ASTON VILLA are ready to cancel Philippe Coutinho’s contract some 654 days after he last played for them.
The playmaker, 32, is currently on loan at Brazilian side Vasco da Gama, where he’s scored eight times in 43 outings.
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Aston Villa are trying to terminate Philippe Coutinho’s monster contractCredit: Getty
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He has spent the last year on loan with Brazilian side Vasco de GamaCredit: Shutterstock Editorial
Coutinho, who also spent last season on loan at Qatari side Al-Duhail, has not played for Villa since the start of the 2023/24 campaign — exactly 654 days ago.
But he still has a year remaining on his lucrative £125,000-a-week contract, which Coutinho signed in 2022 after making his shock loan from Barcelona permanent for £17million.
And the Athletic claims Villa chiefs have now made it a priority to get his high wages off their books ahead of another summer splurge.
Coutinho hit the ground running when he moved to Villa Park on loan in January 2022, scoring five goals in 19 games under Steven Gerard.
But standards slipped after his move became permanent, with the ex-Liverpool and Bayern Munich star netting just once in the following 24 outings.
And Coutinho now looks set to become a free agent if Villa can agree a deal to terminate his contract this month.
He’s not the only potential outgoing as Unai Emery’s men look to balance the books.
Emi Martinez, Lucas Digne and Leon Bailey could be sold for the right price, with Emi Buendia, Leander Dendocker, Enzo Barrenechea and Samuel Iling-Junior up for grabs.
Reporting from Berkeley — The school bus ride was less than three miles from one side of Berkeley to the other, but from 1969 to 1973 it transported Carole Porter to an entirely different world.
Like her neighbor and friend Kamala Harris, Porter was one of thousands of black children bused into predominantly white neighborhoods to learn. It was part of Berkeley’s bold experiment in desegregation.
But even in a city that had become a worldwide symbol of 1960s counterculture revolt, systemic racial prejudice in education and housing remained deeply entrenched.
“That’s a really hard thing to reconcile,” said Porter, 55. “Berkeley was an oxymoron. It was a contradiction in many ways.”
Harris’ three years of busing from her family’s mainly black working-class neighborhood to a prosperous white enclave in the hills overlooking San Francisco Bay was at once universal and uniquely Berkeley.
As in many American cities, the discriminatory housing policy known as redlining kept blacks from moving into white neighborhoods in Berkeley and busing fueled some white flight to the suburbs.
But unlike other sizable cities, Berkeley undertook its busing program voluntarily and required both white and black families to travel into unfamiliar neighborhoods. Rapid demographic and political changes shielded the community from the most extreme pushback, including violence, that hobbled busing efforts nationwide.
More than 50 years after Berkeley launched its busing program, Harris, one of its most famous participants, thrust it back into the spotlight in last week’s Democratic presidential debate.
As California’s first black senator chastised her rival Joe Biden for his fight against forced busing in the ’70s, she leaned on her personal history in Berkeley, portraying herself as a beneficiary of the charged battle for educational equality.
“There was a little girl in California who was a part of the second class to integrate her public schools, and she was bused to school every day,” Harris said. “And that little girl was me.”
Thelette A. Bennett, 71, a retired vice principal of Berkeley High School, grew up in the same neighborhood as Harris.
(Josh Edelson / For The Times)
Contrary to its enduring reputation as a progressive mecca, the Berkeley of Harris’ childhood was more politically muddled. The conservative John Birch Society operated two bookstores in the area. It wasn’t until the early 1960s that Democrats cracked a Republican stronghold on the city council. Black residents were restricted to living to the southern and western flats, while whites resided in the northern hills.
Thelette A. Bennett, 71, a retired vice principal of Berkeley High School, grew up in the same neighborhood as Harris.
Bennett’s father, a black World War II Navy veteran, was an airplane mechanic at a local naval air station in 1945, when redlining blocked him and his wife from buying a house in a white neighborhood. Even in the black neighborhood where they settled, she said, they needed to get a white real estate agent to buy a home and transfer it to them.
“There were only certain areas where they could buy a home,” Bennett said. “We lived where they allowed us to live.”
But a large influx of African Americans during and after World War II and whites affiliated with UC Berkeley were pulling the local politics to the left, paving the way for desegregation. Black leaders raised concerns about segregation in the city starting in the late 1950s.
In response, the school board studied the matter, concluding that all but three of the district’s 17 elementary schools and two of the three junior high schools were segregated. (Berkeley High, the city’s only high school, was integrated by default.) In 1964, the school board voted to desegregate its junior high schools.
Residents’ reactions were not as extreme as the segregation battles elsewhere in the country, such as the South, but “it wasn’t as far from that as you might assume,” said Natalie Orenstein, a reporter for local news site Berkeleyside. “There were definitely really angry parents and hours-long school meetings.”
Desegregation opponents launched recall campaigns of multiple school board members over the junior high busing program, but lost by a wide margin.
“When the recall failed, that vote was interpreted by the school board and liberals as a vote to go ahead,” said Charles Wollenberg, author of “Berkeley: A City in History.” “So in 1968, they also began integration of the elementary schools.”
This January 1970 photo provided by the Kamala Harris campaign shows her, left, with her sister, Maya, and mother, Shyamala, outside their apartment in Berkeley after her parents’ separation.
(Kamala Harris campaign via AP)
Harris began attending a white school in 1970 as a first-grader. Her mother would kiss her goodbye and then she would walk to the corner and get on the bus to Thousand Oaks Elementary School, Harris wrote in her 2019 memoir. “I only learned later that we were part of a national experiment in desegregation.… At the time, all I knew was that the big yellow bus was the way I got to school.”
Leading the charge was Neil Sullivan, the Berkeley schools superindendent previously tasked with integrating Prince Edward County, Va., which had closed its public schools to defy desegregation orders.
“School integration can change attitudes — that is the key factor,” Sullivan wrote in a 1969 book about his Berkeley tenure. “It is our hope that in the integrated school we shall not raise another generation of bigots.”
The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., in a foreword to Sullivan’s book, said that he had felt discouraged about the progress of school integration nationwide. But upon hearing the Berkeley superintendent’s desegregation plan, “hope returned to my soul and spirit.”
Berkeley was distinct for choosing to integrate on its own, not under duress from the court, and made the busing requirements apply equally to black and white children.
Covering Kamala Harris
“They weren’t just requiring black children to go to school in white neighborhoods,” said Erica Frankenberg, an education and demography professor at Penn State University who researched the Berkeley programs. “They were also saying we need to be equitable in sharing the burden of going further away…. That was extremely rare.”
Some white families embraced the experiment. Sophie Hahn, currently a Berkeley City Council member, said her family moved from neighboring Kensington into the hills of northern Berkeley so she could participate in busing.
From fourth to sixth grade, she rode the bus to Columbus Elementary School (later renamed after civil rights icon Rosa Parks), where most of the students and teachers were black. Hahn learned African history and some Swahili, and the kids sang “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” a civil rights ballad often called the Black National Anthem.
“People were giddy,” said Hahn, 57. “I was brought up thinking that what we were doing in Berkeley was going to change the world.”
