Chargers sink to 0-2 after lackluster loss to Raiders

• September 21, 2026

INGLEWOOD — This was supposed to be the easy part. Two lackluster opponents and then the difficult part of the schedule. Two expected victories to get things rolling. Two games to break in a new offensive scheme and a new defensive one, too. Two reasons for optimism for the Chargers.

Now what?

What do the Chargers do after losses to the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday at SoFi Stadium and to the Arizona Cardinals on Sept. 13 by matching scores of 26-14? How can they recover going into the most difficult part of their schedule starting next Sunday against the Buffalo Bills?

“Work,” Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh said.

Harbaugh didn’t go into specifics despite repeated opportunities to do so.

“Execute,” Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert said.

Herbert didn’t dive into the details, either.

“I’d be lying if I said we look totally prepared out there because we’re not executing,” Chargers left tackle Rashawn Slater said, cutting to the heart of the matter after their offense sputtered for the second consecutive week under new offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel.

In fact, the Chargers looked like they should be wearing those “Hello, my name is … ” sticky badges as they stumbled and fumbled their way to a second consecutive defeat. For starters, Herbert completed 15 of 27 passes for only 192 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions.

The Chargers also fumbled six times, including running back Omarion Hampton’s game-altering fumble in the closing minutes of the fourth quarter, killing a potential go-ahead drive. The Raiders’ Jeremy Chinn picked up the ball at his own 41-yard line and returned it to the Chargers’ 16.

Two plays later, Las Vegas quarterback Kirk Cousins threw an 11-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Cody White, their second scoring connection of the game, with 2:59 remaining in the game. Cousins completed 19 of 29 passes for 253 yards and three touchdowns by game’s end.

The Raiders led, 24-14.

Right tackle Joe Alt, who had been penalized for false starts on consecutive snaps with the Chargers backed up near their own goal line earlier in the game, was then called for holding while Herbert attempted a pass from his own end zone. The Raiders were awarded a safety.

Las Vegas led, 26-14 with 1:41 left.

Game over.

Season on the brink?

“We have to find our way out of this,” Harbaugh said.

Asked why he believed the Chargers could rebound next week against the Bills, with the Super Bowl champions Seattle Seahawks up next and the AFC West champion Denver Broncos after that and the Kansas City Chiefs to follow before the bye week, Harbaugh sounded adamant that a turnaround was possible.

“The competitors, the fight,” he said. “You’ve got to fight your way out of it.”

The Chargers started with good intentions, but their opening possession stalled and Cameron Dicker was called upon to try a 58-yard field goal. His kick had the distance, but the ball struck the right upright and bounced away. It was a hint of things to come.

After a scoreless first quarter, Cousins threw a 40-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Tre Turner with 11:51 left in the half. Hampton’s 1-yard touchdown run capped a 10-play drive, pulling the Chargers into a 7-7 tie. Las Vegas took a 10-7 lead on Matt Gay’s 59-yard field goal with four seconds left in the half.

Herbert threw a 10-yard touchdown pass to tight end Oronde Gadsden to give the Chargers a 14-10 lead, their first of the season, with 9:49 left in the third quarter. Cousins then tossed touchdown passes of 13 and 11 yards to White, who was elevated from the practice squad before the game.

The Chargers’ defense under new coordinator Chris O’Leary had a second consecutive credible game, limiting the Raiders to 57 yards rushing on 29 attempts, for a puny average of two yards per carry. Top running back Ashton Jeanty rushed for 48 yards on 21 carries, an average of 2.3 yards.

Cousins did all the damage with his right arm, though.

The Chargers’ error prone offense did not live up to its end of the bargain for the second game in a row. Hampton rushed for 94 yards and one touchdown on 23 carries. Herbert looked unsettled far too often even with top receiver Ladd McConkey in the lineup after he hurt a rib against Arizona.

“We’re losing in the margins,” Harbaugh said after coaching his 100th game in the NFL. “That’s what we have to get fixed. We’ll go back and look at the tape. We’ll go back to work. That’s all I know how to do. That’s all we know what to do. We’ll find our way, find a way. We’ll move forward.”

Only 16% of NFL teams that started a season 0-2 went on to advance to the playoffs, so it’s going to take a great deal of work for the Chargers to get their game back in order.

