Target said it plans to open more than 30 locations this year, part of the retailer’s strategy to drive long-term, sustainable growth by investing in its stores.
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Target Accelerates In-Store Investments
Warriors vs. Rockets prediction, odds, line, start time: 2026 NBA picks for Thursday, March 5
The Golden State Warriors will look to snap a two-game losing streak when they battle the Houston Rockets in a key NBA Western Conference matchup on Thursday night. Golden State is coming off a 114-101 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers on Monday, while Houston downed the Washington Wizards 123-118 that same night. The Warriors (31-30), who are the eighth seed in the West, are 12-17 on the road this season. The Rockets (38-22), who are third in the conference, are 20-7 on their home floor. Steph Curry (knee) remains out for Golden State. Alperen Sengun (illness), Jabari Smith Jr. (ankle) and Amen Thompson (ankle) are all questionable for Houston.
Tipoff from Toyota Center in Houston is set for 7:30 p.m. ET. The Rockets lead the all-time series 129-110, including wins in each of the last two meetings. The Rockets are 9.5-point favorites in the latest Warriors vs. Rockets odds from. DraftKings Sportsbook, while the over/under for total points scored is 215.5. Before making any Warriors vs. Rockets picks, check out the NBA predictions and betting advice from the SportsLine Projection Model.
New users can target the DraftKings promo code, which offers $200 in bonus bets if your first $5+ bet wins:
The SportsLine Projection Model simulates every NBA game 10,000 times and has returned well over $10,000 in betting profit for $100 players on its top-rated NBA picks over the past eight-plus seasons. The model entered Week 20 on a sizzling 41-18 roll on top-rated NBA spread picks dating back to last season. Anyone following its NBA betting advice at sportsbooks and on betting apps could have seen huge returns.
Now, the model has simulated Warriors vs. Rockets 10,000 times and just revealed its coveted NBA picks and betting predictions. You can head to SportsLine now to see the model’s picks. Here are several NBA odds and NBA betting lines for Rockets vs. Warriors:
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Warriors vs. Rockets spread: |
Houston -9.5 at DraftKings |
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Warriors vs. Rockets over/under: |
215.5 points |
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Warriors vs. Rockets money line: |
Houston -388, Golden State +301 |
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Warriors vs. Rockets picks: |
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Warriors vs. Rockets streaming: |
Amazon |
New users can also target the latest Underdog promo code CBSSPORTS2, good for $75 in fantasy bonus entries when you play $5 in select states.
Top Warriors vs. Rockets predictions
After 10,000 simulations of Warriors vs. Rockets, SportsLine’s model is going Under on the total (215.5). The Under has hit in seven of the past 10 head-to-head matchups between the teams, including each of the last two. The Under hit in the last Golden State game, and in five of the last nine Houston games. The Warriors are 3-7 against the spread in their last 10 games. The Rockets, meanwhile, are 5-5 ATS in their last 10.
The SportsLine model is projecting the Warriors’ De’Anthony Mason to score 18.2 points on average and be one of five Golden State players to score 10.6 or more points. The Rockets’ Kevin Durant, meanwhile, is projected to score 24.2 points as six Houston players score 11 points or more. The teams are projected to combine for 214 points.
How to make Rockets vs. Warriors picks
The model also says one side of the spread hits nearly 70% of the time. You can head to SportsLine to see the model’s NBA picks.
So who wins Rockets vs. Warriors, and which side of the spread hits nearly 70% of the time? Visit SportsLine now to see which side of the Warriors vs. Rockets spread to back, all from the model that has returned well over $10,000 on top-rated NBA picks, and find out.
A Syrian man is convicted of stabbing a Spanish tourist at Berlin’s Holocaust Memorial
BERLIN — A court convicted a Syrian man on Thursday of stabbing and seriously wounding a Spanish tourist at Berlin’s Holocaust Memorial just over a year ago, and sentenced him to 13 years on prison.
The 20-year-old defendant, whom authorities have identified only as Wassim Al M. in line with German privacy laws, was convicted on charges including attempted murder and attempted membership in a foreign terrorist organization, German news agency dpa reported.
The Berlin district court found that he traveled from Leipzig to Berlin on Feb. 21, 2025 to carry out an attack in the name of the Islamic State group.
He chose the Holocaust Memorial because “he believed he would find people of Jewish faith there,” presiding judge Doris Husch said, and he stabbed the Spanish tourist in the throat before shouting “Allahu akbar,” or “God is great.”
The 31-year-old victim survived but is still unable to work and receiving psychological treatment.
The defendant said during his trial that he had regretted the attack immediately, and asserted that he had traveled to Berlin under pressure from an online acquaintance he had gotten to know as he watched IS videos.
The defendant arrived in Germany in 2023 as an unaccompanied minor and successfully applied for asylum, investigators have said. He lived in Leipzig. He was arrested nearly three hours after the attack when he approached officers with blood on his hands and clothes.
The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, a field of 2,700 gray concrete slabs near the Brandenburg Gate in the heart of Berlin, honors the 6 million Jews killed in the Holocaust.
