World

I was driving through Westlake, on my way to pay Nathaniel Anthony Ayers a visit at his nursing home, when it hit me.

My God. Has it been 20 years?

Hard to believe, but yes.

The year was 2005. It was around noon, as I recall, on a drizzly, late-winter day. I heard music in Pershing Square, followed the sound and spotted him next to a shopping cart heaped over with his belongings.

Steve Lopez

Steve Lopez is a California native who has been a Los Angeles Times columnist since 2001. He has won more than a dozen national journalism awards and is a four-time Pulitzer finalist.

And so it began: Mr. Ayers with a violin that was missing two strings, trying to get back on track three decades after illness forced him out of New York’s prestigious Juilliard School. Me with my notebook, getting to know this Cleveland-born prodigy while trying to navigate a mental health system that left thousands fending for themselves on the streets of Los Angeles.

Neither of us could have known where we’d be headed together in the years to come. To Disney Hall. To the Hollywood Bowl. To Dodger Stadium. To the beach. To the White House. To an operatic series of starts and stops, of swelling strings and crashing cymbals, riding the waves of what Mr. Ayers calls the music of the gods.

“Can you believe we’ve been friends for 20 years?” I said to him during my visit a week ago.

He’s been immobilized by a hip injury, and looked up quizzically from his bed. He hadn’t done the math, but it couldn’t be disputed — we’d taken the express train from our 50s to our 70s. He smiled and said that when we met, he was “on the street, homeless, playing a violin with two strings.”

Former President Barack Obama shakes hands with Nathaniel Ayers at an event commemorating the 20th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act in 2010.

(White House)

That was the headline of the first column. “Violinist has the world on 2 strings,” a reference to his unshakable love of music, despite his predicament. He played near the Beethoven statue in Pershing Square, for inspiration, he said. And the sign on his shopping cart said, “Little Walt Disney Concert Hall.”

I reminded Mr. Ayers — that’s what I call him, and he calls me Mr. Lopez — of the response to the first column I wrote about him. Soon after, six readers sent him violins, two others gave him cellos and one donated a piano we hauled into a Skid Row music room, with his name on the door, at the homeless services agency now known as The People Concern.

It took a year to convince him to move indoors, and he taught me so much in that time, primarily about how every individual in his shoes has a unique set of needs and fears, as well as a complicated history of trauma and stigmatization. Such people often languish in a disjointed, multiagency system of care.

Through Mr. Ayers, I’ve met countless dedicated public servants in the mental health field. They are out there every day doing difficult, noble work, offering comfort and changing lives. But the need is great, complicated by the street drugs some people use for self-medication, and progress is often stymied by multiple forces despite billions of dollars worth of investments in solutions.

Jon Sherin, former chief of the L.A. County Department of Mental Health, said that while good work is done by many, bureaucracy sabotages innovation and erodes the morale of front-line workers.

“We live in a world in which people are paid to deliver a service regardless of whether it has any impact, and billing becomes the primary agenda of the bureaucracy and everybody in it,” said Sherin, a psychiatrist who endured similar frustrations when he was at the Veterans Administration. “We’re taking care of process, and we’re not taking care of outcomes.”

The goal, Sherin said, must be adequate resources for housing and help, along with creating safe living environments that offer what he calls the three Ps — people, place and purpose.

In the last two decades, many have stepped up to provide those things for Mr. Ayers, with varying degrees of success and no shortage of either heartbreak or hope. His sister Jennifer is his conservator, longtime family friend Bobby Witbeck checks in on him and so does long-ago Juilliard classmate Joe Russo. Gary Foster, who produced the movie “The Soloist,” based on my book by the same name, has served Mr. Ayers and many others for years as a board member at The People Concern.

Back in 2005, Peter Snyder, then an L.A. Philharmonic cellist, offered to give lessons to Mr. Ayers. They took place in an apartment where he would eventually live.

After the first column about Nathaniel Ayers, six readers sent him violins, two others gave him cellos and one donated a piano.

(Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times)

Adam Crane, who was then working in communications at the L.A. Phil, opened the doors of Disney Hall to Mr. Ayers and reintroduced him to a community of musicians: Pianist Joanne Pearce Martin, cellist Ben Hong and violinist Vijay Gupta, among others, befriended Mr. Ayers and played music with him.

One night at Disney Hall, Crane and Hong took us backstage after a concert so Mr. Ayers could reunite with a former Juilliard classmate by the name of Yo-Yo Ma.

“Nathaniel … has had an astounding, life-changing impact on me,” said Crane, who is now with the New York Philharmonic.

“I’ve often spoken about the power of music to transform lives, but I’ve never experienced it as profoundly and passionately as I have in the time I’ve spent with Nathaniel. From the first time we met in 2005 — when he was in my office playing my cello (his joy, as well as his past training, shone through) — to the years that followed, I’ve seen Nathaniel both medicated and un-medicated, living on and off the streets. The one constant has been his dependence on — and sheer love of — music for his happiness and survival.”

I knew there was an instant bond between Crane and Ayers, but I didn’t know the full story until later.

“There was an immediate connection,” Crane explained, “not only in our shared love of music, but in our battles with mental illness, however differently it manifested in each of us. Nathaniel has helped shape my understanding of mental illness and the human condition, and he has profoundly deepened my perspective on what music can mean to people.”

I visited Mr. Ayers a few weeks ago with one of his former social workers, Anthony Ruffin, who lost his home in the Altadena fire in January. Mr. Ayers was not always Ruffin’s easiest client — he could be resistant to help and even combative. At one point, Mr. Ayers “fired” Ruffin, just as he had “fired” Ruffin’s mentor, Mollie Lowery. But Ruffin is a skilled observer who saw through the mask to the essence of the man, and he was inspired by the resilience he witnessed.

“There’s so much going on in the world, and when I meet and talk with Nathaniel, it makes the world seem perfect,” Ruffin said. “When he speaks to me, he always gives me a little bit of insight about life in general, and I walk away from his presence humbled. Extremely humbled.”

Mr. Ayers has plenty he could complain about. Being homeless for so many years has taken a toll on his body, and for the past couple of years, hip and hand injuries have kept him from playing his violin, cello, keyboard, double bass and trumpet.

Nathaniel Ayers plays the cello during a brief stint in the hospital.

(Steve Lopez / Los Angeles Times)

But on my last visit, when I asked how he would describe the last 20 years, he didn’t hesitate.

“Good,” he said cheerily.

We talked about our visit to the White House, when he performed at the 20th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act and met then-President Obama, sporting a white suit and top hat he had purchased at Hollywood Suit Outlets. And we talked about his reunion with Yo-Yo Ma, when the cellist hugged him and said they were brothers in music.