​ Orange County Register 

Dana White on UFC 331: ‘Could not have a more perfect evening’

• September 20, 2026

LOS ANGELES — A sold-out arena on a record-breaking night with a star-studded crowd. A taut, action-packed main event between heated rivals. The upset heard around the world. And a finish that no one could ever recall seeing before.

Not a bad night if you’re UFC President and CEO Dana White, who couldn’t hide his happiness after Saturday night’s UFC 331 at Crypto.com Arena.

“Tonight was about, as a promoter, as perfect of a night as you could possibly hope for,” White said in an exclusive interview less than an hour after the fights had concluded.

“I mean, just all of it stacked up. You could not have a more perfect evening.”

While it has held shows over the years at Intuit Dome, Honda Center and the Kia Forum, the UFC hasn’t been in downtown Los Angeles since Aug. 4, 2018, for the bantamweight championship rematch between T.J. Dillashaw and former champ Cody Garbrandt.

Eight years later, the UFC featured the flyweight championship rematch between Joshua Van and former champ Alexandre Pantoja. All the hype and trash-talking lived up to the billing as the 125-pounders, with no love lost, went toe-to-toe for 25 minutes.

“Most grudge matches don’t live up to the hype, and that one did,” White said of the main event, which ended with Van retaining his title via unanimous decision. “That one exceeded it. I mean, it’s probably the best fight, or one of the best fights, in the history of that division.”

The hotly contested headliner was the cherry on the sundae Saturday. Some 19,357 fans packed Crypto.com Arena with an announced live gate of $8,228,105, making it the highest-grossing event in the arena’s nearly 27-year history.

The night ended with seven finishes – two particularly eyebrow-raising – and five decisions and one particularly thrilled executive, who spoke in a hallway adorned with some of the arena’s iconic moments, from Kobe Bryant and the NBA champion Lakers to the Kings and the Stanley Cup and innumerable legendary musical acts.

“Means everything to me. It means everything to me,” White said of setting the arena standard. “It’s like, think about how long it took us to get into New York, right? And we’re eight of the top 10 all-time gates in New York, right? In two years, we’ll be 10 of the 10.

“We know what this arena means to people. The biggest acts, from music to entertainment to sports, and we’re number one. Incredible! I love it.”

UFC 331 was the sixth card held in the downtown Los Angeles arena and the first under its Crypto.com banner. Between the Kia Forum and Intuit Dome, Inglewood has hosted three. Anaheim remains the most popular with 10, from 2006 to 2024, and rumors are that it could be on the UFC docket in early 2027.

It helps that Southern California is a quick flight from the UFC’s headquarters in Las Vegas, but White was effusive in his praise for local fight fans.

“I love putting on events in Southern California because the fan base is so rabid and so educated,” he said.

All-time upset

All it took was 12 seconds and one punch for heavyweight Sean Sharaf to upend the combat sports world in one of the unlikeliest upsets in UFC history.

Gable Steveson, with a 2020 Olympic gold medal and five All-American honors on his résumé, seemed to be making a smooth transition from wrestling to MMA as one of the hottest prospects in the sport.

Enter Sharaf, the 33-year-old Anaheim native and Santa Ana resident who was 0-2 in the UFC with his UFC career likely on the line. The 4-0 Steveson was such a sure shot that he was a 12-to-1 favorite on some sites.

Upsets happen all the time in the UFC, but not of that magnitude and violence. A Sharaf left to the jaw sent Steveson and his unblemished record reeling.

White has often said he is in a certain business, which starts with “holy” and ends in an expletive. When asked if Sharaf’s stunning victory was the holiest of the holies, White said it ranks among the biggest ever.

“I’ve had a few. It’s up there. It’s up there,” White said with a smile. “I mean, when you look at what the odds were for that fight, and for it to end that fast and that decisive? Yeah, it’s a holy (crap) moment.”

Money matters

Sharaf’s historic knockout did not go unrewarded. Sharaf was one of the lower earners on the card, with a $30,000 payout for show and another $30,000 for the win.

But the former Marine was the recipient of a one-time perk known as the Proper Chaos bonus, which had been announced by White in partnership with broadcast partner Paramount+ and its series “MobLand.”

