Legendary director Steven Spielberg on Sunday completed the grand slam of showbiz awards, earning EGOT status by winning a Grammy in the best music film category for the documentary “Music by John Williams.”
Spielberg, 79, has now won Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony [EGOT] awards throughout his storied career — a feat only accomplished by 21 other people.
That list reads like a who’s who of showbiz, from composers Richard Rodgers and Alan Menken to actresses Audrey Hepburn and Whoopi Goldberg to singers John Legend and Jennifer Hudson.
“Music by John Williams” celebrates the work of the 93-year-old composer, who collaborated with Spielberg on a host of movies, including classics “Jaws” and “Schindler’s List.”
“This acknowledgment is obviously deeply meaningful to me because it validates what I have known for over 50 years: John Williams’ influence on culture and music is immeasurable and his artistry and legacy is unrivaled,” Spielberg said in a statement on the Instagram account of his Amblin Entertainment company.
Spielberg has won three Academy Awards, twice for best director and once for best picture for “Schindler’s List.” He has taken home four Primetime Emmys for various projects including the World War II series “Band of Brothers.”
Kyiv, Ukraine – At the start of Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza in October 2023, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy voiced support for Israel, while First Lady Olena Zelenska said Ukrainians understand and “share the pain” of the Israeli people.
Billboards across Kyiv lit up the capital with Israeli flags.
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The response reflected a position held by much of Ukrainian society and many Western leaders at the time.
For some people straddling both identities, the early reactions were difficult to watch.
‘Travelling as a Palestinian closes’ doors
Hashem, a Gaza-born medical professional who obtained Ukrainian citizenship after nearly a decade living in the country, said the contrast in how Palestinians and Ukrainians are treated internationally has long been apparent.
“Travelling as a Ukrainian opens doors; travelling as a Palestinian closes them,” he said, describing the stark difference in freedom of movement, visa access and public sympathy attached to each of his identities.
“This is not a competition of suffering, but a question of principle. If human rights are truly universal, they cannot depend on nationality or passport,” said Hashem, who requested Al Jazeera withholds his surname.
Citizens with foreign passports wait to travel through the Rafah crossing in November 2023, when a small number of foreign passport holders and seriously wounded were allowed to enter Egypt from Gaza [File: Ahmad Hasaballah/Getty Images]
A shifting view of Israel
However, as Israel’s bombardment of Gaza continued and developed into a genocide against Palestinians, some Ukrainians said public opinion gradually shifted.
Yuliia Kishchuk, a Ukrainian researcher who, along with 300 Ukrainian scholars, activists and artists, signed an open letter expressing solidarity with Palestinians, said the engineered starvation of Palestinians in Gaza triggered many to reconsider their view of the conflict.
She said some Ukrainians drew parallels with the Soviet-era famine known as the Holodomor, which is regarded by Kyiv as a deliberate act of genocide by Stalin’s regime.
Kishchuk added that attacks on other countries, such as Syria, challenged the Israeli narrative that it had been simply defending itself against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
Pro-Palestinian protests have sprung up in Kyiv while prominent mainstream media journalists and podcasters have begun covering the plight of the Palestinians, she explained.
But Kishchuk said the bombardment of Ukraine’s infrastructure over recent weeks, which has left millions without heating, electricity and water as the country endures a freezing winter, has temporarily halted the burgeoning protest movement.
Zelenskyy and his wife Olena pay their tributes at a monument to victims of the Holodomor that killed millions in the 1930s, in Kyiv, Ukraine [File: Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP]
A shifting view of the US
United States President Donald Trump’s approach to the Russia-Ukraine war has left many Ukrainians jaded.
Washington is seen by many as less of a steadfast ally and more as a power willing to treat Ukraine as a resource base, while maintaining a conciliatory posture towards Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Kishchuk said this has meant many now see the US “as an imperial power in Ukraine” compared with the beginning of the war, when they felt “supported and included”.
The signing of a mineral deal which provides Washington with access to valuable rare minerals in Ukraine has also made Ukrainians reflect on how the country is seen as “a resource base … something that connects us to Palestine and to countries in the Global South that are usually perceived in that similar logic by the big empires”, she said.
