After participating in the NFL’s International Player Pathway (IPP), Rees-Zammit was initially signed to the Kansas City Chiefs, but was cut after failing to impress during pre-season appearances in 2024.
Rees-Zammit then joined the Jacksonville Jaguars, where he spent the entire 2024 season as part of the franchise’s practice squad.
Despite being eligible for elevation to the Jaguars’ active 53-man roster on two occasions as part of the NFL’s IPP player rules, the Jaguars never opted to elevate Rees-Zammit, including at both of their international games in London.
The Welshman temporarily left the franchise at the end of the 2024 season, but was soon re-signed as part of the expanded off-season roster.
Reports out of the Jaguars’ training camp in July suggested Rees-Zammit had missed practices due to a lower back injury, and his future with the franchise was placed in doubt.
And on Thursday, Rees-Zammit announced his decision to leave the NFL and return to rugby.
Before leaving rugby union in January 2024, Rees-Zammit had won 32 caps for Wales.
His former club, Gloucester, return to Premiership action on 25 September, while the United Rugby Championship season starts the following day.
1 of 10 | President Donald Trump speaks during an executive order signing ceremony in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington, D.C., on Thursday. The order will formally re-establish the Presidential Fitness Test, creating school-based programs that reward excellence in physical education. Photo by Eric Lee/UPI | License Photo
July 31 (UPI) — President Donald Trump signed an executive order Thursday alongside his professional athlete friends to bring back the Presidential Fitness Test in schools.
The order advises the council to create school-based programs that reward achievements in physical education. It will also reestablish the Presidential Fitness Test, first created in 1966 and was administered in public middle and high schools. The test was replaced in 2013 with the Presidential Youth Fitness Program, which touted living an active and healthy lifestyle.
Other sports issues in the president’s second term have been to demand the NFL’s Washington Commanders to change their name back to the Redskins and to issue an executive order banning transgender women in women’s sports.
Former President Barack Obama killed the test in 2012 and replaced it with an assessment called the FitnessGram focused on improving individual health.
“President Trump wants every young American to have the opportunity to emphasize healthy, active lifestyles — creating a culture of strength and excellence for years to come,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told CNN in a statement.
The Hind Rajab Foundation is using Israeli soldiers’ own social media footage as evidence for war crimes investigations. Al Jazeera’s Hind Touissate spoke to its founder to explain how dozens of complaints have been filed in more than 10 countries, targeting Israeli military personnel.
Fans have called into question Megan and DejonCredit: Shutterstock Editorial
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In a recent conversation, he did not even know her middle nameCredit: Eroteme
In the villa, the pair were having a humorous discussion with each other when a concerning point of conversation came up.
Megan asked her Love Island boyfriend what her last name was, to which he answered correctly straight away.
However, she then asked him to identify her middle name, and there was great hesitation.
He replied: “I honestly don’t know.”
This was before she interjected: “It used to be a kids [TV] program.”
As he continued to hesitate, she decided to simply put him out of his misery as Meg stated the word, ‘Beaker’ in reference to the iconic kids drama, Tracy Beaker.
“Oh, yeah!,” he exclaimed. “Megan Beaker Moore.”
But she was still left unimpressed as he didn’t actually say her real name, Tracy.
She laughed off the quip as she said: “Not Beaker!”
However, viewers simply did not buy into the conversation as they questioned whether their connection is actually genuine.
Love Island in new fix row as fans hit out at ‘massive rule break’
One user commented: “Meg doesn’t want her “enemies” to feel like they have a one up on her and Dejon doesn’t want to look like “the bad guy” when he’s on TV.
“Both of them trying to prove something to someone else. Fake couple.”
A second claimed: “Dejon is more bothered about how he looks and is the biggest fake on the show.”
Love Island: Who is Left?
These are the couples who are still in the Majorcan villa as the show reaches its final days
Meg and Dejon
Helena and Blu
Shakira and Harry
Toni and Cach
Yasmin and Jamie
Angel and Ty
Megan and Connor
“Megan came back on some fake a** b* after seeing how the public perceived her,” noted a third user.
While a fourth stated: “Dejon has always been fake. How are people only seeing it now?”
In the moment that set off alarm bells among fans, his co-star asked: “I have a question for you, it’s a bit rogue, would you have a threesome with me and Toni?”
We’ll continue that question.
