It has been six months since February 28, when the US and Israel shocked the world by launching missile strikes on Iran, killing Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and several senior Iranian officials in Tehran, as well as scores of children in a school in Minab, southern Iran.

US President Donald Trump then claimed the conflict would only last “four to five weeks”.

In the months since, the war has erupted on several other fronts, reaching as far as the Caspian Sea. It has triggered a global oil supply crisis as the US and Iran battle for control of the strategic Strait of Hormuz, through which more than one-fifth of oil and natural gas cargo transited.

And it has resulted in an estimated 8,000-10,000 deaths, as well as tens of thousands of injuries.

The conflict is also realigning the global order, experts say, as new alliances form and dominant ones show signs of crumbling.

Here’s what we know:

Has the US achieved any of its war objectives?

The US’s goals were not initially clear: officials first claimed the strikes were carried out in preemptive self-defence.

According to demands presented on the eve of the war, and a jumble of sometimes contradictory statements from Trump and senior US defence officials, they include the following:

Iran’s nuclear programme

Despite Trump’s claim that the US had “obliterated” Iran’s nuclear capabilities when it joined in at the end of Israel’s 12-day war on Iran in June 2025, the US and Israel again claimed in February that Tehran was just weeks away from developing nuclear weapons.

Repeated strikes on Iran’s nuclear sites during the war have likely caused vast damage to the facilities, but it is believed Tehran still possesses 440kg of highly enriched uranium, which could be used to make a weapon.

The Trump administration wanted Iran to hand over this stock to the US and to commit to zero enrichment of uranium going forward. Iran refused to do this, although at one point appeared open to the possibility of handing the stock over to a third country. Iran also insisted on retaining the capacity to develop a nuclear power programme, which requires much lower levels of uranium enrichment.

Later, Trump briefly floated the idea of US troops retrieving the stock by force – a potentially dangerous mission.

In the June 17 memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed by both sides, Iran agreed not to pursue a nuclear weapon – something it had always pledged anyway. The MoU unravelled as its vague wording led to disagreements about what it actually stipulated.

Clark Summers, a US military veteran and professor at Belmont Abbey College in North Carolina, said the US “can rightly assert that these ends have been achieved. Although for how long before Iran can rebuild is difficult to assess.”

But Iranian expert and professor at the Australian National University (ANU), Alam Saleh, disagreed, and noted that Iran’s nuclear power programme is still intact. “The US lost even before the war,” he said, adding that the effort also shows that Washington failed in last year’s 12-day war.

Regime change in Iran

On day one of the war – February 28 – the US killed Khamenei alongside several other senior officials. Trump, two days earlier, said regime change is “the best thing that could happen”.

As the US launched missiles, he also called on “Iranian patriots who yearn for freedom to seize this moment to be brave, be bold, be heroic, and take back your country”.

Iran’s political leadership has, however, remained largely the same under the new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei – the late ayatollah’s son.

Summers told Al Jazeera that the goal may have been “ad hoc” or improvised rather than well-planned. But “killing leaders does not mean strategic achievements, even if it’s a tactical success,” Saleh said.

Ending support for regional proxy groups

Iran’s “axis of resistance” is an umbrella comprising a number of armed groups around the region that it funds. This includes Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Houthis in Yemen, Hamas in the Gaza Strip, and several smaller groups in Iraq and Syria.

There are no signs that Tehran’s support for them has ended, and this demand did not appear in the MoU signed by the US.

Hezbollah went to war with Israel in Iran’s defence, and Iran has refused to negotiate an end to the war unless the Lebanon front is included. The Houthis, meanwhile, have launched a blockade on Saudi Arabia in the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, partly in support of Iran.

Iran’s ballistic missiles programme

Washington swore it would “raze” Iran’s missile facilities to the ground when it launched the war on February 28. The US also pledged to destroy Iran’s navy.

Trump has since claimed that about 82 percent of Iran’s missiles are gone and the navy is degraded.

In April, he also said that 158 Iranian naval vessels had been hit, while US Central Command (CENTCOM) has continued to announce dozens of strikes on command centres of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

Iran, however, has continued to fire missiles, most recently launching a long-range missile in July that killed three US soldiers in Jordan.

Furthermore, the demand for an end to Iran’s ballistic missiles programme was also absent from the July MoU.

Control of Iranian oil

In June, Trump said the US would seize and control Iran’s Kharg island, the heart of Iranian oil production.

To date, the US does not control any Iranian territory.

What have the US and Iran gained and lost during the war?

Besides the US demands at the start of the war, several other pressure points have emerged during the conflict.

Control of the Strait of Hormuz

Soon after the war began, Iran in effect closed the narrow but critical Strait of Hormuz, which passes through its territorial waters as well as those of Oman. Since then, shipping traffic has slumped from more than 100 ships per day to an average of about five.

To enforce this closure, Iran began striking vessels in the strait, the only route to the open ocean for Gulf oil and gas producers, which had not gained its explicit permission to pass through.

The US responded with its own naval blockade on Iranian ports in and around the strait. This is continuing.

Despite a large number of expletive-laden demands from Trump since then – many of them on social media – that Tehran reopen the strait, Iran has not budged. It is currently negotiating plans for the future of the waterway, through which more than one-fifth of the world’s oil and natural gas supplies were shipped before the war, with Oman.

As part of these negotiations, Iran announced this week that it has agreed to a shipping route, which it will partially control, with Oman.

While Trump has recently claimed that the US has “full control” of the strait and that it is open to vessels, shipping remains at an all-time low and Iran has continued to fire at any vessels trying to pass without its permission.

Iran sees the strait as its main piece of leverage in the war with the US, which Salah said, Iran views as an “existential threat”.

Economic impact

• Iran: The war’s impact on Iran’s economy has been severe. The Iranian rial has in effect collapsed. Food prices have surged amid the war, and the US blockade and renewed sanctions have hampered Iranian oil exports, with the blockade cutting oil revenue by at least $6bn. Tehran’s economy has long been battered by US sanctions, although the fragile ceasefire provided temporary relief. Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said last week that economic pressure is a “rerun we know by heart” and that the country knows how to survive it.
• US: US consumers have also felt the pressure of the war at the petrol pump, making the conflict highly unpopular. A July poll by The Associated Press revealed that two-thirds of Americans are against the conflict. While many tend to forget there’s a war, Summers said, they do remember it acutely when petrol prices rise. In states like California, gasoline prices doubled. That anger will likely translate into a political backlash against Republicans in November’s midterms, experts say.

Relations with allies

• Iran: Iran’s targeting of US military assets as well as both military and nonmilitary infrastructure in neighbouring Gulf states and Jordan has not made it popular regionally, experts note. Iran has hit infrastructure in Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman and Bahrain. Those states have called this a violation of their sovereignty. However, Iran’s economic and political ties with China have held, as Beijing has managed a delicate dance by advocating against sanctions on Iran while refraining from becoming fully entangled in the conflict. Trade relations with Russia also remain strong.
• US: The US has faced reluctance from its NATO allies to back it up in this war. Despite being asked directly by Trump, they have refused to join the war. Spain and Italy, in particular, have highly criticised the conflict, while Germany, Israel’s strongest ally in Europe, has done the same. France rejected calls to send warships to enforce the blockade. Gulf allies, Pakistan and Turkiye have all similarly refused, while in Asia, Japan, Australia and South Korea all declined to get involved. Gulf allies are also likely weighing the fact that it is the US’s war on Iran which has caused them to become targets.

Military capabilities

• Iran: US experts say that claims Washington has degraded Iran’s military capabilities are correct. Several army bases have been struck while Iran’s ballistic missile stockpiles are down by about 82 percent, according to Trump. However, Iran is still launching missiles and, while nuclear facilities have been damaged, it still has possession of its enriched uranium stockpile. Experts point out that Iran likely has a bigger appetite for an atomic weapon now than before the war began. Tehran has also continued to produce and deploy its mass-produced, cheap Shahed drones. An estimated 1,221 military personnel were killed by April, although the real toll is likely higher.
• US: The US has lost 18 soldiers and more than 750 have been wounded. That’s “quite low”, Summers said. However, US media reports suggest the Pentagon has severely depleted stockpiles of some of its most powerful and most expensive weapons – particularly its Patriot defence missiles – something Washington denies. Those missiles are only produced in the dozens annually and cost millions of dollars each. In August, the US signed a $22.9bn deal with manufacturer Raytheon to boost Tomahawk cruise missile production from 60 to more than 1,000 annually.

Is there an outright ‘victor’?

Observers say there is not.

“Both of them have not achieved anything,” Saleh of ANU said, noting that the US has failed to translate military superiority to actual gains despite being a “superpower” fighting a “middle power”.

China and Russia are likely observing Washington’s weaknesses, making new military calculations in the event of a future conflict with the US, he said. That has implications for Taiwan, especially as the US has now deployed its last aircraft carrier in the Pacific to the Middle East. The shift leaves the US without an aircraft carrier in the Western Pacific, despite Washington’s previous strategic emphasis on the region.

“Iran surviving also does not mean it’s a winner,” however, Saleh said. “This might be a defeat for the US, but it’s not a victory for Iran either.”

JAMES Bond could see it’s first ever husband and wife casting as Saoirse Ronan pitches for a villain role – and Jack Lowden is up for 007.

The actress, 32, who tied the knot with Jack in 2024, has teased that she could be in the upcoming blockbuster Bond 26.

Lady Bird star Saoirse recently told Empire magazine: “I want to go dark. I said that I wanted to be a Bond villain, and I’m dead serious.

“I think it would be really interesting, having a young, female villain.

“Especially for girls and women, to see someone who can just take all that pent-up anger and direct it somewhere.”

The pair welcomed their first baby into the world after being spotted with a pram in public back in September last year.

unlikely star

New Brit actor ‘makes James Bond shortlist’ as screentests ‘begin in days’

BOND BLOWOUT

Brit A-list Hollywood actor rules himself out of 007 role saying ‘I’m too old’

Her husband has been tipped as one of the stars to take on the role of James Bond, following on from Daniel Craig, who has played agent for the last 15 years.

Jack has been a huge fan favourite since taking on the role of MI5 agent River Cartwright in Apple TV+’s Slow Horses.

He’s also been in the likes of Pride and Prejudice, The Gold, War & Peace, The Long Song, Wolf Hall, Mrs Biggs and The Tunnel.

Meanwhile Saoirse has starred in Little Women, Lady Bird, The Lovely Bones, Hanna and Mary Queen of Scots.

There are some pretty huge names in the mix for the next Bond.

The likes of Jacob Elordi, Callum Turner, Harris Dickinson, Anthony Boyle  and Tom Hardy have been some of the names.

And New Brit actor Jack Barton has been thrown in there too.

It comes shortly after The Sun exclusively revealed that the new 007 writer shared an unexpected update on the Bond script.

The upcoming film could possibly relocate from MI6 in London to Birmingham.

Its writer Steven Knight has a long-standing love affair with the Midlands, the home of his smash hit Peaky Blinders and drama This Town.

The screen giant is considering a Brummie background for the spy’s next outing.

Steven told The Sun: “I’m loving working on the Bond film — I’m tempted to set it in Birmingham.

“I’m always tempted to do that on everything I work on!”

Knight has been drafted in by Amazon MGM Studios, which bought creative control of the Bond franchise for £790million last year.

