Nneka Ogwumike answered the same question she’s been facing for almost two months.

Why now? Why leave the WNBA when she still leads the Sparks in scoring and rebounding, has played a central role in helping the league negotiate a transformative new collective bargaining agreement and returned to the city where her pro career began?

Ogwumike is at peace with her decision. And when she steps onto the court in a Sparks jersey for the last time Thursday, she will do it without regrets.

“I’m mostly grateful,” Ogwumike said. “I haven’t really been thinking much else besides just being grateful for the opportunity to have had a 15-year career in the WNBA and also to finish in a Sparks jersey.”

There is a lot for which to be grateful.

Ogwumike entered the WNBA as the No. 1 overall pick of the Sparks in 2012. Now, 15 seasons later, she is leaving the league as one of its most accomplished players — and as the most prolific scorer in Sparks history.

Sparks forward Nneka Ogwumike, left, tries to drive past Lynx forward Napheesa Collier during a game in Minneapolis.

(Matt Krohn / Getty Images)

“It feels freeing,” Ogwumike said of her decision to retire. “It feels like there’s a level of autonomy that I’m able to have, and I’m very happy about that.”

The numbers only begin to tell the story.

Ogwumike was rookie of the year after averaging 14 points and 7.5 rebounds per game. Four years later, she produced the best season of her career, averaging 19.7 points per game, winning MVP and leading the Sparks to their third WNBA championship.

She spent 12 seasons with the Sparks before leaving for Seattle, then returned to Los Angeles this season to finish her career.

Along the way, she established herself among the most productive players in league history. Ogwumike will finish her career fourth all-time in scoring with 8,013 points, behind Diana Taurasi, Tina Charles and DeWanna Bonner. She is third all-time in rebounds with 3,571 and third in steals with 716.

And on July 17, she added one more piece of history to the résumé, passing Lisa Leslie to become the Sparks’ all-time leading scorer.

Sisters Chiney, left, and Nneka Ogwumike pose for a photo at the Bird’s Eye View After Party during WNBA All-Star weekend.

(Daniel Boczarski / Getty Images for Vox Media)

“This is where it all started [for me],” Ogwumike said. “So very happy to be able to share this time, both the beginning and the end of my career in L.A., and I had a majority of my career playing for this organization, so it really does mean a lot to be able to finish in it as well.”

The return, however, did not unfold quite the way Ogwumike or the Sparks had envisioned.

Los Angeles entered the season with playoff expectations after bringing Ogwumike back, signing Erica Wheeler and trading for Ariel Atkins. The Sparks had not made the postseason since 2020, and the hope was that Ogwumike’s return could help change that.

Instead, the season became a struggle. The Sparks will finish 10 games out of a playoff spot, leaving Ogwumike’s final games less about a postseason push and more about what she could leave behind.

“The season is not at all what I expected, but it doesn’t mean that I can’t come out here to do my job and try and be great, and be great as a result,” Ogwumike said. “And as always, playing with my teammates as well.”

That has meant spending time with the young players who will carry the Sparks forward after she is gone.

Sparks coach Lynne Roberts and Nneka Ogwumike talk on the sideline during a win over the Indiana Fever in July.

(Katelyn Mulcahy / Getty Images)

Ogwumike has particularly focused on Cameron Brink, the young forward who represents a significant part of the organization’s future.

“I think right now I’m really spending a lot of my time trying to pour into Cam as well,” Ogwumike told reporters this week. “I really do think that she’s the future of the league. … I’m happy to be able to leave whatever I can before I throw my feet up.”

It is a fitting final role for a player whose career has stretched across generations of the WNBA.

“She’s poured into me since I got into the league,” Dream forward Angel Reese said in August. “Kind of like one of my first vets, always being there for me, always texting me, and also really like educating me on the things that were going on, knowing that it was a big CBA coming up.”

Her final contribution might not be something that appears in a box score. It might be what she passes on.

“She’ll be missed,” said Valkyries forward Gabby Williams, who played with Ogwumike in Seattle the previous two seasons. “As a friend, but also as a fan. I’ll miss watching her in the W.”

Williams knows what Ogwumike’s career has meant to the league, but she also understands what comes next.

“I’m really happy for her,” Williams said. “Happy she gets to take that next step. I know what it means to her. I’m glad her last year was pivotal for the CBA and she’ll always have her name written on that.”

Ogwumike, though, isn’t spending much time looking backward.

She hasn’t thought about what her final moments in the WNBA will feel like, only the gratefulness she feels to have had her 15-year career.

“I haven’t,” Ogwumike said when asked if she has thought about her last moments in the league. “Still just focused on playing.”

Iranian media has reported the sound of an explosion near Iran’s Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz, though the cause remains unclear.

Iran’s aviation officials negotiate with Oman and Iraq as Secretary Bessent targets carriers seven months into the conflict.

Flights from Iran to Baghdad and Muscat will be cancelled starting at midnight ahead of new United States sanctions taking effect Wednesday, Tasnim News Agency reported.

A spokesman for Iran’s Civil Aviation Organization told the news agency on Tuesday that the agency is “negotiating so that flights whose destination is Baghdad can be redirected to [Iraq’s] Najaf Airport”.

Iran’s ISNA news agency reported that negotiations with Oman were likewise ongoing, adding that all remaining international flights, including those to Istanbul, will operate as scheduled.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Monday that all Iranian airlines would be shut down on September 23 through the threat of secondary sanctions on aviation service providers, seven months into the war between the US and Iran.

Bessent told CNBC that when Iranian carriers land at an airport, “you cannot provide them with fuel, you cannot provide them with landing services, you cannot sell them tickets, or you will be knocked out of the dollar system”.

The move marks the latest step in Washington’s expanding sanctions campaign against Tehran. Aviation analysts told Al Jazeera that although the US lacks authority to close foreign airspace, targeting local refuelling and ground-handling providers achieves a similar outcome by cutting off essential operational support.

Earlier this month, the US issued stricter measures administered by the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), placing restrictions on trade, energy and financial institutions.

The administration of President Donald Trump also expanded secondary sanctions in late August, warning that foreign firms doing business with Iran across shipping, technology, gold and digital assets face penalties of their own.

Tehran, however, signalled on Saturday that it remains open to talks mediated by Qatar to reach a long-term resolution, while maintaining a combative stance towards Washington.

“It is in Washington’s interest to accept these conditions,” Mohsen Rezaei, Iran’s security chief, told Al Jazeera in an interview last week. “Trump’s threats will not achieve any results. We are prepared for a decisive war.”