The bonus was $50,000, with White saying he was matching it for a $100,000 payout to Sharaf.

Others earning bonuses:

Van and Pantoja took home $100,000 each for Fight of the Night.

Arman Tsarukyan, whose first-round knockout of Mauricio Ruffy in the co-main event solidified him as the next challenger for Justin Gaethje’s lightweight crown, received $100,000 for Performance of the Night.

Flyweight Casey O’Neill also took home $100,000 for her spectacular Performance of the Night armbar submission of Eduarda Moura. Mounted late in the first round, O’Neill used her feet on Moura’s hips to flip her up and over and, in the same motion, latched on to one of Moura’s arms, turned on her belly and got the remarkable tapout win.

White confirmed that, in all his years in seeing thousands and thousands of fights, he’d never seen a transition and submission like that. He spoke of seeing a limping O’Neill after the fight.

“I saw her on her way out, and she was just, you know, she was experiencing everything that you shouldn’t be experiencing after something like that,” White said. “Her knee was messed up. I said, ‘You’re going to the hospital.’ She said, “Hospital? I’m going to party. I’m going to celebrate!’ I said, ‘Good for you, kid. Have a great night.’”

​ Orange County Register 

Dodgers’ Dave Roberts trying to find ‘balance’ as Freddie Freeman struggles to rediscover his swing

• September 20, 2026

LOS ANGELES – Dave Roberts has a dilemma.

His first baseman, Freddie Freeman, just turned 37 years old and has been slumping badly down the stretch while playing through patellar tendinitis in his right knee. Never one to accept days off as the answer to anything, Freeman would probably benefit from some down time this week – but he also needs at-bats to rediscover the swing that had him batting .300 for the season just two weeks ago or recalibrate it to accommodate his balky knee.

“There’s rest, but there’s also trying to find your swing,” Roberts acknowledged after putting Freeman in the lineup Saturday and Sunday – a day game following a night game.

“I think it’s a work in progress,” Roberts said of Freeman’s swing. “I think that the other day in Cincinnati (a three-hit game Tuesday), I think it was looking pretty good, and then. I actually thought yesterday there were a couple good swings there.

“Obviously, the results weren’t there for him, and he’s frustrated, and I think that you just kind of have to count on him to figure it out and bet on him. And that’s kind of where we’re at. But again, having the week off (with a first-round bye) would be huge too.”

Freeman said he has been doing some different drills in the batting cage, focused on hitting the ball “out front” more.

“I feel like my faults are I try to hit the ball to the opposite field too much, and I let the ball get too deep, and it caused me to slide,” Freeman said earlier this week. “So today (in the cage) was – foot down early, catch the ball out front a little bit.”

Even with that three-hit game in Cincinnati and a two-hit game on Thursday, Freeman went into Sunday just 6 for his past 48 (.125), hitless in nine at-bats in the first two games of the series with the Giants.

“Got to go for results-based things right now,” Freeman said. “Looking to be hot for a few weeks. That’s all I’m trying to do.

“I’m just trying to find something that gives me results. We’re at the time where we’re just trying to get hot for five weeks here. So kind of like I did in the World Series a couple years ago (when his ankle was injured), I did the step-out move. That’s not sustainable over six months. I’m not trying to find something that’s sustainable. I’m trying to find something that works for four weeks.”

OHTANI WORK

The “hope” is that Shohei Ohtani will be ready to come off the Injured List when he is eligible on Wednesday, Roberts said. When he does, Roberts expects him to be in the lineup for the final five games.

“Absolutely,” Roberts said. “Yeah, he’ll need those live at-bats.”

Roberts has said Ohtani is “pain free” but he acknowledged that Ohtani won’t be 100 percent when he returns – but will be closer to it than he has been in weeks.

“Discomfort you can play through,” Roberts said of how Ohtani is feeling. “I think there’s a difference between discomfort and pain. Is it 100 percent? Probably not. Is it better than it was a week ago? Yes.

“Honestly I think that’s just a better question for Shohei to give more specifics, but I do think that when he’s activated it’s going to be the best physical place he’s been in in quite some time.”

Ohtani has spoken with the media just once in the past five weeks (before he went on the IL).