Sharing an update at the launch of the Peaky Blinders Underworld immersive game, he went on: “Writing this film is like working for King and country. I feel like it’s my duty.

“Seriously, I’m such a big fan of the whole Bond franchise. To be able to be the person who is writing the next one is genuinely an honour and it’s a dream.

“Making Peaky Blinders has been amazing and doing Bond is beyond that.”

We’re marking top-flight German football being shown live on the BBC every Friday with a Bundesliga edition of our Who am I? game.

Bayern Munich host Stuttgart this Friday (19:30 BST) and you can watch live on BBC iPlayer or on the BBC Sport website and app.

The rules are simple. We want you to guess the Bundesliga footballer in as few attempts as possible.

After each wrong guess you unlock a new clue. The fewer clues you need to get the right answer, the more points you score.

Three is a good score, four or five points is exceptional.

Today’s player and clues set by BBC Sport’s Adam Ellis.

After more quizzes? Go to our dedicated Football Quizzes and Sports Quizzes pages and sign up for notifications to get the latest quizzes sent straight to your device.

Aug. 28 (UPI) — The U.S. State Department removed a Kehinde Wiley painting from its embassy in the Dominican Republic and wants to sell it after Trump administration officials called it “woke.”

The department is talking with legal representatives to determine whether it can sell Young Artists After Siamesas 1960, which was commissioned with taxpayer funds in 2013 for the Art in Embassies cultural diplomacy program.

U.S. Ambassador Leah Campos posted a video Aug. 11 showing the painting being removed after it was initially covered with a tarp featuring a U.S. flag design.

“Under the Trump administration and my leadership, we are leaving behind globalist and ‘woke’ ideologies to embrace American patriotism and the beauty of our great country,” Campos wrote.

Erin Scavino, director of Art in Embassies, said in a recent interview with former Trump White House press secretary Sean Spicer that her team had worked to remove the painting. She described it as “very woke” and “aesthetically terrifying.”

The State Department cited comments Wiley made about another of his works and sexual misconduct allegations that the artist has denied, according to The Art Newspaper.

Dominican law would allow physical ownership of the painting to be transferred, but Wiley would retain his intellectual property rights, according to an analysis published by the Dominican news outlet Acento.

Attorney Edwin Espinal Hernández said the Dominican Republic’s copyright law distinguishes between ownership of the physical object and intellectual property rights over the work, Acento reported.

A buyer could own and display the canvas, but could not reproduce it, print it or sell copies without Wiley’s authorization unless the parties expressly agree otherwise.

Dominican law also recognizes an artist’s resale right. If the transaction takes place through a public auction, an exhibition or a professional dealer, Wiley would be entitled to receive at least 2% of the sale price from the seller.

In addition, if the transaction exceeds approximately $12,000, Dominican anti-money laundering law would prohibit a cash payment and require verifiable proof of the transaction.

Wiley created the painting in 2015 in collaboration with Dominican students from the School of Arts and the Altos de Chavón School of Design in La Romana, according to the official documentation from Art in Embassies.

According to the expanded Art in Embassies description, the 107-by-150-inch oil-on-linen painting depicts four local art students in poses inspired by Female Nude (1940) by Celeste Woss y Gil and Siamese Twins (1960) by Gilberto Hernández Ortega.

Wiley gained international recognition after painting President Barack Obama‘s official portrait, which was unveiled at the National Portrait Gallery in 2018.

The State Department had awarded Wiley a Medal of Arts in 2015 for his contributions to U.S. cultural diplomacy.

One in five Brits pack a week’s worth of luggage into a carry-on bag to avoid costly airline baggage fees, according to a new poll

A survey of 2,000 holidaymakers revealed that an ambitious 11% believe they could cram 10 days or more of holiday essentials into hand luggage alone. Meanwhile, 5% would even attempt to fit everything they need for a fortnight away into a single cabin bag.

Nearly two thirds (58%) admitted they go to great lengths to avoid splashing out on pricey checked luggage fees. To achieve this, half will roll clothes as tightly as possible to maximise space, while 44% will carefully plan outfits so they can wear the same clothes more than once.

A further 34% will wear their bulkiest clothes while travelling and one in five will ditch physical books in favour of a tablet to save precious bag space. And a savvy 13% have used a duty-free carrier bag to sneak extra belongings onto the plane.

To help save even more space, four in five (81%) prefer their smartphone to be compact enough to fit easily into a pocket or small bag, as they increasingly do the job of multiple holiday essentials.

The research, commissioned by Samsung to mark the launch of the Galaxy Z Fold8, found that when packing smartphones often double up as a camera (62%), a map (55%) and boarding passes (45%).

Spokesperson Annika Bizon said: “I’m quite ruthless about what earns its place in my luggage when I’m travelling.

“When you’re trying to pack for a weekend away, or even a family holiday, every bit of space counts, so I love anything that can do more than one job. Technology is a big part of that.”

Almost three quarters (74%) said they have booked, or would consider booking, a holiday at the last minute – making lighter travel increasingly appealing.

The study from OnePoll.com found a third of travellers prefer to travel light, with 58% claiming it makes the journey easier. In fact, almost half (48%) consider it a badge of honour when they successfully squeeze their carry-on bag into an airline bag sizer at the airport.

More than half fret their carry-on might be oversized, with 36% having previously battled to remain within the size restrictions, resulting in an average additional charge of £39.

Annika Bizon, from Samsung, added: “If one device can help you navigate, keep your travel documents to hand, capture the moments you want to remember and provide on-the-go entertainment, there’s no need for extra items.

“For me, technology really earns its place when it makes life simpler, and Galaxy Z Fold8 is a prime example of that.”

TOP 10 WAYS HOLIDAYMAKERS AVOID HAVING TO PAY FOR EXTRA LUGGAGE:

1. Rolled clothing tightly to save space
2. Carefully planned outfits so I could re-wear clothes during the trip
3. Decanted toiletries into smaller containers
4. Worn my bulkiest shoes, coat or jumper while travelling
5. Worn multiple layers of clothing for the journey
6. Ditched physical books in favour of a gadget
7. Used packing cubes or vacuum bags to fit more in
8. Reduced the amount of travel entertainment
9. Watched online tutorials for luggage-packing tips
10. Used a duty-free shopping bag to carry extra luggage or essentials

The season of Honey Deuce cocktails at Flushing Meadows is upon us as the 2026 US Open main draw gets under way in New York this Sunday.

This year’s fourth and final Grand Slam will feature some of the biggest names in tennis and breakout players on the up and up, although there will also be some notable injured absentees.

The mixed doubles title has already been claimed by Czech pair Karolina Muchova and Jakub Mensik on Wednesday night after defeating Switzerland’s Belinda Bencic and Italy’s Flavio Cobolli.

Here’s everything you need to know about the US Open main draw:

Where and when is the US Open?

All the main draw action from August 30 until September 13 is at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, just outside New York City.

The men’s and women’s quarterfinals begin on September 8 , followed by:

Women’s singles semifinals: September 10

Men’s singles semifinals: September 11

Women’s final: September 12

Men’s final: September 13

Who are the top seeds?

Women’s singles: 

1. Aryna Sabalenka
2. Elina Rybakina
3. Jessica Pegula
4. Coco Gauff
5. Mirra Andreeva
6. Karolina Muchova
7. Linda Noskova
8. Iga Swiatek
9. Amanda Anisimova
10. Elina Svitolina

Men’s singles: 

1. Alexander Zverev
2. Carlos Alcaraz
3. Felix Auger-Aliassime
4. Alex de Minaur
5. Ben Shelton
6. Novak Djokovic
7. Daniil Medvedev
8. Flavio Cobolli
9. Taylor Fritz
10. Alexander Bublik

What are some major storylines?

• Top-ranked Jannik Sinner withdraws: The World number one said he was “very sad and disappointed” to withdraw from after being unable to recover from a right knee injury that has sidelined him since winning the Wimbledon title. The Italian pulled out of hard-court tournaments in Montreal and Cincinnati that serve as a warm-up for the US Open.
• Carlos Alcaraz back in action: The Spaniard will look to defend his title after a four-month hiatus from tennis due to a wrist injury, but Sinner’s absence means the crowd will not see the beloved “Sincaraz” rivalry this time.
• Serena Williams, Alcaraz pair up for iconic mixed doubles duo: Two generational greats teamed up for this year’s mixed doubles, although their star power faded as they fell to Cobolli and Bencic in the quarterfinal.
• Serena and Venus Williams receive doubles wildcard: The 23-time Grand Slam champion received a women’s doubles wildcard alongside older sister Venus. They have played together at the US Open nine times, winning in 1999 and 2009. Venus also received a wildcard for the women’s singles.
• 2016 champion Stan Wawrinka handed last-minute wildcard: The former world number three was left off the initial list of wildcard entries in his farewell season, but was handed the entry on Wednesday after several days of outcry from fans over his exclusion.
• Teen sensation Moise Kouame makes US Open debut: The 17-year-old made history at this year’s French Open when he became the youngest male Grand Slam winner in 17 years. However, the Frenchman’s US Open debut ended in the qualifying round after defeat to Nishesh Basavareddy of the US.
• Novak Djokovic continues pursuit of elusive 25th slam: The world number five Djokovic has been in relentless pursuit of a record 25th Slam title since winning his 24th at the US Open in 2023. The Serbian’s ambition has repeatedly been tested by age as the 39-year-old struggled with stifling humidity at this month’s Cincinnati Open. Still, he reached the Australian Open final this year as well as the Wimbledon semifinal.

Is Roger Federer making a comeback?

No. The 45-year-old Swiss icon categorically ruled out a Williams-esque return.

His brief on-court appearance in New York this week was for primetime exhibition matches ahead of a trip to Newport, Rhode Island to be enshrined in the International Tennis Hall of Fame on Saturday.

Who’s likely to lift the trophy?

With Sinner out of contention, Alcaraz has a clear shot at his title defence for a third US Open win.

Wimbledon champion and top seed Alexander Zverev will also be looking to carry momentum from his maiden Slam win in June, although the German was knocked out in the fourth round at last week’s Cincinnati Open.

Arthur Fils, seeded 23rd, could be a surprise contender in the final four after the Frenchman defeated American Frances Tiafoe to clinch his maiden Masters 1000 title in Cincinnati last week.

Over on the women’s side, Gauff will look to defeat top-ranked Sabalenka for a repeat of her maiden US Open title in 2023, although the Belarusian will be eyeing a third consecutive win in New York.

That being said, the 28-year-old has faltered this season after a fourth round defeat in Cincinnati, the Toronto Masters, Wimbledon and a quarterfinal exit at Roland Garros.

World number two Rybakina is hot on Sabalenka’s heels for the top spot with 8,141 points to Sabalenka’s 8,575.

At 32, Jessica Pegula is the oldest top 10 player, but has been a finalist and semifinalist in the past two years and will look to continue that on home soil this year too.

Russian teenager Andreeva bagged her maiden Slam title at the French Open this summer and sits at a career-high world number five, although a fourth round appearance in New York will be her deepest at the US Open.

Alex Eala of the Philippines will be a force to watch after the 21-year-old found her breakthrough with a maiden WTA title this month at the Washington Open.

She received a wildcard for the US Open mixed doubles with Auger-Aliassime, although the duo fell in the first round to husband-and-wife duo of Gael Monfils and Svitolina.