I remember Mr. Ayers refusing to get out of my car one night until the last note of the Sibelius Symphony No. 2 played on my radio. I remember him saying that in his New York apartment, he practiced Tchaikovsky’s Serenade for Strings on his upright bass while watching snow fall outside his window. I remember the night on Skid Row when, before falling asleep, he grabbed two sticks on which he had written the names Beethoven and Brahms. When the rats come up from the sewers, he said, a tap of the sticks would make them scatter.

Since our chance encounter 20 years ago, he has given me a greater understanding of patience, perseverance, humility, loyalty, love. He is a reminder that beyond first impressions, stereotypes and the borders we construct, there is shared humanity and grace in opening yourself to the richness of it.

When I asked Mr. Ayers his advice on getting by, even through all the hardships and disappointments he has faced, he pointed to the radio next to his bed, which is tuned always to classical KUSC, 91.5 on the FM dial — home to the music of the Gods.

“Listen to the music,” he said.

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Dorival was only appointed 14 months ago, but a 4-1 defeat against rivals Argentina proved to be his last game.

Brazil coach Dorival Junior has been fired after 14 months in charge amid poor results and disappointing performances from the national team.

Hiss sacking by Brazilian Football Confederation president Ednaldo Rodrigues came three days after a 4-1 defeat to bitter rival Argentina in Buenos Aires, Brazil’s heaviest defeat in a World Cup qualifier.

Junior’s replacement has yet to be picked.

Brazil are fifth in South America qualifying for the 2026 World Cup. The top six qualify automatically.

Under the 62-year-old, Brazil won seven matches, drew another seven, and lost two. The team scored 25 goals and conceded 17.

In the Copa America last year, Brazil was eliminated in the quarterfinals by Uruguay on penalties.

Rodrigues was just re-elected on Monday to head the confederation to 2030.

In 2023, he bet on Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti to take over one year later.

While waiting for Ancelotti, Brazil retained Fernando Diniz as its coach. Diniz was fired in January 2024 after six matches on the job after Ancelotti extended his contract in Spain.

Brazil have sacked manager Dorival Junior after losing 4-1 to arch-rivals Argentina in World Cup qualifying.

They sit fourth in the South American group, having lost five of 14 games, although are still well placed to qualify for the 2026 finals.

The 62-year-old, who has managed a host of Brazilian clubs, had been in charge of the national team since January 2024.

His first match was a 1-0 win at Wembley over England in a friendly last March – and he went on to win seven, draw six and lose three of his 16 games in charge.

But the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) announced his exit after they were well beaten by Argentina, who have already sealed their place at the World Cup.

“The board wishes him success in his continued career. From now on, the CBF will work to find a replacement,” a short statement read.

ROSS Kemp is to tackle one of the most disturbing issues facing young people today – the rise of child incels and growing influence of “the manosphere”.

For years, Kemp has made a name for himself as one of Britain’s most fearless documentary makers.

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From gangs and drug cartels to modern slavery and warzones, the EastEnders legend has built a reputation for tackling subjects many shy away from.

Now, he’s setting his sights on an emerging and deeply disturbing trend: the rise of child incels and the growing influence of toxic masculinity online.

The phenomenon has recently been brought into the spotlight with Netflix’s harrowing drama Adolescence, a series that lays bare how young boys are being radicalised by misogynistic online communities.

Real-life horrors, such as Kyle Clifford’s brutal murder of his ex-girlfriend Louise Hunt, her mother, and her sister, have further demonstrated the deadly consequences of this toxic ideology.

Now, Kemp is determined to investigate the issue himself – if he can get the documentary commissioned.

Kemp has been researching the topic for some time, but as he knows all too well, getting a documentary like this off the ground is no easy feat.

“We’ve been researching something for some time but you’ve got to get it commissioned,” he says.

When Adolescence was released, it struck a nerve with the dad-of-four.

The Stephen Graham-led series tells the story of an ordinary family torn apart by the incel subculture, exposing how easily impressionable young boys can be lured into these toxic online spaces.

“Yeah, I thought it was brilliant,” Kemp says.

“The whole point of incels and what is happening out there has been brought to the attention of the public in a brilliant way.

“It’s something my team and I have been looking at for some time and I haven’t been able to make a documentary about it yet, but I still live in hope that we will.”

What makes the issue even more alarming, he says, is that it isn’t going away.

“I think it’s one of the biggest problems among young people. And I don’t think it’s just boys – obviously, boys are the perpetrators, but girls are the victims.

“As a father of both girls and boys, it’s something that is very much at the forefront of my thoughts.”

His concerns about social media aren’t just limited to incel communities.

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He believes that the digital age has made young people more vulnerable than ever.

“There is a lot of people at a very, very delicate time in their lives, worried about how they look anyway because their bodies are changing, because they’re going through puberty.

“I think we are faced with a real real problem in terms of getting kids out their bedrooms, getting them into safe environments where they can just be young people and enjoy each other’s company.

“Without fear of being, you know, bullied or without fear of getting into a competition about how they look or what make of phone they have or, what particular house they come from or what car their parents drive or not having a parent.

“All the things that people can use to bully somebody effectively.

“I mean, I think that those people play into that insecurity and they give people a sense of identity. 


“And I think what we need to do is as adults, we need to be looking what those people are doing online, but also thinking about seriously about how we get people, young people, out their bedrooms into safe environments where they can communicate as human beings should, not via a screen but face to face.”

As a father himself, the dangers of the online world are something he takes seriously.

He monitors his eldest child’s phone usage and believes that stricter regulations should be in place to protect young people from harmful content.

“I think it is something we should all be very much aware of. It’s not policed, in any way shape or form, so there are a lot of opinions out there, but that’s all they are.”

He adds: “I’ve had it with my older child. I monitor where his phone goes and what it does and what he downloads and what he looks at, as does his mum.

“And in my house, thankfully, we’ve sort of, I’m very much in favour of no phones at school.

“If you bring them into school and unless you need it for emergencies it should go in a box and then you can pick it up on the way out of school.”

Ross spoke to The Sun while encouraging everyone to take control of their energy usage with a smart meter, saying: “Honestly the average family saves around £140 a year – but that can be more, it’s up to you.”

He adds: “For instance, in the summer, one of my kids went up to a room that we don’t use that had an electronic towel radiator on it. So it was off clearly and they switched it on.

“And like it was like you know, doing five pound notes every 30 minutes.

“So I do think they’re good. It’s very accurate, and if you realise that things are on that don’t need to be on, then it gives you an indication to look for what it is and turn it off.”

US President Donald Trump says the United States needs to take over Greenland for “world peace,” as he doubled down on his ambitions to annex the strategically placed, resource-rich Danish territory.

“We are not talking about peace for the United States. We are talking about world peace. We are talking about international security,” Trump told reporters at the White House.