Bake Off has been shaken up for the new Channel 4 series with Nigella Lawson replacing Prue Leith alongside Paul Hollywood

Nigella Lawson spent her breaks filming the Great British Bake Off lying on a chaise longue reading books – with the show hosts in awe and only entering her room when summoned. The TV cook, 66, has replaced Dame Prue Leith on the series, who herself replaced Berry in 2017.

Speaking about working with her, host Alison Hammond said: “Unbelievable. Yeah, she is so beautiful. When she walked in, I was like that, everyone just stops in their tracks- and looks, and you’re like. How is she that beautiful? She’s so lovely as well. Really nice.”

Co-host Noel Fielding added: “We have these little sort of shepherd’s huts that we all sort of have, and they face each other, and you can just see Nigella in her shepherd’s hut currently reading.

“She’s got a stack of books- and she sort of lies like- Cleopatra would lie. On a chaise longue. And sometimes as you’re walking by, she summons you in, and you sort of kneel down at her feet- because she lies across the whole thing- so there’s nowhere to sit. Like a child in assembly. She’s amazing.”

The pair also said Nigella’s fellow judge Paul Hollywood sometimes strips down to a vest and cook pizzas during his breaks from filming – with Alison being particularly impressed.

Speaking on the Dish podcast, Alison revealed: “He’s got a pizza oven, obviously. An inbuilt pizza oven- doesn’t he? Anywhere he goes, he wheels a pizza oven. I think when we were filming Bake Off in the bubble during the pandemic, he brought his pizza oven.

“So, he would do a pizza night- and he’d get out that big shovel, you know. And he’d always have sort of some vest top on, so his muscles would be out. He’d be getting bronzed by the fire- like an advert. Diet Coke advert. And he’d be up there with like, you know, tea towel tucked in. That got me excited.”

Hollywood has described his new Bake Off co-judge Nigella Lawson as being “warmer” to the contestants than Mary Berry.

Speaking to the Radio Times about his on-screen chemistry with his new co-star, baker Paul described her as a “very warm person, especially to the bakers”.

He said: “There’s a very nurturing nature to Nigella, which was quite strong this year.”

Comparing Nigella to the previous judges, he continued: “Mary was different to Prue, Prue was different to Nigella and Nigella is different to Mary.

“They each bring their own character to it, and Nigella is a very warm person, especially to the bakers. More so than Mary was and I think more akin to Prue.

“There’s a very nurturing nature to Nigella, which was quite strong this year. Whereas me, I suppose I’m the constant. So I remain in my position of being constructively critical.”

* The full interview with Alison and Noel is on the Dish from Waitrose podcast, out now.

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Celtic will “come together and support” manager Martin O’Neill after a “painful” week for the club, chief executive Michael Nicholson has said.

O’Neill had indicated that he would use the international break to consider his future following two defeats to Rangers, either side of a home loss to Ferencvaros in the Europa League.

In the wake of Sunday’s 1-0 derby defeat at Celtic Park, 74-year-old O’Neill had said “it might be time to wrap it up”.

However, Nicholson suggested the club will rally round the manager who has delivered nine trophies over two spells.

His remarks came with the latest financial figures revealing a drop of nearly £33m in revenue.

A loss of £4.8m is largely down to the failure to reach last year’s Champions League and Celtic have missed out again, squandering a 4-0 aggregate lead in their play-off with LASK last month.

“Having started well in the Premiership this season, we experienced disappointment in the Champions League play-off,” said Nicholson in a written statement accompanying the financial results.

“Reaching the league phase of the Champions League is an objective for us all, and we are sorry not to have achieved it.

“On top of that, the losses in the last week have been painful for us all. We will now come together and support Martin and the players, as we focus our efforts on achieving success domestically and in the Europa League.”

The former vice president joins Abdul El-Sayed on the campaign trail in Detroit to bolster Democratic unity in a key swing state.

Democratic Senate candidate for the US state of Michigan Abdul El-Sayed says he wants former Vice President Kamala Harris’s campaign stop in Detroit to unify Democrats in the key swing state ahead of the final sprint to lock down a victory in November’s midterm elections.

The visit comes as the Democratic Party works to bridge deep internal factions that were glaringly evident during a hotly contested primary last month between El-Sayed and four-term Democratic congresswoman Haley Stevens, who had overwhelming support from the Democratic Party establishment and pro-Israel political action committees.

“We’re building an electoral coalition here,” El-Sayed said on Tuesday, speaking about the economy hours ahead of a planned appearance with the former vice president. He added that her presence in Michigan, “speaking to communities that were really empowered by her voice throughout her political career”, will serve to further unite and strengthen the Democratic Party.

Black voters could prove especially paramount for El-Sayed, who faces pressure among white Jewish voters who typically back Democrats. The joint appearance targets Wayne County, the state’s largest Democratic stronghold and home to Detroit’s predominantly Black electorate, which El-Sayed failed to carry during the August Democratic primary.

The move follows Harris’s 2024 electoral defeat to US President Donald Trump in Michigan, a state heavily influenced by its critical Arab-American voting bloc. As a result of her pro-Israel policies, many Arab Americans in Michigan, who had voted reliably blue for years, ditched the party altogether, refusing to support Harris in her presidential bid.

El-Sayed also issued a call for solidarity ahead of the midterms, affirming that the 2024 presidential election “ended where it did because we could not find the places of agreement to be able to bring people together or move in the direction that we need to move”, emphasising that he and Harris both want to focus on helping voters who are struggling economically.

At the time, many advocates had argued that as long as Harris maintained her pledge to continue to arm Israel and refused to distance herself from former President Joe Biden’s unconditional support for the US ally, nothing would help her standing with Arab and Muslim voters.

All eyes are on November’s consequential race where El-Sayed will go head to head with former Representative Mike Rogers, the Trump-backed Republican Senate nominee, who ran unopposed in the Republican primary.

Rogers’ campaign framed Harris’s visit as a sign of weakness for both Democrats.

El-Sayed rejected the criticism at the Detroit event, emphasising that assembling a winning coalition requires confronting past differences directly rather than avoiding them.

“We don’t have to agree on everything to understand what is at stake,” El-Sayed said, urging voters to rally around shared economic priorities. “The only way forward is by doing the hard work of bringing people into the same room and moving together.”

The settlement with 12 state attorneys general that cleared the way for Paramount to move forward with its $111-billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery contained a surprise for CNN and CBS News.

The merged company will have an oversight board that will monitor adherence to editorial independence from its owners and shareholders. The editorial board is part of an agreement to end the states’ antitrust fight that threatened to delay the completion of the deal for months.

