave the Middle East until U.S. and Israeli attacks cease, prompting Trump to threaten that any attempt to block tanker traffic would be met with strikes “twenty times harder.”
Despite the rhetoric, markets quickly reversed the historic surge in crude prices seen on Monday. Brent crude briefly surged to nearly $120 a barrel, a level not seen since mid‑2022, but fell back to around $92 by Tuesday morning. Futures volumes were low, reflecting both caution and the fact that traders were recalibrating risk based on Trump’s comments that the U.S. was “very far ahead” of his initial four- to five-week timeframe for the conflict. Asian and European share prices staged a recovery from earlier steep falls, signaling that markets were treating Trump’s statements as a de-escalation signal, even if the on-the-ground situation remained dire.
Analysts noted that while the market’s reaction reflects optimism about a short conflict, underlying risks remain. Suvro Sarkar of DBS Bank observed that benchmark Middle Eastern grades like Murban and Dubai crude remain above $100 per barrel, meaning the fundamental pressures on supply have not dissipated.
On the Ground: Intensified Conflict
Meanwhile, the human and strategic realities on the ground remain stark. Tehran residents described the heaviest bombardment of the conflict yet, with strikes across the city leaving civilians fearful and homes damaged. One resident said, “It was like hell. They were bombing everywhere, every part of Tehran… my children are afraid to sleep now. We have nowhere to go.”
Israel is simultaneously operating under the assumption that Trump could end the war at any moment, sources familiar with its military plans told Reuters. This has encouraged Israeli forces to maximize damage on Iranian targets before any potential ceasefire, highlighting the tension between the short-term operational calculus and long-term strategic objectives.
Iran’s appointment of hardliner Mojtaba Khamenei as Supreme Leader signals defiance against U.S. pressure to influence Iranian leadership, underscoring Tehran’s unwillingness to yield to external demands despite the military pressure.
Strategic Implications: Oil, Leadership, and Geopolitics
The war has effectively halted shipments through the Strait of Hormuz policy measures such as easing sanctions on Russia and releasing strategic oil reserves, are interpreted by markets as mitigating factors that could prevent a prolonged energy crisis.
However, the underlying political and military dynamics suggest that a rapid resolution may not meet all stated U.S. objectives. Ending the conflict quickly to restore oil flows would likely leave Iran’s leadership intact, which contrasts with Trump’s previous maximalist demands for influence over Iran’s succession. Israel’s objectives diverge further, as it continues to seek regime change and to weaken Tehran’s ability to strike beyond its borders, while U.S. officials emphasize missile and nuclear containment.
Human and Regional Costs
The war has already inflicted significant human costs. Iran’s U.N. ambassador reported at least 1,332 civilian deaths and thousands wounded since the airstrikes began. Iranian missile and drone strikes targeting Gulf states have damaged infrastructure, closed airports, and disrupted hotels, while retaliatory Israeli strikes in Lebanon have killed scores amid ongoing efforts to neutralize Hezbollah.
Domestically, Iran has suppressed dissent and anti-government protests following the death of Ali Khamenei, further complicating the social dynamics that external military action interacts with. Large-scale rallies in support of Mojtaba Khamenei demonstrate public mobilization in favor of the hardline leadership, which may limit the U.S. and Israel’s capacity to influence internal political outcomes even after the war concludes.
Analysis: Financial, Strategic, and Geopolitical Interplay
Markets are betting on a short conflict because of political signaling, but the broader picture is far more complex. Oil prices remain sensitive to supply disruptions, and the potential for renewed escalations persists. The market response highlights how sentiment can temporarily override fundamental risks, yet volatility is likely to continue as long as strategic objectives, military operations, and leadership decisions remain unresolved.
From a geopolitical perspective, the conflict illustrates the tension between military objectives and economic consequences. A rapid end to the war would stabilize energy markets and global growth expectations but may leave U.S. and Israeli goals partially unmet. Conversely, prolonging the conflict to pursue maximalist aims risks a sustained oil shock, regional instability, and wider economic fallout, echoing lessons from past Middle East crises in the 1970s.
Analysts emphasize that energy markets, geopolitical strategy, and human costs are tightly intertwined: traders respond quickly to political statements, but the underlying realities strikes, leadership decisions, and supply chain vulnerabilities ensure that uncertainty will remain high. The delicate balance between military pressure, diplomacy, and market psychology will determine whether the Iran conflict resolves quickly or evolves into a more protracted crisis.
With information from Reuters.