KIM CALL

Signed to a three-year, $12.5 million contract, Korean infielder Hyeseong Kim has spent most of the second season of that contract in Triple-A where he hit .265 with a .682 OPS in 84 games. He hasn’t been up with the Dodgers since May but Roberts said Kim will be part of the “conversation” for the postseason roster.

“My expectation is Hyeseong will be here during the off week (next week) and potentially be a conversation for the postseason (roster) because he has the ability to run, to play defense, and steal a base,” Roberts said. “He’s in the conversation, yes.”

Kim was on the postseason roster last fall, appearing in just two games. It will be difficult to give him a spot on a bench that seems set with Alex Call, Hunter Feduccia, Miguel Rojas, Kike’ Hernandez and Josue De Paula.

ROSTER MOVES

The Dodgers placed Tarik Skubal on the bereavement list Sunday and recalled Emmet Sheehan from Triple-A to pitch ‘bulk’ in Sunday’s game.

Also, Seth Halvorsen was returned to Triple-A and Kyle Hurt was recalled.

Sheehan is still under consideration for a bullpen role on the postseason roster.

UP NEXT

The Dodgers are off on Monday.

Padres (TBA) at Dodgers (TBA), Tuesday, 7:10 p.m., SportsNet LA, 570 AM

​ Orange County Register 

Tayler Saucedo has been a positive for the Angels struggling bullpen

• September 20, 2026

ANAHEIM — Tayler Saucedo has emerged from the rubble of the Angels’ embattled bullpen.

Saucedo, a 33-year-old who has been kicking around professional baseball since 2015, is not an up-and-coming prospect, but he has enjoyed some of the best success of his career over the last two months with the Angels.

Saucedo has a 2.66 ERA and he’s held opposing hitters to a .205 average, with 24 strikeouts and five walks in 20⅓ innings. He has not allowed a run in his last 13 appearances, the longest such streak of his career.

Overall, the Angels bullpen ranks 20th in the majors with a 4.29 ERA. They’ve suffered 29 blown saves, which is fifth most in the majors, and they’ve lost 11 games when leading after eight innings.

Fixing that over the winter will one of the Angels’ most pressing tasks.

Saucedo, who is arbitration eligible, will presumably still be with the team next year. What he’s done this season has been too small of a sample to be certain that he’s part of the bullpen solution next year, but so far his performance has been encouraging.

“I feel like the stuff is ticking up a little bit,” manager Kurt Suzuki said. “The strikeout to walks have been  elite. I think everything he’s been doing, coming in and attacking the strike zone, getting righties out, has been definitely a positive. He’s been awesome.”

When the Angels made the change from Mike Maddux to Tim Leveque as pitching coach, there was an emphasis throughout the staff on having pitchers throw their best pitches more often.

In Saucedo’s case, that’s meant using his sweeper more. He’s thrown more frequently that at any previous time in his career in the last month.

Opponents have hit .115 against Saucedo’s sweeper, and they’ve whiffed on 42% of their swings. He’s thrown it against righties and lefties.

Saucedo used his sweeper to strike out Ryan Kreidler on Saturday night, ending a 1-2-3 11th inning that set the stage for the Angels to win in the bottom of the inning.

After the strikeout, the normally subdued Saucedo was visibly pumped up as he strutted off the mound.

“That caught me off guard,” Suzuki said. “He’s a guy that kind of never shows any emotion. For him to do that, I think it fired the guys up. It was a big moment. He came up and did a great job and was fired up. That emotion, this time of year, is great.”

NOTES

With one week to go in the regular season, Suzuki said so far he’s heard nothing about his job status beyond the season. Suzuki is coming to the end of his one-year deal as manager. …

Since the start of August, Angels catchers have thrown out 31% of would-be base-stealers, leading the majors.

UP NEXT

Angels (LHP Yusei Kikuchi, 1-6, 5.02) at Athletics (LHP Brady Basso, 1-3, 4.50), Tuesday, 6:40 p.m., ABTV, 830 AM

​ Orange County Register 

Who can USC’s offense turn to without Trent Mosley?

• September 20, 2026

Kayden Dixon-Wyatt’s body twisted in the air — just enough so that he could still plant his left foot inside the red paint of Rutgers’ end zone.