Kyiv has also shifted its stance towards Palestine, with Zelenskyy publicly saying at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore in 2024 that “Ukraine recognises two states, both Israel and Palestine, and will do everything it can to convince Israel to stop, to end this conflict and prevent the suffering of civilians”.
In July 2024, Kyiv sent 1,000 tonnes of wheat flour to the Palestinian territories as humanitarian assistance through its “Grain from Ukraine” initiative.
Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs also openly criticised Israel’s September 2025 attack on Qatar, describing it as a gross violation of international law.
‘War has the same face everywhere’
Aaisha Aroggi, a 25-year-old student from Gaza City, was displaced 10 times in the first months of Israel’s war. She later made it to Egypt via the Rafah crossing, then to Ukraine, where she was granted residency because her brother was living and working in Kyiv.
Compared with the brutal conditions in Gaza, Kyiv felt like a safe haven at first, she said. But now, with constant Russian attacks on infrastructure, she feels she has gone from one place of destruction to another.
“War has the same face everywhere,” she said.
Palestinian children walk past the rubble of residential buildings in Gaza City, January 28, 2026 [Mahmoud Issa/Reuters]
Aroggi said at the beginning of the genocidal war on Gaza, people in Ukraine and much of Europe did not understand the Palestinian experience. However, since then, Palestinian platforms and information have spread across the continent.
In Kyiv, students at her university ask about Gaza and show support for the Palestinian cause.
“They really understand what has happened,” she said.
‘In Ukraine, when I speak about Palestine, reactions vary’
Despite these gradual changes, Hashem said, he still sees double standards, “not out of anger toward Ukrainians, but because of the system that decides whose suffering matters more”.
“In Ukraine, when I speak about Palestine, reactions vary. Some people listen and try to understand; others struggle to accept comparisons, often because they have been told for years that the situations are not comparable,” he said.
However, he believes moments of political change have created opportunities for deeper understanding.
The New York Knicks have spoiled what might have been LeBron James’s last game at Madison Square Garden, stretching their winning streak to six games with a 112-100 victory against the Los Angeles Lakers.
OG Anunoby scored 25 points, and reserve Landry Shamet added 23 to lead the Knicks to the win on Sunday night.
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Four-time NBA Most Valuable Player James, a 41-year-old Lakers star, remains uncommitted beyond this season, his NBA-record 23rd, but he said playing at the Garden meant “everything” to him.
“It’s the Mecca of basketball in New York. It’s the Big Apple. Being at MSG, so many guys have walked this court, basketball, entertainment, actors, musicians, everything. It has been a wide range of America, the people, to grace this floor,” James said.
“I hope I’m like a small snippet of somebody that came through here and was able to make a little small dent from a visitor’s perspective. It’s always cool in here. I’ve always loved these fans.”
While not saying it was his Garden farewell, James noted, “When the time comes, it will always have a special place.”
Josh Hart added 20 points for the Knicks while All-Star guard Jalen Brunson had 12 points, 13 rebounds and seven assists.
“We’ve just been playing together,” Brunson said of their win streak. “Sticking together, that’s the biggest part, having each other’s back, holding each other accountable.
“We have to continue to do that. Can’t be satisfied. It’s a collective effort.”
The Knicks improved to 31-18, second in the Eastern Conference behind Detroit.
The Lakers fell to 29-19 despite 30 points from Luka Doncic and 22 from James, who was named to his record 22nd NBA All-Star Game as a reserve by NBA coaches.
“Super humbling,” James said. “Mad respect to the coaches. Playing at the latter stages of my career and still [being] able to be an All-Star, it means a lot.”
It was the Lakers’ first loss of the season after leading at half time.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of the Oklahoma City Thunder shoots the ball over Peyton Watson of the Denver Nuggets during their game in Denver, Colorado [Justin Tafoya/Getty Images via AFP]
Spurs, OKC win
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 34 points and added 13 assists while Cason Wallace had a career-high 27 points with seven three-pointers as reigning champions Oklahoma City won 121-111 at Denver.
“We knew we were going to have to bring it in this building if we wanted to get a W,” Gilgeous-Alexander said.