But others fled to avoid busing. The district saw a decline in enrollment in the 15 years after integration, from 16,000 students to 9,000, partly fueled by white flight, according to Berkeleyside.
It is our hope that in the integrated school we shall not raise another generation of bigots.
— Former Berkeley schools Supt. Neil Sullivan, in his 1969 book about the city’s busing program
Harris has fondly recounted her early school days.
“Because the students came from all over the area, we were a varied bunch; some grew up in public housing and others were the children of professors,” she wrote in her memoir. “I remember celebrating varied cultural holidays at school and learning to count to ten in several languages.”
Carole Porter similarly spoke warmly of the experience, recalling Swedish, Jewish and Latina friends she made at Thousand Oaks Elementary School — which is now emblazoned with a mural featuring its famous alumna, Harris.
“I think it made me who I am today,” she said.
Her younger sister, Lois Porter, however, said being bused to Thousand Oaks in 1970 for kindergarten was difficult.
“We were treated horribly,” by the white teachers, and the white students “wouldn’t play with us,” she said.
“I just remember it being very tense,” she said. “I didn’t trust white people for a long time.”
The tumult in Berkeley over busing paled in comparison to other American cities. In 1974, court-ordered busing led to violent clashes in Boston. Five years later, Los Angeles voters recalled the school board president who pledged to follow court orders for mandatory busing.
Nearly 90% of the American public opposed busing, according to a Gallup poll in the early 1970s. In Berkeley, just over half of parents opposed busing before it went into effect, and only 30% opposed it once the program was put in place.
Sen. Kamala Harris and former Vice President Joe Biden, left, speak as Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) looks on during the second night of the first Democratic presidential debate on June 27 in Miami.
(Drew Angerer / Getty Images)
Today, Berkeley operates under a newer desegregation plan that is based on socioeconomic and demographic data instead of a student’s race. The original desegregation policy remains a source of civic pride.
“The legacy is that every single kid in Berkeley from grades K-5 has baseline the same resources at their schools, the same quality of teachers school to school,” said Orenstein, the Berkeleyside reporter. “But I think it’s a complicated and unfinished legacy given the persistent achievement gap and equity issues that public school districts everywhere are faced with.”
For the black students of those first integrated classes, the socializing and networking with white children was just as crucial as the classroom learning, said Carole Porter. She believes it formed a springboard for Harris’ presidential ambitions.
“She would not be where she is today if she had not had that opportunity,” she said.
Neighbor Jane Yamashiro takes a selfie in front of a mural depicting presidential candidate Kamala Harris on a wall at Thousand Oaks Elementary School in Berkeley on June 29.
(Josh Edelson / For The Times)
Times staff writers Michael Finnegan reported from Berkeley, Seema Mehta and Melanie Mason from Los Angeles.
Manchester City have agreed a 55m euros (£46.3m) deal with AC Milan for Netherlands midfielder Tijjani Reijnders.
The 26-year-old will sign a five-year contract at Etihad Stadium after agreeing personal terms with City.
The deal, which is subject to a medical, includes additional payments if certain clauses are met.
City hope to complete a deal for Reijnders in time for this month’s Club World Cup, which kicks off on 14 June.
His arrival will strengthen an area of the pitch that has been weakened by injury to Mateo Kovacic, who has been ruled out of the 32-team tournament in the United States after undergoing Achilles surgery.
Midfielder Kevin de Bruyne is also expected not to be involved in the tournament, with a move to Serie A champions Napoli looking increasingly likely.
South Korean President Lee Jae-myung took office on Wednesday and promised to unify the country after months of political turmoil. Pool Photo by Jeon Heon-kyun/EPA-EFE/
SEOUL, June 4 (UPI) — Lee Jae-myung was sworn in as South Korea’s president on Wednesday, just hours after his victory was certified in a snap election that brought an end to months of political turmoil in the country.
Lee’s term officially began at 6:21 a.m. when the National Election Commission certified his victory over challenger Kim Moon-soo of the conservative People Power Party.
The new president received 49.42% of the vote, while Kim garnered 41.15%, the NEC confirmed. Minor conservative Reform Party candidate Lee Jun-seok finished with 8.34%.
In a speech during a scaled-down ceremony at the National Assembly, Lee pledged to unify a country that saw its political divisions grow deeper in the aftermath of former President Yoon Suk Yeol’s botched martial law attempt in December.
“Regardless of who you supported in this presidential election, I will become a president of all who embraces and serves all the people,” Lee said.
During his campaign, Lee framed the election as an existential choice for the future of South Korean democracy, and he echoed that theme in his remarks.
“I will become a president who ends the politics of division,” he said. “I will overcome the crisis by using national unity as my driving force. I will restore what was lost and destroyed by the insurrection.”
South Korea “has become a clear example for people around the world who are looking for a new way forward for democracy in crisis,” he added.
Lee inherits a raft of challenges as president, with economic concerns at the top of the list. South Korea saw its economy shrink in the first quarter of the year, and the export-driven country is facing tariff negotiations with U.S. President Donald Trump, who doubled tariffs on steel and aluminum to 50% on Wednesday.
In his remarks, Lee said the election was a “turning point of great change” and vowed to stimulate economic growth.
“It is time to revive the people’s livelihoods that have been driven to the brink, restore growth and create a tomorrow where everyone is happy,” he said.
Lee, who rose to fame as a progressive firebrand during his tenure as mayor of Seongam and then governor of Gyeonggi Province, recast himself as a centrist during the campaign.
On Wednesday, Lee said his administration “will be a pragmatic market-oriented government.” He reiterated campaign pledges to invest heavily in science and technology, with a heavy focus on developing one of the world’s top artificial intelligence industries.
Lee also vowed to take a pragmatic approach toward healing the country’s deep political divides.
“Let’s send old ideologies to the museum of history,” he said. “From now on, there will be no problems for progressives. From now on, there will be no problems for conservatives. There will only be problems of the people and of the Republic of Korea.”
The 60-year-old briefly touched on pressing geopolitical concerns during his remarks, including an increasingly dangerous nuclear-armed North Korea.
Lee said he would continue to strengthen cooperation with the United States and Japan — a trilateral alliance that Yoon championed — but said Seoul would “approach relations with neighboring countries from the perspective of national interests and practicality.”
While Yoon and the PPP’s Kim took a hardline approach toward Pyongyang, Lee pledged during his campaign to reopen communications with Seoul’s recalcitrant neighbor.
“We will prepare for North Korea’s nuclear weapons and military provocations, while opening channels of communication with North Korea and establishing peace on the Korean Peninsula through dialogue and cooperation,” Lee said.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio congratulated Lee on his election victory Wednesday and affirmed the strong ties between the allies.
“The United States and the Republic of Korea share an ironclad commitment to the alliance grounded in our Mutual Defense Treaty, shared values and deep economic ties,” Rubio said in a statement.
“We will also continue to deepen U.S.-Japan-ROK trilateral cooperation to bolster regional security, enhance economic resilience and defend our shared democratic principles,” he said.