The true freshman receiver’s vertical jump and catch radius allowed him to snatch a high pass from Jayden Maiava and get No. 12 USC (4-0) the valuable two points it needed to extend its lead to 35-21 against the upset-minded Scarlet Knights (0-3) on Saturday afternoon.

“In practice, we go over those (catches) — me and Jayden,” Dixon-Wyatt told reporters after the game. “I feel like it’s nothing new out there and it’s a repetition thing. So if you keep getting reps and reps, eventually it’ll come easier.”

The Mater Dei product has now surpassed Trent Mosley as the team’s leading receiver. Mosley was not available due to a knee injury for the 42-35 road win over Rutgers, leaving the Trojans to experiment with other offensive tools.

Dixon-Wyatt, receiver Corey Simms and running back Riley Wormley answered the call on a day in which the offense significantly outperformed the defense.

“(Simms and Wormley are) two of the stronger competitors on the team that have been really good special teams players,” head coach Lincoln Riley said. “They’re two guys that you never have to worry about their effort or their physicality or their competitiveness.”

Dixon-Wyatt was the leading receiver with five catches for 77 yards, and his nine targets made him Maiava’s favorite target of the game. Simms collected 72 yards and a 52-yard touchdown on four catches, with a team-high 33 yards after catch, and Wormley broke off a handful of explosive runs — something USC has been looking for.

He carried the ball three times for 52 yards and a touchdown and also caught a 2-yard pass for a quick score.

“With my preparation and eventually getting an opportunity to go on the field,” Wormley said, “I’m very thankful to the coaches and thankful to God. It’s all glory to God.”

USC will need Mosley’s compact yet powerful 5-foot-11 frame and his elite route-running ability as it goes deeper into Big Ten Conference play — starting with Oregon this weekend.

It’s unclear when the former Santa Margarita player will be back. Riley said the injury is not expected to be long-term and added that it’s something the team is continuing to monitor.

There is solid depth in the run game between King Miller, Waymond Jordan and Wormley, and running backs coach Anthony Jones, Jr. holds them to a high standard. Maiava has multiple receivers to choose from in addition to dependable tight end Mark Bowman.

The defense just needs to keep them on the field.

Rutgers scored a season-high 35 points against USC after losing its first two games of the season to the lowly UMass and Boston College and had the ball for 33:08, compared to USC’s 26:52.

The Scarlet Knights also produced a season-high 168 rushing yards, and their 292 passing yards were the most the Trojans had allowed all season. Running back Antwan Raymond unleashed a 49-yard rush that set teammate Clay Thevenin up for a 17-yard touchdown run.

It overshadowed Prophet Brown’s interception returned for a 99-yard touchdown and fellow safety Christian Pierce’s first-quarter interception.

“I like our good, but when we get teams — especially behind the chains — we better do a better job of making them pay,” Riley said. “That’s kind of when the game is in your favor defensively and that’s when we were at our worst today.”

USC has a lot to shore up before its first Top-25 matchup of the season when Oregon comes to the Coliseum on Saturday.

The Ducks have struggled out of the gate with a loss to unranked Oklahoma State and a near-loss to Boise State, another unranked team, in their season opener. They made a statement by shutting out Portland State 84-0 on Friday.

Whichever team wins in Los Angeles on Saturday will achieve a momentum-controlling, signature win.

“The locker room, the coaches, everyone,” Riley said of what gives him confidence. “It’ll be a fun atmosphere and we’re looking forward to it. We’ve got to have a good week of preparation and these are the kinds of games that you enjoy being in the Coliseum for and being at USC for.”

​ Orange County Register 

Trump says his planned arch would become a ‘military complex’ able to host drones and snipers

• September 20, 2026

By SEUNG MIN KIM

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Sunday that the massive arch he wants to build between the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington National Cemetery would become a “top grade military complex” able to host drones and snipers while storing ammunition.

It is one more example of how Trump is insisting that his initiatives to beautify the White House and the city are also serving a defensive purpose. Trump has been calling the new White House ballroom a “military complex” and arguing it is necessary for national security purposes.

The Pentagon said it had no information beyond the president’s statement.