But the initial reaction among media observers and opponents of the merger was to question how much teeth editorial overseers will have as they will be appointees of Paramount’s board. The board is controlled by Paramount Chief Executive David Ellison’s family and RedBird Capital Partners.

“The so-called independence board appears to be sorely lacking in independence. It’s appointed by and answerable to the board of the combined Ellison-controlled entity, which can also remove the independence board members,” said Norm Eisen, founder of Democracy Defenders Action and one of the leaders of the Block the Merger group.

Agreements on editorial boards or ombudsmen are typically made to assuage regulatory concerns over a change in media ownership.

CBS News installed Kenneth R. Weinstein as an ombudsman ahead of Ellison’s acquisition of Paramount last year. But he has had a scant presence at the network, according to CBS News insiders.

When Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. took over the Wall Street Journal in 2007, a five-member committee was created to ensure the editorial independence of the newspaper and Dow Jones’ other news services. The Journal has largely been successful in keeping its news-gathering operation separate from its right-leaning opinion pages reflecting the values of its owners.

The oversight board at Paramount adds a new layer of uncertainty as to how the two news divisions will operate in the merged company. CBS News has already seen significant upheaval since Ellison installed Bari Weiss as editor in chief.

Weiss, the founder of the heterodox digital news site the Free Press, has disrupted CBS News with major changes to its signature program “60 Minutes.” Her push to consider more conservative talking points and voices in stories led to accusations that she is tilting the program’s political bent to please President Trump, who has a friendly relationship with the Ellisons.

CNN insiders have been watching the discord at CBS News with concern. Trump and Larry Ellison, the tech mogul and father of David, have reportedly discussed personnel changes at CNN once the takeover of its parent, Warner Bros. Discovery, is complete.

Trump has never been happy with CNN’s coverage, but the hostility intensified last Friday when he banned the organization along with MS NOW and Politico from the White House grounds. The three news organizations are challenging Trump’s ban in federal courts on the grounds that it violates their 1st Amendment rights.

But amid all the turmoil, veteran news executives inside and outside the companies involved were scratching their heads over exactly how an editorial board would operate.

“This was formed up in haste, and the fact that it looks like it’s kind of half-baked is not surprising,” said Tom Bettag, a former network news producer and lecturer at the Philip Merrill College of Journalism at the University of Maryland. “But they were in a hurry to get this merger approved by hook or by crook.”

The agreement says the board will be in charge of “resolving any disputes between CBS News employees, CNN employees, and management of the combined entity regarding alleged reporting bias or failure to meet” agreed upon reporting standards.

Back in June, “60 Minutes” correspondent Scott Pelley angrily questioned Weiss’ decision to fire several of his colleagues. As a result, he was dismissed as well.

It’s unclear whether similar confrontations would be resolved by the new Paramount board and, if so, what that would mean for the authority of the top executives at CBS News and CNN.

Paramount did not respond to requests for comment.

The creation of the editorial board was a compromise brokered among the coalition of state attorneys general. The proposal came about in the final two days of negotiations, according to two people familiar with the matter who were not authorized to comment publicly.

William Tong, the Connecticut attorney general, said in an interview that he agreed to the editorial board after pushing for the divestiture of CNN and CBS News as a condition for approving the merger.

“I’m not going to sugarcoat it. This is ultimately not what I wanted,” Tong told The Times. “However, a week ago, they weren’t willing to do anything.”

He added: “Their view was, ‘We’re buying it. We get to control it.’ … And so, you know, by Friday we had broken them down, and they were willing to do this editorial independence board for both CBS News and CNN. That’s what we were able to secure and it has to be all journalists on this five-person board.”

No Paramount executives, including Weiss, can serve on the board.

Sept. 22, 2026 3:42 PM PT

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to intervene in a custody dispute over a 5-week-old child who was born in Texas after a surrogate refused a California couple’s wishes to have an abortion.

Justice Elena Kagan denied the request from McKenna West, who was seeking conservatorship over a baby boy she gave birth to in Dallas.

The brief order did not detail the legal reasoning, as is typical in emergency appeals. The decision came from Kagan because she handles appeals of cases out of California.

West had previously been rejected by other courts in her efforts to have a say in the treatment of the child, who was born with a life-threatening heart condition. She gave birth to the boy in Dallas, where most abortions are banned, after she refused the couple’s wishes to end the pregnancy.

West had asked the Supreme Court to halt a California court order that recognizes Omar Ahmed and Nausheen Gilkar as the parents of the child whom she calls Gabriel and they call Rumi.

Lawyers for the couple had urged the court to reject the request, questioning what an intervention would do for medical decision-making at an already chaotic time. They also accused West of overstating the prognosis for children born with the heart condition.

“Such chaos would be devastating for Respondents and, most importantly, their child,” the couple told the court.

The legal battle over surrogacy and abortion has attracted the attention and support of Republican officeholders and anti-abortion groups. West has said she believes the couple will not provide life-saving care, citing their request for an abortion at 23 weeks. Gilkar and Ahmed have denied those claims.

The boy was born Aug. 12 with hypoplastic left heart syndrome, a life-threatening condition that prevents normal blood flow to the organ. He underwent surgery soon after he was born. The couple’s attorney said in August that the newborn had been in critical condition and appeared to be “suffering from potential complications.”

Without treatment, children affected by the heart defect can die within days or weeks. Surgical repairs are not necessarily cures, and additional surgeries or heart transplants may be needed, according to the CDC.

Wilder and Whitehurst write for the Associated Press.

When Inglewood High traveled to Texas last month to play Westlake High from Austin, two football players who were listed on the Southern Section transfer portal as not cleared played in the game, according to video obtained by The Times.

Last week, in a game against Long Beach Poly played at SoFi Stadium, Inglewood coach Mil’Von James was not on the sideline, according to a report from the Daily Breeze.

The Southern Section cannot make personnel changes when a school violates rules, but it can prevent teams from playing in the playoffs if schools don’t self-report violations and decline to take action.

The Southern Section and Inglewood Unified School District have declined comment. The two players are still eligible to play this season if cleared. One was cleared last week with a valid change of address. The other has not been cleared. Both are missing from Inglewood’s roster on MaxPreps.

James came to Inglewood, which is 4-1 this season, after being fired at Hawkins in 2016 following the discovery of ineligible players, resulting in Hawkins forfeiting all its games and going 0-13. Since then, the City Section established a rule that teams must exchange rosters before games to verify that players are eligible, known as the “Hawkins rule.”