Lee began assembling his cabinet on Wednesday, nominating one of his top campaign aides, Democratic Party Rep. Kim Min-seok, as his candidate for prime minister. He also tapped former Unification Minister Lee Jong-seok to head the National Intelligence Service, the nation’s top spy agency.
Both nominees must undergo confirmation hearings. Lee’s chief of staff will be Democratic Party Rep. Kang Hoon-sik.
Haley Joel Osment must commit to six months of court-mandated Alcoholics Anonymous meetings and therapy after he was arrested earlier this year for alleged public drunkenness and cocaine possession.
The “Sixth Sense” and “Blink Twice” actor, 37, was arraigned Monday in Mono County, Calif. The Times confirmed that a judge granted the former child actor’s request for a one-year diversion. Osment, older brother of “Young Sheldon” alumna Emily Osment, will be cleared of his charges if he completes the terms of diversion: at least 3 AA meetings per week and at least two meetings with his therapist for the next six months. He must also “obey all laws,” Mono County District Attorney David Anderson said in a statement to The Times on Tuesday.
“If he does not complete diversion, the criminal proceedings will be reinstated,” Anderson said.
A representative for the actor did not immediately respond on Tuesday to The Times’ request for comment.
Osment, also known for lending his voice to the popular “Kingdom Hearts” video game franchise, was arrested April 8 on suspicion of public intoxication and possession of a controlled substance at the popular Mammoth Mountain ski resort. The Mono County district attorney’s office said at the time it charged the “Spoils of Babylon” actor with two misdemeanors: disorderly conduct involving alcohol and possession.
Law enforcement responded to a call about an allegedly intoxicated individual at the ski resort, TMZ reported in April. The website published video of Osment, wearing his ski helmet backward, allegedly holding up the line for a ski lift. Frustrated resort guests urged Osment to “get out of the line,” but he brushed off their demands and refused to follow a crew member who tried to escort him to the side, according to the video.
Adding to his troubles, Osment berated his arresting officer, claiming “I’ve been kidnapped by a f— Nazi” and hurling an antisemitic slur at the officer. After the footage surfaced, Osment said in a statement that he was “absolutely horrified by my behavior … in the throes of a blackout.”
“From the bottom of my heart, I apologize to absolutely everyone that this hurts. What came out of my mouth was nonsensical garbage — I’ve let the Jewish community down and it devastates me,” he added at the time. “I don’t ask for anyone’s forgiveness, but I promise to atone for my terrible mistake.”
Anderson said in his statement that his office “did not believe diversion was appropriate and objected” to Osment’s request, citing the actor’s prior DUI conviction and his comments to the officer. Ultimately, a judge decided in Osment’s favor.
Osment is next due in court Jan. 5, 2026, for a review of his diversion compliance.
Before then, he is set to appear in Season 2 of Netflix’s hit series “Wednesday.” The streaming giant revealed his serial killer role during its Tudum fan event on Saturday in Inglewood.
WASHINGTON — Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) apologized on Thursday for his impassioned comments about two Supreme Court justices, saying he “should not have used the words.”
Schumer derided Trump-appointed Justices Neil M. Gorsuch and Brett M. Kavanaugh on Wednesday as the Supreme Court heard arguments on a Louisiana law restricting abortion rights, saying they “will pay the price” if they side with the court’s conservatives on this case. “You won’t know what hit you if you go forward with these awful decisions,” he added.
Speaking on the Senate floor, Schumer said his words “didn’t come out the way I intended to.”
“My point was that there would be political consequences for President Trump and Senate Republicans if the Supreme Court, with the newly confirmed justices, stripped away a woman’s right to choose,” he said. He added: “I’m from Brooklyn. We speak in strong language.”
A clip of Schumer’s speech circulated on social media and was condemned by conservatives, including President Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell who on Thursday said the words “at the very best…were astonishingly reckless and irresponsible” and “clearly…dangerous.”
“It has almost been a century since the last time Democrats threatened to pack the Supreme Court because they wanted different rulings. History still judges that disgraceful episode to this day,” McConnell said. “So I would suggest that my Democratic colleagues spend less time trying to threaten impartial judges, and more time coming up with ideas that are actually constitutional.”
Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. issued a rare rebuke, saying Schumer’s comments were “not only inappropriate” but “dangerous.”
“All members of the court will continue to do their job, without fear or favor, from whatever quarter,” Roberts said.
During court arguments on Wednesday, justices focused their questions on how specifically the Louisiana law would affect women and clinics that perform the procedure.
“I feel so deeply the anger of women all across America about Senate Republicans and the courts working hand in glove to take down Roe v. Wade,” Schumer told his Senate colleagues. “Republican state legislatures are restricting a woman’s right to choose so severely as to make it nonexistent, and the courts are now likely to go along because Senate Republicans have confirmed nominees they believe will strip away women’s rights and fundamentally change this country.
“I didn’t intend to suggest anything other than political and public opinion consequences for the Supreme Court,” he said, “and it is a gross distortion to imply otherwise.”
For all the push-ups completed, for all the running drills endured and for all the yelling received during his days playing high school football at Sherman Oaks Notre Dame High in the 1990s, Dan Keeler is getting the last laugh later this month when he takes command of the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln in Coronado.
“Now I’m going to have to salute him,” former Notre Dame coach Kevin Rooney quipped.
Keeler, who graduated from high school in 1994 and went on to the Naval Academy, is taking command of one of the Navy’s most prominent ships.
The USS Abraham Lincoln arrives San Diego in 2020.
(Nelvin C. Cepeda / San Diego Union-Tribune)
“It is incredible that he has earned this responsibility,” Rooney said.
Keeler was a defensive back and track athlete for the Knights and is one of five siblings who attended Notre Dame. Track coach Joe McNab, who just won his 11th Southern Section championship, was his defensive backs coach.
“Good kid,” McNab said.
“He’s a guy who fit all the boxes in terms of being a great kid and doing things right,” Rooney said.
Rooney, McNab and former football assistant Jeff Kraemer will make the trip to the San Diego area for the change-of-command ceremony. For some reason, Keeler invited his former high school coaches after all those days of sweat and tears in Sherman Oaks.
“If I had known he was going to be so powerful, I wouldn’t have made him run so much,” Kraemer said.
Keeler isn’t the first Notre Dame graduate to rise in the Navy ranks. Retired Adm. Mike Mullen was chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from 2007 to 2011 and graduated from Notre Dame in 1964. Mullen once came back to his alma mater to address the student body.
Rooney, who retired in 2019 after 40 years as football coach, said his goal was always to “help kids become great people and do things right.”
Coaches know that the best day of all is when a graduate comes back to campus and tells them how they are doing and explains how lessons learned as teenagers really made a difference in their life.
As summer begins and graduates move on with their lives and the class of 2029 arrives, it’s a good reminder to everyone that it’s not wins and losses that matter most in high school. It’s teaching life lessons and preparing students to become adults, good people and good community members.
To see a former Los Angeles-area high school football player take charge of an aircraft carrier is proof that all that running to gain stamina, all that preaching to work together as a team, all those lectures that practice makes perfect … it’s true.
You only need to listen, learn and dedicate yourself to reaching a goal.
