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July 29 (UPI) — A massive magnitude-8.7 earthquake struck near Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula Wednesday morning, prompting tsunami warnings to be issued throughout the Pacific, including for much of the U.S. West Coast.

The earthquake struck at about 8:25 a.m., Japanese time, off the Kamchatka Peninsula. The Japan Meteorological Agency rated it a 8.7-magnitude temblor while the U.S. Geological Survey said it was an 8.8-magnitude strike. The U.S. survey said it struck about 74 miles east-southeast of Petropavlovsk on the Kamchatka Peninsula at a depth of 12.8 miles.

If confirmed as an 8.8 magnitude strike, it would be among the 10 largest earthquakes ever recorded and the largest since 2011, when a 9.1-magnitude earthquake struck Japan, resulting in a tsunami that killed more than 18,000 people and destroyed the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.

United States

A tsunami warning has also been issued for Hawaii, Alaska’s Samalga Pass, and California’s west coast from Cape Mendocino to the Oregon-California border while advisories have been issued for much of the U.S. and Canadian West Coast.

According to the National Weather Service, the tsunami could cause damage all along the coastlines of all Hawaiian islands and “urgent actions should be taken to protect lives and property.”

“A tsunami has been generated that could cause damage along coastlines of all islands in the state of Hawaii,” the NWS said in a statement. “Urgent action should be taken to protect lives and property.”

“Destructive” waves are expected to hit Honolulu by 7:17 p.m. HST Tuesday, according to the local department of emergency management.

Hawaii Gov. Josh Green has issued an emergency proclamation activating the U.S. National Guard to assist with disaster relief and for the state’s emergency services to take necessary safety actions.

In a press conference, Green said they expect “significant damage” along the coastlines, and that they “we pray that we won’t lose any of our loved ones.”

“God willing these waves will not hurt us, but you have to assume — assume — they will be life threatening,” he said.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center is forecasting waves of 10 feet above tide level are possible to hit the northern Hawaii islands.

The Hawaii Department of Transport said the Coast Guard has ordered all vessels to follow their procedures to leave port for all islands.

In California, Gov. Gavin Newsom‘s office said he has been briefed on the situation, while urging residents to stay alert and follow local emergency guidance.

Officials have also closed all beaches, harbors and piers in California’s Huntington Beach, though no evacuations orders have yet been given.

For Samalga Pass, it said that a tsunami with “significant inundation is possible or is already occurring.”

“STAY STRONG AND STAY SAFE!” U.S. President Donald Trump said in a statement to his Truth Social platform.

JAPAN

The Japan Meteorological Agency is warning of tsunamis as high as 3 meters, or nearly 9 feet, from northeastern Hokkaido southward to Wakayama Prefecture.

Tsunami warnings order the immediate evacuation from coastal regions and riverside areas to safer, higher ground.

Tsunami advisories have been issued for the rest of the southeastern coast of the country.

Japan Safe Travel, a division of the Asian nation’s tourism organization, is warning that tsunamis are expected to strike the country between 1 and 3 meters starting at about 10 a.m. local time until at least 1:30 p.m.

According to Japan’s fire and disaster management agency, evacuation orders have been issued for 112 cities and towns, affecting more than 1.9 million people.

TEPCO, the Tokyo Electric Power Company, said in a statement that all workers at the Fukushima nuclear plant, which is under decommission, have been evacuated.

The Japanese government said it has established a prime minister’s liaison office to respond to the earthquake and tsunami.

RUSSIA

Russia’s emergencies ministry said in a statement that tsunami waves have already hit its far east coast, flooding the port town of Severo-Kurilsk and the Alaid fish processing plant.

“Residents have been evacuated,” it said.

Valery Limarenk, governor of Sakhalin oblast, also confirmed on Telegram that the tsunami had struck, saying “residents of the settlement remain safe on higher ground until the threat of additional waves is fully lifted.”

In Kamchatka, off where the quake struck, responders are inspecting buildings. It said the facade of one kindergarten that was under renovation collapsed.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center has also warned of waves of up to 10 feet hitting parts of Russia and Ecuador.

South and Central America

The Integrated Tsunami Alert System of Mexico and Central America issued a tsunami alert from Mexico’s Ensenada to Panama, saying waves of up to 3 feet are possible.

This is a developing story.

Tyler Glasnow’s problems have been the same for years.

Spending too much time caught up in his own head, and not enough time actually pitching on the mound.

Ever since the Dodgers acquired the tall, lanky and Southern California-raised right-hander, those two issues have plagued the $136.5-million acquisition in ways that have frustrated him, the team and its fan base.