French star Victor Wembanyama delivered 25 points, eight rebounds, five blocked shots, four steals and two assists to ignite San Antonio’s 112-103 home triumph over Orlando.
The game was pushed back to a night contest after the Spurs (33-16) had trouble flying out of snowstorm-hit Charlotte.
Cleveland’s Jarrett Allen scored 40 points and grabbed 17 rebounds as the Cavaliers won 130-111 at Portland.
Detroit claimed the most lopsided victory in team history as Jalen Duren scored 21 points, while Cade Cunningham had 18 points and 12 assists in a 130-77 rout of visiting Brooklyn.
Swedish guard Pelle Larsson and Bam Adebayo each scored 20 points as host Miami ripped Chicago 134-91, the third-biggest rout in Heat history.
Jaylen Brown had 30 points and 13 rebounds to lead the Boston Celtics over Milwaukee 107-79.
RJ Barrett scored 21 points and Brandon Ingram added 19 for Toronto in a 107-100 home victory over Utah. Finland’s Lauri Markkanen led the Jazz with 27 points.
Washington rookie Will Riley scored 18 points off the bench to lead the host Wizards over Sacramento 116-112, stretching the Kings’ losing streak to six games.
Transfer deadline day has become an event for fans and something of a media circus in recent years, but it has always been an important day for managers, even before the current system of having transfer windows was introduced in 2002.
Get it right – and get the player or players you want in at the 11th hour – and you can turn your season around.
On the other hand, if you don’t get important deals done or lose someone without replacing them, it can take the wind out of your sails and deflate a team involved in a promotion bid or survival battle.
I never saw making late signings as a risk, because I always thought the players I was bringing in would make the team better.
Looking back at the transfer deadline day deals I was involved in was really interesting. Yes, I had a few stinkers, but also some really good ones. A theme emerged which showed that if you can do good business, it can really change the fortunes of the team.
At Crystal Palace on the final day of the January window in 2014, for example, the permanent additions of Scott Dann, Wayne Hennessey, Joe Ledley and also Tom Ince on loan, sparked an amazing turnaround.
We were in a relegation battle and in serious trouble near the bottom of the Premier League when they arrived but we ended up 11th, 12 points clear of the bottom three, after securing our survival with three games to go.
All four new players were great positives who played a huge part in our improvement. I am not saying they upgraded the quality of our players but they gave us a better balance as a team, which I felt we lacked before they came in.
When a crucial deal was almost called off
Getty Images
It was a very similar story at Stoke a few years earlier when we had just qualified for the Europa League group stage and I was trying to strengthen my squad at the start of the season.
As I’ve explained previously in this column, I always had the final decision on any transfer, and yet one of the most influential deadline day deals I ever made was nearly cut short by a member of non-footballing staff.
At the end of August 2011, Peter Crouch’s time was up at Tottenham and he was looking to move north. Spurs boss Harry Redknapp rang and made me aware of the situation but, after a few phone calls, it was clear Peter’s wages would not be affordable for us.
A day later – deadline day – Harry rang again and said his executive chairman, Daniel Levy, was really keen to strike a deal.
So, over long discussions and with the clock ticking down to the end of the window, Spurs made adjustments to Peter’s situation and, with the guarantee that he would sign a longer contract with us than was originally planned, I believed my chairman Peter Coates would back the signing.
I spoke to the chairman, who spoke to his daughter Denise and son John to confirm if the deal was feasible for us.
I believe both were in favour, but Coates rang me up with a negative from someone else on the basis that Crouch’s age – he was 30 – and the length of his contract, meant we would get no return on the £10m we were paying for him, which was a club record fee.
I told him that he would get that £10m back tenfold, because Crouchy would guarantee us Premier League football for the next four years, which was worth far more than any returnable sale for him or any other player we signed instead.
As soon as I said that, Coates said “yes, I understand”, and put the phone down. The deal was done and the rest is history.
Crouchy played seven seasons for Stoke in the Premier League and was a fantastic player for us – he is a fabulous person as well.
Getty Images
Why are there games in the run-up to the deadline?
Whether they go through on deadline day or not, all transfer windows are full of ups and downs – not all my signings were as good as the ones above! – and the last few hours before they close are followed almost religiously by every football fan up and down the country.