Eala will headline the Stars of the Open exhibition event at Arthur Ashe on Thursday alongside young players Joao Fonseca, Iva Jovic and Learner Tien.

What’s the prize money this year?

A record $108m prize pot is up for grabs this time:

Singles

Winner: $5.5m
Finalist: $2.8m
Semi-finalist: $1.45m
Quarter-finalist: $780,000
Round of 16: $480,000
Round of 32: $290,000
Round of 64: $190,000
Round of 128: $140,000
Qualifying Round of 32: $66,000
Qualifying Round of 64: $48,000
Qualifying Round of 128: $32,000

Doubles ($ per pair)

Winner: $1m
Finalist: $500,000
Semi-finalist: $250,000
Quarter-finalist: $125,000
Round of 16: $75,000
Round of 32: $45,000
Round of 64: $30,000

Who are some notable absences this year?

Alongside Sinner, Brazil’s Fonseca (ATP 26th ranking) and Briton Jack Draper (ATP 141st ranking) will be absent from the men’s side.

Emma Raducanu of Britain, world number 15 Victoria Mboko of Canada and Hailey Baptiste of the US, ranked 34rd, are other big names who won’t be in action.

Hig (Jacob Elordi) may be the most perfect guy alive, not that he’s got much competition. In Ridley Scott’s simple-minded sociological study “The Dog Stars,” an influenza epidemic wiped out the majority of our squabblesome species sometime during the last decade. The LCD screens outside the Denver Nuggets basketball arena continue to flicker, although weeds and wolves have overrun the fast-food joints in a bit of postapocalyptic product placement.

A former mechanic and construction worker, Hig lives 25 miles north of the city on what appears to be a combination high school football field/rural airport. Periodically, the soft-spoken and generous man flies his Cessna into town to scavenge soda pop for a dozen or so cherubic Mennonite children on a nearby homestead. Those wholesome visits seem to cheer him up a little, what with the kids’ minder (Benedict Wong) striding around in a straw hat and overalls like something out of Norman Rockwell, and the youngsters thanking Hig with crayoned portraits of his doting German shepard, Jasper. Still, he’s bummed out about his dead wife (Sai Bennett), who, like most dead movie wives, appears in flashbacks as beatific, mute and adoring.

The script by Mark L. Smith (“The Revenant”) wants us to fret that Hig may succumb to suicide but whiffs that idea by trying to get it across in a scene where Hig shuts off the Cessna’s engine mid-flight with Jasper happily riding shotgun. Even if we were willing to accept that Hig might deliberately crash his plane, we can’t buy for a second that he’d hurt his sweet pup. Nevertheless, the film’s dystopian beats are so familiar, you’ve probably guessed by now that you shouldn’t get too attached to the dog.

Hig has bunkered down with a grouchy companion, Bangley (Josh Brolin), who thrives in this harsh world. To Bangley, the four essentials of life are “power, food, water and weapons.” Their armory is formidable; their cash supply, a source of comic relief. At night, Hig and Bangley play poker with stacks of $5,000 bills that they throw around as casually as nickels. Patrolling their two-man compound, Bangley insists on killing all outsiders before they might cause any trouble. Adding insult to headshot, he calls his casualties “cockroaches.”

Soon, Hig will meet a freckled widow named Cima (Margaret Qualley) and her suspicious father, Pops (Guy Pearce). The young pair make eyes at each other. Yet these survivors are so hard-wired to be fearful of their neighbors that Hig and Cima’s rusty, tentative flirtation takes place under the gaze of her daddy’s gun, a heck of a chaperone. The most they get up to is heavy spooning.

This is an uncomplicated yarn about a man prying open his heart and nudging other hard nuts to do the same. There’s little tension or drive, just shaggy scenes about paranoia, trust and hope. The characters seem to endure only to get to their next traumatic memory reveal.

At once plain-spoken and vague, the story lacks a firm grip on facts like the distance between places and how long this mess has been going on. It snatches at our attention with no more finesse than a losing fighter fumbling for a weapon. Hig’s Cessna works fine until it’s narratively convenient that it doesn’t. Then when needed, it works again. Meanwhile, Brolin’s Bangley oscillates in personality from miserable bastard to laugh factory.

At 88, Scott remains the cinema’s uneasy philosopher, continually fretting about the technological and societal tools we’ve developed to destroy ourselves. He’s made one genuinely optimistic film, 2015’s “The Martian,” which also happens to be his biggest box office success. Other than that, he’s never seemed confident that the future will turn out all right, although he’s kept on working out his worries onscreen, forever hunting for flakes of hope in the rubble. (If you take Scott’s IMDb as gospel, he’s got seven upcoming features in various stages of preproduction, more than George Lucas has ever made.)

“The Dog Stars” is based on Peter Heller’s 2012 novel of the same name, which, in those naive, pre-COVID times, was received as a rosier take on Cormac McCarthy’s “The Road.” Scott’s version of“The Dog Stars” borrows its title, premise and a handful of proper names. Otherwise, it’s loud where the book was quiet and subtle where the book got sweaty. A barrage of newly concocted action sequences in the second half makes the pacing so off-balance that the film feels like a heron trying to fly with one blinged-out wing.

I’m only half-complaining — those giddy, bloody scenes are the best parts of the movie. But we in the audience could have used some of that pizzazz at the beginning, too, before we spent nearly an hour settling into the idea that we’ve seen all of this before.

The attackers to come are a bizarre grab bag of baddies. One gang wears football pads as armor and comes galloping in on horses, whooping like the Apaches in a John Ford movie. Another horde, the Reapers, runs around shirtless to show off their thick black tattoos. The Reapers look awesome through cinematographer Erik Messerschmidt’s night-vision binoculars that make their skin glow an alien shade of green. Neither group comes across like human beings. The film handles them more like zombies or rabid raccoons, and since these extras are the only characters of color, I won’t fault anyone who finds their treatment morally queasy.

Late in the film, we also meet a third group headed by Allison Janney doing a cap-tip to Nurse Ratched as the soundtrack cues the mind-numbing waltz from “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.” Otherwise, Harry Gregson-Williams’ meddlesome score tells us everything that’s about to happen 30 seconds before it does. Besides Janney and Qualley’s plucky Cima (what in the made-up name is that?), few grown women seem to be left alive for reasons probably better left unsaid. (A goon in the book wears a necklace made of dried labia. Scott sagely omits that detail.)

Elordi nearly shoulders the running time but plays his Hig a bit too humbly. I’ve rarely seen Elordi wearing his lanky, handsome screen presence comfortably; something about the actor usually seems to be apologizing for his own existence. His recessive Hig needs more charisma so we can care about him as a character, not just an idealized hero. But you like him anyway. How can you not when Hig is giving his dog a good scratch?

Having lived through a seismic pandemic himself, it makes sense that Scott would be drawn to the original novel’s blend of patience and poetry. Yet, it’s odd how little of it he’s kept. To hold my own interest, I imagined myself as a hunter-explorer trying to figure out why Scott had bothered to adapt it at all, and turned up a line where Brolin’s Bangley looks back on his old life and admits that he couldn’t understand what he had until it was gone. A lovely moment, although I don’t believe it’s in the book either.

That’s the theme of this rote exercise. But I preferred a minor beat a few minutes later when a character puts down their gun and picks up a guitar. Bad as this world feels, there’s still pleasure in making art. Which is why Scott keeps at it, too — and while I don’t think much of this one, I’m awful glad he does.

Two of the highest-ranking law enforcement officials in California are publicly sparring over the integrity of state elections, trading barbs on social media that highlight the fierce partisan divide on the issue heading into the November midterms.

In a post to X on Wednesday, First Assistant U.S. Atty. Bill Essayli, the top federal prosecutor in Los Angeles, accused California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta, the state’s highest-ranking law enforcement official, of fighting to “preserve non-citizens’ access to mail ballots” and “shield fraudsters and illegals from accountability.”

On Thursday, Bonta fired back, accusing Essayli of being “more interested in currying favor with a desperate wannabe dictator” — a reference to President Trump — “than upholding the law himself.”

Bonta and Essayli’s back-and-forth followed an announcement from Bonta that California and 24 other Democratic-led states were suing to block the U.S. Postal Service from implementing new nationwide rules on mail ballots that were developed at Trump’s behest.

Late Thursday, a federal judge sided with the states, issuing a temporary restraining order halting the implementation of those rules as the litigation continues. An appeal is likely.

Such a public and personal rift between Bonta and Essayli is highly unusual and has broader implications, given the California Department of Justice and the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles coordinate on statewide law enforcement initiatives and traditionally maintain a cordial relationship.

They have worked together in recent years to target Los Angeles street gangs trafficking guns and drugs statewide, as well as international drug syndicates trafficking fentanyl and other narcotics through L.A.

The U.S. Justice Department at times finds itself on the opposing side of litigation involving local or state law enforcement partners, including in cases in which it investigates local police departments for civil rights violations and forces them into consent decrees, as it has done with the Los Angeles Police Department.

However, it is extremely rare for U.S. attorneys and top state law enforcement officials to engage in direct attacks on each other’s integrity — or the integrity of state voting processes, which both are tasked with defending. Federal prosecutors in particular have historically sought to avoid the appearance of political partisanship and rarely taken aim at elected officials over policy matters.

That tradition certainly has faltered under Trump, who has filled the Justice Department with outspoken loyalists who make no secret of their allegiance to him. And Essayli, the administration’s embattled appointee to lead one of the largest federal prosecutor’s offices in the country, has been no exception.

Essayli did not respond to a request for comment on the public exchange Thursday.

A spokesperson for Bonta’s office, which has sued this Trump administration more than 85 times, said in a statement that office staff regularly work with the U.S. Justice Department and federal prosecutors to keep Californians safe, and that work won’t stop “just because some are dead set on politicizing our work and theirs.”

At a news conference this week touting major crime declines in the state, Bonta said partnerships with both local and federal law enforcement remain a vital part of public safety in the state.

“That remains the secret sauce — the magic — when it comes to making our communities more safe. Working together, collaborating, sharing intel and resources and teaming up,” he said. “That remains a priority and is behind a lot of our success.”

Still, the new Postal Service rules sparked a clash. The rules require states to submit lists of eligible voters to the Postal Service and to use new ballot envelopes with digital bar codes that would allow the Postal Service to identify and reject ballots that don’t match those lists. Trump requested the changes as part of a broader executive order in March to combat what he claims is widespread voter fraud across the country and particularly in big blue states such as California.

Independent election experts say there is zero evidence of such problems existing in significant numbers. The Trump administration has said that is because states are keeping voter rolls secret and refusing to cooperate with federal efforts to vet them for noncitizens and other ineligible voters.

On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court lifted a separate lower court ruling blocking the Postal Service changes, on the grounds that they had yet to be implemented and had not yet caused any harm to the states challenging them. The high court made clear, however, that it was not weighing in on the substance or merits of the rules themselves.

Essayli has long made allegations of voter fraud in California, and lawyers in his office were involved in an unsuccessful lawsuit in which the Justice Department sought California’s unredacted voter rolls. After the Supreme Court issued its ruling, and Gov. Gavin Newsom pledged the state would sue again, Essayli responded to defend the administration’s efforts.

