Month: July 2026

Amazon rainforest deforestation hits lowest level in more than a decade

Deforestation in parts of the Amazon rainforest in Brazil declined to its lowest levels in more than a decade, a good sign for what scientists call one of the world’s most important climate regulators. File Photo by Antonio Lacerda/EPA

July 11 (UPI) — Deforestation of Brazil’s Amazon rainforest has fallen to its lowest levels in more than a decade, officials said this week.

Satellite surveys show a 37% decrease in the number of trees felled in the world’s largest rainforest in the past year compared to the previous one, according to the National Space Research Institute (INPE).

This is the lowest level of Amazon deforestation since 2014, data published on Friday shows.

“It’s a solid result, stemming from government actions to protect the forest and combat environmental crime,” said executive secretary Márcio Astrini, of the Brazilian environmental collective Observatório do Clima.

“The figures are excellent and deserve to be celebrated,” Astrini told G1.

The Amazon rainforest is one of the world’s most important climate regulators, scientists and experts have said.

Deforestation of the Amazon in Brazil reached a 15-year high in 2021 under former President Jair Bolsonaro, whose government cut environmental protections and enforcement of conservation laws.

Brazil’s current president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, has vowed to eradicate illegal deforestation by 2030.

“It is a commitment — otherwise, I will have failed,” Lula told reporters during an event in Belém do Pará, a city known as the metropolis of the Amazon.

Olympic canoeist David Hearn departs the Moultrie Courthouse after pleading not guilty to damaging the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool on Thursday. Hearn was indicted on July 2 on one count of destruction of property of more than $1,000 for allegedly damaging the Reflecting Pool, carrying a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison if convicted. Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI | License Photo

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From river swimming, bear-watching and space simulators

JUMP into river swimming, bear-watching and space simulators on a family road trip to Belgium, says Acting Senior Designer Sasha Cunningham.

Sunlight bursts through the tree canopy as enormous furry paws pad silently across the forest floor.

Credit: Getty Images
There’s lots to lake in Neufchâteau Credit: Greg Van Oz

Elevated safely on a viewing platform, my family and I quietly watch as two Eurasian brown bears climb trees, paddle in the stream and stalk through the lush landscape.

We’re at Forestia in Theux, Belgium, which has 44 hectares dedicated to the conservation of animals originally found wild in the area.

Later the kids get to hand-feed deer, too.

Tickets cost from £22 for adults, and £16 for children (Forestia.be).

WAIL OF A TIME

I drove Irish Route 66 with deserted golden beaches and pirate-like islands


TEMPTED?

Tiny ‘Bali of Europe’ town with stunning beaches, €3 cocktails and £20 flights

Lush Lodgings

The grass is greener at these luxe lodges Credit: Supplied by PR
Scandi cool at Landal Hillview Resort Grandvoir Credit: Supplied by PR

This is just one of the highlights we find in our week spent in the wilds of Belgium’s Ardennes region.

We’re staying about four hours from Calais – a drive that takes us along winding roads and through luscious pine forests – kipping in a stylish six-person self-catering lodge at Landal Hillview Resort Grandvoir, near the town of Neufchâteau.

Nestled among wildflower meadows teaming with butterflies, our lodge feels super-private, with just the sound of the birds and the occasional cricket for company.

It’s decked out with hygge decor in earthy shades, plus has its own cosy infrared sauna.

My sons Oscar, eight, and Ben, five, splash around in the ankle-deep stream running alongside our pad, and there’s plenty of wildlife to spot.

Wild boar, deer, raccoons and beavers all frequent the site, and I’m excited to spy a badger scampering across the field as husband Grant and I settle down on our large deck for a sundowner.

Later, we try a game of boules by the resort’s Bois Des Bois restaurant, which serves up regional dishes for dinner and a buffet of delicious pastries, yoghurts, eggs, meats and cheeses if you’re feeling lazy one morning.

Breakfast costs £19 for adults, £16.50 for children.

There’s also a playground, on-site shop and bike hire, plus a boutique hotel if you want to splash out.

Water Find

Elevated safely on a viewing platform, my family and I quietly watch as two Eurasian brown bears climb trees, paddle in the stream and stalk through the lush landscape Credit: Getty Images/iStockphoto
You’ll have a pawsome time spying deer and bears at Forestia Credit: Biosphoto/robertharding
Do go chasing waterfalls at Cascades de Coo Credit: Getty Images

Just 25 minutes’ drive away is L’Antrogne, a wild swimming spot popular with locals.

The river La Semois glistens in the sun, and after a pebble-skimming contest we paddle in the crystal-clear shallows, baby trout weaving around our legs.

The boys also delight in floating down the gentle rapids as dragonflies hover around them.

Another day, we hire top-of-the-range Bosch ebikes, £32 each per day, plus £13 for a kids’ trailer, to tackle the hilly terrain to Lake Neufchâteau.

Whizzing through the quaint village of Grandvoir and beautiful tree-lined tunnels is great fun, and we make it to the man-made reservoir in 40 minutes to find both a lido and sandy beach.

We jump into the water to cool off, as the boys eye up kayaks and pedal boats, from £7 for 30 minutes’ hire, before we picnic on cheese-filled croissants by the water’s edge.

Meanwhile, a worthy detour on our way back from bear-watching at Forestia proves to be Cascades de Coo, the highest natural waterfall in Belgium.

With a 15-metre drop down to the Amblève River, the thundering rapids are a must-see – but without doubt the kids’ favourite bit is Brasserie Au Vieux Moulin’s chocolate crêpes served with Nutella and fresh cream, £8.25, which we devour with a glorious view of the falls from the terrace (@Brasserieauvieuxmoulin).

Blast off

Buckle up for adventure at the Euro Space Center Credit: Supplied by PR
Compiled by: Catherine Bennion-Pedley  Photography: Greg Van Oz, Christian Cabron/Biosphoto/Robertharding, Getty Images Credit: Getty Images

On our last day, a 25-minute drive transports us from our tranquil forest camp to the surface of Mars and the fascinating astronaut training camp at Euro Space Center.

We don orange spacesuits and test our minds and agility to see if we have what it takes to be astronauts.

As we are taken through computer logic tests, physical balance trials and even try on space pants to check whether we’d be able to correctly use a spaceship toilet, our family competitiveness is properly revealed.

Tickets cost from £30 for adults, £26 for children (Eurospacecenter.be).

We also get to wander through the Mars village to operate our very own rover, but the best bit is finding out what it feels like to walk on the moon and experiencing take-off in the space shuttle simulator.

The G force of the space rotor leaves our legs feeling pretty wobbly and, if I’m honest, I’m not sure any of us would cut it as real astronauts.

Still, the kids certainly think our trip across the channel was an out-of-this-world adventure.

FYI

Family stays in a forest lodge at Landal Hillview Resort Grandvoir cost from £399 for three nights (Landal.co.uk).

Tickets from Folkestone to Calais on LeShuttle cost from £98 each way for a vehicle with up to nine passengers (Leshuttle.com).

Veurne rules

The medieval town of Veurne makes for an excellent pit stop when driving back to the UK, with its Flemish language and Dutch-style architecture reminiscent of Amsterdam.

Nestled between St Walburga and St Nicholas churches is De Soetasse Brasserie, where you can tuck into rich croque monsieurs, £8, and croûte aux champignons with a curry twist, £10.50 (@Desoetasse).

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Antiques Roadshow star Theo Burrell dies suddenly as husband pays tribute to ‘incredible person’

Theo Burrell’s husband Alex confirmed the tragic news in an Instagram post saying that her death came much quicker than anticipated following a cancer diagnosis

An Antiques Roadshow star has tragically died as her heartbroken husband paid tribute calling her an “incredible person”.