James took over at Inglewood in 2019 and has built a successful program.

It’s not known if James’ absence will be for one game or multiple games. The only other Southern Section action would be forcing Inglewood to forfeit games the players played in, but the school lost to Westlake, making a forfeit moot.

A member of Donald Trump’s political party has issued a rare call for a congressional investigation into the foreign dealings of the United States president’s eldest son.

US Senator John Curtis, a Republican from the state of Utah, on Tuesday said “questions have arisen” about Donald Trump Jr’s relationships with foreign business figures and acceptance of “significant gifts”, alleging he may have personally benefited from his relationship with the president.

In a letter to the Republican and Democratic leaders of the US Senate Judiciary Committee, Curtis referenced a ProPublica report that found Trump Jr’s Bahamian wedding party in May was funded by a Russian oligarch.

“These reports raise legitimate questions about foreign access to members of a sitting president’s family and whether such relationships can create actual or perceived expectations of favorable treatment,” Curtis wrote. “They also may create expectations of a returned favor that would not be in the best interests of the American people or our allies, and could even create national security vulnerabilities.”

The letter comes as a small but slowly growing number of Republicans have spoken out against Trump, who has largely avoided criticism from members of his own party. But record-low approval ratings sparked by the war in Iran and concerns over the cost of living in the US have forced some Republicans to reconsider that support as they face growing prospects of major losses in the congressional midterm elections.

If Democrats retake one, or both, chambers of the US Congress in November, investigations into Trump, including his family’s dealings, are likely. But those probes are less likely under Republicans wary of the president’s wrath.

A spokesperson for the Senate Judiciary Committee, which is under Republican control, told the Associated Press that it had received Curtis’s letter but did not say whether there would be an investigation.

Trump vs Biden

Curtis, who isn’t up for re-election until 2030, also called on the chamber’s panel to subpoena Trump Jr, as well as the son of former US President Joe Biden, a Democrat.

“The country should not have to accept one standard for the family of a Republican president and another for the family of a Democratic president,” Curtis wrote, referencing the scrutiny and investigation Biden’s son Hunter faced from Republicans.

Hunter Biden responded to Curtis’s letter in a post on social media, calling for the Senate committee to “bring it on” as he vehemently denied any foreign business dealings while his father was president.

“I’ll sit next to Don Jr. and testify any time, any place,” Biden wrote on X as he called for the president’s youngest son, Eric, and son-in-law, Jared Kushner, who serves as a US envoy, to testify as well. “No need for a subpoena. Let’s all do it tomorrow.”

After the ProPublica report, Trump Jr and his wife, Bettina, released a joint statement on social media saying the Russian oligarch, Umar Kremlev, was a “dear friend” who “very generously hosted two incredible nights of celebrations for us AFTER our wedding”.

The president, who did not attend the wedding, said his son had reimbursed Kremlev.

“It’s totally allowed, and a lot of people give parties and things like that — but it’s totally allowed,” Trump said. “But as I understand it, he paid him back. He didn’t want it.”

US Senator Dick Durbin, the ranking member on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said that while Biden’s son “has already given a sworn deposition to Congress”, Trump Jr “has not”.

“For the committee to ignore this matter is to run the risk of being complicit in a coverup,” Durbin said. “I will join in supporting Senator Curtis’ request of the Senate Judiciary Committee.”

Curtis’s office did not immediately reply when asked by Al Jazeera what prompted the senator’s letter and whether any fellow Republicans have indicated if they would support an investigation into the president’s family.

Trump has also been meeting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, British Prime Minister Andy Burnham and leaders from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain and Oman.

Earlier, Guterres gave his farewell speech as UN secretary general, urging unnamed superpowers to recognise “that their power isn’t so super”.

“The fault lines in our world are widening,” Guterres said, citing geopolitical rivalries, wars, climate change and artificial intelligence.

By contrast, Trump criticised international institutions, accusing the UN of a “far-left agenda of globalist bureaucrats who nobody ever elected”.

The US president instead emphasised national sovereignty and “unmatched” American military power.

“There is no global government,” he said.

He also warned that the US would not allow threats to establish themselves anywhere in the Western hemisphere.

“If necessary, we will use our unmatched military might to secure the vital national interests of the United States,” he said.

Trump accused Cuba’s communist government of cultivating ties to left-wing groups in the US, including the Communist Party USA, Antifa and the Democratic Socialists of America.

The Cuban delegation also appeared to walk out of the assembly chamber as Trump turned his sights on them, referring to the island as a “failed state”.

Tempting Fortune got off to a dramatic start as a contestant left her group scrambling to protect their £300,000 prize pot

Tempting Fortune descended into chaos just minutes into its return.

Contestant Sarah fell ill in the Malaysian jungle, leaving her fellow Fortune Seekers facing a huge £30,000 decision. The Channel 4 hit show returned tonight (September 22) for a brand-new series, with comedian Rob Beckett taking over as host from Paddy McGuinness.

The latest series sees 12 strangers attempt a gruelling 13-day trek through the Malaysian jungle while trying to protect a shared £300,000 prize pot.

But the contestants quickly discovered just how difficult the challenge would be when Sarah began struggling with the harsh conditions on only the second day of the trek.

The group had spent the previous night in a basic camp and had been surviving on simple rations, including rice and beans. Sarah admitted she wasn’t feeling well and appeared particularly affected by the food.

She said: “Just thinking of them now. I feel like I want to be sick. Oh, they’re the most disgusting thing I’ve ever met.” One of her fellow contestants expressed concern for her, while another pointed out that Sarah needed to eat more.

But things soon became more serious when the group continued their trek through the jungle. Sarah suddenly stopped walking and told the others: “I feel really sick and dizzy. And just so hot.”

The contestants had travelled less than a kilometre when Sarah was forced to stop. The rest of the group gathered around her as she sat down on the jungle floor.

Sarah admitted she was struggling with the experience, saying: “I feel like shit. It’s just… I knew it was going to be tough, but… I didn’t prepare for it. It’s just so bad.”

With Sarah’s condition worsening, a medic stepped in to assess her. The situation left Sarah facing a huge decision – whether to continue with the challenge or leave Tempting Fortune altogether and return home to the UK.

But quitting would have had major consequences for everyone else. If Sarah decided to leave, the group would lose £30,000 from their potential winnings.

Instead, the group was presented with another option. They could spend £2,000 from the shared prize pot on a taxi to take Sarah to the next checkpoint, allowing her to rest and giving her the chance to recover without having to abandon the competition.