Dejon to YasminLove Island
Dejon laughed – but was soon saved from answering as Meg called out, “Come here please!”
He joked: “You called me at a good time! Oh my god! We’ll continue that question.”
Later, Harry’s actions in the Grafties led to his close pal and confidant washing his hands of him.
As the shamed star headed outside to sleep on the day beds, fans accused Dejon of backstabbing his best pal in the villa.
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Despite being in a full relationship, he didn’t seem to know a basic fact about herCredit: Eroteme
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Dejon needed to be reminded that her middle name was TracyCredit: Eroteme
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Droves of viewers have branded the couple as being quite ‘fake’Credit: Eroteme
Love Island continues on ITV2 and is available to stream on ITVX.
Trump imposed tariffs on dozens of countries in advance of his August 1 deadline to strike trade deals.
US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order reimposing “reciprocal tariffs” ranging from 10 percent to 41 percent on US imports from dozens of countries and foreign locations.
Separately, Trump also signed an executive order late on Thursday that increased tariffs on certain Canadian goods, with the White House accusing Ottawa of failing to “cooperate in curbing the ongoing flood of fentanyl and other illicit drugs” entering the US.
In a statement on Thursday titled “Further Modifying the Reciprocal Tariff Rates”, the US listed some 69 trading partners and their respective “adjusted” tariff rates.
US-bound exports from some of Washington’s major trading partners – including Australia and the UK – will be subject to the baseline rate of 10 percent.
Other major trading partners – including India at 25 percent and Taiwan at 20 percent – have had higher rates imposed as slow-moving trade deal negotiations continue.
Trump cited the “continued lack of reciprocity in our bilateral trade relationships” in a statement on the White House website announcing the reimposition of the tariffs.
“I have determined that it is necessary and appropriate to deal with the national emergency declared in Executive Order 14257 by imposing additional ad valorem duties on goods of certain trading partners,” he said.
The White House also published a fact sheet on the increase in Canada’s tariff rate. In the release, Trump lamented “Canada’s continued inaction and retaliation” on addressing the “flow of illicit drugs” into the US across its northern border.
“President Trump has found it necessary to increase the tariff on Canada from 25% to 35% to effectively address the existing emergency,” the White House said, adding that the new rates go into effect on August 1.
The fact-sheet said goods that qualify for preferential treatment under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) would not be subject to tariffs.
Soon after returning to office in January, Trump declared a national emergency under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), citing a “public health crisis caused by fentanyl and illicit drugs” flowing into the US from Canada.
The US is also set to implement new rules of origin to determine tariff rates on trans-shipped goods in the coming weeks, the Reuters news agency reports, citing an unnamed senior Trump administration official.
Transhipped goods are those moved between vessels at an intermediate destination during transit to their final destination. The technicalities of the rules are being worked out, the official added.
Skeletal babies. Starving families shot down while waiting in line for food. Images and video of the famine in Gaza are now everywhere, and they’ve done in a few weeks what 21 months of war could not: squeeze empathy for Palestinians out of MAGA.
This week, Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia became the first House Republican to publicly use the term “genocide” to describe Israel’s actions in Gaza and the humanitarian crisis now gripping the Palestinian enclave. “It’s the most truthful and easiest thing to say that Oct. 7 in Israel was horrific and all hostages must be returned, but so is the genocide, humanitarian crisis, and starvation happening in Gaza,” Greene said in a social media post on her X account Monday evening.
More than 150 people have died because of malnutrition, including 89 children, the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry said this week. According to the United Nations, more than 1,000 people have been killed, most by Israeli troops, since May while trying to access food and aid at Gaza Humanitarian Foundation distribution centers. On Monday alone, Israeli strikes or gunfire killed at least 78 Palestinians across the Gaza Strip.
Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said on Sunday that “there is no starvation in Gaza.” And commanding officer Effie Defrin, a spokesman for the Israel Defense Forces, told reporters that most of the images were fake and distributed by the militant group Hamas. “It’s a campaign,” he said. “Unfortunately, some of the Israeli media, including some of the international media, is distributing this information and those false pictures, and creating an image of starvation which doesn’t exist.”
But even President Trump, a staunch supporter of Israel and Netanyahu, had to concede when asked about the crisis. “That’s real starvation stuff — I see it, and you can’t fake that,” he said Monday while in Scotland, where he met with European leaders and fielded questions about a crisis of another sort (his relationship with sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein). “We have to get the kids fed.”