Theo Burrell’s husband Alex confirmed the tragic news in an Instagram post, saying that her death came much quicker than anticipated following a cancer diagnosis.

He shared a snap of the 39-year-old cuddling a dog as he wrote: “It is with great sadness that I share the news that Theo passed away peacefully surrounded by her family on Wednesday afternoon.

“Neither she nor her medical team foresaw this happening quite so quickly. She was an incredible person who fought hard for her family, friends and raising awareness of this cruel disease.”

He went on: “She saw life events like her son’s first day at school and her wedding that a little over 4 years ago we thought she’d never see.

“The cancer community provided so much comfort and strength to her in her darkest moments. But most of all it provided hope and I think what she would want most of all is for other people to find hope in her story. Hope that the statistics aren’t gospel and that one day they’ll be very different.”

Back in June, Theo shared that it had marked four years since she was diagnosed with glioblastoma – a malignant brain tumour, reported the Express.

At the time, the BBC star shared that she had surpassed the prognosis handed to her by doctors at diagnosis, when she was given 12-18 months to live.

She wrote: “On 7th June this year, I marked 4 years since my glioblastoma diagnosis. Like other GBM patients I was expected to live for 12-18 months.

“In the wake of that news I had many dark thoughts including that I wouldn’t see my son’s 2nd birthday let alone him starting school, but I’m lucky enough to say I did! And no one can take that away from me.

“Life since second surgery in Jan this year has definitely been a bit up and down. My peripheral vision on the left has gone and I’m having to take it slowly wherever I go. My coordination is not what it was.

“However this week Alex and I got the help of my parents (thank you so much GM & GI) and we’ve made it to the Lakes for 4 nights of chilling out. Having such warm weather has therefore been a bit of an extra bonus.

“Of course the next scan looms but I’ve dug deep and found a new bit of determination (which does not always come easy) to say to the GBM ‘I will not give up. Whatever the results, I’ll take stock, trust my oncologist and go from there.’

“So if you’re in the brain cancer world along with me – you’re not alone and we’ve just got to take it slowly but surely – every day we make is a bit of a win for us and a ‘GET LOST!’ to the illness!”

Theo became a Brain Tumour Research Patron in 2023 and tirelessly campaigned in Holyrood and Westminster to make the voices of brain tumour patients heard.

She played a pivotal role in helping the Charity launch the Scottish Brain Tumour Research Centre of Excellence where research is focused on moving new treatments for glioblastoma into clinical trials.

Dan Knowles, Brain Tumour Research CEO, said: “We are heartbroken that we have lost the phenomenal, determined and truly inspiring Theo Burrell to this devastating disease. She was always very open about her prognosis and knew from the outset her cancer was terminal, but she was absolutely determined to make a difference for others.

“She constantly inspired us with how big her heart was and we will continue on our mission, driven by everything she taught us. Our thoughts are with her family, her friends and with all those who had the privilege of knowing her.”

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Key deals this week: MGM, PERF, VRTX, and more (PPLI:NASDAQ)

M A - concept waiting for mergers and acquisitions.3D rendering on yellow background.

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Here’s a list of key deals reported across sectors this week:

  • MGM Resorts (MGM) has reportedly started discussions with People (PPLI) for a potential buyout deal after Barry Diller’s media company offered to acquire the casino giant in

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Trump’s Endangered Species Act rollback puts California wildlife at risk

The Trump administration finalized a rollback of the Endangered Species Act on Friday, paving the way for drilling, mining and other human development across protected wildlife habitats.

The move redefines “harm” under the Endangered Species Act, the landmark conservation law that protects threatened and endangered plants and animals. For years, “harm” meant actions that injure or kill wildlife, as well as actions that destroy protected habitats.

Under the new rule, destroying those habitats is no longer illegal.

The decision aligns with the Trump administration’s ongoing effort to slash regulations in the name of economic growth. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, whose department finalized the move, said the prior definition of harm “interfered with private property rights” and “turned routine activity into a regulatory trap.”

Environmental groups called the decision a disaster, saying it puts protected species on a path to extinction.

The move seems especially poised to hit California, the most biodiverse state in the country, where more than 6,700 species are spread across mountains, forests, deserts and oceans. Of the roughly 2,300 species protected by the Endangered Species Act, nearly 300 are found in California.

These species include amphibians such as tiger salamanders and Yosemite toads; birds such as California condors and northern spotted owls; fish such as Little Kern golden trout and Santa Ana suckers; insects such as Franklin’s bumble bees and Mission blue butterflies; mammals such as gray wolves and Santa Catalina Island foxes; and reptiles such as desert tortoises and green sea turtles.

The Endangered Species Act is widely credited with saving the California condor, which almost went extinct in the 1980s due to several factors, including habitat destruction. Thanks to a recovery program under the act, the condor population has since soared to several hundred. But under the new law, the logging and human development that led to their near demise is now allowed.

A handful of California species recoveries have been championed as success stories under the Endangered Species Act, including southern sea otters, peregrine falcons, humpback whales, bald eagles and green sea turtles.

According to a report from the Center for Biological Diversity, the El Segundo blue butterfly lost 90% of its oceanside habitat due to the construction of LAX and beachfront housing developments. The population dwindled to about 1,000 butterflies in the 1970s, when it was named an endangered species. Now, the population has climbed above 120,000.

In California, the rollback could pave the way for more farming, mining, logging and drilling in areas that were once forbidden due to the potential for wildlife habitat destruction. A report from Earthjustice estimates that expanded oil drilling in California could threaten five marine species including humpback whales, sea otters, leatherback sea turtles, marbled murrelets and wild salmon.

Several environmental groups are planning legal challenges to the ruling.

“For the first time ever, a presidential administration now claims that species protected by the Endangered Species Act shouldn’t be safe from habitat modification that destroys where they live, raise their young, or search for food,” Kristen Boyles, attorney for the environmental nonprofit Earthjustice, said in a statement. “Let’s be clear: there is no support for the Trump administration’s rule — no scientific support, no legal support, no public support. We will see the Trump administration in court.”

Ben Greuel, wildlife campaign manager at the Sierra Club, called the decision “an unlawful attempt to open the door for corporate polluters to degrade vitally important habitats.”

“For more than four decades, the definition of ‘harm’ recognized a simple truth: if you destroy the places wildlife need to survive, you are putting species on a path to extinction,” Greuel said in a statement.

It’s not the first time Trump has taken aim at California environmental regulation.

Earlier this year, Gov. Gavin Newsom, along with the governors of Washington and Oregon, submitted a formal opposition to the Trump administration’s plans to expand drilling off the Pacific Coast, with Newsom saying it leads to “dead wildlife.” In June, the Trump administration ordered a review of the California Coastal Commission, claiming the state’s “environmental extremism” obstructs spaceport development and offshore oil production.

A day before the Endangered Species Act decision, the Trump administration signed off on a controversial plan to use an old oil pipeline to pump water from the Mojave Desert into cities. Environmental groups said the plan threatens springs and local wildlife, since six pumps would need to be built in desert tortoise habitats.

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Catalans Dragons 6-28 Leeds Rhinos: Brodie Croft grabs treble in Super League leaders’ victory

Catalans Dragons head coach John Cartwright told Sky Sports:

“Intent-wise and physicality, it was a massive improvement on last week. To compete with them, we had to do that.

“Up until 16-0 down we were still in the game. We were unlucky because we should have scored a try and had to take our chances against a side like that, and we didn’t.

“There were a lot of things we had to get right to be in the game against them, and we didn’t quite do it. But physically, I just loved the way they had each other’s back in that second half.”

Leeds coach Brad Arthur told Sky Sports:

“We were pretty professional and thought we were quite tough as well. We wanted to dominate possession, and I thought we did that really well.