After discussing the options, the group agreed to spend the £2,000. The decision meant Sarah could be driven to the next camp rather than being forced to walk through the jungle while feeling unwell.

For the group, the maths was simple – spending £2,000 was better than losing £30,000 if Sarah was forced to quit. Sarah was then chauffeur-driven to the next camp while her fellow Fortune Seekers continued their gruelling trek on foot.

The dramatic start comes as Tempting Fortune enters its third series with a new host and a fresh group of contestants. The format sees the Fortune Seekers start with a £300,000 prize pot, but throughout their journey they are offered tempting luxuries, with every pound spent coming directly out of the shared winnings.

This series also sees the contestants split into two groups from the outset, adding another layer of pressure as they attempt to trust strangers while protecting their share of the cash.

You can stream Tempting Fortune on Channel 4

Manchester United and Liverpool keen on Crystal Palace defender Tyrick Mitchell, Aston Villa loan attacker Alejandro Garnacho on the radar of clubs in La Liga, while Bayern Munich fancy Morgan Gibbs-White.

Crystal Palace‘s English left-back Tyrick Mitchell, 27, is attracting growing interest from Manchester United and Liverpool. (Teamtalk), external

Aston Villa attacking midfielder Alejandro Garnacho is being monitored by clubs in La Liga after struggling to make an impression at Villa Park following his summer loan switch from Chelsea. (Mail plus – subscription required), external

Julian Ward is set to be reappointed as Liverpool‘s sporting director. The 45-year-old will switch from his current role as Fenway Sports Group’s technical director to replace Richard Hughes in a position he previously held during the 2022-23 season. (The Athletic), external

Bayern Munich are interested in Nottingham Forest‘s England midfielder Morgan Gibbs-White, 26. (Talksport), external

Arsenal will use the September international break to finalise details over a new long-term contract for England midfielder Declan Rice, 27. (Football Transfers), external

The Gunners have the option to extend Rice’s current deal by 12 months but would like to tie him to a long-term deal in keeping with the club policy towards players seen as key by Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta. (Guardian), external

Liverpool remain firmly committed to bringing the best out of Germany attacking midfielder Florian Wirtz, 23, despite the player’s representatives being sounded out by Bayern Munich. (Teamtalk), external

Chelsea are tracking highly rated Gambian 15-year-old midfielder Adama Jeng with Bayern Munich, Benfica, Sporting and Paris FC also interested in the Samger FC youngster. (Mail plus – subscription required), external

AC Milan and Roma are keen on a loan deal for Real Madrid’s 20-year-old forward Endrick if Bernabeu president Florentino Perez is willing to let the Brazilian leave. (Calciomercato – in Italian), external

Barcelona have scouted Athletico Paranaense’s 19-year-old Brazilian Arthur Dias who was the subject of previous strong interest from Tottenham. (ESPN Brasil – in Portuguese), external

Arsenal came so close to signing Brazil forward Vinicius Jr from Real Madrid in the summer that the 26-year-old’s team-mates thought it was a foregone conclusion he would join the Gunners. (Cadena SER – in Spanish), external

Washington, DC – Palestinian Americans have held a day of advocacy at the United States Capitol under the spectre of a new $2.8bn arms transfer to Israel reportedly approved by the administration of US President Donald Trump.

The Americans for Justice in Palestine Action (AJP Action) group, which organised Tuesday’s event, said more than 300 constituents from across the country met with the offices of more than 100 US lawmakers. They advocated on behalf of a slate of legislative initiatives related to Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza, surging Israeli settler violence in the occupied West Bank, and efforts to use immigration law to stifle Palestinian advocacy in the US.

Jenna Escheik, a 19-year-old meeting with lawmakers and staffers from Virginia, including Democratic Senator Tim Kaine and Republican Representative Rob Wittman, said she was planning to speak with “some very challenging and interesting people”.

“I think the main point that we’re trying to get across to every single office is that we’re all proud to be American, and we all have our taxpayer dollars that we just don’t want to see going to wars,” said Eschiek, who is originally from outside of Ramallah in the West Bank.

Yaseen Shaikh, a 22-year-old who travelled with a delegation from Cleveland, Ohio, said he will be meeting with the offices of Republican Senator Jon Husted, who faces a competitive midterm race against former Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown, as well as the state’s other Republican Senator, Bernie Moreno.

Both Republican senators have consistently voted against legislative efforts to limit arms sales to Israel.

“As I stand among my peers here, among people who I stand on their shoulders, I can only feel hopeful and optimistic that we will make a difference and that change will come,” Shaikh told Al Jazeera.

“We just have to be vehicles for that,” he said.

Palestinian rights ‘catching up’ with lawmakers

Successive presidential administrations, as well as Congress, have for decades resisted calls to condition US military aid to Israel, including throughout Israel’s latest war in Gaza, which will reach its three-year mark early next month.

To date, nearly 74,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since October 7, 2023, with nearly 1,400 killed since a “ceasefire” agreement went into effect in October 2025.

Last week, US media widely reported the Trump administration approved a US taxpayer-funded $2.8bn military package to Israel, which included 907kg (2,000-pound) MK-84 bombs known to have already caused widespread civilian devastation in the Palestinian enclave.

The package reportedly included 20,000 of those munitions, as well as 20,000 BLU-117s, a close variant.

Several Democrats have vowed to block the transfer, with the ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Gregory Meeks, using his leverage last week to at least slow congressional clearance.

Osama Abu Irshaid, AJP Action’s executive director, said the new weapons package runs counter to public opinion polls, which have regularly found majority support for conditioning at least some weapons to Israel, as well as surging support for Palestinian rights.

Abu Irshaid said the polls underscore a new political reality for lawmakers.

“I think now we are functioning within this context, where what happens in Palestine, the genocide that took place and continues to take place, what the terrorist settlers are doing in the West Bank, what the US and Israel are doing in the Middle East is catching up with us here,” Irshaid said, “and we’re paying a price”.

While entrenched support for arming Israel has persisted among some segments of the Democratic Party, advocates have hailed what they see as a historic shift in recent months.

In July of last year, 26 Democrats in the Senate voted to block some arms transfers to Israel, the first time in history a majority of Democratic lawmakers in the chamber did so. In April, similar resolutions gained a record 40 votes in the Senate, all Democrats, but ultimately failed to pass in the 100-member chamber.

The so-called Block the Bombs Act in the House, which calls for a partial arms embargo against Israel, reached 81 co-sponsors as of August.