Vice President JD Vance, his wife and other senior US officials visited an American military base in Greenland on Friday in a trip that was scaled back after an uproar among Greenlanders and Danes who were irked that the original itinerary was planned without consulting them.

Soon after arriving, Vance briefly addressed US troops stationed at the base as he and his wife sat down to lunch with them, saying that he’s “really interested in Arctic security”.

“As you all know, it’s a big issue and it’s only going to get bigger over the coming decades,” said Vance, who was scheduled later to receive briefings from military officials and deliver remarks.

The revised trip to the semi-autonomous Danish territory comes as relations between the US and the Nordic country have soured after Trump repeatedly suggested that the United States should, in some form, control the mineral-rich territory controlled by Denmark – a traditional US ally and NATO member.

Friday’s one-day visit to the US Space Force outpost at Pituffik, on the northwest coast of Greenland, removed the risk of potentially violating diplomatic custom by sending a delegation to another country without an official invitation. It will also reduce the likelihood that Vance and his wife will cross paths with residents angered by Trump’s announcements.

During his visit, Vance was expected to receive briefings and deliver remarks to US service members on the base, according to the vice president’s office. His delegation includes the national security adviser, Mike Waltz, and Energy Secretary Chris Wright, as well as second lady Usha Vance.

According to a senior White House official, Vance was expected to make the case that Danish leaders have “spent decades mistreating the Greenlandic people, treating them like second-class citizens and allowing infrastructure on the island to fall into disrepair”.

The official, who was not authorized to comment publicly and requested anonymity to preview the vice president’s message, added that Vance would emphasise the importance of bolstering Arctic security in places like Pituffik.

‘We must stick together’

Before Vance’s arrival, four of the five parties elected to Greenland’s parliament earlier this month signed an agreement to form a new, broad-based coalition government. The parties banded together in the face of Trump’s designs on the territory.

“It is a time when we as a population are under pressure,” the prime minister-designate, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, said before the accord was signed to applause and cheers in the capital, Nuuk.

He added that “we must stick together. Together we are strongest,” Greenland broadcaster KNR reported.

In a post on Instagram, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen congratulated Nielsen and his incoming government, and said that “I look forward to close cooperation in an unnecessarily conflict-filled time.”

Frederiksen said on Tuesday that the US visit, which was originally set for three days, created “unacceptable pressure.” She has said that Denmark wants to work with the US on defense and security, but Greenland belongs to the Greenlanders.

Initially, Usha Vance had announced a solo trip to the Avannaata Qimussersu dogsled race in Sisimiut. Her husband then subsequently said he would join her on that trip, only to change that itinerary again – after protests from Greenland and Denmark – to a one-day visit by the couple to the military post only.

Nonetheless, in an interview on Wednesday, Trump repeated his desire for US control of Greenland. Asked if the people there were “eager” to become US citizens, Trump said he didn’t know “but I think we have to do it, and we have to convince them.”

‘A bit crazy’

Inhabitants of Nuuk, which is about 1,500km (930 miles) south of Pituffik, voiced concern about Vance’s visit and the US interest in their island.

Cora Hoy, 22, said Vance was “welcome if he wants to see it, but of course, Greenland is not for sale.” She added that “it’s not normal around here” with all the attention Greenland is getting. “I feel now every day is about [Trump] and I just want to get away from it.”

“It’s all a bit crazy. Of course, the population here is a bit shook up,” said 30-year-old Inuk Kristensen. “My opinion is the same as everyone’s: Of course, you don’t do things this way. You don’t just come here and say that you want to buy the place.”

As the nautical gateway to the Arctic and North Atlantic approaches to North America, Greenland has broader strategic value as both China and Russia seek access to its waterways and natural resources.

During his first term, Trump floated the idea of buying the world’s largest island, even as Denmark insisted it was not for sale. The people of Greenland also have firmly rejected Trump’s plans.

Vance has several times criticised longstanding European allies for relying on military support from the United States, openly antagonising partners in ways that have generated concerns about the reliability of the US.

He held the World Series championship trophy aloft at a Lakers game, flanked by Mookie Betts on one side and Freddie Freeman on the other. He worked a shift at Villa’s Tacos in Grand Central Market. On Wednesday he went out for dinner and someone thanked him.

That is a taste of what the offseason was like for Jack Flaherty. The Dodgers and their fans had not enjoyed a parade in 36 years. No wonder so many people in Los Angeles stop him and say thank you.

The gratitude is reciprocal.

“I’m as thankful as you guys are that we were able to get it done and we were able to win the whole thing,” Flaherty said Thursday. “That’s what we all want as players. That’s what I hope every fan wants, is to win.

“To be able to be on that side and be able to finish it off was special. And then, the reception and everything, that was special, for the entirety of the offseason when I was back around here.”

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1. Jack Flaherty pitches for the Dodgers against the New York Mets in Game 5 of the NLCS on Oct. 18. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) 2. Flaherty, holding the World Series trophy, is honored with teammates (from left) Mookie Betts, Chris Taylor, Brusdar Graterol, Freddie Freeman during a Lakers game at Crypto.com Arena on Nov. 8. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times) 3. Flaherty, left, tries the food at Villa’s Tacos in the Grand Central Market on Dec. 11. (Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)

It is the “on that side” part that stings. If his story truly had a Hollywood ending, Flaherty would collect his World Series championship ring during Friday’s ceremony at Dodger Stadium, then start the game for his hometown team.

He is scheduled to start the game, but for the visiting Detroit Tigers. The Dodgers will present him with his championship ring Saturday.

Flaherty, the pride of Sherman Oaks Little League and Harvard-Westlake High, started Game 1 of the National League Championship Series and Game 1 of the World Series, both at Dodger Stadium.

The Dodgers grabbed him when they desperately needed a starting pitcher at the trade deadline. He ended up becoming the first kid to grow up in Los Angeles and then start a World Series game for the Dodgers since Hall of Famer Don Drysdale, in 1966.

“This is where I grew up and fell in love with the game, and then I got to live out a childhood dream last year in the second half and through the World Series,” Flaherty said. “It holds a special place with me.”

He would have happily stayed, but the Dodgers signed two-time Cy Young winner Blake Snell to a five-year contract before November was out. In January, as Flaherty shifted his focus to a short-term contract, the Dodgers added Japanese phenom Roki Sasaki.

“The whole focus on this winter,” Flaherty said, “was figuring out where the best place was for me to end up and let the pieces fall where they may.”

Did he have any negotiations with the Dodgers?

“I’m going to give you the same answer I just did,” he said.

Flaherty made the rounds before Thursday’s opener, catching up with Dodgers personnel from Dave Roberts to Clayton Kershaw to Joe Davis.

“It’s not awkward, that’s for sure,” Flaherty said. “Just more interesting. Through the run of emotions and everything, knowing everything that occurred here last year, then being back here and opening up here, the emotions of opening day and starting off that way, throw a start and then you’ve got everything to celebrate from last year, all at the same time.”

Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said he had no concerns that the emotion surrounding the ring ceremony Friday might derail Flaherty’s start.

“I think it’ll go perfectly fine,” Hinch said, “because he’ll be locked in on his start. He’ll be focused on [Shohei] Ohtani to start the game.”

Tigers pitcher Jack Flaherty, who pitched for the Dodgers last season, speaks with Dodgers manager Dave Roberts on Thursday at Dodger Stadium.

(Harry How / Getty Images)

Tarik Skubal, the Tigers’ Cy Young winner, recalled watching Flaherty last season in his first start against his first team, the St. Louis Cardinals. Flaherty struck out 14 and took a shutout into the seventh inning.

“I expect him to be just as good as that time,” Skubal said. “He’s a good player. He lives for moments like these, and obviously he was a big part of the reason why they won the World Series. So I’m excited for him.”

As a fan there is nothing better than a player who gets your team because he lived and died with your team. After he shut out the New York Mets in Game 1 of the NLCS, Flaherty launched into a passionate speech about the greatness of Kershaw.

Flaherty gets the Dodgers.

“It’s so special,” he said. “It’s an incredible thing to think about and an incredible thing to be a part of. I got lucky enough to be on a team that got to win it in the fashion we did and make it happen in the way that we did.

“Growing up here and being a part of this — this city and this community — to give it all back and live it out in real time was awesome.”

Flaherty gets you, L.A. He should get a nice ovation Friday.

Five people and 3 companies were sanctioned Friday by the U.S. Treasury Department for alleged involvement in a Hezbollah sanctions evasion network. Hezbollah fighters stand next to the coffin of late senior Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr, killed in an Israeli strike, during the funeral procession in Beirut, Lebanon, Aug. 1, 2024. File photo by Wael Hamzeh/EPA-EFE

“These evasion networks strengthen Iran and its proxy Hezbollah and undermine the courageous efforts of the Lebanese people to build a Lebanon for all its citizens,” Treasury’s Bradley T. Smith said in a statement.

Individuals sanctioned were Rashid Qasim al-Bazzal, Mahasin Mahmud Murtada, Fatimah ‘Abdallah Ayyub, Hawra’ ‘Abdallah Ayyub, and Jamil Mohamad Khafaja.

Treasury said in a statement, “The individuals and companies designated today are part of a network of revenue-generating commercial enterprises owned or controlled” by Hezbollah.

They allegedly “facilitate and mask oil sales for the IRGC-QF” and provide Hezbollah “with crucial access to the formal financial system,” according to the Treasury Department.

The sanctioned companies are Ravee SARL, Lebanese United Group and Securol Glass Curtains. Treasury said they are being sanctioned because they are owned or controlled by the sanctioned individuals.

Treasury also announced Friday a $10 million reward is being offered “for information leading to the disruption of the financial mechanisms” of Hezbollah.

The reward is part of the State Department’s Rewards for Justice program.

The plan calls for the evacuation of 110,00 residents and 10,000 visitors on the Sakishima using ships and planes to evacuate them within 6 days.

“The government will work hard on making the plan more effective terms of support, including how to arrange accommodation for those with special needs, if the evacuation period goes beyond a month,” Hayashi said during a press conference Thursday.

Japan’s evacuation contingency plan comes as Taiwan President Lai Ching-te earlier this month called for “proactive measures” to protect Taiwan from Chinese threats.

Taiwan was never part of the People’s Republic of China established in the 1949 revolutionary victory of Chinese communists over nationalists in China’s civil war. China, however, claims Taiwan is part of China and has vowed to take Taiwan by force if necessary.

Tensions between China and Japan are growing.

In February China rebuked the U.S. for removing a State Department website statement that declared the U.S. does not support Taiwan independence.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said during a press conference, “This move severely violates the one-China principle.”

For nearly seven decades, Elaine Pagels has wrestled with the question: “Why religion?” At age 15, she found herself among thousands in Candlestick Park, electrified by the words of evangelist Billy Graham. The theology scholar to be was entranced, “overcome with tears … praising God for all the souls being saved that day.” Being born again at that moment, Pagels writes in her remarkable “Miracles and Wonder: The Historical Mystery of Jesus,” “opened up vast spaces in my imagination. It changed my life.”

While Pagels’ love affair with evangelical Christianity lasted only a year, her curiosity about the “powerful responses” that stories about Jesus evoked in her persisted; interrogating that response became her life’s work. Now 82, she is an emeritus professor of religion at Princeton, where she’s taught for more than four decades. Over the course of her extraordinary career, she has written wide-audience books including “Origin of Satan,” received a MacArthur “genius” grant and a National Humanities Medal, and won both the National Book Award and the National Book Critics Circle Award. But Jesus has still remained an enigma to one of the country’s preeminent authorities in gospel scholarship in many ways.

As a lapsed Catholic who never studied the Bible, I was at first skeptical that this deep immersion into Jesus’ life could have any particular relevance for me. Jesus had been a vague presence in my youth, but once I stopped attending church, that door closed. Catholicism undoubtedly led me to prize compassion and social justice, but I’d never specifically connected this to my early impressions of Jesus. Perhaps a revisit was in order. I dove in.

Some of the passages in this illuminating and essential work are tough going. Pagels is conversant with every version of the gospels — even the most obscure — and wades through them with forensic thoroughness. Like a detective, she’s always on the lookout for contradictory gospels about Jesus’ origin story. But it’s worthwhile hanging in: As the chapters unfold, the plot thickens.

For one, it turns out there aren’t physical descriptions of Jesus anywhere in the gospels. We have no idea what he looked like, which means all the subsequent representations of him in art and elsewhere are wholly imagined. Incredibly, none of the narratives now called “gospels” were written in Jesus’ lifetime. Rather, they were penned anonymously decades after his death, likely by disciples of his teachings who’d never actually met him but wanted to spread the word. Matthew, Mark, Luke and John were names added afterward, to lend credibility, derived from men in Jesus’ inner circle. These and many other such nuggets were revelatory to me as a newcomer to Bible study.

Pagels also points out that the gospels can’t be read as “gospel.” In other words, they are “less a biography than a passionate manifesto, showing how a young man from a rural background suddenly became a lightning rod for divine power.” Each version of the gospels has a slightly — or occasionally, vastly — different take on Jesus’ genealogy, the virgin birth, whether or not he was actually the son of God, and even whether he literally rose from the dead or his “resurrection” came in the form of a vision to some of his followers after his crucifixion. The gospel writers, Pagels concludes, were less interested in accuracy and more focused on expanding awareness of Jesus as son of God and savior: She observes that the gospels “report historical events while interweaving them with parables, interpretations, and miraculous moments told in symbolic language.”