Glasnow made 22 starts last year (a career-high in his injury-plagued career) before a nagging elbow problem ended his season early. This term, he managed only five starts before his shoulder started barking, landing him on the injured list for another extended stint.

Through it all, Glasnow has talked repeatedly about the need to be more “external” on the mound — focused more on execution and compete-level than the aches and pains in his body and imperfections in his delivery.

Yet, with each new setback, the veteran pitcher was left scrambling for answers, constantly tinkering with his mechanics and toiling with his mindset in hopes of striking an equilibrium between both.

That’s why, as Glasnow neared his latest return to action, he tried to simplify things. For real, this time.

No more worrying about spine angle and release point. No more mid-game thoughts about the many moving parts in his throwing sequence.

“I don’t even know,” he said when asked last week how he changed his mechanics during his most recent absence, the kind of physical ignorance that might actually be a good thing in the 31-year-old’s case.

“I’m just going out and being athletic and not trying to look at it. And if there’s something I need to fix, or something the coaches see, then I’ll worry about it. But I’m just going out … [and] getting in that rhythm. Getting back into a starting routine.”

Two starts in, that new routine looks promising.

After pitching five solid innings of one-run ball in Milwaukee last week, Glasnow started the second half of the season with another step forward Friday, spinning a six-inning, one-run gem in the Dodgers’ 2-0 loss to the Brewers at Dodger Stadium.

“I’ve been feeling good since rehab, making changes and stuff,” Glasnow said. “Feel solid right now. So gotta keep going.”

As the Dodgers (58-40) came out of the All-Star break, few players seemed as pivotal to their long-term success as Glasnow.

The club is counting on him and fellow nine-figure free-agent signee Blake Snell (who, like Glasnow, missed almost all of the first half with a shoulder injury but could be back in action by the end of the month) to bolster a rotation that has missed them dearly.

It is hopeful they can join Yoshinobu Yamamoto, and in some capacity Shohei Ohtani, at the forefront of a pitching staff seeking significant improvement as it tries to repeat as World Series champions.

Granted, the Dodgers — who would like to avoid adding a starting pitcher at the trade deadline, and might have a hard time finding an impact addition such as Jack Flaherty last summer even if they try — did have similar hopes for Glasnow last season.

Even when he first went down with his elbow injury in mid-August, the initial expectation was that he’d be back well in time for the playoff push.

Instead, Glasnow’s elbow never ceased to bother him. When he tried ramping up for a live batting practice session in mid-September, he effectively pulled the plug on his season when his arm still didn’t feel right.

Ever since, Glasnow has lived in a world of frustration, spending his winter trying to craft a healthier delivery only to run into more problems within the first month of this season.

“Certainly the talent is undeniable,” manager Dave Roberts said last week, ahead of Glasnow’s return. “But I think for me, for us, you want the dependability. That’s something that I’m looking for from Tyler from here on out. To know what you’re going to get when he takes that ball every fifth or sixth day.”

On Friday, Glasnow produced a template worth following in a four-hit, one-walk, six-strikeout showing.

Flashing increased fastball velocity for the second-straight outing — routinely hitting 98-99 mph on the gun — he filled up the strike zone early, going after hitters with his premium four-seamer and increasing reliance on a late-breaking sinker.

“It’s like the one pitch I can be late with, and it’s in the zone,” Glasnow said of his sinker, which he had thrown sparingly prior to getting hurt. “I don’t necessarily have to be perfectly timed up for it to have a lot of movement. I think if I’m late on it, it’s kind of my go-to.”

His big-bending curveball, meanwhile, proved to be a perfect complement, with Glasnow pulling the string for awkward swings and soft contact.

He retired the first five batters he faced, and didn’t let a ball out of the infield until Brice Turang’s two-out single in the third. He was late getting to the mound at the start of the fourth, resulting in an automatic ball to the leadoff batter, but remained unfazed, retiring the side in order.

Milwaukee’s Caleb Durbin hits a run-scoring double in front of Dodgers catcher Will Smith in the fifth inning Friday.

(Mark J. Terrill / Associated Press)

Glasnow did wobble in the fifth against Milwaukee (57-40). Suddenly struggling to locate the ball, he walked leadoff hitter Isaac Collins on five pitches before giving up an RBI double to Caleb Durbin in a 2-and-0 count, when he left a sinker over the heart of the plate.

But then he settled down, escaped the inning without further damage, and worked around a high-hopping one-out single from Jackson Chourio in the sixth by striking out William Contreras and Christian Yelich.