Twenty-two Democratic senators also introduced a resolution last week to force the US Department of State to conduct an investigation into the violence committed by Israeli forces and settlers in the West Bank, in which at least nine US citizens have been killed in recent years.

Abu Irshaid was optimistic that headway could also be made among Republicans, who have been reckoning with an internal divide over US support for Israel, with exceedingly few members of the party currently willing to vote to limit aid.

A December poll by the IMEU Policy Project found a majority of Republicans under 45 said they would prefer to support a presidential candidate in 2028 who “supports reducing taxpayer-funded weapons to Israel”.

“I think what we’re seeing now is that the dam within the Republican Party is cracking,” Abu Irshaid said.

“But the question is, ‘What is after Donald Trump when Donald Trump no longer owns the Republican Party, owns the MAGA movement?’ I think that’s when you will see more cracks taking place.”

‘The same system’

Advocates on Tuesday also focused on what they called the Trump administration’s practice of using immigration law to stifle pro-Palestine advocacy.

Among their policy priorities, those meeting with lawmakers sought to reform language in the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952, which the Trump administration has cited in efforts to deport individuals whose presence in the US the administration deems to have “adverse foreign policy consequences”.

Among those speaking at the US Capitol on Tuesday was Salah Sarsour, the president of the Islamic Society of Milwaukee, who was detained by ICE in April and released in June. His legal team has charged that the three-decade US resident was targeted based on a coerced confession when Sarsour was detained by Israeli forces as a young man.

Sarsour, who continues to face deportation proceedings, said the ICE detention reminded him of being held in Israeli detention.

“Those criminals that [detained me], they still exist,” he said. “The same criminals that destroy Gaza, they killed tens of [thousands] of children and women, and men and family members.”

Leqaa Kordia, who was among those targeted by immigration enforcement agents following a wave of pro-Palestine protests that swept US campuses in 2024, also recounted the “dehumanisation” of her 368 days in ICE detention.

“And then it hit me that…the same system that threw me in an ICE jail is the same system that funds and arms the military prisons in Israel,” said Kordia, who, like Sarsour, still faces deportation proceedings.

“The same dehumanisation logic that allowed a guard to humiliate me allows the Israeli soldier to kidnap Palestinians and throw them into the shadows,” she told those gathered.

“The same power that keeps my case in limbo is the same power that sends billions of US tax dollars in bombs and weapons to fuel the Palestinian genocide.”

When the weather hots up, wild swimming is sure to cool you down – and is completely free to enjoy. Mum of two Hannah Britt shares her top tips for having a splashing good time, and staying safe

When the weather reaches boiling point, there’s not many outdoor activities that appeal. So when I tell you that our family of four spent most of our time waist deep in a river, it is no lie. And I’m here to tell you that its easier than you think to get the whole family involved.

The location

For us, France is unbeatable for wild swimming. It offers an abundance of clean, warm, and legally accessible natural waterways, lakes, and gorges. France has thousands of miles of pristine rivers and over 1,300 official inland river bathing sites, supported by major mountain ranges like the Alps, Pyrenees, and the Jura that feed crystal-clear water year-round. You can even bathe in some parts of the Seine in Paris. In short, almost anywhere you go, you’ll find a place to dip.

The kit

You truly don’t need much to become a wild swimmer apart from a car (more on this later), swimwear, SPF, microfibre towels, a picnic blanket and une baguette. If you’re feeling professional, water shoes are a coup too, as many river beaches are stony. But if I were to recommend one thing, it would be the Wild Swimming France book. With over 1000 recommended and proven safe swim spots all around the country, it’s the Bible of wild swimming, as you guessed it, in France.

Where we stayed

The perfect place to stay when you want to indulge in a week or so of wild swimming is somewhere, er, wild. And this is because, by staying somewhere in the middle of nowhere, you are encouraged to venture out to explore what is nearby.

This summer, we chose a stone farmhouse in Saint-Saveur-de-Cruzieres on Airbnb, which was perfectly located nearby some amazing swimming spots. The 5-hectare estate is split into two separate living areas – a large house with three four bedrooms and a master kitchen, and a smaller house with one bedroom upstairs and a kitchen diner downstairs. To the rear, a stunning swimming pool enjoyed views upon views upon views of the fields and hills beyond the grounds. The jewel in its crown was indeed the location. Peaceful, idyllic… it was hard to tear ourselves away.

But when we did, to be found close by was a whole host of wild swims. Wild swimming at the Pont du Gard lets you bathe in the clear, cool waters of the Gardon River directly beneath a 2,000-year-old Roman aqueduct. Guinguette La Frigoulette is a family-run riverside restaurant operating since 1969 located in Saint-André-de-Roquepertuis within the scenic Gorges de la Cèze and serves as the perfect casual base for a day of wild swimming along the Cèze River.

Also a restaurant-come-swim-spot, Moulin du Roc Tombe (often referred to as Le Roc Tombe) is a scenic river wild swimming spot positioned on the Cèze river near Saint-Ambroix. Local canoeing routes on the Cèze often stop here for a swim near the old mill. Finally, wild swimming at Vallon Pont d’Arc in the Ardèche region centres around the magnificent 34-meter-high natural limestone arch of the Pont d’Arc, offering crystal-clear, refreshing emerald water sandy river beaches, and plenty of rocks to jump from.

Getting around

To get truly wild, you need a car. So we hired one for our week in France with Sixt. We chose a BMW X5, with a boot big enough to hold our wild swimming gear, and to climb inside when there was nowhere else to change.

A 4×4, it was able to handle rough terrain, which we encountered on occasion heading down dirt tracks and into makeshift car parks at some of the more remote wild swimming locations. The advisers at Sixt were more than happy to help when we told them what we needed, and our “Beema” became the fifth family member while in France.

Stay safe

Record breaking lake swimmer Neil Gilson shares his advice for safe swimming:

• *Before every swim, assess the water temperature, weather, wind, currents and the conditions across the route. Only swim when they advise that it is safe to do so.
• Never underestimate open water. Even on a hot day, the water can be dangerously cold and conditions can change very quickly.
• Always swim with others, choose a safe location, and never take unnecessary risks.

*To find a home from home in France, see Airbnb; for car hire, see Sixt

The United States, Denmark and Greenland are preparing to sign an agreement that could reshape the American military presence in the Arctic and ease a diplomatic dispute that has strained relations within NATO.

US President Donald Trump is due to meet Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and Greenland Prime Minister Jens Frederik Nielsen in New York on Tuesday for a trilateral signing ceremony. The agreement is expected to allow Washington to expand its military infrastructure on Greenland, a strategically located and mineral rich territory of the Kingdom of Denmark.