The attack occurred two days before a national election in which migration become a critical issue, pushed to the forefront by a string of deadly attacks involving immigrants in the months before the vote.
6 US service members killed in Kuwait drone strike
A soldier who “made you feel important,” a mother just days from returning home, and a son known to be the life of the party were among the first American troops to lose their lives in the line of duty in the war with Iran.The Pentagon has now identified all six U.S. service members killed Sunday in an Iranian strike on a makeshift operation center in Kuwait’s Shuaiba port.All were assigned to the 103rd Sustainment Command, an Army Reserve sustainment unit out of Iowa, and were serving at what Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth described as a “tactical operation center that was fortified,” when a projectile made it through air defenses in an attack that came without warning.A source familiar with the situation described the center as a triple wide trailer, surrounded by concrete barriers typically used to protect military structures overseas from things like car bombs and improvised explosive devices – but there was nothing overhead that could shield the building from drones or missiles.The attack happened on just the second day of U.S. and Israeli military operations against Iran.“You don’t go to Kuwait thinking something’s going to happen, and for her to be one of the first – it hurts,” Joey Amor, husband of one of the slain soldiers, Sgt. 1st Class Nicole Amor, told The Associated Press.The service members varied in careers, but all dedicated themselves to public service, thousands of miles away from their families, despite the unmistakable risks.Maj. Jeffrey O’BrienO’Brien was “the sweetest blue-eyed, blonde farm kid you’d ever know,” his aunt Mary Melchert said in a tribute on Facebook.O’Brien, a computer engineering graduate from Iowa State University, was in the reserves for 17 years and leaves behind a wife and three kids, his aunt said.“War is real … loss is real … He is so missed already. Love you forever, Jeff,” his aunt wrote.The 45-year-old commissioned in the Army Reserve as a Signal Corps Officer in 2012. He received several awards and decorations, including the Army Achievement Medal, Meritorious Unit Commendation, Army Superior Unit Award, Army Reserve Component Achievement Medal, National Defense Service Medal and Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal.He was killed while serving in support of the 1st Theater Sustainment Command, which oversees the resupply and sustainment of troops across the Middle East, according to the Pentagon.O’Brien was “straightforward” and unafraid to speak his mind as a captain while deployed to Kuwait in 2019, Sujet said.“He would tell me and give me his honest opinion on what I needed to know,” he said. “He was very frank and he was technically confident, very professional.”Gov. Reynolds expressed her condolences, writing in a statement: “Our hearts are broken by the deaths of Major Jeffrey O’Brien and Sergeant Declan Coady, two brave Iowa soldiers who gave the ultimate sacrifice to secure freedom and peace.”Chief Warrant Officer 3 Robert MarzanMarzan was described by his sister as “a strong leader who lived by example,” referring to him as a loving husband, father, brother, uncle and friend.“My baby brother, you are loved, and I will hold onto all our memories and cherish them always in my heart,” Elizabeth Marzan wrote in a Facebook post.Marzan, 54, was from Sacramento, California, and was also serving in support of the 1st Theater Sustainment Command.Final positive identification by a medical examiner is still pending, the Pentagon said, though Marzan was present at the scene of the drone strike and is believed to have been killed in the attack.California Gov. Gavin Newsom issued a statement praising Marzan’s service and offering condolences to his wife and family.“California mourns the loss of Chief Warrant Officer Three Robert M. Marzan, a courageous Californian whose service to our nation was marked by honor and distinction,” Newsom wrote.Marzan was a “pretty down to earth guy” but still “blunt and honest about what his thoughts were,” said Sujet, the retired Army colonel.Sujet, who served in the military for 33 years, said it’s “not common” that four service members – Marzan, O’Brien, Amor and Tietjens – would return years later to the same unit they served in together in 2019.“It goes to show the camaraderie in the unit that we had, that these soldiers felt so comfortable with each other that they would actually go back six years later and they came in the same unit,” Sujet said.Capt. Cody KhorkKhork, who was from Lakeland, Florida, enlisted in the National Guard in 2009 as a multiple launch rocket system/fire direction specialist. He commissioned as a military police officer in the Army Reserve in 2014, and deployed to Saudi Arabia; Guantanamo Bay, Cuba; and Poland.Behind his sense of duty was “a man whose life was defined by devotion, character, and service,” his parents and stepmother said in a statement Tuesday.”Cody was truly the life of the party, known for his infectious spirit, generous heart, and deep care for those who served alongside him and for everyone blessed to know him,” the statement said.Khork loved history and had a degree in political science, which showed “his sharp mind and his sincere appreciation for the principles and sacrifices that have shaped our nation,” his family said.His awards and decorations include the Meritorious Service Medal, Army Commendation Medal and Joint Service Achievement Medal.Sgt. 1st Class Nicole AmorAmor, from White Bear Lake, Minnesota, enlisted as an automated logistics specialist in the National Guard in 2005. She transferred to the Army Reserve a year later and deployed to Kuwait and Iraq in 2019.Amor, who was a mother to a high school senior and a fourth-grader, was just days away from returning home to her family, her husband, Joey Amor, told the AP.