“Obviously there were some tactics after they came out after half-time, trying to rattle us, and we go back to round five and it worked for them. It was good that we learned our lesson.

“There are a couple of things we got wrong, but we were able to compose ourselves and just get back to our job.”

Catalans Dragons: Staines, Cotric, Laguerre, Faataape, Darrelatour, Sexton, Dodd, Allen, Leeming, Maria, Rogers-Smith, Lipowicz, Bousquet.

Interchanges: Condon, Navarrete, Wilson, Tison, Martin.

Leeds Rhinos: Miller, Sivo, Handley, Newman, Lumb, Croft, Connor, Oledzki, Levi, Jenkins, Hankinson, McDonnell, Watkins.

Interchanges: Holroyd, O’Connor, C. Smith, Cassell, Nicholson-Watton.

Referee: Liam Moore.

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US judge dismisses January 6 case against Proud Boys after Trump order | Donald Trump News

A United States federal court has dismissed the seditious conspiracy cases against four members of the Proud Boys, the far-right group involved in the attack on the US Capitol on January 6, 2021.

On Friday, Judge Timothy J Kelly, an appointee of President Donald Trump, granted the government’s motion to dismiss the case with prejudice, meaning it cannot be revived in future.

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But Kelly made it clear that the defendants — Ethan Nordean, Joseph Biggs, Zachary Rehl and Dominic Pezzola — had been “convicted of serious offences”.

He wrote in his seven-page ruling that his decision was ultimately rooted in the separation of government powers, not in the merits of the case.

“As the Court has said many times, the attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021 was a perilous event. It was an attack on people, including police officers, many of whom were injured,” Kelly wrote.

“It was an attack on the Constitution’s mechanism to facilitate the peaceful transfer of power from one president to the next,” he added.

Inside the January 6 riot

Friday’s ruling was yet another milestone in Trump’s efforts to end the prosecution of January 6 rioters.

The attack on the Capitol came shortly after Trump lost his bid for re-election in 2020 to Democrat Joe Biden. But in the aftermath of his loss, Trump spread false claims that the election had been rigged.

January 6, 2021, was the day Congress was scheduled to certify the Electoral College votes, confirming Trump’s defeat.

His vice president at the time, Mike Pence, held a ceremonial role overseeing the certification that day. But behind the scenes, Trump reportedly pressured Pence to reject the results of the election.

At midday, Trump held a “Save America” rally in front of the White House, repeating to his supporters that he had won “by a landslide”.

“If Mike Pence does the right thing, we win the election,” Trump said at one point. At another, he said, “If you don’t fight like hell, you’re not going to have a country anymore.”

Afterwards, some of his supporters marched to the Capitol and broke into the building, attacking police officers and causing millions of dollars worth of damage. Participants signalled their aim was to stop the vote certification, with some chanting, “Hang Mike Pence.”

The attack proved to be deadly. One rioter was shot by police as she climbed through a broken window to enter the House Speaker’s Lobby. An officer died from a stroke the following day after being beaten. Others died by suicide after the attack. Members of Congress had to be led to safety.

Under the Biden administration, the Department of Justice opened criminal cases against nearly 1,600 people involved.

But Trump has long defended the rioters and called their prosecution a “national injustice”.

Trump himself faced two criminal indictments — one at state level, the other federal — over his alleged attempts to subvert the election results, though the charges were dropped upon his re-election in 2024.

Unravelling the prosecutions

Calling the January 6 prosecutions an example of government “weaponisation”, Trump had campaigned during the 2024 race on a promise to pardon the rioters.

He followed through with that pledge on the first day of his second term. On January 20, 2025, Trump signed an executive order granting “a full, complete and unconditional pardon” to most of the defendants involved in the Capitol attack.

Trump also commuted the sentences of 14 people, including Nordean, Biggs, Rehl and Pezzola. Under his authority, the Department of Justice also proceeded to seek the dismissal of ongoing January 6 cases.

Judge Kelly cited that series of events in Friday’s ruling, though he appeared to express a measure of scepticism.

“No one should mistake the Court’s granting of the Government’s motion for its agreement with those decisions,” Kelly wrote.

In May 2023, a jury in Washington, DC, found Nordean, Biggs and Rehl guilty of charges including seditious conspiracy, alongside Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio.

Pezzola, meanwhile, was found not guilty of seditious conspiracy, but he was convicted of several felonies, including assaulting a police officer. At sentencing, the four men received prison terms ranging from 10 to 18 years, with Pezzola receiving the lightest sentence of the group.

But in weighing the future of the case against the four men, Judge Kelly explained that it was “hard to see” any other course forward other than dismissal.

The court system, Kelly explained, cannot “compel” the executive branch to pursue prosecutions. Trump’s executive order had also required the Department of Justice to seek the case’s dismissal.

“The Court will grant the motion because there are no grounds for it to withhold leave for the Government to dismiss the case with prejudice,” Kelly concluded.

But he ended his decision with a word of warning about protecting the future of American democracy from further attacks.

“Moving forward, if this Nation’s experiment in self-government is to last another 250 years, the American people — no matter their partisan preferences — will have to act together to preserve, protect and defend that miracle through our constitutional framework,” Kelly wrote.

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UK police investigate murder of politician Ann Widdecombe | Crime

NewsFeed

Politician Ann Widdecombe was found dead at her home with serious injuries, with police confirming a murder investigation is underway.

Politicians from across the political spectrum have paid tribute to the former Conservative MP turned Reform UK spokesperson, expressing shock and sadness over her death.

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Wes Anderson’s needle-drop genius gets its due at his Hollywood Bowl tribute

The actor and musician Jason Schwartzman pulled a cassette tape from his pocket on stage at the L.A. Phil’s tribute to Wes Anderson. Schwartzman was just a teenager when he was cast as the obliviously ambitious Max Fischer in Anderson’s 1998 film “Rushmore,” and on Friday, he recalled the night Anderson played him the film’s entire soundtrack in his car.

“He said, ‘This is the soundtrack to the movie, this is the order it’s going to be in, and he walked me through the entire film narrating it,” Schwartzman said, still agog at the completeness of Anderson’s vision before a frame was shot.

More recently, Schwartzman said, “I was at my mom’s house tying my shoe, and I see a cassette tape on the ground titled ‘Rushmore songs’.” He then chucked the tape into the audience, a piece of film history that hopefully someone caught unscathed.

Anderson’s use of far-flung needle drops and lovely original score work is, like everything in his film universe, planned down to exacting detail. But this opener of a three-night stand — sporting an all-star roster of guest vocalists, an exceptional backing band, and a light touch from the Phil — was more in the spirit of how fans revisit Anderson’s films. As old friends that pop back into your life, affection only deepened with time, right when you need them.

Guided by the genial riffing of the night’s MC, Bill Murray (an Anderson regular from “Rushmore” onwards), the program made its case that Anderson’s savvy with soundtrack curation and delicate, evocative scores are the heart of his films, right along with his meticulous visual style and arch, melancholy tone.

The director, recently freed from a malfunctioning elevator in a pithily Andersonian incident, made a brief appearance onstage with Murray in his regal white suit. But the focus was the music itself on Friday, and the ragtag roster of artists that fully conjured it.

To start, huge credit due to the show’s musical director Justin Meldal-Johnsen and the session-killer band of Roger Joseph Manning Jr., Jason Falkner, Joey Waronker and Gus Seyffert. The sheer amount of music to arrange and assemble for this was vast and demanding, and they got to all of it from 1996’s “Bottle Rocket” to the present.

The Phil took a more modest role, performing poignant, rigorous slivers of scores from Anderson’s go-to composers Alexandre Desplat (“Canto at Gabelmeister’s Peak” from ‘The Grand Budapest Hotel” and “Mr. Fox in The Fields,” from “The Fantastic Mr. Fox”) or his frequent collaborator, Devo’s Mark Mothersbaugh (the propulsive “Ping Island” from “The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou.”)

Pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet took a lively solo crack at “Moses Rosenthaler” off “The French Dispatch;” Rajib Karmakar and Aakash Pujara played aching sitar and flute drones from “The Darjeeling Limited,” and taiko drummer Kaoru Watanabe nearly blew out the Bowl’s speakers on “Shinto Shrine” from “Isle of Dogs.”

The surprises came from the rock acts brought in to re-imagine the most evocative needle drops from Anderson’s ouvre.

Jackson Browne, in an unbelievable career first, finally got around to performing “Fairest of the Seasons” and “These Days,” tracks he wrote as a teenager eventually covered by German art-rock chanteuse Nico, mournfully used on “The Royal Tenenbaums.”

Beck took a pass at the late Elliott Smith’s ghostly “Needle in The Hay,” used to harrowing effect in the same film, and later Love’s “Alone Again, Or”. Karen Elson beautifully covered Françoise Hardy’s “Les Temps De L’amour” from “Moonrise Kingdom” while the Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ Karen O simmered through the Rolling Stones’ “Play With Fire” off “Darjeeling.”

Yet the delighted gang’s-all-here element that ties Anderson’s regular cast together was embodied by an endearingly shaggy run through “Zorro Is Back” with Jenny Lewis and Rogê. Towards the end of the night, just before a closer with the Faces’ “Ooh La La,” Murray brought out a one-of-a-kind instrument for a big flourish. A nine-dollar desk bell, seemingly purchased at Staples hours before showtime, requested specifically by Anderson.

“Front of house, make sure Bill’s bell is ripping,” Beck implored the sound techs at the Bowl. Indeed, as the band, including Jim James of My Morning Jacket, Lewis and Schwartzman, performed the Bobby Fuller Four’s single “Let Her Dance,” Murray indeed whacked the hell out of that thing.

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Mexican-born builder fatally shot by an ICE officer is mourned

The builder got up every morning long before dawn, left home to pick up his construction crew and then headed out to work on yet another house somewhere across the sprawl of Houston.

Fourteen hours later, Lorenzo Salgado Araujo would return to the wife he’d met as a teenager in Mexico and the modest house he’d built for his family on the city’s east side.

It’s what he’d done for decades, according to Ronaldo Salgado, his oldest son. He said his father built hundreds of houses over 35 years, creating a life for his family and watching as his three sons headed off to college.

On Tuesday, a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer fatally shot Salgado Araujo, 52, after he was pursued by federal agents driving unmarked vehicles while he was taking his crew to their latest job site. The shooting has outraged Houston leaders and renewed public scrutiny over ICE and Trump’s immigration crackdown.

Four Democratic members of Congress who represent the Houston area said at a vigil Saturday that they would push for an independent investigation into the shooting.

“We are never going to forget that his blood is on Donald Trump’s hands,” Rep. Christian Menefee said. “We are not at war. Lorenzo Salgado Araujo was not a casualty. He was a human being who was murdered by our government.”

ICE was looking for someone else

Federal agents were looking for someone else when they tried to stop Salgado Araujo’s white van, Garcia said, citing a briefing she received from ICE’s acting director. The Department of Homeland Security has said an ICE officer fired at the van in self-defense after Salgado Araujo, whom officials described as an “illegal alien,” rammed an ICE vehicle. They have provided no evidence.

After some previous shootings by federal immigration agents, Homeland Security authorities have given accounts that were contradicted by video evidence. No video showing the moment of the shooting this time has emerged, and the agents at the scene were not wearing body cameras.

The three men that Salgado Araujo was driving said he was shot through a passenger window and that the ICE officer who fired was not in front of the van or even in danger, a lawyer who has spoken with them said Friday.

His family has also disputed the account from ICE. They said lawyers, who were helping him apply for a work permit, had explained how he should behave if immigration agents stopped him. Salgado Araujo was close to obtaining legal status when he was killed, they said.

“He knew what to do,” Ronaldo Salgado told reporters this week. “He knew not to sign anything. He knew that the first phone call he should make should be either to myself or to my mom. So that way we can get the process started of getting him out.”

He believes his father may have been scared that he was being followed by unmarked vehicles, worried someone was planning to steal his van or his tools.

The shooting in the largely Latino neighborhood is at least the eighth death connected to the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement campaign.

A kind, present husband and father

Salgado Araujo entered the U.S. more than 30 years ago, settling in Houston with his wife where they raised their three children.

Education was a constant focus in the house, said Ronaldo Salgado, who is now a teacher. One of his brothers is an engineer. The other is in college studying engineering.

Several childhood friends of Salgado recalled that his father was kind and soft-spoken, always inquiring after a long workday about his wife’s day and how his sons’ friends were doing.

“We didn’t really see him until the end of the day when he came home to have dinner, but that just shows how much of a hard worker he was,” said neighbor Jessica Alanis Magdaleno. “Everything they have now is thanks to the dedication to that.”

Josué Flores, a friend of Ronaldo Salgado since their freshman year of high school, said he first saw Lorenzo Salgado Araujo at his son’s football game.

“I think it speaks volumes of the kind of person that he was,” Flores said, recalling how Salgado Araujo showed up for his son even after an arduous day of work.

Salgado Araujo’s wife, a relative said, is “inconsolable.”

“She is very upset … angry, sad, disoriented,” Jose Torres Ramon, a nephew who lives in Mexico, told the Associated Press in a Facebook message.

Ronald Salgado, his oldest son, said at the Saturday vigil that he hoped he was making his father proud.

“I’ll keep fighting for him,” he said.

His brother Lorenzo Salgado Jr. said the shooting of his father was “a hard moment to be an American.”

“Even though my government, my federal government took away my father, we the people will bring justice,” he said. “We the people are America.”

After coming home in the evening, Salgado Araujo liked to listen to music on the porch and pet the family dog. His family has described him as a simple man of routine.

“He did not deserve to die,” Ronaldo Salgado said. “He dedicated his life in the United States to giving his family the American dream.”

Sullivan writes for the Associated Press. AP reporters Jack Brook in New Orleans, Valerie Gonzalez in McAllen, Texas, and Scott Bauer in Madison, Wis., contributed to this report.

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What’s behind Pakistan’s mass deportation of Afghans? | Refugees News

Islamabad cites national security concerns, returns thousands of undocumented migrants.

With the passing of another government deadline for undocumented Afghans to leave, Pakistan has launched a new crackdown on thousands still living in the country.

In response to criticism, authorities say they are enforcing immigration laws and cite national security concerns.

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Hundreds of thousands of Afghans have returned to a country they fled. The UN says they include undocumented migrants, refugees and Afghan citizen card holders.

The campaign has coincided with rising political tensions between Islamabad and Kabul.

But is politics involved in the rising tension between the neighbours? And how is Kabul dealing with the influx of returnees?

Presenter: Scott McLean

Guests:

Obaidullah Baheer – Adjunct lecturer at the American University of Afghanistan

Kamran Bokhari – Senior fellow with the Middle East Policy Council in Washington, DC

Zahid Mahmood – Pakistani defence analyst and former senior officer of the Pakistan Army

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Joe Joyce loses comeback fight against Artem Suslenkov in bizarre ending

Joe Joyce’s comeback fight ended in bizarre fashion as the veteran British heavyweight lost to Artem Suslenkov in Moscow.

The 40-year-old was facing undefeated Russian Suslenkov in his first fight since losing to Filip Hrgovic in April 2025.

But after looking lethargic and lacking power throughout, Joyce appeared to signal that he no longer wanted to fight in the 11th round and stepped backwards.