The deal follows months of tension after Trump refused to rule out using military or economic pressure to bring Greenland under US control. The comments triggered a diplomatic crisis with Denmark and raised concerns about divisions within NATO.

The US military presence is set to expand

The agreement is expected to give the United States access to two additional military sites in Greenland, alongside the existing Pituffik Space Base.

One of the proposed locations is Narsarsuaq, a former Cold War airbase where only a small population remains. The other is Mestersvig, which is currently used by the Sirius Dog Sled Patrol, an elite Danish special forces unit.

The expansion would significantly increase the US military footprint on the island and mark the first major expansion of American military infrastructure there since the Cold War.

During that period, the United States operated 17 installations in Greenland and had more than 10,000 personnel on the island.

Greenland’s location between North America and the Arctic gives it considerable strategic importance. Its geography also places it close to major Arctic routes and areas of growing competition involving Russia, the United States and other NATO members.

NATO could play a larger role

Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen has said the agreement would place Arctic security more firmly within NATO’s collective framework rather than leaving responsibility primarily to Washington and Copenhagen.

That could be significant because the Greenland dispute exposed tensions within the alliance at a time when NATO members are already facing growing security concerns in the Arctic.

The Arctic has become increasingly important to NATO because of its geography, military access and emerging economic opportunities. Greater US military activity in Greenland could therefore become part of a wider alliance approach to Arctic security.

However, the precise role NATO would play remains unclear because the full text of the agreement has not yet been published.

What happens to Greenland’s sovereignty?

The agreement also leaves questions about the balance between US security interests, Danish sovereignty and Greenland’s aspirations for greater autonomy.

Greenland is a self governing territory within the Kingdom of Denmark. Its government has repeatedly maintained that decisions about Greenland’s future must involve Greenlanders themselves.

Trump said on Friday that the agreement would give the United States “permanent control over security, and all other needs, in Greenland.”

Denmark has not endorsed that description. Copenhagen has instead said that the agreement respects the kingdom’s sovereignty and Greenland’s right to self determination.

It remains unclear whether the agreement will modify the 1951 US Denmark defence treaty, which has provided the legal basis for America’s military presence on the island, or establish a separate framework.

From acquisition ambitions to military access

The agreement represents a significant shift from Trump’s earlier push to acquire Greenland outright.

Greenland is roughly three times the size of Texas but has a population of only about 57,000 people, concentrated in small communities along its coastline. The island is also rich in natural resources, adding an economic dimension to its strategic importance.

Trump’s earlier comments about potentially using economic or military pressure to obtain Greenland created an unusual dispute between the United States and Denmark, both members of NATO.

The new agreement appears to offer a different approach: rather than changing Greenland’s sovereignty, Washington would gain a substantially larger military presence on the island.

Why does Greenland matter to the US?

Greenland’s strategic location makes it important to North American and Arctic defence. It sits between the United States, Europe and the Arctic and can provide access for monitoring activity across the region.

For Washington, expanding military infrastructure could strengthen its ability to monitor Arctic air and maritime activity and support wider North American defence.

For Denmark and Greenland, however, the issue involves more than military strategy. Any expansion of US activity has to operate within Denmark’s sovereignty over the territory and Greenland’s right to determine its political future.

The agreement therefore seeks to address two competing pressures at once: the United States’ desire for greater Arctic security access and Denmark and Greenland’s insistence that such cooperation must not amount to a transfer of sovereignty.

If signed as expected, the deal could mark a new phase in the Arctic relationship between the three governments. It would not resolve every disagreement over Greenland’s future, but it could replace the earlier confrontation over US acquisition with a more structured framework for American military access and NATO security cooperation.

With information from Reuters.

POP star Zara Larsson has made waves rocking a purple bikini on Instagram in a striking, nighttime photoshoot.

The Swedish singer, 28, can be seen posing on a beach, bathed in dark lighting with dramatic flash photography and an E.T vibe.

The blonde bombshell can be seen wearing a tiny metallic purple string bikini paired with her long blonde hair down with decorative glowing star stickers scattered across her skin.

The visual highlights several dynamic poses, including standing centered within a mesmerising circular swirl pattern carved into the sand, crouching low to the ground and striking side-profile silhouettes.

Injecting a touch of humour into the artistic drop, the post also features a playful product shot of a water bottle sitting upright in the middle of the sand ripples.

The post quickly drew hundreds of thousands of likes and a flood of enthusiastic comments from fans praising her look.

Fans commented: “God is a woman.”

A second playfully wrote: “She can just do that with the sand btw.”

A third added: “BODY WAS SCULPTED FROM THE GODS.”

Zara recently addressed the White House social media team’s use of her song Midnight Sun in a TikTok video featuring Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations captioned ‘Never ending deportations’.

In a response shared on TikTok, Larsson expressed her sadness and heavy heart regarding the situation.

She shared a message directed at the creators of the video and wrote: “I wish I could talk to you, and I wish I could help you remember that you and I, we aren’t that different at all.

“And we’re not that different from the people in the video, either.

“The biggest difference between us is that we were dealt a different hand in life.”

The singer continued: “I consider myself so lucky with the life that I’ve been dealt.

“The fact that I’m born in Sweden, I’ve had an education and I’ve had all these opportunities just sort of laid out in front of me.

“I can travel and get to do all these amazing things. That’s luck.

“There are people out there who are not that lucky, and they want to have a better life for their families or for themselves and their children.

“I just don’t understand how it could be the worst thing in the world to be an undocumented immigrant.”

Larsson continued: “This video is so dehumanizing. These people in the video are real people.

“It’s so crazy how everything is so meme-ified, especially ‘Midnight Sun,’ which is about feeling connected to nature, the universe and people, essentially.

“And this just creates this massive divide between people. I just don’t get it. It’s so f***ing uncool… You guys are such f***ing losers, like it’s crazy.”

Under a policy set to take effect Sunday, the U.S. government could strip young immigrants of their status as unaccompanied minors, causing them to lose special protections when they apply for asylum and making them more likely to be deported.

The plan is laid out in an internal memorandum sent May 31 by John Lafferty, chief of the asylum division at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, and detailed in subsequent guidance, both obtained by The Times. The shift in policy involves when federal officials determine whether a young migrant is an unaccompanied minor.

According to the memos, an asylum officer with USCIS will have to assess whether the individual at the time of filing for asylum lacked lawful immigration status, was younger than 18 and had no parent or legal guardian in the United States available to provide care and physical custody.