Will something happen to increase your chances of success or survival, or the opposite? Whichever way it goes, the windows are here to stay.
There are some things that annoy me about the current system, however, so I need to get this off my chest.
As I’ve explained, the last few days of any window are manic for clubs, not just the final hours – and that affects players, managers and coaches.
I’ve had experience of sitting in a hotel room waiting to play an away game but, two hours away from kick-off, still being on the phone to my chairman and chief executive about a deal that was happening that night.
That’s just ridiculous, so why do the powers that be often organise midweek games during these hectic final days, or even on deadline day itself? In the past there has been a full programme of fixtures, and even this time Sunderland play Burnley on Monday evening.
Do they not understand how at this time, every club – so every player, coach and manager, and every supporter too – is zoned in on what is happening in the transfer market?
Finding a loophole in the system
Getty Images
By the time today’s deadline is done, we will have seen more than £1bn spent across the 2025-26 summer and winter windows by English clubs alone, mostly in the top division. It is an extraordinary amount of money, but football today is big business.
Over my 30 years of management, I have witnessed many changes to the system, with the biggest being when windows were brought in, in 2002. Before then, you could buy and sell players whenever you liked throughout the season, until a deadline at the end of March.
When that change happened, Football League clubs were still allowed to make loan signings during certain periods after the windows had shut. Again, these could have a big impact.
When Stoke were battling against relegation from the Championship in March 2003, we brought in striker Ade Akinbiyi on loan from Crystal Palace and goalkeeper Mark Crossley from Middlesbrough.
They both had a tremendous impact, with their personality as well as their performances, and we ended up staying up on the last day of the season thanks to a 1-0 win over Reading, with Ade scoring our goal.
A few years later, again when I was at Stoke, we came across a loophole in the window system, about players in the Premier League who were left out of the nominated 25-man first-team squad that were registered to play in the league following that specific window.
Those players would be allowed to be loaned out, from a week after the window had closed.
John Rudge was at Stoke with me, as our director of sport, and was a wily old fox.
As I mentioned about my coaching staff in last week’s column about Michael Carrick, I always preferred an experienced head alongside me and there was no-one older and wiser than John around. I asked him to compile a list of those players who could help us.
The 2006-07 season did not start too well, and I was being criticised by some supporters about how the club had been so quiet during the summer transfer window – even my own chief executive questioned my ability to bring players in too!
The window closed but then the emergency window opened and in September, October and November of that year, we brought in Patrik Berger and Lee Hendrie from Aston Villa and Salif Diao of Liverpool, all on loan and with the parent clubs paying the majority of the players’ wages.
That season we missed out on the top-six in the Championship and a play-off place after drawing at QPR on the final day, but the momentum we built up then was maintained the following year when the club reached the Premier League for the first time in its history.
Keeping or selling players is just as important as signing them
Getty Images
Keeping hold of players can be just as important as signing them, but there are many factors here to take into account.
During my lower-league days, the money raised by player sales was the lifeblood of many clubs and could be the difference between it staying afloat and going under, so the Bosman Ruling in 1995 had a huge effect.
It meant that if a player’s contract ran out, the club had absolutely no say over his right to join another club. He would become a free agent, with the opportunity to go wherever he wished.
Even before then, the pendulum had started to swing away from the club and towards the player, because a player going into the final year of his contract would command a much smaller fee than someone at the start or middle of a long-term deal.
I was a manager at this time and would ask you to remember what I have said before, about how managers then had the authority to completely control football matters.
Because of that, it became imperative that your judgement of your players was spot-on, in respect of their valuation.
Clubs became much more aware of the importance of offering longer-term contracts, and without doubt more lucrative deals, to the players of value, and then sometimes deciding on the right time to sell.
Getty Images
Efan was a fantastic talent but had suffered a really bad run of injuries and our board of directors had been desperate to sell him. I’d fought tooth and nail to keep him and, back fit again, he was tearing us up the table in what is now League One, scoring some spectacular goals.
With the help of my chairman, Norman Hayward, we managed to keep him at the club right up until deadline day. Norwich made an offer early that morning to buy Efan, but we held firm and only after many hours wrangling with Canaries boss Mike Walker, did we finally agree a £500,000 deal with £250,000 on top for appearances, that was compatible for both clubs.