Joyce offered little defence as Suslenkov, 30, landed a few more blows before the referee stepped in to stop the fight.

Joyce, a silver medallist at the 2016 Olympics, now has a professional record of 16 wins and five losses, with all of those defeats coming in his last six fights.

The highlight of Joyce’s professional career came in 2022, when he beat Joseph Parker to win the vacant WBO interim heavyweight title.

Joyce then faced Zhilei Zhang twice in 2023, but lost his unbeaten record in the first meeting and was stopped in the rematch.

After losing to Hrgovic, Joyce’s promoter Frank Warren said his man needed to have a “real serious think about the future”.

Despite Joyce having said he spent 12 months preparing to fight again and that he was “excited for the opportunity” to face Suslenkov, who improved his record to 15-0, some now fear this could be the end of his boxing career.

Anthony Fowler, a Great Britain team-mate at Rio 2016, said on X: “What a sad end to Joe’s career. It’s a shame to see him go out like that.”

Joyce’s fight was on the undercard of Russian Murat Gassiev’s first defence of the WBA heavyweight title.

Gassiev, who was elevated to WBA champion after Oleksandr Usyk vacated his three heavyweight belts last month, was scheduled to face Tony Yoka.

Joyce was touted as a possible stand-in after the Frenchman pulled out with injury, but Peter Kadiru was confirmed last week and Gassiev stopped the German in the sixth round to improve to 34 wins and two losses.

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England needs a fun celebration making light of its past invading other countries in boats

By England fan Anthony from Enfield (not his real name)

WHY should it be Norway? If there’s any nation known worldwide for descending on countries in boats and taking them over by force, it’s surely us.

But instead we’re seeing the fans of our opponents tomorrow all over the US doing their Viking row as if they’re the ones with a proud history of global conquest. When in fact their pillaging warriors barely made it out of Europe.

Don’t get me wrong, it was good violence for its day. Loaded up in longboats and hitting the Northumbrian coast like a modern-day stag do hits Riga, drinking and burning monasteries and chatting up the local girls. All credit to them and their imaginative tortures.

Can’t really hold a candle to the English though, can they? Because when it was our turn to be seafarers, we didn’t waste it. India, Australia, Africa, the West Indies, even Australia. We came, we saw, we conquered and we let them bloody well know it.

Yeah, the Vikings martyred a few saints with the blood eagle. I’m not denying them that. Hardly compares to forcing the indigenous peoples of half the world to toil away in our gold mines and sugar plantations, does it? If we’re honest?

The sun never set on the British Empire. From the Irish next door to the ends of the earth we had them all in thrall. So if Norway’s allowed to be proud of its past of massacres and atrocities, why aren’t we?

Instead of a Viking row we could have, I don’t know, a man with a whip. Maybe not that. Or we could line up like the soldiers in Zulu, miming rifles on our shoulders, firing into the native horde. Okay maybe not that either.

Anyway, you get my point. It’s time for our football fans to reclaim our past with a fun but inoffensive ritual dance of some kind. I’ll leave it to the hardcore England supporters to decide what. We can trust them not to be racially insensitive about it.

Thousands gather in Srebrenica to mark 31 years since genocide | Srebrenica genocide News

Ten newly identified victims were buried as the more than 8,000 slain Bosnian Muslim men and boys were remembered.

Thousands have gathered in Bosnia and Herzegovina to mark 31 years since the Srebrenica genocide, as leaders and activists worldwide use the anniversary to call on people to fight dehumanisation.

On Saturday, mourners, survivors, foreign dignitaries and religious leaders gathered at the Srebrenica-Potocari Memorial Center to commemorate those who were killed in 1995. People took part in the annual peace march before 10 newly identified victims were buried.

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Bosnian Serb forces overran the eastern Bosnian town of Srebrenica on July 11, 1995, killing more than 8,000 Bosnian Muslim men and boys over several days. Srebrenica had been declared a protected “safe area” by the United Nations Security Council two years earlier.

Denis Becirovic, Chairman of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, said honouring those who were killed was crucial to maintaining stability.

“If we fail to preserve the truth about our past, we will have neither a present nor a future,” he said.

The Dutch ambassador to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Henk van den Dool, said education was key to preventing a repeat of similar atrocities.

“One of the common goals we share with the Srebrenica Memorial Center, with the mothers, and with the survivors is to translate this enduring warning into meaningful action. One of the most meaningful and effective ways to do that is through education,” he said.

Pursuit of justice

Every year on July 11 , newly identified victims are buried at the Srebrenica-Potocari Memorial Center, as investigators continue to search for the remains of people buried in mass graves in surrounding areas.

More than a thousand victims remain missing following the genocide, which is widely recognised as the worst atrocity committed in Europe since the Holocaust during the Second World War.

Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif called the massacre “a crime against humanity”, while the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, posted on X that he was “deeply moved” during his trip to Srebrenica last week.

“Today, as we stop to remember the victims and families who mourn them, we must also commit ourselves to fighting violence and dehumanisation wherever we encounter it and stopping hatred from taking hold,” Khan said.

More than 100,000 people were killed during the Bosnian War between 1992 and 1995. The conflict followed the dissolution of Yugoslavia, triggering a series of ethnic conflicts and wars of independence among the Balkan states that had previously formed a single country.

In recent days, campaigners have drawn comparisons between the Srebrenica genocide and Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza. Kenneth Roth, former executive director of Human Rights Watch, decried that senior Israeli officials are yet to be held legally accountable for their crimes.

“The United Nations this week remembered the genocide in Bosnia – the 8,000+ Muslim men and boys killed in Srebrenica in July 1995. The leaders of the genocide were convicted. The perpetrators of Israel’s genocide in Gaza remain at large,” Roth said on X.

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‘Give ‘Hudson Hawk’ another chance, plus the week’s best films

Hello! I’m Mark Olsen. Welcome to another edition of your regular field guide to a world of Only Good Movies.

One of the big discoveries for me at this year’s Sundance Film Festival was the erotic thriller “Night Nurse,” which opens in theaters this week. A remarkably confident feature debut from writer-director Georgia Bernstein, the film is hypnotic and entrancing, with a powerfully sustained sense of mood and menace. Brought to life by two assured lead performances, the story is about a young woman (Cemre Paksoy) who takes a job as an attendant at a senior living community and is assigned to help a man (Bruce McKenzie) who quickly ensnares her into an ongoing phone scam in which he swindles other residents.

Taking cues from the likes of Catherine Breillat and David Cronenberg, there are moments where you start to feel turned on and then feel weird about feeling turned on. It’s delightful stuff, full of the unexpected and unnerving, with shifting power dynamics that destabilize everything. See it with someone you maybe aren’t so sure about.

‘Hudson Hawk’ will have its day

Two people kiss in the subway.

Andie MacDowell and Bruce Willis in the 1991 movie “Hudson Hawk.”

(Columbia TriStar / Getty Images)

Its name has become synonymous with box office bomb, with tales of an out-of-control production leading to terrible reviews and rejection by audiences. Yet 1991’s “Hudson Hawk” is one of those movies that over the years has seen its reputation slowly turn around and is now en route to becoming a cult classic in the vein of “Ishtar” or “Showgirls.”

On Monday at Brain Dead Studios there will be a 35th anniversary screening of the film in 35mm with director Michael Lehmann and co-writer Daniel Waters in-person. Presented by Hollywood Entertainment, the evening could be ground zero for the next stage of the misbegotten movie’s revival.

The movie is a playful buddy-comedy / caper-heist hybrid, starring Bruce Willis as the title character, a master thief newly released from prison who reteams with his old partner (Danny Aiello) as they are drawn into a convoluted conspiracy involving the CIA, a villainous ultra-rich couple (played with maniacal, scene-stealing glee by Richard E. Grant and Sandra Bernhard) and ancient designs by Leonardo da Vinci. Upending action movie conventions, “Hudson Hawk” is simply a fun hang.