A salute to all the coaches and teachers who understand their real job is to create opportunities for their students to succeed through wisdom and inspiration.
Capt. Keeler, Bravo Zulu and Anchors Aweigh. Be safe.
June 4 (UPI) — The Democratic mayor of Newark, Ras Baraka, has sued the Republican U.S. district attorney of New Jersey over his arrest last month outside of a prison being transformed into a detention facility to hold migrants arrested in the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.
The lawsuit, announced Tuesday, accuses District Attorney Alina Habba and Special Agent in Charge Ricky Patel of the Newark Division of Homeland Security Investigations of violating Baraka’s rights by arresting him without cause, initiating a malicious prosecution and committing defamation.
“They abused their power to violently arrest me at Delaney Hall despite being invited inside,” Baraka said in a statement Tuesday.
“No one is above the law.”
Baraka was arrested on May 9 outside Delaney Hall, a Newark prison owned by GEO Group, which in February signed a contract with Immigration and Customs Enforcement to house migrants at the 1,000-bed center for 15 years.
Habba accused Baraka of trespassing at the facility and claimed he was arrested after allegedly “ignored multiple warnings from Homeland Security Investigations to remove himself from the ICE detention center.
“He has willingly chosen to disregard the law,” she said on X following Baraka’s arrest. “That will not stand in this state.”
Habba — formerly a lawyer for President Donald Trump, who appointed her to her current position in New Jersey — announced last month she was dropping the charges against Baraka “for the sake of moving forward.”
According to the lawsuit, Baraka was at the prison at the invitation of Rep. LaMonica McIver, one of three Democratic New Jersey House representatives visiting Delaney Hall that day to inspect it.
Baraka arrived at Delaney Hall at about 1:42 p.m. EDT and spoke with members of the public protesting the Trump administration’s immigration policies.
At 1:50 p.m. a GEO Group guard invited Baraka to enter the inner gate of Delaney Hall, which the mayor did. He waited there for about 40 minutes, apparently for the Democratic lawmakers inside the facility.
According to the lawsuit, Patel confronted Baraka at 2:33 p.m., and told him to leave. Baraka argued he was invited in by the guard, which Patel disputed, the court documents state.
Minutes later, the members of Congress exited the facility after witnessing the confrontation between the two and informed Patel that they had wanted Baraka there.
“After the members of Congress conveyed their thoughts, Defendant Patel threatened to arrest the Mayor,” the lawsuit states. “In response, the Mayor said: ‘I’m leaving now.'”
Baraka was arrested by about 20 DHS agents, some masked, about 5 minutes after he left the GEO Group property, according to the filing.
“Egged on by Defendant Patel, who ordered the DHS agents to ‘take him down’ (meaning violently tackle the Mayor of Newark) the agents pushed, shoved and assaulted the Mayor’s security team and members of Congress before violently pulling Mayor Baraka’s arms and arresting him without probable cause,” the lawsuit states.
“The DHS agents handcuffed the Mayor behind his back in an effort to effect maximum humiliation for what Defendant Habba’s office later admitted was an alleged ‘petty offense.'”
The lawsuit, which is seeking compensatory and punitive damages, also accuses Habba of having a political agenda to forward Trump’s immigration policies and to help Republicans in the state.
When Habba told the court she was ending the prosecution of Baraka, federal Judge Andre Espinosa admonished the district attorney.
“The hasty arrest of Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, followed swiftly by the dismissal of the trespassing charges a mere 13 days later, suggests a worrisome misstep by your office,” Espinosa said.
“An arrest, particularly of a public figure, is not a preliminary investigative tool. It is a severe action, carrying significant reputational and personal consequences, and it should only be undertaken after a thorough, dispassionate evaluation of credible evidence.”
On Monday, after learning of Baraka’s intention to sue her, Habba retorted: “My advice to the mayor — feel free to join me in prioritizing violent crime and public safety. Far better use of time for the great citizens of New Jersey.”
Habba later last month filed charges of assaulting law enforcement against McIver in connection with Baraka’s arrest.
The celebrities were said to be taking a big risk as they swam with ever-increasing sized sharks in the Bahamas in a new ITV series to mark the 50th anniversary of Jaws
The seven celebrities took their lives in their hands to dive with top predators for new TV series(Image: ITV)
The seven celebrities who agreed to swim with sharks in an ITV series which marks the 50th anniversary of Jaws, were taught to dive by an instructor with missing limbs.
All have now returned from filming Shark! Celebrity Infested Waters with their lives intact, but were constantly reminded of the dangers involved by their Australian instructor – who was missing an arm and a leg, courtesy of a tiger shark.
The celebs swam will many fearsome sharks including Hammerheads (Image: Getty Images/Image Source)
For the five-part series, due to start next month, the celebs were challenged to confront their greatest fear and flown to the island on Bimini in the Bahamas, home to around 10 different species of shark. Once there, they took the plunge together alongside hammerhead, bull and tiger sharks.
While there is no voting or elimination process in the show, the dives got progressively harder, with each involving a bigger and tougher breed of shark, and the celebrities were allowed to sit out if they felt overwhelmed.
One insider said: “The sharks they were free diving with were definitely dangerous and they were shocked when they realised what had happened to the expert, who’d had an arm and a leg bitten off.”
The island of Bimini is a sanctuary for sharks and often has 10 different types in its waters(Image: Getty Images)
Despite the series being shown as tribute to half a century since the Oscar-winning Jaws was released in 1975, the “ocean-phobic” stars did not attempt to recreate the movie scenes. “There were no Great Whites involved in the making of this show,” the source said. “But it was not for the faint-hearted, that’s for sure. Some were more scared than others.”
Viewers will have to wait to see if any of the stars sustained injuries during the making of the programme, which was filmed last year.
Yesterday presenter Rachel said that taking part was a “dream come true” adding: “It was the best trip, the best experience, the best everything, of my life.” Describing it as “wet and wild” she added: “Shark! Celebrity Infested Waters is a totally new type of entertainment show, with so much integrity and a love of sharks and conservation at its heart. And with the best bunch of people you could hope to work with.”
Hammerhead sharks are fearsome looking when viewed from beneath(Image: Getty Images)
The mum-of-two said she’d first been asked to take part a year ago. “They said we’re thinking of sending some celebrities out to the Bahamas for a few weeks to swim with some of the biggest, scariest wild sharks in the world.”
Helen agreed that it had been brilliant, saying: “One of the most insane experiences of my life, learning about this incredible creatures, with equally incredible humans.”
Ross described it as a “great adventure” and quipped: “No, it’s not a wind up, it’s a real thing.” And pop star Dougie marvelled that it was the closest he’d ever get to a “real Jurassic Park experience”.
ITV entertainment boss Katie Rawcliffe said audiences should enjoy the combination of blue chip natural history programming with ITV’s skill at entertainment, and called the famous faces taking part “some of the bravest celebrities out there”.
Karen Plumb, of Plimsoll Productions, said the aim was to give viewers a new perspective on sharks. “We’re constantly looking for innovative approaches to wildlife storytelling and are certain that our fish-out-of-water spin – delivering 50 years after Jaws – will transform the world’s perception of these critical predators before it’s too late.”