“She was almost home,” Joey Amor told the AP, and said he had spoken to her two hours before she died, but, “She just never responded in the morning.”A week before the attack, she had been moved off base to a shipping container-style building, her husband told the AP.“They were dispersing because they were in fear that the base they were on was going to get attacked and they felt it was safer in smaller groups in separate places,” he said.Amor’s decorations included the Army Commendation Medal, National Defense Service Medal and Army Reserve Component Achievement Medal.Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz said the state was mourning the loss of Amor.“She answered the call to serve and gave her life in service to our state and nation,” Walz wrote on X. “Minnesotans are wrapping our arms around her loved ones.”Sgt. 1st Class Noah TietjensTietjens was from Bellevue, Nebraska, and enlisted in the Army Reserve in 2006 as a wheeled vehicle mechanic. He had deployed to Kuwait twice before, in 2009 and 2019. His awards and decorations also include the Meritorious Service Medal, Army Commendation Medal and Army Achievement Medal.“Sgt. Tietjens was the kind of guy that was always around to help you. No matter what you needed … he made you feel important. And that’s hard to find sometimes in the military,” Army Staff Sgt. Jonn Coleman, a fellow Nebraska soldier, told sister station KETV.Coleman credits Tietjens’ mentorship as the reason he was able to advance his military career: “He took me under his wing and got me to where I needed to be.”In Bellevue, Tietjens and his wife and son were prominent members of a martial arts studio, where he earned a black belt in Taekwondo and was an instructor, according to a tribute the studio posted on social media about him.“He did not simply wear a Black Belt, he lived it,” Martial Arts International said in the post, praising Tietjens as “a devoted husband and father.” The studio said a college fund has been established for Tietjens’ son.Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen called for prayers for Tietjens’ family and praised the fallen soldier’s service to the country.“Noah stepped up to serve and defend the American people from foreign enemies around the world — a sacrifice we must never forget,” the governor wrote on X.Nebraska U.S. Sen. Pete Ricketts said in a statement his “heart and prayers are with the Tietjens family as they mourn the loss of their heroic son.”Sgt. Declan CoadyCoady, from Des Moines, Iowa, was posthumously promoted from specialist to sergeant. He told his father just last week he’d been recommended for the promotion, sister station KCCI reported.Coady enlisted in the Army Reserve in 2023 as an Army information technology specialist. Among the youngest in his class, Coady stood out to his instructors, his father, Andrew Coady, told the AP.“He was very good at what he did,” he said.While deployed in Kuwait, Coady was continuing his coursework online and had set his sights on becoming a commissioned officer, according to the AP. He was studying information systems, cybersecurity and computer science at Drake University, school officials told CNN, describing him as “well-loved and highly dedicated.”For his sister, Keira Coady, the loss is hard to accept. “I still don’t fully think it’s real,” she told the AP. “I just remember all of our conversations about what he was going to do when he came back.”Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds honored Coady for his service, saying in a statement he “heroically answered his nation’s call to duty and gave the ultimate sacrifice.”Coady’s military awards include the Army Service Ribbon, National Defense Service Ribbon and Overseas Service Ribbon.
A soldier who “made you feel important,” a mother just days from returning home, and a son known to be the life of the party were among the first American troops to lose their lives in the line of duty in the war with Iran.
The Pentagon has now identified all six U.S. service members killed Sunday in an Iranian strike on a makeshift operation center in Kuwait’s Shuaiba port.
All were assigned to the 103rd Sustainment Command, an Army Reserve sustainment unit out of Iowa, and were serving at what Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth described as a “tactical operation center that was fortified,” when a projectile made it through air defenses in an attack that came without warning.
A source familiar with the situation described the center as a triple wide trailer, surrounded by concrete barriers typically used to protect military structures overseas from things like car bombs and improvised explosive devices – but there was nothing overhead that could shield the building from drones or missiles.
The attack happened on just the second day of U.S. and Israeli military operations against Iran.
“You don’t go to Kuwait thinking something’s going to happen, and for her to be one of the first – it hurts,” Joey Amor, husband of one of the slain soldiers, Sgt. 1st Class Nicole Amor, told The Associated Press.
The service members varied in careers, but all dedicated themselves to public service, thousands of miles away from their families, despite the unmistakable risks.
Maj. Jeffrey O’Brien
O’Brien was “the sweetest blue-eyed, blonde farm kid you’d ever know,” his aunt Mary Melchert said in a tribute on Facebook.
O’Brien, a computer engineering graduate from Iowa State University, was in the reserves for 17 years and leaves behind a wife and three kids, his aunt said.
“War is real … loss is real … He is so missed already. Love you forever, Jeff,” his aunt wrote.