The undeniable horror in Gaza has hit an inflection point, and while the spike in compassion among the MAGA set may be momentary, other world leaders are seeking solutions to the suffering with or without U.S. support. Late Tuesday, France and 14 other Western nations called on other countries to move toward recognizing a Palestinian state. The statement was signed by the foreign ministers of Andorra, Australia, Canada, Finland, France, Iceland, Ireland, Luxembourg, Malta, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, San Marino, Slovenia and Spain.
Greene’s use of the word “genocide” is her strongest condemnation yet of Israel’s war conduct, and it deviates from the Republican Party line of unconditional support for that country. But she has also targeted pro-Palestinian lawmakers such as Reps. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) and Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), accusing them of “antisemitic activity” and “sympathizing with terrorists” when they called for Israel to lift its blockade of humanitarian aid for Gazans.
Greene’s comments about Gaza were in part a rebuke to a Republican representative, Randy Fine of Florida. Last week, he said the images of skin-and-bones children in Gaza were “Muslim terror propaganda” and posted, “Release the hostages. Until then, starve away.” The New York Times reported that Fine’s remarks were made the same day he was promoted to a seat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee where he would focus on international policy.
Greene posted Sunday that she “can unequivocally say that what happened to innocent people in Israel on Oct 7th was horrific. Just as I can unequivocally say that what has been happening to innocent people and children in Gaza is horrific.”
Recently, the IDF announced it would pause action in certain parts of Gaza for hours each day and increase aid drops. The death toll from the war in Gaza has topped 60,000, with more likely buried under rubble from nearly two years of fighting. Hamas-led militants killed about 1,200 people in an Oct. 7, 2023, attack in Israel.
Though there has been an outcry over the staggering number of civilian deaths since the start of the war, increasingly graphic coverage of the Gaza famine has engendered new levels of outrage on both sides of the political spectrum. Too bad it’s taken the unspeakable suffering of babies, families and innocents to get us here.
The price of an Island has lowered drastically and is on the market for less than £300,000 which is a lower than a average London flat – with three beaches and beautiful view
There has been a price drop on this beautiful Scottish Island (Image: Jam Press/Bell Ingram)
A breath-taking Scottish island is up for sale for less than the cost of the average UK house and it’s packed with beaches, forest, and jaw-dropping views.
Eilean Mor, a remote 30-acre island located in Loch Sunart, in the Scottish Highlands, is on the market for £275,000 – cheaper than most three-bed homes and less than half the average London flat, which now sits at over £540,000.
With three cove beaches, a thick forest, and crystal blue waters, Eilean Mor is a haven for wildlife lovers and nature seekers. Seals, otters and sea eagles are often spotted nearby, and the area’s protected status means its rugged beauty is preserved.
But there’s a catch because it’s part of the Sunart Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and Special Area of Conservation (SAC), no planning permission exists for building or development. Still, for those wanting a slice of serenity and natural wonder, it’s a rare gem.
The island has been in the same family for generations and even has links to historical pilgrimages dating back nearly 1,000 years. According to estate agents Bell Ingram: “This captivating island offers a unique blend of natural beauty and historical intrigue, a serene hideaway and a chance to own a piece of Scotland’s wild beauty.”
This isn’t the only Scottish Island up for sale(Image: Bell Ingram / SWNS)
And you don’t need to give up civilisation completely. Just a short 3.5-mile trip from the island is the village of Strontian, which has shops, schools, a café, church, doctor’s surgery and B&Bs.
A bit further afield is Fort William dubbed the “outdoor capital of the UK” – with hiking, skiing, whisky tours and access to Ben Nevis, the UK’s highest mountain.
And if you’ve got a few more million in the bank, another Scottish island is also on sale – Shuna Island, a massive 1,110-acre plot with eight homes, a ruined castle, a working farm and a holiday business, priced at £5.5 million.
Located on the Gulf of Guinea, the hot and humid West African nation shares borders with Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, and Burkina Faso and Niger to the north.
The region of modern day Benin first came to the attention of the Europeans as a source of slaves with the shores of the region earning the name ‘the Slave Coast’.
Local warlords made agreements with the Portuguese to supply slaves from captured prisoners. One important local kingdom at the time was the Dahomey, known for their military discipline, who grew to be the dominant power in the region.