“It’s not turn [my brain] off completely,” Glasnow said of his new, in-the-moment mentality. “But it’s not like, when I’m feeling bad, I resort more to, ‘How do we fix this?’ As opposed to like, ‘This is what I got today. Let’s just go get it.’ And I think a lot of that was due to the changes. I’m just in a better position right now to go out and be athletic.”

The outing marked Glasnow’s first time completing six innings since April 13 against the Chicago Cubs, and was his first such start yielding only one earned run since June of last year.

“He’s been able to stay in his rhythm, stay in his delivery, just be in compete mode,” Roberts said. “I think he’s in a really good spot. He’s healthy, feeling confident. And we’re better for it, for sure.”

Unfortunately for Glasnow, he was the second-best pitcher on the bump Friday. Opposite him, young Brewers right-hander Quinn Priester dominated the Dodgers over six scoreless innings, recording the second-most strikeouts of his career by fanning 10. Struggling veteran Kirby Yates didn’t help in relief of Glasnow, either, giving up a home run to Durbin in the seventh that sent the Dodgers to a disappointing defeat.

“They’re pitching us well,” Roberts said of the Brewers, who have won four straight games against the Dodgers over the last two weeks while giving up only four total runs. “We gave ourselves a chance, but we just couldn’t muster anything together tonight.”

Still, for a team with a comfortable division lead and the shortest World Series odds of any club in the majors, getting good starting pitching remains the most pressing big-picture concern for the Dodgers.

At the end of last year, and for much of the first half this season, Glasnow was unable to help. Now, he might finally be showing flashes he can.

“[I want to] just go out and be athletic,” Glasnow said last week. “Just go out and compete.”

Blue towels swirled around in every section of Dodger Stadium as his entrance song started to play.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto stepped on the mound and into the chaos wearing a mask of calm. His appearance was misleading.

Inside, he was terrified.

“I think that was the game for which I was the most nervous in my entire baseball career,” Yamamoto said in Japanese.

Yamamoto can laugh now about his memories of Game 5 of the National League Division Series against the San Diego Padres last season, knowing what was revealed on that October night and the path on which it set him.

He started that game as an unknown, even to himself. He departed a hero. By the end of the month, he was a World Series champion.

The momentum he gained in the playoffs carried into this season, which explains why the 26-year-old right-hander was at the All-Star Game in Atlanta earlier this week reliving what might have been the most consequential start of his career.

The Dodgers will return from the All-Star break on Friday with Yamamoto as the only dependable arm in their billion-dollar rotation, and his newfound status as one of the best pitchers in baseball makes him their likely Game 1 starter when they open the postseason.

“He’s just to the point where he knows he’s a really good pitcher, he’s an All-Star and he has high expectations for himself,” manager Dave Roberts said.

The sense of stability that Yamamoto provides was something the Dodgers couldn’t have dreamed of in his up-and-down rookie season last year. Yamamoto encountered difficulties that were unknown to him as a three-time Pacific League most valuable player with Japan’s Orix Buffaloes, missing three months with shoulder problems. Even when he pitched, he performed inconsistently, and in Game 1 of the NLDS against the Padres, he gave up five runs in only three innings.

“The more I failed, the more it felt like things were piling up,” Yamamoto said.

With a two-games-to-one deficit in the series, the Dodgers managed to win Game 4 in San Diego to set up a winner-take-all Game 5 in Los Angeles. Yamamoto was assigned to start the deciding game.

Yamamoto had difficulty sleeping the night before his start. When he tried to think of anything other than the game, he couldn’t.

Dodgers pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto delivers against the Chicago White Sox on July 1.

(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

He felt the weight of his 10-year, $325-million contract, which was the most lucrative deal signed by any pitcher from any country. He was also pitching opposite Yu Darvish, making this the first postseason game featuring two Japanese starting pitchers.

His worst fears were never realized. He pitched five scoreless innings in a 2-0 victory, delivering a performance that changed how everyone viewed him — the fans, the team, even himself.

“Being able to contain them there,” Yamamoto said, “became a source of confidence.”

Yamamoto downplayed his psychological fortitude that was required to regroup in the wake of his Game 1 calamity, describing his turnaround as a function of his ability to identify problems and remedy them.

“I’m by no means strong mentally,” he said. “When I get hit, there are times I get really down. But as time passes, things clear up. What I have to do becomes clear.”

Between the two NLDS starts, for example, Yamamoto adjusted the positioning of his glove, which the Dodgers believed revealed in Game 1 which pitches he was about to throw.

His celebration, however, was short-lived.

“I felt like I cleared a mountain,” Yamamoto said. “But there was no time to relax before the next game started.”