WASHINGTON — A majority of U.S. journalists who followed the 1992 presidential campaign believe President Bush’s candidacy was damaged by press coverage of his record and of the economy, according to a survey released Saturday.
Only a small percentage of print and broadcast journalists think the campaign of President-elect Bill Clinton was similarly harmed by media coverage. In fact, more than one in three said coverage benefited the Arkansas governor.
Most journalists interviewed believe the press treated Bush fairly. He was harmed, they said, not by media bias but by accurate reporting on his performance in office and on the nation’s economy.
These are the principal findings of a special survey of more than 250 top- and middle-level journalists conducted by the Times Mirror Center for the People and the Press. The survey was conducted in the final weeks of the election campaign.
Four in five journalists surveyed rated press performance in the 1992 campaign as good or excellent, saying it generally was better than the coverage in 1988.
Public opinion surveys conducted throughout the campaign showed most Americans also gave positive ratings to media coverage, although by a smaller margin. Nearly six in 10 people surveyed gave the press good or excellent marks. More than one in three, however, judged the performance as fair or poor.
The Times Mirror survey found the media judging the impact of its coverage differently at the end of the campaign than it had in an initial survey last May, during the final stages of the presidential primary battles.
The earlier polling found most journalists–slightly more than 50%–believed campaign coverage was having a “neutral effect” on Bush’s campaign as he turned back the challenge of conservative commentator Patrick J. Buchanan.
At that time, 64% thought Clinton was being hurt by media coverage during his struggle with the so-called “character” problems that beset his primary campaign.
The latest poll also found that journalists gave the industry high marks for specific aspects of campaign coverage. Overall, more than 70% gave ratings of good or excellent to coverage of Clinton’s Vietnam draft status, the candidates’ positions on issues and the economy.
The press gave itself a somewhat lower grade for coverage of independent candidate Ross Perot, with 63% rating it as good or excellent. The survey said one senior editor summed up the attitude of many by saying: “We were all on the verge of carrying very critical stories about his temperament and his personal life when he pulled out. Since he re-entered, we’ve treated him as an eccentric.”
The coverage of Bush’s role in the Iran-Contra scandal received the harshest judgment by journalists. More than 70% of respondents said the coverage was only fair or poor, with only 24% rating it as good. A television executive said only the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times and the Washington Post had “done a good job of explaining this issue.”
The survey said a large number of journalists cited the emergence of talk shows this year as a chastening sign that politics can work well “without the press as interlocutor.”
However, critics of this new phenomenon “took aim at the cheerleading-like atmosphere” of some talk show political interviews, saying too many questions were soft, with no follow-up questions, the poll reported.
Max Muncy’s 2025 season has been nothing if not enigmatic.
But lately, after a woeful opening month on both sides of the ball, the good (his bat) has been outweighing the bad (his glove).
In the Dodgers’ 6-5 win against the New York Mets on Tuesday, such a duality came into plain view.
In the first inning, Muncy punctuated a four-run ambush of Mets starter Tylor Megill with a two-run home run deep to right field. In the fifth, he committed a costly error at third base that fueled New York’s go-ahead two-run rally. Yet, in the ninth, the veteran slugger capitalized upon his chance for redemption, clobbering his second long ball of the night to tie the score — and set up Freddie Freeman for a walk-off double (with a lot of help from Brandon Nimmo’s poor outfield defense) in the bottom of the 10th.
After an ice-cold opening month with the bat, Muncy has caught fire over his last 22 games, batting .314 with eight home runs (including six in the last seven games), 28 RBIs, 14 walks and only 10 strikeouts.
His defense remains a glaring weak spot, exposed repeatedly in key situations during the Dodgers’ slog through May and the opening days of June.
But for now, his production at the plate is giving him a long leash to work through such issues.
Without his offense Tuesday, the Dodgers likely would’ve lost their third straight game.
When Muncy came up as the leadoff hitter in the bottom of the ninth, the Dodgers hadn’t scored since his first home run eight innings prior.
Megill had found his footing, retiring 16 of his final 17 batters over a six-inning start. The Dodgers had wasted a golden opportunity to come back in the eighth, coming up empty even after getting the go-ahead runs on second and third base with no outs.
Muncy, however, extended the game with one swing, connecting on an elevated fastball for a no-doubt missile that traveled 408 feet. He flipped his bat as he left the box. He rounded the bases with a steady, confident gait.
An inning later, after Tanner Scott broke out of his recent struggles by holding the Mets scoreless in the top of the 10th, Freeman walked it off on a fly ball that Nimmo let fall at the warning track in left, getting all turned around as the ball came barreling toward the earth to let automatic runner Tommy Edman score with ease.
June 4 (UPI) —Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Marty Makary said he plans to review the safety of abortion drug mifepristone after a recent study raised concerns about medical side effects.
In a letter to Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., Makary revealed the FDA’s plan on Monday to review the abortion pill after Hawley alerted the commissioner to the study.
“As the Commissioner of Food and Drugs, I am committed to conducting a review of mifepristone and working with the professional career scientists at the agency who review this data,” Makary wrote.
“As with all drugs, FDA continues to closely monitor the postmarketing safety data on mifepristone for the medical termination of early pregnancy,” Makary added.
Hawley referred the FDA commissioner to the recent study, from the Ethics and Public Policy Center, which found 11% of women experienced sepsis, infection or hemorrhaging within 45 days of taking the pill.
While Hawley said that information is listed as a side effect for mifepristone, the numbers are 22 times greater than the label warns. The study was based on insurance claims for 865,727 mifepristone abortions between 2017 and 2023.
“I’m calling on the FDA to reinstate safety regulations on the chemical abortion drug immediately. New data out today show a massive number of severe medical side effects,” Hawley said in April. “The time to act is now.”
Makary told senators during his confirmation hearing in March that he would oversee a review of mifepristone, but did not order it until Hawley alerted him to the EPPC study. The FDA commissioner did express concerns earlier this year about the Biden administration’s policy, which allowed women to access abortion drugs without making in-person appointments.
Last year, the U.S. Supreme Courtrejected a challenge to the FDA’s approval of mifepristone, saying the pro-life doctors who brought the case lacked standing. The court said the Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine failed to prove they suffered any harm from the FDA’s policies.
President Donald Trump, who supported the Supreme Court’s decision, was also urged by Hawley to order a mifepristone review over the EPPC’s findings.
The Hajj pilgrimage began on Wednesday. Some 1.8 million Muslims from across the globe are expected to gather in the Saudi holy city of Mecca for the annual gathering that will conclude on June 8.
Hajj is a once-in-a-lifetime obligation for all adult Muslims who are physically and financially able to make the journey.
Throughout the sacred pilgrimage, pilgrims drink from Zamzam, a wellspring believed to have been flowing for more than 4,000 years, nourishing them to this day.
But where does this water come from, and why does it hold such deep significance?
Where is the Zamzam well located?
Zamzam water comes from a well, located within the Grand Mosque of Mecca (Masjid al-Haram), some 21 metres (69 feet) east of the Kaaba.
The Zamzam well is beneath the Mataf area, which is the white marble-tiled space surrounding the Kaaba where pilgrims perform Tawaf.