Some of Jesus’ detractors — and even some of his most devoted followers — questioned why, if Jesus was truly the Messiah, he’d been unable to deliver Israel from its Roman occupiers, or to make good, before he died, on his promise that “the Kingdom of God is coming soon.” Two generations after his death, doubts persisted even among the most devout: “If he were a true prophet,” they wondered, “why had his message failed?” Judea remained under Roman rule; persecution and barbarism reigned.

As a teacher and an activist, Jesus was fierce, secretive, volatile and impatient, by some accounts. Others emphasized the “compassionate Christ” who urged that we “turn the other cheek,” who mingled among lepers and saw the poor and sick as being God’s children: that “those who are ‘first’ in this world — prominent and powerful — may find themselves last in God’s kingdom.” Pagels argues that the very concept of all humans being equal originated with Christ, and eventually led Christianity, in the course of 2000 years, to become the most prevalent of all religious traditions, with one-third of the world’s population identifying as Christian.

Whether or not you are a true believer, it is nothing short of miraculous to realize that one person’s words and actions — and the storytelling around that individual — can continue to resonate in all realms of society and culture, in all corners of the world. How Jesus’ teachings are interpreted is left to the eye of the beholder — whether to justify violence, to elevate peace and kindness or to inspire artists ranging from William Blake to Salvador Dali and Martin Scorsese.

When I got to the last pages of “Miracles and Wonder,” I realized that while I knew a great deal more about the origins of Christianity than when I began, the mystery of Jesus himself had deepened. Perhaps that’s how it’s meant to be. But the moral of the story is clear: Christ’s story is an iconic tale of hope emerging from darkness.

“After Jesus suffers the worst imaginable fate,” Pagels writes, “betrayed by a trusted friend, abandoned by everyone, falsely accused, tortured, and cruelly executed in public, he is raised to glorious new life.” That a charismatic 1st century rabbi interpreted the Genesis creation myth “to mean that every member of the human race has sacred value,” Pagels observes, “still resonates through our social and political life as indictment — and inspiration.”

Ultimately, the meaning of Jesus, Pagels suggests, has less to do with religion and more to do with the way in which we confront and transcend despair. “What fascinated me,” she concludes, “is not only the historical mysteries my book seeks to unravel but the spiritual power that shines through these stories.”

A protester performs in front of Turkish riot police barricades in Istanbul in March. Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu of the Republican People’s Party (CHP) was jailed and dismissed by the Turkish Ministry of Interior on March 23 on corruption charges following his detention on March 19 along with 100 others. EPA-EFE/ERDEM SAHIN

The BBC released a statement Thursday addressing Lowen’s arrest.

“This is an extremely troubling incident and we will be making representations to the Turkish authorities,” BBC News CEO Deborah Turness said.

Turness then complimented Lowen’s work and rebuked what Turkey did, noting that the network “will continue to report impartially and fairly on events in Turkey.”

“To be detained and deported from the country where I previously lived for five years and for which I have such affection has been extremely distressing,” Lowen said upon his arrival to London Thursday,

Protests in several Turkish cities over Thursday, Friday and Saturday followed the arrest of opposition leader and Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu during an early-morning raid Wednesday, which then led to the arrest of hundreds of protestors. The move could mean Turkey has moved away from a democratic system of government, The Guardian reported.

South Sudanese Vice President Riek Machar (L), seen here with President Salva Kiir in 2019, was arrested Wednesday, his party said. File Photo courtesy of STR/EPA-EFE

The papers said that Machar was removed from the vice presidency and under arrest. Machar purportedly rejected the documents and refused a request to officially resign. Machar was then relieved of his personal devices and placed under house arrest before being moved to another building within the same compound.

His wife was also said to have been placed under house arrest but moved to a different building than Machar.

Acting Chairperson of the National Committee on Foreign Relations for the SPLM-IO Reath Muoch Tang said in a statement Wednesday that Machar’s arrest is a “blatant violation of the Constitution and the Revitalized Peace Agreement,” that “undermines the rule of law and threatens the stability of the nation,” and that the SPLM-IO holds “President Salva Kiir responsible for this reckless abrogation of the peace agreement and call upon the regional and international community to urgently intervene to prevent further escalation.”

The South Sudan Revitalized Peace Agreement was agreed upon by Kirr and Machar in 2018, which formed a unity government and ended a civil war that left almost 400,000 people dead.

“The arrest and detention of [Machar] effectively brings the agreement to a collapse,” SPLM-IO deputy leader Oyet Nathaniel Pierino said in a press conference Thursday.

Concerns of the ramifications related to Machar’s arrest were also raised by the United Nations Mission in South Sudan, whose leader Nicholas Haysom called “on all parties to exercise restraint and uphold the Revitalized Peace Agreement” on Thursday, and that “the country’s leaders stand on the brink of relapsing into widespread conflict.”

The U.S. State Department’s Bureau of African Affairs said Wednesday that it urged President Kiir to “reverse this action [and] prevent further escalation of the situation.”

The U.N. reported Wednesday that fighting in South Sudan had escalated since Tuesday, during which time there were “clashes” reported between Kiir’s South Sudan People’s Defense Forces and Machar’s SPLM-IO south of the capital city of Juba and in the Wun Aliet region. Bombing of civilian areas in the state of Upper Nile has also been reported.

“We have to look out for ourselves and we have to look for each other and work together, for each other,” he said.

Even before taking office, Trump had threatened to impose 25% tariffs on Canadian goods — as well as goods from Mexico — over allegations that drugs and undocumented immigrants were entering the United States via their shared border. Earlier this month, he made good on that vow. On Tuesday, he imposed the same 25% tariff on new autos and light trucks, including certain parts, built outside the country.

With Canada being a major auto manufacturer for the United States — producing 1.5 million vehicles for its southern neighbor in 2023 — Carney on Tuesday described the tariffs as an attack.

“This is a direct attack, to be clear, a direct attack on the Unifor workers I stood in front of this morning at the Ambassador Bridge, a bridge that is a symbol and reality up until now of the tight ties between our two countries — ties of kinship, ties of commerce, ties that are in the process of being broken,” he said, explaining that he had learned of the tariffs while in a meeting with Unifor, a Canadian general trade union, while in Windsor, Ont.

He warned that the tariffs will “hurt us” but by standing together, Canada will emerge from the trade war stronger.

“I think what’s happend — and this was part of our discussions over the course of the last several months — Canadian workers, Canadians as a whole across this country, have gotten over the shock of the betrayal and are learning lessons,” he said.

“We will defend our workers, we will defend our companies, we will defend our country and we will defend it together.”

While in Windsor, he told reporters, with Detroit in the background, that Trump’s trade war has put the relationship between the two nations under greater strain than at any time in their shared history.