Trump’s announcement also comes as the arch, like his other projects, faces legal challenges. Though the arch has received early approval from the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts, whose members were all tapped by Trump, a group of three veterans and an architectural historian sued, saying the project needs to be approved by Congress.

“The President’s belated efforts to manufacture a national security justification for this project do nothing to cure its fundamental illegality,” Nicolas Sansone, one of the attorneys representing the litigants, said Sunday. “Congress has not authorized the arch and unless and until Congress does so, the project should not be permitted to move forward.”

The Republican president said in a social media post that he had agreed, at the “strong request” of the military, to convert the planned 250-foot-tall (76-meter) memorial arch “into a top grade Military Complex/Triumphal Arch, to house, store, and have the rapid ability to use large numbers of drones, plus Snipers, on both the roof and plaza areas, and additionally have and hold large quantities of sniper ammunition in storage.”

The arch is proposed for a circle adjacent to the Memorial Bridge, which is a heavy traffic area as one of a handful of connecting bridges between the nation’s capital and northern Virginia.

The project is one of several projects that the Republican president is pursuing to leave his lasting imprint on Washington. Among the others are the White House ballroom, renaming and renovating the Kennedy Center, refurbishing the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool and rebuilding a golf course in East Potomac Park that could significantly reduce the public’s access to running and biking paths.

The groundbreaking for the arch was to have happened sometime this month. The project has not yet received final approval from the National Capital Area Planning Commission, which greenlit the site and preliminary plans at its July meeting. The commission is expected to take up the matter again this fall.

​ Orange County Register 

North Korea launches 2 ballistic missiles toward the sea and dials up pressure on the US

• September 20, 2026

By HYUNG-JIN KIM

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea launched two short-range ballistic missiles toward the sea on Sunday, South Korea’s military said, days after the North threatened to bolster its nuclear deterrent capabilities and respond to what it called U.S. hostilities.

The launches were the latest in a series of weapons demonstrations by North Korea even after U.S. President Donald Trump scaled back a joint military exercise with South Korea last month in an apparent effort to revive diplomacy with the North’s leader, Kim Jong Un.

The two missile launches — about three hours apart — were conducted from North Korea’s eastern coastal Wonsan area. The first missile flew about 450 kilometers (280 miles) while the second one flew more than 600 kilometers (370 miles), both toward the North’s eastern waters, South Korea’s military said.

The missiles eventually ended up in the sea. South Korea’s presidential office urged North Korea to immediately halt ballistic missile launches that are banned by U.N. Security Council resolutions. The South’s military said it maintains readiness to repel any provocations by the North under a solid alliance with the United States.

Japan’s Defense Ministry said it detected a suspected North Korean missile earlier Sunday but that the weapon did not land in its territorial waters.

North Korea escalates pressure on the US

Kim’s sister and senior official, Kim Yo Jong, earlier shrugged off Trump’s overture, saying that shortening the drill wouldn’t change its “provocative, aggressive nature.” North Korea’s military later launched about 10 short-range ballistic missiles toward the sea, apparently following through with a previous threat to respond to the U.S.-South Korean drill.

On Friday, Kim’s sister slammed another recent U.S.-led multilateral maritime exercise in the region as a “frantic military move” by the Americans meant to prolong their hegemony in the Asia-Pacific area. The “Pacific Vanguard” exercise brought together the U.S., South Korea, Japan, Australia, New Zealand and Canada.

She claimed that “regular U.S.-led war rehearsals” are the main source of worsening tensions in the Korean Peninsula and the region.

“Our will to defend our sovereignty will be expressed in clearer action and there will be never ever change in the course of intensifying the nuclear war deterrence,” she said.

Earlier this month, North Korea conducted what it called a joint live-fire drill involving missiles, artillery and drones, a day after the United States, South Korea and Japan wrapped their five-day trilateral military drill that North Korea described as a provocation. North Korea said its drill included firing different types of weapons simultaneously, likely aiming at developing the ability to overwhelm South Korean and U.S. air defenses.

Chances of a swift resumption of US-North Korea talks are unclear

Kim Jong Un has been focusing on expanding his nuclear arsenal after his earlier high-stakes diplomacy with Trump collapsed in 2019.