Unaccompanied minors who are in federal custody are often released to sponsors in the United States such as a parent or close relative and could be living with them at the time they file their application — meaning that many may not be considered to be unaccompanied minors under this new policy. From October 2018 to May 2019, more than 46,000 minors were released to sponsors, according to the Department of Health and Human Services.

If the children are found no longer to be unaccompanied minors, they will not be entitled to certain special protections, including an asylum interview with a USCIS officer instead of having to make their case in an immigration court setting.

“USCIS continues to take actions to ensure that we carry out our duties in a manner that is fully in line with the letter of the law,” agency spokeswoman Jessica Collins said in a statement. “Ultimately, Congress must reform the law to address the underlying issues fueling the border crisis and encouraging unaccompanied minors to make the dangerous journey to the United States.”

In recent years, USCIS officers have considered an asylum applicant to be an unaccompanied minor if that was what Immigration and Customs Enforcement or Customs and Border Protection agents had determined when they first had contact with the migrant.

Under this new policy, which rescinds an Obama-era memorandum, USCIS officers will independently determine whether an individual was an unaccompanied minor when they filed their application.

USCIS is “basically relitigating whether or not a child at the time of filing was an unaccompanied minor or not,” said John Amaya, who served as the counselor to the director of USCIS from 2014 to 2015.

Judge Ashley Tabaddor, the president of the National Assn. of Immigration Judges, said that the new policy could potentially have “a profound effect on the children’s ability to seek asylum.”

“The asylum officer interview is a much less adversarial process that is thought to give the child a better and more comfortable setting,” she said.

U.S. border patrol agents attend to a minor who had just swam across the Rio Grande River from Mexico to Del Rio, Texas.

(Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

Federal asylum officers have been rushing to process as many unaccompanied minor applications as possible before the change takes effect Sunday, USCIS personnel told The Times, speaking on condition of anonymity to protect against professional retaliation.

The change is the latest in the Trump administration’s efforts to make it more difficult for immigrants, including children, to seek asylum.

It comes during a week in which the acting head of CBP announced his resignation amid reports that his agency held some 300 children in unsanitary conditions in a remote Border Patrol station in Clint, Texas. A photograph showing the bodies of a father and his nearly 2-year-old daughter lying face down in the Rio Grande along the border also has gone viral in recent days.

Migrant deaths have continued along the border this year with the number crossing illegally surging to nearly 600,000, more than half of them families.

Federal asylum officers themselves have criticized Trump, saying his policies are putting people, including children, at risk.

On Wednesday, a union representing officers filed a brief in support of a lawsuit against a Trump policy forcing asylum seekers back to Mexico to await their court proceedings in the United States. The policy “abandons our tradition of providing a safe haven to the persecuted and violates our international and domestic legal obligations,” the brief states.

USCIS acting Director Ken Cuccinelli, an anti-immigration hard-liner who often casts doubt on asylum seekers as engaging in fraud, slammed his own employees, saying the brief was “an attempt by the union to score short-term political points.”

Michael Knowles, president of the union, told The Times his members were “taking the risk” because “we’re being asked to do things that are wrong, as a matter of conscience, and our training as federal employees.”

The policy taking effect Sunday reverts to procedures implemented under the 2008 Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act. At that time, asylum officers made “independent factual inquiries” to determine whether individuals filing applications met the criteria to be designated as unaccompanied minors and were thus under the jurisdiction of USCIS.

Ur Jaddou, a chief counsel to USCIS under President Obama, said that new procedures in 2013 allowing USCIS to adopt prior determinations made by ICE and CBP were implemented because “it was a waste of time and confusing” for USCIS to make a decision on unaccompanied minor status after one was made by other DHS branches.

“This new memo goes backward,” Jaddou said.

Lafferty, who wrote the memo, presented the change as one in keeping with a October 2018 decision by the Justice Department’s Board of Immigration Appeals. The decision dealt with whether USCIS or an immigration judge has initial jurisdiction over the asylum application of an individual who was previously determined to be an unaccompanied minor but had turned 18 before filing their application. The board held that the immigration judge has jurisdiction to determine that the individual no longer qualified as a minor at the time of filing.

The new procedures may put legal clinics that work with these minors in a tough position. Patricia Ortiz, program director for the Esperanza Immigrant Rights Project, said some of their clients are released from federal custody very close to their 18th birthday, and attorneys may not have enough time to file their application before they become adults.

Unaccompanied minors are currently exempt from the standing one-year deadline to file asylum applications. Ortiz worries that if her clients are no longer considered to be unaccompanied minors, the fact they have not applied within one year would jeopardize their applications. She said some don’t apply within a year because they don’t have the support necessary to complete an application or may only be comfortable disclosing asylum facts after months of therapy.

Once they are no longer able to have their cases heard by asylum officers, she said, children could be kept in legal limbo with the rest of those whose cases are backlogged in immigration court. This wait could make it more difficult for them to give testimony that helps their cases.

“Children forget,” she said. “They forget details; they forget what happened.”

Miller reported from Los Angeles and O’Toole from Washington.

Great Britain are guaranteed at least three medals at the European Boxing Championships in Bulgaria after Chantelle Reid, Damar Thomas and Abdul Burton reached the semi-finals.

Reid cruised to a 5-0 win over Ireland’s Evelyn Igharo in a women’s light-middleweight contest at the Asics Arena Sports Hall in Sofia.

The 28-year-old Commonwealth Games silver medallist will face Serbia’s Milena Matovic in the last four on Wednesday.

Thomas won by the same margin in a men’s super-heavyweight fight against Georgia’s Nikoloz Begadze and the 21-year-old will take on Mahammad Abdullayev of Azerbaijan in the semi-finals.

Burton, 20, beat home favourite and Olympic bronze medallist Javier Ibanez 3-2 to secure a meeting with Turkey’s Semih Gumus.

“Sometimes you have got to dig in and when things went against me I had to get stuck in and show who I was,” Burton said.

“I am young, hungry and here to take over.”

Lauren Mackie, Amy Broadhurst, Callum Makin and Oladimeji Shittu are all due in quarter-final action on Wednesday, but over half of Britain’s squad of 15 are now out.

On Tuesday, flyweight Ruby White was beaten 3-2 by Olympic silver medal winner Hatice Akbas of Turkey while Emily Asquith suffered a 5-0 defeat in her light-heavyweight bout with Ireland’s Lisa O’Rourke.

In the men’s heavyweight division, Commonwealth Games champion Isaac Okoh bowed out with a 3-0 defeat by Germany’s Kevin Lebowski.