Yamamoto started twice more in the playoffs, in Game 4 of the NL Championship Series against the New York Mets and Game 2 of the World Series against the New York Yankees. He gave up a combined three runs in a combined 10 ⅔ innings over the two games, both of which the Dodgers won.

“I think it was a really valuable experience,” he said. “Because of what I experienced, along with the advances I made from a technical standpoint, I think I was able to grow.”

He also drew from the unpleasant times, particularly the three months he was sidelined with a strained rotator cuff.

“I spent the time determined to grow from that,” he said. “I don’t want to forget how frustrated I was.”

The experiences gave him a baseline of knowledge he could take into his second season. As a rookie, he had reported to camp without any expectations.

“I didn’t know what my ability was relative to everyone else’s,” he said. “I lacked a basic understanding of, ‘If I do this, it will work, or if I do that, it won’t.’ So I wasn’t thinking I’d be successful and I wasn’t thinking I wouldn’t be either. I really didn’t know.”

This spring training, he knew. He knew he could succeed.

He also knew what he was up against. Standing a modest 5-foot-10, Yamamoto was struck as a rookie by the imposing physical frames of the other players.

“More than that, when you get to the ballpark, for example, Mookie [Betts] will be finishing up hitting drenched in sweat ,” he said. “ I was surprised by the amount of training, that players weren’t just relying on their talent. It was a little shocking.”

Recognizing that he lost weight over the course of last season, Yamamoto was determined to report to spring training this year with a stronger body. He also benefited from increased comfort with low-quality American baseballs and the pitch clock. He purchased a home, the off-field stability permitting him to focus more on his work.

Pitching once a week as he did in Japan, Yamamoto was 4-2 with a 0.90 earned-run average in his first seven starts of this season. He started pitching on five-days’ rest after that, and he wasn’t nearly as dominant. He initially struggled pitching on a shorter cycle, but he said the causes of that were disruptions to his between-starts routine rather than anything fatigue-related.

Dodgers pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto delivers against the San Francisco Giants on June 13.

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

“I think there is absolutely no problem with that,” he said. “You pitch on six days’ rest in Japan, but you throw 120, 130 pitches in seven or eight innings. That was tough. You have one less day to recover here, but you’re also throwing fewer pitches, so you don’t feel the fatigue that much.

“There are things that come up in between starts. For example, there could be two flights or you could arrive in a city in the middle of the night and have to pitch the next day. You won’t be able to spend every five-day period the same way.”

Yamamoto said he learned to better maximize his time between starts, which he pointed to as the reason he was able to regain his form leading up to the All-Star break. In his penultimate appearance before the intermission, he didn’t make it out of the first inning and was charged with five runs, three of them earned. But in two of his last four starts, he didn’t give up any runs. In another, he yielded just one.

In fact, Yamamoto said that if the team asks, he thinks he could pitch on four days’ rest.

“This year, my body has recovered really well,” he said. “I often check with the trainers after the game, and we talk about how if it’s like this, I could throw in four days, or how if I feel like that, I might be a little later. We go through different scenarios like that every week. I still haven’t started on four days’ rest, but I think my preparation to do that has gone well.”

Yamamoto enters the final 2 ½ months of the regular season not only as the Dodgers’ leader in wins (eight) but also games started (19) and innings pitched (104 ⅓).

His increased comfort has extended into the clubhouse. He forged a somewhat unlikely friendship with South Korean Hyeseong Kim, the two of them often conversing on the bench during games.

“We speak to each other in broken English,” Yamamoto said with a chuckle. “I really like Korean food, so he teaches me about that. There are differences between Korean and Japanese baseball, and the major leagues are a little different too, so stuff like that. They aren’t deep conversations, but I think it’s important to communicate, so we talk a lot.”

Yamamoto has also developed a particularly strong admiration of Clayton Kershaw.

“In him, you have a player on the team whom you can model yourself after,” Yamamoto said. “I also learn a lot watching him pitch. He’s someone you can admire in every aspect. All of my teammates think of him like that too. That’s the kind of player I would like to be.”

The kind of player who could be counted on to take his turn in the rotation. The kind of player who can deliver for his team in big moments.

Yamamoto is on his way.

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court signaled again this week that it believes the president has the full power to control federal agencies, including by sharply cutting their staffs and their spending.

It’s the latest example of the court’s conservative majority intervening to rule for President Trump and against federal district judges. They have done so in brief orders with no explanation, prompting further criticism from Democrats and progressives.

But Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and his conservative colleagues have made clear over many years that they believe the president’s “executive power” includes controlling agencies and firing officials, even those who were deemed “independent” by Congress.