“These measures wouldn’t be necessary if states like California didn’t allow non-citizens to easily register to vote and get mail ballots,” he wrote. “We are actively identifying ineligible citizens on California’s dirty voter rolls and will soon announce criminal arrests related to our election fraud investigation.”

Essayli’s office did not respond to a request for information on those alleged arrests or its broader investigation.

Then, on Wednesday, Bonta, who is seeking reelection in November, announced the latest lawsuit challenging the merits of the Postal Service rules, which he noted had been formally issued last week. He called the rules “an unlawful overreach that shows just how far President Trump will go to control elections,” and the state’s lawsuit an effort to “protect election integrity.”

Essayli soon replied, writing, “What election integrity? You’re fighting to preserve non-citizens’ access to mail ballots. I’ve never seen a state AG fight this hard to shield fraudsters and illegals from accountability. Imagine if he used his efforts to protect citizens.”

On Thursday morning, Bonta replied. “Simply untrue. We’re fighting to uphold the constitution and protect California’s right to administer our own elections,” he wrote.

“If you’re really concerned with election integrity, might I suggest starting with Donald Trump who: asked for 10,000+ votes from election officials in Georgia, fueled January 6, seized ballots, and issued two blatantly unlawful elections executive orders,” Bonta said.

After he lost the 2020 presidential election to Joe Biden, Trump called Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and asked him to “find 11,780 votes” for Trump to swing the state from Biden to him.

A later congressional investigation found that Trump provoked his supporters into attacking the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, in an attempt to prevent the certification of Biden’s win. This January, the FBI raided and seized ballots from an election center in Fulton County, Ga. — a focus of Trump’s 2020 election denial.

“Trump has repeatedly shown he’ll stop at nothing to interfere in our elections. He’s repeatedly broken the law, so we’ve repeatedly taken him to court,” Bonta continued in his post. “Unfortunately, it appears that the First Assistant is more interested in currying favor with a desperate wannabe dictator than upholding the law himself.”

In agreeing late Thursday to halt the Postal Service rules, U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani wrote that the court did not have “any evidence regarding fraudulent absentee or mail-in voting” before it, and that the Postal Service’s “interest in correcting an unsubstantiated problem through likely unconstitutional means is dwarfed by the overwhelming risk of pervasive disenfranchisement of citizens who need access to mail ballots in order to vote.”

Bonta, back on X, praised the ruling, writing, “President Trump must keep his hands off our elections.”

Dodgers swept by Braves

From Maddie Lee: The Dodgers’ recent offensive woes were punctuated Thursday by a complete-game shutout by Braves left-hander Chris Sale.

“We ran into a buzz saw,” manager Dave Roberts said after the 1-0 loss.

The Dodgers (80-54), who’ve been swept three times this month, are clinging to a one-game lead over the Braves (79-55) for the second-best record in the National League. They are three games behind the Brewers (83-51) for the best record in baseball.

“I wish we’d played better,” Roberts said. “I wish we’d have won the game. I wish we’d won the series. It didn’t happen. But right now, there’s nothing we can do but just go out there and keep trying to get better and win a baseball game [Friday].”

What was expected to be a pitchers’ duel between Dodgers rotation leader Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Sale lived up to the hype.

Continue reading here

Tarik Skubal returns to Detroit to face the Tigers. His focus is on the task at hand

Dodgers box score

MLB standings

Mark Walter should sell the Sparks

From Mirjam Swanson: Mark Walter doesn’t need to sell the Sparks. It said so in a release from his company Wednesday: “TWG is not looking to sell its sports assets at ‘fire sale’ prices to raise capital for its insurance operations.”

He should sell the Sparks anyway.

Not because of the investigations into allegations that insurance companies under Walter’s umbrella failed to properly disclose and conduct transactions between other companies he controls.

But for the sake of the storied WNBA franchise, which hasn’t won a championship in a decade and is about to miss the playoffs for the sixth consecutive season — something that would have been unthinkable six seasons ago.

Sell for the sake of the Sparks, who have long deserved an owner who wants seriously to run the team like Walter’s group runs, well, the Dodgers.

With passion and pride, foresight and smarts.

Continue reading here

Sparks’ Cameron Brink blasts Enes Kanter Freedom, offers support to transgender community

Rams defeat Chargers in preseason game

From Gary Klein: Rams coach Sean McVay does not play starters or players expected to be significant backups or contributors during the preseason, especially in the final game.

Quarterback Stetson Bennett did not play on Thursday night against the Chargers.

That would seem to indicate that Bennett, not rookie Ty Simpson, will open the season as Matthew Stafford’s backup.

Simpson led three first-half scoring drives in a 20-18 victory at SoFi Stadium.

Simpson, the 13th pick in the draft, completed 18 of 23 passes for 119 yards, including a second-quarter touchdown.

It was Simpson’s second no-turnover performance. In the preseason opener against the Kansas City Chiefs, Simpson played all but the first two series and completed 21 of 25 passes for 190 yards and two touchdowns.

Continue reading here

Rams-Chargers summary

Chargers preseason takeaways: DJ Uiagalelei makes case to be Justin Herbert’s backup

Rams reacquire Tutu Atwell

From Gary Klein: The Rams never found a way to consistently deploy speedy receiver Tutu Atwell. But they apparently can’t quit him.

On Thursday, the Rams traded second-year running back Jarquez Hunter to the Miami Dolphins in exchange for Atwell, the team announced.

Atwell, who will turn 27 in October, was selected by the Rams in the second round of the 2021 NFL draft out of Louisville. He was sidelined much of his rookie season because of a shoulder injury, and was subsequently used sparingly the next three seasons. In 2024, he caught a career-best 42 passes for 562 yards.

Before the 2025 season, the Rams signed Atwell to a one-year, $10-million contract. But with Puka Nacua and Davante Adams getting the majority of targets, Atwell caught only six passes for 192 yards, 88 coming on a winning touchdown pass play against the Indianapolis Colts.

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This day in sports history

1886 — Richard Sears beats R. Livingston Beeckman 4-6, 6-1, 6-3, 6-4 to win his sixth straight U.S. national tennis championship.

1888 — Henry Slocum defeats Howard Taylor 6-4, 6-1, 6-0 to win the eighth U.S. men’s national tennis championship. Slocum, last year’s runner-up, is the first men’s champion other than Richard Sears. Sears, the U.S. champion from 1881-1887, retired last year.

1908 — Fred McLeod wins the U.S. Open golf title with a one-stroke victory over Willie Smith in a playoff.

1922 — The oldest American international team golf match, the Walker Cup, is established with the U.S. beating Britain 8-4.

1949 — The U.S. takes the Davis Cup, topping Australia 4-1.

1950 — Althea Gibson becomes the first Black player to compete in the U.S. Open. Gibson wins her first round match, defeating Barbara Knapp of Britain 6-2, 6-2 at Forest Hills in New York.

1977 — The Cosmos beat the Seattle Sounders 2-1 at Portland, Ore., to win their second NASL title. Giorgio Chinaglia’s header in the 77th minute is the winning goal.

1989 — Pete Sampras, 18, wins his first U.S. Open singles match in four sets over Agustin Moreno of Mexico.

1990 — Stefan Edberg becomes the first top-seeded player since John Newcombe in 1971 to lose in the first round of the U.S. Open. Edberg loses to Alexander Volkov of the Soviet Union, 6-3, 7-6, 6-2.

1994 — Tiger Woods, 18, becomes the youngest winner in the history of the U.S. Amateur Golf Championship, capturing the last three holes of his 36-hole title match against Trip Kuehne.

1995 — Monica Seles, plays in her first Grand Slam tournament in more than 2 1-2 years and beats Ruxandra Dragomir 6-3, 6-1 in first round of the U.S. Open.

2004 — The U.S. women’s basketball team goes through the Athens Olympics undefeated to win its fifth Olympic gold medal, beating Australia 74-63 in the final.

2004 — Led by San Antonio Spurs shooting guard Manu Ginóbili, Argentina beats Italy 84-69 for the Olympic basketball gold medal in Athens; star-studded U.S. team takes bronze.

2008 — Top-seeded Ana Ivanovic is ousted from the U.S. Open, beaten by 188th-ranked Julie Coin 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 in the second round. Never before in the Open era that began in 1968 had the No. 1 woman lost this early in the tournament.

2014 — Acknowledging he “didn’t get it right” with a two-game suspension for Ravens running back Ray Rice, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell announces tougher penalties for players accused of domestic violence, including six weeks for a first offense and at least a year for a second.

2022 — Tour Championship, Men’s Golf, East Lake GC: Irishman Rory McIlroy wins $18 million with one stroke win over Scottie Scheffler and Im Sung-jae; becomes first 3-time winner of the FedEx Cup.

Compiled by the Associated Press

This day in baseball history

1918 — Tris Speaker was suspended for the rest of the season because of his assault on umpire Tom Connolly after a dispute at home plate in Philadelphia.

1926 — Emil Levsen of the Cleveland Indians pitched two complete-game victories over the Boston Red Sox, 6-1 and 5-1. He did not strike out a batter in either game. The Indians used the identical lineup in both games.

1951 — The Pittsburgh Pirates defeated the New York Giants 2-0, ending the Giants’ 16-game winning streak. The streak enabled the Giants to cut the Dodgers 13½-game lead to six.

1971 — In the nightcap of a doubleheader, Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Rick Wise hit two home runs to help himself to a 7-3 victory over the San Francisco Giants.

1977 — Steve Garvey of the Dodgers hit three doubles and two home runs in five at-bats, leading the Los Angeles Dodgers to an 11-0 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals. One of Garvey’s homers was a grand slam.

1977 — In a 6-1 loss to the Baltimore Orioles, Nolan Ryan of the Angels struck out 11 batters to pass the 300-strikeout plateau for the fifth time in his career.

1987 — Mike Schmidt passes Ted Williams and Willie McCovey with 522 home runs

1990 — Ryne Sandberg became the first second baseman in history to have consecutive 30-homer seasons, leading the Cubs to a 5-2 victory over the Houston Astros.

1992 — The Milwaukee Brewers set an American League record with 31 hits and 26 singles in a 22-2 rout of the Toronto Blue Jays.

1993 — Pinch-hitter Jeremy Hess’ bases-loaded single with two out in the sixth inning gives Long Beach a 3-2 victory over Panama in the championship game of the Little League World Series.

2003 — Eric Gagne set a major league record with his 44th straight save this season as the Dodgers beat Houston 6-3. Gagne eclipsed Tom Gordon’s 1998 record of 43 in a row to begin a season.

2005 — Michael Memea’s home run in the bottom of the seventh gives West Oahu of Ewa Beach, Hawaii, the Little League World Series title.

2008 — Cristian Guzman of the Nationals became the second player to hit for the cycle since the franchise moved to Washington, driving in three in an 11-2 rout of the Dodgers.

2014 — San Francisco’s Yusmeiro Petit set a major league record when he retired his 46th batter in a row, and the Giants beat Colorado 3-1. Petit got the first eight Colorado hitters, establishing the mark by striking out Charlie Culberson. That broke Mark Buehrle’s record of 45 straight with the Chicago White Sox in 2009. Petit’s streak covered eight games, six of them in relief.

2016 — Ryan Harlost led Endwell, N.Y., to the Little League World Series title, striking out eight and limiting South Korea to five hits in six innings in a 2-1 victory. Endwell gave New York its first championship since 1964.