Dahomey means ‘on the belly of Dan’. Dan was the name of a rival king. Defeated by the Dahomey, they built their royal compound over his grave.
With the abolition of the slave trade, the control of the Dahomey was weakened, allowing the French to take over the region at the end of the nineteenth century. In 1904, the colony of French Dahomey was incorporated within French West Africa.
In 1946 with the establishment of the Fourth French Republic, Dahomey became an overseas territory of France with its own parliament and representation in the French national assembly.
On December 4th 1958, it became the Republic of Dahomey (République du Dahomey), a self-governing autonomous republic within the French Community.
On July 11th 1960 France agreed to Dahomey becoming fully independent. Dahomey gained its full independence on August 1st 1960, with Hubert Maga becoming Dahomey’s first president.
In 1975, the country changed its name to Benin, after the Bight of Benin, a large bay in the Gulf of Guinea.
Benin has one of the youngest populations in the world. With a median age of just 17, Benin has one of the youngest populations in the world. In fact, almost 65% of the country’s population is under 25 years old. These statistics can be attributed to high fertility rates, low rates of contraceptive use, and the fact that there is an average of five children per woman.
Before trade rumors heated up and dream scenarios were briefly envisioned, before the Dodgers were linked to a string of big names who all wound up anywhere but Los Angeles, the team’s front office foreshadowed what proved to be a rather straightforward, unremarkable trade deadline on Thursday afternoon.
“This group is really talented,” general manager Brandon Gomes said last week. “I would argue it’s better than the team that won the World Series last year.”
“It’s really about our internal guys, and the fact that these are veteran guys that have well-established watermarks,” echoed president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman, amid a July slump that fueled deadline speculation about what the team would need.
“I think the fact that we see the work they put in, how much they care, just makes it easier to bet on.”
On Thursday, maintaining faith in their current group is exactly what the Dodgers did.
The team did address its two main needs ahead of MLB’s annual midseason trade deadline. In the bullpen, it reunited with right-handed veteran Brock Stewart in a trade with the Minnesota Twins. In the outfield, it added solid-hitting, defensively serviceable 30-year-old Alex Call in a deal with the Washington Nationals.
But compared with the flurry of blockbuster deals that reverberated around them in the National League — from a head-spinning seven-player shopping spree by the San Diego Padres, to a bullpen arms race between the New York Mets and Philadelphia Phillies — the Dodgers’ moves were mild, tame and certainly cost-conscientious.
They didn’t splurge for one of the several established closers that were dealt for sky-high prices throughout the league. They didn’t remake their lineup by landing someone such as Steven Kwan, or any other hitter with anything close to All-Star pedigree.
In fact, the Dodgers hardly gave up much at all, content to round out the margins of their roster while parting with little in the way of prospect capital.
High-A pitchers Eriq Swan and Sean Paul Liñan (the 16th- and 20th-ranked players in their farm system by MLB Pipeline) were shipped to Washington. But otherwise, the only other departures were 40-man roster players unlikely to factor much into the team’s late-season plans: James Outman, who went to Minnesota in exchange for Stewart; Dustin May, who was dealt to the Boston Red Sox for a prospect a few months before entering free agency; and minor league catcher Hunter Feduccia, who was part of a three-team deal late Wednesday night that netted the Dodgers two pitching prospects and a journeyman catcher.
The Dodgers’ James Outman (33) celebrates after hitting a three-run home run during a game against the Miami Marlins in May.
(Marta Lavandier / Associated Press)
Compared to last year — when the Dodgers added Jack Flaherty (their eventual Game 1 starter in the World Series), Tommy Edman (the eventual National League Championship Series MVP) and Michael Kopech (a key piece in a bullpen that carried the team to a World Series title) — it all felt rather anticlimactic.
Which, as the Dodgers’ top two executives had noted the week before, appeared to be perfectly fine by them.
In Stewart, the team got a lower-cost addition in what was an expensive seller’s reliever market.
The 33-year-old has only two career saves, and is unlikely to fix the Dodgers’ ninth-inning problems. But, he is having a strong statistical season with 14 holds and a 2.38 ERA, 14th-best in the American League among relievers with 30 innings. He will give the Dodgers a stout option against right-handed hitters, who have just a .104 average and .372 OPS against him. And he comes with familiarity in the organization, still thought highly of after starting his career with the Dodgers from 2016-2019 — back before he reinvented himself with a fastball that now sits in the mid-to-upper 90 mph range.