While in Kitchener he acknowledged that the tariffs would hurt Canadians, in Windsor on Wednesday morning, he said they would also hurt American consumers and workers, pointing to a recent report from The Conference Board showing consumer confidence in the United States was at at 12-year low.

“Those American workers and consumers should be President Trump’s concern,” he said.

During a campaign rally later Wednesday in Kitchener, the Liberal leader described the trade war with Trump and the American leader’s threats to annex Canada as “the most significant crisis of our lifetimes.”

He accused Trump of trying to “break” Canada in order to own it, but Carney said he and all Canadians will not let that happen.

“Elbows up,” he said, reiterating the catchphrase of the moment in Canada, meaning to protect oneself or to fight back against an unwanted attack.

Carney said he spoke with Ontario Premier Doug Ford and they agree to stand firm against the tariffs.

Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Ford warned that the uncertainty and chaos caused by Trump would hurt the markets.

Ford has threatened to cut off Ontario-produced energy to the United States, and he said Wednesday he is waiting to see what other tariffs Trump is planning to impose, as more were expected on April 2.

“I can assure you one thing — we’re going to make sure we’re going to inflict as much pain as possible to the American people without inflicting pain on the Canadian population,” he said.

Canada has retaliated against the tariffs announced earlier this month with 25% on billions of dollars worth of U.S. goods, and there are expectations it will respond to Wednesday’s tariffs in kind.

“We have two options here: we either roll over as a country and he runs us over 15 times and gets what he wants or we feel a little bit a pain and we fight like we’ve never fought before,” he said. “I prefer the latter — I believe in fighting, and we’ll have a big impact on the American people. All he’s doing is hurting the American people.”

In 2018, toward the end of a decade in which Mike Trout was the best player in baseball, Major League Baseball reckoned with its failure to transform him into a national icon. Commissioner Rob Manfred inelegantly but bluntly suggested why the league had struggled to market Trout.

“Player marketing requires one thing for sure: the player,” Manfred said then.

The Angels shot back at Manfred, with a statement — crafted in part by owner Arte Moreno — that vigorously defended Trout: “We applaud him for prioritizing his personal values over commercial self-promotion.”

Neither Trout nor any other player owes his team or the league anything more than his best effort on the field. However, the better fans get to know their favorite players as personalities, the easier for the league to broaden its appeal beyond the diehards.

This is nothing new. Half a century ago, ABC used its trademark “Up Close and Personal” segments to get Americans invested in anonymous Olympic athletes.

In that sense, Apple’s documentary on the 2024 World Series is a hit. The three-part series called “Fight for Glory” premieres Thursday on Apple TV+.

There are no major revelations here. It is all about the celebration of a marquee World Series — The Dodgers! The New York Yankees! MLB owns the copyright to the documentary, and Manfred is listed in the credits.

Also listed in the credits: Chelsea Freeman, wife of Freddie; and Brianna Betts, wife of Mookie. Camera crews followed the families of the Dodgers stars: on the drive to the games, in the stands during the games, around the team after the games, and even at home.

Apple put cameras wherever it could and put microphones on as many people as it could, including managers and coaches, umpires, broadcasters, and reporters. Jack Harris, who covers the Dodgers for The Times, welcomed a camera operator into his car and did an interview as he drove to Dodger Stadium.

Dodgers shortstop Mookie Betts, left, and first baseman Freddie Freeman share a laugh during a game against the Cleveland Guardians in August 2023.

(Nick Cammett / Associated Press)

Freeman is as open with the media as any player in the league, and Betts already has made his mark in the media world. His budding media empire includes a podcast and a YouTube channel. He used the former as a forum for teammates to review the World Series experience and how the Yankees collapsed in the series, and he used the latter to invite fans to see the Dodgers’ World Series championship celebration through his eyes.

In this genre of the “all access” documentary, Freeman and Betts are about as good as it gets in attracting casual fans — the ones not interested in exit velocities or launch angles, but invested in human interest stories.

Betts’ mother tells the story of how her son tried out for his first youth baseball team, complete with his Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles glove, and left in tears after the coach said he was not good enough to make the team.

Freeman’s son Max woke up with a limp one day in July and, by the end of the day, was in a hospital and on a ventilator. He had been diagnosed with a rare neurological disorder called Guillain-Barre syndrome.

“I lost my mom to cancer when I was 10 years old, which is awful,” Freeman said. “But when you see your son fighting for his own life at 3 years old? You just don’t think that is going to ever happen.”

Freeman left the Dodgers. Only after Max was discharged — after eight days in the hospital, and on the road to recovery — did Freeman return to the team.

“I would not have come back this year if he had stayed sick,” Freeman said.

On the drive to Dodger Stadium for Game 1 of the World Series, hours after her husband already had arrived there, Chelsea Freeman said: “It’s pretty crazy to see how rock bottom we were a few months ago. And then now to be going to the World Series is pretty surreal.”

And then her husband hit home runs in each of the first four games, en route to earning World Series most valuable player honors.

Before the first game, Chelsea Freeman said his treasured necklace — the one with a strand of hair from his late mother within a cross — had broken. He always played wearing that necklace.

“We had to overnight it to the jeweler,” Chelsea Freeman said.

The instantly legendary home run Freeman hit to win Game 1 — the first walkoff grand slam in World Series history, the one that prompted the “Gibby, meet Freddie!” call from Joe Davis — is presented to viewers in slo-mo, followed by a variety of angles, and almost predictably accompanied by the music from “The Natural.”

The fly ball dropped by Aaron Judge — the most memorable moment from the Yankees’ festival of errors in the fifth inning of the clinching game — is presented here with quick cuts. In five seconds, from five vantage points, Judge drops the ball five times.

If you are a Yankees fan, you probably have no interest in revisiting that moment, or the Series as a whole. If you are a Dodgers fan, you probably do.

The three-part documentary lasts a combined three hours, which is asking a lot of viewers. The series only lasted five games.

If you are a Dodgers fan, at least, you get the championship ending. If you are a Yankees fan, well, you get to see one of your own warning Dodgers fans not to approach him at Yankee Stadium.

“Anybody wearing Dodgers,” he said, “is getting a wedgie.”

The city of Pasadena announced the Rose Bowl is hosting men’s and women’s semifinal and final soccer matches as the 2028 Olympic venues list continues to take shape ahead of the Games.

Pasadena’s agreement with the LA28 organizing committee was announced on the same day the city of Los Angeles and LA28 worked through complex venue agreements that include finding a home for two of the Games’ newest sports.

An L.A. City Council ad hoc committee approved updated venue plans presented by LA28, the private organization responsible for hosting the 2028 Games. LA28 has shuffled some sporting event locations in an effort to drive up revenue and reduce risk.

Much of the revised venue plan was revealed during the summer, but changes to the original Games agreement reached when Los Angeles earned the right to host the 2028 Olympics had not yet been approved by the City Council.