My chairman stuck by me that day because although I knew the chance of top-flight football and to join a team challenging for the title was an amazing opportunity for Efan, and I wanted to look after him, Norman reminded me that the player was about to roll into the last season of his contract.
I didn’t want to sell Efan below his market value, but not cashing in on him then could have spelt real danger for a club who were in financial difficulties, so I also had to protect its future – sometimes getting the right last-minute deal is not just about how it will affect your team on the pitch.
Transfer deadline day has become an event for fans and something of a media circus in recent years, but it has always been an important day for managers, even before the current system of having transfer windows was introduced in 2002.
Get it right – and get the player or players you want in at the 11th hour – and you can turn your season around.
On the other hand, if you don’t get important deals done or lose someone without replacing them, it can take the wind out of your sails and deflate a team involved in a promotion bid or survival battle.
I never saw making late signings as a risk, because I always thought the players I was bringing in would make the team better.
Looking back at the transfer deadline day deals I was involved in was really interesting. Yes, I had a few stinkers, but also some really good ones. A theme emerged which showed that if you can do good business, it can really change the fortunes of the team.
At Crystal Palace on the final day of the January window in 2014, for example, the permanent additions of Scott Dann, Wayne Hennessey, Joe Ledley and also Tom Ince on loan, sparked an amazing turnaround.
We were in a relegation battle and in serious trouble near the bottom of the Premier League when they arrived but we ended up 11th, 12 points clear of the bottom three, after securing our survival with three games to go.
All four new players were great positives who played a huge part in our improvement. I am not saying they upgraded the quality of our players but they gave us a better balance as a team, which I felt we lacked before they came in.
When a crucial deal was almost called off
Getty Images
It was a very similar story at Stoke a few years earlier when we had just qualified for the Europa League group stage and I was trying to strengthen my squad at the start of the season.
As I’ve explained previously in this column, I always had the final decision on any transfer, and yet one of the most influential deadline day deals I ever made was nearly cut short by a member of non-footballing staff.
At the end of August 2011, Peter Crouch’s time was up at Tottenham and he was looking to move north. Spurs boss Harry Redknapp rang and made me aware of the situation but, after a few phone calls, it was clear Peter’s wages would not be affordable for us.
A day later – deadline day – Harry rang again and said his executive chairman, Daniel Levy, was really keen to strike a deal.
So, over long discussions and with the clock ticking down to the end of the window, Spurs made adjustments to Peter’s situation and, with the guarantee that he would sign a longer contract with us than was originally planned, I believed my chairman Peter Coates would back the signing.
I spoke to the chairman, who spoke to his daughter Denise and son John to confirm if the deal was feasible for us.
I believe both were in favour, but Coates rang me up with a negative from someone else on the basis that Crouch’s age – he was 30 – and the length of his contract, meant we would get no return on the £10m we were paying for him, which was a club record fee.
I told him that he would get that £10m back tenfold, because Crouchy would guarantee us Premier League football for the next four years, which was worth far more than any returnable sale for him or any other player we signed instead.
As soon as I said that, Coates said “yes, I understand”, and put the phone down. The deal was done and the rest is history.
Crouchy played seven seasons for Stoke in the Premier League and was a fantastic player for us – he is a fabulous person as well.
Getty Images
Why are there games in the run-up to the deadline?
Whether they go through on deadline day or not, all transfer windows are full of ups and downs – not all my signings were as good as the ones above! – and the last few hours before they close are followed almost religiously by every football fan up and down the country.
Will something happen to increase your chances of success or survival, or the opposite? Whichever way it goes, the windows are here to stay.
There are some things that annoy me about the current system, however, so I need to get this off my chest.
As I’ve explained, the last few days of any window are manic for clubs, not just the final hours – and that affects players, managers and coaches.
I’ve had experience of sitting in a hotel room waiting to play an away game but, two hours away from kick-off, still being on the phone to my chairman and chief executive about a deal that was happening that night.