On Monday, the court issued a one-line order setting aside the decision of a federal judge in Boston who said the Education Department must rehire about 1,400 staffers who had been laid off.

Trump’s attorneys had appealed in early June, arguing the administration was “streamlining” the department while “acknowledging that only Congress can eliminate” it.

Democratic state attorneys had sued to stop the layoffs, arguing Trump was effectively “dismantling” the department, and the judge agreed the layoffs were illegal.

The week before, the conservative majority set aside the decision of a federal judge in San Francisco who blocked Trump’s plans for laying off tens of thousands of employees at more than 20 departments and agencies.

Democrats and progressives condemned the decisions and the majority’s refusal to explain its reasons.

Michael Waldman, president of the Brennan Center, said the justices “have let Trump amass vast new power, and they have done so without putting their names on it. They are proving willing accomplices to a constitutional coup, all without leaving a trace.”

In May, Roberts and the court upheld Trump’s dismissal of Democratic appointees to the National Labor Relations Board and the Merit Systems Protection Board, both of whom had fixed terms set by Congress.

“Because the Constitution vests the executive power in the President, he may remove without cause executive officers who exercise that power on his behalf,” the court said. “Both the NLRB and MSPB exercise considerable executive power.”

The three liberals dissented.

Peter M. Shane, a New York University law professor, has written extensively on the so-called “unitary executive theory” and said it explains why Trump has been winning since he returned to the White House.

“Trump’s use of executive power is not a distortion of the Roberts court’s theory of the presidency,” he said. “It is the court’s theory of the presidency come to life.”

Still pending before the court this week is an appeal from Trump’s lawyers that seeks the firing of three Democratic appointees to the Consumer Product Safety Commission.

The commissioners have seven-year terms, but in May, the Trump White House told the three Democratic appointees they had been “terminated.”

They sued and won a reinstatement order from a federal judge in Baltimore.

The recent rulings from the court have come on emergency appeals at the early stage of a lawsuit. The court’s majority said Trump’s initiatives may go into effect while the litigation continues. But at some point, the justices will have to hear arguments and issue a written ruling on the underlying legal issue.

In ruling for the three officials the CPSC, the judge in Baltimore pointed to the Supreme Court’s 1935 decision which protected the constitutionality of “traditional multi-member independent agencies.”

The court’s opinion in the case of Humphrey’s Executor vs. United States drew a distinction between “purely executive officers” who were under the president’s control and those who served on a board “with quasi-judicial or quasi-legislative functions.”

But that precedent has been endangered in recent years.

Five years ago, Roberts spoke for the court and ruled the director of the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau can be fired by the president, even though Congress had said otherwise.

But since that case did not involve a multi-member board or commission, it did not overrule the 1935 precedent.

The global economy is on edge as United States President Donald Trump’s July 9 deadline looms for the imposition of double-digit tariffs on most trading partners.

On Monday, Trump announced tariffs on 14 countries, ranging from 25 to 40 percent. The targeted countries include close US allies like Japan and South Korea, as well as Laos, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Tunisia, South Africa, Malaysia, Kazakhstan, Thailand, Indonesia, Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

And with only a few trade deals in place, his administration is expected to announce the imposition of new levies on many more countries. Trump and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Sunday said those new tariffs would come into effect on August 1.

Trump’s initial April 2 “Liberation Day” announcement of across-the-board tariffs on countries around the world sent markets into a tailspin. Trump relented – temporarily – announcing a 90-day cessation on higher tariffs, while imposing a 10 percent baseline levy on all trading partners.

Now, some experts fear that higher tariffs, if imposed after July 9, could push the global economy into a recession.

Along with reducing the trade deficit, Trump’s argument for tariffs is that they will boost US manufacturing and protect jobs. He says tariffs will encourage US consumers to buy more US-made goods, increase the taxes raised and enhance investment in the US.

But what is the current state of manufacturing in the US, and how has it fared in recent months amid the economic churn stirred by Trump’s policies?

Where are we now?

In a bid to revitalise US industry, Trump announced a $14bn investment on May 30, brokering a partnership between US Steel and Nippon Steel tipped to create 70,000 jobs, according to the White House.

The Trump administration has also highlighted investments announced by automakers, tech firms and chocolate companies, among others, as evidence of the return of manufacturing to US soil.

According to the US Bureau of Economic Analysis, manufacturing contributed $2.9 trillion to the economy in the first quarter of 2025, a 0.6 percent increase from the corresponding period in 2024. That places it behind only finance, professional and business services, and government as the largest sectors contributing to the US economy.