When Trump ordered the Pentagon to “substantially reduce” the annual Ulchi Freedom Shield exercise with South Korea, he cited what he called a good relationship with Kim, who has called such drills invasion rehearsals.

Emboldened by his advancing nuclear arsenal and deepening ties with Russia and China, experts say Kim likely thinks he now has greater leverage in possible fresh diplomacy with Trump. Earlier this year, Kim said he could return to talks if the U.S. drops its “hostile policy” against his country and respects what he calls the North’s status as a nuclear state.

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung, a liberal who advocates improved ties with the North, said on Friday that a resumption of U.S.-North Korea talks would be “an important starting point” toward boosting chances for peace on the Korean Peninsula.

“What is clear is that President Trump wants dialogue and I’ve also been encouraging President Trump to seek dialogue” with Kim, Lee told reporters.

Associated Press writer Yuri Kageyama in Tokyo contributed to this report.

​ Orange County Register 

Ukraine fires over 1,000 drones at Russia, including ‘largest ever’ attack on Moscow

• September 20, 2026

By The Associated Press

Ukrainian forces fired more than 1,000 drones at Russia overnight, including hundreds that were launched toward Moscow, officials said Sunday, as the Kremlin was wrapping up the third and last day of its parliamentary elections.

Moscow’s mayor described the wave of drones as the “largest ever” drone attack on the Russian capital and said there had been damage to the Moscow Oil Refinery, which is among several sites that supply the Russian capital, and a residential building.

Across the wider Moscow region, the attack killed two people and wounded 20, local Gov. Andrei Vorobyov said. The dead were a 74-year-old man and a 44-year-old woman, he said.

Writing on social media, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Kyiv had used a range of missiles and drones in the attack — including Ukraine’s domestically made Flamingo and Pelican missiles — to hit oil and logistics facilities.

“These are billions of dollars that sustain the war machine,” Zelenskyy said, referring to the financial pressure that Kyiv hopes to put on Russia’s economy.

Ukraine also continued to fend off Russian attacks, Zelenskyy said. A Russian drone strike hit a monastery in Ukraine’s Kherson region Saturday, killing a member of the clergy and wounding four people, he said.

A Russian attack on the Ukrainian capital also killed two children and their mother on Saturday evening, said Tymur Tkachenko, head of the Kyiv regional state administration. He later said that another child wounded in the same attack had died in hospital on Sunday.

Russia votes in an election devoid of opposition

The attack took place on the final day of Russia’s first wartime parliamentary election — balloting that has been virtually devoid of opposition to President Vladimir Putin’s policies and is all but certain to cement the Kremlin’s dominance.

Russia was also holding the vote in the four Ukrainian regions that Moscow illegally annexed after the war began but still doesn’t fully control, and in Crimea, the Black Sea peninsula that was illegally annexed by Russia in 2014. Kyiv has denounced the action as illegal.

In a Russian-occupied area of Ukraine’s Kherson region, a Ukrainian attack killed a member of the local electoral committee, Russia’s Central Election Commission said in a statement.

Russia’s Ministry of Defense said Sunday that its forces shot down a total of 1,110 Ukrainian drones across Russia, as well as over the annexed Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea and the waters of the Black Sea.

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said that 450 drones had been destroyed en route to the Russian capital, and that the attack had damaged the Moscow Oil Refinery and a residential building.

He said the “unprecedented attack” on Moscow was an attempt to disrupt the elections. “The enemy failed in this regard,” he said.

Since Russia’s invasion more than four years ago, Ukraine has become a global leader in military drone technology, deploying domestically produced long-range drones alongside missiles for strikes deep inside Russia. Its drone technology has impressed governments and defense manufacturers around the world.

Kyiv is aiming to make the Russian public feel the war’s consequences and pressure Russian President Vladimir Putin into negotiating a peace settlement. Putin has so far shown no signs he intends to stop the invasion.

Instead, Moscow and Kyiv have been drawn into an escalating duel of long-range aerial strikes as fighting along the roughly 1,250-kilometer (780-mile) front line in eastern and southern Ukraine has slowed, restricted by large numbers of drones and ground robots threatening troop movements.

​ Orange County Register