2021 — Angels pitcher/DH Shohei Otani becomes the first player in team history to reach 20 stolen bases and hit 40 home runs in a season.

2025 — For the third time this season, a player has a four-homer game, with Kyle Schwarber performing the feat and driving in nine runs in a 19-4 Phillies win over Atlanta. Three such games in one season breaks the previous record of two, set in 2002 and tied in 2017. In spite of its frequency this season, the feat has only been performed 21 times in major league history, and the last Phillies player to accomplish it had been Mike Schmidt in 1976.

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.

Aug. 28 (UPI) — King Harald V of Norway died early Friday in an Oslo hospital where he was undergoing treatment for a rare blood disorder. He was 89 years old.

He passed peacefully at 6:35 a.m. local time, according to the Royal Palace, which said the royal flag was flying at half mast on the palace roof.

Family were called to his bedside after his condition worsened on Thursday at the national hospital, 10 days after he was admitted suffering from complications from haemolytic anaemia, a rare blood condition that depletes the number of red blood cells, causing fatigue and shortness of breath.

Harald leaves behind his wife Queen Sonja, also 89, the new king, Haakon, their daughter Princess Märtha Louise and six grandchildren.

King Haakon, 53, was due to hold an extraordinary council of state with the government later on Friday.

Harald’s cousin, King Charles, was among the first to pay their respects in a message in which he also wished Haakon, to whom he is godfather, “success and good fortune” as he assumes the monarchy.

In a statement on X, Charles and Queen Camilla said they were profoundly sad to hear his “dear cousin,” had died, extending their “deepest and most heartfelt condolences” to Queen Sonja and all her family, and saying Britain shared Norway’s grief at what he said was a time of “such heartbreaking loss.”

He said Britain and Norway shared a particularly close relationship dating back more than 120 years, with London one of the first capitals to recognize it following independence from Sweden in 1905 and that the allies’ bond was further strengthened by their shared “dreadful trials” during World War II.

Born in 1937, Harald’s mother brought him and his siblings to Sweden when the Nazis occupied Norway in 1940 and when U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt offered them refuge, moved to Washington for the remainder of the war, returning to Norway in 1945.

After becoming crown prince at the age of 20, Harald served in the military and went up to Oxford University in 1962 where he studied studied social science, history and economics at Balliol College.

He broke with royal tradition in the face of the opposition of his father, King Olav V, by marrying the then-Sonja Haraldsen, the daughter of a businessman, in 1968, instead of a scion of one the European royal families.

Harald stepped up as regent in 1990 after Olav became ill and ascended the throne in 1991 after his father died on Jan. 17 of that year.

London, United Kingdom – Sulaiman and Kasim Khan have not heard their father’s voice in almost six months.

The last time they spoke to Imran Khan, the imprisoned former prime minister of Pakistan and cricket legend, was over Eid al-Fitr in March. The call lasted 20 minutes.

“We don’t know how much time we have to speak,” Kasim, 27, told Al Jazeera in London. “Usually it’s around the 20-minute mark. He frantically asks about our lives and gives us advice. But when we ask about him, he very quickly shuts it down. He doesn’t seem to want to talk too much about how he is.

“You know, it is what it is,” Kasim recalled him saying.

Three years have passed since Khan, 73, was imprisoned in Rawalpindi’s Adiala Jail. He has faced more than 100 legal cases since his 2022 ouster in a vote of no confidence, including charges of bribery, leaking state secrets and illegally selling state gifts. He denies all of the accusations against him.

All of his convictions but one have been suspended or overturned, with appeals pending.

Khan’s family and his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party believe the charges are politically motivated.

Two of his sisters, Uzma and Noreen, were recently allowed to see him. They said it was the first visit they had had in months.

“They were both quite disturbed by how agitated he was. He’s been mentally tortured with this solitary confinement,” Sulaiman, 29, said.

“His heart rate spikes considerably in his cell. He’s having palpitations due to severe anxiety,” said Kasim. “He’s the most calm, mentally strong person I’ve ever known by a considerable margin. To hear he’s facing anxiety, it’s unfathomable.”

Khan’s lawyers reported in February that he had lost 85 percent of the vision in his right eye.

“He was still wearing an eye patch when he saw our aunt the other day,” Sulaiman said. “For 10 months he wasn’t allowed any visitors. Apart from that brief visit from his sisters, none of the other orders have been followed.”

Pakistan’s Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, in a statement sent to Al Jazeera, rejected the family’s allegations, that Khan has been denied appropriate medical care “or that the government failed to comply with the directions of the Honourable Supreme Court regarding his medical examination”.

“Health matters” should not be politicised, the statement continued, adding that the government “has never adopted a disrespectful attitude towards anyone’s health”.

On August 18, a three-judge Supreme Court bench ruled that Khan be moved to the private Shifa International Hospital within two days, that he be granted weekly family visits and twice-weekly calls with his sons, and ordered that his personal physician and sister, both doctors, be allowed to take part in his medical care. Earlier, a cardiac board review found Khan had fluctuating blood pressure and anxiety, attributed to limited contact with his family.

But he was instead taken to a government hospital, PIMS, for a brief check-up before returning to jail on August 20. Khan’s party has since filed a contempt petition.

“These government doctors are essentially told what to say,” said Sulaiman. “We want him independently checked, so we have proof. What are they hiding?”

“The establishment currently has absolute power. Any efforts by the Supreme Court seem ineffective,” said Kasim. “We’re just trying to make as much noise as possible.”

The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting said reports of Khan’s ill health were “not supported by prison or medical records”.

It said Khan has undergone 30 medical examinations since his imprisonment began “in addition to regular examinations by the prison doctor” and that doctors had recently concluded that he appears “oriented, stable and without any recorded acute or unmanaged deterioration”.

Support from the UN to cricketers

Support for Khan’s release has come from the United Nations, Amnesty International, politicians in Washington and London, and 21 former cricket captains.

“We’re hoping the UK could make a difference,” said Kasim. “Our father lived here a long time, and he’s always spoken very highly of England.”

Their mother, Khan’s ex-wife Jemima Goldsmith, has called on Prime Minister Andy Burnham and Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband for help, saying Khan has “endured three years of solitary confinement” in what has become a “human rights emergency”.

She said that their sons, who are British citizens, have been denied visas and warned they risked arrest if they travelled to see Khan, calling the situation “a human-rights emergency.”

Khan’s sons last met him in November 2022 after an attempted assassination on his life.

“We have plans, but we can’t disclose exactly what they are, because anything we say publicly is often very quickly intercepted by those in Pakistan,” Kasim said.

“Now is the toughest time, the bleakest it’s looked. But at least there’s more attention now,” Sulaiman added. “We’re lucky to have good friends and a strong family unit who keep us sane.”

The Pakistani ministry also denied claims that Khan has been isolated or denied contact, saying, “Records show approximately 198 interview sessions involving more than 900 visitor entries. These include his sisters, family members, lawyers, doctors, political representatives and other approved visitors.”

It described his prison conditions as humane, saying the facilities allow for “sleeping, sanitation and exercise”.

“He receives separately prepared meals, including meat, chicken, fruit, milk, nuts, juices and bottled water,” it said. “At the same time, access to a prisoner cannot be used as a platform for unrestricted political communication or political activity from inside prison.”

Khan had kept his sons out of the limelight and neither sought a life in front of the cameras.

Kasim said he holds the government responsible for their father’s deteriorating health.

“Where is the humanity in not allowing someone to receive basic health checks or treatment? It’s the pettiness, the petty torture techniques, not allowing him to have books, phone calls with his children, keeping him for 23 hours in an isolated cell,” he asks.

“If they reject any claims of mistreatment, prove it. Bring him to an unbiased doctor and hospital, and show the medical reports. It puts our minds at ease, and shows the people of Pakistan that their elected leader is healthy.”

But he continues to believe in his father’s strength.

“If there’s hope that anyone can remain resilient through this period, it’s him, even though it’s so brutal in these conditions,” said the younger brother.

US rapper J.Cole has cancelled his show in northern California after one of his crew members tragically died in a major highway crash.

The No Role Modelz rapper was due to hit the stage at Sacramento’s Golden 1 centre but fans learned just hours before the show it would be cancelled due to the fatal accident.

“Following the tragic passing of a member of the touring crew in a trucking accident this morning, J. Cole’s performance at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento tonight, August 27, has been canceled,” J.Cole and tour operator Live Nation posted on their respective social media accounts.

“Our thoughts are with the crew member’s family and loved ones during this incredibly difficult time.”

The crew member was driving a semi-truck on the Interstate 5 highway in Yolo County, about a 41 minute drive north-east of Sacramento, when the vehicle veered off the road and overturned, per the Sacramento Bee.

He died at scene, according to the California Highway Patrol.

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The man was later identified as Jarlath Parkinson, 66, of Jackson, South Carolina by the Yolo County Coroner’s Office which said it did not believe drugs or alcohol played a role in the accident.

Parkinson had been driving the truck full of concert gear from J.Cole’s previous show in Seattle down to Sacramento.

J.Cole is currently on the road with his The Fall-Off tour which was scheduled to include 73 shows across the US, Europe, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.

Live Nation said that those with tickets to the Sacramento show should contact Ticketmaster for refunds.

Jermaine Lamarr Cole, better known as J. Cole, is a a German-born American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer.

He is thought to be one of the most influential rappers of his generation.

Cole released his debut studio album, Cole World: The Sideline Story, in 2011 which debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200.

He has won a Grammy Award for Best Rap Song, a Billboard Music Award for Top Rap Album, three Soul Train Music Awards, and eight BET Hip Hop Awards.

WASHINGTON — For the last six months, President Trump has attempted to control the narrative of the Iran war.

As days, weeks and months passed, he repeatedly said that an agreement to end the conflict was close at hand and that Iran was already defeated. Between fraught negotiations, Trump has gone from conciliatory to antagonistic, characterizing Iran’s new leadership as more “rational” than their predecessors, only to later call them “sick individuals.”

There have even been times the commander in chief contradicted himself and his own Cabinet in the same week — and sometimes, the same day.

Friday marks the sixth month of the war launched by the U.S. and Israel. Among U.S. forces, there have been at least 18 killed and 758 wounded, according to Pentagon data. The Human Rights Activists News Agency puts the death toll in Iran at 3,636. In Lebanon, officials, say more than 4,300 have died. The Israeli military reported 72 deaths, and at least 50 civilians have died, according to news reports.

Here is a recap of notable comments Trump made in public remarks and on social media during half a year of war:

What he said: “The United States military has undertaken a massive and ongoing operation to prevent this very wicked, radical dictatorship from threatening America and our core national security interests.”

In announcing the start of Operation Epic Fury from the White House, Trump called Iran the world’s No. 1 state sponsor of terror and recalled actions by Iran or its proxies, such as the hostage crisis of 1979 and the bombing of a Marine barracks in Lebanon in 1983 that left 241 dead.

The goals of the operation, Trump said, were to destroy Iran’s nuclear ambitions, its naval capabilities and missile industry and to ensure that Iranian proxies — including Hezbollah and Hamas — were thwarted. He implored Iranian citizens to rise up against the government.

Women carry the casket of a teacher from Shajareh Tayyebeh Elementary School toward the cemetery in Minab, Iran, on March 30. The teacher was among those killed in a missile strike on Feb. 28, the first day of the war on Iran.

