World
Charles Oakley, MSG Still Sparring as Judge Weighs Dolan Testimony
A federal judge in New York last Thursday issued a mixed set of rulings in retired New York Knicks star Charles Oakley’s long-lasting litigation against Madison Square Garden Networks over Oakley’s removal from his seat at a Knicks game in February 2017. The rulings indicate that unless the parties reach a settlement, a dispute that began shortly after Donald Trump became the 45th president could last well into Trump’s term as the 47th president.
U.S. District Judge Richard J. Sullivan sided with MSG on its demand that MSG chairman James Dolan face deposition only after MSG personnel are deposed. Sullivan agreed with MSG that having Dolan go last would help to “narrow the scope” of Dolan’s deposition. The judge reasoned that MSG employees “who were directly involved in Oakley’s removal and thus have the knowledge most relevant to determining whether unreasonable force was used against Oakley” should go first.
The fact that MSG employees haven’t yet been deposed is partly a reflection of the litigation’s turbulent path. The case has been dismissed twice at the trial level but reinstated twice by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, meaning it’s now in round three at the Southern District of New York. There are also disputed questions about key testimony and evidence that could further bog down the case. In the current version of the litigation, Oakley’s civil case is related to assault and battery claims stemming from his removal.
While Sullivan agreed Dolan would face deposition after MSG personnel, he sided against MSG’s request that Dolan not face deposition at all.
The judge explained that Oakley’s assault and battery claims “ultimately boil down to two considerations.” The first is the amount of force MSG staff used to remove Oakley from the Garden and, second, whether that force “was objectively reasonable under the circumstances.”
Oakley believes Dolan instructed staff to remove him. Sullivan reasoned that Dolan’s potential testimony is relevant in that he would have to answer under oath about whether he instructed—by words and/or “hand gestures”—the security guards to push Oakley and use excessive force. If Dolan gave an instruction to use force, his testimony, Sullivan wrote, “would support the reasonable inference that the guards followed Dolan’s instructions and would therefore make it more probable that the guards did in fact push him.”
Sullivan further observed that Dolan’s testimony is relevant to a key factual question: Whether the security guards “only resorted to force after Oakley physically escalated the situation.” Oakley’s case would be hampered by a finding that he instigated the altercation, since, Sullivan explained, “it might have been reasonable for the security guards to use greater force if Oakley was behaving aggressively.”
The judge was similarly unpersuaded that Dolan ought to be exempt from deposition on account of the apex-witness doctrine. As Sportico detailed in September when Sullivan rejected MSG’s earlier attempt to invoke this doctrine, high-ranking executives are sometimes exempt from depositions since they lack personal knowledge of key facts. In his latest ruling, Sullivan said Dolan “is not the prototypical apex witness who sits in the knowledge or involvement in the underlying conduct.”
Instead, Dolan literally “had a courtside seat to the action” and is accused of being involved in the incident. “The apex doctrine is plainly inapplicable here,” Sullivan insisted.
Sullivan also disagreed with MSG that Oakley is merely trying to depose Dolan to harass him. MSG cites text messages sent to Oakley from people urging the former player to go after Dolan, with one text saying Oakley should “sue the [expletive] out of Dolan.” Another text encouraged Oakley to use the discovery process to inflict a “public relations, social media, [and] social responsibility toll.” With negative attention stemming from the case, MSG might be more inclined to cut a deal. Sullivan didn’t find this evidence indicative of an intent by Oakley to harass, as there’s no evidence Oakley responded or otherwise endorsed the texts.
“We are pleased that the Court denied James Dolan’s latest attempt to avoid being deposed in this case,” Wigdor Law partner Valdi Licul, who is one of Oakley’s attorneys, told Sportico in a statement.
In September, the two sides told Sullivan their “present best estimate” was that a trial would take a couple of weeks. The judge at the time indicated there would be a post-discovery conference on March 4, 2025, though the parties’ recent disagreement about discovery suggests the case has a long way to go.
(In the next-to-last paragraph, Wigdor Law amended its original statement, replacing “to be excused from deposition in this case” to read “to avoid being deposed in this case.”)
new video loaded: Israel Launches Deadly Strikes in Gaza as Rafah Border Is Set to Reopen
By Jorge Mitssunaga
January 31, 2026
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A top Kremlin official praised President Donald Trump as an effective leader seeking peace in Ukraine, saying Moscow views renewed talks with Washington as productive.
Dmitry Medvedev, deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council and a former president, said Trump is genuinely trying to end the war in Ukraine and wants to be remembered as a peacemaker.
“Trump wants to go down in history as a peacemaker — and he is really trying,” Medvedev said in an interview with Reuters. “And that is why contacts with Americans have become much more productive.”
Trump has repeatedly said a peace deal to end the war is close. U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff said during a Cabinet meeting Thursday that he had “productive and constructive meetings” with Russian special envoy Kirill Dmitriev as part of the Trump administration’s ongoing effort to end the Russia-Ukraine war.