The 45-year-old commissioned in the Army Reserve as a Signal Corps Officer in 2012. He received several awards and decorations, including the Army Achievement Medal, Meritorious Unit Commendation, Army Superior Unit Award, Army Reserve Component Achievement Medal, National Defense Service Medal and Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal.
He was killed while serving in support of the 1st Theater Sustainment Command, which oversees the resupply and sustainment of troops across the Middle East, according to the Pentagon.
O’Brien was “straightforward” and unafraid to speak his mind as a captain while deployed to Kuwait in 2019, Sujet said.
“He would tell me and give me his honest opinion on what I needed to know,” he said. “He was very frank and he was technically confident, very professional.”
Gov. Reynolds expressed her condolences, writing in a statement: “Our hearts are broken by the deaths of Major Jeffrey O’Brien and Sergeant Declan Coady, two brave Iowa soldiers who gave the ultimate sacrifice to secure freedom and peace.”
Chief Warrant Officer 3 Robert Marzan
Marzan was described by his sister as “a strong leader who lived by example,” referring to him as a loving husband, father, brother, uncle and friend.
“My baby brother, you are loved, and I will hold onto all our memories and cherish them always in my heart,” Elizabeth Marzan wrote in a Facebook post.
Marzan, 54, was from Sacramento, California, and was also serving in support of the 1st Theater Sustainment Command.
Final positive identification by a medical examiner is still pending, the Pentagon said, though Marzan was present at the scene of the drone strike and is believed to have been killed in the attack.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom issued a statement praising Marzan’s service and offering condolences to his wife and family.
“California mourns the loss of Chief Warrant Officer Three Robert M. Marzan, a courageous Californian whose service to our nation was marked by honor and distinction,” Newsom wrote.
Marzan was a “pretty down to earth guy” but still “blunt and honest about what his thoughts were,” said Sujet, the retired Army colonel.
Sujet, who served in the military for 33 years, said it’s “not common” that four service members – Marzan, O’Brien, Amor and Tietjens – would return years later to the same unit they served in together in 2019.
“It goes to show the camaraderie in the unit that we had, that these soldiers felt so comfortable with each other that they would actually go back six years later and they came in the same unit,” Sujet said.
Capt. Cody Khork
Khork, who was from Lakeland, Florida, enlisted in the National Guard in 2009 as a multiple launch rocket system/fire direction specialist. He commissioned as a military police officer in the Army Reserve in 2014, and deployed to Saudi Arabia; Guantanamo Bay, Cuba; and Poland.
Behind his sense of duty was “a man whose life was defined by devotion, character, and service,” his parents and stepmother said in a statement Tuesday.
“Cody was truly the life of the party, known for his infectious spirit, generous heart, and deep care for those who served alongside him and for everyone blessed to know him,” the statement said.
Khork loved history and had a degree in political science, which showed “his sharp mind and his sincere appreciation for the principles and sacrifices that have shaped our nation,” his family said.
His awards and decorations include the Meritorious Service Medal, Army Commendation Medal and Joint Service Achievement Medal.
Sgt. 1st Class Nicole Amor
Amor, from White Bear Lake, Minnesota, enlisted as an automated logistics specialist in the National Guard in 2005. She transferred to the Army Reserve a year later and deployed to Kuwait and Iraq in 2019.
Amor, who was a mother to a high school senior and a fourth-grader, was just days away from returning home to her family, her husband, Joey Amor, told the AP.
“She was almost home,” Joey Amor told the AP, and said he had spoken to her two hours before she died, but, “She just never responded in the morning.”
A week before the attack, she had been moved off base to a shipping container-style building, her husband told the AP.
“They were dispersing because they were in fear that the base they were on was going to get attacked and they felt it was safer in smaller groups in separate places,” he said.
Amor’s decorations included the Army Commendation Medal, National Defense Service Medal and Army Reserve Component Achievement Medal.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz said the state was mourning the loss of Amor.
“She answered the call to serve and gave her life in service to our state and nation,” Walz wrote on X. “Minnesotans are wrapping our arms around her loved ones.”
Sgt. 1st Class Noah Tietjens
Tietjens was from Bellevue, Nebraska, and enlisted in the Army Reserve in 2006 as a wheeled vehicle mechanic. He had deployed to Kuwait twice before, in 2009 and 2019. His awards and decorations also include the Meritorious Service Medal, Army Commendation Medal and Army Achievement Medal.
“Sgt. Tietjens was the kind of guy that was always around to help you. No matter what you needed … he made you feel important. And that’s hard to find sometimes in the military,” Army Staff Sgt. Jonn Coleman, a fellow Nebraska soldier, told sister station KETV.
Coleman credits Tietjens’ mentorship as the reason he was able to advance his military career: “He took me under his wing and got me to where I needed to be.”
In Bellevue, Tietjens and his wife and son were prominent members of a martial arts studio, where he earned a black belt in Taekwondo and was an instructor, according to a tribute the studio posted on social media about him.
“He did not simply wear a Black Belt, he lived it,” Martial Arts International said in the post, praising Tietjens as “a devoted husband and father.” The studio said a college fund has been established for Tietjens’ son.
Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen called for prayers for Tietjens’ family and praised the fallen soldier’s service to the country.
“Noah stepped up to serve and defend the American people from foreign enemies around the world — a sacrifice we must never forget,” the governor wrote on X.
Nebraska U.S. Sen. Pete Ricketts said in a statement his “heart and prayers are with the Tietjens family as they mourn the loss of their heroic son.”
Sgt. Declan Coady
Coady, from Des Moines, Iowa, was posthumously promoted from specialist to sergeant. He told his father just last week he’d been recommended for the promotion, sister station KCCI reported.
Coady enlisted in the Army Reserve in 2023 as an Army information technology specialist. Among the youngest in his class, Coady stood out to his instructors, his father, Andrew Coady, told the AP.
“He was very good at what he did,” he said.
While deployed in Kuwait, Coady was continuing his coursework online and had set his sights on becoming a commissioned officer, according to the AP. He was studying information systems, cybersecurity and computer science at Drake University, school officials told CNN, describing him as “well-loved and highly dedicated.”
For his sister, Keira Coady, the loss is hard to accept. “I still don’t fully think it’s real,” she told the AP. “I just remember all of our conversations about what he was going to do when he came back.”
Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds honored Coady for his service, saying in a statement he “heroically answered his nation’s call to duty and gave the ultimate sacrifice.”
Coady’s military awards include the Army Service Ribbon, National Defense Service Ribbon and Overseas Service Ribbon.
HBO Max and Paramount+ Will Be Merged Into One Service
Now that Paramount has made a deal to purchase all of Warner Bros. Discovery, they are beginning to make clear their plans for the combined company when (if?) the deal is finalized. For one thing: the two distinct companies’ streaming services, Paramount+ and HBO Max, respectively, would be merged into a single app.
That’s according to Paramount CEO David Ellison, who told investors on Monday that the goal for the two streamers was to make them into one streamer over the long run.
Ellison said that “we do plan to put the two services together” which would create s service with “over 200 million direct to consumer subscribers.” He added…
We think that really positions us to compete with the leaders in the space. At Paramount, by the middle of this year, we’ll have completed the consolidation of our three services under one unified stack, and you can see us taking a similar approach to this platform going forward. And we think the combined offering, and given the amount of content and what we can do from the tech side, really will put us in a position to be able to compete with the most scaled players in DTC.
Paramount+’s tentpoles include the various recent Star Trek series, South Park, numerous Yellowstone spinoff series. HBO Max is home to shows like Game of Thrones and its various spinoffs and prequels, plus The White Lotus, It: Welcome to Derry, and The Last of Us, along with its extensive library of originals like The Sopranos and The Wire.
HBO Max is also in production on a new Harry Potter TV series that’s guaranteed to be massive, along with TV shows set in the new DC Universe, like Lanterns.
READ MORE: The Best New Shows on TV This Week
Ellison claimed that while the services would be combined, HBO would “operate with independence” within the new mega-conglomerate.
“Our viewpoint is HBO should stay HBO,” Ellison said. “They built a phenomenal brand. They are a leader in the space, and we just want them to continue doing more of it. But by bringing the platforms together, all of our content will be able to reach even a broader audience than we can do standalone.”
The question will be how much will Paramount charge for a combined service with both the HBO Max and Paramount+ libraries. Currently, monthly plans for HBO Max start at $10.99 a month with ads up to $22.99 a month for a “premium” subscription; the yearly prices are $109.99 or $229.99, respectively. Paramount+ costs $8.99 a month with ads or $13.99 a month without; yearly it will set you back either $89.99 or $139.99.
Obscure Streaming TV Shows You Might Not Have Heard Of
There are so many streaming shows now. These are the ones you need to watch.
Gallery Credit: Emma Stefansky
Eurozone Retail Sales Decline Unexpectedly
Eurozone retail sales fell unexpectedly in January, despite an uptick in consumer confidence at the start of the year.
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Summer transfer needs for all 20 Premier League teams
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Sam Tighe
Multiple Authors
It’s never too early for clubs to be planning transfers. While the window might be closed, you can guarantee all 20 Premier League clubs are still working furiously behind the scenes to produce short lists, decide on targets and set their course for next season.
They won’t have all the answers yet — for many, those depend on relegation or European qualification — but what should they at least be thinking about? What do they already know needs addressing?
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– Filipe Luís is one of soccer’ best young coaches. Why was he fired after 8-0 win?
Arsenal
NEED: Even more attacking juice
Arsenal spent £162 million to bring in Viktor Gyökeres, Eberechi Eze and Noni Madueke last summer to boost their attacking corps, but there’s a strong argument to be made that they still need more. With Kai Havertz and Gabriel Jesus experiencing severe injury issues and the club lacking a top-shelf left wing threat, they should be in the market for a forward of some sort.