In 1962, King Saud commissioned the expansion of the Mataf area to better accommodate the growing number of pilgrims. As part of this project, the opening of the Zamzam well was lowered and enclosed in a basement approximately 2.7 metres (9 feet) deep beneath the Mataf.
In 2003, the basement entrances were closed, and drinking fountains were relocated to the sides of the Mataf to allow for further expansion.
Today, pilgrims access Zamzam water through dispensers and fountains spread throughout the Grand Mosque.
Why is Zamzam important to Hajj and Umrah?
Zamzam water is deeply connected to the origins of Mecca and the story of Prophet Abraham (Ibrahim), his wife Hagar (Hajar), and their son Ishmael (Ismail).
According to Islamic tradition, Prophet Abraham left Hagar and baby Ishmael in the desert valley of Mecca by God’s command as a test of faith.
When their provisions ran out, Hagar ran back and forth seven times between the two small hills of Safa and Marwa searching for water.
The domed building covering the Zamzam well in 1803 [Mahometaanen]
God responded to her faith and struggle with a miracle: water began to gush from the ground near baby Ishmael’s feet – this became the Zamzam well.
This spring saved their lives and led to the settlement of Mecca, which today has a population of about 2.2 million.
The building covering Zamzam in 1888 [Qatar National Library]
During Hajj and Umrah, pilgrims re-enact Hagar’s search for water by walking seven times between the hills of Safa and Marwa in the ritual of Sa’i and drink Zamzam water following the tradition of the Prophet Muhammad, who praised its purity and healing qualities.
What does Zamzam mean?
According to Islamic tradition, when the Zamzam spring miraculously gushed forth near baby Ishmael’s feet, Hagar tried to contain the water, fearing it would run out.
She is said to have exclaimed “Zamzam”, which is often understood to mean “stop! stop!” or “hold! hold!” as she tried to stop the water from flowing away by gathering it around the spring.
What is the source of the Zamzam aquifer?
Zamzam water comes from a natural underground source beneath the Grand Mosque in Mecca. The well draws water from an aquifer, a layer of rock and sand that holds water, which is refilled by rainwater that seeps in from the surrounding Ibrahim Valley (Wadi Ibrahim) and nearby hills.
The Zamzam well is about 31 metres (101 feet) deep and was originally hand-dug. Water enters the well through loose sand and gravel in the top part, and also from cracks in the solid rock below.
Today, electric pumps bring the water up instead of the old rope-and-bucket method. The well itself is now closed to the public, but the water is available through fountains and dispensers around the Grand Mosque.
The Zamzam well is considered to have flowed uninterrupted for more than 4,000 years. The continuous flow of water and its central role in Hajj and Umrah have been well-documented for centuries.
According to the General Authority for the Care & Management of the Grand Mosque and the Prophet’s Mosque, extraction and consumption of Zamzam vary by season:
On regular days: Water supply: At least 950,400 litres (251,000 US gallons) daily Consumption: About 700,000 litres (185,000 US gallons) daily
During peak seasons (Hajj and Ramadan): Water supply: Up to 1.6 million litres (423,000 US gallons) daily Consumption: Can reach 2 million litres (528,000 US gallons) daily due to the surge in pilgrims
According to the Saudi visa office, Mecca is expecting to welcome 15 million Umrah pilgrims in 2025.
To manage this demand, the Zamzam well is monitored in real time using digital sensors that track water level, pH (potential of hydrogen; a measure of the acidity or alkalinity of a liquid), temperature, and conductivity. Additional monitoring wells across Wadi Ibrahim help assess how the entire aquifer responds to water use and rainfall.
The Zamzam Studies and Research Centre (ZSRC) estimates how much water can be safely extracted and advises the Grand Mosque authority on sustainable pumping levels. Each year, the Saudi Geological Survey (SGS) issues a pumping schedule, with peak demand during Ramadan and Dhul-Hijjah and the lowest in Muharram.
If water levels fall below a set threshold, pumping is paused to allow the well to recover, ensuring a stable, long-term supply.
How is Zamzam different from tap water?
Zamzam water is clear and odourless, but it has a distinct taste due to its rich mineral content. It is slightly alkaline, with a pH between 7.9 and 8.0, higher than regular drinking water.
A study by King Saud University found no biological contamination or algae in Zamzam water, which are common in other wells and can affect taste and safety.
The minerals in Zamzam water offer several health benefits:
Fluoride: Helps prevent tooth decay, especially important in hot climates.
Calcium and magnesium: Present in higher amounts. Calcium is in an ionic form, making it easier for the body to absorb.
Sodium and potassium: Support hydration, nerve function and muscle health.
Overall, the total mineral count for Zamzam is 835mg/litre compared with Riyadh’s tap water at 350mg/litre.
How is Zamzam distributed?
The Saudi government prohibits the sale of Zamzam water for commercial purposes and strictly regulates its distribution to ensure it is provided as a sacred gift to pilgrims and not exploited for profit.
Pilgrims returning from Hajj or Umrah often bring back a 5-litre bottle of Zamzam water to share with family and friends back home. Because Zamzam water is considered a special gift, airlines typically do not include it in the regular luggage allowance, so pilgrims often carry it separately or follow specific guidelines when transporting it home.
Saudi authorities have established a sophisticated, multistage system to store and distribute Zamzam water, ensuring it remains clean, safe and easily accessible. Electric pumps transport Zamzam water 5km (3 miles) south to the King Abdullah Zamzam Water Project in Kudai. There, the water is purified and then bottled.
After treatment, the water is stored in two main reservoirs:
Kudai reservoir: holds 10,000 cubic metres (10 million litres)
King Abdulaziz Sabeel reservoir in Madinah: holds 16,000 cubic metres (16 million litres)
“I know he’s not been great, but he’s a 22-year-old kid who has been asked to play centre-forward for Manchester United on his own for the last two years.
“He’s had to play every week. He’s the only one there, and he’s a 22-year-old kid.
“With the way they play, Man United should have at least three top centre-forwards, and I’d bring him into that group.
“Get [Victor] Osimhen and [Viktor] Gyokeres. Hojlund has struggled – like mad of late especially but he’s not had the chance to sit down and watch.
“If a striker is lacking confidence the manager should sit him down and say, ‘Have a look, get a bit of hunger back, a bit of feeling back for the game’.
“We all know he has centre-forward qualities — we’ve seen it. Not enough, I know that. But if he had experience around him.
“Say he had Andy Cole and Dwight Yorke around him, it would bring him on so much. He’s been absolutely flogged to death.
“People forget how young he is. A lot of it is confidence.”
President Lee Jae-myung has pledged to tackle the economy and improve relations with North Korea after his swearing-in.
South Korea’s new President Lee Jae-myung has pledged to “heal wounds” after months of political and economic turmoil across the country and to reopen dialogue with North Korea in his first speech after taking office following a landslide win at the polls.
Lee, who hails from the liberal Democratic Party of Korea, replaces ousted President Yoon Suk-yeol, who last year triggered a national emergency when he briefly imposed martial law, citing antistate forces and North Korean infiltration.