On a recent video call together, there is a certain gallows humor shared by Lehmann and Waters over the film, which at the time threatened to derail both of their careers. Waters was already working on the script for Tim Burton’s “Batman Returns” by the time the movie came out, while Lehmann admits he spent some time in director jail — “I was in director federal penitentiary and death row for a while,” he says — before going on to direct films such as “Airheads” and “The Truth About Cats and Dogs.”

“You can’t escape a big failure in Hollywood,” he adds. “You have to be good-natured about the fact that you’ve made something that so many people hated when it came out, but that you feel still has some value — quite a bit of value, I think. And that eventually people would start noticing that.”

The project began as an idea between Willis and his friend Robert Kraft that snowballed into having action super-producer Joel Silver attached and a screenplay draft by “Die Hard” writer Steven E. De Souza. Eventually Lehmann became involved to direct and he helped bring on Waters, the two having worked together on the hit black comedy “Heathers.” (Waters had also worked with Silver on “The Adventures of Ford Fairlane.”) The reunited writer-director team set about subverting what began as a more conventional action movie.

“My intention was to turn that kind of movie on its head,” says Lehmann. “I thought people have seen these things so many times, they must be ready to see the truly odd version of it.”

“In the Olympics you can’t just go up and make any dive,” says Waters. “You tell the judges what dive you’re going to do and then they grade you. And ‘Hudson Hawk,’ we never told the judges what dive we were doing. I think people got angry: Wait a minute, you didn’t give us a Bruce Willis action movie.”

Leading up to the film’s release, there were reports of a shoot hijacked by a star whose ego was getting the better of him as he rode the wave of the success of the first two “Die Hard” movies. Lehmann admits the clash of personalities made for a complicated shoot.

“Of course, when you’re hired by Bruce Willis and Joel Silver to do what is essentially a vanity project of Bruce’s, you’re not going to have the kind of control that you have when you make a piece of personal filmmaking,” says Lehmann. “But it was really difficult to deal with somebody who, in theory, was one of my bosses as producer on the film and a big star, which is always a thousand-pound gorilla.”

Author David Hughes recently published “The Unmaking of Hudson Hawk,” a book on the film’s production, reception and afterlife. Calling from England, Hughes thinks the critical reappraisal and resuscitation of the movie has gained a bit of momentum — and is in danger of slipping.

“I feel like any day there’s going to be a headline that says, ‘Nope, despite what you’ve heard, “Hudson Hawk” is still s—.’ The pendulum is about to swing back the other way and people are going to start saying that it’s bad again. And when that happens, I think that will be the most perfect life cycle of the film.”

But for now two of the key people behind making the film in the first place want to enjoy a moment they have rarely been allowed.

“People are finally laughing with the movie, not at the movie,” says Waters.

Celebrating a fallen friend

A man sits on a couch.

Harry Dean Stanton, photographed in Los Angeles in 2013.

(Jordan Strauss / Invision / AP)

To celebrate the centennial of the birth of the beloved character actor Harry Dean Stanton, Vidiots will screen the 2013 documentary “Harry Dean Stanton: Partly Fiction on Tuesday. Director Sophie Huber will be joined in conversation by actor Logan Sparks for an evening hosted by Cherry Jones.

The film is a tender portrait of Stanton, who found relative fame later in life with roles in films such as “Alien,” “Paris, Texas,” “Repo Man” and “Pretty in Pink.”

“He makes it look really easy,” said Stanton’s friend and frequent collaborator David Lynch around the time of Stanton’s death in 2017. “But it’s not that easy to be looking like it’s easy.”

A flaky love story

Two people bicker in a car.

Gena Rowlands and Seymour Cassel in the 1971 movie “Minnie and Moskowitz.”

(Michael Ochs Archives / Getty Images)

One of my most memorable moviegoing experiences of the last few years was seeing John Cassavetes’ 1971 “Minnie and Moskowitz” for the first time. The movie has a joyful, unpredictable energy thanks to the openhearted, dynamic performances of its two leads, Gena Rowlands and Seymour Cassel, as two mismatched strangers who find temporary solace in each other. Romantic, funny and with lots of great L.A. locations and moments — I often think of a perilous U-turn across La Brea by Cassel — this is a singular gem.

It was just announced that a new restoration of the film will premiere later this year at the Venice Film Festival, but there is no reason to wait. The movie is showing tonight at the Philosophical Research Society as part of its “YesterdayLA” series celebrating the city. On Saturday there will also be a rare theatrical screening of 1972’s “Columbo: Étude In Black,” starring Cassavetes as an L.A. symphony conductor who may have committed the perfect crime until he catches the attention of Peter Falk’s rumpled detective.

On the road again

Three people drive in a car.

Maribel Verdú, left, Diego Luna and Gael García Bernal in the movie “Y Tu Mamá También.”

(Criterion Collection)

Playing as part of the American Cinematheque’s “Summer Breakdown” series, which, true to its name, features movies about car trouble, Alfonso Cuarón’s 2001 “Y Tu Mamá También is showing tonight and tomorrow at the Los Feliz Theater in 35mm.

It stars Gael García Bernal and Diego Luna as two teenage best friends who set off on a road trip with an alluring older woman (Maribel Verdú) they don’t know particularly well. Emotions fly fast and furious among all three of them, as the film seems at times like a horndog teen comedy and at others like a subtle exploration of class and sexual dynamics. Of course, it is all of those things, made with a fresh sense of style.

As Kenneth Turan put it in his 2002 review, “Nominally a simple road movie about two Mexican teenagers taking off to look for a mythical beach in the company of a suddenly available woman of 28, ‘Y Tu Mamá’ manages to be comic, dramatic, erotic, sociological and even political, all without breaking a sweat.”

New this week

  • Amy Nicholson calls the new movie “Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Pass” a “screwball joy … a sex comedy that’s as innocent as a Labrador puppy.”
  • Less positively, Amy reviewed the live-action adaptation of “Moana,” noting “Every one of Disney’s remakes and spinoffs of its animated hits has been a naked cash grab.”
  • The new “Evil Dead Burn” is brutal and not much else, per our reviewer Joshua Rothkopf: “The gore comes like a tide, shockingly for a mainstream studio wide release.”

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Trump’s DOJ subpoenas New York Times reporters

The Department of Justice has subpoenaed New York Times journalists after they reported on security concerns involving the new, Qatari-gifted Air Force One, marking a dramatic escalation of President Trump’s campaign against the media that has drawn condemnation for eroding a fundamental freedom of American democracy.

The new jet, a present from the U.S. ally on which the administration spent $400 million to retrofit and upgrade, entered service this month. But Trump used an older model Air Force One jet to leave a NATO summit in Turkey and later referenced threats against him made by Iran.

The subpoenas seek to force the reporters to testify before a federal grand jury in Manhattan next week, the New York Times said, adding that federal agents delivered some subpoenas to the reporters at their homes.

They were issued after FBI Director Kash Patel and other Justice Department officials met at the White House on Friday to talk about the matter, according to a person familiar with the discussions who was not authorized to discuss the issue publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

The journalists subpoenaed included Julian E. Barnes, Eric Lipton, Tyler Pager and Eric Schmitt, the Times reported.

“The appearance of federal law enforcement agents on the doorstep of news reporters should shock the conscience of any American who believes in the Constitution and the press freedom it protects,” David McCraw, a lawyer for the Times, said in a statement.

Bruce D. Brown, president of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, said Trump’s “war on the press is looking for another victim.”

He said in a statement that the subpoenas “break from long-standing Justice Department practice to protect the public interest and press independence by requiring prosecutors to only seek information from reporters as a last resort when all other avenues have been exhausted.”