However, building that manufacturing base back to the heydays of the sector, when it dominated the US economy, will not be easy, caution many experts. They point out that the US is today missing many of the essential elements of a robust manufacturing framework, including skilled labour, government support and technology.

Manufacturing accounted for more than 25 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) in the 1970s, but that came down to 13 percent by 2005. Its share has since dropped further, to about 9.7 percent in 2024.

Finance, insurance, real estate, rental and leasing value added as a percentage of GDP was 21 percent in 2024, followed by professional and business services (13 percent) and government (11 percent).

US manufacturing falls for a fourth month

The Institute for Supply Management (ISM) Manufacturing Index, also known as the purchasing managers’ index (PMI), is a monthly indicator of economic activity based on a survey of purchasing managers at manufacturing firms nationwide. It serves as a primary indicator of the condition of the US economy.

The PMI measures the change in production levels across the economy from month to month. A PMI above 50 indicates expansion, while a reading below 50 indicates contraction.

In June, it registered 49 percent, marking a fourth consecutive month of contraction, though the rate of decline has slowed.

At the start of 2025, the PMI was in expansion territory – 50.9 percent in January and 50.3 percent in February, before slipping below 50 in March.

Nine manufacturing industries reported growth in June, while six industries reported contraction.

According to the Reuters news agency, economists say the lack of clarity on what happens after July 9 has left businesses unable to make long-term plans.

How many people does manufacturing employ?

According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, in June 2025 there were some 12.75 million people employed in the manufacturing sector in the US.

Employment in manufacturing has increased from five years ago – in June 2020, some 11.95 million people were employed.

However, current employment levels are still far below the peak of nearly 20 million people hired in manufacturing jobs in the late 1970s, reflecting the long-term decline in the sector’s contribution to employment in the US.

US manufacturing job openings increased in May – 414,000, up from 392,000 in April – but actual hiring declined, hinting at uncertainties in the labour market over the Trump administration’s tariff policies.

US manufacturing compared to the rest of the world

The US has seen a decline in its share of global manufacturing, while China has taken over as the largest manufacturing country by value-added.

China contributed $4.8 trillion to the global GDP through manufacturing in 2022, followed by the US at $2.7 trillion that year.

Still, the US remains a major player and adds more manufacturing value than the third-, fourth-, fifth- and sixth-largest countries combined. And it does so with far fewer workers than its competitors.

Footage shows the heart-stopping moment where a plane full of passengers attempted to land in Madeira only to be shaken by violent winds

The terrifying moment a plane packed with passengers is violently shaken by strong winds as it attempts to land at Madeira Airport has been caught on camera.

The jaw-dropping footage shows the Marabu Airlines A320 shakily approaching the runway and swaying from side to side, before a turbulent landing that appears to cause the aircraft to bounce up and down the runway at Cristiano Ronaldo Madeira International Airport in Madeira. It’s not yet been confirmed whether there were any injuries to passengers as a result.

One social media user, commenting on the plane’s approach and landing, said today: “This is crazy. I already have a knot in my lower neck just from watching.”

Another, believed to have been a passenger on the plane, said: “Landing in Madeira had to be one of the worst moments in my life. That airport is as scary as hell. I felt the plane moving non-stop and the landing was so bad, God.”

READ MORE: Brits heading to Spain, France and Greece this summer issued ’24-hour warning’

She continued: “I get it when people say it’s one of the most dangerous airports because IT’S TRUE,” which prompted a local to respond: “Imagine how us living in Madeira must feel when we have to travel. We pray every time so everything goes well.”

Yesterday, a reported 49 flights – 26 arrivals and 23 departures – were cancelled due to the severe weather conditions, causing major disruptions for a second consecutive day and causing chaos for British tourists trying to reach and leave the island. Frustrated holidaymakers took to social media in the early hours of this morning to vent their anger about being left stranded without food or accommodation.

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The first flight reported to have been cancelled yesterday was coming from London. A 1.45am flight scheduled to depart for London was also among those cancelled, with Ryanair and easyJet being among the airlines affected.

Local newspapers described it as a “nightmare day” for travellers. Some planes reportedly managed to fly over Madeira for a few minutes before being diverted to other airports including Porto Santo, Lisbon, Faro and even Tenerife.

On social media, some Brits claimed that they were left stranded at the airport and unable to return to the UK, claiming that they were not give food or accommodation, and left in the dark about when the next flights would be available.

Meanwhile one Portuguese passenger told local news that up to 500 people were reportedly forced to sleep at the airport, while another said that no mattresses had been provided for those who were stuck overnight. They added: “No-one helped us or informed us of anything and there was no food available.”