In Call, the Dodgers gave themselves more versatility in the outfield.
The right-handed hitter has appeared in just 277 career games over four MLB seasons with the Nationals and Cleveland Guardians.
But the former third-round draft pick is having a nice 2025 season, highlighted by a .274 batting average, .756 OPS and decent (if unspectacular) defensive grades at all three outfield positions.
While Call’s role wasn’t immediately clear, he could factor into a platoon with recently resurgent left-handed hitting outfielder Michael Conforto. He also gives the Dodgers another option in center field, specifically, which would allow Andy Pages to spend more time in a more naturally suited corner outfield spot.
For those Dodgers, the moves checked off their two big priorities: Adding another dependable right-handed reliever in the bullpen, and improving their defensive options in the outfield.
What was missing from the Dodgers’ deadline, however, was the kind of big splash so many other contenders reeled off this week. The Padres acquired Mason Miller, Ramon Laureano, and Ryan O’Hearn without sacrificing any key big-league pieces. The Mets added Tyler Rogers, Ryan Helsley and Gregory Soto to their already stout bullpen, while the Phillies upgraded theirs with the addition of Jhoan Durán.
Already this year, the rest of the NL was keeping pace with what was billed as a seemingly invincible Dodgers team. Suddenly, the competition looks that much stronger, not only for the club to defend its World Series, but even to preserve the narrow three-game lead it holds over the Padres in the NL West.
The Dodgers, however, see internal improvement as the key to the rest of the season.
Already, their pitching staff is getting healthy. Tyler Glasnow, Blake Treinen and (as of this coming Saturday) Blake Snell are all back from extended injuries. Michael Kopech, Brusdar Graterol, Tanner Scott and Roki Sasaki are also scheduled to return over the final two months.
Offensively, the club is confident that slumping stars Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman and Tesocar Hernández will get back on track, and that Max Muncy will provide a jolt in his return from injury next week. All that — coupled with the MVP-caliber play of Shohei Ohtani and Will Smith — they believe should yield a lineup capable of repeating a run to the World Series.
“It’s always tricky when you’re in the midst of a swoon in team performance, because in those moments you feel like we need everything,” Friedman acknowledged leading into the deadline, with the team enduring a 10-14 slide in July. “So for us, it’s about, all right, let’s look ahead to August, September. Let’s look at what our best-case scenario is. Let’s look at, if we have a few injuries here and there, what areas are we exposed? What areas do we feel like we have depth?”
Apparently, the Dodgers still liked what they already had, rolling the dice on their current group while other contenders stocked up all around them.
More than 25,000 people have crossed the Engilsh Channel to the UK in 2025, the highest total this early in the year.
More than 25,000 people have crossed the English Channel into the United Kingdom so far this year, marking the fastest pace of arrivals since records began in 2018 and piling pressure on the UK’s Labour government as anti-immigration sentiment is stoked by the political right wing.
Figures released on Thursday show that nearly 900 refugees and migrants made the crossing in 13 small boats on Wednesday alone, bringing the total number of arrivals in 2025 to 25,436. It’s a perilous journey that has resulted in dozens of deaths over the years.
The milestone is likely to intensify political scrutiny over Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s handling of undocumented migration. His government has pledged tougher action on smuggling networks, with Starmer vowing to “smash the gangs” responsible for transporting people across the Channel.
Opposition politicians have seized on the latest numbers to criticise Labour’s approach.
“Almost 900 people crossed the Channel yesterday, meaning 25,000 people, mainly young men, have crossed the Channel this year. [And] 2025 is the worst year on record so far, and the Labour Government are doing nothing to stop the crossings,” said Conservative Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp.
He added: “Their 17 in, one out deal with France will not even make a dent – it would take 10 years for [Home Secretary] Yvette Cooper to deport the illegal immigrants that have arrived since the start of this year alone under her so-called deal, which still hasn’t started.”
Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron announced “one in, one out” returns of asylum seekers earlier this month. The pilot programme sets out that for every person returned, a different individual would be allowed “to come here via a safe route: controlled and legal, subject to strict security checks and only open to those who have not tried to enter the UK illegally”, Starmer said at the time.
Philp also reiterated his party’s proposal to immediately detain and deport new arrivals, warning that continued legal challenges under the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) could force a Conservative government to consider withdrawing from it, a threat they have often made in and around the Brexit years when the party was in government.