WITKOFF SAYS TALKS WITH RUSSIAN ENVOY WERE ‘PRODUCTIVE AND CONSTRUCTIVE’ AMID TRUMP ADMIN’S PEACE PUSH
Dmitry Medvedev attends an interview with Reuters, TASS and WarGonzo in the Moscow region, Russia, on Jan. 29, 2026. (Dmitry Medvedev’s Secretariat/Handout via Reuters)
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced Sunday that a new round of talks involving Ukraine, the United States and Russia will take place this week in Abu Dhabi. His announcement comes as Russia has intensified attacks on Ukraine’s energy and logistics infrastructure, worsening conditions for civilians as winter temperatures plunge.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks during a press conference in Kyiv on Feb. 10, 2025. (Tetiana Dzhafarova/AFP via Getty Images)
Medvedev dismissed speculation that Trump is secretly aligned with Moscow, telling the outlet that Americans elected him and Russia respects that choice. He also praised Trump for standing up to the U.S. political establishment and said his blunt, sometimes “brash” style is misunderstood.
ZELENSKYY ANNOUNCES NEXT ROUND OF TALKS WITH US, RUSSIA AS UKRAINE AIMS FOR ‘REAL AND DIGNIFIED END TO THE WAR’
“He is an emotional person, but on the other hand, the chaos that is commonly referred to, which is created by his activities, is not entirely true,” Medvedev said. “It is obvious that behind this lies a completely conscious and competent line.”
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and President Donald Trump meet at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Jan. 22, 2026. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/Handout via Reuters)
Medvedev told the outlet that Trump’s background as a businessman shapes his approach, joking that there is no such thing as a former businessman, an echo of a well-known Russian saying about former KGB agents.
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Medvedev, a hardliner within Russia’s leadership, has frequently warned of nuclear escalation since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022. He has stressed that avoiding further conflict remains the priority, but still expects Russia to achieve military victory in Ukraine.
“I would like this to happen as soon as possible,” Medvedev said of ending the conflict. “But it is equally important to think about what will happen next. The goal of victory is to prevent new conflicts.”
Published on •Updated
Some good news for air travellers. Many European airports are finally ditching the controversial 100 millilitre limit on cabin bag liquids, marking the end of an era of minuscule, overpriced creams and shampoos.
It follows the rollout of new CT security scanners, which provide high-resolution 3D visuals detecting both solid and liquid explosives. Last July, the EU Commission said that a move to scrap the rule across the whole bloc is also in the pipeline.
The 100ml limit was introduced in Europe and beyond in 2006, after UK police had foiled an Islamist plot to blow up transatlantic flights using liquid bombs hidden inside soft drink bottles.
Which airports let you fly with liquids of up to 2L?
With the new rules, people would be able to carry up to 2 litres per single container in their cabin bag.
But travellers should carefully read the cabin bag rules before packing. Many EU and European airports (actually, most of them) haven’t complied yet.
United Kingdom: Widespread CT scanner use
London Heathrow, the continent’s busiest airport, was the latest to raise the liquid limit, only a few weeks ago, enforcing it across all its terminals. It followed other British hubs like London Gatwick, Birmingham, Belfast and Edinburgh.
London Stansted isn’t there yet, but passengers can leave their liquids inside their bags without placing them in an external plastic container. The same applies to London City Airport and Luton.
Germany: Patchy adoption in Frankfurt, Berlin and Munich
Munich airport authorities told Europe in Motion that the limit has been increased to 2L “at 15 security lanes in Terminal 2 and five lanes in Terminal 1”.
The remaining lanes “do not yet have modern CT technology”, so “the 100ml limit continues to apply”, they said.
Similarly, at Frankfurt Airport, only “some security checkpoints are already using new CT scanners that allow up to 2 litres”.
The same applies to Berlin Brandenburg, where 2L is allowed only in 24 security lanes.
“In 2026, we will begin the refurbishment of the remaining security lanes in the main hall of Terminal 1,” Berlin airport authorities told us, while they continue to recommend passengers to stick to 100ml “to ensure a smooth process”.
Italy: Ongoing rollout in north and centre
Good news for tourists visiting Italy soon for the Winter Olympics, as travelling with liquids of up to 2L is now allowed atMilan Linate,Bologna, Rome Fiumicino, Milan Malpensa (Terminal 1 only), and Turin (for fast-track passengers only).
Other European airports that have increased the liquid limit
Passengers can carry liquids of a maximum of 2L also going through Dublin, Prague Vaclav Terminal 2, Vilniusand Kaunas (Lithuania),Kraków and Poznań (Poland), Cluj (Romania), Denmark’s Billund and Malta.
Which other airports plan to raise the limit and which don’t?
Amsterdam Schiphol, Europe’s third busiest airport, and Barcelona El Prat told Europe in Motion that they are following European regulations, but didn’t elaborate on whether they would raise the limit to 2L in the future.
Brussels Zaventem also doesn’t envisage changes: “We are monitoring technological developments, but at the moment there are no concrete plans to adapt the security equipment,” they told us.
Likewise, at airports in Paris, Marseille, Madrid, Athens and Lisbon, the limit for liquid containers stays 100ml.
Athens plans to introduce the new 2L scanners in early 2027, once expansion works at Eleftherios Venizelos are completed, authorities told us, while Paris airports aim to be fully ready by 2030.
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