Were you affected by the chaos at Madeira? Email us at [email protected]

Firefighters are battling wildfires for the second day in Turkiye’s western province of Izmir, according to local authorities and media reports.

The blaze in Kuyucak and Doganbey areas of Izmir was fanned overnight by winds reaching 40-50kmph (25-30mph), and four villages and two neighbourhoods had been evacuated, Forestry Minister Ibrahim Yumakli said on Monday.

Helicopters, fire-extinguishing aircraft and other vehicles, and more than 1,000 people were trying to extinguish the fires, he told reporters in Izmir.

Turkiye’s coastal regions have been ravaged by wildfires in recent years as summers have become hotter and drier, which scientists relate to climate change.

Many Israelis are in shock after the country’s air defence system failed to intercept Iranian missiles, shattering their sense of security. But Palestinian citizens of Israel say they never felt safe to begin with.

World number one Scottie Scheffler has confirmed he will play in this year’s Scottish Open at The Rennaisance Club in East Lothian from 10-13 July.

It means the top five players in the world rankings – and seven of the top 10 – will all be using the tournament as final preparation for The Open Championship, which takes place at Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland the following week.

American Scheffler, who continued an impressive season when he successfully defended his title at the Memorial Tournament on Sunday, will now be included in one of the strongest ever Scottish Open fields.

The 28-year-old returns to the Scottish Open after a tied third-place finish on his last appearance at the Renaissance Club in 2023.

Scheffler said he is looking forward to playing “in such a strong field”, adding: “It’s an event and a course I enjoy playing given we only get to play links golf a couple of times a year.”

As is typically the case when a team wins 19-2 like the Dodgers did against the Athletics on Thursday night, plenty of hitters in the team’s star-studded lineup aligned to have monster nights.

Shohei Ohtani homered twice in a six-RBI performance, tying the major league lead with 15 long balls this season. Max Muncy, Andy Pages and James Outman also went deep, helping the club set a new season-high for runs. Hyeseong Kim reached base all five times. Freddie Freeman and Mookie Betts also combined to get aboard five times before being removed after the third inning, the lead at that point already up to 11 runs.

All of those accomplishments, however, paled in personal significance to what the Dodgers’ starting catcher did.

Making his major league debut after being called up in a major roster move the day prior, top prospect Dalton Rushing walked in his first at-bat, singled in the next and went two-for-four while navigating a pre-determined bullpen game behind the plate — a strong showing for a 24-year-old slugger with so much potential, the Dodgers cut longtime backup catcher Austin Barnes to get him on the roster.

“He’s very comfortable, I think, in a good way,” manager Dave Roberts said of Rushing, a second-round draft pick in 2022 who has blossomed into one of the most highly-touted prospects in baseball ever since. “I think he thought he was ready [for the majors] when he signed.”

Rushing’s rise wasn’t that quick, requiring the University of Louisville product to climb through the farm system over four minor-league seasons. But after batting .277 with 54 home runs, 185 RBIs and a .931 OPS as a farm hand, the Dodgers decided their minor league player of the year award-winner from last season was finally ready.

As far as first impressions go, Thursday was a good start.

In the second inning, Rushing got a three-run rally started by drawing a leadoff walk. In the third, he worked a full count before blasting a belt-high sinker through the infield at 110 mph off the bat. In the eighth, he tacked on another base hit when a ground ball to first was booted.

The Dodgers have been contemplating when to bring Rushing to the majors for a while, long ago convinced his bat was ready to handle big-league pitching.

It’s part of the reason why, during the second half of last season, they experimented with him in left field; a position where, at the time, he had a clearer pathway to regular playing time.

This offseason, however, the club decided to rededicate his focus to his duties behind the plate, “challenging him,” as president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman put it, to improve his defensive fundamentals, pitching-calling during games and ability to build rapport with members of the pitching staff.

“He’s continued to improve and get better,” Friedman said. “When we drafted him, he was new to catching. So there were a lot of areas to improve upon. But his work ethic is off the charts. And he really cares about being great. Each challenge we’ve given him, he’s met that challenge. And the success he’s had, there’s also an important element of having our finger on the pulse of that with guys, in terms of moving them up.”

And over the last couple weeks, the ways Rushing could potentially impact the club’s MLB roster became increasingly more clear.

Two weeks ago, the Dodgers sorely missed a left-handed bat like his off the bench in a May 4 loss in Atlanta, a game that ended with Barnes and fellow soft-hitting veteran Miguel Rojas recording outs in tough right-on-right matchups against Braves closer Raisel Iglesias.