(Zohreh Saberi / For The Times)

What happened: That morning the U.S. and Israel conducted airstrikes on Iran, killing Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as well as other key military and government figures. According to Iran’s Red Crescent, 24 of Iran’s 32 provinces were hit in the first day of bombings, with more than 200 deaths and 700 injuries reported. Iranian officials said that at least 120 students and 26 teachers died in a missile strike on Shajareh Tayyebeh Elementary School in Minab.

Iran retaliated by launching missiles at Israel and U.S. bases in Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, United Arab Emirates. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps also warned ships to not travel through the Strait of Hormuz, the passageway for 20% of the world’s oil and energy supplies.

What he said: “We grieve for the true American patriots who have made the ultimate sacrifice for our nation, even as we continue the righteous mission for which they gave their lives. Sadly, there will likely be more.”

Trump announced that at least three service members were killed in an Iranian attack, the first U.S. casualties in the war.

In an interview with the New York Times, Trump was asked how long the U.S. and Israel could sustain its offensive in Iran. “It won’t be difficult,” he replied. “We have tremendous amounts of ammunition. You know, we have ammunition stored all over the world in different countries.”

What happened: An Iranian one-way drone attack was launched against the industrial Port Shuaiba in Kuwait, where American soldiers set up an operations center after abandoning the larger Camp Arifjan military installation.

What he said: “We projected four to five weeks, but we have capability to go far longer than that.”

At a Medal of Honor ceremony at the White House, Trump assessed the progress of the attacks on Iran, saying the U.S. was “already substantially ahead of our time projections.”

Retired Command Sgt. Maj. Terry P. Richardson is presented the Medal of Honor by President Trump on March 2, the same day Trump said progress in the war on Iran was exceeding projections. ..

(Win McNamee / Getty Images)

What happened: The conflict expanded, with Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah in Lebanon launching drones against Israel.

Israel’s counter-strike would ultimately decapitate Hezbollah leadership, but strikes between the two forces would continue through the first week of war.

U.S. Central Command increased the number of U.S. troop deaths in the Kuwait strike to six from three.

What he said: “The war itself is going unbelievably. It’s as good as it can be.”

He said that the U.S. “wiped out” the Iranian navy, air force, drone manufacturing capabilities and “every form of leadership you can have,” adding that he was interested in being a part of the selection of Iran’s new leader.

He also said that he believed the strike on the Minab school was a misdirected missile launched by Iran. He offered no evidence.

The family of 8-year-old Reza Habashian, a second-grader killed in the strike on Shajareh Tayyebeh Elementary School, observes the Persian New Year at his graveside in Minab, Iran, on March 20.

(Zohreh Saberi / For The Times)

What happened: Iranian drone and missile strikes on gulf neighbors continued.

The day after Trump said Iranians had no existing leadership prospects, Mojtaba Khamenei, one of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s sons, would become the new supreme leader.

U.S. officials familiar with the preliminary findings of an investigation into the Minab school strikes leaked information to the New York Times that indicated the U.S. had bombed the school as a result of a “targeting mistake.”

What he said: “Watch what happens to these deranged scumbags today. They’ve been killing innocent people all over the world for 47 years, and now I, as the 47th President of the United States of America, am killing them. What a great honor it is to do so!”

In a Fox News radio interview with Brian Kilmeade, Trump said that an uprising by Iranian civilians appeared likely. “It’ll happen, but it probably will be, maybe not immediately,” he said.

What happened: Iran and Hezbollah continued joint attacks against Israel, while Israel continued its own large-scale strikes on Beirut and Tehran.

On March 13, a U.S. Air Force KC-135 Stratotanker — a refueling and airlift plane — crashed over Western Iraq without being attacked, resulting in the death of six more U.S. service members, Central Command announced. The U.S. death toll increased to 13.

What he said: “I think we won. All they’re doing is clogging up the Strait [of Hormuz], but from a military standpoint, they’re finished.”

Lightning streaks across the sky over an oil tanker on March 21 at Sultan Qaboos Port in Muscat, Oman.

(Elke Scholiers / Getty Images)

That same afternoon, in a post on his social media website, Trump said the U.S. was considering “winding down” military efforts in Iran.

What happened: The Pentagon said in a statement that it would send three warships and roughly 2,500 Marines to the Middle East for “routine training.”

What he said: “I am pleased to report that the United States of America and the country Iran have had, over the last two days, very good and productive conversations regarding a complete and total resolution of our hostilities in the Middle East.”

Trump also postponed military strikes against Iranian power plants and energy infrastructure after threatening to do so if Iran did not open access to the Strait of Hormuz.

What happened: Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, Iran’s parliament speaker, responded to Trump’s claims in a post on X. “No negotiations have been held with the U.S.,” Qalibaf wrote, adding that he believed the U.S. was using the prospect of an accord to ease strain on financial and oil markets.

What he said: “The United States of America is in serious discussions with A NEW, AND MORE REASONABLE, REGIME to end our Military Operations in Iran.”

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei, addressing journalists in Tehran on March 30, said a truce plan proposed by the United States contained “very excessive, unrealistic and unreasonable” demands.

(Shadati / Xinhua / Getty Images)

While saying in a social media post that progress had been made, Trump leveled additional threats if a pact wasn’t reached shortly. “We will conclude our lovely ‘stay’ in Iran by blowing up and completely obliterating all of their Electric Generating Plants, Oil Wells and Kharg Island,” he wrote.

What happened: Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei once again rejected that direct talks with the U.S. had taken place, describing the proposed terms as “unrealistic, unreasonable and excessive.”

What he said: “We’re gonna hit them hard over the next two to three weeks. We’re gonna bring them back to the stone ages, where they belong.”

In an address to the nation, Trump also denied that a change of governments was ever a goal in attacking Iran.

What happened: Thousands more U.S. troops arrived in the Middle East amid continuous back-and-forth strikes. Iran hit an oil tanker off Qatar’s coast and fired missiles and drones at Jordan, which were intercepted. Israel carried out strikes on a Beirut neighborhood.

What he said: “A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again. I don’t want that to happen, but it probably will.”

Vice President JD Vance holds a cellphone up to a microphone while on a call with President Trump at an event on April 7..

(Jonathan Ernst / Pool Photo)

What happened: Trump’s post about a whole civilization dying went live around 5 a.m., but later in the day the U.S. and Iran announced a two-week truce. Iran’s Supreme National Security Council said in a statement that the truce did not “signify the termination of the war.”

What he said: “Effective immediately, the United States Navy, the Finest in the World, will begin the process of BLOCKADING any and all Ships trying to enter, or leave, the Strait of Hormuz.”

What happened: U.S. Central Command announced that the blockade of Iranian ports began at 10 a.m. Eastern. Central Command said the blockade would be “enforced impartially against vessels of all nations” entering or departing Iranian ports and coastal areas.

People pass in front of a pro-government political mural in Tehran on April 12.

(Majid Saeedi / Getty Images)

What he said: “I think it’s close to over, yeah. I view it as very close to being over.”

Trump’s comment to Fox Business anchor Maria Bartiromo on “Mornings with Maria” came two days after he announced the blockade of Iranian ports.

What happened: Though the ceasefire continued to hold, Iran officials had not relented on their right to enrich uranium, to maintain conventional defensive capabilities and to police traffic through the Strait of Hormuz.

What he said: “I didn’t guarantee no war. Why would I have built the strongest military in the world?”

In an interview with Kristen Welker of NBC on the 100th day of the conflict, Trump claimed that he had never promised during his campaign that he would not engage in new wars in the Middle East.

President Trump sits for an interview with NBC’s Kristen Welker.

(Adam Bettcher / NBC / Getty Images)

What happened: On multiple occasions during his 2024 presidential campaign, Trump suggested that he wouldn’t start new “endless wars.”

In a social media post in late June 2024, he framed the election as a choice between “peace and prosperity or war and no war.”

What he said: “It’s a memorandum of understanding, and if I don’t like it, we’ll go back to shooting at them, dropping bombs on their head.”

Trump spoke the same day he signed a 14-point Memorandum of Understanding with Iran to cease hostilities for 60 days. Trump put his signature to the memorandum while attending a dinner with French President Emmanuel Macron in Versailles.

French First Lady Brigitte Macron, President Emmanuel Macron and President Trump meet at the Palace of Versailles in France on June 17.

(Mustafa Yalcin / Anadolu / Getty Images)

What happened: The document set out a series of conditions, including the release billions of dollars in Iranian assets that were frozen and restricted by the United States “upon the implementation” of the memorandum.

Some issues, such as the future of Iran’s nuclear program, were set aside for negotiations down the road.

The White Housed pushed back on bipartisan criticism of the deal, arguing its concessions were contingent on Iran’s conduct.

What he said: “There may come a point when we are no longer able to be reasonable, and will be forced to militarily complete the job that we very successfully started. If that happens, the Islamic Republic of Iran will no longer exist!”

President Trump boards Air Force One on Aug. 9 at Morristown Airport in Morristown, N.J.

(Eric Lee / Getty Images)

What happened: Trump’s social media post came as Iran and the U.S. continued to carry out strikes in the Middle East despite the memorandum. CENTCOM announced that military surveillance, air defense sites and drone storage facilities were struck after an Iranian attack on a container ship, the Ever Lovely.

What he said: “Iran has been very, very badly damaged. They’ve lost everything, almost, militarily. … They’ve got very little left; They’ve got some missiles; They’ve got some drones; They’ve got some manufacturing ability, not much; We control the Strait.”

People gather July 19 on a bridge rendered unusable in a U.S. airstrike in Iran’s Hormozgan province. Iranian authorities said the United States carried out attacks on 95 locations in Iran over the previous 10 days.

(Amir Hossein Khorgooei / Anadolu / Getty Images)

What happened: According to a CENTCOM press release, the U.S. completed 13 nights of consecutive strikes against Iran by July 23, adding to an earlier announcement that Iran had attacked more than 30 commercial vehicles in the previous three months of conflict.

What he said: “I think it’s going to end really soon.”

Trump made the comment in the Oval Office while back-and-forth strikes — primarily over control of the Strait of Hormuz — continued.

What happened: According to a report by NPR, Iran’s parliament aimed to block U.S. and Israeli access to the Strait of Hormuz, despite Trump’s assertion that the waterway was under his control.

What he said: “We are only semi-negotiating with them. We are just watching Iran with its huge inflation and the fact they have no money.”

Trump’s comments reflected how U.S. officials sought to readjust wartime strategy after multiple rounds of failed negotiations. Trump told Axios that he would not proceed with expanded strikes against Iran, as the U.S. was “low-keying” its approach to the conflict.

What happened: As the war approached its six-month mark, both sides mostly ceased military attacks, but shifted to economic pressure.

“ANY country that allows its financial institutions, businesses, airports, or government entities to provide any type of lifeline to Iran will itself face TREMENDOUS Economic Consequences,” Trump wrote in an Aug. 19 post, threatening “ECONOMIC D-DAY” if Iran did not comply with his demands.

According to Reuters, Qalibaf, the Iranian parliament speaker, said that the Strait of Hormuz would remain closed until military threats ceased and sanctions on Iran were lifted.

What he said: “IRAN IS COMPLETELY COLLAPSING!!!”