That’s just ridiculous, so why do the powers that be often organise midweek games during these hectic final days, or even on deadline day itself? In the past there has been a full programme of fixtures, and even this time Sunderland play Burnley on Monday evening.
Do they not understand how at this time, every club – so every player, coach and manager, and every supporter too – is zoned in on what is happening in the transfer market?
Finding a loophole in the system
Getty Images
By the time today’s deadline is done, we will have seen more than £1bn spent across the 2025-26 summer and winter windows by English clubs alone, mostly in the top division. It is an extraordinary amount of money, but football today is big business.
Over my 30 years of management, I have witnessed many changes to the system, with the biggest being when windows were brought in, in 2002. Before then, you could buy and sell players whenever you liked throughout the season, until a deadline at the end of March.
When that change happened, Football League clubs were still allowed to make loan signings during certain periods after the windows had shut. Again, these could have a big impact.
When Stoke were battling against relegation from the Championship in March 2003, we brought in striker Ade Akinbiyi on loan from Crystal Palace and goalkeeper Mark Crossley from Middlesbrough.
They both had a tremendous impact, with their personality as well as their performances, and we ended up staying up on the last day of the season thanks to a 1-0 win over Reading, with Ade scoring our goal.
A few years later, again when I was at Stoke, we came across a loophole in the window system, about players in the Premier League who were left out of the nominated 25-man first-team squad that were registered to play in the league following that specific window.
Those players would be allowed to be loaned out, from a week after the window had closed.
John Rudge was at Stoke with me, as our director of sport, and was a wily old fox.
As I mentioned about my coaching staff in last week’s column about Michael Carrick, I always preferred an experienced head alongside me and there was no-one older and wiser than John around. I asked him to compile a list of those players who could help us.
The 2006-07 season did not start too well, and I was being criticised by some supporters about how the club had been so quiet during the summer transfer window – even my own chief executive questioned my ability to bring players in too!
The window closed but then the emergency window opened and in September, October and November of that year, we brought in Patrik Berger and Lee Hendrie from Aston Villa and Salif Diao of Liverpool, all on loan and with the parent clubs paying the majority of the players’ wages.
That season we missed out on the top-six in the Championship and a play-off place after drawing at QPR on the final day, but the momentum we built up then was maintained the following year when the club reached the Premier League for the first time in its history.
Keeping or selling players is just as important as signing them
Getty Images
Keeping hold of players can be just as important as signing them, but there are many factors here to take into account.
During my lower-league days, the money raised by player sales was the lifeblood of many clubs and could be the difference between it staying afloat and going under, so the Bosman Ruling in 1995 had a huge effect.
It meant that if a player’s contract ran out, the club had absolutely no say over his right to join another club. He would become a free agent, with the opportunity to go wherever he wished.
Even before then, the pendulum had started to swing away from the club and towards the player, because a player going into the final year of his contract would command a much smaller fee than someone at the start or middle of a long-term deal.
I was a manager at this time and would ask you to remember what I have said before, about how managers then had the authority to completely control football matters.
Because of that, it became imperative that your judgement of your players was spot-on, in respect of their valuation.
Clubs became much more aware of the importance of offering longer-term contracts, and without doubt more lucrative deals, to the players of value, and then sometimes deciding on the right time to sell.
Getty Images
Efan was a fantastic talent but had suffered a really bad run of injuries and our board of directors had been desperate to sell him. I’d fought tooth and nail to keep him and, back fit again, he was tearing us up the table in what is now League One, scoring some spectacular goals.
With the help of my chairman, Norman Hayward, we managed to keep him at the club right up until deadline day. Norwich made an offer early that morning to buy Efan, but we held firm and only after many hours wrangling with Canaries boss Mike Walker, did we finally agree a £500,000 deal with £250,000 on top for appearances, that was compatible for both clubs.
My chairman stuck by me that day because although I knew the chance of top-flight football and to join a team challenging for the title was an amazing opportunity for Efan, and I wanted to look after him, Norman reminded me that the player was about to roll into the last season of his contract.
I didn’t want to sell Efan below his market value, but not cashing in on him then could have spelt real danger for a club who were in financial difficulties, so I also had to protect its future – sometimes getting the right last-minute deal is not just about how it will affect your team on the pitch.