In Barnes’ final Dodgers start last Saturday in Arizona, his weakened throwing arm was also exposed, the Diamondbacks stealing three bases in a game Barnes one-hopped one throw to second base and airmailed another to the outfield.

Perhaps, if the Dodgers weren’t facing the prospect of a tight division race in this year’s talented National League West, such problems would have been more tolerable. But, with the team’s MLB-best 29-15 record affording them just a one-game division lead so far this year, it’s already become clear that fine margins could matter this season.

So, once the Dodgers returned home from their 10-game trip this week, the front office decided to pull the trigger.

“Rush has obviously been on our radar for a long time in terms of when and how to introduce him to the major league team,” Friedman said. “I think with the improvements we’ve seen year over year, coupled with being in a tight division race … I think it falls in line with our consistent message of doing anything and everything we can to win.”

That didn’t mean cutting Barnes, who was in his 11th season with the Dodgers and won two World Series with the club, wasn’t difficult.

“Obviously Austin has been a huge part of this organization for a long time, he’s been in the middle of a lot of really big moments for us,” Friedman said. “His impact has been significant. So it was one of the harder decisions.”

Barnes’ departure sent ripples around the rest of the clubhouse, as well.

“I think everybody was surprised,” Clayton Kershaw said when asked of Barnes, whose 68 games behind the plate for the future Hall of Famer trails only A.J. Ellis for most in Kershaw’s career.

“It’s sad. Barnesy’s one of my best friends on or off the field. You won’t find a guy that competes better than Austin Barnes. He wants to win more than anybody, and he always found a way, and he came up with some big moments for us throughout the years. I think a lot of people forget he was starting a lot of playoff games and winning a lot of games for us, getting big knocks. It’s sad to see someone like that go who’s been here that long, and I think we all kind of feel it.”

“It’s no disrespect to Dalton,” Kershaw added. “I know he deserves it, and he’s going to be a great player. It’s just for me, personally, I think for a lot of guys on the team, it was disappointing to see [Barnes] go.”

As the door on Barnes’ Dodgers career closes, however, a new one is opening for Rushing.

And one night in, the early results were promising.

“The last mile of his development is helping lead a major league staff,” Friedman said. “We felt like now is the right time to give him that opportunity, and for us to learn some things about him that you can’t know until they’re at the major-league level, and for him to experience the speed of game here, which will be insightful for all of us in terms of the next set of things to work on.”

Tech giants beat Wall Street expectations after weeks of volatility in US stocks.

Tech giants Microsoft and Meta posted better-than-expected results in the first quarter of the year, offering some reprieve to investors after months of turbulence unleashed by United States President Donald Trump’s trade war.

Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, reported a net quarter profit of $16.64bn, or $6.43 per share, for the January–March period – up 35 percent year-on-year.

Revenue rose 16 percent, ending at $42.31bn and higher than Wall Street expectations of about $41.4bn.

Microsoft posted a net quarter profit of $25.8bn, or $3.46 per share, and up 18 percent year-on-year.

The company’s revenue came to $70.1bn, up 13 percent year-on-year and ahead of analysts’ expectations.

Both companies cited artificial intelligence (AI) as a major driver of growth, helping to ease investors’ concerns about a possible slowdown in demand for the burgeoning technology.

Meta recently incorporated AI tools into its advertising business, its top source of revenue, while Microsoft reported strong growth in its cloud computing business.

Google’s parent company, Alphabet, which has also invested heavily in AI, last week reported better-than-expected quarterly revenue of $90.23bn.

The results are a boost for the US tech sector, whose share prices have been on a rollercoaster ride since Trump returned to the White House on January 20.

The market value of the top seven US tech companies – Microsoft, Meta, Nvidia, Amazon, Tesla, Apple and Alphabet – plunged by 24 percent, or $4.2 trillion, in the first 100 days after Trump’s inauguration.

Trump’s tariffs, including a 145 percent duty on China, have disrupted businesses and unnerved investors, who are anxiously awaiting his next moves following his announcement of a 90-day pause on so-called “reciprocal” duties targeting almost all countries.

The US economy shrank 0.3 percent in the first quarter of 2025, the US Department of Commerce said on Wednesday, adding to fears that the US is likely to tip into a recession this year.

In an earnings call with investors, CEO Mark Zuckerberg said that Meta is “well-positioned to navigate the macroeconomic uncertainty” of recent months.

The company also released a standalone AI app this week, MetaAI, and plans to spend between $64bn and $72bn on capital expenditure in 2025 to complete construction on data centres.