Aston Villa
NEED: Plan for potential major departures
Aston Villa are operating on a very strict budget due to a UEFA settlement, so any move they make must be carefully considered. They are also in a tricky spot, given that one or more key players could conceivably depart the club, which means replacements would be required. Earning Champions League football may eradicate the need to make any deals they don’t wish to, but if they fall short, the likes of forward Morgan Rogers and goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez will be eyed up by others. Villa need to know who they’ll target if this happens.
AFC Bournemouth
NEED: Figure out the center back situation
Bournemouth are facing all sorts of questions at center back for the second year running. The most important one revolves around Marcos Senesi, whose contract is set to expire this summer and has been linked with a series of top clubs, including Barcelona and Juventus. If the Argentina international left, would Veljko Milosavljević be ready to step up and start consistently? If not, the Cherries might need to sign two new defenders this summer (luckily, they’re very good at this).
Brighton & Hove Albion
NEED: A natural right back
Brighton may have drifted a bit this season, but when looking over their squad, there aren’t many issues to address from either a qualitative or quantitative perspective. One upgrade they could make is at right back, where they have plenty of options, but no specialist outside of Joël Veltman, whose contract expires at the end of the season. The Seagulls will also need to be ready and willing to sign a center midfielder if Carlos Baleba leaves the club.
Brentford
NEED: Carefully manage some departures
Brentford are in an incredible spot. The squad is good; they have a star striker in Igor Thiago (17 league goals), an excellent goalkeeper in Caoimhín Kelleher, and everything in between. If they finish in the European spots, they’ll need to add further to the ranks. If not, it might be time for some of the old guard — such as Ethan Pinnock and Rico Henry — to depart. Time will tell.
Burnley
NEED: Promotion players for next year
Likely doomed for relegation, Burnley’s eye should be on who can get them promoted from the second tier next season. They’ve got a looming issue in midfield, as Josh Cullen has torn his ACL, James Ward-Prowse has only replaced him on loan, and Florentino Luís may not wish to stick around.
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Are Chelsea in serious financial trouble?
ESPN’s Gab Marcotti and Julien Laurens react to Chelsea’s damaging UEFA European Club Landscape report.
Chelsea
NEED: Some veteran, steadying presences
Chelsea‘s policy of investing heavily in young players brings some great benefits — but also some noted negatives. Chief among those is a lack of maturity and discipline running through the squad, which has resulted in a whopping seven red cards in the league this season (no other team has more than three). While it might break from policy, it could be time for Chelsea to consider adding a few adults to the room.
Crystal Palace
NEED: Where do you even start?
Major uncertainties surround Palace heading into the summer. We don’t know who will take over from Oliver Glasner as manager, and the squad look short in multiple areas. If they stick with a back-three system, they’re probably in need of a center back and a right wing back. Regardless of the shape, they’ll have to sign some new center midfielders, as both Daichi Kamada and Jefferson Lerma are out of contract, and Adam Wharton is sure to command interest from top clubs.
Everton
NEED: A truckload of full backs
Everton need to sign at least two, perhaps even three, full backs this coming summer. None of James Garner, Jarrad Branthwaite or Jake O’Brien are naturally full backs, yet they’ve all played there recently as David Moyes lacks options. The only consistently available first-team full-back is Vitaliy Mykolenko, whose contract expires this summer. There’s no doubt they’d love to sign winger Jack Grealish permanently, too — once his loan from Man City expires — but that all depends on the fee.
Fulham
NEED: Future-proof the forward line
Fulham tried (and failed) to sign USMNT and PSV Eindhoven striker Ricardo Pepi in January, which is an obvious hint as to what this summer’s priority might be. Raúl Jiménez’s contract is set to expire, as is midfielder Harry Wilson’s, while winger Samuel Chukwueze is only on loan (with an option to make the move permanent). This trio have scored 20 of the Whites’ 40 league goals; best figure out who stays, who goes and who needs to come in — and fast.
Leeds United
NEED: A new goalkeeper
Leeds got the vast majority of last summer’s recruitment right, but fumbled in one key area: between the posts. Lucas Perri, signed for €15 million from Lyon, struggled and lost his place to Karl Darlow, who has spent most of his career as a backup at this level. Expect the Whites to enter the market for a goalkeeper once again this summer.
Liverpool
NEED: Long-term solutions in defense
Jérémy Jacquet is on the way to Liverpool from Rennes for €60 million, and young Giovanni Leoni will recover from his ACL tear in time for next season, but there are still big questions hovering over this Liverpool defensive line. Center back Ibrahima Konaté‘s contract is set to expire, left back Andy Robertson nearly moved to Tottenham Hotspur in January, and all of their right backs appear to be injury prone. Big changes could be on the way.
Manchester City
NEED: A long-term solution at right back
Credit is due to Matheus Nunes, a midfielder who has converted into a solid right back. He has filled in admirably in the post-Kyle Walker era, taking up the mantle while City’s faith in academy product Rico Lewis has seemingly waned. But a club with City’s spending capacity should probably have a specialist to call upon, and it is the most obvious way to upgrade this XI over the summer.