The department said that “to be clear, reporters are not the targets, those leaking classified information are.”

Its statement said that “we value and appreciate the important role that the press plays in this country, but DOJ also plays an important role to make sure that the people entrusted with our nation’s secrets do what they’re supposed to do with that information, which means not sharing classified information.”

While recognizing “there may always be natural tension there,” the department said, “we are not going to ignore the law and stop investigating the people who work in the administration and think it’s OK to leak classified information impacting national security.”

Pattern of anti-press actions

Issuing subpoenas represents a further ramping up of Trump’s effort to threaten independent new organizations by leveraging the power of the federal government against them. It is also part of a systematic pattern by the Republican president to attempt to undermine press freedom in order to shield him from negative coverage.

Earlier this year, the Justice Department issued subpoenas seeking to compel testimony from reporters at the Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal. In both cases, the department later withdrew the subpoenas.

In January, FBI agents searched the home of Washington Post reporter Hannah Natanson, who has been covering Trump’s transformation of the federal government, as part of a leak investigation into a Pentagon contractor accused of taking home classified information.

Adam Steinbaugh, senior attorney for the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, said Friday’s subpoenas and the prospect of “hauling reporters before grand juries sends a chilling message to journalists and whistleblowers alike: Watch what you say, or expect a knock on the door.”

“These tactics are becoming more common,” Steinbaugh said in a statement. “That doesn’t make them normal.”

During his first term, Trump suggested that the press constituted an “enemy” of the American people. Since returning to the White House, he has waged an aggressive campaign against the media unlike any in modern U.S. history.

Trump’s attacks against news outlets and media figures he believes are overly critical of him has included filing lawsuits against outlets whose coverage he dislikes, threatening to revoke TV broadcast licenses and seeking to bend news organizations and social media companies to his will.

The Justice Department over the years has developed and revised internal policies governing how it will respond to news media leaks.

Though the department across presidential administrations has periodically seized the phone records of individual journalists in hopes of identifying sources for national security stories, it is extremely rare for the government to attempt to compel reporters to reveal their sources before a grand jury.

In April 2025, then-Atty. Gen. Pam Bondi rescinded a Biden administration policy that protected journalists from having their phone records secretly seized during leak investigations — a practice long decried by news organizations and press freedom groups.

Doing so again gave prosecutors the authority to use subpoenas, court orders and search warrants to hunt for government officials who make “unauthorized disclosures” to journalists.

A memo Bondi issued said members of the press are “presumptively entitled to advance notice of such investigative activities,” and subpoenas are to be “narrowly drawn.” Warrants must also include “protocols designed to limit the scope of intrusion into potentially protected materials or newsgathering activities,” the memo stated.

Security issues with new Air Force One

The president flew the new Air Force One to Turkey during this week’s visit. But he departed Wednesday on one of the older-model Air Force One jets for Mildenhall, a Royal Air Force base in Suffolk, England.

The newer plane also flew to Mildenhall. Trump then switched to that plane for the flight home to Joint Base Andrews in Maryland.

The abrupt swap came as a shaky ceasefire with Iran had collapsed, with the U.S. launching airstrikes on Iran and Tehran attacking three gulf Arab states. Iran and Turkey share a border, sparking speculation that the new jet lacked certain sophisticated security and countermeasure systems.

The New York Times, citing anonymous sources, reported that the switch had come at the urging of the Secret Service, and that the newer plane lacked some of the advanced security features of the older aircraft, including antimissile capabilities.

Trump denied any security concerns, posting on social media that the stop in Mildenhall was so that service members there could view the new jet. During the flight, Trump denied to the reporters accompanying him that security concerns involving Iran were a factor in flying two planes home.

Still, asked if he was aware of any credible threats against Air Force One by Iran, Trump responded, “I have a threat all the time. I’m No. 1 on their list.”

The White House did not answer messages seeking comment about the subpoenas of the Times journalists.

Weissert and Khalil write for the Associated Press. AP writers Eric Tucker, Alanna Durkin Richer, Michelle L. Price and Konstantin Toropin contributed to this report.

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White Sox draft UCLA shortstop Roch Cholowsky with No. 1 pick

The Chicago White Sox selected UCLA shortstop Roch Cholowsky on Saturday with the first pick of the MLB amateur draft.

A 6-foot-2 right-handed hitter, Cholowsky was a Golden Spikes finalist at UCLA and had a 1.088 OPS with 21 homers and 60 RBIs in his junior season.

Cholowsky is the third UCLA player to be drafted No. 1 overall, joining Gerrit Cole (2011, Pittsburgh Pirates) and Chris Chambliss (1970, Cleveland Indians). The two-time Big Ten player of the year and conference defensive player of the year also won National Player of the Year honors from ABCA/Rawlings, Baseball America, D1Baseball and Perfect Game.

The White Sox had the top selection for the first time since taking Harold Baines in 1977. Chicago got the No. 1 pick after it lost 102 games last season and won the draft lottery. The White Sox have pegged Cholowsky as a future star that can help them win their first World Series title since 2005.

Gelston writes for the Associated Press.

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Trump administration subpoenas New York Times reporters over coverage | Donald Trump News

The administration of United States President Donald Trump has issued subpoenas against journalists from The New York Times, in what advocates say is an escalating attack on the free press.

Late on Friday, the Times reported that at least four of its reporters have received subpoenas, some delivered to their homes by federal agents.

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Those subpoenas compel them to testify before a grand jury in Manhattan on Wednesday.

“The appearance of federal law enforcement agents on the doorstep of news reporters should shock the conscience of any American who believes in the Constitution and the press freedom it protects,” said David McCraw, the newspaper’s lawyer, in a statement quoted by the Times.

News of the subpoenas prompted outcry from leading news groups including the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), which demanded their withdrawal.

“The subpoenas are an extraordinary escalation in President Trump’s efforts to threaten and intimidate independent news organizations, and have a chilling effect on the work of journalists across the country,” said CPJ’s chief executive officer Jodie Ginsberg.

The subpoenas were authorised by a top official in Trump’s Department of Justice: Jay Clayton, the US attorney for the Southern District of New York.

Clayton is in line to succeed Bill Pulte as the director of national intelligence, a cabinet-level role Pulte holds on an interim basis. The Senate is set to begin hearings on Clayton’s confirmation next week.

Scrutiny on NATO travel coverage

At issue is The New York Times coverage of Trump’s return flight from the 2026 NATO summit in Ankara, Turkiye, this week.

While Trump flew to Europe on his new Air Force One, a jet gifted by Qatar and retrofitted by the US military, he left on the old Air Force One.

Trump claimed the switch was made to allow the new jet to visit RAF Mildenhall, an air force base in Suffolk, England, that supports US military operations.

He framed it as an opportunity to allow military members to tour the aircraft.

“It’s going to go to a couple of bases,” Trump said at the time, “so the soldiers can see it because it’s truly magnificent.”

But at the same July 8 news conference, Trump referenced concerns about his safety.

When asked about the airline switch by a reporter from The New York Post, Trump responded, “You know, the life of a president is very dangerous.” He proceeded to add that he’s “number one on the kill list for Iran”.

That same day, The New York Times reported swapped his new presidential jet for his old one because of security concerns, citing anonymous sources. The change reportedly came at the urging of the Secret Service.

Then, the next day, the Times expanded its coverage with a follow-up report, indicating that the new Air Force One lacked the security capabilities of the old jet.

The article anonymously cited two former Air Force officials as saying there would not have been enough time to make the necessary upgrades before the Ankara flight.

It is unclear what modifications have already been made, but experts have estimated that the updates could cost up to $1bn.