After taking the oath of office at parliament on Wednesday, Lee pledged to help South Korea reverse course following months of uncertainty and political protest.
South Korea has also found itself under attack from the United States, a top economic and security ally, where trade protectionism is on the rise under President Donald Trump.
“A Lee Jae-myung government will be a pragmatic pro-market government,” Lee said in a speech.
Lee said he would try to make headway in South Korea’s relations with Pyongyang, working to “deter North Korean nuclear and military provocations while opening communication channels and pursuing dialogue and cooperation to build peace on the Korean Peninsula”.
“We will heal the wounds of division and war and establish a future of peace and prosperity,” he said.
“No matter how costly, peace is better than war,” he added.
Lee also warned that “rising protectionism and supply chain restructuring” posed a threat to South Korea’s export-driven economy, and said he would address cost-of-living concerns facing middle- and low-income families.
South Korea’s caretaker government, which ruled after Yoon’s ouster, failed to negotiate a trade deal with the Trump administration to cut down proposed tariffs on imports from the country.
Trump’s 25 percent “Liberation Day” tariffs on South Korea – aimed at addressing the US trade imbalance – are currently on pause pending negotiations, but South Korean exporters were hit with a new 50 percent tariff on steel and aluminium products.
Lee won this week’s snap election with 49.4 percent of the vote, well ahead of conservative candidate Kim Moon-soo, as South Korean voters turned out in the highest numbers since 1997.
From this month anyone purchasing from unauthorised street vendors will face new laws – as well as a host of changes on electric scooters, nudity, and drinking
07:01, 04 Jun 2025Updated 07:07, 04 Jun 2025
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Members of the Mallorca Platja Tour association place signs against tourist saturation on the beach of Palma de Mallorca. New laws are cracking down on bad tourist behavour(Image: Getty Images)
UK tourists in a holiday hotspot are being warned that will face fines of 750 euros (about £630) – for buying anything – including food and drink – from street vendors. Palma, the capital of the island of Mallorca, this month introduced the new laws which could see Brits hit with fines and possibly even arrest for an array of infractions this summer.
The ordinance covers a host of issues – vandalism, including graffiti, posters, leaflets, gambling and betting in public spaces, false begging and sexual demands, artistic performances, guided tours, littering, alcohol consumption in public, group gatherings, street vending, motorhomes, nudism, balconing as well as scooters.
One change is the regulation of electric scooters. Users will now have to be able to prove they have civil liability insurance (with a minimum coverage of €120,000) and wear an approved helmet.
Another law people are likely to fall foul of is a total ban on purchasing any item from unauthorised vendors in public spaces. This includes buying souvenirs, food and drink and fashion accessories such as sunglasses and watches, with the exception being in authorised markets.
A document detailing the measures explained they were to ‘prevent inappropriate everyday actions’ and ‘address incivility in general’. Danny Toffel, CEO and founder of online retailer Watches2U, said: “When travelling abroad it’s always worth reading up on local rules.
“These measures have been put in place to protect Palma’s culture and economy and, in some cases, for public safety. Buying from unauthorised street vendors might seem like a harmless way to get a bargain but they can undermine local, legitimate businesses.
“Illegal street vendors may also offer counterfeit goods which again may not seem like a big problem to many, but fall foul of intellectual property rules and take money away from legitimate businesses. The message is clear – buy from reputable sellers or tourists could find themselves facing tough consequences.”
Graffiti, classified as a very serious offence, will carry a fine of up to 3,000 euros. Nudism, whether total or partial, will be punishable by a fine of up to 750 euros. This doesn’t apply to ‘designated areas’ or, for example, to women who go topless on beaches. Drinking alcohol in groups (‘botellón’) is banned as is the use of drugs in public spaces.
The use of speakers without municipal authorisation; parkour; laser pointers; urinating and defecating in public will also see arrests. Balconing – moving from one balcony to another – will be subject to a fine of up to 1,500 euros. The police will support hotel establishments with the immediate expulsion of those who commit this offence.
After Gavin Newsom was elected lieutenant governor, he repeatedly made clear his frustration with the job and its lack of responsibilities. The official portfolio for the office is thin, including sitting on boards that oversee the state’s higher education system and public lands, leading an economic council and serving as acting governor when California’s chief executive is out of state or otherwise unavailable.
Newsom, now the front-runner in the governor’s race, missed scores of meetings held by the University of California Board of Regents, the California State University Board of Trustees and the California State Lands Commission, according to a Times review of attendance records.
He attended 54% of UC Regents meeting days, 34% for Cal State and 57% for state lands, according to a Times review of attendance records between 2011 and 2018. The Times included in the tally days when Newsom was present for only part of the day, and excluded days when Newsom had no committee meetings or other official business to attend.
Membership of the three panels is the most prominent duty of a lieutenant governor, a post considered to be largely ceremonial.
“There’s no denying that the official responsibilities of the lieutenant governor are more modest than some other constitutional offices — the English call it an ‘heir and a spare,’” said former California Gov. Gray Davis, who was lieutenant governor before being elected to lead the state. “But 43 states have a lieutenant governor whose primary function is to step in if something happens to the governor.”
Newsom’s opponents have criticized him for failing to fully participate in the three panels, which set policy on tuition, athletics programs and expansion for much of the state’s higher-education system, and manage issues including oil drilling and access to some of California’s publicly owned lands.
“Californians are working harder than ever before just to stay in the middle class. It appears Gavin Newsom is hardly working — or at least not working for the people who pay his salary,” said Luis Vizcaino, a spokesman for former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.
Newsom defended his record, saying it paralleled that of other elected officials on the panels.
“I’ve tried not to be the quote-unquote politician on the board. I tried to avoid being the guy who shows up just to give the press release. I tried to be constructive and I tried to be engaged,” he said in an interview. “Every tough vote, we were there — the ones that matter, the close votes.”
Observers of the UC and Cal State panels agreed that the elected officials on the boards had spottier attendance than appointees. The State Lands Commission comprises three members, so when one is absent, he or she typically sends an alternate to voice concerns and vote on the member’s behalf. Attendance on the panels has previously been raised as a campaign issue — Republican Dan Lungren poked Davis about his absences during a 1998 gubernatorial debate.
Newsom’s Democratic rivals in the race — state Treasurer John Chiang, former state schools chief Delaine Eastin and Villaraigosa — held various roles on the same three boards during prior terms in elected office. Chiang served on the State Lands Commission when he was controller, and Villaraigosa and Eastin sat on the UC and Cal State boards while serving as Assembly speaker and state superintendent of public instruction, respectively.
They also failed to attend many meetings.
Chiang attended 46% of Lands Commission meeting days between 2007 and 2014 when he was state controller. Villaraigosa and Eastin each attended less than 10% of the Cal State meetings during their time on that board. Though they both routinely skipped UC meetings, the full picture of their attendance is unclear due to a lack of available records documenting their time on the boards in the 1990s.
But their jobs at the time were more demanding than the role of lieutenant governor. The speaker must be in Sacramento during the legislative session, and the state schools chief oversees curriculum, testing and finances for the 6.3 million students in the state’s schools. As controller, Chiang was California’s chief bookkeeper, administering the state’s payroll and serving on more than 70 boards and commissions.