The adjustments from the Games agreement include moving basketball to the Intuit Dome and Olympic swimming to SoFi Stadium and shifting gymnastics to Crypto.com Arena. LA28 filed revisions to last July’s plans on March 14, placing flag football and lacrosse at BMO Stadium and moving sitting volleyball from Pauley Pavilion to Long Beach Arena.

Shuffling basketball to the new Inglewood venue that did not exist during the original bid for the Games allows artistic gymnastics, one of the Summer Games’ premier events, to be in front of a crowd of roughly 20,000 compared to the Forum’s approximately 17,000. The downtown arena also has a larger floor space than the Forum, which was originally supposed to host gymnastics competitions.

The initial bid called for a temporary pool to be built on USC’s campus to house Olympic swimming, but the school has instead started construction on a football facility. Following the success of the 2024 U.S. swimming trials in Indianapolis’ Lucas Oil Stadium, LA28 proposed moving Olympic swimming into Inglewood’s NFL stadium that will host a second Super Bowl in 2027.

Using existing sports venues to keep expenses down while maximizing ticket sales is critical for LA28, which has promised to foot the estimated $7-billion Olympics bill through ticket sales, corporate sponsorships, merchandise and International Olympic Committee contributions. But city and state legislators have agreed to be a financial backstop. The City could be responsible for up to $270 million for any debt for the Games, with further expense going to the state and then back to Los Angeles taxpayers.

“We absolutely cannot afford that under any circumstance,” City Council president and ad hoc chair Marqueece Harris-Dawson said during the meeting. “We can’t even afford half of that, much less the full strength. So we have to make sure this is done and done right and done in a way like 1984 where the city of L.A. is left with assets as a result of the Summer Games as opposed to debt.”

While the 1984 Games generated a profit of more than $250 million, the world’s largest sporting event has grown in scope during the past four decades. Instead of 21 sports, L.A. will host 36 Olympic sports in 2028 and the United States’ first Paralympics. The size of the Games has necessitated moving some events outside of city limits, including Inglewood and Long Beach, while adding the San Fernando Valley for the first time.

The Sepulveda Basin will now host modern pentathlon, BMX, skateboarding and 3×3 basketball, while the latest proposal moved canoe slalom to an existing venue in Oklahoma City, equestrian to Temecula and shooting and para shooting to a venue that has not been determined outside of the city.

In the original Games plan proposed before the construction of BMO Stadium, the venue was meant to house preliminary rounds for soccer. But the qualifying matches will now be held in stadiums across the country, as has been common during recent Olympics.

The Rose Bowl had long been expected to host premier men’s and women’s soccer matches, a plan officially confirmed Wednesday. The stadium has hosted events during two previous Olympics and iconic World Cup matches.

The city’s announcement noted there are more agreements scheduled to be negotiated and signed leading up to 2027 that will dictate exactly how the 2028 Olympic events will be hosted and how they will be funded.

“Pasadena is proud to be a venue city supporting the Host City of Los Angeles for the 2028 Games and we look forward to welcoming the world to the iconic Rose Bowl Stadium. We will ensure all visitors enjoy the best Games experience possible with all our city has to offer,” Pasadena Mayor Victor M. Gordo said in a news release.

Flag football, which will make its Olympic debut, and lacrosse, which has not been a medal sport in the Olympics since 1908, will share BMO Stadium and bring more days of competition and more medal matches to the downtown area. They were among the new sports added to the Olympic program in October 2023 and not included on the last summer’s initial venue release.

Among other Olympic newcomers, squash and cricket have yet to be placed into venues for the 2028 Games, while LA28 has not finalized the location for baseball or the soccer finals. Softball, which rejoined the Olympic program in a joint bid with baseball, will be hosted in Oklahoma City, the site of the Women’s College World Series.

The updated venue plan would save about $156 million, according to LA28. While increasing the total number of tickets at events held inside the city, the new plan will also lower the percentage of tickets sold by 5%, according to a joint report from the city administration officer and chief legislative analyst dated Nov. 12, 2024.

The report called for LA28 to “conduct an independent economy impact study to highlight the anticipated impacts of the 2028 Games on the city and the region, which incorporates the requested venue changes, added sport disciplines and lessons learned from the 2024 Paris Games.” The report is to be submitted to the city of Los Angeles no later than June 30.

The city is moving forward with Olympic planning while assisting with rebuilding following devastating wildfires.

“I know firsthand the energy and inspiration Los Angeles brings to the world. Look, the 2028 Olympics is about ensuring our city, the creative capital of the world, is at the heart of this global experience,” Harris-Dawson said in a statement. “We will remain focused on our recovery work while investing smartly and opening doors of opportunity for our communities. We are not just preparing for the world to visit us — we’re setting the stage to inspire the world, as only Los Angeles can.”

With the Games set to begin in about three-and-a-half years, finalizing the plan for venues is a top priority before moving forward with other key concerns, including transportation and event operations. The full City Council will vote on the updated venue plan Friday and final confirmation of the plan is expected after review and approval from the International Olympic Committee executive board on April 9.

A NATO spokesperson afterward said Rutte only was repeating information he heard from media sources and the soldiers are still considered to be missing.

While the soldiers are still missing, the M88 Hercules tracked vehicle they were using has been found, officials for the U.S. Army Europe and Africa announced.

“The vehicle was discovered submerged in a body of water in a training area,” but the search for the four missing soldiers continues, USAEA officials said.

Officials for the USAEA on Wednesday announced the four U.S. Army soldiers went missing on Tuesday and search-and-recovery efforts are underway near Pabrade, Lithuania.

The missing soldiers are with the 1st Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division and were participating in a tactical training exercise when they went missing from the training area near Pabrade, U.S. Army officials said.

Personnel with the U.S. Army, Lithuanian Armed Forces, Lithuanian law enforcement and others are conducting the search-and-rescue operation for the four unnamed soldiers.

“I would like to thank the Lithuanian Armed Forces and first responders who quickly came to our aid in our search operations,” V Corps commander Lt. Gen. Charles Costanza said.

“It’s this kind of teamwork and support that exemplifies the importance of our partnership and our humanity regardless of what flags we wear on our shoulders,” Costanza said.

The four soldiers are based in Fort Stewart in Georgia.

Lithuanian Armed Forces officials received notification of the four missing soldiers and a tracked vehicle at 4:45 p.m. local time Tuesday during the training exercise at the General Silvestra Zukauskas Training Area in Pabrade.

The search and rescue mission to locate the missing soldiers and their tracked vehicle includes helicopters of the Lithuanian Air Forces and State Border Guard and is led by the Lithuanian Armed Forces with help from the local Fire and Rescue Department and other institutions.