Radical right Reform UK leader Nigel Farage echoed those criticisms, writing on social media: “898 illegals crossed the English Channel yesterday. This means more hotels, more costs and more people who should not be here. The public have had ENOUGH!”
A series of violent far-right demonstrations have been held recently outside a hotel housing asylum seekers in Epping, north of London.
Meanwhile, United States President Donald Trump, who campaigned on a hardline anti-immigration platform and has been executing it during his second term with raids and deportations of immigrants, recently praised the UK government’s efforts, saying it was “doing a fantastic thing” by addressing the issue, though he admitted knowing “nothing about the boats”.
As Justin Timberlake bid farewell to his Forget Tomorrow world tour, he got candid with fans about his health.
The “Mirrors” and “SexyBack” pop star, 44, on Thursday revealed in a heartfelt Instagram post that he powered through his circuit of live performances as he battled a “relentlessly debilitating” bout of Lyme disease. The singer, who faced backlash for his low-energy performances in recent weeks, said in his lengthy caption that sharing his health issues was to help him “shed some light on what I’ve been up against behind the scenes.”
The Grammy-winning singer and actor went in depth about the disease’s mental and physical toll. Although he said he was “shocked” by the diagnosis, he said it provided some clarity.
“At least I could understand why I would be onstage and in a massive amount of nerve pain or, just feeling crazy fatigue or sickness,” he continued. “I was faced with a personal decision. Stop touring? Or, keep going and figure it out.”
The Mayo Clinic defines Lyme disease as an illness “caused by borrelia bacteria” that humans can get if they are bitten by an infected tick. Symptoms of Lyme disease can include joint stiffness, muscle aches and pains, fever and headache. Antibiotics are used to treat the disease.
Timberlake, amid the “fleeting stress my body was feeling,” said he opted to continue with his tour. “I’m so glad I kept going,” he said.
Pushing through with the tour, which began in April 2024 in Vancouver and ended Wednesday in Turkey, allowed Timberlake to prove his “mental tenacity,” he said. The singer said he would also work to be “more transparent about my struggles” with fans.
Throughout his tour, Timberlake faced a handful of personal and public obstacles. In October 2024, he announced the postponement of several shows to recover from bronchitis and laryngitis. That same month, he also abruptly called off a concert in Newark, N.J., because of an injury.
Notably, the former ‘NSYNC frontman carried on with his slate of shows last year after his DWI arrest in the Hamptons in June 2024. He pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of impaired driving, his driving privileges were suspended and he was sentenced in September to 25 hours of community service at a nonprofit of his choosing. He was also required to make a public safety announcement about the dangers of impaired driving.
After sharing his health update, Timberlake reminisced on his touring experience, continuing his post in his own comments section. He thanked supporters for their “energy and love” and the crew and artists who joined him on the road. Though performing live is “sacred” to the “Suit & Tie” music star, he said the status of his stage career remains unclear.
“I honestly don’t know what my future is onstage but I’ll always cherish this run! And all of them before,” he wrote. “It’s been the stuff of LEGEND for me.”
He ended his post sending love to his actor wife Jessica Biel and their two children. His caption accompanied a carousel of behind-the-scenes photos.
Former Times staff writer Nardine Saad contributed to this report.
President Dina Boluarte has blasted the Inter-American Court of Human Rights for its opposition to a recently passed bill that would grant amnesty to soldiers, police officers and other security personnel involved in Peru’s internal conflict from 1985 to 2000.
On Thursday, Boluarte asserted that the international court had overstepped its authority by seeking the law’s suspension.
“We are not anyone’s colony,” she said, posting a snippet of her speech to social media.
“And we will not allow the intervention of the Inter-American Court that intends to suspend a bill that seeks justice for members of our armed forces, our National Police and the self-defence committees that fought, risking their lives, against the insanity of terrorism.”
Since passing Peru’s Congress in July, the amnesty law has been awaiting Boluarte’s approval. She can either sign it into law, allow it to take effect automatically or send it back to Congress for revisions.
But the bill has prompted international outcry, not least because it is seen to shield security forces from accountability for the atrocities that unfolded during Peru’s war.
The legislation would also offer “humanitarian” amnesty to perpetrators over age 70 who have been convicted of wartime crimes.
People carry fake coffins representing their relatives who died amid political violence, on July 28, 2025 [Martin Mejia/AP Photo]
Some 70,000 people were killed in the internal conflict, the majority of them from rural and Indigenous communities.