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Nicol: Manchester United haven’t been sensational under Carrick
Steve Nicol says Manchester United’s unbeaten run ending at the hands of 10-man Newcastle shows they’re still far from a perfect team.
Manchester United
NEED: You guessed it! Central midfield
Center midfield has been an area of concern at United for well over a year now, and the need to sign a player for this position has only intensified since Casemiro announced he will leave the club this summer. This could get really expensive — the club have been repeatedly linked with Nottingham Forest‘s Elliott Anderson, Crystal Palace‘s Adam Wharton and Newcastle United‘s Bruno Guimarães, among others — but the United higher-ups can’t put it off any longer.
Newcastle United
NEED: Defensive reinforcements … and a striker?
Newcastle’s forward situation needs figuring out. Yoane Wissa, Nick Woltemade and Anthony Elanga cost a combined £167 million to sign last summer, but Eddie Howe has struggled to get them going. Do you give them another season, or spend again? Regardless of that call, the defensive line needs addressing. Of the center backs, only Malick Thiaw has been fit and available all season long, and the club badly need adequate cover for full backs Lewis Hall and Tino Livramento too.
Nottingham Forest
NEED: A manager and a consistent playing style
It’s hard to nail your recruitment when you go through four managers in one season — and those four managers all coach different playing styles. Forest have loads of players, several of which are excellent, and the thing they need the most is a consistent direction to travel in.
Sunderland
NEED: A forward and a left back
Newly promoted Sunderland have spent most of the campaign in the top half of the table, which is a miraculous achievement. This is a well built squad that, unlike last summer, does not need wholesale changes. If the Black Cats can spot a forward who can elevate this team, they should pounce. It’s also worth looking at cover for Reinildo at left back, who has missed time due to injury and suspension.
2:01
Will Igor Tudor save Tottenham from relegation?
ESPN’s Gab Marcotti and Julien Laurens react to Tottenham’s 2-1 defeat to Fulham in the Premier League
Tottenham Hotspur
NEED: A progressive passing center midfielder
If Tottenham avoid relegation, they must take an axe to their midfield setup, which is chock full of runners and ball-winners — but curiously lacking in players who can pass the ball forward and through the lines. Many of their other issues will iron themselves out when key players return to fitness, but the midfield balance can only be fixed via the transfer market.
West Ham United
NEED: If they stay up, a defensive leader
West Ham are right on the precipice, but if they do manage to stave off relegation, they’ll need to add a defensive leader — likely a center back — to prevent the same desperate fight next season. Manager Nuno Espírito Santo loaned Axel Disasi from Chelsea in January to address this, but that’s only a short-term solution.
Wolves
NEED: Plan for the Championship
Wolves have shown immense spirit of late, with some fine results against bigger teams, but the smart move is still to plan for the Championship next season. They’ve already partaken in that by swapping out Jørgen Strand Larsen for Adam Armstrong in January and more moves of that ilk loom.
Trump’s China summit with Xi Jinping just got a lot more complicated
BEIJING — President Donald Trump’s looming meeting with China’s Xi Jinping will face new tensions after U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran that killed its China-friendly supreme leader.
It’s the second time in two months that the United States has taken military action against one of China’s key economic partners, after its surprise capture in January of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
But China has largely limited its response to stern statements, much as it did after the raid in Caracas despite warm relations with Venezuela.
China is “proving to be a feckless friend for its authoritarian allies,” Nicholas Burns, the U.S. ambassador to China under President Joe Biden, said on X.
Experts say that while China is concerned about the Iran conflict, it may not see it as worth jeopardizing Trump’s upcoming visit, which the White House says is scheduled to begin March 31. Both Trump and Xi are seeking to extend a fragile trade truce between the world’s two biggest economies.
Beijing has not yet confirmed the dates of the trip, which could come as the U.S. is still enmeshed in an Iran operation that Trump has said may last “four to five weeks” or longer.
“I haven’t heard any plan to delay or derail that visit,” Wang Huiyao, founder and president of the Center for China and Globalization, a nongovernmental think tank in Beijing, told NBC News in an interview Wednesday.
If anything, he said, the Iran conflict gives even greater urgency to a meeting between China, the Middle East’s largest trading partner, and the U.S., the region’s largest security partner.
Though China has long opposed Tehran’s pursuit of nuclear weapons, it has served as a lifeline for heavily sanctioned Iran, a “comprehensive strategic partner” with which it signed a 25-year cooperation agreement in 2021. China has since brokered a deal restoring diplomatic relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia.
About 80% of Iran’s crude oil exports go to China, the world’s largest energy importer, helping to keep Tehran’s economy afloat. But China is far from dependent on Tehran, with Iranian oil accounting for only about 13% of China’s total oil imports.
The China-Iran relationship is mainly “practical” in nature, said Peiyu Yang, an assistant professor of Arabic studies at George Mason University in Virginia who studies China’s historical and cultural connections with the Middle East.
“It’s not based on ideological standard or viewpoint,” she said. “It’s more based on economic interest.”