Friday’s subpoenas targeted four of the journalists involved in the Times’s reporting on the subject: Eric Schmitt, Tyler Pager, Eric Lipton and Julian E Barnes.

According to the Times, before the subpoenas were issued, the newspaper was contacted by a senior official from the FBI.

That person, who was unnamed, asked the newspaper to hold off on its reporting about Air Force One, citing national security. The FBI official also requested information on the Times’s anonymous sources.

The newspaper, however, declined to provide such information, in line with standard journalistic practice.

A testy relationship with journalists

The subpoenas mark the latest clash between the Trump administration and US media outlets that report on its activities.

Trump himself has a long-running feud with the Times. In September, he sued the newspaper for $15bn in damages, alleging it had defamed him and attempted to “sabotage” his candidacy in the 2024 presidential election, which he won.

After his initial complaint was thrown out as “improper”, Trump refiled it in October.

The Times, for its part, has sued the Department of Defence under Trump over its attempts to impose media restrictions on journalists.

Just this week, the Times also filed a countersuit against the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, after it alleged the newspaper had discriminated against a white, male employee for failing to give him a promotion.

The Times has described the effort as an attempt to muffle the press, in violation of the free-speech protections enshrined in the US Constitution’s First Amendment.

The Times is not the only newspaper to face legal backlash from the Trump administration. In December, Trump launched a $10bn lawsuit against the BBC, arguing that a documentary it aired misrepresented his speech before the attack on the US Capitol on January 6, 2021.

Trump is also seeking $10bn from The Wall Street Journal over its reporting on a birthday message he allegedly sent to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. After that suit was thrown out, Trump refiled it in May.

The Trump administration has also taken actions against individual journalists.

In January, for instance, the FBI executed a raid on the house of Washington Post reporter Hannah Natanson, who covered the Trump administration’s efforts to scale back the federal workforce.

The raid came as part of an investigation into a government contractor accused of leaking information to the news media, but at least two judges have barred the Trump administration from using the information it seized from Natanson.

The Trump administration has denied seeking to erode the freedom of the press, instead citing national security needs.

But McCraw, the Times lawyer, argued that, with the latest subpoenas, the White House was trying to restrict “the American public’s right to know how their government is operating”.

“This brazen act should be seen as nothing more than an attempt to prevent the public from knowing what is happening in their country by intimidating journalists from doing their jobs,” he said.

Top Democrats, including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, also weighed in on the subpoenas, using them to slam Trump as corrupt.

“Donald Trump is one of the weakest, most thin-skinned individuals the world has ever seen,” Schumer wrote on social media.

“Reporters have the right and duty to report the truth. It’s not their fault his foreign-gifted plane is a national security threat. This subpoena is a gross overreach and a disgusting misuse of federal law enforcement resources that should alarm every American.”

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Wimbledon 2026: Linda Noskova beats Karolina Muchova in dramatic all-Czech final to win first Grand Slam title

Noskova’s second-set collapse was excruciating to watch for the 15,000-strong crowd on Centre Court, but the way in which she mentally reset in the decider was admirable.

Serving for the title again an hour after her first attempt, Noskova hit an ace to set up a sixth championship point and converted it with a service winner.

Noskova immediately fell to the court as her relief poured out, with 29-year-old Muchova walking around the net to congratulate her Paris 2024 Olympics doubles partner.

“It’s really tough to find any words, but I’ll start with Linda – my ex-friend,” joked Muchova.

“The way you handled it and the way you played was unbelievable. You deserve it.”

Noskova hid under her towel towards the end of the second set and did the same again in the moments after securing a testing victory.

The ninth seed is the third Czech champion in the past four years at the All England Club, after victories for compatriots Marketa Vondrousova and Barbora Krejcikova in 2023 and 2024 respectively.

Fittingly, Noskova’s crowning glory watched by Czech-born Martina Navratilova – a nine-time singles champion – and one of her idols Petra Kvitova, who won in 2011 and 2014.

As well as lifting the iconic Venus Rosewater Dish, Noskova will receive £3.6m in prize money and move up to a new career-high ranking of seventh in the world.

One of the latest of a long line of Czech talents, Noskova had been tipped as a future star who could challenge for Grand Slam titles.

She was a highly-rated junior who became the youngest player inside the top 100 in 2022 and a run to the Australian Open quarter-finals in 2024 underlined her ability.

Making consistent runs at the majors had been rare, but reaching the fourth round at Wimbledon last year made her feel “comfy” on the grass when she returned this year.

Noskova set herself up for a deep run in SW19 by winning the Berlin title last month but, in her speech during the Centre Court trophy presentation, acknowledged how difficult the tournament has been both physically and emotionally.

On court, Noskova had to fight back from match point down in her third-round encounter against Romania’s Sorana Cirstea.

She is only the third player – after Venus Williams in 2005 and Serena Williams in 2009 – to win the Wimbledon women’s singles title from such a position.

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Where is Costa Concordia captain Francesco Schettino now as fans hooked on Netflix doc

Need to know

The Costa Concordia disaster is one of the biggest maritime disasters since the Titanic, and the captain of the luxury cruise ship was at the centre of the tragedy

Francesco Schettino

Costa Concordia’s captain Francesco Schettino was handed 16 years behind bars(Image: Getty)

Everything you need to know about Costa Concordia captain Francesco Schettino

  1. Netflix’s Shipwrecked: Nightmare at Sea delves into the harrowing 2012 Costa Concordia disaster that claimed 32 lives. The film features never-before-seen footage and survivor accounts from the luxury cruise ship that struck a rock near Giglio Island on 13 January 2012.
  2. More than 4,000 passengers and crew were plunged into their worst nightmare as the vessel took on water and began to tilt. Captain Francesco Schettino delayed over an hour before ordering passengers to abandon ship and failed to provide authorities with accurate information.
  3. The media branded him “Captain Coward” after footage emerged showing he had abandoned the bridge and boarded a lifeboat himself. Schettino told the court he had ordered the ship off course to please the vessel’s head waiter, whose family hailed from Giglio. Prosecutors alleged he steered too close to the island to show off to a dancer accompanying him at the helm.
  4. Schettino was ultimately convicted of manslaughter and abandoning ship, and was sentenced in February 2015 to 16 years behind bars. He began serving his term in 2017 at Rome’s Rebibbia prison.
  5. The term consisted of ten years for manslaughter, five years for causing the shipwreck, and one year for abandoning passengers, to be served consecutively. Having exhausted every avenue of appeal and with his conviction upheld, he began his sentence in 2017.
  6. Schettino is not due for full release until 2033, according to Maritime Executive.

READ THE FULL STORY: Costa Concordia Captain Francesco Schettino sentence explained and year of release

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Super League: Hull KR 6-20 Wakefield Trinity – Rovers’ winning home run is ended

Hull KR head coach Willie Peters told BBC Radio Humberside:

“I’m very disappointed. We need to look at what happened. I need to be accountable, players need to be accountable, staff need to be accountable.

“I’m not bothered about the scoreboard, I’m bothered about performance. That was a really, really poor performance.

“We got back at half-time to 6-6, we had an opportunity to put pressure on in the second half, but we didn’t do that. It was our doing.

“We had ill discipline, yellow cards. It hurts. The refereeing decisions are not my concern – my concern is my team and that performance.”

Hull KR: Hampshire, Davies, Hiku, Gildart, Burgess, Lewis, May, Sue, Lawton, Whitbread, Martin, Batchelor, Minchella

Interchanges: Litten, Broadbent, Luckley, Dezaria

Wakefield: Rourke, Walsmsley, Scott, Tate, Johnstone, Trueman, Smoothy, McMeeken, Smith, Rodwell, Storton, Vagana, Tevaga

Interchanges: Pitts, Hamlin-Uele, Faatili, Lawford

Referee: Chris Kendall.

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