Soldiers and police officers were ostensibly tasked with combatting armed uprisings from rebel groups like the Shining Path and the Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement. But the conflict became infamous for its human rights abuses and massacres of civilians with no ties to any rebel group.
Francisco Ochoa was 14 years old when residents in his Andean village, Accomarca, were slaughtered by soldiers. He told Al Jazeera earlier this week that he and other survivors felt “outraged and betrayed” by the new amnesty law.
International organisations have likewise denounced the law as a step backwards for Peruvian society.
Nine human rights experts with the United Nations signed a statement on July 17 expressing “alarm” at the bill’s passage through Congress. They called on the government of Peru to veto the bill.
“The proposed legislation would prevent the criminal prosecution and condemnation of individuals who committed gross human rights violations during Peru’s internal armed conflict,” they said.
“It would put the State in clear breach of its obligations under international law.”
A week later, on July 24, the president of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, Nancy Hernandez Lopez, ordered Peru to “immediately suspend the processing” of the bill. She ruled that the legislation violated previous rulings against such amnesty laws in the country.
“If it is not suspended, the competent authorities refrain from enforcing this law,” she said.
In previous rulings, the Inter-American Court has found that amnesty laws and statutes of limitations are unlawful in the case of serious human rights violations like forced disappearances and extrajudicial executions.
It also declared that age is not a disqualifying factor for suspects accused of grave human rights abuses. Such exemptions, the court said, are only acceptable under international law for lesser or nonviolent offences.
The National Human Rights Coordinator, a coalition of humanitarian groups in Peru, estimates that the country’s latest amnesty law could overturn 156 convictions and disrupt more than 600 ongoing investigations.
A previous amnesty law implemented in 1995, under then-President Alberto Fujimori, was later repealed.
Still, President Boluarte on Thursday sought to frame her government’s actions as in line with international human rights standards.
“We are defenders of human rights, of citizens,” she wrote on social media, while emphasising that her government was “free”, “sovereign” and “autonomous”, apparent jabs at the Inter-American Court’s decision.
SACRAMENTO — Gov. Gavin Newsom said Thursday that he’s considering calling a special election on Nov. 4 to ask voters to approve new congressional maps in California in an effort to thwart President Trump’s plan to redistrict Republican-controlled states and hold onto power of the House of Representatives in the midterm elections.
“I think there’s a growing recognition in this country, not just with Democrats, independents, but also Republicans, that de facto the Trump presidency ends in November of next year if the American people are given a fair chance and a voice and a choice. We’ll take back Congress,” Newsom said. “The President of the United States recognizes that, so he wants to rig the game, wants to change the rules midterm.”
The governor has cast his call to gerrymander California as a response to Trump’s request for Texas and other states to reconfigure their maps to pick up seats in 2026.
“We’re going to respond in a transparent way, an honest way, but it’s in response,” Newsom said. “But I’m not going to sit back any longer in a position, a fetal position, in a position of weakness, when in fact California could demonstrably advance strength and that’s what we intend to do.”
Under Newsom’s plan, the California Legislature would need to take a vote to send a ballot measure to voters.
Newsom said voters would be given the maps of new congressional districts. A special election would be held on the first Tuesday in November asking voters to adopt the maps and allow the new districts to remain in effect through 2030 when California would return to the independent redistricting system that’s currently in place.
California’s Independent Redistricting Commission would craft new maps after the next census to be put into effect in 2032.
The governor said he’s in the early planning states of the process and doesn’t have an estimate yet for the price tag of a statewide special election. Newsom called the cost of preserving Democracy “priceless.”
“There are many local elections that first Tuesday already on the ballot, so it requires significant less resources than a special election that didn’t already have regular elections considered,” Newsom said. “So that could be very meaningful in mitigating the cost.”
Newsom promised more information in the weeks ahead.
Claire Donnelly visited Lake Annecy in France, launching herself down the sides of mountains on an e-bike in pursuit of thrills, strong cheese and delicious wine
When our tour guide asked me if I fancied trying an e-bike – and mentioned that we’d be stopping for cheese and drinks en route – I didn’t need asking twice.
On holiday in the French Alps, staying in a stunning chalet above Lake Annecy, it sounded like a perfect way to spend an afternoon. I pictured myself pootling along flat, leafy trails, taking breaks to marvel at the dazzling, turquoise water or nibbling local cheese while I sipped a glass of wine.