China — which confirmed the death of one of its citizens in Tehran and has evacuated 3,000 others from Iran — has criticized the U.S.-Israeli strikes as a violation of Iran’s sovereignty and international law. Foreign Minister Wang Yi said the killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and the “incitement of regime change” were “unacceptable.”
But so far, China hasn’t offered Iran much beyond rhetoric, underscoring its lack of readiness to challenge U.S. military action around the world.
“These countries are not delusional. They know that China cannot be relied on as a security partner,” said Ahmed Aboudouh, an associate fellow in the Middle East and North Africa program at the Chatham House research institute in London. “They see it as a development partner, economic partner, trade, a technological partner, but not military.”
Beijing has also been critical of Iran’s response to the strikes, which has “direct implications for China’s strategic interests,” Aboudouh said.
In a call Monday with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, Wang urged Iran to “take into account the legitimate concerns of neighboring countries.”
China has major investments in energy-rich Gulf nations such as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, where Iran’s retaliatory strikes have hit civilian targets.
While its Iranian oil imports are easily replaced, China gets about half of its oil from the Middle East as a whole. Iran’s shutdown of the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow shipping route that carries about one-fifth of the world’s oil output, “could be a major shock to China’s oil supply,” Yang said.
China could stand to gain, however, if the U.S. gets bogged down in a prolonged conflict in the Middle East. That could “relieve some of the strategic pressure” from Washington over China’s military build-up in the Asia-Pacific, said William Yang, the International Crisis Group’s senior analyst for Northeast Asia.
A distracted U.S. could leave an opening for a Chinese invasion of Taiwan, the self-ruling island democracy that Beijing claims as its territory. The U.S. is Taiwan’s main arms supplier and international backer, but it has long maintained a policy of strategic ambiguity about whether it would defend the island from a Chinese attack.
A prolonged conflict could also deplete stockpiles of U.S. munitions that serve as a deterrent against Chinese military action, said Yang, who is based in Taipei, Taiwan’s capital.
The war in Iran could also bolster China’s efforts to present itself as an alternative to American global leadership.
The Global South is losing trust in the Trump administration because its actions in Venezuela and Iran show that “coercion is on the table, and it can be used anytime,” Aboudouh said.
For now, experts said, China is taking a wait-and-see approach and will adapt as the situation in Iran evolves.
Although a pro-American regime in Iran could present some challenges, Yang from Crisis Group said, “Beijing will be able to build a pragmatic new relationship with whoever comes into power in Tehran in the end.”
Janis Mackey Frayer reported from Beijing and Jennifer Jett from Hong Kong.
Video: San Juan County deputies question man accused of killing 11-month old son
SAN JUAN COUNTY, N.M. (KRQE) – A tragic scene unfolded in the Four Corners area as police discovered the body of an 11-month-old boy in a ditch. In February, San Juan County Sheriff’s deputies investigated the death of the baby after he was reported missing by his mother more than a day later. He had […]
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NEVERMORE & ANNIHILATOR Guitarists Were Recommended To Join MEGADETH In The Mid-2000s
Canadian guitarist Glen Drover, who joined Megadeth in 2004 alongside his drummer brother Shawn Drover, has shared new insights into his 2008 departure in an interview with Waste Some Time With Jason Green.
Drover emphasized that his exit was primarily personal: “Personally – and not musically. Musically, I was fine. It was a lot to do with my family and just personal issues that I had, which we’ll leave that at that.”
He added that while the situation was heavy at the time, relations with frontman Dave Mustaine remained mostly amicable: “I think for the most part. Dave was upset, but I think he also understood as well, to a point… it also wasn’t a situation where I’d stepped down and then they were touring the following week. So what I did was – it was about three months.
“We did the Pacific Rim, and then there was about a break for three or four months before doing a European tour… So, basically, it was about maybe a couple of weeks after we finished the Pacific Rim where I [went], ‘Okay, I have to do this.'”
Drover revealed that he recommended three guitarists as potential replacements before leaving: “When I left, I recommended three guitar players [as my possible replacement], which were Jeff Loomis [Nevermore, Arch Enemy], Jeff Waters [Annihilator] and Chris Broderick [Jag Panzer, Nevermore, In Flames]. And for whatever reasons, Jeff had declined – both Jeffs – and Chris said ‘yes’. So that’s how and why [Chris] got in the band.”
Reflecting on his initial entry into Megadeth, Drover recounted how quickly he and Shawn were brought onboard: “I was referred by someone who I’d met years prior who was in contact with their webmaster… Within a few days, I was in the band – literally, it was that fast. We brought Shawn in… He had to learn 18 songs, I think, in six days and fit in with the band. We played our first show in Reno, and it went great.”
Drover also praised the chemistry between him and Shawn, highlighting their years of experience playing together: “The tightness that me and Shawn had formed as brothers was brought into the band, which helped a lot. We had a good lineup there… Everybody got along real well; everybody was chill. So it was just a really good atmosphere. And we had a lot of fun – seeing the world multiple times with my brother.”
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