A potential accident site has been determined and is the focus of the search for the missing soldiers and vehicle.

Pabrade is located in eastern Lithuania near its border with Belarus and about 30 miles northeast of the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius.

MIKAELA MAYER has revealed her love for English breakfasts after winning over British boxing fans.

Four of Mayer’s last five fights have all been in the UK while her last came against Derby’s Sandy Ryan in New York.

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And the American welterweight world champion credits an English fry up as our best dish – amid a lack of taste in others.

Mayer, 34, told SunSport: “Everything’s very bland. I think I went over there and ordered a shrimp cocktail and it’s just completely different.

“It just doesn’t taste American. So it’s just what we’re used to and you guys kind of do things a little bit differently.

“What I do like about UK food is your guys’ breakfast. Our continental breakfast here in the US is trash.

“It’s just like muffins and bread but there you guys have like meats and cheeses and vegetables and all kinds of stuff.

“So I do love your breakfast at the hotel.”

Mayer beat Ryan in a thrilling but disputed decision last September.

Although the fight was marred in controversy as just hours before the first bell as an unknown assailant threw red paint over Ryan.

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Ryan did report it to cops and while Mayer maintains she had no part in the stunt – she is ready to settle the score once and for all this Saturday in Las Vegas.

Mayer said: “She didn’t have a rematch clause but if a fight warrants a rematch and the fans want to see it, I’m not opposed to doing that.

“And speaking from experiences, I didn’t get my rematches that were very much deserving, and the fans missed out on that.

“I missed out on that too but also the fans missed out on that. So that’s what I’m about, just put on the best fight.

“If they want to see it, we’ll just do it again and eliminate all the doubt and hopefully nothing crazy happens this time, so we don’t have any other excuses.”

Mayer defends her WBO belt against Ryan meanwhile Wales’ Lauren Price owns the WBC, WBA and IBF belts.

Price, 30, defeated Natasha Jonas, 40, in the 147lb unification with Mayer already eyeing a potential return to her second home.

She said: “I love fighting in front of the UK fans. I really enjoyed the last two years fighting over there, I don’t regret it. It is part of my story.

“But I might have to go back there. Lauren Price has three belts and I’ll have one.

“So I’m not naive to the fact that I might have to go over to the UK to unify.

“It is what it is but I just want to make sure that I cross all my T’s and dot all my I’s and make sure I’m putting myself in the best position and taking care of myself.”

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As part of a recently declared $1bn prize pot, football’s governing body offers largest winner’s cheque for a FIFA tournament.

The winners of FIFA’s first 32-team Club World Cup in the United States could earn a football record $125m as details of a $1bn prize money fund were finally published.

FIFA said it allocated $525m in guaranteed fees for teams taking part in the June 14 to July 13 tournament, ranging from $38.19m to the top-ranked European team – likely Real Madrid – to $3.58m for the Oceania representative Auckland City.

A further $475m is to be earned by results in the 63 games, with $2m paid for winning group stage games, $7.5m for playing in the round of 16 and $40m to the team that wins the final at MetLife Stadium near New York.

The golden trophy has been sitting in the Oval Office at the White House this month after FIFA President Gianni Infantino delivered it to President Donald Trump.

The prize fund was delayed until a global broadcast deal was belatedly agreed in December with streaming service DAZN, which then got a major investment from a state-backed sports agency in Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Arabia was also confirmed in December by FIFA as host of the men’s 2034 World Cup.

Each of the 12 European teams in the Club World Cup lineup will be paid at least $12.81m as an entry fee. Payments will be decided by “a ranking based on sporting and commercial criteria”, FIFA said without providing details.

Manchester City, Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain and Chelsea also qualified by either winning a Champions League title from 2021 to 2024 or having consistent results in the competition over those four seasons.

Countries were capped at two entries unless they had three Champions League winners. Salzburg of Austria qualified as the final European team, despite never advancing beyond the round of 16, because higher-ranked clubs like Liverpool and Barcelona were blocked by the country cap.

The six South American teams each will get a $15.21m entry fee.

Teams from Africa, Asia and the CONCACAF region of North America — including Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami, despite not winning the MLS Cup title last season — each will get $9.55m for playing.

Leon of Mexico is currently contesting its removal from the competition by FIFA because it is in shared ownership with Pachuca, which also qualified.

FIFA aims to pay $250m to clubs worldwide who did not qualify for the tournament. It is unclear how many clubs will be paid, or how much they will get.

The overall prize pool for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar amounted to $440m.

CHELSEA and Manchester City have been dangled a near £100m carrot for taking part in this summer’s controversial expanded Club World Cup.

City aces including Rodri and Kevin de Bruyne, as well as England skipper Harry Kane, have been among the global stars accusing football chiefs of piling even more games on a congested calendar, without thinking about player welfare.

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But Fifa President Gianni Infantino believes his latest pet project will become a huge event.

And Zurich officials have now outlined exactly how the £775m prize fund – with Fifa insisting every penny will go to clubs around the world – will be split.

Fifa say the winners will earn up to $125m – which is a fraction over £97m – under a heavily performance-related prize structure.

Clubs can earn a maximum £68m if they win all three group games and go all the way to lift the trophy in New York’s MetLife Stadium on July 13, with the final itself worth £31m to the winners and £23m to the runners up.

That adds up to a total £368m in performance-related cash, with the remaining £407m split between the 32 competing teams as entrance money.

However, to prevent the enormous sum warping the competitive balance in smaller countries, there will not be an even split – which would have seen each club earn around £13m.

Instead, the majority of the pool will go to the 12 European qualifiers, with Real Madrid understood to have taken the biggest individual fee of around £30m and Austrian outfit Salzburg taking £10m.

Chelsea and City, who qualified as Champions League winners between 2021 and 2024 and who are both also high in the Uefa coefficient table, are each understood to be taking slightly less than Madrid.

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But New Zealand’s Auckland City, representing Oceania, will be handed just £2.8m while the six South American qualifiers – four from Brazil and Boca Juniors and River Plate from Argentina – will get £11.8m each.

The tournament, which has been publicly backed by US President Donald Trump, will kick off on June 14 with Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami playing Egypt’s Al-Ahly in the Hard Rock Stadium home of the Miami Dolphins.

Chelsea’s opening opponents remain unclear after Mexican side Leon were bored out of the tournament by Fifa because they are part of the same Multi Club Ownership group as Pachuca.

Leon have appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport to be readmitted but Fifa will not confirm a replacement team for the match in Atlanta on June 16 until the resolution of the legal issues.

Chelsea’s other opponents for the group stage are Brazilians Flamengo and Tunisian side Esperance.

City will open against Morocco’s Wydad in Philadelphia on June 18 before matches against Al Ain of Abu Dhabi and Juventus.

If both Prem clubs win their groups they cannot meet in the competition before the final.