Newsom’s responsibilities as lieutenant governor are much more limited in scope, a point he has frequently drawn attention to.
After he was elected, he drafted legislation to put the office of lieutenant governor on the gubernatorial ticket — similar to how a president and vice president are elected together — but couldn’t find a legislator to carry the bill. If elected governor, Newsom said he hopes to revisit the proposal.
Two years into the job, during a break in filming his Current TV show, Newsom was asked by friend and hotelier Chip Conley how frequently he went to Sacramento.
“Like one day a week, tops,” Newsom said. “There’s no reason.… It’s just so dull.”
A few months later, as a Times reporter trailed Newsom in the Capitol, he stopped when a woman asked him to pose for a picture with her son. The boy asked him what a lieutenant governor does.
He has repeatedly joked about the post over the years, including in an interview with The Times during his 2014 reelection campaign when he paraphrased a line from then-Secretary of State John F. Kerry, himself a former lieutenant governor: “Wake up every morning, pick up the paper, read the obituaries, and if the governor’s name doesn’t appear in there, go back to sleep.”
Garry South, a former advisor to Newsom who is not publicly backing a candidate in the governor’s race, recalled urging him to knock it off.
“I did convey to him on a couple of occasions … that I didn’t think it was a good idea to tell voters they had elected you to a worthless position,” South said. “To his credit, I think he’s done much less of that in the last few years.”
Newsom said that the transition from mayor of San Francisco — when he worked on issues including same-sex marriage, universal healthcare and homelessness — to lieutenant governor was difficult.
“In honesty, I totally get it. I’m not even going to be defensive about it. There was absolutely early frustration. That’s all it represented years and years ago,” he said, noting that his time in Sacramento has been much slower than his life as mayor, a change he described as a “major cultural transition.” “It’s a different pace. That was reflected in those lazy comments of mine [that] I by definition regret because we wouldn’t be having this conversation. But it expressed a sentiment at the time.”
Newsom said he grew into his job and realized he could use his bully pulpit to promote issues he cared about, including successful 2016 ballot measures to legalize recreational marijuana and implement stricter gun controls.
Still, Newsom’s statements about his job have provided plenty of fodder for his rivals.
“If he was so bored, why did he refuse to show up for his job on the UC Board of Regents, or on the CSU Board of Trustees or at the State Lands Commission? Where was Gavin when he was supposed to be working on behalf of all the Californians who actually show up for their jobs?” said Fabien Levy, a spokesman for Chiang. “California needs a serious leader, not someone who’s in it just for show.”
But parties with business before the panels and fellow members said Newsom has been active and attentive when present.
“He has been engaged and thoughtful, and particularly interested in the financial structures and financial stability and financial accountability,” said Shane White, chairman of UC’s Academic Senate and a dentistry professor at UCLA.
A fellow UC regent, who asked to remain anonymous to speak freely about Newsom’s tenure on the board, agreed.
“He’s been substantially more engaged than the vast majority of elected officials who have served on the board,” said the regent, who is unaligned in the race. “He does his homework.”
Former Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez, a Villaraigosa backer who sits on the UC Regents board, said Newsom’s attendance is not that different from other elected officials who sit on the panel.
“If you want to hit him for attendance, it’s a valid hit. If you want to hit him for only being involved in the most high-profile issues, it’s a valid hit. But it’s not inconsistent with other ex officio board members,” Pérez said, adding that he personally liked Newsom and the two men frequently voted on controversial issues the same way. “The difference is he made such a big deal about [how] the office doesn’t do anything, and then he doesn’t go to the things it does.”
Having gained vital minutes following a two-month injury lay-off – not to mention her wonder goal – Fishlock will now return to the United States and club side Seattle Reign, as will captain Angharad James.
The National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) side have three fixtures before the division breaks for the summer, with the 38-year-old Fishlock able to get further into her inspirational stride before Switzerland.
Meanwhile, back in south Wales, the Football Association of Wales (FAW) will open the doors to its training base in the Vale of Glamorgan for domestic players for two optional training camps.
Starting next week, with another the following week, players will be offered training days with coaches should they feel the need.
It is not a necessity, with some players recognised as needing downtime rather than more workload, and some who have featured less regularly eager for extra sessions. Conversations between individuals and coaching staff will help form the decisions.
Kayleigh Barton is one player who could make the most of the time after her recent injury; the Charlton Athletic forward formed part of the squad for the past two fixtures but did not take to the field.
There is the potential that midfielder Sophie Ingle could be involved as she continues her recovery from the knee ligament injury that has ruled her out since September.
But with the former captain continuing her rehabilitation at Chelsea, Wales are relaxed over the next steps for the experienced Ingle given the relationship between FAW medical staff and those at the Women’s Super League (WSL) champions, who Wilkinson this week praised for their work in getting Ingle back on the training pitch ahead of schedule.
June 4 (UPI) — The U.S. State Department has imposed visa restrictions on an unspecified number of Central American government officials accused of being involved in Cuba’s medical mission program.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the punitive measure in a statement Tuesday, describing those targeted with the visa restrictions as “officials responsible for Cuban medical mission programs that include elements of forced labor and the exploitation of Cuban workers.”
“These steps promote accountability for those who support and perpetuate these exploitative practices,” Rubio said. “The Cuban labor export program abuses the participants, enriches the corrupt Cuban regime and deprives everyday Cubans of essential medical care that they desperately need in their homeland.”
According to the State Department’s 2024 Trafficking in Persons Report for Cuba, medical professionals comprise 75% of Cuba’s exported workforce, generating $4.9 billion of its total $7 billion in service exports in 2022.
The United States, citing doctors who have escaped from the program, accuses Cuba of human trafficking and worker exploitation, stating that those deployed to some 50 countries receive little or no pay, have their passports and medical credentials confiscated and have their rights restricted abroad, while also facing repercussions if they leave the program.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Human Rights Watch said the Cuban government imposes “draconian rules” on doctors deployed abroad.
The move comes after Rubio, in late February, announced that the State Department was expanding its visa restrictions policy targeting forced labor to enable the blacklisting of those linked to Cuba’s labor export programs.
Though Cuba has yet to respond to Tuesday’s move, it lashed out at the Trump administration following February’s announcement, with Havana’s foreign minister, Bruno Rodriguez, said the visa restrictions were “based on falsehoods and coercion.”
Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar, R-Fla., said on X Tuesday that she supports Rubio’s visa ban on those who benefit from Cuba’s international medical program.
“No nation should enrich a dictatorship by exploiting its own people,” she said.
“It’s time to end these slave missions and stand with the Cuban people.”
![The domed building covering the Zamzam well in 1803 [Mahometaanen]](https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Adriaan-Reland-Verhandeling-van-de-godsdienst-der-Mahometaanen_MG_0723-1748781303.png?w=770&resize=770%2C487&quality=80)
![Building covering Zamzam in 1888 [Qatar National Library]](https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/1888_Kaaba_and_Zamzam-1748780777.png?w=770&resize=770%2C435&quality=80)