I was heading out with a group and a guide, and after a quick e-bike tutorial – I’d never ridden one before, but our instructor made everything clear – we set off, making our way to the centre of La Clusaz, a charming Alpine village famous for its winter skiing and summer sports.
Claire decided to push herself to her limits(Image: DAILY MIRROR)
So far, so good. This terrain was pretty easy, and I figured that once we left the town behind, we’d start enjoying some cheese and chilled-out cycling vibes. But as our guide zipped through the streets, I realised we were heading to some kind of registration point. When we got there I was given a number to pin on my back and I thought I heard someone say something about ski lifts.
Looking around I noticed a timed finish line, info points and billboards covered in printed route maps… and realised, like an idiot, I’d signed up for what looked suspiciously like an Alpine mountain bike race.
Before I could worry or ask for more details, we were on the move again and heading up, up, up towards the mountain. I live in West Yorkshire, in a valley known for its rugged landscape and killer hills – but even by my Pennine standards, this was steep.
The e-bikes handled the gravel and incline with ease, though, and in a few minutes, we were having our bikes hauled aboard the ski lift and gliding towards the 1500m-high summit. Making our way to the start line, we passed a lot of serious-looking cyclists, checking their smart watches and adjusting their designer shades.
My Aldi cycling shorts and Zara vest were holding up well, but looking down the town seemed a long way away and we were all feeling a bit out of our depth. It was at this point that one of our group revealed that the last time she tried mountain biking she’d fallen off and injured herself, leaving her traumatised, another mentioned she’d not been on a bike of any kind for 20 years.
Our lovely guide reassured us that there were a few races that day and we were joining, the Rando 3 Fromages, a relatively easy 12km version and we could stop or walk whenever we needed to.
Lake Annecy is known as the Venice of the Alps (Image: DAILY MIRROR)
It also has plenty of mountain action higher-up in the hills(Image: DAILY MIRROR)
As he said, we’d spend a couple of hours making our way downhill, stopping off to fortify ourselves with local cheeses, provided by artisan farmers. Held every year for the last four years, the Rondo is the easiest part of a dedicated biking and mountain sports weekend, the Bélier VTT.
It’s one of several that take place here as the region pushes to extend its tourist season, tempting visitors to explore its picture-perfect Alpine villages in the warmer months too. A summer trip is definitely something I’d recommend.
We stayed in an amazing, luxury chalet, perched in the mountains, just above the popular ski base of La Clusaz. Less than an hour’s drive from Geneva airport, we woke every day to crisp fresh air, endless blue sky vistas and the soothing sound of cattle bells.
The popular town of Annecy – dubbed ‘the Venice of the Alps’ – is a short drive or bus journey away too and the weather was perfect. We visited in mid-June. It was glorious, a sunny 27 degrees most days but pleasant and cool in the evening and with no shortage of things to do.
This is a sporty place, where residents and visitors like to keep fit so if biking, hiking, water sports or trail running appeal, you’re in the right place. And today we were joining the Alpine sports crew.
As we hit our first downhill track, littered with giant rocks and with a sheer drop to our left, it’s fair to say we were all absolutely terrified. Our instructor had told us how to tackle these steep inclines – stand up on the pedals, keep your legs straight, use one finger on the sensitive brakes (any more and you’ll fly off) and don’t avoid the rocks, go over them.
There was a lot of wobbling, some swearing and I definitely said a prayer or two – but I followed his advice, and amazingly, it worked. After the first few terrifying descents, I started to find my rhythm and actually embrace the thrill of flying down a mountain on two wheels.
All around us were scenes of vast, panoramic beauty as we rushed past towering pines and delicate alpine blooms, watching farmers herd goats and nudge cattle across the peaks. After a few miles we hit our first cheese station wolfing down freshly cut bread and goat’s cheese, served by local producers.
There was more cheese and more twists and turns on the way down. We crossed gentle streams and lush fields before cycling through a blast of welcome rain on our final, gnarly descent back to the registration point.
I crossed the finish line in just over two hours. I was soaked to the skin, full of the best cheese I’ve ever tasted, covered in mud but somehow still in one piece and beyond elated. It was a high-octane Alpine experience I’ll never forget – and now that my legs have stopped shaking, one I might even repeat next year.