What happened: In a post on X three days before Trump’s “completely collapsing” post, the hard-line leader of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council had noted economic sanctions placed on Iran by previous presidents, including Obama and Biden, and said they had all failed.

“We have seen this movie before,” he wrote. “Same bull. Different bullies.”

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and other officials attend an event at the mausoleum of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran, in Tehran on Aug. 23.

(Anadolu / Getty Images)

Gary Fenton and Billy Koch have been sports fans long enough to know the cliché about Father Time being undefeated.

“I can say that about me for sure,” joked Koch, who is 56.

But the two men also know some individuals can delay the inevitable for years far beyond the norm. Someone like Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Or Tom Brady. Or LeBron James. Or Gold Phoenix.

Wait, who?

Gold Phoenix is an 8-year-old gelding Fenton and Koch — managing partners of the Little Red Feather Racing Stable — purchased five years ago in his native Ireland. Since making his U.S. debut in January 2022, he has won a dozen races, all but one in a graded stakes, and earned more than $2.5 million. All of which puts him in great, though not exclusive company.

At about 6:40 p.m. Saturday, however, Gold Phoenix has a chance to separate himself from all but one other thoroughbred who has competed in North America. Should he win the $300,000 Del Mar Handicap, Gold Phoenix will join the legendary Kelso as the only horses to win the same major stakes race on this continent in five straight years. (Kelso, a five-time Horse of the Year, won the Jockey Club Gold Cup from 1960-64 at Aqueduct.)

“I got the chills when you said it,” Koch said. “To be even mentioned in the same breath as a horse like Kelso … that’s something that only happens once in a lifetime.”

Gold Phoenix is the 5-2 morning-line favorite, but the Grade 2 race is hardly a walkover. There are multiple stakes winners in the field, led by Test Score, the early second choice at 3-1. The 4-year-old is trained by Graham Motion, who has his own impressive streak: Seven straight summer stakes wins at Del Mar dating to 2022 — which is also the year Gold Phoenix won this 1 3/8-mile race for the first time.

Another victory would be the gelding’s seventh stakes win here, extending the record he set last month in the Eddie Read Stakes, which Koch and Fenton, in separate interviews, ranked among their favorite performances. At 1 1/8 miles, the race was shorter than Gold Phoenix prefers, and he had to beat a field that included another Del Mar specialist, Formidable Man.

“To see him come charging home just brought out all the emotions of what we’ve seen, not just from him [anywhere], but on this racetrack here at Del Mar that he absolutely loves,” Fenton said.

The victory was a close one, but that’s typical for Gold Phoenix, who has seven wins by a nose, head or neck and only one by more than 1¼ lengths. His competitiveness is apparent at any distance and under any jockey: He’s won races as short as 7 furlongs and as long as 1¾ miles, and all seven men to ride him earned at least one victory (his current rider, Hector Berrios, is four for five).

“He’s just such a cool horse,” Koch said, noting the gelding is known around the barn as “Clifford the Big Red Dog” because of his chestnut coat and a temperament Fenton describes as “sweet.”

But other horses like that, or those that are completely the opposite, don’t have Gold Phoenix’s success rate or longevity. That’s where Fenton made a human comparison.

“I’m going to say he’s like LeBron,” Fenton said, “in that as he’s been able to age, his body, his athleticism, have maintained at a very, very top level with very [few] issues. He’s been relatively sound all this time.”

Fenton and Koch are quick to credit trainer Phil D’Amato and his barn staff for their overall management, spacing out his races and giving Gold Phoenix time off each year after the Breeders’ Cup. He had a shorter break this winter — just three months until his first start of 2026 — because, Fenton said, “I think [D’Amato] just thought being at that age, to give him a break and then try to ramp him up, might be a little bit too much. So I think he rolled the dice and kept him in training for as long as he could. And, I mean, here we still are.”

For how much longer? There’s no reason to stop yet. Gold Phoenix already has three victories in 2026, matching his high for any year. And he hasn’t even run in the race he always wins.

“I just want to watch him and see him thrive at this level,” Fenton said, “and the moment he’s not at this level is where it’ll probably be time to wrap it up. But he’s showing no signs of it.”

Said Koch: “People always say, ‘Why are you still running? He’s 8.’ I’m like, what are we supposed to do? The horse might be better now than he was at 7 or he was at 6.”

Koch noted that in his role as board president for CARMA, a nonprofit that provides funding and care of retired California racehorses, he hears from many facilities offering to house Gold Phoenix.

“I tell them he’s not ready,” Koch said. “He’ll tell us. They keep asking, [but] somehow he’s managed to dodge Father Time. I don’t know how, but he has.

“We’ll figure it out. He’s going to go to a very special home. I promise you that he is going to have a great life. He deserves it.”

Judge blocks Trump’s mail voting rules for a second time, just days before ballots go out for the midterms.

A United States federal judge has for a second time blocked the Trump administration’s overhaul of election rules aimed at limiting voting by mail.

District Judge Indira Talwani late on Thursday blocked the US Postal Service’s new ballot rules for 14 days, hours after the agency said they had taken effect.

The ruling is part of an ongoing battle prompted by President Donald Trump’s bid to limit voting by mail, which is heating up as the US heads towards midterm elections in November that will decide control of Congress and the Senate.

Nearly a third of American voters cast votes by mail. The first ballots for the midterms are due to be sent out in about a week.

The new rules require states to submit approved voter lists and follow new ballot formatting before USPS can deliver voting slips. The restrictions were enacted on Thursday after the Supreme Court cleared the way for them.

Talwani wrote in a statement late on Thursday that states “have neither time nor funds” to redesign ballots, update election systems or train officials on the new USPS portal before the upcoming election.

The fight traces back to March, when Trump ordered the Postal Service to withhold ballots unless states supplied approved voter lists and new formatting rules.

Voting rights groups and democratic officials sued, arguing only states and Congress, not the president, can set election rules. Talwani agreed, blocking the rules over the summer.

On Monday, the Supreme Court’s conservative majority threw out that earlier ruling on a technicality, saying that the legal challenge on which it was based was filed too early.

Democratic officials and voting rights groups quickly refiled their challenge once the rules became official, allowing Talwani to block them once more in a late-night order.

Separately, attorneys general from 24 states filed a new lawsuit this week making the same core argument: that only the Senate and Congress, not the president, can have constitutional authority to set election rules.

A hearing on the refiled case is scheduled for September 3, just as ballots are set to go out. That timeline means whatever Talwani or a higher court decides next could take effect as voting begins, or after it is already under way.

Nepal and China have paused rescue efforts for survivors of the devastating flash flood that hit the border region two days ago as a “barrier lake” formed during the disaster began to overflow.

Chinese rescue teams and vehicles were forced to pull back to safe ground, state broadcaster CCTV reported, as the risk of the lake bursting rose. Nepalese authorities also paused search operations for 90 minutes, an army officer confirmed.

The “barrier lake”, formed as Wednesday’s flash flood carried huge volumes of mud and debris down a steep valley, is threatening to unleash another huge and destructive wave.

In Nepal’s Rasuwa district, on the border with Tibet, residents were seen scrambling up hillsides to escape potential surges in the river level, according to the Reuters news agency.

The disaster unfolded as a glacier collapsed and sent a huge torrent of ice, water, rock, and mud down Himalayan river valleys, burying entire villages and destroying roads, bridges, and hydropower plants.

In its wake, leftover debris trapped water to form a barrier lake, a natural dam created when landslides block a river.

With water continuing to pour into the lake, the threat to downstream communities of another wave of flooding is rising.

China has deployed an engineering team to conduct aerial surveys and 3D modelling of the site. By Friday, the lake’s volume had swelled to more than 2.5 million cubic metres, up from the estimated 1.5 to 2 million cubic metres recorded just a day earlier.

Downstream in Nepal, officials received warnings that the lake had begun breaking its bank, according to Narendra Pariyar, the top administrator in the hard-hit Rasuwa district.

“We can see that the level of water in the river is rising,” he said, adding that the exact height of the surge remains unclear.

Relief supplies blocked

The death toll from the disaster has surpassed 470. On Friday, the Nepalese prime minister’s office reported 469 confirmed deaths, with 977 people still missing. About 1,550 people have been rescued.

Chinese authorities reported on Friday that the death toll in Tibet has now risen to at least five, with 558 missing.

Bishal Nath Upreti, president of the Nepal Centre for Disaster Management, told Al Jazeera that conditions are “extremely difficult” for those trapped in the disaster zone, as destroyed roads have left them completely cut off.

So far, about 800 people have been rescued by helicopter and 700 by land, with airlifts delivering vital aid to survivors.

Al Jazeera’s Katrina Yu, reporting from Beijing, said the number of missing is expected to rise. China has deployed about 500 military and paramilitary personnel and sent Premier Li Qiang to supervise operations on the ground, while Nepal has deployed 30,000 security personnel to search remote, cut-off valleys, she said.

More ⁠than ⁠90,000 people are estimated to have been affected ⁠by disaster, the ⁠Red Cross said on Friday, adding that the delivery of relief supplies has been blocked by the overflowing lake.

“We’re of course very concerned about the secondary flood,” said David Fisher, head of delegation ⁠for the International Federation ⁠of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies in ⁠Nepal.

THE new Ali G film is facing a cinema boycott as a major UK chain “have no plans” to show the sequel.

The movie mockumentary revives Sacha Baron Cohen‘s famous character after the original movie was unveiled 24 years ago.

The brand new film, Ali G: Who Iz I?, sees Sacha play the character once more in a ‘real-life’ setting.

But in a surprise move, Picturehouse Cinemas, which has 25 cinemas across the UK, will not show the upcoming film after its release in October.

Media watchdog NewsCord demanded cinemas to refuse to screen the film due to “satire using a cover for enforcing racist stereotypes”.

The platform claimed Baron Cohen had “enforced harmful stereotypes across marginalised communities through his characters”.

back in da house

Ali G movie mocks Ed Sheeran & reveals ‘new’ Julie replacing Kellie Bright

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Ali G movie title & release date confirmed after Sacha Baron Cohen revives role

So far they have sent around 27, 000 emails from supporters to cinemas nationwide to stress their concerns.

In a statement, Picturehouse confirmed to Metro: “We currently do not have any plans to screen this film on its release.”

NewsCord also claimed that the film’s studio Amazon MGM had “revived a racist caricature”.

Joining Ali G in the flick will be his girlfriend, Julie, played by actress and impressionist, Morgana Robinson.

She filmed the role alongside Sacha in secret over the course of a year and replaces EastEnders star Kellie Bright in the part.

In the movie, she will be revealed to be eight months pregnant – something that the characters struggle to get their head around.

In one of the clips from the film’s preview, they can be seen at a doctor’s office with Ali G begging the doctor to simply say that Julie is “bloated” and not actually pregnant – despite her visible baby bump.

He later puts her positive pregnancy test in his mouth and pretends to use it as a vape.

Elsewhere, the trailer sees Ali G poking fun at Ed Sheeran as he remarks on what the world has ‘survived’ since the original movie’s release in 2002 and insisted things had “turned to c**p”.

Speaking in the trailer, he said: “I’ve been gone for 20 years, chilling.

“And in that time, the world went to c**p.

“There’s been Wars. Covid. And Ed Sheeran.”

He continued: “I’m going to get back on top with a brand new thing called a ‘documentary.’

“For the first time ever, this is with real people not actors. For more than a year we let the cameras follow me everywhere.

“Nothing was off limits.”

The film is expected to be released in cinemas on October 23 with the movie being distributed by Amazon MGM.

The character was first introduced by Sacha on Channel 4‘s The 11 O’Clock Show in 1998 before the character became even more widely known for the 2000 sketch comedy series, Da Ali G Show.

L.A. County Dist. Atty. Nathan Hochman did something last week few prosecutors ever do — changed his mind in public, swapping out felony charges for misdemeanors in the case of an LAPD officer accused of secretly taping homophobic, racist and misogynistic remarks made by colleagues.

Since then, Hochman has been slammed for playing politics, embarrassing his office and even backing down for no reason other than the pressure was too intense.

Not a stellar look for a politician relatively new to elected office.

After speaking with Hochman about the reversal, I have a more optimistic take on it — drawn from a Talmudic quote that Hochman keeps on his desk, and which his father — a tax lawyer who represented at least one mobster — kept on his desk before him.

It’s Deuteronomy 16:20, “Tzedek, tzedek, tirdof” — Justice, justice you shall pursue.

It’s that double justice that holds weight in this situation, because, as Hochman explains it, his god rarely repeats himself without reason. Hochman said he reads that echo as referring to two parts of delivering justice — the process and the result.

“We try to get the right result. We try to get it in the right way,” Hochman told me.

When things go wrong, like they did in this case, he’ll reevaluate, he said, even if it leaves him with egg on his face.

“If that means that I have to publicly come out at a press conference and say that our initial decision-making, and what went into it, turns out not to have been perfect, and it is not set in stone, and we think there’s a better way of doing something, I’m going to stand up in a press conference and say exactly that,” he said.

A prosecutor who is willing to change his or her mind is critical to delivering real justice, because people get things wrong. Hochman holds incredible power over the thousands of lives entangled in the matters his office handles. Leaving that power of process in the hands of someone who can’t admit they made a mistake (as is the case with more D.A.’s than not) puts justice on a greased slide into a cesspool of hubris.

The distinction between the two forms of justice may seem like splitting hairs, but to anyone who has ever been involved with our justice system — as a victim or defendant, innocent or guilty — being dragged into a prosecution can often feel like an avalanche of misfortune.

Don’t get me wrong. I don’t think every person charged with a crime is a victim. There are plenty of predators out there, committing violations big and small, that require accountability.

But the process of administering justice is far more subjective and messy than we often admit. Sometimes, even when the prosecutor involved almost certainly knows something other than justice is in the works, there is a momentum of ego and bureaucracy that is hard to reverse.

And it doesn’t take a guilty verdict to derail a life. Simply having charges filed can mean a job loss, losing custody of kids, incarceration for months or years waiting for a trial, financial hardship and stigma.

We like to think of an innocent verdict as a great vindication, but by the time one arrives, if it does, a lifetime of damage may already have been done — that is the unseen power of process.

Just ask Daniel Flores, the LAPD officer whose case we’re talking about. Though he likely will eventually see all criminal charges dismissed, Flores told my colleagues Libor Jany and Richard Winton that this incident has “ruined” his life.

Hochman for weeks has faced intense public anger over his initial decision to charge Flores with 16 felonies. Folks from the lofty heights of the mayor to this lowly columnist objected, pointing out that punishing whistleblowers, even ones who may have technically broken the law as Hochman said Flores likely did (though Flores’ lawyer disputes that), would chill other officers from coming forward.

Hochman at first defended the charges, pointing out that as a sworn officer, Flores had an even higher duty to adhere to the letter and spirit of the law.

But, he said, he was unprepared for how strongly the public would react to the whistleblower part of the case. Though he contends he never meant to send a message silencing those who would expose wrongdoing, he concedes that did happen.

“People interpreted it that we’re trying to discourage all whistleblowers by the way we went about this prosecution,” Hochman said.

He also acknowledges that he is still learning what it means to be in this elected office. Though he has been both a federal prosecutor and a defense attorney, this is by far the most publicly accountable and visible role he has held, and he’s still figuring out that part of the job. It’s easy to be the candidate lobbing criticisms, or even the defense lawyer arguing the facts. It is much harder to be the person answerable to the nearly 10 million people of Los Angeles County when it comes to ensuring they feel both protected and respected by the law.

In his first year in office, more than one civil liberties advocate has taken issue with his approach.

“It is a continuous learning experience. In fact, anyone who takes this job and doesn’t view this as a daily learning experience cannot possibly do the job well,” he said. “If you don’t adapt to what’s out there, you don’t listen to what’s going on … you will fail, and by failure, I mean that you won’t achieve a society where people trust that the district attorney’s office is doing its job and doing it as best as it possibly could,” he said.

He blames the media in part for distracting from his accountability message in favor of the whistleblower-chilling angle in the Flores case — likely including headlines such as the one I wrote, “Protecting the blue wall of silence is not justice in LAPD whistleblower case.”

I’m willing to stand by the process that got me to that opinion, and also to give Hochman credit for being willing to change direction on his process when it was leading our city down the wrong path.

There are plenty of places where I hope Hochman will apply that rigor in the future — issues such as the death penalty, which he has brought back to Los Angeles, or in other difficult cases such as the killing of Keith Porter Jr. by an off-duty ICE agent. Porter’s family recently asked Hochman to convene a grand jury to hear the facts.

But that Hochman thinks about process, and the power that it holds, speaks well for justice in Los Angeles — even, maybe especially, when things go awry.

Don’t read too much into it.

That’s what Rams coach Sean McVay said after rookie quarterback Ty Simpson played and Stetson Bennett did not in the Rams’ 20-18 victory over the Chargers on Thursday night at SoFi Stadium.

McVay does not play starters or players expected to be significant backups or contributors during the preseason, especially in the final game.

Based on that, Bennett appears on track to be the No. 2 quarterback behind Matthew Stafford when the Rams play the San Francisco 49ers on Sept. 10 in Melbourne, Australia.

Or does it?

“I wouldn’t look too far into what that was,” McVay said of playing Simpson. “It was just continuing to get him experience.

“We’ve got three quarterbacks on our roster. Obviously, we’ve got the reigning MVP of the league and we’ve got two guys that we feel really good about. And if you say, ‘Hey, what does that really mean?’ That’s what it means, that we feel really good about those two guys.

“Not pigeonholing myself into any sort of decision other than I feel really good about Stetson Bennett, feel really good about Ty Simpson.”

Simpson, the 13th pick in the draft, completed 18 of 23 passes for 119 yards, including a second-quarter touchdown.

He faced Chargers starters during his first series, which ended with a punt.

“I was excited because it was my first time to where I was going against real guys in a real game,” Simpson said. “And it felt like I expected it to feel. Fast.”

It was Simpson’s second no-turnover performance. In the preseason opener against the Kansas City Chiefs, Simpson played all but the first two series and completed 21 of 25 passes for 190 yards and two touchdowns.

On Thursday, his most impressive play came early in the second quarter on third-and-seven from the Chargers’ 11-yard line. Simpson escaped pressure and rolled out to his left before firing a pass to diving receiver Brennan Presley for a touchdown.

Rams quarterback Ty Simpson slides in front of Chargers linebacker Nadame Tucker during the first half Thursday.

(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

Matthew Caldwell, an undrafted free agent from Texas, started the second half and played into the fourth quarter before suffering a knee injury. He completed five of 10 passes for 31 yards, including an eight-yard touchdown pass to running back Dean Connors.

Bennett, a fourth-year pro, took the vast majority of second-team snaps during training camp and preseason practices, and took first-team reps on days Stafford was held out. Bennett played the first half against the New Orleans Saints and rushed for two touchdowns.

NFL teams must trim their rosters to 53 players by Sunday.

“We’ve got some tough decisions over the next couple days,” McVay said.

Other noteworthy items following the Rams’ victory:

Atwell isn’t a fill-in for Nacua

Rams wide receiver Tutu Atwell celebrates after a touchdown against the Indianapolis Colts on Sept. 28, 2025.

(Marcio Jose Sanchez / Associated Press)

Running back Jarquez Hunter did not play — and was not in the building — but not because he was assured a roster spot with the Rams.

On Thursday, the Rams traded Hunter, a 2025 fourth-round draft pick, to the Miami Dolphins for receiver Tutu Atwell, who played five seasons for the Rams before signing with the Dolphins last March.

Atwell joins a receiver corps that includes Puka Nacua, Davante Adams, Jordan Whittington, Konata Mumpfield, Xavier Smith and rookie CJ Daniels.

Nacua is the defendant in a civil lawsuit that alleges he made an antisemitic statement and bit a woman while riding in a vehicle. If the NFL determines that Nacua violated the league’s personal-conduct policy, he could be suspended.

Did the Rams acquire Atwell as a preemptive move in case Nacua is suspended?

“No,” McVay said. “It had nothing to do with that. It was exclusively a guy we were really familiar with that you could really get at what we felt like was good for us and good for Jarquez.”

“Tutu’s an alumni,” Rams general manager Les Snead said during an in-game television interview. “He should come back. He’s someone who knows Sean’s offense. He can come in and play all three [receiver] positions.”

Connors, who played at Murrieta Valley High and Riverside City College before finishing his college career at Rice and Houston, rushed for 69 yards in 18 carries. Jordan Waters rushed for 53 yards in 15 carries.

Still waiting on Aaron Donald

Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald leaves the field after a game against the Arizona Cardinals in November 2023.

(Rick Scuteri / Associated Press)

McVay reiterated that the Rams will continue to move forward until Donald decides whether he will end a two-year retirement and re-join the team.

“It’s really one of those deals that, what we’re doing is we’re focusing on this football team,” McVay said. “Aaron knows that, ‘Hey, if he wants to be able to do that, that’s something that we absolutely want to entertain and be able to figure out, and that’s really kind of all there is to it right now.”

During a television interview during the game, Rams general manager Les Snead said Donald, a three-time NFL defensive player of the year, was still going through his process.

“Obviously, the timeline’s getting a little closer to make a decision, but the timeline’s the timeline,” Snead said. “Time will tell.”

If Donald returns, he will join a front that includes two-time defensive player of the year Myles Garrett, acquired by the Rams in a blockbuster trade. Snead said in the interview that dealing for Garrett was not part of the Rams’ plan heading into the offseason.

“Never was Myles Garrett penciled into that intent,” Snead said, “and I’ll be honest with you: Never was Aaron Donald penciled into that intent. Sometimes luck goes your way, and we’re jacked to have Myles and we’re waiting on to see what happens with Aaron.”

Defensive standouts

Rams safety Nick Andersen, center, celebrates with teammates after recovering a fumble by Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert in the first half Thursday.

(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

Outside linebacker Darryl Peterson III had two sacks, including one that resulted in a fumble in the final minute to preserve the victory.

Safety Nick Andersen recovered a fumble by Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert.

Cornerback Cam Lampkin also had a sack.

Edge rusher Wesley Bailey, who made a big impression in the first two preseason games, started against the Chargers but played only two snaps and had one quarterback pressure.

Mevis finishes perfect preseason

Mevis kicked two 27-yard field goals, making him six for six in three games.

Mevis kicked two field goals against the Chiefs and two against the Saints.